Chapter 1: A Loser and a Diary
The sun shone through the window to his left. The light was reflected in the polished wooden desk and right into his eyes. Outside he could see a busy city; pressed against the borders of the school grounds and almost breaking through.
He glanced quickly around the room before he turned back to the window. It was an auditorium, normally capable of hosting fifty ponies, but today almost half of the seats were empty. Outside he could see some of the ones missing, relaxing in the nice weather.
"Osol,” someone to his right whispered, shortly followed by the touch of a hoof against his right front leg. “Pay attention!”
“Nagger,” he mumbled to himself, just low enough for no one else to hear it, but he did as he was told and returned his gaze to the pony at the low end of the room. Their teacher was in the middle of a lecture about pony history from around five hundred years earlier.
In a few minutes he could feel that he was dosing off. The monotonous voice went on and on about ponies of the past he had no interest in learning about, placing a weight on his eyelids that were almost too hard to bear.
Without a thought for what he was doing his eyes found their way back to the window. In it he could see a faint reflection of himself; light brown coat, dark hair, dark green eyes and on his flank a simple blue, closed book.
“Osol!” the voice from before has risen a bit and was no longer a whisper.
“I am paying attention.”
“Well, excuse me for calling your bluff, but you clearly aren’t. The lecture is over,” he quickly turned to the one who spoke to him. Right beside him stood a mare with a dark grey coat, black hair, purple eyes and glasses. He couldn’t see it from this angle, but he knew her flank bore an open book with two quills crossed in front of it.
“What? Oh, I’m sorry I was…”
“… Lost in your own thoughts again? I know, you always make the same expression,” she took a few steps away from him. “I’ll have to go now, my parents needs me to keep an eye on my little brother the rest of the day. He’s sick,” she added when he raised an eyebrow. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He looked after her as she left the auditorium, before he shook his head and started to pack his things.
“Osol, what are you still doing here?” for the second time h looked right at a mare when he turned to the source of the voice. The professor glanced around. “I’d thought you would be outside already, enjoying the weather.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I was just lost in my own thoughts for a moment,” Osol smiled nervously up at her with a prayer that she hadn’t noticed him during the lecture. “I’ll be going right away.”
“Is something wrong?” the question made him swallow involuntarily. “You look like you have your mind somewhere else entirely. It can’t be healthy for a pony involved in studies.”
**
Osol walked out of the auditorium with an annoyed grin on his face. It was the second time he had lied to her that week, but what else could he do? She wouldn’t relent in her questions about what was bothering him even after he had told her that it was nothing over and over.
He had taken the safe route and just continued the lie from last time; something about being in love and not knowing if the other pony felt the same. A lie that most all he knew wanted to accept at any given time, even if the inconsistencies were huge.
As he passed around a corner he could see two ponies that made the heart fall in his chest, before it started to work overtime. Tuxedo and Flare stood at the end of the hallway and made rude remarks about anyone who passed by them.
For a short second Osol just stood there, but quickly decided it was better to not tempt fate today. The outcome would be the same as usual if he did; humiliating. Slightly faster than he normally walked he set the course for the library and hoped they hadn’t seen him.
Just as he rounded the corner he could hear them say something that included his name, but he was unable to make out the context. He swallowed and walked faster.
**
Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.
She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon...
Osol sat by one of the tables in the library, reading a story that had never been regarded as little more than a tale. Well, at least until a couple of years ago, when the Princess had mysteriously disappeared and Nightmare Moon had walked Equestria once more.
No one really knew what had happened, even now. About the only thing that was commonly known was that six ponies, all presumably from Ponyville, had been at the heart of the commotion. And then there was the sudden return of Luna, supposedly Celestia’s sister who now was finally home after a thousand years. Was Luna really Nightmare Moon?
He closed the book. It didn’t really matter; he was a student at a school in Canterlot, not a pony on an adventure to find a hidden truth that had been concealed for millennia. Not that he didn’t want to, but…
“Are you sure he is in here, Tux?” Flare’s familiar voice could be heard among the bookshelves. “He could have gone anywhere.”
“I’m sure,” Tux replied calmly. “I have known him for years; this is where he would go. Besides, I saw that mare that likes to hang out with him go home. Without her here, what else is there for a loser like him to do besides reading?”
Osol felt that he started to sweat and his heart beat increased. Without thought he got to his feet and slowly walked in the opposite direction of the voices.
As he walked among the shelves of the library his head swung from side to side, looking for any place to hide. The voices came closer and he could feel every heartbeat against his chest. With more haste he continued.
He stopped and stared at the wall in front of him. A few more steps and he would be out of the cover of the shelves and would have to go either to the left or the right.
“Hey Tux, I think I heard someone over here.” Osol’s eyes widened and he started to run out to run out of reflex. With a slimmer of hope he followed the wall to the left.
His eyes suddenly caught the sight of a door not too far ahead of him. With his heart still in high gear he started to fumble with the handle the moment he reached it. The door swung open, with a squeak that felt like it went on forever.
He closed the door behind him and with his eyes fixed on the door he slowly walked backwards into the room. He could hear the sound of hooves against the floor outside. Slowly the sound came closer until he could see shadows under the door. Then they disappeared.
Osol let out a sigh and started to look around. Only now he noticed how little light there was in the room; just a couple of small windows that the sun had yet to reach. Around him he could see a number of bookshelves with books without titles and covered in dust.
The unicorn walked further in as the adrenaline started to fade away and his heartbeat returned to its normal rate. Most of the books looked like they were covered in black and brown leather, but without titles or, from what he could see, labels on the shelves themselves it was impossible to say what topics they covered.
The floorboards squeaked under him and before he could think twice about they gave in. With a scream Osol fell through the floor.
**
Osol opened his eyes. He must have been out for a moment because he couldn’t remember ever hitting the ground. After a moment he got to his feet and started to look around.
Some of the light from the library above him reached down to him, but it only illuminated a single thing; a pedestal that held a book. He walked over to it.
The books cover was of black leather with a crescent moon burned into it. It was titled Diary of Dark Shards.