Lost History

by sniper567

The Rest

Getting to the moon would be difficult, with my experience in magic propulsion my first thought was to blast myself up to the moon. The propellant I used for my thrusters needed some modifications to allow it to burn slower and in a more controlled fashion. Its ignition system was also tricky, in the thruster fuel was added slowly. In the rocket design the only way to get enuff power was to burn a great deal of the fuel at once. This meant once the rocket was started it would be difficult to stop it.

Once I got the fuel mixture figured out, I started work on the fuselage models. It became obvious that a rocket was very different from a thruster. My inexperience resulted in several large blast holes in the ground. It also became apparent that the amount of fuel I would need to lift not only myself but the rocket off the ground would become increasingly hard to get ahold of. If I was going to use rockets, I would need much more study into how they worked, and how to properly use them safely.
       
        Another method I thought of was to try to fly up there. With a modification to my flight suit, I should be able to travel to the outer atmosphere of the planet. The suit would protect me in the space between, but moving in space is difficult, the jets only propelled you in the direction they were pointed, and I would need to make smaller wrist mounted ones for steering. Not to mention some system to balance them all to achieve stable flight; my gem circuitry was not up to par with what it used to be. In the end, while it was feasible, it would take far too long.

        Instead, going back to the basics seemed to be best. So, for the first time in a long time, I got out the carving equipment. The rune I was about to make would have to last a long time because I did not know how long I would be gone.

        I found a slab of dark granite. A hard stone perfect for carving. It took many nights of planning and scribing, but before long I had a block carved deep with runes and inscriptions. I began to fill the rune with magic from the seven dark gems that hung just across from the stone in their crystal tree.

        My plan was simple. I would banish myself to the moon as Celestia had done to her sister, but I included an extra bit of rune magic to bring me back. When a sister rune that was around my neck was shattered, it would trigger the main rune to banish me back here.

        With my perspirations completed, I set off on my journey. Bringing with me all that I would need for several moons of exploration. I suspected that the moon itself was habitable since I doubted that celesta had banished her sister to a place she would not be able to breathe, but just in case I donned the pressurized suit and brought with me a small birdcage containing a finch.

        To my relief, the yellow bird flew away as soon as I opened the cage, and it was safe for me to remove my suit.

        On the moon I fully expected it to be desolate, but to my surprise, it was lively and bustling. The creatures were odd colorful things much like ponies, I suppose. Deep in the moon castle were tomes of dream mixing and creation, but the Nyx, as they called themselves, were not willing to teach an outsider.

        They did not stop me from watching or reading their tomes. During the time of waking hours, I often found a few creatures still asleep and was able to play with their dreams when the Nyx were not around.

        But as luck would have it, Luna, or as she prefers to be called now Nightmare Moon, finally found the moon castle, and it was time for me to return to the cave. I made sure to grab an ample amount of the various potions and several tomes in the library that I copied. I slipped out the back before Luna caught a whiff of me.

        With a snap of the small stone around my neck, myself and my bags were banished to where I started, the stone slabs now cracked down the middle. I had brought back with me many interesting things, Before I could put them to good use, I would need a lot more practice.

        Next, to the telescope, I built myself a dream pool carved out of a large stalagmite, and overnight I practiced mixing and matching dreams. In my studies, I copied the positions and even improved on them. Soon I would need to figure out how to make the potions without the moonstones as I was running out of them. As time went on, I figured how to look into dreams without the dream pool and with practice, manipulation of a dream without the use of a potion.

        The trip was interesting and the skills useful, but it was still not what I was searching for.

        Long ago I knew I would need more than just a thorn or a splinter. Some chapters would need a bit more of a conflict.

        When studying with the Nyx, I learned a lot about dream manipulation. I was not very talented at it, but I had hundreds of moons to study. If you practice anything enough, you are able to do it well to some degree. I put those talents to use many times in the past but never in any useful way.

        For the most part, I used dreams to influence small or insignificant things, but this is the first time I really put my skills to the test.

        I looked for a suitable test subject, but ponies were too dangerous to experiment on and animals did not have the kind of dreams I could manipulate. They were too simple, too animalistic. As I was flying over the north mountain looking for a rare blue flower, I noticed a group of yetis high up on the most northern mountain.

        They would be a prime subject for testing. Far out of the way and hidden from the rest of the world by a never-ending storm. They were a shrouded, diverse group. Much smarter than animals but still rather primitive, there were several among them that seemed to be more cognitively capable than the others.

        It was tricky mixing the reality that I needed to infiltrate their dreams, but I had moons to practice and many test subjects, and soon I was twisting and changing the minds of the Yeti. The simple ones were easy and fun to mess with. They enjoyed the simple things like cake and fun. But among the Yeti there were a few that had more ambitious dreams.

        One seemed to be a leader of sorts. In his waking hours he managed his village, he directed others to get food and water and made sure the tasks for the day got done. He was also one of the few who could speak, and not just grunt.

        His dreams were already that of grandeur and power. He dreamed of building a great ice castle and being fed boiled pork while relaxing on a bed of cotton, but his dreams were limited to just what he knew. He had never ventured outside his own village or seen past the storm. Over many moons, I intervened, adding to his world view. I added to his dreams not only in dimension, but in grandeur. If he dreamed of a castle, I would make it twice the size. If he dreamed of gold, I would triple the size of the hoard.

        In time he became not only the leader of his village but through power and intimidation, he took control of many of the other Yeti villages. Several villages became one and in time most of the villages were under his supreme control.

        With the villages now united it was not long before they started to venture beyond the mountain.

        At the base of the mountain was a large trading hub. Hundreds of airships captained by races from all over the world. There were creatures of every kind and cargo in numerously equal diversity. At first, they stole a ship, then two, then four, and so on.

        One morning the newly hired guards were patrolling the lower docks, when a small fleet fell from a dark cloud. In minutes hordes of Yeti descended on the docks and started rounding up various creatures and things. The guards were of little help. Within a day the fleet went from a few to a few hundred.

        But this was not the end of his dreams. I had introduced him to many things in his sleep. Among the fantasies and dreams of grandeur, I instilled a lust of magic. He believed he would need magic to further his goals, and if he was to sit on a throne, he would need powerful magic, far beyond what he had seen before.

        He began his conquest in search of magical items, but magic powerful enough to bring one's dreams to reality is few and far between.

        He found many trinkets and artifacts but never something that got him to his final goal. He searched town after town, city after city. He stopped at nothing in his conquest.

        Unfortunately, only misfortune followed him in his travels. Until one day he found misfortune in the form of a rock. Just as the stone had done to others, it brought destruction and catastrophe to his fleet. And it was not long before magic had caused the ship carrying it to crash into the ground.

        Interestingly, it was another throne I had planted long ago that ended up taking the stone, the unicorn that I had influenced long ago now carrying the stone back to the Yeti. Unknowingly the unicorn pressed on with her quest. It was not long before the two meet. The Yeti offered the pony a deal. The stone in exchange for a new horn when he found the magic he was looking for.

        They made a formidable team. The pony was well versed in ancient magic even though she could not use her own. She spoke of a staff that could absorb all the powers it touched. Alone the staff was useless, but she knew where they might acquire the fuel to power it.

        I never intended for the two to work together but in the grand scheme of things I suppose, it would work nicely.

        For a time, the Yeti of the north terrorized only the north. Now with the help of the unicorn, he had much greater ambition and ambition that rivaled the one that I instilled in him, this was his own. With his new glory, he needed a new name.

        He now called himself the Storm King.

        He sent the unicorn on many quests in search of the staff she spoke of. With his army and her aggressive nature, it was not long before they covered half the continent in fear.

        I watched as they traveled and pillaged the land. A simple tactic, but effective, invade, take and leave. I sat atop a cloud watching from high up as they repeated this over and over. Every day I watched as they got closer to their final goal.

        I've seen death as he walks on the land, and life flying through the sky as she often does, but I didn't always see them. I remember the day well as it was my first encounter. After many moons, I had forgotten how old I was, but my time did come just like it was scheduled to.

        I sat there in my cave fiddling with the focus on my telescope when I noticed a figure in the background, he stood there confused and unmoving. I turned to him; he was visibly taken aback as if it was the first time a pony still in life had ever noticed him. I cocked my head in curiosity.

        He had a list with checkmarks next to what I presumed were names. Instead of putting a checkmark in the next empty box, it looked like he was writing something. With a flash that somehow seemed to draw what little light was in the cave causing the room to dim, he disappeared. Moments later, two appeared before me.

        Death covered in his dark hood and permanent scowl, and life herself draped in flowing white sky and a smile that seemed to cut through the candlelight of my cave. She looked at me with interest before turning to death and smiling.

        She said nothing, but death seemed to sigh as he removed a second list from his robes. I could not read the names on it but there were only a handful of scribbles on this list. I watched as he scribed what I can only presume was my name. They both then turned to me, life giving me a smile as bright as the morning sun and death giving me a grin, of sorts. It was probably the best smile he could muster but it sent a shiver down my spine. With that, they disappeared.

        After that day I've seen them both in our world, working feverishly, taking and giving. But death seems to ignore me as if I no longer existed in his view. Life was no different to my presence either. It was as if I was no longer alive or dead, but somewhere in the middle.
 

        I lived forever, that was true, but I grew to fit my power. Ages have passed but Equestria still grows and continues to expand its borders, it now encompasses over two-thirds of the world. There are but a few places for me to hide. A small town now sits at the bottom of my mountain, for now, a continuous snowstorm stops all but the most determined. A large boulder stops the rest from even seeing the cave.

        My mane now drags behind me and mixes with my tail. I really should trim it one of these days.... As well as my horns that curl around my ears into almost complete circles. Even my wings have grown to accommodate my new height and size. I'm no longer the size of a pony, or for that matter a horse.

        But my physical size is the least of my issues now. My eyes glow slightly with the accumulated magic of my life. The magic itself has carved its way deep into my skin, changing the color or my coat and covering me in the twisted brambles of my past.

        I can't die now that death has crossed me off his list, but perhaps I will be consumed by magic? Who knows what awaits me at the end of time?

In my studies of the library of Tartarus I came across many things, but none more intriguing than the idea of using one's very life to power magic; although I suppose both I and Star Swirl had come to the same conclusion some moons ago, here it was, written down and experimented with.

It was only now that I realized what the red stone I had plucked from the test chamber actually was.

A book from the library spoke of creatures with powerful magic summoned or created, but too powerful to be contained by normal means. The wizards of the school cast them into stones and with practice, used the creature's powers as their own.

The book spoke of one such creature named Cosmos, that was so powerful they had to cast her into six gems. But when they tried to use these gems, many of the students became enamored and unable to do their work.

Being cast into a gem stopped most from having any control, but even in the divided state the monster that was split 6 ways still had some leeway. The wizards realizing the power of these gems were prepared to act, but not before the gems started to overtake the school.

Before long the hallways had been ravaged, the classrooms and libraries lay empty. She had almost complete control, and it wouldn't be long till she escaped Tartarus if nothing was done. She was bound to the gems but no longer where the gems in control. The wizards summoned one last creature to aid them. A creature of pure discord. They offered him his own realm and treasures beyond belief, all in the hopes that he would help them.

With the magic of the remaining wizards and with the help of the creature they cast Cosmos back into the gems, and banished the gems into the sky where they formed a heart-shaped constellation. The constellation did not glow with the warm light of the sun, though. It burned with malice as if she was waiting for her revenge.

If I remember correctly, the constellation disappeared some time ago. Perhaps it was knocked out of the sky by a meteor? Regardless, I hope the gems are never joined. The wizards in the book were powerful, more so than those that walk the world today. If she were to escape her prison, I'm not sure any pony could put her back.

        It's been moons since I left the book for Twilight to find, but it was not soon after I left the book that the princesses retired and left her in charge of the kingdom. I doubt she has had time to read or to do anything fun for many moons.

        To my surprise. I strolled into my cave late one night, after visiting the giraffe of the plains, and there it was, the sister book to the one I left in the castle all those years ago. It occurred to me that the princes had been vacant for several days leaving the duties of Canterlot to others. Perhaps they finally forced her on a vacation, or she locked herself in a library again.

        Try as I might, there sat the book, pulsating light coming from the runes on its spine. I had much to do that night, but the temptation was too great. I dropped my haul on the ground and approached the book.

        The words were simple and precise, clearly the work of someone who had to get back to their work.

        As soon as I finished the last sentence, I set the book down. I hastily put away my supplies and gathered my bags. I was unsure how long I would be gone this time, but I spread my wings and with a great down flap that shook the ground, rocketed into the sky with great enthusiasm.

        Time was not important to me anymore, but I certainly didn't want to be late for my meeting with the princesses.

It's been many moons, ages have passed. The world is now fully encompassed by life, mixed and varied, all types of creatures roam in harmony and friendship. The world is very different from the one I grew up in, modernized and mechanized.

I've probably been forgotten long ago. It was only a few hundred moons that I helped the princesses with development. I taught them much about magic manipulation, but I soon became outpaced by the younger minds. They told me I was still valuable to the research, but the scientists and engineers were developing things faster then they could write it down.

I decided the best thing was to leave my library of knowledge for them to dig through.

I sought a new home on the moon where I could watch them develop in peace. It's been moons since I have left. My body has grown more, developing a build which was hard to get used to. My mane now drags far behind me and I haven't trimmed my horns in a long time. Luckily there are no trees to get snagged on up here.

The princesses’ title has been passed down from generation to generation. But here I remain, lost once more to history and myth.