Journal of the nameless maid.
“If you are reading this it means I have finally given up and left this behind. After years of heat and starvation I have chosen to die but I feel I should explain why.”
“Not even a few years ago Equestria was perfect. We had our eternal princess, ponies got along, and there was plenty of food. Now, ponies abandoned each other while dealing with this crisis. We are hunted by griffins, the other nations have abandoned us, and there’s nothing to eat.”
“It all started when Celestia refused to lower the sun one day. No pony knows why she really did it but I have my thoughts.”
“Things had not been going well for our princess. First her prized student Moon Dancer was crippled trying to stop Nightmare moon who Celestia was then forced to kill. Not many ponies know this but Nightmare Moon was actually Celestia’s fallen sister Luna. Our Princess was forced to kill her sister to save her student and Equestria.” The writer had paused leaving a few ink stains.
“After that she lost her niece Cadence to a changeling raid on her and her fiancées wedding in Los Pegasus. In fact the whole city was lost and the nobles had the gal to blame our princess for not being there when they were the ones demanding she stay in the capital.” Another pause.
“After all that our princess just gave up. At first she continued to preform her duties with the moon and sun but refused to hold court. No one noticed her decline, thinking it was just general mourning and then, the sun stopped moving and our princess was gone, no pony found out what happened to her.”
“The mages tried to move the sun yet, it refused to budge. The mages no longer had the knowledge to move it after a thousand years. After a few days of constant light, it started getting hot. Clouds were brought in over every town for shade yet it was never enough. Days turned to weeks and ponies began migrating in mass to cooler areas starting with the greedy nobles. Then plants started dying from the heat. In the end, I remained to watch the castle along with a few others as the city was abandoned.”
“After a few months news stopped arriving and more ponies left. Everything green had either died or been eaten for food. I remained to guard the castle and a small greenhouse in the hope our princess would return but my hope has run out.” The journal continued with more of the authors thoughts but never gave a name only her position in the castle and that she was an Earth pony.
“So mom finally gave up.” Sunset sighed. I guess some fans were right about their relationship.
I had just finished reading the passage to her after we awoke in the morning to move the sun and moon. The moon was reluctant to move until I promised I wasn’t going to abandon it and kept a constant connection in the back of my mind. I wonder if Sunset’s going through the same thing with the sun.
“At least we know what happened now. Well the gist at least. I was wondering why so much looks intact, now we know it was because everyone was escaping the heat without looting.” Ironically as I mentioned this it was storming outside, the rain soaking the parched earth.
“Perhaps not everything is lost if the greenhouse survived.” Sunset actually smiled.
I was lucky that Sunset knew the layout of the castle else I would have been hopelessly lost, even with the maps on the wall. When we arrived at the greenhouse what we saw shocked us. Cooling crystals had been piled in the corners along with other supplies to keep as many plants alive as possible. We also found the nameless maid dead, rotting, and half buried in dirt with a note. ‘At least I could feed the plants.’
Sunset teared up again at the sight so I buried the body the rest of the way using my magic. I was impressed she hadn’t collapsed from the constant flux of emotions, my own detachment had kept me steady, for now. Sunset said a few words of thanks then used a spell to make a small tombstone for the maid. ‘Here lies the Nameless maid who saved so many plants for future generations.’
Once we finished the impromptu funeral we began looking around and Sunset spoke first. “I can’t believe this all survived. She must have worked every day and pulled every crystal and drop of water she could spare from the castle.”
We knew it was a sacrifice since the plumbing had only resumed working after the rain began.
“It’s sad to think she almost made it.” Sunset gave me a questioning look and I sighed. “Her body wasn’t that far gone and some of these plants are edible. A few weeks and we would have been here for her.” I closed my eyes and shook my head.
“Could there be others alive?” She asked hopefully.
“Maybe, Harmony didn’t seem to think so but do I wonder now.” The maids journal made no mention of the crystal empire returning. If Cadenza died it’s curse might not have been broken. I shifted from the thought. “Anyway we found our foothold here so should we check the vault?”
Sunset took a bit more time to look around as the rain hammered the glass ceiling before nodding.
“You might want to stand back. I’m not sure what wards mom had on this thing.” Sunset warned and I stepped back from her side.
We were deep in the castle in front of the primary vault. Sunset was confident she could open it but was scanning it intensely first.
“Okay, looks like mom used bloodline wards so any of her family can open it.” She took a deep breath and touched the door with her horn. We both heard the sounds of locks releasing then the door swung open.
“Wow.” The scene reminded me of Gringots, piles of bits were neatly stacked around the room along with artifacts on pedestals. In the center isles I noticed one artifact that finally made me smile like mad.
“What’s this?” Sunset circled the pedestal containing five stones all of which began to faintly glow.
Sunset stepped back while I moved forward. “The elements of Harmony. I was worried we wouldn’t have time to collect them from the old castle yet, here they are. There’s Kindness, Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, and lastly Magic.”
When I finished speaking the five stones lit up and flew towards both of us. Sunset tried to shield herself with a magic shield but the stones passed right through. In a flash of blinding light the stones broke apart and were gone.
“What just happened?” She sounded shocked. “Where did they go?”
“Looks like Harmony is giving us a gift.” I looked at her neckline. Sitting upon it rested a Peytrel containing Loyalty, Generosity and Laughter while I had Kindness and Honesty on mine. Magic had become a silver ringlet crown to match Sunsets and sat upon my head.
“Why did I get Laughter?” Sunset asked while poking the new regalia piece after she recovered.
“Maybe it thought you needed it more?” As if to answer my question the pink gem glowed for a moment. I noticed the the elements, aside from magic, looked like normal gems instead of their iconic cutie mark shape.
“And the other two?” She sounded unsure.
“Well I assume Loyalty when you decide to return and restore Equis, Generosity for a similar reason.” I shrugged with my wings.
“What about yours?” She pointed a hoof.
“Easy, Honestly because I tell it to you straight, Kindness for sticking with you to help and being a shoulder to cry on or bounce ideas off of, and Magic is what brought me here.” I smiled for a moment as I poked the crown with a hoof. “Granted we probably aren’t the perfect bearers but it’s only us available.”
In response all six gems gave a soothing glow that I was right about the first but wrong on the second. My smile retuned at that.
Sunset hesitated but also looked better, “Well I do feel better having them. Your crown looks nice too.” She said before walking off to start collecting bits and a few common gems. I hope we don’t crash the market.
After pausing for a quick water and snack break the two of us returned to the room where the portal mirror was located. “It feels strange to be returning so soon. I had planned on possibly returning next cycle or maybe even never.”
We set down our supplies and began organizing our bags. Sunset was leaving her mother’s journal behind along with us leaving anything else we wouldn’t need on earth. The elements were coming along with us as they would allow us to preform magic. At least if that theory holds. Hopefully they will transform into something less conspicuous.
“If you don’t mind my asking what made you come back.” I paused in my preparations. “From the timeline I remember seeing, things turned out differently on the other side for you. You were still good, but different, for example you lived there instead of returning.”
“Heh, I’ll tell you later. For now we have things to trade, supplies to acquire, and I have a few friends to talk with while we still have time.” Sunset finished by hardening her resolve and stepped through the mirror before I could ask anything else.
I took one last look around the room before following, a strong itch on my flank caused me to pause. We will be back. Will be nice to have hands though.
The itch disappeared and I stepped one hoof into the portal before being sucked in.