Chronicle

by Honey Mead

A Scribe Remembers

Chapter 4: A Scribe Remembers

Part 1: A Game to Remember

The weeks that followed my first day of being the princess’ assistant were mostly mundane. The majority of the time was spent on paper work and by the end of the second week princess Celestia had decided that she no longer needed to directly guide my quill; so she began moving her things out of the office and back to her private study. I was nervous about this change at first, but the princess would hear none of it and I quickly found that having the office to myself was a dream come true. I would regularly lose myself in the work without anypony to distract me, until Zipp came knocking to trade out the finished reports with a new load of papers.

“Hey boss hows it going Getting an early start today Well you it won’t matter much Got a whole new stack just for you” He smiled as he opened his bags. “Oh and I got this letter for you Not normal stuff here nope this ones an honest to Celestia letter from Silent Stars it says” He dropped the scroll on top of the document that I had been reviewing.

I levitated the scroll and examined the unbroken wax seal. Two unicorn horns crossed at the center atop a kite shield.The outer edge appeared to be a snake eating its own tail formed into the shape of a six pointed star.

“Thank you Zipp.”

“Oh fine I see how it is Your no fun you know that” The disappointment in his voice quickly gave way to his flow of constant positive energy and he sped from the room with a “Well can’t lolly gag all day I got work to do Catch you on the other side” The door closed itself with the force of him passing though.

I studied the scroll for a few minutes, simply watching it as it slowly rotated in front of me encased in the tan aura. I have never gotten much mail. My parents were gone before I moved out and I have never had many friends. It was kind of exciting. There was a mystery to it. What could Silent Stars have to say to me? I savoured the moment, the excitement, the mystery. When it became too much to bear I finally broke the seal.

Mr. Chronicle,
We have not had the chance to be properly introduced. I would like to remedy this unfortunate circumstance. I will be at the library this afternoon should you care to join me for a game of stones.
Arch-Magi Silent Stars

What could the Arch-Magi want with me? The excitement that I had felt previously was replaced with anxiety. What was I to do? Would it be rude to refuse? How would I go about refusing? Would it be easier to simply go? Lacking any basis for a decision I decided to put it off until lunch time. I had plenty to do and it was still hours before the appointed time.

Not surprisingly I became entrenched in work and lost track of time. There was a short meeting between the princess and the mayor of a rural town called Ponyville. The apple orchards there were having some difficulty with creatures from the Everfree forest and were requesting help from Canterlot. After that I went straight back to work on the reports. It was nearly three in the afternoon when somepony knocked heavily on the door to my office.

“Come in.”

The door opened to reveal one of the most beautiful mares I had ever laid eyes on. I couldn’t put a hoof on what it was about her that makes me say that, but it was the truth. Her mane had that odd natural beauty to it that no amount of time or effort could hope to mimic. It fell in deep blue waves about her face hiding the right side of her face. I had never seen a more fit pony in my life; her musculature was visible through her maroon coat. She didn’t wear any cloths save for a s single saddlebag. The Cutie Mark on her flank displayed a pair of crossed unicorn horns.

“Oh, Oh, OH! Yuh... Your Silent Stars! I-I...”

A devilish smile crossed her lips. “Do not agonize Mr. Chronicle. I can retain no animosity towards any pony whom is laboring diligently in the princess’ name. Though I do feel that you are now indebted to me.”

“In-indebted...”

“Quite. You see, I sat in the library for two hours waiting. Waiting for a pony who never showed. A pony who never sent word that he wasn’t going to show.” I swallowed hard as she began moving into the office. “After two hours I went in search of that missing pony. My first stop was to the cafeteria. Do you know what I discovered there?” I shook my head slowly, unable to take my eyes off her slowly advancing form. “This particular pony hadn’t shown up for lunch today or breakfast apparently.” She stopped at the edge of the desk; a sandwich floated out of her saddlebag settling down on the desk in front of me. “So I thought to myself ‘What would cause a former scribe to miss out on two meals?’ and low and be hold here you are.”

“I am so sorry. I got distracted with my work.” I motioned at the mess of paper that was my desk. “I completely lost track of time and...”

“You’ll just have to make it up to me, Mr. Chronicle. But before anything else I think you should eat.” Sitting down she watched me expectantly. I gave a timid smile, picked up the sandwich, and took a bite. It was a bay leaf, lettuce, and tulip sandwich with just a hint of spicy mustard. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.

As I chewed on the last bit of the sandwich she opened her saddlebag once again and pulled out a square wooden board. I recognized it immediately, I had seen one everyday for the first fifteen years of my life. It was a simple board covered in twenty six evenly spaced horizontal and vertical lines making one hundred sixty nine intersecting points. After placing the board on the desk she then brought out two small bags, one white and the other black, that rattled as she placed them on either side of the game board.

“Have you ever played stones?”

“Yes... I have... once.” I hadn’t seen a stones board in years. ‘Come over here boy, I think it is finally time that I teach you to play stones’

“Once?” A single eyebrow arched up.

“Yes, ma’am.” I tore my eyes away from her face forcing myself to study the board. ‘Stones is a thinking stallions game. Its simplicity can be deceiving.’

Silent Stars brought up a single black stone and placed it on one of the intersecting lines. ‘Each player takes a turn placing a stone. The goal is to control the majority of the board.’ I tentatively raised a white stone and placed it on the board. ‘Surround your opponents stones to remove them from the board.’ I pulled the five stones she had surrounded off the board, losing control of the top left corner. ‘Always keep the goal in mind. Don’t study the trees and lose sight of the forest.’ That first game was played in silence; both of us too busy watching the others moves to bring up conversation. After five minutes the game might as well have been over, though it took ten more for it to finish. At the end I had five stones left on the board.

“That was an... intriguing... strategy.”

I kept my eyes on the board, the unwanted memories forcing their way up. My father placed the board on the kitchen table. I picked up a black stone this time, taking the initiative, and placed it on the board. ‘You are playing too much like chess, boy. This isn’t chess.’ Stars said nothing as she began to place her own stones. ‘You have to plan your moves, each stone must be placed with the goal in sight.’ he closed the trap forcing me to remove six of my stones, ‘Set your traps and let your opponent forget them.’ I trapped eight of her stones securing the top right corner of the board.

“You are a quick study Mr. Chronicle.” She placed her white stone closing her trap around ten of my black stones.

‘You did very good for your first game.’ he cleared the board placing the different stones back into their separate bags. ‘Perhaps we will play again, but your mother wants to go see that new play opening tonight.’ The game ended with the same result, though I managed to control a portion of the board.

“That was much better. Who taught you how to play?”

“My father. He loved the game.” I began separating the pieces into the different piles preparing for a third game. “If you don’t mind me asking, you look very different from when I saw you the other day. What happened to your tattoos?”

“Oh that?” She gave a little smile. Her horn began to glow with a soft pink aura. A small hoofcloth floated out of her saddlebag and up to her face. With a few wipes of the cloth her maroon coat began to fade revealing a mass of black tattoos over top a pink fur coat.

“Make up?” I asked incredulously

“The tattoos tend to put ponies on edge. I find that when I don’t want to draw attention to myself it is best to cover them up. Are you ready for another game?” Without waiting for a reply she picked up a black stone placing it on the board. “Was your father any good?”

I studied the nearly empty board before placing a white stone and replying, “He was a member of the club at the academy.”

“Celestias’ School for Talented Unicorns?”

“Yes, ma’am. He was a professor there, taught advanced meta-magic theories.”

“Your father was Professor Archive?” The surprise in her voice was unexpected.

I nodded placing my next stone on the board. ‘I’m sorry son, there was a fire. Your parents.. they didn’t make it out.’ I could feel the tears forming at the corner of my eyes; the painful memories that I had buried half a life ago began to surface. I sat down heavily. ‘Will you be alright?’ I nodded slowly staring at nothing in particular. The pain hit me like a bucking cowpony. It was a nice service, a great many important ponies that I had never met before attended. They offered their condolences with a hoof on my shoulder. I placed another stone on a board I could hardly see. ‘Words writ upon a stone will never compare to those writ upon a heart’

“Shuu, its okay.” I heard her coo as she stroked my mane and held my head, my face buried in her fur. The tears caused her make up to smear onto my face. I must have looked ridiculous lying on the floor of my office; tears streaming from my eyes as I recounted the story of my parents passing in the beautiful early evening light of the setting sun. “Let it all out. It will be alright.”

I ignored her advice as I struggled to compose myself, but it was no use. I choked on a few words before giving in and letting the tears flow. I don’t know how long we sat like that, but eventually the tears dried up. I rubbed the last of the tears from my eyes and pulled away from the Arch-Magi.

“That was the last time you went outside.” It wasn’t a question.

“I can still go outside at night.” Her eyebrow arched again, “... when it is very dark...” her accusing look didn’t falter, “...and I keep my eyes on the ground in front of my hooves.” I dropped my head in embarrassment, I had never actually admitted it to anypony before. Sure Mr. De’facto knew, and the princess knew, but I had never actually said it out loud.

How could I explain what its like to her? A mare who had been at the front lines and stared down death. How could she understand what its like for sad little scribe who can barely look out a window without shaking like a leaf.

She reached toward me, lifting my face in her hooves. I looked into her eyes for the first time, those bright green beautiful eyes. I can feel the blood rush to my face as I try and look away. “Look at you, cry in my arms for an hour unabashedly but a hoof on your cheek and you glow like a cherry.” She scooted in closer. “I wonder how red you can get.” My heart began to pound against my chest. I could feel her breath on my nose. A pink aura enveloped her horn as she leaned in touching her horn to mine.

I woke up in the morning to a mess of an office. There wasn’t a single piece of paper on my desk, the floor was covered with them. I dropped the back of my head against the floor staring up at the ceiling. Every muscle in my body ached. I image that this is what it would feel like after running a marathon. I closed my eyes as I curled up into a ball. I wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week.

I didn’t hear the hear the door open or the hooves clicking across the stone floor. I groaned when she poked me with her hoof and tried to curl into a smaller ball.

“Just five more minutes.”

She laughed lightly, “Okay, five more minutes. But then you must be up, you have already slept through most of the day.”

Such a wonderful voice. I listened to her horse shoes click across the floor as she left the room. I wonder who that was. It wasn’t until the door closed that my brain decided to start working. I jumped to my hooves. Dear Celestia what did I just do? Ignoring the pain that shot across my body I sprinted to the door. Pulling it open I saw her standing there, her mane flowing in its ghost wind. I dropped to me knees.

“Your majesty, I am so sorry. I-I didn’t-”

“Mr. Chronicle, I am surprised at you.”

“I can explain, I-”

“You never struck me as such a mares stallion.” I blinked up at her. Her magic coursed through me as mine moved through her. I could feel her heart beat in time with mine. “The Arch-Magi spoke very highly of you this morning.” Her wolfish grin was more than a little disturbing. “I think you have earned a little time off. Take the day to yourself.” She turned away and began making her way down the hallway. “And, Mr. Chronicle, if I find out that you filed even one report today I will be very displeased.”

I watched her disappear around the first corner followed by the guards that I hadn’t noticed until now. A day off? What was I going to do with a day off? I fell over and laid on my side half in the hallway half in my office. I had no idea what to do with a day off.

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Part 2: A Lost Scribe

A day off? What could I possibly do with a day off? Sure I had had days were I didn’t have to come into work, not that it had stopped me, but I had never been commanded not to work. I didn’t dare ignore the princess’ command. I don’t know how, but I knew she would find out if I ignored her.

I laid there in the portal to my room for at least an hour hoping that the ache from last night would finally go away. It didn’t of course. I finally gave up awaiting, maybe if I went for a walk I could work the soreness out.

There have been days in my life when a near perfect memory has been curse. This was not one of those days. If the memory of that night is the last thing I remember then I will pass away with a smile on my face.

I wandered the halls blindly, the seconds of last night playing out again and again in my mind. I am not ashamed to admit that it was my first time with a mare. I had never cared about such things before. They had never seemed important. My entire world had been work. I had always found all the pleasure I needed in my work. I had never understood why others didn’t or couldn’t do the same. I understood now. It finally made sense to me.

It didn’t last, the euphoria, slowly fading away. When I finally slipped back into the real world I found myself in a hallway I didn’t recognize. I turned all around hoping to find something I that would tell me where I was. My attempts not only failed miserably, but left me unsure which way I had come from; without any windows I did not even have a way to discern which direction I was heading.

I glanced down each hallway, to my eyes they were identical in every way. I spent a good five minutes studying each direction before giving up. With nothing to go on I turned right and started walking.

It wasn’t too long before I began to feel that I had chosen the wrong way. The candle stands that lined the hallway had not been lit in a very long time. I found it necessary to use my magic to light my way. It was obvious that no pony had been down this way in a very long time. Even the cleaning the ponies had neglected it, I could see my hoof prints in the dirt on the floor. I don’t know why I continued down the hallway. Boredom? Curiosity? Either way I didn’t pause to consider it until I found the stairwell.

When I came to the stairs I stopped. Uncertainty finally found its way into my thoughts. I gazed back the way I had come and to my great surprise stars lined the ceiling and the walls just outside the aura of my light. I stared in wonder. The hallway behind me was lit as well as any in the castle. When I let the light from my horn go out the walls immediately around me lit up like the night sky. I could even make out some of the few constellations that I recognized. The stairwell was similarly lit by the artificial star light that illuminated the hallway.

My uncertainty vanished like a wisp of smoke, replaced by an overwhelming curiosity. The star light was too similar to the night scape that decorated my office in the evenings. I had wonder at it for awhile now, but I had never gotten around to asking the princess.

My hooves began to take me up the stairs before I realized I had made the decision. By the fiftieth step my uncertainty began to creep back into my mind. A dark stairwell, abandoned by the cleaning staff was not the best confidence builder. I prevailed, however, eventually coming to a large pair of doors.

I hesitated there for a moment admiring the details of the doors. They were crafted from a deep ebony, each intricately carved with the major constellations surrounding a crescent moon. The stars of the constellations gave off the same light as the stars from the hallway and stairwell. The crescent moon didn’t so much give off its own light as reflect the light from the stars around it.

I placed my hoof on the right side door and pushed. The didn’t budge so I pushed harder. When it didn’t give I placed my other hoof on the door and put all my weight into it. I felt it move a fraction of an inch with a loud creek from rusty hinges. Stepping to the left I decide to try the other door. Again I placed both hooves on the door and gave it a mighty heave. The door flew in with a resounding boom and I fell forward banging my chin on the ground.

I opened my eyes and from my view at ground level I was left in a state of awe. The room was immaculate, not a single mot of dust in site. The room was filled with amazing decorations. A giant four post bed dominated the central wall of the octagonal room. On either side an ornate night stand held up a moonstone lamp that reflected the soft white glow from the ceiling stars. The other walls contained different pieces of bedroom furniture each holding a large number of small nick-nacks and personal effects.

I rose and stepped into the room. All the light in the room came from the diamond stars in the ceiling much like those in my office. The difference being that here the entire ceiling, not just a central dome, was filled with the little points of light. As I walked around the room, examining the different pieces of furniture I couldn’t help but wonder what I was looking at. Everything here was undoubtedly beyond expensive, why would all this stuff be left here like this? Why was the passageway covered in dirt and grim as though it had been completely unused, yet the room was kept immaculate. I noticed a curtain on the third wall from the bed. Curiously I crossed the room to pull the curtain aside and my heart jumped into my throat.

I was looking across the central court yard straight at the princess standing out on her own balcony. She turned to me immediately. Even at that distance I could make out the look of horror plastered on her face. Before I could take two steps back the princess dropped onto the balcony in front of me. I fell backwards trying to escape from the enraged alicorn.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!”

“I-I-” I curled into a ball, holding my hooves up defensively.

“YOU SHOULDN’T BE HERE!”

“Eeee-” I squeaked.

The princess glared down at me through her violet eyes and all I could do was shake uncontrollably. With my eyes closed tight I waited for the impending doom that never came. When I finally opened my eyes the princess had stepped past me and into the room. Twisting around to get back on my hooves I looked toward the princess. She sat with her back toward me in the center of the room, her head slunk between her shoulders.

“Uh, Y-your majesty?”

Her voice cracked as she spoke, “Please, would you..” she sniffed back a sob, “would you call me Celi... just once...” Turning her head I saw the tears in her eye.

“A-are you ok...” I swallowed, “Celi?”

For a split second a smile found its way to her lips, “I am sorry for how I acted, you didn’t do anything wrong. I was out of line. Can you forgive me?”

“T-there is nothing to forgive, your maj- Celi.”

“You don’t even know where we are, do you?”

“No.” I shook my head slowly, “I was wandering the castle and just sort of ended up here. I am sorry for upsetting you. If I had known-”

She wiped the tears from her eyes, “Don’t be silly, you had no way of knowing.” she let out a small sigh, “I would be surprised if any pony here remembered whom this room belongs to.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, you- Celi... who does this room belong to?”

The princess smiled a little and motioned for me to come closer. I sat down and looked up at her expectantly. I could see a moistness in her eyes as she began. I am sure that you have heard some version of this story by now, but this is how the princess told it to me.

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Part 3: Forgotten Memories

“Her name is Luna. Luna Eveningstar, and she is my sister.” She paused, the pain from the memories was obvious on her face.

“Your maj-”

She waved a hoof at me cutting me off. “I am okay, it has been a long time sense I told this to anypony.” I waited while she collected herself. “It began a very long time ago. The two of us ruled Equestria together. I would raise the sun at dawn and she would raise the moon at night. For many years there was harmony. Until one morning she came to me just before I raised the sun...”

‘Tia, can we talk?’

‘Of course little sister, what’s on your mind?’

She was quite for a moment, as though searching for the right words, ‘Its just... Its just not fair!’ Her voice was filled with pain and anger. ‘All day long everypony works and plays. But when my night comes they flee to their beds.’ Tears formed in her eyes.

‘Oh Lulu.’ I wrapped a protective hoof around her neck and drew her in. ‘I am sorry. I know how much work you put into the night sky. All those ponies are worse off for their habits. But that is the way of ponies.’

‘Oh Tia, we could change that. We could make them appreciate it.’ She said with such enthusiasm.

‘How would we do that, Lulu?’ I almost laughed at the foal like excitment in her voice.

‘If we just let the night last, leave the moon and the stars for just one day...’ There was a pleading in her eyes that I had never seen before, a quite desperation hiden behind the energy in her voice.

‘Not raise the sun? Oh Lulu, it would never work. The crops need the sun to grow, and the tides must change.’ I tried to be kind, to let her down easy.

‘But, but...’ I shook my head, it just wasn’t possible.

That was the last heard of it for a month. I thought no more of it, believing it to be nothing more than a passing whim. How we blind ourselves to our families, we always see the best in them and ignore the signs of trouble.. The next time she brought it up things did not end so peacefully.

She came to me at court, her personal guards at her sides. ‘Princess Celestia, we request a private audience.’

I was taken aback. ‘Lul... Luna? What is the meaning of this?’

‘We would request a private audience Princess Celestia.’

I looked at my sister questioningly, ‘Please, everypony, would you give us some privacy?’ The noble ponies filed out of the Great Hall leaving the two of us alone, save for the guards and my apprentice.

She did her best to convince me that it was possible. That the plants and trees could be changed to survive in an extended night. She even demonstrated it with one of the plants decorating the walls. But the magic was too much, she almost fainted from exertion. I knew that there was no way for us to cast such a spell across all of Equestria. When I denied her a second time something changed in her. I still am not sure how she did it. She changed herself, now standing at equal height to me. Her dark blue coat becoming a midnight black. A helmet and armor plates now adorned her form and her eyes, no longer the beautiful teal eyes of my sister, were slitted like those of a dragons.

She had to stop for a moment. The tears that had been forming in her eyes began to fall. I reached out and placed a hoof on her shoulder in comfort. She gave a small sniff and a little smile in appreciation before continuing.

We fought then. We had had fights before, but nothing like this, this was different. Lightning flared from our horns, the castle walls shook and fell with the force of the magic we threw at each other. When it was over I could not stand on my own four hooves. Luna had to carry me away. Her transformation had made her so powerful, I was like a filly rebelling against her mother. If I had had the Elements of Harmony things would have been different, but she had hidden them away. I was locked away in the deepest dungeon of the castle. For a time I was trapped and Luna, Nightmare Moon now, ruled over Equestria.

I was rescued, by ponies who had remained loyal to me, I stepped out of the darkness into an Equestria in ruins. She had done it, changing all the plants to survive under a constant night. But winter had come when it should have been the height of summer. The crops were dying in the fields and ponies were starving.

When I confronted her she tried to use the Elements of Harmony against me, but whatever had caused her to change and broken her connection to them. It was a simple thing to take them from her. Even in defeat she would not give up. I tried to save her, to bring my little sister home. But she resisted.

The tears were pouring from her eyes now.

Without her help even I could not use the Elements to their full potential. I could not brake the enchantment, I had no choice. So I sent her away. Not to a dungeon, no, I sent her to the only place where she could do no more harm. The only place where she would be safe. The only place where she could be happy.

“That morning was the summer solstice, and the first Summer Sun Celebration. It was also the first time that I had to raise the moon in my sisters stead, and the first time that I cried myself to sleep.”

We sat there for a long time, the princess fighting the tears of long forgotten memories and me doing my best to comfort her. When the tears finally stopped we sat in silence looking out the balcony at the moon shinning in the night sky. I worked at processing the story, I had heard it before as a foal or rather I had heard the pony-tale version. Like most ponies I had believed Nightmare Moon to be nothing more then a ghost story. Something mothers used to scare their foals. I looked up at the princess, her eyes red from crying and I saw a very different pony than I had before. She was still the regal princess that she had always been, but now... now I saw the truth behind the mask. Royal and powerful she might be, but she was still a pony. She had regrets and made mistakes, but more importantly she loved and needed love in return. For as long as she had lived she had had her sister, a constant companion. To have that ripped away, to then live for a thousand years knowing that everypony around her would age and die while she lived on. I could not imagine what she has been through.

“I am so sorry.” It was all I could say. She gave me a little smile and turned back to the moon. There were many things that I did not understand; what were the elements of harmony, how had the princess fixed the plants, the result of my analytical mind. But there was only one that bothered me enough to ask. “Can I ask you a question... Celi?”

“Yes?”

“Its just that you said this room was Princess Lunas, but how could that be? This castle isn’t nearly old enough for her to have ever been here.”

“That is very astute of you and you are right of course. Her last act before I... before I sent her away was to curse the woods around our home in Everfree. I had this castle built and this room is for her, I salvaged everything of hers I could find and moved them all here. It is an exact replica of her old room. I have kept it ready for when she comes home.” Before I could say anything she stood up and walked out on to the balcony. “I suggest you head off to bed. It will be a busy day tomorrow and you have a great deal of work to catch up on.” And with that she leaped out landing gracefully on the opposite balcony that lead to her room and disappeared behind the curtain.

It was not difficult to find my way back to my bed, the forgotten hallway did not have any off shoots until I reached a corridor I recognized. Sleep was a different matter. Too much had happened in the last few days, too many unanswered questions were floating around in my head. I know that I fell asleep at some point, but I doubt that I got more than an hours rest before I had to be back to work.

(Bibliography: Celestia memories were inspired by the wonderful story “Night Guards” By Raugos.)

Comments

[Rain Dust]

some spelling and grammar errors here but overall a great chapter

[ElfGift]

I KNEW it was from Night Guards!!
Wonderful story

[KMCA]

Good to see that fic has inspired other authors. It's one of those fics I highly recommend to people

[j-grizz]

I could not brake the enchantment

break