Twilight Daylight: Psera, The Legend of Legends

by thedarktome

Chapter 06 - The Diary's Lock

Each motion was careful. Since the pod was not meant to be pulled for safety reasons, the Pserateps were pushing it slowly along the slightly bumpy and busy hot streets of the Crystal Empire, guarded by twenty, a majority looking into the pod at the green book reading Diary on the front. Bearing an older Crest of Psera in gold. "Is that what I think it is?" A guard asked over the Comm Blocks.

Dark Silver nodded and answered, "Queen Arcadia believes so. It holds extreme value. Keep an eye on and around it. We have to take it back to Ponyville. Overall, I have enjoyed my stay here in the Crystal Empire. I only hope the Queen did as well with that Singe character."

"I really wanted to shoot her," Gliding deadpanned.

Dark smirked and admitted, "I did as well, but we needed to stay as inconspicuous as possible. So... Struggles."

Gliding Sword trotted up and stood next to him with a few things she had to say in body. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Dark Silver glanced over and repeated, "What?"

"This conference. Everyone in there except Equestria were stricken with plagues. Something was wrong with their nations, their lands. Everyone was worried. Will they be able to help each other? Not sure. When Equestria didn't have anyone, Queen Arcadia was correct. They turned to her. Everyone in there has a possible fifty percent chance going about this alone, but that will dwindle really soon because winter is coming, disabling most recovery operations. So, just like Queen Arcadia said, when things get tough, they'll turn to her. But they think she resides in Equestria. Eventually, they will discover she no longer resides here. And there's no telling what will happen after that."

"Think Psera will be exposed?"

"Possibly. Equestria is reliable, but when nations start asking for information on a single pony, things may get... Dirty." The two captains stopped outside the Train station after a few more seconds and turned to each other while the rest of the Guard continued their escort.

Dark Silver responded, "Then we must let Queen Arcadia know that Psera has a fifty percent chance of being exposed thanks to these plagues. In the meantime, we need to make sure that this pod gets back home safely. They are expecting this package, and have been for years." The two nodded and made their way up to the train station with the rest of the guards. All of them failed to notice the one Hippogriff standing on top of a building gazing down at them. Princess SkyStar had spotted that book earlier when Princess Twilight went all nuts for it and decided to take the back way out to follow and get a closer look. She couldn't really tell what was very important about it. But knowing Princess Twilight, she would probably just study it. But then a lot of words involving Queen, Diary, and Psera got put in. Whatever that is. Not to mention the term everyone. Thus intriguing her even more and adding to the mystery of whatever that book is.

Narrowing her eyes, Skystar hummed and shrugged it off. It didn't seem really important at the moment. But she had matured a lot over these years. And during the journey, one thing she did take note of was that if something seemed strange then you had better archive it in your mind for later reference. It could come in handy. So Skystar did just that and took back to the sunny air for the Castle. She had some bags to pack.

---

As the day neared to an end back in The Forgotten Land, so did the journey for the recently imprisoned Draconequus. It was taking her forever to find her way out from underneath the ground. A mile is a long ways down. She cursed Narmeelah's name each time she ran into a rune, knocking her back down until she finally managed to reach the grassy green above.

On the surface, a large patch of grass turned gray and lifeless before disintegrating into a puddle of mud that she crawled out of, silently laughing with her mouth closed. The mud on her coat poured off into the air upwards instead of downwards, soaring into the blue sky. Still in her disguise as a pony, she sat down and looked around at the precious environment. Full of life. Flourishing in Narmeelah's corruption.

She stuck a hoof in her mouth and gagged. "This is all just absolutely dreadful," she whispered. After a few more seconds of eyeing her surroundings and mocking the castle near her, the Draconequus sighed and raised a hoof. She touched a tree to her right, taking away the life inside of it and poured in a different kind of magic to replace it. Afterwards, she removed her hoof and turned to it.

"I want you to infect every single thing here that has this dreaded essence," she snarled. "Everything but the ponies. I have my own plan for them. Go forth and take it all apart. Drive them off this continent. Go!"

The grey of the tree spread rapidly, soon infecting the entire body. Its leaves fluttered to the ground below, dead as dust. Soon the darkness reached the grass. The spreading slowed, but it continued to infect whatever was in its path for the castle and the towns beneath it.

Satisfied, the pony chortled sadistically before retreating through the woods behind her leading into the mountains. While she moved her body morphed back into her true form the entire way. Moving slowly, her front hooves grew longer and bigger, eventually expanding her joints back into the giant golden sharp claws. Her horn flattened against her head as that too changed, growing bigger and bigger, expanding her teeth into fangs while her eyes turned a blood red. Her rear hooves became bigger and her tail into scaled skin with a sharpened tip.

Once her body was finished, she snaked her way through the trees, leaving a bunch of destroyed ones in her wake as she moved. She had some traveling to do. The task here on this continent was complete. Narmeelah would have caught up to her and fought her by now. But thanks to her spell, she's trapped in stone. Nothing could stop her. And she was going to take advantage of this fact.

---

After the PPU was aboard the train and the Guard had managed to get on board with them, Queen Arcadia was led to the Empire's train station with Princesses Luna and Celestia. Cadance and Shining Armor stayed behind. But they didn't leave until Flurry gave her aunt a toy to take back to Fresh Dawn. The Elite directed her inside a lone car in the back with the two others, then followed in after them. Once the door was shut, everyone relaxed and took a deep breath after they took a seat on the couches. All of that was finally over.

Twilight sighed in relief after disabling her wing spell, showing the true length that held feathers flowing all the way to the door. She took off her crown and laid down on her back, closing her eyes in relief as the train began to move.

Celestia cleared her throat and asked, "So... The Diary of Narmeelah?"

Without opening her eyes, Twilight answered, "There is a process that my team back in Psera takes when we discover something new. We stash it in the PPU, we take it to a lab, we place it in a clean room for a day, then once it's been fully disinfected after twenty-four hours, we take it out and study it. But since this is the Diary of Narmeelah, it's going to be put under extreme care. I'm talking careful movements, all physical. No magic if I can help it. This is an extremely important piece of history for Psera. What I'm hoping to find is Narmeelah's record for everything involving the creation of Psera. There are so many questions that could be answered by simply reading this record of her life. Her ups, her downs, her momentous moments, her children, how she created everything."

"I hope I'm not making things weird with this question," Luna started from the side. "But... I never truly understood Narmeelah's role in the Psera society."

"Narmeelah to Psera is like Celestia to Equestria. But instead of moving the sun and knowing magic, Narmeelah created life, created earth, created air, created water, and created fire. Created everything as a basis. She is the first pony to walk the planet. And Psera is the first nation and land she's ever created. That is why Psera is strictly forbidden apart from the wars for our land. Nopony except the Pserateps, who are believed to be her first living organisms, have the right to own that land. They have maintained it for centuries and until the Changeling Queen Chrysallis came and disrupted their harmony. Then I arrived and put it back together.

"But if my daughter is correct and I am a descendant of Narmeelah, then I believe I was pulled there for some reason." Twilight adjusted herself so she was facing the Princesses with a smile. "Fresh Dawn's dreams, like I told you, are rarely wrong. But I'm afraid it will have to wait until tomorrow evening before we get any information out of it."

Luna adjusted her own body so she was lying on her side. "What are you expecting to find?"

"Well I'm expecting to find out all concerning Narmeelah and what may have happened to her. Just like the rest of the Historians and more out there. And what Fresh Dawn meant by her saying that only I can open it. Whether she meant the Diary or something else has yet to be known. But I am really anxious to find out."

"Well that's some news," Celestia commented. "Now. What do you think about whatever else is going on?"

Twilight's smile dropped and she asked, "You mean the plagues?" Celestia nodded. "Not sure. I feel they are connected and may be linked to the one Equestria suffered here years ago. But it wouldn't really make sense since Equestria's was years ago on its own and all these other countries are just now having theirs at the exact same time. It makes no sense at all. But then again... None of this is making sense. However, no solution will be brought up until it becomes worse and they can't figure it out."

"My Queen."

Queen Arcadia faced Dark Silver and rolled her eyes. "Dark, I told you a million times now. We're friends, you don't always have to call me Queen in a casual setting. We're away from all the Royal and Political fanfare, just call me Arcadia. Or Twilight."

Dark chuckled and shot her a smile. "Yes, my—Arcadia. Yes, Arcadia. Earlier, Captain Gliding Sword made a good point. She was telling me that because of these plagues... Psera may still be at risk of exposure."

Arcadia raised her eyebrow and asked slowly, "Why?"

"Well she said that you were correct earlier in the Trade Room that Equestria turned to you for help. You also let it be known in there that you did in fact provide a majority of the help in solving the crisis. So now, those nations believe you are smart enough to figure out these plagues. And if these plagues do become worse, they will come to Equestria and ask for your assistance."

"But I won't be here," Arcadia whispered. Then shook her head. "Oh no. Oh no, she's right, this is bad. Celestia and Luna may be able to cover for me, but that can last only so long. So eventually, they will learn that I left Equestria. Thus starting an involuntary investigation into Equestria, because those are the rules in IHT."

Celestia sighed and suggested, "Then you can use Psera—"

"No, no, no, I do not want my country getting involved in this. But then again, they're already involved. So basically, Psera's secret existence relies solely on whether or not those Starswirl the Bearded tomes work."

"And if they don't?" Luna asked.

"Then... We'll handle it when the time arises. We'll figure something out. I'll let the Captain of the Embassy's security know to tighten their guard around Ponyville and the Embassy itself. As well as the Senate Board. Because I have a feeling something huge is happening."

After that, the conversation ceased as the train moved through the Frozen North. Even though Twilight's thoughts were on the Diary, they now shared thoughts on the future of Psera. Even staring out the window at the frozen landscape of Northern Equestria did nothing to rid her mind of those thoughts, and nothing even after they reached Canterlot to drop off the Princesses. After a stop there and a loving hug, thank you for coming, and so much more they moved on, soon arriving in Ponyville, where a few more of the Elite Guards were waiting.

Sighing, Twilight stood up and stretched her hooves out when her Guards opened the door. Then made her way towards it so she could step off the small stairs into the warm and sunny afternoon air of Ponyville. Everything looked the same like it was so many years ago. As if there was never a metal shortage that turned this place into a campsite. Now Arcadia could see the suspicions of the other nations.

Other nations.... Arcadia rolled her eyes at the thought of South Neighton. That Madam Singe was such a.... "Ugh," she grumbled. Then shifted her sights to the PPU they were carefully pulling off the train. Along with the eyes that followed it as they did. Thankfully, the Guards were providing excellent security from the rest of Equestria's populace.

Once the wheels were set down, they began the slow movement from the station platform to the town, followed closely by the Queen with a diamond covered crown on her head, and a thin golden chest plate adorned with a single violet gem in the middle. As well as her golden hoof shoes. Soon enough, the inhabitants of the town just stared once they entered with the large pill shaped device, pulling it along the dirt ground toward the Embassy.

Although they didn't have any trouble along the way, Rainbow Dash thought it was a good idea to swoop over to Arcadia's right side and land. Twilight didn't even have to turn her head. But she did smile. "So, Queen Twilight," Rainbow greeted. Then deadpanned, "Why are you here, why didn't I know about it, and what's in the box?" She pointed at the PPU as they neared the Embassy.

Slapping her hoof away, Twilight playfully scolded, "No pointing. And the box is a preservation unit. We found something Pseratopian that has been sought after for centuries from one of the nations after I attended a seven day Conference, just to keep Psera in the dark. I thought Rarity told you."

"Ooh, so you did go to that thing up there in The Crystal Empire. Yeah, I figured that had something to do with Sunset being clueless about the Embassy's week long closing."

Twilight smirked and whispered, "Speaking of Sunset, she told me you were practicing meditation?"

Rainbow immediately denied that while at the same time looking for a way out of this conversation. "What? Pffft, that's ridiculous." She glanced left and right. Then glanced up with a thought.

"Rainbow Dash, there's nothing wrong—"

"Whoa look at the time!" Rainbow interrupted. She showed Twilight her blank cerulean hoof. "I'd love to stay and chat but I have something to do right now, enjoy Psera, bye, say hi to Fresh Dawn for me!" Before Twilight could respond, Rainbow Dash left a rainbow trail in her wake that trailed up into the clouds. Twilight sighed and shook her head. She could see Rainbow's mane peeking out from above. Obviously still intrigued.

Chuckling, Twilight continued her movements to catch up to the pod with the rest of the Pserateps. After a few more minutes, she exited the town and approached her old castle that was refurbished into the embassy, complete with the symbol of Psera on the glass doors that she walked through, stepping onto the cool crystal inside. They were already waiting for her, eyeing the Diary as they did. Even Gardeen, who stopped her oggling to approach the Queen.

"S3 is at the portal on the other side with a full crew," she reported. Then hoofed over a Comm Block. "They're standing by and ready for a safe transport back to the labs. It's Bright Gold."

Arcadia nodded then lifted the Comm Block up to her mouth. "Queen Arcadia Nova to Bright Gold."

"Yes, ma'am?"

Queen Arcadia motioned with a wave of her hoof to start moving again, prompting the technicians to start pushing forward. "We're beginning the transition from the Psera Embassy to the Equestria Embassy. Is your team ready?"

"All of Psera is ready. We're waiting for you."

"Ten-four. We're coming through now." Arcadia gave the Comm block over to Gardeen beside her, then moved with her team into a room on the side. The PPU entered the room first before everyone else followed along. On the far wall was a violet rotating portal outlined by a steel ring. Flanked by two guards. Arcadia pointed to the pod and said, "We need to pull it through first. Two ponies on the other side of the portal so it doesn't roll off."

Two technicians on the PPU's side saluted then eagerly trotted across the room's crystal floors into the portal with a slight ripple. While they did that, Arcadia lit her horn to open one of her bags that one of her many guards were carrying behind her. After a few seconds of loose tongue and poking around, Arcadia levitated her daughter's doll into a hoof and closed her bag back up. Then motioned with her hoof for the portal.

The technicians eagerly pushed through, arriving back inside the Embassy of Equestria. Just as expected, a whole team from S3 were already in place. Wearing suits, masks, hoof covers, and more with eyes trained on the PPU as it rolled onto the marble floors of the Embassy of Equestria. But unlike the building back in Equestria, this one was fresh and new with two floors, plenty of office space, and many more accomodations. The floors were gray marble and in the middle of the entire floor was the Crest of Psera. The floor was crowded right now though. As well as the area outside of the doors. All eyes on the building. But Arcadia had another mission in mind. She knew her family was around there somewhere.

She nudged Gardeen, shooting her a smirk before playfully gasping, "Oh no, where's my little filly?" Gardeen heard a little snicker somewhere. After sitting down, Arcadia covered her eyes and pretended to sob.

"I'm right here, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry!" Fresh Dawn shot out of the crowd in the back and up to her crying mother. Flapping her wings, she buzzed onto Arcadia's back and hugged. Hard. "Please don't cry mommy, I'm right here! See?" Fresh Dawn crawled up her back and poked her head.

Arcadia's folded down ears popped back up. Then a violet aura surrounded Fresh Dawn, pulling her around into Arcadia's hooves. She hugged her daughter tight, humming into her head of red hair while holding her violet body close. Then lifted her sideways and blew a raspberry into her stomach, eliciting a hoard of laughs out of her.

"Hey, sweetie," she greeted. "Did you miss me? Where's daddy?"

"Daddy's talking with somepony," she responded. Arcadia grinned then nuzzled her daughter's hair lovingly. "Where's Blue Sky? She said she would come back right?"

Arcadia set her daughter back down and responded, "Yes!" Blue Sky floated from behind the Queen's head and onto Fresh Dawn's. "She was an excellent helper. Thank you so much, sweetheart. And look, she brought a friend!" Another stuffed doll floated out from behind and danced on top of Fresh Dawn's head. She squealed and reached up, plucking the stuffed bear out of the air and into her hooves. She hugged it to her chest and cheered.

"You're welcome, mommy! Thank you!" Fresh Dawn caught her doll between her teeth and the gifted one underneath one of her wings, and trotted for a seat between her mother's hooves.

King Madun meanwhile excused his way past the Serl technicians looking over the Diary, staring at it as he moved. "Uh oh, someone's making history again."

Arcadia rolled her eyes before the king kissed her cheek, then shared with her a loving nuzzle. "Hey, Firehead," she whispered.

"Hey yourself, Twilight. How was the conference?"

After separating, Arcadia sighed then locked her eyes on the note taking Serl were already doing. Watching the diary as if it were going to run off. "Well," she answered. "It was... Eventful. I am not fond of South Neighton's Madam Singe. I told you about her, remember?"

"The mare that had a grudge against you for some unknown reason?" Madun guessed.

Arcadia nodded and added, "I guess because of the fact that I'm so young makes her jealous or something. Either way it doesn't matter. Because I never ruled in Equestria's name. Technically, I was an advisor over there. But I don't want to think about her right now. Even if the entire world is starting to go through a plague of some sort, it's not Psera's responsibility to help them. We've already helped one nation and we used our classified city to help. I'm not risking Serl's existence to other nations, let alone our land."

"And if the plague comes here?"

"We'll deal with it as we move along. But for right now..." Arcadia smiled down between her hooves at Fresh Dawn, busy grooming Blue Sky's hair with a comb she was holding in her mouth she got from somewhere while the new one sat nearby. "I have a daughter to spend time with. Bright Gold?"

Bright Gold was in front of her in a nanosecond, saluting. "Yes, your highness?"

"See to it that the Diary of Narmeelah is safely taken back to Serl, and undergoing the protocol. Gardeen, if there are any, could you please move all of my appointments to monday? Today, my little sugar plum is going to spend some time with her mommy." Fresh Dawn set down the comb and looked Blue Sky over, picking her up and looking at her belly. "You hear that sweetheart?"

Fresh Dawn looked up at Arcadia. Then placed her doll in her mouth and lifted her hooves. Arcadia smiled and picked her up in one hoof while Madun grabbed the doll she left. Then followed Serl with her husband towards the front of the Embassy. Just like inside, the outside of it was crowded. The back of an Open-Top Radwood Pod had been backed towards the door, creating a direct entry point for the PPU. The technicians pulling it walked across the steel bridge onto the Pod while the others pushed it on. Once it was onboard, they grabbed some thick rubber from a spring and started attaching it to the PPU. Then tugged them, testing their hold over the PPU.

"Ensure its securement back in Serl, Bright Gold," Queen Arcadia ordered.

Once comfortable, Bright Gold saluted. Then announced quite loud, "We're ready!" The escorts in front of the vehicle moved first before the carrier followed after, leaving the King, Queen, and family to watch. Hoping for good results.

Comments

[link4]

i can't help thinking of fairy tails 'iced shell' spell