A Saddening End
I thought I had it all. I was hired to be a professor at the University of Manehattan, I had my own apartment, I had students who liked me and everything seemed to be fine. I became interested in the studies and workings of Eastern Unicorn magic and it wasn't long until I found myself immersed in it to the point where it was an obsession. While other professors at the university would go out to social events an mingle most weekends, I would spend my time doing research on Eastern Unicorns and on Mage Meadowbrook Herself. Eventually my parents came to visit and I learned that I was a direct descendant of Mage Meadowbrook and Mage Shadowstar. When I learned this I was truly happy.
My days of happiness would be numbered though. Eventually the students in my classes at the university began to lose interest in their studies and question why they are at the university to start with. I knew something had to be done and that would be getting these students to regain their interest in magic and follow me out to the desert. This would be no easy task but I was certain that it could be done. With the aid of four students who had a strong interest in magic at the university, I was able to get out to Meadowbrook's old community and resurrect the town.
Soon though, everything I had dreamed of, everything I desired and everything I wished for collapsed. Everything collapsed when a group of newcomers came into the village and in the end exposed me. I no longer had the equals sign cutie mark, I had my real cutie mark. While this seemed bad at first, soon I would realize that perhaps this isn't as bad as I thought. I decided that I will not allow myself to be held down, instead I will rise and bring about true equality in sameness once more.
My Descent into Darkness
I found myself walking alone in a dark system of caves. I was cold, hungry and thirsty. While I felt like I was surrounded in darkness, things were not completely lost. I lit up my horn and asked, "Hello, is anypony there?"
While I was hoping to get some sort of response, all I got was my voice bouncing off the walls. This was rather frustrating but I knew that with perseverance, I could find my way through these caves. It seemed like it was taking hours just to find my way around in these caves, much less navigate them properly. Soon I found myself heading deeper and deeper back into the cave until I finally reached a back wall which was located right across from a pond.
"Damn it," I yelled. What am I going to do? I can't just stand here and do nothing.
While my horn was already shining, I decided to light it up a bit more. Eventually I took a look at the wall and I saw something strange. I took a good look and there was a circular hole in the wall. I was amazed when I placed my horn in the hole and the wall began to slide open. Once it was fully open I saw before myself a large room that was illuminated by a dim green aura. As I entered the room I saw that there were many, many books. While it was still small compared to the massive libraries that Celestia and the university had, I would find in it more information of what my true passion is, everything involving Eastern Unicorns, Eastern ponies in general and books regarding Eastern Equestria. The advantage of this collection would be that every single book focused solely on what I am passionate about, the complete history of ponies from the East.
I couldn't explain it exactly, but I had a feeling that a feeling that I would discover much, much more than just the history of the past thousand years in here, I had this feeling that I could very well discover the complete history of the East, perhaps the origins of every Eastern pony alive today.
My Ultimate Discoveries
As I began to look at the books on the shelves, I could clearly see that they were shelved in order according to the dates and times that they were about. This I found quite interesting given how particular I am when it comes to pretty much anything, I like things in order and laid out in a very specific way. Of course I went towards the absolute oldest book in the library, one that I felt would provide unexpected information that has been lost to many, many millennia of darkness.
As I opened the book I was worried that it was going to fall apart on me. I could tell that this book was from times much further back than that of Meadowbrook and Shadowstar. I discovered that the continent which would eventually become Equestria was not where ponykind began it's existence. We began our existence across the Alicorn Ocean, in a land known as The Grand Pony Empire, which is now known as the Equine Empire. I was shocked by this. I have met ponies from the Equine Empire and have done some studying of them and they aren't exactly the most powerful when it came to magic.
Soon I came across a passage from the very first Eastern Unicorn Mage, Grand Mage Starlight Glimmer. I was floored when I saw this, the very first mage had the same name as me. I began to wonder, was I named after Her. Did my lineage go far beyond Meadowbrook? Did it perhaps go all the way back to Her? I decided to read the statement that was written on May 13, 443 of The Grand Pony Empire calendar when she addressed what would become Eastern ponies prior to their sailing across the ocean.
"My fellow equines, conditions are not good here. Those that we share the land with have judged us for ages and I believe that we should no longer have to deal with this. I have sent scouts out and across the ocean lies a fertile land which seems to be uninhabited by ponies. I believe that it is in our destiny that we sail to this land and lay down roots for a new civilization, a civilization that will be free of persecution from other races. No one pony is better than the others, regardless of what his or her mark is, regardless of what his or her race is, regardless of their origins.
We must hurry and set sail though as it is believed that the Grand Ponies no longer desire to share this continent with us and will one day march on our lands with swords and spears. While we could easily overpower them with our magic, I have no desire for us to simply shed blood nor do I desire for us to have to coexist with those who hate us anymore. Before the end of the year we must have a sufficient number of ships built to set sail to our new homeland."
Now I have done plenty of research on the world in general and the calendars of different nations, both ancient and the eventual conversion to the global calendar system, which was set up by Celestia when her forces conquered the western side of the continent and became a global power. Given the date that this was recorded, Grand Mage Starlight wrote this over 7,500 years ago which means that those of my lineage have been in Equestria for at least 7,500 years.
I was amazed by the amount of time that Eastern Unicorns and other Eastern ponies had resided on the Equestrian continent. I couldn't help but wonder, am I a direct descendent to Grand Mage Starlight Glimmer? I decided that I was going to see if I could find a family tree in this library. I knew that if I was going to find something that would include Meadowbrook, I would need to look over on the newer side of the library. Much to my surprise, there were books placed in here as recently as a couple hundred years after the fall of the East to Celestial rule.
I continued to search through these books until I reached the final book, the newest book. I opened it and low and behold it was a family tree that dated back to just eight hundred years ago. What was good is that included the lineage from some descendents of Meadowbrook's all the way back to Grand Mage Starlight. I realized that if I can trace the lineage from my ancestors from 800 years ago through Meadowbrook and Shadowstar, I might be able to discover whether I am a direct descendent of Grand Mage Starlight or not.
Now this would not be easy but after going over the family tree that traced me back to Meadowbrook and Shadowstar, I knew how to read through family trees. While I knew that I could do this, it would be an extremely long and tedious process. Going back a thousand years took long enough, but going back another 6,500 years before that would most likely take a couple of days and I knew that I couldn't afford to stay in there for too long. While I could easily go out to the pond and drink some water when I needed it, there was no food down there and I would eventually have to eat.
I am not sure how much time had passed since I started going through the family tree but after what seemed to be forever I finally traced my lineage all the way back to it's start. I was shocked and happy when I learned that I was a direct descendent from Grand Mage Starlight Glimmer. Further back in the book it gave a short biography about her and had a drawing of Her. She was light pink in color, Her mane and tail colors were the same as mine, Her eye color was the same as mine and She stood at roughly the same height as me.
What I would read and see next would shock me. It began to go in detail about Her talent. It mentioned how She was able to remove cutie marks, just like Meadowbrook and myself could and it had an image of Her cutie mark, which was exactly like mine! I was floored when I saw all of this. This might sound bad but I said to myself, "Could I be Grand Mage Starlight reincarnated?"
It was at this point that I placed all the materials back where I found them because I had to find my way out and grab a bite to eat. Given that I had my horn lit the whole time I was in the caves, hopefully I would be able to notice certain markings or broken rocks in the cave system that would guide me to the exit. A few hours later I found my way out of the caves and I felt like I was being blinded. After spending days in a dark cave system suddenly being exposed to sunlight shining on snow will be a very unpleasant experience.
It took my eyes a few minutes to adjust to the light but eventually I was able to start walking down the mountains into the high meadows that faced the east. There was plenty to eat and drink there as there was abundant vegetation and a couple of lakes. Unlike in the mountains, the temperatures were just right. They weren't too hot and they weren't too cold. I figured that this would be a good place to spend a few days before I head back up to the caves to continue to do more research and see if I can find any information on other important things regarding Eastern Unicorns, things such as prophecy from the ancient mages and information regarding Meadowbrook's artifacts.
Discovering the Prophecies
While I was amazed and happy to be doing so much research in the library in the caves, I will admit that having a nice breeze blowing, having fresher water and plentiful food to eat felt so good! Initially I had only planned on spending a three or four days at most in the meadows, I wound up spending two weeks there feasting and hydrating myself to my heart's content. I did know though that I needed to get back to work. I had already discovered a great amount of information, including my distant lineage, but I had this feeling that there was much more to be discovered. In my heart I knew there was something in there that would provide me with what I need to fulfill my destiny and liberate the Eastern half of Equestria from Celestial rule.
Finally after two weeks I decided to have one last hearty meal before I headed back up into the caves. I just hoped that I would be able to remember my way back to the library. Once I got in the caves I lit up my horn and going off of rock formations and markings within the caves, I was able to get back to the library in a decent amount of time. While I had done much studying and discovered many amazing things, especially my direct lineage back to Grand Mage Starlight, I was curious about the prophecies my parents discussed. I wanted to read them for myself.
I started looking on the side with the older books and I saw a book marked prophecies. While it was not as old as the oldest book in the library, it was still very old. I was looking through it and I found an entry written by Mage Blackstar, who was Starlight's grandson. It read,
"In the future a great mage, much like Starlight shall rise and bring about great prosperity to our nation,
She will be loved by all and will remain important to those in the East for all eternity,
Yet not all shall love her as invaders from the West will arrive with two Alicorn princesses and seek conquest,
While the great mage will take many marks from the enemy and Her army will fight to the death, the enemy shall prevail,
The enemy shall take no prisoners and will take the beloved mage from us and unite the continent as one,
Our citizens will be oppressed and for a bit over one millennia those of the East will have to hide their heritage,
Yet one day in the distant future the Grand Mage Starlight shall be reborn with the appearance and talents of the Grand Mage Herself,
She will be the one to bring down the Alicorn princesses and liberate the East from their rule,
Causing the East to rise once more."
When I read this I did at first feel a sense of pride, probably too much but then I realized that I can not allow myself to fall into that trap. I knew that if I did that I would fail and let every Eastern pony from today all the way back to Grand Mage Starlight down. Perhaps it would have been best had I never found this prophecy but I knew that as long as I remained calm, cool and collected that I would not fail.
Now after reading all of this I wondered what Blackstar meant when he mentioned the Alicorn Princesses being brought down. Did it mean that they along with all their forces would simply be driven west of the Maressissippi River or if a different fate would await them? I continued to look through the ancient book and there was no mention of what fate awaited the West once the Alicorn princesses were defeated.
I continued to look through the library, going from oldest to newest, for books regarding prophecy. While I found many, none of them mentioned much about the West except for their ultimate rise to claiming the continent. I realized then that perhaps I need to look in works done by Western prophets and mages, such as Starswirl the Bearded. Luckily I would not have to travel to Canterlot to do that as his works are readily accessible across Equestria.
I soon realized that I had pretty much done all the research I could do but I still didn't have much information on how I could reclaim the East. I did not know loyalty spells and unfortunately for me, simply removing marks would not do. A pony with an equals sign cutie mark has equality with others in everything and I realized that I would need soldiers who have warfare as a special talent. Ugh...the very thoughts of that makes my skin crawl, some ponies being better than others at certain things but that is how it would have to be.
Then just as I was getting ready to leave I saw something out of the corner of my eye. In the back wall of the library I saw a hole, one that a horn would fit in. I placed my horn in this hole and fired some magic, causing another wall to slide open. What I saw inside this hidden chamber amazed me. I saw a circle with eight pedestals in it and in the center, a ninth pedestal. To the right of the circle I saw another pedestal which had a book on it.
I opened the book and I found some amazing information, something that I did not expect. The book was about Meadowbrook's artifacts and what they actually are. Nopony must have wanted anypony other than an Eastern Unicorn to find this book given that it was hidden in this chamber.
It started off by listing what the artifacts of Meadowbrook are. It stated that they are a jade skull, a diamond dagger, a golden bowl, a ruby necklace, an amethyst ring, a silver sword, a bronze helmet and a copper goblet. I was happy to know what they were but I had no clue where to find them and I seriously wondered why it only listed eight when there are nine pedestals.
I flipped the book to the following page and found what appeared to be prophecy written by Mage Shooting Star, the daughter of Meadowbrook. It read,
"The artifacts are scattered across the land,
without them the East can not thrive,
many centuries will pass without them,
In the future the Grand Mage reborn will do a search,
She will travel far and wide to save Eastern ponykind,
She will find the eight but a ninth she must still find,
The ninth is something very dear to her and will be easy to find,
She will bring the nine together and go through a great change,
This change will give her the power to liberate the East from the sun,
While the East shall rise once more,
The West will revert to the darkness of long lost lore."
Not only have I discovered what the artifacts are, I have also discovered a little something that curbs my curiosity regarding the fate of the West. I had done research about Western Equestria's dark days and strange creatures that existed prior to the arrival of Celestia and Luna so I had a bit of an idea as to not only what it's fate would be should the West fall, I also learned the true reasons why the Stone Continental Wall separated East and West so long ago.
As I closed the book something hit me. The first artifact it listed was a jade skull. I have seen a jade skull before in the one of a kind history wing of the Celestial Museum. The good news is that I most likely know where the first artifact is. The bad news, I will have to travel to a place that I have been banished from, so this will not be an easy artifact to get. I will need to be sneaky and move under the cover of darkness to get this artifact but if I use my wits and stay alert, I will be able to acquire the jade skull.