//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Esalar and the Moon Shards // by Ykayney //------------------------------// The spring weather was too nice for Esalar to run anywhere, even in the afternoon the suns warmth was a nice feeling on his face. He casually walked back in to town with a smile on his face. I've never known anyone to live in a Library before, with all those books they're bound to know something that will help discover what this thing is. Esalar lifts the Shard out of his bag and holds it in front of his face to take another close look at the shimmering beauty of it. The shard distracts him from watching where he is going and he nearly ends up walking straight past the Library. Esalar snaps out of his daze and realises that he has arrived after bumping into a sign labelled 'Library'. "Oh! I'm here! That was a shorter journey than expected." Esalar looks up at the large structure before him but is surprised to not see a building like the ones he has already seen but instead this building is made from a large tree, Esalar raises one eyebrow in confusion and enters the building. The inside appeared to be a lot larger than the outside let on, Esalar couldn't help but let his mouth drop but was suddenly interrupted by shouting from upstairs. "Hey! Haven't you ever heard of knocking?!" Esalar looked up to see a lavender coated pony leaning over the banister with a slightly angry look on her face. "Oh, I'm sorry; I was told that someone here might be able to help me with something." "Oh really? Who told you that?" "Fluttershy. I wouldn't expect you to know her, she seems quite shy." The lavender mare ponders over something for a couple of seconds. "In fact I do know her, very well in fact... I guess I can trust you if she sent you. Please, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and you are?" Twilight was very well spoken for someone who lives in Ponyville, the only other pony he had met who spoke like her was Rarity. "The name’s Esalar. I was wondering if you could help me identify this..." Esalar lifted the small white gem-like shard from his saddle-bag. Twilights eyes lit up at this sight and she rushed downstairs to greet the beautiful gem. "Oh my, it's beautiful! It looks familiar too. Mind if I take it a second?" Esalar gladly passed over his magic grasp to her and she trots off to place it down on the desk on the far side of the room. Twilight then began to pull out book after book searching for something particular, eventually she shouted to her assistant for some help. "Spike! Spike?! Come here I need your help!" Without hesitation a small purple dragon sprinted into the room with a panicked look on his face. "Yes Twilight?! What is it?!" "Can you help me find my copy of 'Early Equestrian Myths and Rumours'?" "Yes Ma'am!" Spike grabs the nearest ladder, puts it up against a random shelf and begins browsing the book titles as he climbs. In the meantime Esalar decides to help as well by scanning through the lower shelves. After 30 minutes of searching, Esalar came across an old, tattered looking book. He picked it out using his magic, blew off a layer of dust and read the title. Early Equestrian Myths and Rumours… Hey, this is it! "Hey! Twilight! I've found the book!" Esalar shouted across the room startling Twilight, making her lose her concentration, dropping the book that she had just taken from the shelf. Spike came along and picked the book back up whilst Twilight moved over to where Esalar was. "Where did you find this?" "In was under ‘E’.” Esalar smiled whilst scratching the back of his head with his hoof. Twilight took the book from Esalar and moved it over to the far desk where she had earlier placed the shard. She began quickly flicking through the pages until she suddenly stopped. "Ah! Here we go! The Moon Shards!" The page of the book displayed a picture of 7 white gems each with their own unique lunar pattern on it, Twilight turned to the next page to read more about this new discovery. "After defeating Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony, Princess Celestia created a back-up plan that she would resort to only if the banishment failed. This plan came in the form of 7 Moon Shards created from Princess Lunas original royal crest. When combined, these 7 shards would be able to harness the same power as the Elements of Harmony but with a slight edge that gave them the power to banish any and all evil. After the successful banishment of Nightmare Moon the shards were scattered into the sky, only to return in a time of extreme importance." "Extreme importance? Then why is it here now?" Esalars confused voice spoke for everypony as they all pondered over what they had just heard. Just as Esalar finished his sentence, there was a knock on the Library door. Twilight walked over to the door and opened it to reveal the sudden night sky and the most elegant white figure standing there. Both Twilight and Esalar immediately recognised the figure, with her beautiful, shining white coat and wings and flowing multi-coloured mane, the two ponies welcomed her in the same way. "Princess Celestia?!" Esalar quickly dropped to a bowing position. "Princess, to what do I owe the honour?" Twilight was beaming with excitement; it wasn't every day that her mentor paid a visit. "I wish I could say this was a casual visit Twilight, but we have a serious matter on our hands." The Princess stopped in her tracks as she spotted Esalar who was still bowing to the majestic Alicorn. "Who's your friend?" Celestia looked down to Esalar as he slowly lifted his head up to meet her kind eyes with his, making her give a slight smile. "Oh! This is Esalar. He brought me something to research, which we found is called a ‘Moon Shard’." Celestias eyes widened with shock. "You have one of the Shards?! Show me!" Twilight brought the shard over to the Princess. "Twilight, I suppose you already know that these were created to replicate the Elements of Harmony?" "Yes, I just read that in a book." "Good. So you also know that there are 7 shards but only 6 Elements." This realisation only just hit Twilight as the Princess spoke. "Oh yeah, why is that?" "The seventh shard is the Binding Shard. When this one is activated with the other 6 present, the true power of the shards is revealed. Except, like the Element of Magic, this shard requires a spark, a quick flash of incredibly bright light to be exact." "What kind of pony could produce something so bright?" Celestia just smiled and looked over to Esalar. "Oh you'll know, when the time comes." Esalar returned the Princess' stare with a look of confusion. "In the meantime Twilight, I would like you and your friends to hunt down the Moon Shards and collect them, you will need them soon. And why not introduce Esalar to your friends at the same time; you could use his help after all." Twilight looked to Esalar and then back to the Princess. "Of course Princess!" Twilight smiled as the Princess opened the door and began her flight back to Canterlot leaving Twilight stood waving her away. Twilight turned to Esalar with a smiling face to suggest that she was now more comfortable with him being there. "Would you like to stay here tonight Esalar? That way I can take you to meet all my friends first thing in the morning." Esalar smiled at this kind gesture, he didn't have anything planned for tomorrow and he is in Ponyville to meet new ponies anyway, his answer was almost a no-brainer. "Sure Twilight! If you don't mind that is, it is getting pretty dark, but I wouldn't want you to take time off your daily plans just for me." "Don't be silly Esalar, it's no trouble at all. I love having friends to sleep over!" "Haha, okay, if you say so." Esalar returned a smile back to Twilight as she made her way upstairs to get a bed ready for him. As Esalar waited for the bed to be made, which he presumed wouldn’t take long, Spike walked into the room holding a small picture frame. Esalar took the opportunity to make the dragon into a friend. He snuck up behind the purple dragon to see what he had been intently staring at since he entered the room. What Esalar saw was a photograph of Rarity, the pony that he had taken photos of the night before. "Got a crush on her?" Esalars speech makes Spike jump out of his sin with fear and surprise. "Hey man! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Spikes face suggested that he was a little annoyed with what Esalar just did. Esalar just smiled and nodded towards the photo. "She's a nice one." Spike looked down to the picture of the white coated mare again. "Yeah, tell me about it." Esalar moved his head down to Spikes ear level and began to whisper. "Compliment her on her dresses whenever you see one, and buy her a gift, maybe some more gems? She'll really like that." Esalar lifted his head back up for Spike to turn and look back at him, Spike smiled and Esalar replied with a small wink. "Esalar, your bed is ready!" Twilight shouted from upstairs and Esalar immediately made his way upstairs to the small room behind Twilights bedroom. "Sorry, I know it's not very big but at least it gives you some privacy." Twilight apologised to the fellow tired Unicorn. Esalar began his speech with a yawn. "It’s okay Twilight, I just need to sleep." He smiled at her and she left, closing the bedroom door behind her. Tomorrow should be fun, it sounds like Twilight has a lot of friends and I can't wait to meet them all. I wonder if I'll be seeing Fluttershy or Rarity again. Esalar climbs into bed after taking off his saddle-bag and quickly falls in to a deep sleep.