• Published 5th Apr 2017
  • 2,188 Views, 51 Comments

The Elements of Randomness - Razor Blade the Unicron



Amethyst Star (also known as Sparkler) is a unicorn who lives in Ponyville. She's the librarian for the Golden Oaks Library, and loves to read. But when she reads about the possibility of a huge threat to Equestria, she's not one to just sit idly by.

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Chapter Six: Research

"Amy, I'm back!" called Twirly, coming into the library by slipping underneath a window.

"You were pretty quick," said Amethyst, looking up from the book she and been reading. "Did Fluttershy have anything for you?"

"No, she doesn't have anything yet. But I can be patient! Probably."

Amethyst rolled her eyes, and started reading her book once again. Twirly landed gently on the top of book, tried to read the words upside-down, before looking up at Amethyst.

"What'cha reading about?" she asked.

"The Elements of Harmony." Twirly stared at her blankly. "Mystical items that were used thousands of years ago. Well, at least according to legends."

She carefully lifted up several books in her magic, and flipped them to bookmarked pages. Twirly landed down on Amethyst's desk, and waited to hear the information she had gathered. The breezie was not a bibliophile by any means, nor was she particularly interested in many things other than speed, but Amethyst often was researching odd or interesting things, which ended up being mostly interesting.

"The most recent story of the Elements of Harmony is the legend of the Mare in the Moon," said Amethyst, showing Twirly the drawing of the mare's head on the moon in one of the many books she had. "Also referred to as Nightmare Moon, the Queen of Darkness, or the Lunar Empress. I found one instance of the name 'Princess Lunar', which can be simplified to 'Princess Luna' to match that of Princess Celestia, as her full first name is 'Celestial'. The legend in itself, as you should already know, speaks of an older sister banishing her younger sister to the moon using the power of the Elements of Harmony. From what gathered, those sisters were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna respectively.

"The five known elementals of the six Elements of Harmony can match up with Princess Celestia, as they are Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Laughter, and Honesty. The sixth appears to be a funnel for the power of the other Elements, and it needs a 'spark' to be activated. I have been unable to find out that this 'spark' is, since the books I have read cannot agree upon whether the 'spark' is literal or metaphorical."

"Question!" called out Twirly. "How could Princess Celestia have used the Loyalty Element against her own sister?"

"Excellent question!" Amethyst smiled at her attention. "It's very simple, actually: Princess Celestia was being Loyalty towards Equestria by banishing Nightmare Moon to prevent the eternal night. Granted, she most certainly didn't feel good about banishing Princess Luna, but the Elements appear to have a mind of their own on how they are used.

"The second most recent story of the Elements of Harmony dates back to the Discordian Era. Since that era was so long ago, it's much harder to find specific details on it, but I still found some. The being of discord was vanquished by 'two mystical beings' with 'stones of the light'. In another book, these 'stones of light' to be referred to as the 'stones of harmony', as they stopped the disharmony caused by the being of discord. The 'two mystical beings' were referred to as the 'sisters of the light', meaning the sisters of day and night: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

"Now, I have no way to prove that any of these stories are true or just legends, but these two different stories are very similar while have being written so many years apart. The only exact connect between them are the Elements of Harmony, as they are described to 'contain the evil and disharmony'. The location of the Elements is actually quite specific, though. They are said to be located in the Castle of the Pony Sisters in the Everfree Forest, which is indeed a real location. This increases the plausibility of the Elements of Harmony and the legend of Nightmare Moon to be real."

"Wait," interjected Twirly. "Doesn't the story of the Mare in the Moon end with a... Er... Prediction..."

"Prophecy."

"Right, prophecy! Doesn't the story end with a prophecy of her returning?"

Amethyst nodded. "It is is said that 'on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape'. Today is the longest day of the year. And it's the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration."

Twirly's eyes widened in realization. "But that means-"

"Nightmare Moon is going to return and try to make eternal night." She frowned nervously. "Which means that somepony is going to need to locate the Elements of Harmony in the Everfree Forest, and use them on her. Unless all of my research is wrong, but right now, I really hope that it is for once."

"Should we make a fail-safe in case she comes back? Like a plan to go after the Elements?"

Amethyst nodded, and finally placed down the books she had been holding in her magic. "Good idea. Let me think... Who do you think it would be the safest to send into the Everfree Forest?"

"Erm... Rainbow Dash?"

"Too reckless."

"Applejack?"

"She would want to stay in Ponyville to make sure everypony's safe."

"Uh... Oh, duh! Princess Celestia can just go get the Elements!"

"I thought about that, but then I realized something about when I saw her earlier today: she looked sad. As if she knew that there was something coming that she can't avoid. It also got me thinking about the unicorn she brought with her. Why would she need a powerful unicorn to come with her to the Summer Sun Celebration: to protect everypony from Nightmare Moon. And why? Because Princess Celestia can't use the Elements of Harmony anymore."

"How do you figure that?"

"If she could, she would have immediately gone to get them to protect everypony. If she brought them here now for somepony to find out how to use them, that would be too great of a risk of Nightmare Moon getting her hooves on them. Likely they have some sort of protection spell on them in the castle in Everfree. So she's doing everything she can to keep everypony safe, without causing a mass panic."

"So we won't have anypony to protect us from Nightmare Moon?"

"The unicorn guard she brought with her is very talented. She's either going to try and protect everypony, or go after the Elements herself."

"So we already have a fail-safe!"

"Fail-safes don't work with only one option." Amethyst glanced outside as the sun began to set. "And there isn't enough time to explain all of this to somepony else..." She hesitated. "I'll be the fail-safe."

Twirly looked at Amethyst in shock. "You mean go into the Everfree Forest yourself?!? Amy, that's way too dangerous!"

"Think about it, Twirly! I already know all about Nightmare Moon and what I need to do to stop her. Plus..." She hesitated once again. "You're the only one she can... use against me, and I can keep you safe here in the library."

"No way I'm letting you go in that forest alone!"

"It will be the safest thing."

Both ponies were silent for a moment, before Twirly spoke. "...Should you pack a saddlebag with any supplies you'll need?"

"Good idea."