Chapter 2: The Book
Thwumph!
Twilight snapped from her book in a start. She looked towards her bedroom door. That noise had come from inside the house.
Spike had come home earlier, and gone straight to bed. That had been at eight-thirty. She looked at the clock on the wall. It was five minutes to midnight. Maybe he’s having trouble sleeping. she pushed her books to the side and stood from her desk. That’s enough reading for tonight anyway… She glanced over her shoulder at her book. Chapter 30: Changeling Psychology. She smirked, walking towards her bedroom.
She creaked the door open and stepped inside. She shivered as the wind flew past her and into the hall, snuffing out the candle there. Twilight cast an illumination spell, filling the room with purple light. Spike shivered involuntarily in his bed, still fast asleep. Twilight looked up at the window. She watched her curtains flap in the cold breeze. I thought I closed that this morning. She walked over and closed it.
She paused for a second and then flipped the seldom used lock in place, turned around and climbed into bed. She looked out her window at the moon and stars. She sighed. Today had been fun, and she had even read further into her next book then she had planned. She was ahead of schedule, so, why did she feel like something was wrong?
Her smile was gone now, as she looked around the darkness. She had locked the door after Spike came home, organized her quills and fed and let Owlowiscious out through the study window at ten(she even locked it afterwards!). She gave up. If she forgot something, she’d just do it tomorrow. Tomorrow would be business as usual, and with that, she laid her head down onto the hard, leather bound pillow.
...
She cast her illumination spell again, and looked down to see a book in place of her pillow. Curiosity stamped out concern for now.
Disharmony and Discord; reflecting on equine nature and the Elements of Harmony. Twilight read. It wasn’t one of hers. She rolled out of bed. Right now, she was convinced somepony had been in her room earlier. She grimaced at such a gross invasion.
They might still be.
Now she was scaring herself. She put the book on her nightstand and then, slowly and quietly, scanned the room with her magic. She checked the closet, the off hand bathroom, even under the bed. (Something she hadn’t done since she had finished magic kindergarten!) There was nothing. She sighed, and climbed back into her bed, telling herself she’d tell… Somepony, about what happened in the morning.
As she lay in bed, staring at the wall and willing herself to sleep, her eyes kept darting to the nightstand. The book’s presence was an offense in its own right. It was proof her home wasn’t secure. She groaned, igniting the candle on the stand and floating the book over to her lap.
Why was it here?
A warning?
For what?
Could somepony had taken it out of the library before her arrival, and finally returned it a year after it’s due date? No, that was stupid.
Was it a gift?
What sort of weirdo would break into a mare’s house and leave them presents?!
She got up and out of bed again, frustration mixing with fear. She gathered the candle, a pillow, her blanket, and Spike (bed and all) and carried them slowly through the air infront of her, heading for one of the back rooms. There wasn’t much in there,spike'scokie stash and a dozen bookshelves. There were no windows, and only a single, thick door which she closed immiediately.
Setting the candle on the floor, she laid her blanket and pillow down beside it. She pulled Spike’s bed close, wanting to give him a reassuring squeeze. Finally, she opened the book which she did not remember bringing. The pages were old and tattered along the edges, dog-eared and split from abuse that made a bookworm like Twilight cringe. She nestled in her blanket on the hardwood floor, as she began to read. As she turned past the table of contents and into the first chapter, a slip of paper fell to the floor. She lifted it up to read instead.
Read the following chapters first. You don’t have the time to read the whole book just yet: Chapter 3: Discord personified. Chapter 5: Equine psychology and the roots of division. Chapter 8: Elements of Harmony(?).
Twilight lowered the note to the ground, unsure of what to make of it. “You don’t have the time.She repeated, flipping to chapter three. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but she followed the instructions.
The Vile Discord is a character shrouded in fear and myth. His origins are unknown by all, for he is no pony, and no Beast. Like his name would suggest, his malignant form is indescribable as anything less than an insane congregation of pony, drake, lion, and rooster. The true origin of this abomination is unknown to all but the Eternal Alicorns, who rule our very existence with knowledge, love, and order. Discord began his reign of terror in the early years of the Eternal Sisters’ Equestria, at the time of the great Starswirl the Bearded’s disappearance. His power brought many ponies to insanity, and caused great strife and chaos amongst the fledgling nation’s borders. He was entombed in stone for all eternity by the power of the Alicorn Sisters of Sun, Earth, and Moon. With his banishment, true everlasting peace came to Equestria.
“Earth?” Twilight asked out loud, reading the sentence over again. “That’s not right…” She mumbled. Flipping the page, another note fell loose.
Next.
She obediently flipped to the next chapter on the list, Equine Psychology and the roots of division.
The first five pages of the chapter were merely a prejudiced and poor synopsis of the equine mind, and the typical traits and personalities of the three breeds of pony.
So far, this isn’t proving worth my time… thought Twilight. The sixth page of this new chapter was where the text finally stuck out to her.
The Unity of the pegasi, unicorn, and earth ponies was not seamless, and it was not bloodless. Dissention was present within each of the tribes as ponies, who had known nothing but contempt or open hostility towards one another were assembled as a single nation. Of those who were not present when the Wendigo’s weakness was discovered, only the word of their leaders was evidence that their best interests lay in peace. This was not enough for some, and was what directly led to the Asperan Migration.
Sir Rubric, head of Platinum’s Arcane Order of Knights, Lieutenant Blitz of the Pegasi Army, and even Master Bread Basket, one of the many successful farm owners of the Earth Pony lands, all turned their backs on the promised unity, and one by one, they migrated north. One must ask, why so many could look past their differences, to stand together in friendship, and yet a few could not, instead taking up arms against those that could be their brothers and sisters. The darkness in the hearts of the deserters will never be understood by us who remain, and we must always be prepared for their eventual return.
Asperan migration? Deserters? Twilight read the paragraph again. This book doesn’t match up with any records. Where did they get these facts? Is this some sort of joke?
Again, a small paper not fell from the pages, instructing Twilight to continue to the last chapter, that of the Elements of Harmony. She yawned loudly, turning the pages with her magic as she slumped down with her blanket pulled nearly over her head. She wondered what time it was as she skimmed through the pages. Finally reaching the desired chapter, she read on.
The Elements of Harmony are ancient, embodied by the Alicorn Princesses, and predating the rise of Discord, the pony tribes, and possibly Equestria itself. One might say that the only thing older than harmony, would be disharmony, the absence of these Elements. Throughout History, ponies have been known to embody the Elements of Harmony in times of great strife or danger, The Magic Relics predicting their next champions through their cutie marks. But what of those times, when a Champion is not chosen? Or worse, if they shirked their responsibility?
The Elements are not as infallible as many would believe, and some of the darkest moments in pony history have occurred during their absence. The Wendigo Crisis being the most recent to date.
In these dark times, the hearts of ponies can become truly terrible things: Sir Rubric stole the entirety of the Unicorn Treasury when he deserted Princess Platinum’s court. It is also widely accepted that Lieutenant Blitz was responsible for the death of Commander Hurricane’s personal assistant, Private Pansy, and even Master Bread Basket salted her farm lands in Equestria before she left, in what has become a desolate Badland along the southernmost border. It might be right to say, that disharmony is still a very real threat to all Ponies.
What a load of – Twilight yawned. flipping the page. her eyes fluttered, as another note fell to the floor. Setting the book aside, she leaned over the note to read it, rather than use her magic.
Goodnight.
She pulled her blanket over her head and closed her eyes tight. Goodnight? Yeah, right…
End.