Bedtime Stories For The Mare In The Moon

by Needling Haystacks

Chapter 6: Ancient Artifacts

In this chapter, we will review the stories of a number of ancient magic artifacts. For most of these, there are only a few lines attached to their legends, so we are considering them all at once. A brief list follows.

The Crystal Heart
The Crystal Heart Pendant
The Siren Stones
The Flankara Relics
The Crown of the Dragon Lord
The Rings of Scorchero
The Alicorn Amulet
The Mirror Pool

The Crystal Heart:

Long ago, there was a place called the Crystal Empire. Before it fell to King Sombra, it housed a powerful relic called the Crystal Heart. This crystal was taken from the heart of a fiery mountain, where an ancient dragon slept. The ponies that had previously eked out a meager existence in the frozen north found that an area around the Crystal Heart would stay warm and suitable for growing food. So they built their city around it. But some years later, the dragon awoke. Finding its prize gone, it became angry and made to attack the Crystal Empire. Though their Queen held off the dragon with a shield, they were besieged. Hearing of this, the two Princesses of Equestria came to their aid, and managed to negotiate a trade with the dragon. A large number of jewels were mined over some years and sent to it, securing the Crystal Heart for the ponies of the Crystal Empire.

It is said that the Crystal Heart, when surrounding by ponies with hearts full of love, had a residual effect far beyond the borders of the city, rendering the frozen wastes more hospitable, and even improving the crops as far south as Equestria. When Sombra came to power and the Crystal Heart vanished, the wastes became even more inhospitable than they had been before, and so they remain to this day.

The Crystal Pendant:

When the Crystal Heart was first found, the Crystal Ponies carved facets into it. They set the shavings that resulted in a pendant made of more mundane crystal, and gave it to their Queen. But before the fall of the Crystal Empire, the Queen lost her gift when caught in a storm on the way back to her kingdom. And so it was not there when the Crystal Empire was sealed away, but remained lost for over a thousand years.

Then, one day, Princess Celestia found a young alicorn, carrying a strange pendent and telling a stranger tale. She told of a village of Earth Ponies that had been tormented by an evil witch. This witch carried a pendent with her that amplified her greed and jealousy. One day, this alicorn, then a pegasus, seized the pendent while the witch was sleeping. Or so she thought, until the witch awoke. The witch tried to use the pendent, but the pegasus's love and compassion resonated more with it than the witch's rage, and the witch was rendered powerless, while the pegasus became an alicorn. This pegasus-turned-alicorn is the one we know today as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

Analysis:

The Crystal Empire and the Crystal Heart definitely existed, and are well-documented. Whether the wastes are really even less hospitable than they once were is unknown, as the Crystal Empire predates Equestria, and its records were lost when it vanished. It is also very difficult to quantify whether the purported increased crop yield really did exist, as agricultural records at the time were kept only sparsely. We have covered the Empire already in earlier chapters.

For years it was unknown if the Crystal Heart Pendant ever really existed, and if so, if it still existed. When Mi Amore Cadenza appeared, she had a pendant with her, and its powers mimic those the Crystal Heart supposedly had. The witch, Prismia, who is still around, though lacking in more than very basic magic, found it on the edges of the northern wastes. Between these, it seems at least a strong possibility that the pendant is the legendary Crystal Heart Pendant. Without breaking it apart, though, it is not possible to tell if it contains shavings of some other crystal in its structure. Its powers also cannot be examined further, as apparently transforming a pegasus into an alicorn used up all of its magic. It is possible that it may recharge some day, as some magic artifacts are known to do, but if so it will likely not be for many years.

The Siren Stones:

Far away, around an island in the ocean, there live the Sea Ponies. The Sea Ponies are known for their singing, which they are quite adept at. In the ancient past, they forged a number of Siren Stones, which would give their songs a magic ability to influence the emotions of those around them, beyond the effects of normal music. These stones could also gather some of the energy released by these emotions and feed them back to the singer, reinvigorating her or him and enhancing the singer's performance. Their maker forged them in pursuit of the ultimate concert, heedless of the moral implications. When the leader of the Sea Ponies found out, she ordered them locked away, never to be seen again. Until one day, they were stolen. It is said that the three who stole the Siren Stones became known as the Sirens and stole power from many an unsuspecting pony. When Starswirl the Bearded heard of this, he faced off against the trio and banished them to another world. Neither Sirens nor Stones were ever heard from again.

Analysis:

I personally find this story most interesting not for its content, but for its context. This story first emerged, and the final events of it seem to have occurred, not long before Nightmare Moon's emergence. But this was over a hundred years after the founding of Equestria, and so Starswirl should have been long dead. There are theories that he is immortal, or a time traveler, or both, based on this and other appearances long after his most active period just before and after the founding of Equestria. One of these stories may be true: there is said to be at least one time travel spell somewhere in the Canterlot Archives' Starswirl the Bearded wing. It is also possible that the name “Starswirl” was applied to any bearded wizard for some time.

The talk of banishing them from the world entirely is intriguing, as it implies that there are others. That wording comes directly from Celestia, but she has been cagey as to what that means, exactly. It could mean one of the other planets in our solar system, in which case their punishment might have been the prototype for Nightmare Moon's banishment, or it could mean a parallel universe. The former seems more likely, but the latter is an intriguing possibility. In that case, though, Starswirl dumped dangerous criminals on someone else. Unless that world somehow disallows their magic. Theories of other worlds [see, for example, Different Green's “The Elegant Universe”*] hold that this is possible, though it would be simpler for parallel universes to have the same physical laws but different physical configurations. Without some evidence one way or another, there is no more to be said on this subject at this time.

The Flankara Relics:

Shortly after ponies first came to the area around Ponypeii, the nearby volcano of the same name became active. Originally, the inhabitants would evacuate and re-settle using rough, quickly-built structures. But each time, the volcano's output encroached a little more and a little faster, threatening to drive the settlement out entirely. The Stalwart Stallion of Neighples brought Staff of Ponypeii, the Sword of Lusitano, and the Arrow of Marapor, collectively known as the Flankara Relics, to their respective villages, forming a protective circle. Now, when the volcano erupts, the debris is routed around the villages by this ward. The ward is powered by the eruption itself, allowing normal movement in and out during other times.

It is said that the three relics together can also cure any magically-inflicted injury.

Analysis:

This is not much of a story, partially for the reason that it's factual. Around fifty years ago, the area around Ponypeii was colonized by ponies from Equestria. The problems mentioned above nearly drove the colony out of existence, but The Stalwart Stallion of Neighples saved it in the manner described. The stallion's actual name might be known by the villagers, but they have not disclosed it in order to protect his privacy. According to the villager's account, he found the Flankara relics in an ancient ruin. This may have been a ruin of the Alicorn civilization mentioned in previous chapters. The name of their creator, Flankara, was written in the ruin. The knowledge of the ward, as well as the bit about curing any injury, were probably also found in the ruin. The location of this ruin is known to certain archaeologists, but the information is considered too sensitive for public release, in case there are other powerful magic relics within.

The Crown (Jewels) of the Dragon Lord

Deep within dragon territory, in a place no pony has ever seen, dwells the Dragon Lord. The dragon lord possesses a set of crown jewels, which he can use to summon dragons from far and wide at need, or at certain designated times. When this happens, dragons glow faintly and converge on one place.

Analysis:

Due to how little is known of dragons, even this short bit of lore is uncertain. The dragons glowing and converging is observed at mostly predictable intervals. On a few occasions, ponies have reported seeing a dragon with a crown and scepter, thought to be the Dragon Lord. That these are the tools used to create a summoning is mostly supposition, but what little pony-dragon communication has occurred supports that there is a Dragon Lord, but that who holds the title changes more frequently than would be expected were he ruling until dying a natural death. So then either the position is turned over when some event occurs, the Dragon Lord's power shortens his life, or possibly he is the target of frequent assassination attempts. I understand one of Celestia's students has been making something of a study of dragons, so perhaps there will be answers to these questions within the next few years.

The Rings of Scorchero

Long ago in the Tenochtitlan Basin , a wizard named Scorchero created a set of gold rings which could control the weather of the area, which was notoriously difficult to tame. However, he made them too well: a fairly simple ritual could be used to blanket not only the basin, but all of Equestria and beyond, in a single, persistent weather pattern for hundreds of years. On realizing this, Scorchero scattered the rings into the dense jungles of the basin, never to be found again.

Analysis:

This legend probably has a fuller form among the native ponies of the Basin, but this is all that has filtered to Equestria. No other relics or magic, except maybe that of Discord, are known to be able to affect the weather over so wide an area and for as long as these are. It is possible that the range and duration are a poetic exaggeration. If they are literal, one wonders why Scorchero did not destroy one of the rings if he considered them so dangerous. The need for the rings was obviated with the influx of pegasi from Equestria, but this came long after the time of Scorchero. Perhaps he wanted the rings to still be around to correct extreme weather, or to counter a similar invention by another wizard. Of further note is that the natives of the area seem to all be Earth Ponies. Either they once had some unicorns, or Scorchero came from somewhere else. Perhaps he was an early Equestrian explorer. It is my understanding that Ms. A. K. Yearling, writer of the popular Daring Do series, did much research on the rings (as well as other relics) when writing her books. The research and attendant papers, much like the series of novels, is still ongoing, so perhaps there is more information about them forthcoming.

The Alicorn Amulet

Long ago, during the reign of the two sisters, there lived a powerful unicorn wizard. This wizard was envious of the power of the alicorns, so she sought a way to replicated it. Hearing that their power was a mix of that of the three races of ponies, she captured samples of earth pony, pegasus, and normal unicorn magic in an amulet. She then mixed in chaos magic and bound it all together with shadow magic. Fearing that it could be taken from her, she added an enchantment that it had to be removed willingly. When she put it on, this amulet did indeed grant her great power, but at the cost of eroding her sanity.

She soon challenged the alicorn sisters, and indeed could match them. Working together, they attempted to remove the amulet, but could not. They were wounded for their troubles, and the wizard explained the spell on it and proclaimed her superiority, declaring herself the new ruler of equestria. But, on seeing that the wizard's reason had eroded, the elder sister whispered a plan to the young. The younger sister taunted the wizard, saying that her power was not her own. If she were sincere in her declaration of superiority, she would remove the amulet and face them without it. The wizard declared that she needed no such thing, and took the amulet off, where it was immediately snatched away by the elder sister. Free of the amulet's influence, the wizard surrendered, and she was placed under house arrest in the castle, under the sisters' supervision.

The amulet was locked away deep below Canterlot Castle, until a way could be found to safely study it. Until one day, it was stolen. No one knows who stole it, or where it went, but since it has never reappeared, it is assumed that whoever took it knew of the amulet's curse and so did not use it.

Analysis:

For obvious reasons, the details of the amulet's construction have not been made public. It is not clear how the wizard in question learned chaos magic. They may have examined Discord's petrified form, or maybe learned from him. We do not even know for certain if this was before or after Discord's reign, but it seems to have been reasonably close to it in time. Before his reign seems the more likely possibility, as the story makes no mention of the Elements of Harmony. It is also possible that the wizard did not make the amulet at all, but found it somewhere. In this case, the public story would likely be intended to discourage anyone from looking for where it came from, while they futilely try to reproduce it. Assuming the public story is true, though, the anonymous wizard could have learned shadow magic from Sombra, the future king of the Crystal Empire, or from wherever he learned it, possibly the Crystal Empire library.

The amulet is assumed stolen, but as it was not checked on for a long time, no one knows exactly when it was stolen. It is even possible that it was just misplaced, and is in the catacombs beneath Canterlot Castle somewhere. If someone had used it, though, its great power and insanity-inducing side effects would doubtless have brought it back to public attention. Again, we cannot completely discount the possibility that the official story is a lie meant to discourage or misdirect those who might seek the amulet.

Since few details of this incident are known, it may reasonably be assumed that the amulet's effects were fairly rapid, or it would have become far better known before the final confrontation occurred. If it happened quickly, it would have been much easier to suppress detailed reports in order to keep knowledge that might lead to reproducing such a dangerous artifact from circulating.

The Mirror Pool

1 Listen my children before last bell chimes
2 A story told in simplest rhymes
3 “Where the brambles are thickest, there you will find
4 A pond beyond the most twisted of vines.”

5 A pony walked across the plain
6 Came there looking for shelter from rain
7 Searching for friends to ease her pain
8 Never knowing what she would gain

9 She fell into a hole in the ground
10 And saw what had never been found
11 A pond that sparkled and made no sound
12 And reflected only her of what was around

13 “And into her own reflection she stared
14 Yearning for one whose reflection she shared
15 And solemnly sweared not to be scared
16 At the prospect of being doubly mared.”

17 She thought fun would be had and caused quite a stir
18 With a friend who was exactly like her
19 But trouble did follow and so it did stay
20 Until the other her was sent away.
21 And new friends with her did play.

Analysis:

Versions of this nursery rhyme vary: the quoted lines are the most constant.** The fifth verse is only occasionally seen, and the very last line adds an awkward triple-rhyme to lines that come in fours in other verses, with what would otherwise be two couplets in the last verse. It is possible this last line was added purely to resolve the idea presented in line 7. Some versions do not have the second verse at all, but this leaves an odd gap where the subject of the rhyme is never identified.

This rhyme speaks of a lonely pony who was looking for friends and sought shelter from the rain in the forest. She pushed deeper in, through brambles and vines, then fell down a hole and found a strange pond. I would like to note to my readers that this is a BAD idea: if you're unfamiliar with a forest, you really should not venture deeper into it on your own. If you fall, as she did, you may well break a leg, and then you would be in trouble.

Returning to the rhyme, the protagonist is either prompted by a magic impulse, or perhaps merely acts on a whim, and looks into the pond while wishing there were another of herself, promising she would not be scared by that prospect. Oddly enough, some versions of the rhyme simply end there: with the protagonist wishing and nothing else. There is some implication that it works in that case, but that is all it is. The last verse, with its final line appearing to be awkwardly shoehorned in, describes the protagonist initially having fun with her new twin, but trouble following. Assuming this twin followed the usual rules for magical duplicates, she likely had a personality that was less 'complete' than the original. Magic duplicates, for those unfamiliar, tend to distill one or two aspects of the original's personality. For example, a duplicate of a racer may ONLY want to race, and have no interest in interacting with friends and family outside of that context.

We are not told what the trouble was exactly, but apparently it was bad enough that the duplicate was sent away. This may be literal, that she was sent somewhere else, or it may mean that the spell was undone, resulting in a resorption of the duplicate into the magic fields of the original and the caster. Regular duplication spells have counters, though both spells and counters are so difficult and require so much magic that very few unicorns can cast them. Perhaps one of the friends of the last line was a skilled unicorn who cast such a spell on the mirror duplicate. If so, that would mean the mirror pond works much like a duplication spell, and thus may have been constructed by a wizard. This assumes, of course, that the pond even exists.

This rhyme is very old, and no one knows if anything it refers to still exists, or even if it ever existed. Some have suggested that the Everfree Forest is the home of this pond, but this is pure speculation. The poem suggests that the pond is underground, so it would be quite difficult to find if it is there. Barring a lucky accident, a large, coordinated search effort would be needed to find it, and that assumes it even exists. One or two relic hunters have searched for it, as well as a few military types (it could make an instant army), but these searches were all small and, usually, without any real conviction that there was even anything to find.

On that somewhat disheartening note, this chapter draws to a close. Our next and final chapter+ will be on the Legend of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

+Note to the second addition: Do not be confused: the next chapter is no longer the last.

Author's Note:

Author's Notes:
* Brian Greene is a real-world physicist who wrote a book called “The Elegant Universe”.
**The quoted lines are also those from “Too Many Pinkie Pies”.

Comments

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

Chapter 6
I used to be a Dungeon Master (30+ years ago). For adventure material I researched a lot of things including alchemy.

Western Alchemy got its start when a man called Hermes Trimegeistus (3 x as great as Hermes, God of Thieves) spent 20 years infiltrating Egyptian Alchemists & stealing their secrets. It's difficult to know exactly what he learned because future alchemists often published their work under his name to lend greater credence to their ideas. It could be that Starswirl had the same thing happen to him. The deeds ascribed to Starswirl could be the work of many ponies using his name.