//------------------------------//
// The Naissant Peace 
// Story: Lorewalker 
// by Spirit Apathy 
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Black Ice had agreed to name his youngest son Fortune after Lore had made slight jokes at the name Sybil which he assured his father was female and not male. Besides, Fortune had a nice ring to it and he was fortunate to be the son of a Great Horselord as well as his gift being great, according to Wild Rose.
As they had left the Everfree Forest, Belle Bloom had half the column riled up and a small army had placed itself in front of the forest and were about to charge blindly in to find Fortune but Lore had saved them the trouble.
Of course, Black Ice had scolded him but his mood brightened little by little as Lore and Fortune told the story and he kept a strong arm wrapped around his young son to assure himself everything was fine. Lore had to shoo away Cloud Runner who was adamant on making japes at how worried everyone got. The Pegasi hardly knew when to keep his mouth shut to a fault. 
Wild Rose, as expected, had taken a great interest in Fortune from then on and had given him the apartment next to hers at the Canterlot Palace and had since barely left the colt's side as they both poured over the Prophet's Wing in the Canterlot Tower.
Lore visited more often than he should but he did not like all the tests Wild Rose administered to Fortune who he knew was very stressed though his brother would never say it aloud in fear of disappointing everyone.
Lore had hardly ever touched the books of prophecy or paid much attention to the other four prophets that were known in Equestria, whose powers were minute, but now he wished he could have been the one to take Fortune under his tutelage instead of Wild Rose. The unicorn had amazing talent and knowledge but even Lore saw that prophecy wasn't exactly her field of expertise. No, Wild Rose was a master at magical constructs and transmutations but her rank and general power made her undeniable in her request to take Fortune under her care.
The last great prophet was known as Dark Eyes, an ominous name by its own right, who had taken the lives of dozens of children for having seen them commit unspeakable crimes in his visions, burned half the books of prophecy he declared as false without any approval, and had even orchestrated a minor war between multiple Runs to prevent a world ending birth, philosophy, and something about poisoned fruits.
He had been a unicorn and magically skilled without the gift of prophecy and Dark Eyes had fought fiercely to keep himself alive when all of Equestria turned on him after years of obedient respect. It was princess Luna's magic that had finally felled Dark Eyes and she brought his corpse to be buried in a crypt deep in the underground of Canterlot where no one would ever find his remains. Rumors have it that she had kept his eyes in her room though no one had ever seen them themselves.
Ever since, those born with the gift of prophecy became rarer than ever and their powers lacking compared to those from before Dark Eyes. They were said to occasionally be able to remember their dreams but rarely had any literal meaning to write down and they could not make sense of the old books of prophecy that were left by their predecessors.
"Wild Rose says that now I can have a job working in the tower with the other prophets." Fortune had exclaimed with glee; glad to finally feel more a man as they walked inside the castle toward their rooms. "They aren't very good, though." He added with a mumble. "They have a hard time reading all the books but I can make sense from most of them. Even the ones with only squiggles!"
Lore ruffled his little brother's hair and smiled, "But the dreams. I know Wild Rose has you sleeping more than usual."
"I can't force them in my dreams," He admitted with a shrug. "but when I really focus, I can sometimes see something. Wild Rose calls it a trance."
"She's an evil enchantress, she'll put you in trances..." Lore sang with a chuckle. "Just remember, Wild Rose is teaching you but she isn't ordering you. If you need to stop or don't want to do something that scares you, you tell her and if she has a problem with that she can just go complain to father."
"I know but she's really nice." Fortune said defensively. "She can be a bit intense but I'm learning a lot and I've already written a few things down though we are still unsure how real they are. Wild Rose says there are so many contradictory prophecies that the moment they are seen by a prophet they could be invalid or there are other prophecies who say that the one they had was invalid."
"Sounds like a lot of reading and research." Lore smiled, knowing how much he loved it and how little Fortune did.
"I miss running around with my friends," The young colt agreed. "but this is something special. Just for me. You'd like it, I bet."
"Probably but I like stories more than squinting at squiggles and strange words."
"We didn't find anything about the Whiteness or the snake statue in the Everfree Forest."
"I'm sure you will soon. That's what you're good at after all, right?" Lore winked.
"Yea!" Fortune nodded enthusiastically. 
"What is the Whiteness exactly?" Lore asked as they turned toward their own apartments at the palace as the sun was beginning to set.
"Wild Rose says she never heard of it and none of the other prophets had seen in their visions."  He said, a bit uneasy at the subject. "It's all white and there's nothing but at the same time, nothing is missing. I can move and talk in most of my visions but when I reach the Whiteness, I can't do anything except know it's there."
"What do you mean by reaching the Whiteness?" Lore asked as guards let them pass deeper into the palace.
"Well, whenever I dream of the Whiteness, I feel as if I had arrived there somehow. Like, a time and place where I knew it would happen but I don't know anything about it or how or why. It's strange. I usually do." He said sadly, and Lore guessed that his little brother felt a bit under for the task. 
"Don't worry. No one else knows about it, right? So, that makes it your own unique vision and one day, after you work hard, I'm sure it will all become clear to you. You can't expect to understand everything right away, can you?" He put an affectionate arm around his brother. 
"I guess so." Fortune gave a small smile as they reached his room.
"Well, get some rest, alright?" Lore hugged his brother as he opened the door for him.
"Alright," Fortune hugged back. "Night."
The door closed and Lore found himself finally alone and made his way back to the Canterlot Tower. He had some research to do.
No snake has claws, he told himself, or extremities for that matter.
Canterlot Tower was the one place in all of Equestria where every bit of knowledge was stored and every magical artifact was kept under lock and spellward for safety. Even Wild Rose did not have access to most of the tower and she was the head of all magic on Equestria after Princess Celestia and Luna.
The guards allowed him to pass with barely a glance, recognizing him easily, but the magical doors inside barred his way until he mumbled the passwords lazily.
"The truth of history has long leaked from the pages of leather bound books." The door swung open without any creak or rusty hinges screaming but the ward blocking the Aisle of Dark Beasts gave him trouble as he barely remembered the password Celestia had given him years ago.
"In all dark things lies a reason." He stated and made his way forward until he suddenly felt his skin burn with each step and he hastily retreated with a panicked start.
Many of the wards were harmless path blocking spells but this so happened to be one that would instantly tear a centaur to pieces from the inside if he should carelessly force his way through without the pass code. Lore swore at his own carelessness.
"All dark things lie within but none so dark as ourselves." He always wondered how much truth there was in the words for the passwords that Celestia herself had put in place. 
Canterlot was a place of peace and learning, where the good in everyone was taught and encouraged. It was strange for Celestia to pick passwords that were dark and even unsettling at times. Maybe, Canterlot was just a place where it was easier to believe in the good in people and the passwords were there for scholars such as himself to be reminded that not everything or everyone is such.
He took a careful step forward and this time he felt nothing impeding his path.
With a sigh, he began looking at the names on the leather bound books.
Poisons of the Fowl, Father of Trees, Cerberus, They Locked Away... The tomes were countless and he hardly knew where to begin. Not to mention they weren't properly ordered either though it made little difference in his blind search.
What he needed was a book about beasts that were rare and found only in the Everfree Forest but he found books from locking dark terrors in amulets to theories of burning the Everfree Forest which had long ago deemed wrong. The Everfree Forest could not catch fire or have an axe taken to it.
The night had become dawn in what felt a matter an hour for Lore and he felt his hooves drag on the floor which each step as he made his way back and forth down the aisles of subjects he knew did not contain any information on anything remotely related to his search.
"Cupcakes" He sighed, wondering how he managed to find himself in baking aisle. He was no longer sure whether he was still in the correct wing of the tower.
He resigned himself and walked back to the great double doors that lead him back to him own room where he could find rest from his fruitless night.
Utterly wasted my time. He fumed as he felt disappointment creep inside him. He had truly wanted to help his brother find some answers about what occurred in the Everfree Forest.
He walked by a lector and his eyes lazily scanned the pages as he moved but his heart had stopped.
Draconequus.
The bold font jumped at him and his exhaustion left him without a word.as his eyes began to devour the information in front of him as his heart started once more in a gallop.
The Draconequus are a serpentine like creature with features similar to that of a horse; notably mane and face with the rest scaled and filled with an exoskeleton.
A rare creature with very few ever recorded with even less information about their species recorded in any book or memory.
A sketch was drawn on the side of the page of a long, dragon-like, serpent with a flowing mane and fierce horse face. It was in the air as if by magic and gazing down at its own reflection in a pool of water.
A dangerous creature but friendly and calm when left well enough alone unlike the infamous Discord who seeks to toy with all lifeforms he finds until he was trapped in stone by Celestia and Luna thousand of years ago in the early years of the first Centaur.
Lore turned the page and saw it was about Equinox Beasts which he had nothing to do with the draconequus or Discord. He flipped the pages back and forth hoping he missed a page but his hopes were dashed with ever flip of the page. He held the book up and read the title Scary Truths of Equestria for Minors.
"A children's book..." He sighed and put the book down. "Stories to scare the children enough to fear the Everfree Forest without giving them any useful information on the monsters themselves."
There had to be more information in the tower about Discord but minutes of searching became hours of searching and neither bore fruit. He could not find any more information about draconequus or Discord anywhere.
"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!" A voice flew from the window and Lore turned to the sound. 
It couldn't have started already, could it?" He moved to the window and saw that the crowd had gathered and the two princesses were making their way toward the dais proceeded by the royal family of Iceland.
In his research, he had forgotten the signing of the peace was today and that he had been expected to stand by his father along with the other Great Horselords.
Growling, he took off at a trot and sped out of the Tower.
The Canterlot's Palace courtyard was a vast garden filled with colored roses and paved in golden tiles. The crowd made most of that impossible to see but Lore could see the top of the dais clearly and his father had spotted him with the corner of his eyes and he could feel the disapproval.
"Where were you?" Belle Bloom said in gritted teeth.
"I found the snake thing. It's a draconequus called Discord."	
Before Belle could say anything, the crowd began to silence before them and Lore saw that Princess Celestia had emerged from the large double doors of Canterlot Palace.
She was renowned for her kindness, power, and beauty across all of Equestria and perhaps even Iceland where the humans dwell. She was taller than most Stallions and from her head flowed hair of many hues reminiscing of a pale rainbow and sparkling lights could be seen hiding within. Her eyes were a deep violet that filled anyone who gazed at them with feelings of safety and motherly love.  Her breasts were bare and round as if she was still a young mare herself and her neck bore deep blue gems on golden chains. Her coat was as white as freshly fallen snow and her Mark was a golden blazing sun across her hindquarters. 
"Welcome to all," Celestia began as she centered herself on the dais. "every mare and stallion, colt and filly, human artisans, noble, and our honored royal allies." She smiled and spread her arms. "Today, is a day to rejoice and one we will all remember dearly in our hearts as the day we have finally put prejudice, fear, and hate aside and joined hands in creating two strong nations side by side."
Many humans began to clap and hooted cheers along with the centaur that clopped their hooves and shouted their own approval. Lore smiled at the sight and noticed a pleased expression on the human royals as well. He arched his head back to see Fortune behind his fathers flank as quite and timid as ever but holding himself straight and smiling in excitement.
"Where's Princess Luna?" Belle Bloom whispered discreetly at Lore and they both darted their eyes about the dais and palace grounds in an attempt to spot her. However, she was nowhere to be seen.
"We would like to thank the Royal Princesses of Equestria that have so amiably invited us here today to sign the peace treaty between our two great nations." The queen had begun her own speech when Lore had not paid attention. "For too long we had been a war, for even longer had we remained ignorant of each other. I fear to believe that if we had tried understanding one another hundreds of years ago than perhaps the fighting would have never occurred and our two lands would have been greater for it."
"Didn't they have two sons?" Murmured Black Ice on Lore's left and he nodded in agreement when he saw only the young Frederick standing alone without his older brother Logan. 
Wild Rose stepped out from the Great Horselords and made her way to give her own speech on behalf of all Equestria. Sky Runner had gladly given up his chance for the task as even he most likely realized he'd do nothing but stammer and blunder his words and Black Ice had always been short on words. However, Wild Rose, having lived near the royal palace all her life, was more than apt for the task of speaking to the people.
"What Queen Mary says is true, we had spent too long fighting between us."  She said, with a sad smile. "But today, we put it all behind us, and become friends. I speak for all of Equestria when I say we are glad to finally be able to join our Runs, or Flights, and even build our farms and mills without fear of being attacked or losing the harvest due to war. A shining future is now at hand where we live together as one, we love as one, and we share our knowledge together so both our nations may prosper."
Another clamor rose, and Wild Rose, smiling, waited patiently for it to die out.
"Princess Celestia, if you please?" She gave a bow of the head and Celestia made a parchment appear in mid air with quill and ink. "I hereby sign the peace treaty, from here on out known as the Trust of Spring, as Wild Rose, Great Horselord of the Unicorns, and as a friend to all human kind." Wild Rose enacted her own magic to move the quill across the treaty and signed her name.
Then went Sky Runner and who declared his signature as the Great Horselord of the Pegasi and friend to all humans followed by Black Ice as Great Horselord of Earth Centaurs and friend to all man kind.
"It brings me great pleasure to see this war come to an end." Announced the king as he moved forward and began to sign the treaty. "I sign this as King Logan, Rightful ruler of Iceland, and friend to all of Equestria." Lore could tell the words were not his own, most likely the Queen Mary's, but he did not doubt the king's good intentions. 
"At last," Celestia rolled up the treaty and held it high in the air for all to see, "Equestria and Iceland can join hands in love, trust, and peace for the rest of time. This treaty will be honorably displayed for all to see up close at the palace as we feast tonight in friendship."
A roar of applause spread throughout the crowd and the royal family shook hands, and even hugged the Great Horselords, in display of affection for all to see the true meaning of Trust of Spring. 
War had finally ended.