A Method to Your Madness

by Brony19

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark
Length: 1935

There's a method to your madness, and your madness is the method!

Twilight Sparkle has every inch of the vast Royal Archives memorized down to the last inch, every book title committed to memory, every squeaky floorboard like the back of her hoof.

Except for one room.

A room that Celestia barred from everypony alive, aside from royalty. Because Twilight is a Princess now, that shouldn't be a problem. The thirst for knowledge is one that this room and this room alone can quench. Especially the book with no title, leather-bound and old as time itself, surely this book can provide knowledge long lost to ponykind.

Or madness that should never be allowed to see the light of day again…

[Time for credit where credit is due: BIG thanks to Ambrosia_Firehoof13 and squalllockheart for their help. Also, to my girlfriend, for believing in me and catching my many spelling mistakes. Without them, this may have stayed locked up in my mind.]

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-01 20:30:02 UTC

1st of Frostfall, 1567

(Sorry for the weird format, Gdocs doesn't like me. The next chapters will be "normal")

Only a few times in her life has Twilight Sparkle been this excited. Times such as those

of Hearth's Warming morning where she unwrapped books that she had asked her parents for.

Times when she got to visit her brother, Shining Armor, while he was on leave. Times when she

saw the glimmer of approval and pride in Celestia's eyes because of her magical and intellectual

feats. Now however, those other times seemed to be dulled in comparison to this. They didn't

feel as momentous as this current moment in time. That being because today, after so long spent

wandering through the towering shelves of the mighty Royal Archives, Princess Twilight

Sparkle was going to view the interior of the Forbidden Wing.

Trotting briskly to her destination, Twilight remembered when she had first asked

Celestia how the Forbidden Wing had earned it's name. Celestia had simply smiled down upon

her young student and said that some knowledge could not be handled by the common pony

populous. When Twilight questioned why this was so, Celestia said that her and her sister had

years upon years of mental training, decades of experience, lifetimes of knowledge already

achieved, granting them the power to read, comprehend, and tame the wild knowledge behind

the closed doors. Twilight, while she believed she was fully capable of doing as the Princess had

described, trusted in the words of her mentor. She was her faithful student, after all.

Now, all of that was in the past, although it was not forgotten. From those years,

Twilight, with the help of her friends, had defeated the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony,

vanquished the evil plot of Chrysalis and her Changling army, and learned the magic of

friendship. She had studied every book the archives had to offer, searched high and low for

books that could grant her the truth she seeked, and learned what most ponies would take a

lifetime to achieve, in just those few short years. Now, she believed, was the time to widen her

knowledge base. Now was the time to learn the history of Equestria that only Princesses and

Princes could have the minds to know. Now was the time to learn that which only the Goddesses

themselves knew.

At long last she approached the simple oak double doors that held the secrets she lusted

after. Fixed above the entryway was a wooden sign that read "Forbidden Wing: Access to all but

the Princesses is forbidden" Twilight pondered on the word choice for only a moment before

putting her hooves to the wood and gently pressing them inward, revealing at long last the

shelves that Twilight could only picture in her dreams.

Looking around the circular room, Twilight was in awe at how clean it was. In her

mind even the term spotless wasn't enough to describe the cleanliness accurately. Throughout

the entire room, not a speck of dust was to be found, not a single cobweb hanging in a distant

corner. If Twilight didn't know better, she would think that the cleaning staff maintained this

room the same way they maintained the rest of Canterlot Castle. Walking in, she gazed around in

awe once more, now taking in the beauty of the room's architecture. Easily 70 feet in diameter,

shelf upon shelf lined with books staked all the way to the domed roof. A mural of the galaxy

enchanted with a simple movement spell was slowly circling in its natural orbit, a single dot

in its center shining with the strength of Celestia's sun bathed the room in an almost dawn-like

glow. Opposite the doors were two staircases that clung to the bookshelves up to a balcony that

ended at the epicenter of the room, supported by the wall behind it.

Twilight couldn't help but stare in wonder at the beauty of it. The elegant balcony

gracefully commanded attention from all who gazed upon it. As did the galaxy slowly spinning

on the dome... it was like nothing Twilight ever imagined it would be. Slowly, she walked to

the right side staircase, eyes darting from book to book. 'There are so many... where do I begin?'

Twilight thought to herself. She slowly made her way up the steps, looking from tome to tome,

ancient and unknown. Each one capable of offering untold multitudes of knowledge. In the back

of her mind, she was squealing with pure joy as the thoughts of what the future held for her came

forth. The more restrained side of her, the side that had been trained to control her emotions soon

took command and helped her keep proper composure as she reached the top.

On arrival to the new floor, she discovered where her learning would begin.

While the balcony was as breathtaking as the rest of the room, there was one oddity about

it. In the center of it, there was an elevated portion of the floor with a podium on it, as though

lessons would be taught from it. Laying on said podium, was a simple book, leather bound and

well worn. Whatever sparked Twilight's body to slowly approach the book was beyond her; it

was almost as though the book had been calling out to her, beckoning her towards it. It was as

though the book had waited for her, and exactly her, to come and place her hoof on it and slowly

move it across the smooth surface of its cover. As though it was meant for her to be here, now,

with this exact book. Almost as if it had cast a spell over her.

Shaking it off as nothing more than butterflies in her stomach from anticipation, she

shook her head and slowly opened the cover. Written in some of the neatest writing Twilight had

ever seen, was a name. That name was Discovery. Below that was something that Twilight found

odd. In considerably messier writing was a note. It read:

To whomever it may concern,

Please, ensure that this journal never be found by ponykind again. Within these wretched pages

are things that I have gone through great lengths to seal forever. The dark things He is capable

of... they must never be found again. This entire collection of entries MUST never be known to

have existed. I went into this thinking I could handle whatever was thrown at me. I was wrong.

He is far more powerful than anypony could have dreamed. He approaches. For the last time,

with the last sane thought in my head,

Discovery

Enticed by such an odd note scrawled so carelessly, Twilight contemplated the warning.

Between the reasoning that the Princess gave and the nature of this author's note, it seemed there

was a great deal of danger contained in these pages. She should close this, put it down, and find

a different book to read. Although, on the other hoof... who was this 'He' that Discovery referred

to? What exactly did Discovery dive into that caused him to, literally, go insane? What 'things'

did he seal up from time and knowledge? All of her curiosity and thrust for learning drove her to

turn the page to the first entry and begin on what she could already tell would be a life-changing

read.

Looking back on it, she deeply regretted just how right she was.

The Journal of Discovery

An In-Depth Analysis of the

Legend of Sheogorath

1st of Frostfall, 1567

Finally! I've finally found a pony that is willing to be a guide for my expedition into Frul

Lumnaar Bodiis (Ephemeral Valley Barrow when translated from ancient Dragon to Equestrian)!

I can hardly contain my joy! For future reference, I should clarify why I am writing in this silly

old thing. This is because we leave for Frul Lumnaar Bodiis tomorrow and I have decided to

record my journey to this mysterious place as well as conduct research for my book Sheogorath:

Master of Madness. I can't even will myself to sleep. I suppose that I could practice how I will

write the beginning of the legend as well as remind myself.

Sheogorath is a known deity in ancient Dragon culture. He was not held as high as Moon

Fire, the black Dragon that was the first able to unite the ancient Dragons together under one

government and then believed to have ascended to a God-like being after death, no. Sheogorath

and all his followers where outcast from their own kind. Believed by them that this God was

not one like Celestia or Luna, but instead more closely related to that of Discord. However, he

is also believed to be far more powerful than Discord as well as far more meddlesome in mortal

affairs. Dragons would often take note of odd behavior from other Dragons in their community.

More often than not, these Dragons would ramble unintelligibly, wandering helplessly in search

of someone they would only refer to as 'Master'. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered

that these Dragons had completed tasks for Sheogorath, the Master of Madness. It is said that

Sheogorath would offer Dragons amounts of treasure that surpassed their wildest dreams in

return for their aid in a simple, if odd, task.

Given the natural greed inherent of all Dragons, few were able to resist his offer. After

swearing an oath to complete whatever task Sheogorath required them to do, he would give them

any kind of simple quest one could imagine; fetching a book, gathering feathers, or even tasks as

simple as giving a letter to someone. Once the task was complete, Sheogorath would then strip

the foolish Dragon of all sanity and cast them back to whatever village they originated from. The

poor Dragon would then wander the town, wondering what other task their 'Master' had for them

to complete. This was the case a majority of the time.

But, even the Master of Madness is capable of foresight, disturbingly so. There would

be a choice few that Sheogorath would not make useless and insane, rather, he would keep his

end of the deal and give the Dragon what they desired. Then, he would offer yet another deal;

in exchange for a lifetime of dedicated service to him, Sheogorath would grant the Dragon the

powers of a demigod, those powers depending on the star constellation the dragon was born

under. Should the Dragon agree, they were gifted exactly as they were promised. They would no

longer be mere Dragons, now, they would be known as Agents of Madness.

There are those however, that would seek to eliminate Sheogorath from Dragon worship

and history itself. These Dragons, the Flames of Moon Fire, would hunt down and kill any Agent

of Madness they could. For decades the battle raged, the Flames soon gaining the upper ground

in the conflict. At what was sure to be the final battle, the Agents unleashed a power so great,

it did in fact end the fighting. Within Frul Lumnaar Bodiis, the Agents cast a spell that took all

who were in it's stony depths to Sheogorath's personal plane of Oblivion, forever ending the fight

in this realm. Although such an impressive feat had a very high price to pay. The price being

brought about by the tear in time and space, meaning that the barrow has forever been sealed to

all those of Dragon kind. It is assumed by many that there are a plethora of other effects caused,

but none have dared to venture into the crypt.

That is, until me.