Chapter 1: The Journal
Rune put the letter down and immediately looked through the book for an explanation. What he found instead was Princess Twilight’s personal thoughts. “Wha-… this is… This is the princess’s diary!” he exclaimed, his eyes getting wide. He’d always hoped she would tell him why she was upset so much, and here laid the answer. Without another thought, he quickly found the latest entry, apparently written just before he’d entered her study.
This isn’t what I’d expected when I agreed to take your place as Princess…My friends are gone… All I have is my student, young Rune Sigilsign. He reminds me of when I was your student. How I’d stay shut in my own little world, oblivious to the troubles and happiness around me. I think I’ll send him to Ponyville, like you did with me. Maybe he’ll make more friends.
I wish I could see my friends again. See Rarity and Applejack arguing over silly things, or Fluttershy’s warm smile, or attend another famous Pinkie Pie party, or hear Rainbow Dash’s determined voice just one more time… Or even have something more to remember them by… it’s been so long since I’ve seen them… all I have of them is pictures and memories…
There are only three days until the Summer Sun Celebration. I have to attend to many things to prepare for the trip to Ponyville… I haven’t been there in years. I wonder what changes have been made since my last visit. For now I must ask Rune to look over preparations in Ponyville.
The entry ended there, and Rune guessed she had stopped to wait for him to arrive. He was just about to flip back a few pages to read more when the door opened.
“Rune? What are you still doing in-“
Rune quickly turned around and saw Princess Twilight at the door, staring at the book. Oh no I’m caught! Rune quickly looked around before Twilight spoke up again.
“Rune, were you reading that book?” she asked, looking directly at him. Rune reluctantly nodded.
“I’m sorry Princess. The book caught my eye and I got a bit too curious…” he replied, looking ashamed. Princess Twilight sighed and giggled at him.
“I should have known you’d look at it if I left it out. So, how much did you read?” she asked him in a forgiving voice. Rune smiled nervously.
“All the letters and a few of the entries…”
Twilight blinked. “My, you’re a fast reader aren’t you? So, you know the truth, then,” she stated, thinking about what she should say. Rune looked up at her to ask her a question.
“How come you never talk about your friends? The letters and entries in that book sounded like you cared a lot about them,” Rune questioned. Indeed, the book showed Twilight to be quite fond of her friends, so why couldn’t Rune remember her talking about them very much at all?
“I do care about them. It’s just that… I was granted eternal youth, but they weren’t. I watched them all grow old and die. The whole subject is just… too painful to talk about in the open…” Twilight replied, deep sadness in her voice. Rune nods.
“I think I understand…”
“Well, I have a lot of preparations to make. It’s getting late, too. Why don’t you head off to bed and we can talk more in the morning?” Twilight suggested to her student. He nodded in response and turned to leave, but stopped to ask one final question.
“Um, Princess… could I borrow that book? I want to know more about your friends…” he asked, not certain how she would reply. Princess Twilight blinked and then smiled.
“Ok, but you mustn’t let anyone else see it. That book is still very private,” she replied, causing Rune to blink. He really didn’t expect her to say yes. He nods and grabs the book, then, after waving goodbye to his mentor, headed for his room. As he left, she thought to herself, maybe if he reads about my friends, he’ll go out and find his own…
******
Rune closed the book about nine hours later, sighing and looking at the massive book that he’d barely made a dent in at all. He had read all the way to his mentor’s first Grand Galloping Gala attending, and was too tired to read any more that night. I’ll continue in the morning. He thought as he put the book under his bed for safe-keeping and lay down to sleep.
Rune looked around. He was in an unfamiliar, dark forest near what appeared to be the ruined remains of a castle. He nervously looked around before walking up and entering the ruins. Upon entering the doorway he saw a large structure with 5 small spheres circling a much larger central sphere, covered in vines. As he watched, he heard a sound behind him, and hid behind a pillar. From his hiding spot, he watched as five fillies entered and walked over to the structure.
“Whooooaaa… Come on Twilight. Isn’t this what you’ve been waiting for?” the orange one said. Rune blinked. He’d seen her somewhere before, but where? And how did she know his teacher? His eyes widened as a sixth filly appeared, looking exactly like a younger version of his mentor. He watched as she moved towards the structure.
“The elements of harmony! We found them!” Twilight exclaimed as the blue and yellow pegasi that accompanied her started taking the smaller orbs down in front of her. A white unicorn and pink earth pony walked up behind Twilight.
“1, 2, 3, 4… there’s only 5!” the pink one stated. The yellow Pegasus brought the final of the five spheres down as the blue one spoke.
“Where’s the sixth?”
Twilight lay down in front of the 5 spheres and addressed her friends. “The book said that when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed.”
“What in the hay is that supposed to mean?” the orange one said, frowning in her confusion.
“I’m not sure but I have an idea. Stand back. I don’t know what will happen,” Twilight said, her horn starting to glow. Her friends started backing away and headed for the door.
“Come on now, y’all. She needs to concentrate,” the orange pony stated. The other four followed her out the door. Just as they left, a strange blue cloud appeared and flew right between the five stones, starting to swirl into a vortex. Rune ran out from his hiding spot and went to grab the stones, but when he tried, he simply went through them like a ghost. At that moment the stones were lifted off the ground, getting Twilight’s attention.
“The elements!” she cried out as she leaped into the vortex just before it disappeared, the other ponies entering just as the cloud, the stones, and Twilight disappeared.
Rune woke up at that moment and looked around. He shook his head and sighed. “What a strange dream…” he said, getting out of bed and moving instantly to pull out Twilight’s journal, continuing where he’d left off, hoping to be able to read as much as possible before having to go.
******
Rune was flying over the landscape in a fancy golden chariot being pulled by two royal guards, his destination, Ponyville, in sight. He’d spent most of the trip from Canterlot reading his teacher’s journal, and was starting to make a decent dent in the first half when he’d noticed they were almost there, so he closed the book and watched Ponyville become closer and closer. Within a few moments they would be landing in the town square. He glanced out of the vehicle at the ponies going about their business as the chariot landed. He stepped out of the chariot, nodded towards the guard pegasi that had brought him there, and grabbed the book, heading towards a large wooden tree house. However, just before getting to the doorway he heard something coming at him fast.
“LOOK OUT!”
Less than a second later, he found himself lying on his back in front of a white Pegasus filly with yellow mane and five purple balloons for a cutie mark. She rubbed her head and looked at him, then jumped up and tried to help him up.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there until it was too late! Are you ok?” the filly asked. Rune stood up and used his magic to pick up the book and letters, which had scattered on the ground.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied. He noticed her staring at him in silence. “Um… you want something?” he asked, looking confusedly at her.
“You’re new here, aren’t you?” she asked simply. He hesitated, and then nodded. “I thought so. I work at Sugarcube Corner so I know just about everyone in Ponyville. Never seen you though. So, where’re you from?” she asked. Rune blinked.
“I just came from Canterlot…” he said slowly. Her eyes sparkled as she leaped into the air.
“Oh, Canterlot?! I’ve always wanted to visit the castle! You’ve been there, right? What’s it like?” she blurted out. Rune looked awkwardly at her, and then turned towards the door.
“I don’t really have time to chat… I have a lot of things to do,” he said, opening the door. She looked at him.
“Well can I help?” she asked, smiling. He turned and shook his head.
“No this is something I’ve been tasked to do. I can take care of it myself.”
“Well ok then… bye!” she said before dashing away. He sighed and walked inside, hiding the book away so no one would find it while he wandered off to take care of the job Princess Twilight had left him.
******
Rune looked over the list of what he was supposed to check on and a map. “Ok, so the first thing I’m supposed to check over is the food. Guess my first stop is Sweet Apple Acres…” he said as he pulled up a map. “Ok that’s kinda close, and the next place is close to that so it won’t be too big of a deal… hmm… I wonder if this library has anything on arcane circles I can study while I’m here.,” he said as he moved towards the door. As he opened the door, however, he was met face to face with the same Pegasus from before. “Uh… hello again.”
“Hi! I forgot to ask your name!” the white Pegasus filly said simply. “So, what’s your name?”
Rune blinked for a second. “I’m Rune Sigilsign. And you are?”
“I’m Surprise! Nice to meet you!” she said excitedly. “So what brings you to Ponyville?” she asked quickly. Rune blinked and looked at her, starting to get annoyed at her over excessive happiness.
“I’m here to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to get to work.”
With that, Rune turned away and started walking towards Sweet Apple Acres, leaving the white Pegasus behind.
******
As Rune approached the farm, he noticed an orange mare with blonde hair and five red apples on her flank eating a few apples. He walked up to her and looked around.
“Excuse me. I’m here to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. How are they coming along?” he asked the filly. She looked extremely familiar but he couldn’t place where he’d seen her before.
“Oh? Well it’s comin’ along fine. Ah’ve collected all the apples the farm needs to feed everypony in Ponyville,” the orange mare replied. “Mind staying to taste test one of the pies?” she asked Rune. Rune thought for a little bit.
“I don’t know… I am hungry but I’m kinda busy at the moment. I still have several places to check on,” Rune said honestly, unsure of whether or not to stay for at least a snack.
“Come on, it won’t take too long,” she said, trying to convince him to stay for a bite as she started walking towards the barn. “Oh and my name is Applejack. What’s yours?” Hearing that name made Rune blink.
“Wait what? I thought Applejack was the name of a pony that lived about a thousand years ago,” he replied without thinking, following her. Applejack stared at him for a moment.
“Well… Ah’m not sure how ya know ‘bout that, but yeah there was once another filly in my family named Applejack. You see, Ah was named after her because Ah apparently look a lot like her. She’s my namesa- WHA?!” Applejack said as she had apparently stopped paying attention to where she was going and accidentally ran into a fence, falling on top of it and knocking it down. “Oh shoot! You head up to the barn while Ah fix this. Ah’ll be there in just a minute.”
A few minutes after Rune made it to the barn, Applejack entered the doorway. “Sorry ‘bout that, Rune. Ah tend to do that on accident sometimes. So… how about that taste test?”
Rune blinked and nodded. “Well, I suppose I could taste test something… as long as it doesn’t take too long,” he replied simply. Applejack smiled and headed for the door.
“Alrighty. Give me a few minutes and Ah’ll bring you something we’re planning on bringin’ in,” Applejack called back as she left, leaving Rune alone to think. His thoughts went, of course, to Twilight’s diary.
“I need to hurry and get this done so I can continue reading that book. I really want to know what happened after Discord was sealed away again…” he said to himself, thinking about what he’d read so far and wondering what other adventures his teacher had been on during her long lifetime. Soon Applejack returned with a slice of what looked like delicious apple pie.
“Well, here ya go. This here’s a slice of one of the pies we made especially for the Summer Sun Celebration,” Applejack explained, passing the plate to Rune, who lifted it using his telekinesis and took a bite.
“Wow this tastes great! If this is what you’re bringing to the celebration I don’t think I’ll have to worry about it at all!” Rune said as he tasted the pie, the delicious flavor filling his mouth and making him smile. He quickly ate the rest of the slice and returned the plate to Applejack. “Well I must be going. I still have a lot of things to check.”
“Alright. See ya around, Rune,” Applejack said as Rune turned to head for the barn door. Rune nodded and smiled, heading for the center of town.
******
As Rune approached the town square, he heard birds singing beautifully. He rounded the corner and saw a young blue earth pony with darker blue mane and tail and a snowflake cutie mark directing a choir of birds. He listened intently and smiled, enjoying the happy little melody the birds were singing, and didn’t realize it’d stopped, opening his eyes and seeing the filly looking at him curiously.
“Um, what are you doing over there?” she asked in a quiet voice. Rune walked over to her and her birds, looking over the birds and smiling.
“I was sent by Princess Twilight to check on the preparations of the Summer Sun Celebration. I was just here to check on the music preparations, but I can see that everything is taken care of,” Rune said, looking around the area. The blue filly looked towards him indirectly and kneaded the ground with her hoof.
“Oh I see… Well, my family has always been in charge of the music preparations in Ponyville, so I have it pretty well handled… I think. Speaking of family, if you’re checking on preparations, you should check on my sister next. She’s in that building setting up the decorations,” she said quietly, pointing to the tall circular town hall. A few decorations were draped on the entrance but it otherwise appeared plain. Rune nodded and started to head in that direction, then remembered his second objective the princess had given him.
“Oh! By the way, my name is Rune Sigilsign. What’s your name?” he asked simply, turning around to look at her. She looked away shyly and answered in a soft voice.
“My name is Snowflake Ice. It’s nice to meet you,” her reply came. Rune nodded and turned to enter the town hall.
******
“Let’s see… there’s a little too much blue there. And that spot over there is too green… hmm….”
Rune looked around to try and locate the source of the voice that had spoken as he entered. “Hello? Anypony in here?” he called out and waited for a reply.
“Oh, yes, hold on a moment! I’ll be right there!” the voice replied, seemingly coming from a ‘corner’ of the room surrounded in cloth, ribbons and papers. Another blue filly appeared from behind the clutter, this one a unicorn with light blue fur and icy blue mane and tail, and wearing a large green bow on her head and two green bands around her right hind hoof. She also sported three freckles on each cheek. “Hello, my name is Diamond Ice. How can I help you?”
“I was sent by Princess Twilight to check on the preparations for the celebration and was checking on the music. While I was there your sister said I should check here since it was close. So how are the decorations coming along?” Rune explained and asked curiously. Currently there were no decorations up in the entire building, from the looks of things. Diamond smiled and pointed a hoof to the cluttered workspace she’d walked out of.
“Oh it’s going wonderfully. I’m almost ready to start actually putting them up. Tell Snowflake I said thank you for sending you in while you were nearby. I needed a small break from working. You know the saying don’t you? ‘Too much work, not enough play’,” Diamond said happily. Rune nodded, hoping she had enough time to finish before the celebration started.
“Well ok then. I’ll leave you to do your business. Oh, and my name’s Rune Sigilsign. Nice to meet you,” Rune said before heading for the door. Diamond waved a hoof and called back.
“Nice to meet you too, Rune!”
******
Rune looked around the edge of town where a few clouds were. He was certain that if a certain pony was doing her job he’d find her here and sure enough, a pink Pegasus with purple hair and blue lightning bolts for a cutie mark streaked past, dispersing the few clouds left. He waited for her to finish and then called out to her.
“Excuse me, are you Firefly?” he called. The filly stopped midair and landed in front of him with a grin.
“That I am. Something you need?” she said simply and confidently. Rune smiled and nodded.
“I was sent from Canterlot to check on the Summer Sun Celebration’s preparations. The weather was the last thing I needed to check, so what’s left to do to get ready weather-wise?” Rune asked smartly. Firefly smirked and stood in a proud position.
“Nothing. That was the last patch of clouds I needed to get rid of. The sky is perfect for the celebration as long as I keep it just liked this until then,” she replied happily. Rune nodded again and smiled.
“Great that means I’m done too. Oh, my name’s Rune Sigilsign. Nice to meet you, Firefly,” he added, once again remembering the princess’s second task.
“Nice to meet you too. Well, I better keep an eye on the sky if I’m gonna keep it looking perfect. I’ll see you around, k?” she said before darting to the sky.
“Yeah sure!” Rune called back, turning around.
“SURPRISE!”
The outburst followed by the sudden flash of something white towards him made Rune drop and duck quickly before looking around. He immediately noted a familiar white Pegasus flying close to him.
“Surprise, please don’t do that. You scared me for a second,” Rune complained. He stood up and picked up the checklist, which he’d dropped when Surprise had scared him. Surprise giggled.
“Sorry. I just love surprising everypony! Almost as much as parties! Especially surprise parties!” she said cheerfully. Rune couldn’t help but chuckle, starting to get used to Surprise’s over-the-top cheeriness.
“Well, ok. I was just finishing up the task Princess Twilight gave me, so I think I’ll go to the library I’m staying at and do a little looking around. I might find something I can use in my studies,” he said simply, walking past Surprise towards the library. “I’ll talk to you later, Surprise.”
“Ok bye!” Surprise called before dashing off, undoubtedly to surprise some other pony. Rune headed back to the library and quickly went back to Twilight’s diary, forgetting he wanted to check the library for any books on arcane circles.