Gray Joy, son of a former navy pegasus and a mysterious Zebra mare who kept well to herself. Brother to a well-respected pegasus Major in Celestia's Royal Guard. A respected, yet low ranking, a stallion in Luna's Royal Guard. Or he was, at least. Today was his last day and it was nearly over. Here he stood, flanked by several colleagues, likewise former Luna guards, all going their separate ways. Two of them into continued service, but not Gray Joy. He was heading home after 6 years of service, honorably discharged. Honored even more than he felt he deserved, handed his decoration of meritorious service by Princess Luna herself. He knew he must've flushed when the Princess announced his name among the others. One of a list of names but he was humbled to be honored like that. He had never done anything but quietly and faithfully, serve Equestria. His friends rolled their eyes as they marched into the Canterlot library, hooves clicking gently on the floors as they walked inside. Gray Joy's eyes lit up as they scanned over the huge, towering walls of books, smiling brightly as his eyes scanned over the other ponies in the room including a cute little unicorn in a chair that was much too big for her, surrounded by books. Only visible over the edge of the book, because of the adorable ribbon in her mane and the small glowing horn that poked up in front over it. The pony looked quite young but the titles around her were true classics of the greatest pony authors in Equestrian history. He mouthed the word "wow" toward the librarian who gave a twinkle-eyed grin as she looked at the little ribbon-wearing unicorn and nodded with a truly affectionate look as if that little unicorn were her favorite part of the library. Gray trotted to her and asked very softly for directions to the old archives, not needing to explain why as he still wore his Luna Guard armor. She checked a memorandum nearby and, her eyes filling with knowing recognition, she smiled.
"Private First Class, or… is it just… Mister?" She paused.
"Just Mister is fine Miss," he replied with a soft respectful tone and a slight blush.
"Mister Gray Joy." She nodded, blushing slightly as well.
After a pause, broken by Gray Joy's mare companion clearing her throat, the librarian and Gray Joy both blushed and shifted slightly. Then slowly, quietly, she nodded and pointed toward his destination, indicating directional signs on the wall as well
After only a moment of trotting, Gray Joy found and began slowly walking through, the oldest archive of the Canterlot library. His armor clanked so loudly that he finally stopped and carefully removed it, placing it in a neat pile near a bookshelf on the floor. Then he continued browsing, afforded this chance to take, and keep, a single book from the archives in recognition for his time in service. Slowly, carefully, he looked at the shelves. His hoof trailed along the shelf itself, under a line of books until he finally saw one labeled
Clover the Clever
Recalling the name made him pause and he pulled it out, to take a peek.
And the Trouble with Tribbles
He shrugged, moving to put it back but paused as he noticed a book on its side behind the others. He carefully sat the first book down and pulled out a few more so he could slide the fallen book out. The spine was blank, but beautiful, in the binding of leather with ornate gold inlaid in lines across it. He turned over to the cover and looked carefully. The only thing on the cover was an intricate design. It looked like a cutie mark forged from some sort of metal and embedded in the leather of the cover. A large golden rimmed purple heart with the golden profile of a regal Alicorn stallion in the center of it wreathed in matching golden laurels. Tilting his head, he opened it to read the first page, where he found, in a beautiful golden script:
Here follows the account of the Alicorn General Starheart & his service to the Royal Sisters
Then in beautiful golden print under that
Dictated by
Starswirl the Bearded
Princess Luna
Princess Celestia
General Starheart.
all lined up in a column in the center of the page. Then, under all that even further still, at the bottom of the page
Scribed by Clover the Clever
Gray Joy's eyes widened in shock, and without thinking, he muttered aloud "Who is this General Starheart? What could he have done with such famous ponies?!" Suddenly he heard a noise like a pony clearing their throat and turned to look. His colleagues, the orange mare named Lily and a light brown stallion named Flash. He put the book down and replaced the others on the shelf before then scurrying back over to put his armor back on and put the strange book in his saddlebag. "R-right. Sorry you two," he said sheepishly. "Let's get going." As they walked together he looked at them. "You two didn't have to come with me. I know you're still gonna be guards for some time." He perked, smiling a bit. "By the way, Flash, did you get that transfer yet?"
Grinning broadly, Flash smiled. "Yep, I'm gonna be transferred up to the Crystal Empire with Captain Armor." He beamed.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, you're just happy you get to ogle Princess Cadance," she said with a scoff and a little huff. The slightest hint of a blush visible through the visor on her helmet
Both the stallions stared at her for a moment and grinned. Gray Joy nudging Lily slightly "Careful there, Lily. Your jealousy is showing."
She blushed darkly and started to protest but both of the stallions took off at once galloping away. "Y-YOU JERKS!" she barked as she started to run after them to the chagrin, stern looks, and sounds of harsh shushing echoing after the three.
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Sometime Later...
Gray Joy had packed the last of his things into his last box and said farewell to his colleagues, both off to their new posts. Dwelling on this thought whimsically, he picked up the box and carried it outside, stacking it with the other boxes outside the door of his quarters to wait for his carriage to arrive. After only a moment a very sturdy, mildly menacing, stallion with an eye patch appeared, pulling a large heavy carriage and smoking a cigar. He paused, pulling the cigar out of his mouth. He exhaled and looked at Gray Joy.
"Kept you waiting, huh?" he asked in a deep gravelly voice as he moved to unhitch himself and help Gray Joy load the boxes into the carriage. When it was secured, both he and the gruff stallion trotted around, Gray climbing into the carriage, and the stallion hitching himself back up. With a soft grunt, the driver took off.
"You sure it's not too far, sir?" Gray Joy asked.
The very sturdy stallion turned his head. "No problem. I've run the Iditarod for years, and besides, you're paid up enough to go to Manehatten and back twice."
Gray Joy gave a sheepish grin. "Oh? Who paid my fare?"
The stallion looked back forward again "One of your fans," he said calmly. Then with a friendly nod, the stallion pulling the carriage took off at a brisk trot, pulling Gray Joy along.
Gray Joy remembered the book and retrieved it from his saddlebag, then opened it to start reading. His eyes fixed on the words, he could feel a strange tingle in his hoof as it trailed across the page.
_____________________
"Stop playing with that thing."
"I've just got to adjust this."
"Bring me the enchantment calculations, NOW!"
"They're already done."
"I think...it was raining. The day I met the General. He came from the same land the sisters came from. Though despite years of questioning none of them would reveal any details of the land of their birth. Only that the sisters had ways of communication with those who stayed behind."
"Sir, the quill is taking down everything you're saying and there is only so much ink."
"Ahem, right. Well, it was only a few weeks ago now. The Calamity that was a blight on Equestria. It seemed to appear out of nowhere, sweeping in from some other world. A horrible, sentient creature of pure malignancy like some sort of repugnant ooze. A blob of pure evil that could sap the very life and joy out of a pony's heart. At least that's what he told me. That it felt like being dragged into the depths of all that is cold and barren, like frozen pitch-black quicksand. 'The very warmth of my blood seems stolen away,' he told me. It was pure, all-consuming, devastation. Unfiltered and undeterred by anything like a consciousness. Traditional weapons did not affect the creature, and any pony who made physical contact with the creature later told us something just like The General. It wasn't like feeling sad or depressed. It was deeper. Like the very concept of love, happiness, and joy were being drained out of them to leave only the very worst feelings and memories behind."
"I don't understand, sir, how could something like that be-"
"Please, Clover. I'll get to that. Let me finish."
"Y-yes, sir."
"The sisters. They saw the devastation, the aftermath. The land… everything the creature touched was scorched, lifeless. The ponies utterly hollowed by the encounter. It took a combination of magic, Eastern potions, and the combined efforts of Alicorns and Zebras to undo the effects. The sisters knew that they needed to take care of the Calamity fast but do so in a way that minimized further pony harm. They sent for me and the General..."
______________________________
The carriage slammed over a bump and Gray Joy was jolted out of reading the words on the page. Or… He paused, trying to figure out if he had read them or if they read themselves to him. He took a peek at the stallion pulling the cart. The question on his lips, but he simply swallowed the words back down. "I just got a little into it, It happens all the time with a good book," he thought. Sometimes it feels like the words are just reading themselves off the page to you. "They must've used, some kinda enchanted quill to just write everything they were saying." He grinned happily, intrigued by the idea, rubbing his hoof over the letters on the page carefully. "Was this Clover and Starswirl talking?" He mused, looking off at the scenery on one side of the road. As the road from Canterlot to his mother's residence passed by, his eyes grew heavy. He barely managed to slip the book back into his bag before he fell asleep.