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// 1: The Chamber 
// Story: The Archives 
// by -Mazer 
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	In a dimly lit library in the center of Canterlot lay a purple-haired pony. Her name was Twilight Sparkle and she was fifteen years old. Every day promptly at noon she would venture out of her dormitory to pay a visit to the library. She had a very strict schedule that she adhered too. The moment she would arrive she would spend exactly fifteen minutes going through the stacks and stacks of books until she had accumulated enough reading material to last her the rest of her visit. Usually she tried to avoid reading anything that she had already finished but after spending so much time in the library, she found it more and more difficult to find new books. She feared the day that she would read every book the library had to offer. Why, what would she do with her time? She couldn’t possible continue reading the same old stories over and over again…
Could she?
This week she decided to dedicate her attentions to the history of Equestria. Already she had read the origins of Hearth’s Warming Eve in which the Earth ponies, Pegasus ponies, and Unicorns were finally able to put aside their differences in order to create a new home in which to live. It was a heart-felt story but nothing that Twilight hadn’t known already. She had visited the Hearths Warming Eve pageant ever since she was a little filly and could recite the story by heart. 
The second book she dedicated her time too discussed the mystical Elements of Harmony with numerous theories to how they had been formed. Twilight flipped through most of this particular book with mild interest. She may be one to enjoy studying, but old mare’s tales weren’t something she wanted to waste her time with, not when there were literally dozens of other books she could be reading instead. She made a note of what the book was about and promised herself to read it in more detail on a later date.
The next book she came across shared the tales of several different ponies who helped create the illustrious city of Canterlot. She read all about Star Swirl the Bearded; a powerful unicorn who was responsible for the creation of over a dozen spells. She poured over the fascinating tales of Cyclone, a Pegasus pony who came up with a way to transport water from the earth into the clouds by using her wing power. She studied the works of Astral, a pony who charted all of the stars so that the citizens of Canterlot could follow the seasons more accurately, and finally she ventured into the world of Celestia herself; how she helped bring all the ponies of Canterlot together in order to build a civilized society.
However it was here where Twilight’s troubles began. She flipped through the last few pages of the book as a frown formed upon her lips. “That’s odd,” she mumbled to herself. “Where is the rest of the story?”
She checked the book’s spine and made a note of its library number. She then ventured between the vast shelving until she came across the sport in which she had found the book. “Let’s see,” she muttered. “The next book should be right about…here!” she jabbed her hoof towards the shelf but felt a flutter of disappointment when she discovered that the next book in line was about exploits of pony adventures to helped map out Equestria. “That’s weird,” she frowned again. “Princess Celestia is the most important pony who had ever lived. Why aren’t there any more books about her?”
She began to gnaw on her bottom lip. “Maybe it’s in a different section,” she suggested to herself. She ventured through the library, all the while keeping an eye out for one of the clerks who tended to the books. She kept a mental note of the time, not wanting to get so distracted that she ended up being late to her classes. 
Several minutes later, she finally found the pony she had been looking for. “Ah! Mrs. Paper! Can you help me please?”
Mrs. Paper, an Earth Pony with a light gray mane, a silver coat, and blue eyes, smiled. “Oh Twilight,” she chided in a playful tone. “Don’t tell me you’ve already finished that book I found for you. It’s only been an hour, sweetie. You should really take your time.”
Twilight blinked. “But I did take my time. I read through it twice to make sure I understood everything.”
Mrs. Paper shook her head. “I swear to Celestia herself that you’ll be the death of all these poor, helpless books.” A soft smile crossed her lips. “I guess it is safe to assume that you are seeking out another book?”
“I am!” Twilight chirped. “I was wondering if there are any other books that detail the Princess’s life before the days of Canterlot.”
Mrs. Paper’s cheery expression faltered for the briefest of moments. “Actually, sweetie, we don’t carry any books of that nature.”
“Why not?” Twilight asked while tilting her head.
“Because they simply don’t exist.” Mrs. Paper explained.


“They don’t exist?” Twilight groaned. “How can no pony ever think to write the history of one of the greatest, most powerful, most elegant Princesses who has ever lived?” She was back in her dormitory, her only companion being a young, purple-scaled dragon named Spike. He was glaring at her from underneath his blanket, his green eyes glinting in the dim candle-light. “Twilight,” he groaned. “You’ve been complaining about this for the past three hours. Can’t you just let it go?”
“No Spike,” she countered. “I can’t let it go. There are books detailing the lives of the most famous ponies in existence and some of them are so detailed that they actually chronicled the day-to-day lives of those very ponies. I find it hard to believe that they would write seven books on Star Swirl the Bearded and not a single book on Princess Celestia. What sense does that make?”
“None!” Spike whined. He buried himself deeper underneath his blanket. “But who cares. If you want to know so much about the Princess, why not ask her yourself? She has never turned down a request from you, Twilight.”
“Do you know how awkward that would be for her?” Twilight groaned. “Imagine her having to rearrange her schedule just to sit down and talk to me about her childhood. I would be so uncomfortable knowing that she had to cancel all her royal duties just to answer some silly questions.” She shook her head. “No way, I cannot do that to the Princess. It would just be too rude.”
“Well whatever you do,” Spike covered his head with his pillow. “Just do it quietly. Please?”
“I am being quiet!” She countered. “You are just too sensitive.”
Spike rolled over onto his back, half tempted to throw his pillow at Twilight’s head. “Why don’t you just visit the Archives? You said that they have all sorts of ancient scrolls down there, maybe there is something on the Princess.”
Twilight used her magic to yank Spike out of his bed so that she could nuzzle her cheek to his. He desperately tried to cling to his basket but to no avail. He was forced to submit to her nuzzles. He waited grumpily until she put her down before crawling back under his blankets, muttering all the while under his breath.
“Ohhh,” Twilight whined while bouncing hoof to hoof. “I just know that I won’t be able to get any sleep until I check it out.” She dashed towards her bedroom door. “Don’t wait up for me!” she sang happily.
Spike glared daggers at her. “I won’t,” he grumbled before falling asleep.


“Halt,” a deep throated voice growled. “Who goes there?”
“Twilight Sparkle,” said the purple-haired pony as she trotted up to the royal guard. He was a tall, muscular pony whose body was as black as night with a mane as red as rubies. His dark eyes peered through the slits of his helmet to examine Twilight’s smaller form. “Twilight,” he said. “What are you doing here so late at night? You should be asleep.”
“I know, BloodMoon, but I just couldn’t get any sleep.” She opened her eyes wide while giving him the most pouty, pitiful expression she could muster. “I was hoping,” she asked gently while kicking her left hoof behind her right. “That I could catch up on my studies by visiting the Archives?” she blinked her eyes. “I promise I won’t be long. I just want to have a little peak for an hour or two.”
He rolled his eyes. “Enough with eyes,” he grumbled. “You know that the Princess has instructed us to give you free reign to the Archives. No need for the act.”
She grinned so wide that BloodMoon could count all of her front teeth. “Yay! Thank you so much, BloodMoon. I promise I won’t be long.”
“You could spend the rest of the night down there for all I care,” he replied. “Just don’t fall asleep. I am in no mood to carry you back up those stairs.”
“I won’t!” She squeaked while hopping straight up into the air. The older stallion shook his head in exasperation. Such a strange, silly little filly. He would never truly understand the Princess’s fascination with Twilight Sparkle but he wasn’t about to question her intentions. He stepped aside to allow her access to the long spiraled staircase that he had been guarding. “Take a torch with you,” he said. “And mind your step. I don’t need you falling down a flight of stairs, now do I?”
“I’ll be perfectly alright,” she countered while using her magic to pull a torch from the stone wall. She floated it in front of her. “I’ll see you in a little bit.” She said before vanishing down the spiral staircase. BloodMoon rolled his eyes again. “A little bit. Hmph. And I’m a pretty little foal.” He snorted.


Twilight did her best to restrain herself. As much as she wanted to bolt down the staircase as quickly as she could, she understood how that could be dangerous. Whereas the upper floors of the castle were cleaned on a regular basis and adorned with plush carpeting or rugs, the lower regions were dark, dank, and rather grungy. She had to watch her step as she walked down the stairs for there were the occasional stone covered in slippery moss and if she didn’t watch herself, she’d fall face first down the length of the stairs. That was an experience she did not want to deal with a second time.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she made it to the bottom of the staircase. There was a short hallway before her that ended at a single wooden door. An old rust-covered lock lay upon the floor in front of the door – having never been moved since the last time Twilight had ventured down here. That was almost three years ago when Celestia had given her a tour of the entire castle. Celestia had kindly allowed Twilight a hoof-full of hours to examine the Archives from top to bottom but even that amount of time was not enough for the young filly to get her fill. Now that she was no longer under a time limit, she planned to examine each and every single scroll at her leisure. 
A bubble of excitement rose within her stomach as she pushed through the creaky wooden door and into the vast room that acted as the castle Archives. She hung the torch upon the wall before using her magic to ignite the remaining torches. Soon the chamber was bathed in an eerie orange glow. She stared at the threshold of the room, staring in awe and wonderment at the sight that lay before her. 
The chamber was massive; rectangular in size with several halls branching out every which way. Built into the stone walls were dozens upon dozens of shelves, each one jammed pack with moldy books and brittle scrolls. She knew from her previous visit that she would have to treat each and every single item within this chamber with foal gloves but thanks to all the time she had spent in libraries, she was an expert in the proper care and maintenance of books and scrolls. Besides, if worse came to worse, she would just have to try out her Restoration spell to bring the books and scrolls back to their original state. That spell was not without its side-effects, however. Too much use would lead to terrible migraines that would render her studies useless. How could any pony memorize hundreds of years of history when her head is throbbing in agony?
This meant that Twilight would have to use her spell sparingly. She would have to be at the very least, eighty percent sure that the book or scroll she was looking before using her magic. She strolled through the dank, dark corridors, humming a cheerful tune. Despite the creepy old-world décor, she found that she could never be truly uncomfortable when surrounded by books. They might as well be her best friends, the way they comforted her whenever she was nervous. Why, the only living creature other than Spike whom she considered as important as her books was her brother, Shining Armor.
She wasn’t so sure if she could include Celestia in that list. While she loved and admired the Princess above all else, she wasn’t a hundred percent sure if she could call the Princess her friend. Why, they only spent three hours a day together and during that time Celestia was so busy teaching Twilight the ways of magic, they never really had a chance to get to know one another. This was one of the reasons was so adamant in searching for clues to Celestia’s foalhood. Twilight wasn’t content in just being the Princess’s pupil; she wanted something more. How much more, she wasn’t sure, but she knew that she wanted to be as close to the Princess as possible.
Twilight searched through the Archives, using her magic to gingerly pry apart moldy books, gently separating the pages so not to tear the weakened paper. She scoured through dozens of different books and three dozen scrolls and while she discovered several interesting tidbits – such as one book that discussed the different spirits that once ruled over Equestria; from the dangerous and terrifying Windigoes to the powerful sorcerer named Grogar. She skimmed over stories of strange beasts composed of several different creatures, to monsters that can take the shape of any living creature they wanted. Timberwolves, Chimeras, Minotaurs; they were all here. What wasn’t, however, was any book or scroll that pertained to the Princess herself.
Seconds turned to minutes, minutes into hours and before she knew it, she had spent the entire night inside of the Archives. Her eyes were growing heavy with fatigue and it was to the point where she had to read a single page several times in a row before she was able to process the information. Finally, after staring at a single word for ten whole minutes without being able to recognize it, she decided that enough was enough. Mrs. Paper was right. There were no books pertaining to Princess Celestia. Either they had vanished over the millennia or they simply did not exist to begin with. 
Twilight pushed herself up off the floor and prepared herself for the long walk home. So tired was she that she didn’t even think twice about extinguishing the torches before arriving at the staircase. By the time she realized her mistake, the last torch had gone out bathing her in a sea of complete and utter darkness. She tried to light the torches but found that she was too tired. Sighing in exasperation, she tried to feel her way through the chamber. This resulted in several bumps and bruises as she bumped into walls, tables, shelves, and piles of books. She wanted nothing more than to give up and take a nap but BloodMoon’s voice echoed throughout her head, chiding her for not taking better care of herself. 
She stumbled forward, grumbling under her breath, trying to feel her way through the chamber. Her ankle struck something hard and metal causing her to fall face-first into the hard stone floor. Tears stung at her eyes and for the briefest of moments, she wanted nothing more than to start crying but before she could manage the strength, a loud grinding sound rose throughout the chamber. A dim light tore through the darkness causing Twilight to squint against it. The light grew in size as a portion of the wall slid open to reveal a hidden chamber. Her fatigue momentarily forgotten, Twilight got back up onto her feet to see what lay within. 
It was a rather tiny room; its size clearly meant to house only a single pony at a time. Against the back wall was an indentation carved into the stone wall and upon this indentation was a single book bound in leather with several intricate designs embedded upon the cover. Unlike the rest of the books in the Archives, this one was in great condition. In fact, it looked as if it had been recently published though Twilight could tell just by looking at its cover that it was over a hundred years old, if not older. That familiar bubble of excitement began to materialize once again within the center of her chest as she walked over the book. A mixture of excitement and adrenaline made her forget just how tired she was; finding a second wind thanks to the presence of this mysterious book.
She nosed it open and was shocked to see that this was no ordinary book. It was, in fact, a diary. She squinted her eyes against the dim light (whose source she had yet to discover) and read the first page.

My Dearest Reader,
Let it be known that thy name is Patience and I have served beneath many a King and Queen but not once have I served a Princess, let alone two of them. As such, I write within this journal to chronicle my time alongside them; the Bringer of the Sun and the Ruler of the Moon.
For they are the most noblest of rulers…
And also the most cruel…
Take heed, reader, for the tale thou are about to partake is not one of merriment and mirth, but of sadness, betrayal, and pain. As the Eldest orders all records to be destroyed let this journal live on so that all may know the truth…
That the most compassionate of all rulers…
Can also become the most dangerous.