Charlene thought it was a better idea if the foals made the journey to the front gates by themselves, and they were eager to oblige. Each foal carried two saddlebags, one strapped to each side, with the exception of Sweetie Belle. She pulled her things along in a red wagon, with all the books she borrowed.
The front yard of the Mansion was in a desolate state from last night’s storm. The grass and plants were bleached white, and crunched beneath their hooves. The trees were gnarled and bone white, absent of any leaves. There were patches of scorched earth where lightning has managed to meet the ground, setting it briefly alight. It was a grim reminder of their otherwise mediocre visit.
Ditzy, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack and Twilight Sparkle were eager to meet them again. The night before had been just as rough for the mares as well as the foals. The storm, despite being confined to the sky above the estate, still made its presence know to the rest of the town. Soon, the foals approached the gates, black iron bars that parted in the middle. An opening in the high mossy stone wall that enclosed the grounds. A pair of equally weathered stone statues of the Canterlot Royal Guards stood silently on each side.
As soon as the fillies reached the gates, they were virtually assaulted by questions.
“How are you?”
“Are you Okay?”
“Are you hurt?”
“What happened last night?”
“What did you find?”
“GIRLS!”
Every pony stood at rapt attention to a particularly annoyed Twilight Sparkle.
“This isn’t the place for discussion. How about we go back to the library, and talk about your findings,”
Without another word, she trotted off back to town. Slowly, the rest of them followed in silent agreement. Little did they know that their every step, is being watched.
*=_/)|*|(\_=*
Golden Oaks Library
Once seated, drinks were served, snacks passed round, and files redistributed. Cookies, lemonade and tea to be precise. Luna has asked that any previously unknown information would be added to the files. All information gathered would be presented to the Celestial sisters at the Grand Galloping Gala. What they plan to do with this information is currently unknown.
“Okay girls,” began Twilight, quill and parchment at the ready “What did you find out about Honour Bound?”
The fillies pondered it for a moment.
“Nothing really,” concluded Dinky “Verity, Astral, Chest Nut and Charlene were the only ponies who actually talked to us,”
“Okay then…,” Twi made a note on the parchment “How about Verity?”
“Verity told us a lot of stuff, so she just lent us this here book if we got any more questions,”
Apple Bloom plucked a heavy bound tome from Sweetie’s wagon and threw it on the table with a big *whump*. It was a heavy, leather bound tome. Dust and cobwebs still clung to it, and the remnants of a locking mechanism hung limply from the front cover. The title read “Significant Ponies of the Motherland” and didn’t appear to have an author. Applejack was the first to take a look, and soon all the assembled ponies crowded in behind her to get a look.
Upon reading the tome, they found out a couple things. Firstly, was that the tome was written in some form of ancient dialect. Things like names and occupations were decipherable, but the rest wouldn’t make any sense without a point of reference. The tome, despite being the thickness of a pony, only detailed a dozen or so subjects. The first of which was Verity Honora, who had several hundred pages dedicated to her.
The first thing they found was that her real name was not Verity Honora, but a long string of ancient names. Her full name was:
Veritas Fidelis Numen Laetitia Bonita Venia Lumen Honora
It was quite a lot to remember, so they just stuck with Verity. According to her profile, she is also a weather mare, scientist, teacher, soldier, messenger, trick flier, paramedic, doctor, Arch-mage, counsellor and queen. Wait, Queen?
Further down the page was a biography, spanning the majority of her section of the book. From Twilight’s dubious grasp of the ancient language, she was able to decipher a couple of sentences.
“Veritas Honora is the youngest ever pony to rise to the title as Matriarch of the Mother Land,” Twilight read, incredulity spreading across her face
“As the personal student of Matriarch Amaryllis, she has attained Arch-Mage status, and fulfilled all educational and practical qualifications to become next in line to the throne. She has elected her brother, The Dark One and his personal friend, Venom Stride to be her personal consultants. These two have their names changed frequently to protect themselves from evil-doers. Despite meeting all criteria, Veritas was denied the ascension ceremony that would have immortalised her as ruler of the land. Civil war, corruption and other major conflict has prevented her from attaining rulership. Matriarch Amaryllis faded in enemy captivity before the ceremony could be done. Her power has seeped back into the earth, well out of reach of any mortal pony. At the time of this text’s publication, Veritas has found residence in the Crystal Empire, under the protection of King Arbour and his wife, Queen Dremeda,”
“So, she’s royalty!” exclaimed Rarity, a whacky smile on her face.
“Relax sugar cube,” calmed Applejack “She used to be royalty, but I ain’t never heard of no ‘Mother Land’ before,”
“Yeah,” Rainbow added “How old is this book anyway? And how old does it think Verity is?”
“Well, according to the tome, she was born during the Pre-Equestrian Age. Possibly before the princesses,” answered Twilight
“No,” scoffed Derpy “The Doctor and I have never been that far back before,”
“Maybe you should ask him,”
“I’ll be sure to make a suggestion,”
“Ok then, what did you find out about Astral?”
Scootaloo, cookie still in her mouth, reached over the table and flipped the tome’s pages. Towards the very end held Astral’s profile. It only confirmed what Luna’s research has found, but some other interesting facts were found in the hundred-or-so pages. For instance, the profile confirmed their ages to be well older than any record of Celestia or Luna. In fact, they predated all of recorded history. The only place where they could even hope of collecting more data was either in the Crystal Empire, or in Astral’s Estate.
“Okay, let’s see here…” Twilight read
Astral Star was a powerful magical prodigy, easily besting his peers in any form of magical competition. His magical power was only rivalled by his sister, Veritas and his personal friend, Venom Stride, later to be dubbed, ‘Honour Bound’. Astral and his mother have been at the receiving end of many ancient superstitions, believing that a dark pony who doesn’t belong would bring about eternal darkness. That was not the case. Astral’s magic differs greatly from normal unicorn magic, in many ways than one. His magical power doesn’t come from the amount he can expend, but on how he uses his expended magic. Each spell is masterfully manipulated, accomplishing much more than original intentions. His fame originated from his study into the control of pure, unstructured, wild magic, a huge source of raw magical power. His ill-gotten reputation is not entirely underserved however, as several cases were confirmed of his darker side. His actions have created many folk tales and myths, such as the Headless Horse and Slender pony. Although he has not killed one innocent pony, said innocent pony tends to be caught in the crossfire, and kill themselves. He is extremely protective of his possessions, especially his large collection of knowledge. Most of this knowledge is kept in a crystal obelisk deep below the earth. Not much else is known about his motivations, but he sure can be trusted. Do nothing to deserve his treatment to enemies.
“Look at some of his titles!” pointed Rainbow Dash “Dark One, Death Bringer, Fear Gazer, Night Stalker and a whole ton more. He sure makes a name of himself,”
“Just like some pony I know,” muttered Applejack, though it wasn’t heard by anyone else.
“Who? Doctor Whooves or Rainbow?” asked Derpy
“Eh, doesn’t matter,”
The conversation went on to a tangent after that, forming an argument over who was more famous, the Doctor or Rainbow Dash. Twilight just heaved a sigh, and let it go on for another 2 minutes.
“Okay girls, how about we look at Honour Bound’s profile and you can go do whatever you want,” suggested Twilight
“Sound’s good to me!” Derpy chirped
“Ok then,”
Honour Bound certainly had a lot more information, but that was only because of the many personas he has adopted during the books writing. Being a changeling, it doomed him to many years of suspicion before he was finally accepted as a member of Verity’s royal court. It was also intriguing to find that Honour Bound was not his name, but his title. He was never given one. This part, unlike the rest of the book, was written in old Equish. The text is as follows:
Honour Bound was not born of noble blood. He never knew his parents, and he never wants to. He was born on the streets of a changeling hive, or more accurately, a military complex. Life was difficult, food was out of the question, and water was as precious as gold. He spent his early childhood roaming the streets, trying to survive. This sub-standard way of life was interrupted when the changelings declared war on the Crystal Empire. Honour fled for his life in fear of conscription, eventually making his way to the Mother Land. Normally, the Matriarch’s protection would repel a creature like himself, but curiously, it allowed him safe passage. He was discovered by a young Astral Star, and taken in as a brother, despite his race, naming him Maple Leaf, after the tree he found him under. Astral’s parents and sister did not find out his secret until they returned from the ritual of adulthood, finding your totem. By that time, himself and Astral had become the best of friends, and his parents happily accepted him. Verity and Matriarch Amaryllis were sceptical at first, but trusted him as he proved his worth. Honour Bound’s totem is the Wolf, and his spirit was the Blizzard, a very odd combination indeed.
Fast forwarding, he was eventually kidnapped and conscripted by the Changeling Royal Court into their army. Honour Bound, being the sneaky little changeling he is, played along and learned all he could about the army’s military organisation, and fled. To his dismay however, he was caught. The changeling who controlled the hive, Princess Halim, sentenced him to death. Execution was not the intended punishment however; something much crueler was devised. Honour Bound was branded magically, a changeling’s face with a sword through it where a cutie mark should be. The brand remained on him, disguised or not, and cannot be erased. The brand marked him a traitor to the crown, and gave any willing changeling the permission to kill him on site. Honour managed to make it back to the Mother Land, and sought protection under the wings of the Matriarch. Not much more of his life’s story has been recorded.
Honour Bound is physically and magically, an impressive specimen. Due to the constant supply of love he received from his adopted family, he has grown much larger and stronger than your garden variety changeling. His rapidly growing size and shape needed to be hidden however, so he took on a disguise as a normal pony, or normal changeling. Magically, he has been proven a match against the school’s professors, and the kingdom’s best arch-mages. His magic is not too different from unicorn magic, but was more based on power than structure. His biggest disadvantage is that he couldn’t regenerate his magical reserves autonomously, but required emotional energy to recover.
Finding him will not be easy, as he is a master of the art of deception and disguise. Despite his shady tactics, he has the full trust of the Royal Court.
“Well, paint me pink and call me a pie! This bunch’s got more surprises than Pinkie at a Birthday Party!” exclaimed Applejack
“I sincerely doubt that,” countered Rarity “but you do raise a valid point. There is obviously much more we don’t know about them, are you sure you want to delve deeper Twilight?”
“Positive,” the purple princess replied “Celestia is counting on me, and I intend to do this to the best of my ability. I hope I can count on your help with this,”
“Of course you can darling, but I just hope that all this doesn’t get out of hoof,”
“Yeah, plus, what’s the Princess gonna do with this information anyway?”
“Um…” thought Twilight sheepishly
“Hold up, you didn’t even ask?”
“Well…”
“Ugh, whatever, I’m gone, see you guys later!”
Rainbow took off in a blur of techni-colour light, straight out the window and into the open air.
“Okay then,” Twilight said “You can go do what you want; I’ve got a lot of reading to do,”
With that, they parted ways. Rarity, Ditzy, Applejack and the all but forgotten foals trotted right out of the library door. Twilight heaved a sigh and moved towards the mountain of books Sweetie Belle left behind. The little filly sure knew how to pick a collection. Sighing to herself, Twilight picked up some dusty old tome and began to read. With those thoughts came another question.
“I wonder what the princesses are doing,”
Canterlot, Night Guard Armoury
Elite Guards Sunshine Smiles and Frolicsome Meadowlark were two of the best ponies the Night Guard can offer. As brothers, they trained together, fought together, and won together. The reason why they were selected to be Princess Luna’s personal guards however, was for their unmatched loyalty. Physically, they were both identical. They both had dark grey coats, black spikey manes and tails and golden eyes. As most of the Night Guard are, they are Bat Ponies, possessing leathery, fingered wings, slit pupils and frayed ears. They possessed no immediate magical power, but did have enhanced vision and keen hearing, skills invaluable to a pony of the night. The one difference between them was an eye patch worn on Sunshine’s right eye. Why they were called to the armoury of all places, was a mystery to them.
Minutes after they arrived, a tall, slender figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing itself to be none other than Princess Luna. The bat pony brothers bowed hastily, but deeply to their ruler.
“Rise,” Luna commanded “I have a special task for you, but be warned; it will not be easy,”
“What is your will?” asked Sunshine. His voice was deep and level, customary for any royal guard.
“Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to run reconnaissance,” she explained “There is a group of ponies, claiming themselves to be as powerful as my sister and I. They have taken residence in a large estate on the north-western edge of Ponyville. We have reason to believe that it is magically shielded, for neither I, nor my sister have discovered this place, until we were invited. Princess Twilight has studied the nature of the shield, and has deduced that it is a simple, but powerful perception charm. It is configured to shield all within from sight and sound. Only those who already know what’s inside its borders will be able to enter.
"From there, your task is simple. You are to sneak into the mansion and map its interior, including any entrances, exits and secret features. You may also map the immediate exterior of the building. You must be very careful. The whole estate could be guarded by creatures my sister and I have never seen before, and some that we never want to see again. Should you encounter one of these monsters, you must leave its sight immediately,”
“Is that all?” joked Frolicsome, letting a smile play across his normally stern face.
“You’ll require these,”
Luna passed out a saddle bag. It was a non-descript, black wooden box. There was a metallic jingling to it.
“Do not open this unless you inside the grounds,” she explained “It contains all the tools you will require,”
She paused, letting all her information sink in.
“Do you accept this mission?”
The twins took a short look at each other, then broke into a fit of laughter. When it subsided, they both gave their customary, cheeky smile
.
“When have we ever said ‘no’ to you, Princess?” Sunshine smirked
Golden Oaks Library
Twilight was soon inundated with parchment, quills and exciting new discoveries. Each book was a veritable cornucopia of information. The little princess couldn’t remember a time when she’s smiled this much. The books detailed a whole new, undiscovered world, practically hidden from all of recorded history. The land didn’t have an official name, but was referred to as ‘The Mother Land’. It was situated on the other side of the Crystal Mountains, a range that marks Equestria’s Northern-most border. It was an ideal location, since no pony who’s ever lived has been brave enough to go there.
Texts and notes flew around her as she expertly manipulated each one with her own magic, an extrordinary feat of levitation, all but standard for Celestia’s prized pupil. Using a cypher from one of her own personal books, she’s been able to translate the great majority of the information. The sheer magnitude of her findings would put the Canterlot archives to shame. Now, if only she could go to the Crystal Empire’s archives, she could more than confirm the existence of those three.
A quick letter to the princess would fix that!
Canterlot Throne Room
“Ah! A letter from Twilight,”
Celestia sat regally on her throne, as always. The day council was particularly slow today, so with nothing better to do, she opened up the letter and began to read.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I’ve progressed leaps and bounds in the investigation, with the help of my friends. I’ll be sending over a summary report later this evening. Now, I’m sure you’d love to know what we found.
The three in question, are in fact very, very old. The tome that describes them predates anything the Canterlot Archives have, or maybe even the Crystal Empire. They come from a kingdom on the other side of the Crystal Mountains. It used to be led by a Matriarch, a powerful, but wise mare, who watched over the land. How it fell is a mystery right now, but I hope I can find some more regarding it.
Verity Honora is royalty! Can you believe it? It says that she was the Matriarch’s prized pupil, and chosen successor to her throne, until the kingdom fell. I examined her biography, and some of the details are quite startling. For example, she can use magic, and she’s a Pegasus. Among her more powerful magical skills are petrification through sight and the ability to fly close to the speed of light.
Astral Star is who we must be more worried about. Magically, he is the best out of the three, having mastered every known and unknown magical art. One report even says he died then came back to life. There is supposed to be some ancient prophecy surrounding someone like him, where a Dark One would betray their family and bring about darkness eternal. Sound familiar?
Honour Bound’s biography only raises more questions. He was apparently born on the streets of some Changeling Hive, and fled when a war erupted between the Changelings and the Crystal ponies. He was found and taken in by Astral and his family. Physically, he is the group’s superior.
I hope this report would help you understand them a bit more. See you at the Gala!
From your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle
P.S I also sent a Creature’s Almanac from Astral’s collection. All the creatures that are under his care are highlighted in green.
Highlighted in green? Celestia levitated a small, red, leather bound book out of its brown paper packaging. The title read “The Mage’s Guide to Magical Creature’s” by Noctilucent. Intrigued, the solar princess opened up and began to read. The contents listed well over 500 catalogued creatures, this being only the first volume. Scanning the contents, all she got from it was more worry. Some of the highlighted creatures are either incredibly dangerous, or completely unheard of.
There were Manitcores, Serpents, Skeletons, Zombies, Wraiths, Spirits and a whole bunch more. The one thing that really worried her, were the Darklings.
“Luna?”
Celestia looked up to find her sister, aimlessly wandering the hall, a stack of parchment floating by her side, and a sleepy expression on her face. Upon hearing her name, she snapped to attention and awaited the incoming question.
“Please tell me you haven’t dispatched the Recon Officers yet,”
“Sorry to disappoint you then,” Luna yawned “They’re off to collect their things. They’re starting the mission tonight,”
“Can you recall them?”
Luna shook her head
“Is something the matter, Tia?”
Celestia drew in a heavy sigh, and met her sister’s eyes with her own.
“There are Darklings on those grounds,”
Luna’s expression went from surprise, comprehension, worry then anger, all in two seconds. Finally reaching her own conclusion, she shook the thoughts away and looked to her sister again.
“Surely you must be mistaken,” she said
Celestia’s face became grim, cementing the new danger into the supposedly mediocre recon assignment.
“I’m afraid not. The most we can hope for is that Astral has control of them, and for the well being of your officers,”