Discovering the Past

by Astral Star and Company

Chapter 5: Beginning Plans

“Okay girls you ready?”

“Yep!"

“How about you Dash?”

“Just get it over with,”

A little time before, Twilight and the gang rummaged through Verity’s file. She seemed kinder and more open than her two brothers by a significant margin. She was also very outgoing, and hid little about herself when asked. That is why they chose to question her first, but not directly. The file says she has a soft spot for children, and her many occupations seemed to all centre around their care. They voted unanimously that Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Dinky would make first contact.

The only thing that worried them however, was her magical capability. Verity is a Pegasus, and an extremely talented one too, but her top speed was never recorded. It is known that she also has magic, unicorn magic. In place of a horn, she uses a golden circlet with a purple gem in it. But this news was only unusual, what actually worried them was her level on the Starswirl scale.

The scale measures a unicorn’s maximum magical power. It can be determined by many different tests, but the easiest and most straight forward is to cast the most powerful spell said unicorn knows. The results of her latest test put her well above 2000 Starswirls. Her brothers could easily be just as powerful, but they hide their power well, while Verity’s shines like a beacon in a sea of grey. They considered the implications, but decided that she wasn’t the type to use such power without proper reasoning, and so conducted a plan.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Ditzy are to drop off the fillies Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Dinky off at Ms Sunshine’s Day Care Service. Miss Sunshine was later revealed to be her latest in a long string of aliases. They were to ask if they could stay for the night, and on the event that they are accepted, are to ask any questions about Verity. The girls were happily oblivious to the plan, but the mares were confident in their natural curiosity.

The mares and their fillies were now walking up the estate towards the front doors where a steady stream of fillies and colts were already entering. At the door, was Chest Nut, she was wearing a white collar and green bow tie and her hair was done to one side in a mid-length wave, different to the single braid she had just this morning.

“Afternoon, Chest Nut,” began Applejack

“Good Afternoon to you as well, Miss Applejack,” replied Chest Nut evenly “And to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“We would hate to impose Miss Chest Nut,” answered Rarity “but we all have a busy night ahead of us this evening. Applejack needs to harvest all the apples in preparation for the gala, I have a load of new orders to fill and Derpy is taking the night shift,”

“So we are asking if you could take care of our their little sisters, and my daughters for tonight,” finished Ditzy, golden eyes spinning in their trademark fashion

“Like a sleep over,” added Rainbow

“It shouldn’t be a problem,” said Chest Nut “How about you Miss Dash? Any plans this evening?”

“No, actually, but Scootaloo here just wanted to stay with her friends,” she chuckled, pulling the little orange Pegasus into a warm hug.

“Hmmm, it shouldn’t be a problem. I will inform the masters of your requests, and I am sure they’ll agree. Will there be anything else? A light snack? A Drink?”

“Actually I…”

“That’s enough Rainbow,” growled Applejack

“Very well then, I wish you a pleasant evening to all of you,” bowed Chest Nut

“You too,”

They then turned away, the four mares heading straight back to the front gates, and Chest Nut went inside, slowly shutting the heavy oaken doors behind her. She then made her way straight to Verity’s room somewhat anxiously. Once she made, it she took a moment to fix her hair, and tighten her bow tie. She then took a quiet breath and entered the room. Verity’s room was enchanted by her brother Astral to resemble the time outside. During the day, the room was bright, and cheery, during the night, like tonight, it was dark, and studded with stars, like a night sky, playing across the walls and ceiling.

The bed’s colours matched the scheme of the walls as they shifted throughout the day, as did the colours of the various other things that populated the room. The bed was a luxurious but subdued queen sized four poster, with eight pillows and a stuffed ursa -minor residing on top of it. Verity sat by the mirror, neatly brushing her hair into its trademark, straight state, evenly spread between both sides of her body. She didn’t brush her hair to fix it, since she had magic for that. Brushing her hair was a quiet code for ‘I’m thinking about something’.

“Ahem,” coughed Chest Nut, politely asking for her attention

“Do you have a cold, my dear?” Verity asked gently

“Um, no Miss Honora,”

A smile crept onto her mistresses lips “Don’t worry yourself, I’m only teasing. What do you need?”

“I have come to inform you that the fillies have arrived and have requested to stay here, as you have predicted,”

“Very well, can you make preparations?”

“Already underway, mistress,”

“No need for that, you are among family, not employers,”

“But you pay me,”

“Handsomely,” she giggled “but that is still no way to treat your auntie,”

Chest Nut cracked a smile “You mean, great, great, great, great…”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Verity dismissed with a wave of her hoof “but still, learn to loosen up a bit, mares your age don’t normally act like this,”

“Mares my age tend to do some strange things,”

“That they do,” Verity got up from the mirror and put a comforting hoof on her nieces shoulder “But just keep it in mind,” Still embracing, she walked out the door, hoof to hoof, towards the leisure hall.

*=_/)|*|(\_=*

Astral Star was very busy. His latest experiment yielded somewhat promising results, and he was determined to complete it before dinner. Said experiment was the fabrication of a living being through magic, the creation of a golem. The process was never perfect, and gave highly varied results, ranging from Timberwolves to Elementals and such. This particular golem was being made by using Astral’s own magic as the life source and a pile of scrap metal from his latest creation as the body. The attempt brought forth a Timber wolf, made of scrap. He was able to control it for some time before his elation got the better of his control, and the construct collapsed. Soon, he assigned a personality and independent mind to his newest creation, using a quartz crystal shard inscribed and enchanted with magic as the creature’s heart.

He soon led the wolf into a stasis chamber, a tall blue cylinder made of crystal, and full of preservation incantations and runes, where it would reside until needed again. Happy for his success, he whistled a jaunty tune, and began to scribbling furiously into his note book. So engrossed he was in his latest success, he did not notice when a certain changeling sneak up behind him.

“BOO!” the changeling bellowed.

Astral was so shocked; he reflexively jumped, spun around, and directed a black spear of darkness towards his assailant. The spear passed harmlessly through the changeling and dissipated on the other side, but his mind was a different story. His eyes widened and stared sightlessly, his body turned rigid, as he slowly collapsed to the floor. Quickly realising what he did, Astral quickly cancelled the spell and went to comfort the now nervous wreck that is his brother.

“I thought you learned the last time you tried to surprise me,” the blue unicorn chuckled

Honour Bound rose to his feet shakily and shook his head vigorously. “So did I,” he mumbled “but it was just too tempting,”

“What did the spell show you?”

“Darkness, lots of it. A mare, screaming in the distance, children sobbing, a giant shadow, green eyes, swallowed the sun, then turned to me,” he mumbled incoherently. He regained his exposure and spoke again “Then you cancelled it,”

“Hmm, very sorry for that brother,”

“No worries,” he sighed “I’ve learned my lesson, again. So, what are you up to?”

“The usual,” he shrugged “Check this out,” gesturing excitedly he turned towards his latest creation. The Scrap-wolf sat immobile in the stasis tube, regarding them blankly.

Honour Bound merely raised an eyebrow “Another one? Isn’t this like, your 50th Timber wolf?”

“It’s a Scrap-Wolf, and this is my 56th attempt at animation. The others were made from other things. I can’t seem to get anything other than wolves though,”

“Do you think it’s something to do with your magic?”

A unicorn’s magic is unique, just like its wielder. There are minute amounts of differing magical radiation that come from each caster. This way, a skilled caster could tell exactly who cast a spell, when and where. Each pony’s magic also had a character, a personality. The colour of the aura is only a part of a magician’s identity. Magic normally coalesces to suit its owner’s personality, beliefs, ideals etcetera, but if it doesn’t, that unlucky pony won’t live for too long. Astral’s magic is very unique, and strange. His magic works slightly differently to a normal unicorn’s. For example, where a laser from a normal unicorn would burn or destroy its target, eliminating its physical structure, the magical equivalent of brute force. Astral’s would seep into the mind of the target, damaging it, before working its way through the body, systematically compromising weak points and nullifying strengths, like poison. One of the many things that made him unique, and terrifying.

“Maybe…”

“Whatever the case, we’re needed upstairs,”

“What for?” he asked, eyebrow raised

“The foals have arrived, as she predicted,”

“Of course,” he said rolling his eyes “Best not keep them waiting,”

The two brothers then trotted steadily to the stairs, climbing swiftly up the narrow passage and into Astral’s fake study. A room used as a front to hide his real study, which was hundreds of metres underground. Honour Bound went out the room, while Astral replaced a book, “Necromancy, a foal’s guide, by Noctilucent” on the bookshelf. The shelf then shuddered, and slid to the left, covering up the now secret passage. Satisfied, Astral also made his way out the door, and to the leisure room.

*=_/)|*|(\_=*

The leisure room is a room, about as big as a school basketball court. It was simple, but the various toys, gadgets and various other things destroyed any sense of space it had before. A myriad of toys cluttered the floor, computers and similar electronic stations were situated towards the back. There is an art corner on the other side of the room, which took up most of one side. The place was fully equipped with an abundant supply of art materials that these foals were just eating up. Their drawings adorned every space on the walls that their little hooves can reach. It was a mess, but as long as the children were making themselves busy, Chest nut couldn’t care less.

Verity just smiled warmly at the assembly of fillies and colts, and slowly, all of them stopped what they were doing and smiled back. She just had a way with children, something that her brothers just could not understand. She just started walking around, making sure every pony was safe, as per usual, like a teacher in the playground. She turned to see Astral Star by the computers, playing Minecraft with the foals, specifically, one Sweetie Belle and Button Mash, as per usual, and Honour Bound, making impersonations of famous ponies, currently doing a rather apt performance of Hoity Toity, again, as per usual. She took a seat by the door and smiled contently to herself. She loved kids, loved the little energy they had, running around, worry free, curious and innocent. Sure, many out there do not share her philosophy, but she didn’t mind, she liked seeing them happy, and that’s all that mattered. The children in turn, loved her.

They couldn’t quite tell why, just something about her that made them warm up to her. Was it her smile? Her voice? Her ever positive nature? Whatever it was, they liked it. Soon, story time was at hand, this signalled the foal’s favourite time of their stay, or the near end of their time here. They quietly packed away whatever they’ve been doing, and calmly filed out the door, towards the library. The trip was short and quick, meandering the grand, ancient, wooden hallways, making several turns, gawping at a nearby Weeping Angel before being hurried along by Chest Nut. The Library was equally grand. It took up the greater part of one wing of the mansion, it had the ground floor, mezzanine level and lower archives. All three floors were filled with shelf upon shelf of books, a collection to rival the Canterlot Archives. The foals began to seat themselves by the hearth, a fireplace towards the centre of the back wall, and the brightest source of the library’s dim lighting. Verity trotted over to the nearest shelf and magicked “Ancient Folk Tales For Foals, by Rubid E. M.” and brought it towards the luxurious arm chair where she now sat.

“Now then, my little ponies,” she began “Where were we?”

Soon, the Crystal ponies also felt distrust and paranoia towards each other. It spread like a disease, turning pony against pony, friend against friend, soon the whole empire was consumed in conflict and hatred. The other nations, witnessing the fall of their newest alliance, reacted immediately. Some withdrew to their homeland, to escape future bloodshed. Others, saw this as their opportunity to claim the Empire’s power for themselves. This small scale conflict, then became a fully-fledged war. The Dragons and Griffons fought ferociously for control, while the ponies could not help but fight themselves. Those who have not yet fallen into insanity, turned to the Crystal Heart for protection, but it did them no good. The Heart, normally charged with the harmony of the Empire’s inhabitants, was draining. Its surface lost its sheen, fading to a dull grey, for just as it thrived off of harmony, it choked on chaos. Soon, the enchantment protecting the Empire failed, and the creatures of the wild roamed free. The Windingos, normally bound to the sky by the Heart’s magic, fell upon the ponies like a plague, feeding off their hatred and cultivating it for years to come. The Empire was soon lessened into a barren wasteland. No life grew there anymore, and the sun and moon were never seen again. Just when it couldn’t get worse, it did. An evil Unicorn King, took the war as an opportunity to rule. Amassing an army of brainwashed ponies, he conquered the Crystal Empire, and enslaved its surviving inhabitants. Centuries has the Empire toiled under his tyrannical rule, soon, any hope the Crystal ponies had of salvation was gone. Generations slaved underneath the Evil King’s wrathful gaze, and the land faired no better. For Centuries to come, there was only darkness.

“And that, my little ponies, is enough for tonight,” finished Verity, slamming the book shut. She then sat up and returned the book to its place on the bookshelf. “Now I understand you have a few questions…”

She turned to see that none of the assembled foals have their hooves up. They gazed at her with their wide eyes in awe and wonderment. Slowly, one filly had the courage to speak up.

“Miss Sunshine?”

“Yes?”

“That was the stupidest story I’ve ever heard,”

Verity was shocked by the harshness of the language used by one so young. She took a moment to seek out the offending filly, and to her chagrin, she found her answer in none other than Diamond Tiara.

“What kind of a story was that? That’s not the Hearth’s Warming Eve’s Story!”

“Sorry to disappoint you, Miss Tiara,” Verity replied evenly “But, as all of you should know, there are multiple sides to every story,” she levelled a glare at Tiara “And, very rarely do they have a happy ending,”

“That’s not true,”

It was a different pony this time, a grey earth pony with a whitish mane and glasses. Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara’s equally little partner in crime.

“All the stories I’ve heard have happy endings,”

This drew a bemused smile from the yellow Pegasus.

“Well, except this one,” she added hurriedly

Verity, stood up and walked slowly around the room, looking every foal in the eye calmly. Why she walked to travel more often than flying was a mystery for many ponies. Upon reaching the door, she sighed, not in defeat, but to vent the rising feeling of frustration.

“Very well then,” she said “Out you go,”

The assembly of foals slowly stood up and made their way warily to the door, where an equally wary Chest Nut stood to escort them to the front door.

“Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Dinky, stay here please,” The four fillies did as they were told and sat back down.

Soon, the door closed, and it was just Verity, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Dinky, left in the library.

"Follow me," Verity said finally.