Guardians of Light: A Shadow Forms
Chapter 14-A Look Into the Past
-Canterlot Archives: 1,000 years before Nightmare Moon's return-
"Show me." Starswirl said confidently to the white book in front of him, ready to receive whatever truths the book had to offer him.
A scribble of text began to write itself into the book. Close this book and look deeply into the pearl on the cover. It read. Starswirl complied, closing the book and looked at the small pearl that was embedded in the cover. As Starswirl looked into the small white stone, he noticed how hypnotic the pearl looked with the gold trim surrounding it.
Maybe I should get a little closer. Starswirl thought as he tentatively leaned in a bit closer to the book's cover. His gaze was focused on just the pearl, waiting for something to happen.
Suddenly, Starswirl's eye caught something. It almost looked like a small yellow light emanating from within the pearl itself. What is this? Starswirl thought in curiosity, his eyes narrowing at the faint glow. What happened next, Starswirl would never have expected. As Starswirl's eyes narrowed at the pearl, a bright yellow flash filled his vision. Starswirl felt as if someone had just shone a torch in his eyes in the dead of night. Immediately, he pinched his eyes shut in reaction to the flash.
"Gah!" Starswirl shouted both in surprise and in pain. He covered his eyes with his hooves, trying to fight off the pain originating in his eyes. What in blazes was that? He thought, feeling the pain begin to fade from his vision. Starswirl took his hooves off his eyes and opened them. To his surprise, the old unicorn saw nothing. Starswirl closed his eyes and shook his head in surprise. Maybe the sudden burst of light has temporarily blinded me. He thought, opening his eyes again, still seeing only black. What? What is going on? Starswirl thought, fear of being blind beginning to set in.
Suddenly, an image began to fade in to Starswirl's vision. Starswirl felt relived that he wasn't blind, but also felt uncertain about what was about to happen.
The image faded in to reveal a room filled with beakers full of various chemicals and mixtures. Liquids were boiled on a spit-like contraption that hung over a small fire pit in the corner of the room. Starswirl looked around to see glass jars contained all sorts of ingredients like roots, bones, fur, and various other things. In the middle of the room was an aqua blue-coated unicorn with purple eyes an unkempt peachy orange mane. On his flank was a depiction of a red crystal in the shape of a heart.
"In the beginning, there was only pony and crystal. What started as a simple experiment became a grand empire that lasted for centuries. Its impact on the world is undeniable, and its magic has remained a mystery to most scholars to this day." Said a voice from above Starswirl. Starswirl looked above him and saw only the room's ceiling. He turned his head around looking for the origin of the voice, but found the same result.
"Do not be disturbed, Starswirl the Bearded. What you are seeing is unrecorded history. Until today, no pony has known the origins of this mysterious empire." The voice said in a deep tone.
"Who art thou? What is this place?" Starswirl frantically asked the voice.
"I am but the narration of history, my dear magician. And as for where thou art, it is the Canterlot Archives."
Starswirl's eyebrow rose at this answer. "But how can I still be in the archives when I can clearly see that I am somewhere else?"
"What thou art seeing is a vision, Starswirl. Everything thou art seeing occurred nearly five hundred years ago."
"But what does this unicorn have to do with the Crystal Empire?" Starswirl asked, gesturing towards the experimenting pony before him.
"Watch and thou shall see." The voice said. Starswirl sighed and continued watching the unicorn.
The unicorn levitated several items towards the middle of the room where a big hoof-drawn circle had been drawn. Starswirl watched with both intrigue and disgust as the unicorn carried three bones, three pairs of eyes, three brains, three hearts, and three pieces of crystal into the circle. One crystal was red, another was yellow, and a third was blue.
"Now, if my notes are correct, then that is all I should need." The brown unicorn said with excitement. "So let's go down the list." He said, looking at each item individually. "Three bones from a pony cemetery, three crystals from the northern mountain caves, three sets of eyes, three brains, and three hearts from an organ donation center. The spell ingredients are ready."
Starswirl began to wonder if the things this pony was doing were even legal. Stealing from an organ donation center? Digging up a grave for bones? What was he going to do with these spell ingredients? Necromancy? Making some sort of perverse monster? Whatever that pony is doing I am not sure if I will like it. Starswirl thought.
"Put thy concerns to rest, Starswirl." The voice said in a calming tone. "The pony we are observing is Crystal Soul. Because of this unicorn, the crystal pony race was born."
Unsure of what to expect, Starswirl continued watching Crystal as he seemed to be preparing some sort of incantation.
"Now that all the ingredients have been gathered, it's time to see if this works." Crystal said, sounding both excited and nervous. Starswirl watched in wonder as Crystal's horn began to glow a rust red.
Suddenly, the circle glowed a bright blue, illuminating the small room in a soft turquoise. Crystal's eyes were pinched shut as he began to concentrate on the spell. Starswirl's vision darted between Crystal and what was beginning to happen in the circle. In the circle, the organs, bones, and crystals began to orbit around the perimeter of the dirt circle. As Crystal's horn glowed brighter, the objects spun around the circle faster. Soon, the objects in the circle were a blur as Crystal began grunting under the strain the spell was putting on his mind.
Starswirl stood by, spellbound by what was taking place before his eyes.
"And… now…" Crystal said, grunting between words. "The final… ingredient." As he said this, a bright white glow began to form at the tip of his horn. Starswirl watched in amazement as the glow grew into a small ball of light at the end of Crystal's horn.
With a final grunt of exertion, Crystal pushed the white ball away from himself and sent it towards the rapidly swirling spell ingredients. Starswirl's eyes tracked the white ball until it touched the spinning ingredients. As soon as the ball touched the various rotating objects, a bright flash of white light blinded both Starswirl and Crystal.
Starswirl shut his eyes from the flash for a few moments to let his eyes recover. He opened them to behold three of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. Three ponies lay on the ground in front of him. One was male with a red coat and orange mane, a female with yellow fur and a green mane, and a second female with blue fur and a purple mane. However, there was something strange about the ponies that lay before Starswirl. It was the fur and the mane of each pony that caught the eyes of the magician. They shone in the dark, like crystals in a cave. Crystals. Crystal! Starswirl thought, realizing what Crystal Soul had just done.
Starswirl heard a groan from his left and saw Crystal rubbing his closed eyes. After recovering from the flash, Crystal looked up and saw the result of his experiment.
"Did it work?" He asked himself. Crystal ran to the side of the newly created crystal ponies. He looked over his work and inspected each one of them. "Body size is regular. Fusion of crystal and flesh has been achieved. But what about the organs?" Crystal wondered, putting his ears to the side of the red male crystal pony.
"Go on, Starswirl." The voice above him said. "Feel the pony's lungs expand. Feel the beating of its heart. Feel what only one other has felt in the history of the world."
Starswirl took a tentative few steps towards the red prone crystal pony. He took a moment to look at the creature that was before him. A living, breathing creature. Created from nothing but magic and flesh. He thought, his mind buzzing with amazement as a huge smile found its way onto his face.
Gently putting his ears on the crystal pony's chest, Starswirl waited for the crystal pony to prove that it was alive. After a few seconds, Starswirl's heart leapt with excitement as he felt the pony's chest rise, slightly pushing the old unicorn mage's head with it, and then falling back to its original position. Starswirl felt and heard the thump-thump…thump-thump of the crystal pony's heartbeat.
"This is unbelievable." Starswirl thought aloud in amazement.
"Which makes it all the more magnificent, does it not?" The voice above Starswirl said.
"To create life from nothing but magic and organs. It is the most wondrous thing I have ever seen in my life. However, I have never heard or read of the kind of spell that unicorn just used." Starswirl said, his academic curiosity getting the better of him.
"Unfortunately, all the ponies that knew how to perform such a spell died out millennia ago with the death of that young unicorn that thou art next to." The voice said, causing Starswirl's head to turn in Crystal Soul's direction. Starswirl watched as Crystal started laughing and tears of joy came to the unicorn's eyes. "Crystal Soul is the last one to know this enchantment."
Both sorrow and joy were felt in Starswirl's heart. Both for the lost knowledge and that he had just watched a long lost spell be performed. "But surely he could have written it down. Or saved it away in a log somewhere." Starswirl said, trying to believe he could obtain the spell.
"I am sorry, my dear magician. But Crystal died before he could write it down." The voice said with a twinge of sympathy.
Starswirl continued watching Crystal rejoice over his creation. "How old was he when he passed?" Starswirl asked.
"Thou see his current condition?" The voice asked. Starswirl nodded in reply, still keeping his eyes on Crystal. "He would die five years from today."
Starswirl's eyes widened. "Five years? To die so young and with so much to see and do is horrible in every aspect. What caused this untimely demise?"
"That very spell you saw him cast. The ball of light you saw leave his horn was literally a part of himself. He gave life to his creation by giving away part of his own."
Starswirl tried to take in what he had just heard. "How can a pony give away pieces of himself to create new life?" He pondered, still shocked by the voice's answer.
"It is a mystery lost in time, Starswirl. All that matters is what happened in this room and what thou just beheld. However, there is more of the story that must be told." The voice said.
Starswirl watched as the image of Crystal and the three crystal ponies began to fade to black.
Before Starswirl could ask what was going on, the voice spoke up. "What transpired in that small laboratory was the start of one of the greatest civilizations in the history of the world. From an experiment came the world's first male and first two female crystal ponies. Crystal Soul wanted his new creations to live amongst pony-kind. However, this was met with opposition from most ponies."
As the voice's words ended, Starswirl's vision began to fade back in. This time, he was in the middle of a town square. The streets were filled with ponies of all races and colors. Angry shouts filled the air, but angry shouts at what? Starswirl walked through the crowd of ponies to find Crystal Soul and the red crystal pony at the front. Behind them were the yellow and blue crystal pony mares, cowering from the crowd.
"Take these mutants away from us, Crystal Soul!" One pegasus stallion shouted towards the front of the raging mob.
"But why? What have they done to deserve such hatred from thee?" Crystal pleaded, but the crowd wouldn't let up.
"Why should we associate ourselves with these half-breeds?" An earth pony mare exclaimed, earning shouts of approval from those around her.
"But we are living and breathing ponies just as thou art! Why should we be shunned and not thee?" The red crystal pony shouted back angrily.
"Ponies! Ha!" One unicorn stallion shouted. "Thou art not a pony! Thou art merely a mix of flesh and rock!"
At this, the red crystal pony began to charge the unicorn, anger clouding any better judgment the pony might have had. He would have knocked the unicorn over except for that Crystal Soul got in the way.
"Don't do it! Go back to the house, Jasper! I will meet thee later." He said, turning back to the crowd. "As for me and these crystal ponies, we shall depart, if it will satisfy thee."
A cheer erupted from the mob. Shouts of elation filled the air as the crystal ponies trudged off towards Crystal's home.
Starswirl watched as a look of righteous rage found itself on Crystal's face. Crystal opened his mouth and shouted, "Is this what it means to be a pony!? To be of one blood and flesh!? To not accept others despite their differences!?" This quieted some of the cheering from the crowd as Crystal continued. "Because if that is what it means to be a pony, I'd rather wish that I had been born one!" He shouted, turning his back to the crowd and began walking back to his house. At this, Starswirl's vision began to fade back to black.
Out of the black, the voice spoke. "And so Crystal and his creations were unwelcome in Equestria. As a result, they sought shelter. They longed for an escape from the prejudices and rants of hostile ponies. They left Equestria and headed north, towards where Crystal had found the crystals to use in his experiment. They wandered the mountainous wilderness day and night, until one day, they found paradise amongst the frozen wasteland.
Starswirl's vision faded back, this time, showing the three crystal ponies and Crystal standing together. Behind them was a cart full of food, goods and materials like wood, nails, and the tools to use them. The four ponies looked out at a large section of green grassland in a valley surrounded by mountains. The melted snow flowed down the mountains and created a river that ran through the middle of the grassland. The green grass swayed and blew in the mountain wind, giving the grass an almost a wave-like illusion.
"This is perfect." The yellow crystal mare said in awe of their destination.
"Aye, Amber. It would seem that we have found a place to lay our heads." Crystal said, a wide smile stretching across his face as he beheld the mountain-surrounded paradise.
"Crystal, I cannot thank you enough for what thou hast done for us." The blue crystal mare said. "Thou hast made us, given us a home, protected us, and so much more. I only wish that there was some way to thank you properly."
"Do not concern yourself, Sapphire." Crystal said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "But if thou wish to repay me, then simply live." He said, earning confused looks from the other ponies. "Live, multiply, create a new pony nation. Pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies have Equestria, but you, my children, will have this." He said, gesturing to the grassland before them.
"We will make thee proud, Crystal." Jasper said, trotting up next to his creator. "Our children and our children's children will remember what thou hath done for us."
Crystal nodded his head. "I require no thanks, Jasper. However, it is appreciated. Now then, let us get started."
As soon as Crystal finished that sentence, Starswirl's vision faded to black once more.
"Master Starswirl? Art thou coming?" Clvoer asked outside his teacher's study. Concern for his master had begun to fester after Starswirl had not come out to the library after Clover did. Slowly pushing open the door, Clover's heart jumped in surprise at what he saw. Clover looked at Starswiril gazing into a white-covered book. What startled Clover were his master's eyes. They were bright yellow.
"Master Starswirl! Snap out of it!" Clover shouted, galloping to his teacher. Clover put his hooves on Starswirl's shoulders and shook them. Starswirl wouldn't budge. Clover's heart raced as he realized that he had to get Starswirl out of that trance!
Suddenly, Clover had an idea. "Don't worry, Master Starswirl. I know just what to do." He said, racing out of the study and towards the castle courtyard.
The voice spoke up in the darkness. "Several years passed by as Crystal and the three crystal ponies made residence in the valley. The put up a few houses with the materials they had in the wagon and in that time, the two female crystal ponies became pregnant and bore the first two conceived crystal ponies. The roots of the Crystal Empire were forming. However, Crystal felt that there was something lacking with the fledgling civilization. A certain depth. Something that Equestria had, but they did not. Can you guess what that depth was, Starswirl?"
Starswirl looked up into the dark, searching his mind for answers. "I cannot say that I know what depth it is that thou art speaking of." He flatly replied.
"Remember the process of how the crystal ponies were created. They were a combination of flesh and what intangible energy? It is something that you yourself are quite familiar with." The voice teased.
The answer hit Starswirl like a brick wall. "Magic." He said.
"Correct, my dear magician. Magic. In Equestria, magic was projected in one form or another by each race. With the crystal ponies, it was more difficult. Magic was a part of their very being, yet they could not use it." The voice said.
Starswirl tried to contemplate what that would be like. He had known magic all his life, but to be cut off from it and not use it anymore would be torture to the unicorn.
"Crystal Soul, feeling that his days were coming to an end, decided to give the crystal ponies one more piece of himself to fill this depth." The voice said as Starswirl's vision faded back in.
Starswirl saw Crystal and the three crystal ponies standing in the middle of the valley. On Crystal's back was a saddlebag, in which lay something that looked rather heavy. The ponies' manes and grass blew in the mountain breeze as Crystal stepped away from his crystal creations.
Crystal turned back to the crystal ponies and spoke. "I have asked all of thee to come here so that I may give a final gift to the crystal ponies."
Amber gave the unicorn a curious look. "But how can thou present with yet another gift? Thou hast given us more than enough to start a civilization here. What more can thou give?"
Crystal smiled warmly at Amber. "I feel that my time is coming. With that in mind, I present thee this." He said using his magic to levitate a bright blue block out of his saddlebag. The crystal block's shape and size was familiar to Starswirl as he beheld it.
The Crystal Heart. Starswirl thought, observing the crystal.
"Just a crystal? But we have enough of that here." Jasper said in a confused manner.
"But there will be something special about this crystal, my dear Jasper." Crystal replied. "Magic is a part of what thou art, and this crystal will be the vessel of that magic."
"But how?" Sapphire asked.
"I want all of thee to focus on the crystal. Think of every happy and good thing that has happened to thine selves." Crystal said, laying the heart-shaped crystal on the ground. "And before we do this…" Crystal said, a tear falling from his eye, "I would like to say thank you. And goodbye."
"Thou art leaving us?" Sapphire said, her voice suddenly full of sadness.
"I cannot stay forever, Sapphire." Crystal said with a smile as more tears filled his eyes. "Think of this as my farewell to thee."
"Goodbye, Crystal." Jasper said, embracing Crystal. "We will never forget what thou hast done for us." He said as the other two crystal ponies joined in the group hug.
Crystal choked back a sob as the hug broke up. "Well then, let us finish what we started." He said, his horn lighting up a faded red. The heart-shaped crystal block levitated in the air as the three crystal ponies focused on it.
Starswirl watched as the three crystal ponies closed their eyes and concentrated their happy memories on the crystal block.
Suddenly, Crystal's horn shot a bright white beam of light at the crystal. As soon as the beam of light hit the crystal, it began to glow a bright blue. As the crystal glowed, the three crystal ponies seemed to have a glowing aura around them, each aura colored like its respective owner's coat. When the aura around the ponies materialized, it began to be absorbed by the crystal, each aura flowing into it like rivers pooling into a lake.
Starswirl watched in awe as the joy of the crystal ponies' happiness collected in the heart-shaped crystal while Crystal's horn shot the white beam of energy.
"And now, the final piece." Crystal said, straining from the raw magic that he was putting out. With a loud cry, Crystal's image exploded into light, almost blinding the awestruck Starswirl. The light from where Crystal used to be flowed into the crystal.
As soon as Crystal's light was absorbed, the crystal heart began rotating rapidly in midair. Suddenly, a bright burst of light erupted from the crystal, causing the three crystal ponies to be flung backwards from the magical blast. From the magical blast, ribbons of color burst forth from of the heart-shaped crystal and into the air, exploding and spreading all across the land in different directions.
Sapphire was the first to recover from the blast and look at the bright blue crystal. It remained in its floating position above the ground, its blue aura still surrounding it.
"Where did Crystal go?" a voice from behind Sapphire asked. She turned to see Amber looking around for their creator.
"He is still with us, Amber. Maybe not in body, but he is still here." Sapphire said, looking at the levitating crystal.
Jasper sat up, rubbing his head. He turned his eyes to the hovering crystal. "What should we call this crystal? It has granted us the ability to project our magic, yet we have no name for it yet."
Amber rubbed her chin with a hoof. Suddenly, she raised her head and turned to the others. "The Crystal Heart." She said, turning back to the heart. "It shall be named the Crystal Heart."
Blackness faded over Starswirl's vision again as Amber dubbed the Crystal Heart's name. Starswirl tried to take in what had just happened. He gave himself for the crystal ponies. He truly gave everything he had for their benefit. He thought in wonder.
"Yes, Starswirl. By giving his very essence, the crystal ponies were able to project their magic all across the world that day." The voice above Starswirl said with a hint of sadness.
"He did what was best for his creations. 'Tis a shame that history has not remembered such a magnificent pony." Starswirl said in admiration of Crystal.
"Indeed. However, Crystal's legacy has echoed throughout the ages. Soon after Crystal's passing, the male crystal pony, Jasper, became their first king. He and the female crystal ponies populated the region with crystal ponies. Their civilization grew and their people thrived."
As he said this, images seemed to scroll past Starswirl's vision. Images of buildings being constructed faded in and out of the old unicorn's eyesight.
"Eventually, Crystal Soul's dream became a reality. The Crystal Empire had been born. It had the modern technology of the age, had a thriving internal economic system, a senate that was made to limit the monarch's power, and their empire was always expanding in the valley. All was well for over five hundred years, until a few years ago when a certain unicorn named Prodigal was put on the throne.
An image faded in front of Starswirl, showing a large bright white stallion. He had a flowing black mane and tail, ice blue eyes, and a large and muscular build.
"This is King Prodigal?" Starswirl asked, inspecting the pony's image.
"Aye. Once a traveller, Prodigal found refuge in the Empire. Upon the death of the Empire's ruler, he was elected by the Senate to become the next ruler. With Crystal Soul as the only example of unicorns among crystal ponies, Prodigal was expected to do great things for them. The very senate I told thee about mere sentences ago, however, did not trust their new ruler. They did not like him, nor did he like them. He searched for opportunities to clench power until one fateful evening when he would make a deal with the devil." The voice said, a new image of fading in next to the image of Prodigal. This image showed a steel grey alicorn with sleek wings and a sharp horn. Starswirl's internal alarms began blaring when he saw the alicorn's eyes. They were a bright yellow with slit pupils.
"And who might this pony be?" Starswirl asked.
"There have been many names for that pony. Nightmare Lord, Death, the White Darkness, to name a few. For now, we will address him as the Shadow." The voice said.
"The Shadow." Starswirl said, almost as if tasting how the name sounded in his mouth.
"Yes. He made a deal with Prodigal. In return for eliminating the senators, the unicorn king would swear complete loyalty to the Shadow. This in turn, transformed Prodigal into this." The voice said. The image of Prodigal shuttered and changed. His white coat went to a dark grey, his ice blue eyes turning green and red, his white horn turning deep red, and purple smoke seemed to ooze from the sides of his eyes.
Starswirl took a startled step back from the image. "This is what the Shadow did to him?"
"Yes it is, Starswirl. Those who follow the Shadow undergo transformations of varying sorts. Be it terrifying, horrifying, or beautifying changes, his minions' appearances change." The voice said.
"I need to warn the princesses about this. They will know how to address this- Wait… What is that smell?" Starswirl said, sniffing the air.
"What do you smell, Starswirl?" The voice asked.
Starswirl wiggled his nose. "It smells pungent. Like fresh fruit mixed with sweat. Almost like… Dreamroot." He replied in a curious tone.
Suddenly, a bright light flashed in Starswirl's vision. Starswirl shut his eyes from the sudden burst of light as he felt himself begin to float upwards. Starswirl looked down as he floated, seeing the blackness was but a line on a plane of white. In fact, the farther he got from the black, the more Starswirl could recognize what the blackness was. A letter. It was a letter on a piece of paper. The black line became the big line of a capital I. Soon, Starswirl was looking down at the book he had just been reading before being blinded by the first flash of light.
"Oh thank Celestia." A voice to Starswirl's right said. He turned to see Clover standing next to him, levitating a piece of Dreamroot in front of Starswirl's nose.
"What just happened?" Starswirl asked, holding his head in his hooves.
"I do not know. I could ask thee the same question." Clover said, laying the twisted brown and yellow root on the desk next to the book.
Starswirl gave Clover a stern look. "I do not know what happened, but I need to speak with the Princesses immediately."