//------------------------------//
// Study 
// Story: The Journal of Sombra Lucent 
// by JitterbugJive 
//------------------------------//



Entry 4

I have returned to my study tower in the Crystal Empire. Nothing has changed since I’d left on my journey, the citizens are still fools, loafing about with not a care in the world while I myself have toiled away in my studies, trying to find a solution for them. It’s as if their joys and festivities are the only things that matter to them.

I feel like the last of my kind in this land, the only one who still cares about magic and progress. A unicorn should take pride in their magic, not laze about eating crystal berries and sipping nectar all day! The crystal provides everything they’ll ever need, they claim. They needn’t worry about the trivial things. Their task in protecting Equestria should be important enough. Well, I disagree completely.

Even the pegasi are mere shadows of what a true pegasus should be. I’ve seen them, out in that vast world. Pegasi who are strong warriors, the keepers of the skies, controlling the very elements themselves! But not so in the Crystal Empire, where the crystal provides everything for us. The Crystal gives us good weather, shelters us from the harsh cold beyond our borders, covers our coats in a protective shine. And what’s more pathetic is the fact that the crystal pegasi are still clinging to their roots, engaging in the false battles of jousting. To think, I used to enjoy such a sport until I realized that it was a desperate mimicry of a once proud past.

Perhaps I am giving myself false hope and high expectations, but I long to find answers in these dark pages. If I can find the origins of our crystal, then maybe our empire can finally escape their ignorance.

Entry 5

Astounding. That’s the only word I can think to describe what I have found so far in the pages of the dark book. I’ve found nothing yet on the Crystal Heart, but it appears that this book is a document of ancient spells from the days of Chaos’ Reign when unicorn magic was stripped away from the lands.

A small group of rebel unicorns gathered to search for alternate means of magic in order to rise up against the Overlord, and in their journey discovered the gates to Tartarus.

Now, this is fascinating because these days, Tartarus is common knowledge. They say the gates are guarded by a giant three headed beast known as Cerberus, and that none shall enter or leave those doors. What lies beyond the gate is a portal to another side of our world, or that’s what the legend states. It is all speculation on exactly what this other world contains. Some say it’s a pathway to the underworld where the dead’s souls lay to rest, others say it’s a prison to ancient titans and demons, or perhaps a portal to the damned… No matter what story one may hear, nothing good is contained beyond those gates, and should the gates open without a guardian, it is said that our own world could be wrought with destruction and evil beyond anything it has ever seen.

And yet… these pages seem to claim otherwise… No pony had ever seen the gates before, and what I found strange was that the Guardian of the Gates was so much wilder than what we see now. Cerberus had no chains, no collars, it simply guarded the gate with a driven ferocity, and this is what convinced the unicorns to believe whatever it guarded was of the utmost importance. Through great toiling, they managed to overcome the beast by tricking it in to drinking a large vat of milk taken from an Ursa Major and laced with a powerful sleeping herb.

The details of their journey in to the Otherworld as they called it were scarce, and frustratingly vague… They lost many on their journey, leaving only three to remain. But it did not leave them empty hooved. Scrolls. They had found many spell scrolls, and barely managed to escape with them before Cerberus awoke once more.

I find myself quite weary after reading this far. If I turn the page, I myself may be able to gaze upon the details of these scrolls, but there is something draining my energy, tugging me away.

I must be tired, I have been practically devouring this book since early morn. I shall rest now and continue my studies when I am refreshed.

Entry 6

This magic is beyond anything I had ever witnessed. Yes, magic that comes from another source altogether! I’ve returned to my studies, and I am so very close to discovering something I never would have dreamed of. The ancient spells contained within these pages were said to be powerful enough to destroy the Overlord if only they were given the proper substance. The three surviving unicorns were only amateurs at best, but even they were able to draw on a magic more powerful than anything they ever once knew. There was no way the Lord Discord could face such a magic, and they had hoped even with their limited knowledge that they could somehow rise up and use this magic to destroy him.

But fate was not kind to them. They could not harness this magic properly, as it was a new substance with many consequences. One of the unicorns lost her sanity and sealed herself away after she had used the spell they had dubbed ‘The Door to Answers’. The second unicorn was foolish and cast a spell that was levels beyond what he was ready for, and as a result his entire body was hardened from the inside out until he was nothing but black obsidian glass. It was only the last remaining unicorn of the group who seemed to know how to harness this magic at safe levels and use it wisely, and his notes were the most reliable I’ve found so far.

I’m going to try to activate the first spell.

Entry 7

I did it.

Through much strain and concentration, I managed to activate the hidden magic within me.

I can’t say it wasn’t draining to use, though. I only used it for a moment, and yet… It feels as if my magic were sapped out. I can still use my normal magic fine, oddly enough, but it doesn’t feel the same any more. It feels so mundane, so useless… Whatever power is in this new magic, it must be strong and I want to know more.

But I’m so tired.

I have closed the book for now. My studies will continue at a later time, perhaps I am missing something in this book.