//------------------------------// // BRAINSTORM!! // Story: Destiny Book 1: Dark Vengeance // by SirScribe //------------------------------// The large doors flew open, exposing the ponies to the greatest library in the universe. During the 300 years of isolation, Luna had read almost every single book created during her banishment. Thanks to her Shadow Ponies, she was quite entertained with some marvelous works of art. Some of those works were made to live by Luna’s extensive research of dark magic. The characters in some of her books only lived for a short amount of time, however, but they were companionship. Twilight’s eyes widened as she drank in the library. There were 3 stories full of books, all neatly assorted by name and decade written. In one level alone, Twilight could read a centuries worth of marvelous works. To her, history was preserved in Luna’s library. The Doctor looked amused. “Still trying to top my library?” he asked. “Please Doctor, this is a book store compared to yours. You have the complete works of many great unicorns in your library, but I have the most famous collection,” Luna said. The Doctor nodded. “The Complete Works of Starswirl the Bearded are a great collection. You beat me in getting those,” he said. Twilight spun around. “You have the Complete Works of Starswirl the Bearded?” “All 256 volumes, including 10 out of the 12 Lost Star Scrolls. Those are extra.” “Star Scrolls?” Twilight asked. “Oh yes. During Discord’s reign, Starswirl the Bearded experienced Enlightenment. While details of what he experienced are fuzzy, one thing was clear: he spoke through Time. According to legend, Starswirl the Bearded claimed that he was visited by spirits of great power and wisdom. Legend has it, that he wrote whatever those spirits spoke to him and divided them all up into 12 magical tomes. They could contain anything from brand new magic to priceless information only shared by higher deities. According to legend, and my personal experience with the lunatic, all of the Scrolls must be assembled before they can be opened,” Luna said. “The Lost Star Scrolls are Starswirl’s only great treasure. While he created many great spells and opened gateways to other dimensions, the Scrolls are the greatest of all.” Twilight’s jaw dropped to the floor. “Right then, we need information on how we can defeat those 4 below, and with Twilight’s broken Element of Harmony, that will be difficult to find. We might as well get started,” the Doctor said. The four ponies nodded to each other and went their separate ways. Luna carried Twilight with her all the way to the top of the library while the Doctor and Derpy stayed on the ground levels. Luna smiled at how she remembered seeing the Doctor and Derpy for the first time. She remembered how they were amazed with her library, even though half of it was still incomplete. She remembered when they both ran around and reading through her extensive collection. As time went on, the 4 ponies found nothing to help them defeat Sombra and his allies on the planet below. Every book they found were either storybooks, autobiographies, of fact books surrounding the Elements of Harmony. With the Elements out of order, there was no way a story about a mare who lost a horseshoe will help them with anything. Twilight had no idea what to look for. The Doctor and Derpy left the library while Luna stayed behind with Twilight. Speaking of the lavender alicorn, Twilight was perched high in the library with three books open to her. She sighed heavily as she found nothing in them. All she found were journals left behind by some of Equestria’s best authors. She replaced the books in frustration. Luna sighed as she flew up to the princess of magic. “Still can’t find anything?” Luna asked. Twilight sighed. “It’s like the Elements appeared out of nowhere. There is no manual into working the Elements, there is no history of the Element’s beginning, and there is nothing about what to do when an Element breaks. There is also nothing more powerful than the Elements. How are we going to defeat Sombra?” Luna placed her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Calm yourself, Princess Twilight. You’ve handled worse problems before, and I have faith you will find the answer soon,” Luna said. “But ever since Canterlot, it seems as though my thinking has been shut off. I can’t think anymore. I think that Equestria is no longer in my hooves. I think the Doctor should save us because I have no idea how to fix this,” she said. Luna sighed. “How many times has he saved us before?” Twilight asked. “Oh many times Twilight. He saved us from so many evil things that even I or Celestia could no fight. Enemies who have knocked on our front door were greeted by the Doctor, and I’ve seen him do it. There are many wonderful things about the Doctor, but he is not a god. He cannot do anything all by himself. He needs help and he relies on his friends to help him. You are very much like him Twilight. You both have a problem that cannot be solved alone. It will take the both of you to save us all.” Twilight smiled. They both flew down to the ground and followed the Doctor and Derpy to the kitchen. They entered to find the Doctor scrambling around, gathering ingredients from Luna’s cabinets. He hoisted a bag of flour on his back and ran as Derpy was busy reading a recipe book. She was wearing a chef’s hat and apron. “Eggs?” she called out. “They’re here!” “Milk?” “You’re sitting on the carton,” the Doctor said. Derpy looked down and grabbed the milk. “And finally flour?” “Right here!” The Doctor heaved the bag on the table. Derpy smiled. “Yay, now I can make us all a good breakfast. I will be ready soon,” she said. The Doctor smiled and turned to Luna and Twilight. “She has used every single ingredient in my TARDIS and now she’s hungry. I probably should’ve stocked up beforehoof,” he said. Luna smiled. “She did make the best muffins. I miss her cooking.” “Oi, I cooked as well when we picked you up!” “I don’t like eating coal, Doctor,” Luna said. The Doctor smirked. “Anyway, you girls find anything that we can use?” Twilight shook her head. “Not a single bit of information that isn’t news. I’ve studied many different sources of the Elements and they all say nothing on how to fix them. I wish we had a clear idea what to do so we can do it,” she said. Luna shrugged. “I released all the information that I know about the Elements. When Discord was once ruling Equestria, we found the Elements inside a chest from the wreckage of an old ship. We figured that they were from a distant land.” Only the Doctor caught her lie. He was the one who told Luna where to look for the Elements the first time around. She was holding back something important about the Tree, but he didn’t ask any questions. If Luna hasn’t said anything to her, then he shouldn’t. “That doesn’t help us much. We can’t guess where the chest came from. It’s as if the Elements just spawned into creation,” she said. The Doctor sighed as well. Suddenly, they heard the sound of wood falling to the floor. They all turned around to see Derpy standing there with a hoof with batter. Her wooden spoon was on the floor. Her eyes seemed to be focused in one direction. Derpy was looking at what was behind the trio: a sandy colored wolf. The wolf was looking at her with curiosity in its eyes. Derpy felt something racing inside her as she continued to stare at the wolf. The Doctor moved forward. “Um, Derpy?” Derpy turned to him. “The Elements are like family: they care for each other,” she said. The three were confused at Derpy’s comment. Once she said that, she felt limp and collapsed. Luckily the Doctor was there to catch her. Twilight looked behind her, and saw nothing. There was no wolf at the spot where Derpy was staring at. “Derpy? Derpy?” he called out. Derpy’s eyes opened and they were as wall-eyed as usual. “Hi Doctor! What happened?” The Doctor chuckled. “You just slipped on some of the batter, that’s all. Lucky me I was there to catch you.” Derpy chuckled as she sat up right. Twilight moved forward and tried staring into her eyes. “You seem like yourself, but you weren’t earlier. I wonder what got you so upset,” she said. “What do you mean?” “You said something earlier. Something about the Elements being like f—” Suddenly, Twilight’s mind exploded. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind faster than any other idea before her. Without saying another word, she bolted out of the kitchen and towards the library. The 3 baffled ponies only followed her. When Twilight entered the library, she flew up to the top of the room and grabbed 3 books. Each one was a book written by Starswirl the Bearded. She flew back and threw one of the books open. The Doctor looked up at Twilight, and what seemed like a second later, he understood what she was thinking. “The Elements are family!” Twilight said. “We know Twilight, Derpy told us that,” Luna said. “And she’s right!” Twilight shoved a book in the lunar princess’s face. “Starswirl studied the Elements while you and Celestia had them. After what took years to figure out, he came up with the ultimate theory about the Elements!” “And that is?” “They’re family. This is Starswirl’s hoofnote on the subject.” Twilight removed the two papers and began reading: On the 15th day of the Cycle of Winter, I have discovered a peculiar fact about the Elements of Harmony: they are alive. These Elements are what has brought Equestria to peace numerous times already, yet I wondered how they can retain all that power they eat up. 2 nights ago, I came across the Elements ‘praying’. Their energy signatures were sky rocketing and pulsing, like the actions of a pony’s heart. This led me to experiment on these gems, and there is so much to them than I once believed. These Elements have the power to replenish themselves after every attack almost immediately as long as they are together. The Elements are alive even as I write this hoofnote. I will continue my studies on the matter and return for a full update. Twilight looked up. “They’re alive. The Elements of Harmony are alive!” she exclaimed. Luna looked back at the book. “There’s another hoofnote, but it appears as though Starswirl was panicking,” she said. Twilight looked back at the book. Indeed the writing looked rushed. Before Twilight had a chance to read it, the Doctor stole the book away. Twilight jumped as he abruptly slammed the book shut and hid it away. Luna looked at him, stunned. The Doctor didn’t say anything about the book. The princess of magic was only able to get a glance at 3 words in the hoofnote: Elements of Disaster. Derpy sighed. “So if the Elements are alive, should we help them?” “Yes, and we can do that. Princess Luna told me about the Discord incident a few months ago. From what I understand, Discord targeted the Elements because he knew that without them, he can cause as much chaos he can without anypony stopping him, right?” Twilight nodded. “And if it took all 6 of you to fully restore their power, it will take 6 of you to mend the Element of Magic.” “We can find my friends! We can repair the Elements!” “And Discord will have a reason to worry. If we can cause an uprising in surrounding towns, like Ponyville, all their attention will be geared towards the resistance instead of us. We can find your friends and find the Elements at the same time!” The Doctor was grinning like the mad pony he was. Luna stepped forward. “Doctor, we must have a clear idea about the location of the Elements. They could be anywhere in Equestria,” she said. “That isn't likely. While Sombra knows that you all have been defeated, he needs to be absolutely sure that there are no more threats. If the Elements changed loyalty to any other ponies that you may've come across, then their power goes to them. Keep the Elements nearby would be a smart idea on Sombra's part,” the Doctor said. "So we go into Canterlot Castle, steal the Elements and raise the Sun against this ruthless night?" "Just about sums it up," the Doctor said. "We will need the Bearers though. If we can turn your friends against their corruption, then we have a shot at taking back the kingdom." The four ponies smiled. “Right then, we’re off!” “It’s time to take Equestria back!” Luna proclaimed. “Oh yes! Allons-y!” The four ponies dashed out of the library and into the gardens. The Doctor blew past the doors, and once everypony was in, released the brakes on the TARDIS console. The room began rocking back and forth at the TARDIS dematerialized from the Moon.