Five thousand years ago...
Before Canterlot...
Before Equestria...
Before Celestia...
Before the Elements of Harmony...
Farther back than any relics of today can recant, there was peace among the ten prominent races.
The simple yet steadfast Earth Ponies.
The wise, magical Unicorns.
The noble, valiant Pegasi.
The elusive, majestic, and so very humble Alicorn.
The proud griffons.
The nomadic and spiritual buffalo.
The tribal zebras.
The conniving Changelings.
The dimwitted Goats.
The battle hardened and feral dragons.
The ten, led separate by their own racial leaders, held an era of peace. But in those times, it was a peace that the 'lesser races' of the ten found unequal. Inequality was cracked harshly against those that were not of equine origin, in truth. But their peace was maintained for as long as one race would remain as they were, not once straying from their path.
...Ding...
"You stand accused of not only the manipulation, but the willful execution of 'dark magic'. Your plea."
"Dark Magic... Humorous. What is not beautiful within your code is dictated as Dark..."
Chatter... Chatter...Ding..
"Silence! Your plea, or we will hold you as the accused have placed you; guilty."
"Do you not care for the sound of the ballad of the wind? I would have assumed an Alicorn of your skill set be partial to the songs..."
A white muzzle contorted with disgust as much as passing patience. Chatter... Chatter... Ding... "By this order and your refusal to impart your own words, I decree you guilty!" BANG. "On the charge of Necromancy!"
Chatter...! Chatter...! ...Tink...
Days, months, years, decades, centuries, millennia -one by one, they went by and were scribed into now lost tomes or in ancient tongues... Histories of great civilizations, cultures, and the like lost for all. However, a few heirlooms of those departed worlds remain; passed down from heir to deserving party. Few tomes still remain that charter the whereabouts of many of these heirlooms; reducing some once great items to simple trinkets.
But one still remains well known to the Royal Family of Equestria... An heirloom possessed between the alicorn sisters- Primrose, Serena, and Tiffany. To which the three -at their passing- gave to their most trusted knight, Fenix; who protected the heirloom along side his trusted companion, believing that the object would bring the two fortune.
In time, Fenix -though gifted with longevity- passed on the heirloom to a then young Celestia around the time of his death.
Celestia too passed it onto another, though not from the worry of death, but for the trust in believing that her sister -Luna- could and would protect it with her life. Though, once Nightmare Moon -a corrupted Luna- was banished to the moon, Celestia kept watch over the heirloom herself until the day her sister would return and reclaim the task of protecting it.
For five millennia, it had been passed from hoof to hoof; the story of it never once forgot between successors. A story of ambition, betrayal, and the near extinction of all that opposed.
The story of The Goat King's Bell.
...Ding...
The path had been long, physically and mentally, but at least the chirping birds and calming scenery did not lead the unicorn's mind to dread. But in fairness, dread was all she could feel as her hooves clapped against the beaten road. She remembered that she had passed this road not once, but twice. The first with high ambition and the clunking of woodwork around her, safely within her wagon; and the second scampering through the darkness, humiliated. But no amount of humiliation would have her not return to that town... Because it would serve as an even greater humiliation if she did not reclaim her hat and cape.
Trixie's head hang low, feeling naked without her hat to hide her horn and "luxurious" silver mane, or even her cape to keep herself with some sort of cover. Since she had lost those two items so long ago, that feeling of vulnerability in the most physical of senses never left her. So, she concluded, that she would have to return to the place of her greatest defeat; Ponyville.
The few trees that were in view of the road she traveled had been stripped bare of leaves and fruits long ago during the -what was it?- Running of the Leaves; and had started to grey a little along with the grassy fields. Trixie, however, was used to the cold temperatures of Las Pegasus, so did not shy away or shiver as the winter winds whipped wildly around her. But even if she did not enjoy the cold, she had traveled too far to be put off by some small goose bumps.
..Ding... Ding...
She had hoped that her possessions, what little were left in that town, would be anywhere but in some town dump. Her muzzle formed a frown as she thought of such an idea. "My magnificent attire resting in some landfill under fritters, clothes, and -what else do they throw out around here?- books?" She thought with a small curse that she waited all this time to finally go back to retrieve what was hers
Other than her own thoughts, and subtle chirping of birds, the road had been quiet... It was eerie. A staunch contrast to the charged walkways and city life of Las Pegasus where she started her trek, and she was not sure if she liked it at all. How could anypony possibly enjoy such a quiet and small-time life? This eluded Trixie to no end. Ponyville was very much backwards in her mind; all wholesome and simple with no flash or flair. The sooner she could retrieve and leave, the better.
...Ding... Ding...
Only a few more minutes of travel since her thought did she see her destination. Over a hill, past some trees, and through a field: Ponyville. How... Underwhelming she thought, progressing further down the path. Since her last visit to this town, she almost found it funny that there was not one new structure. No new buildings, no new layers of paint to any houses, even the roads looked the same from where she stood. If it hadn't been so pitiful, she may have even laughed at the sight. She could only imagine how little the townsponies had changed, if at all.
Not even one hoof into the town and she was already regretting her arrival.
..Ding... Ding...
Any other town she went to, by the time you were this close, you could hear the rushing of everypony’s daily lives; but Ponyville did not make a sound aside from little, subtle noises. The trickling of a distant fountain, the clopping of hooves against crisp winter land, the chiming of a school bell to bring fillies and colts in for class, and the mild chatter of pegasi up above over what cloud work they had to do. Little as it was, Trixie found the small noises better than absolute silence. She looked off towards the town and readied herself for the final leg of the approach, her ears pricking a bit by the sounds around her; particularly the bell of the school that she could not help but find strange.
"What town has school on the weekend?" Though pondering this, she ventured on down the hill and towards the small village of Ponyville.
...Ding... Ding... Tink...
Her ears grew relaxed with the final clang to alert all within range that the ringing had ended for now. School ponies would be overjoyed to hear the end of school. But to have school on a weekend? Such a backwater land Ponyville was. Her advance came to a standstill as her hooves met with the border of one of the bridges that led into Ponyville. Her hooves kicked a bit against the first wooden plank of the bridge while violet eyes made an effort of studying the path ahead. Much to the visible dismay of Trixie, there were indeed other ponies out and about through the town. “But of course it would not be so easy”, she puffed a strand of silver mane out from her eyes and fixed a way ahead.
The goal Trixie had was known all too well to herself. But to know where to start had developed into a new problem for her. Ponyville was indeed vastly smaller when compared to the towns Trixie normally went through, but that in the end did not make for much of any help in her thoughts. Thoughts began to cloud her mind as she stood there on the arch of the bridge. “Does Ponyville even have a police station? If not, where do they send missing items? Everypony here is already so neighborly with one another they probably already know what belongs to who,” Trixie huffed a low scoff when she looked over what stretch of the town she could see. “These ponies more than likely keep what travelers leave behind for themselves... Thieving town of--”
...Ding...
“And what was with that school bell?” Trixie decided to calm herself with an even breath.
With each thought she had, she spent more and more time in this horrific town. As she recalled her last visit here, there was a town hall she set up her show just outside of. In the best of cases her possessions would be found there. Trixie’s eyes looked about for just a moment, looking for the point of what she could only assume from a patchy remembrance was the town’s hall. Through the freshly livening streets of Ponyville, Trixie made her new advance. Head held low, nerves clenched inside her back, and each inch of her being begging that nopony would call to her or notice her. A few ponies gave momentary glances at Trixie, who seemed to be trying to move through the growing crowd without drawing those same glances.
Nopony said anything to her or tapped her back to ask if she needed anything given the early morning still taking a toll on most of them. So many stores remained with unlit windows and drawn curtains when Trixie moved down the path leading to the hall. The sounds of chirping birds and babbling fountains grew each passing moment; each sound intermingled with that pestering school bell. Trixie’s eyes set on the image of Ponyville’s town hall, bringing a small relief to her tense form.
...Ding...
That bell, however, was not helping the tense nature. Trixie looked at the doors that most likely led into the town hall and walked towards them. She stopped a moment when she noticed something in the corner of her eye. A tree that big in the middle of the city? It was almost laughable. But, she would have to look into it later. The doors of the hall opened just enough for Trixie to fit her head through the ajarred door. The hall seemed very spacious, too spacious if you asked her. There were one...two... Two ponies working here it seemed. “By Celestia, does this town have any level of a respectable office?” Trixie snapped to herself again.
She shook her head once to regain some senses. Hate against Ponyville would have to come later, the retrieval of the hat and cloak was priority. Judging by the two ponies inside, one with a top-knot hairstyle and the other with a graying mane, one of them should be able to assist in some way. Noticing that neither of these mares sparked any sort of memory to Trixie, she decided to go inside.
Both mares looked to the entrance of their hall when they heard it shut. They were both met with the sight of Trixie absently looking around the spacious room with a visible disinterested across her face. The older of the two mares, Mayor Mare, called Trixie’s attention with a low cough that echoed through the hall a bit. “Is there something I can help you with, young lady?” Trixie’s head turned to the Mayor.
“As a matter of fact, you can. Does your town have a lost and found... At all?” Though she tried, Trixie’s arrogant tone slipped out between her words.
The Mayor’s eyes at first narrowed at the tone, but she shook her head and answered Trixie nonetheless. “No, I’m sorry. Should we find anything lost in town, we’ll keep it here for at least a week before giving it to the Elementary school to do with as they see fit.” Trixie saw nothing but red when she heard those words.
Her hat as well as her cloak were to be drooled on by slack-jawed bumpkins! An outrage! A travesty! This Ponyville has not only taken away her dignity and pride, but now they have defiled her hat and cloak by handing it over to weak minded fillies?
Ding... Ding...
Trixie moved in closer to the two mares and readied to lay into them... But stopped. Her body stopped moving for a moment as chimes echoed against her ears. Undiluted chimes that were not coming from the school house. The chimes didn't seem to be coming from anywhere. The tinks and dings were just echoing into her ears from somewhere distant, yet so very close. Trixie felt her chest tighten as the chimes echoed, each time fading away into silence. It all lasted for less than a second but the echoes remained coursing through her head.
When Trixie snapped back to reality, she saw that the two mares were looking at her with varying confusion. “Excuse me... I must be on my way,” Trixie didn't wait for a rebuttal from either of them as she made way towards the door.
Her horn’s magic gripped the door with a grayish-blue hue and swung the way open for her and closing it right behind her. She told herself it was all in her head, which wasn't a lie and only made her feel worse. To Trixie, this day was going beyond horribly. The loss of her clothes was bad enough as it was. But coupling that with being in the town of her enemies, and now hearing bells that weren't there? She was beyond at a loss. As she looked out into the town that began to grow more lively, she felt despair grip her. In that despair, she only found one thing that kept her from sulking. Twilight Sparkle.
It was Twilight Sparkle’s fault. All of this was her fault. Her despair twisted into rage, her muzzle whinnied hate when she remembered that unicorn. She ruined everything. Twilight Sparkle ruined everything. It was because of her that she was in this town again on a failing attempt to find her -now lost- hat and cloak. “I hate you...” Twilight Sparkle, “I hate you...” If only...
Ding... Ding... Clang...!
“Hate is a powerful word, troubled unicorn...” Trixie’s head shot up, looking around the area.
Ponies continued to walk through the roads without looking at Trixie; none of which appearing to be speaking to her. “Hate is a word that breeds only violence and disarray... But perhaps that is what you want?” The air Trixie took in with each breath was growing thick and felt hard against her throat as she swallowed. “No... You do not want violence... You are not so crass or short minded,” the deep gravelly voice echoed with a brush like the wind in Trixie’s ears more and more.
The voice began to chuckle deeply before it spoke once more. “Allow me to offer you something to show my intention of good will towards you... You search for something lost, and I know that it is not lost at all... Go to the library in this town and you will find what you want...”
Trixie’s mind screamed at her to ignore whatever this was... But she ignored those thoughts in favor of what her heart wanted. If whatever this was knew what she wanted and knew also where it was, she would take it. However, as odd as she felt doing it, she spoke in a low, almost inaudible voice. “What are you?”
“I am what the bell tolls...” Trixie drew no comfort in hearing that, but she had also found no reason to distrust something that appeared to have the intent of helping.
When her hooves met with the dirt road at the end of the wooden stairs of the town hall, the echoing bells and voice faded away completely. It could have all been in her head, but a prospect was offered; that was good enough for now.
“Hear the towns echo with my chime... For truth I tell you, it decrees your time... Shadowed by horn, hoof, and mighty power... I tell you in honesty, this is your final hour... Cower behind the royal lies... In your final hour, the dead shall rise!”
