Relics of the Past

by StardustSprinkle

Skeleton of a Mysterious Animal

A long, long time ago, before the creation of the pony kind, the land was ruled by a group of monkey-like creatures. The Sun and Moon rotated by themselves, and magic has yet to be born. The creatures explored stars and planets and conquered the sky and ocean. Unfortunately, as time passed on, the Sun and the Moon refused to stand down. With no magic, their kind died off as fast as they conquered. Before taking her last breath, the last remaining member of their kind wrote a spell to control the celestial bodies. The spell was discovered by the Kingdom of Unicorns later, and balance was once again restored.

"Sister, are you sure of it? I don't think Twilight and her friends are ready for such a revelation," Luna enters Celestia's balcony as the Sun slowly retires from the sky under her sister's command.

"It's about time," Celestia sighs as the sky is once again engulfed by darkness: "It's only a hypothesis, but mother did leave us the information about it."

"If mother left it..." Luna shakes her head: "No! But that's impossible! If a civilization of that scale existed, then it would surely leave a mark!"

"I understand," Celestia closes her eyes: "But it was said that they disappeared before the pony kind, so it's also possible that anymore they left on this earth has long been erased by time."

"I sincerely hope you know what you are doing," Luna says as her horn glows.

---

"Um...interesting..." Twilight mumbles as she walks across the empty halls. It has been a month since the attack of the machine pony, and her castle is now fully repaired.

"Hi, Twilight!" Spike greets as he casually strolls down the halls with a bowl of gem in his hands: "You busy?"

"Well, yes, I need to retrieve something from the Crystal Empire," Twilight reads from the parchment with a royal stamp on it: "It says I only need to oversee the retrieval process."

"Not by yourself?" Spike tosses a piece of gem into his mouth.

"I have to supervise the retrieval process," Twilight's eyes widen as she reads: "And it says I must not touch it? Because it will absorb magic?"

"What is it anyway?" Spike asks.

"It is a cast-iron coffin," Twilight says: "I'm not supposed to let anypony know about this, and you are supposed to follow me!"

"Pff!" Spike spits out shards of crystal upon this revelation: "What?"

"It's a direct order from Princess Celestia," Twilight says: "It's rather rare for the Princess to issue a direct order! I wonder what's happening..."

"The last time she issued a direct order to was when King Sombra..."

"No!' Twilight rolls up the parchment, denying the possibility of another calamity to keep herself from hyperventilating: "That is not what this is! We need to oversee the transportation of an item and nothing more!"

"If you say so," Spike shrugs as Twilight giggle nervously.

---

"Twilly!" Shinning Armor trot as Twilight and Spike enters a secluded cave in a snowy mountain not too far away from the capital of the Crystal Empire.

"Shining Armor!" Twilight screams in excitement as her brother wraps her around in his forelegs.

"So, how's my favorite little sister doing?" Shinning Armor asks as he gives Twilight a head rub.

"Well, you know," Twilight rolls her eyes: "Reading books all day long!"

"Eh, guys?" Spike says: "It's all touching, but aren't we supposed to find a coffin or something?"

"Oh, yeah!" Shinning says: "Almost forget, follow me!"

"So, what's so special about that anyway?" Twilight asks as they retreat deep into the darkness.

"Princess Celestia sent you a scroll, didn't she?" Shinning Armor asks as his horn glows.

"Yeah, well, but you have first hoof information about it." Twilight replies.

"Let's just it will absorb magic out of unicorns or alicorns when physical contact is established. Although you can withdraw your hoof at any time, it will not be a pleasant experience.
Shinning Armor explains: "Luckily, if you wear a glove or don't touch it directly, then it's all good."

"Um, interesting," Twilight frowns: "Then can you cast spells on it?"

"Spells don't work," Shinning says as the group goes in deeper and deeper: "Not even the most basic ones."

"Guys? How far do we still have to go?" Spike asks as the cold air sends a shiver down his spine.

"Not far!" Shinning exclaims as the three take turns and enter a giant cavern with all kinds of precious gems embedded on the wall.

"Wow!" SPike's pupils dilate at sight: "What is that?"

"This is unbelievable!" Twilight's jaw drops: "But how? The gems! They shouldn't..."

"Appear in the same place in such large quantities?" Shinning says: "And such rare ones too! The cave gets enough treasure to buy Princess Celestia's palace! It's indeed rare!"

"Sir!" a strong earth pony in uniforms salutes: "Everything is ready!"

"Good job," Shinning salutes back: "Princess Twilight is here to supervise the retrieval process."

"Your Highness!" the earth pony kneels at the sight of the purple alicorn.

"Twilly, you take over from here," Shining Armor pets Twilight on the shoulder: "I have something else to do, and Capital Durian will guide you from this point on."

"You can count on me!" Twilight gives her brother a wink as her brother orders other ponies to collect the treasures.

"It is my honor to serve you, Princess," the capital says.

"You can stand up now," Twilight says, offering the capital a hoof: "No need for such formality!"

"You are too kind, Princess," the capital stands up: "Please, follow me."

The three of them took a short walk before arriving at a scene that resembles more of a construction site, with a hole leading outside.

"It's cold!" Twilight complains as she takes out the letter from her mentor.

"Gentlemen!" the capital shouts, his voice overcome the howling wind: "The Princess is here!"

The ponies at the scene stop what they are doing and make way for Twilight, revealing the biggest mine cart and cargo box that the Princess has ever seen.

"The way, Princess," Capital Durian says politely.

"My," to see the contains within the box, Twilight and Spike are forced to step into the cart: "And there's enough room for two other ponies at least."

"So what's in there?" Spike asks.

"Um...it's a rectangular-shaped piece of metal," Twilight looks at the scroll and back: Yep, that's it! Capital Durian? I think we've got it!"

"Of course!" Capital Durian jumps into the cart as well before shouting at another pony: "Hi! Pine! Pull the lever!"

"What, what lever are yo..." before she can finish her sentence, the mine cart activates, and the three were given a rollercoaster-like experience without warning.

The cart comes to a screeching halt in front of a temporary train station.

"Blah!"

"There, there," Spike throws a piece of blanket on Twilight as the purple alicorn vomits her lunch up.

---

"Are you feeling better?" Spike brings Twilight a cup of hot green tea.

"Yeah, thank you, Spike," Twilight clutch to the blankets around her as the cup is engulfed in Levander-colored light.

"So, now what?" Spike jumps onto the seat next to Twilight.

"This train is going to the Princesses' castle directly. Once there, we will assist them with..." the Princess suddenly tilts her head towards the window as her pace of breathing grows more rapid.

"Twilight!" Spike put a paw on Twilight's foreleg: "Are you ok?"

"I'm ok, I'm fine!" Twilight says as she breathes heavily: "Just...motion sickness..."

"Are you sure you are up to the task?"

"Yeah, sure."

"If you say so."

---

"Thank you for your time, Twilight," Celestia says as the two alicorns trot down the halls of the palace.

"It's my pleasure, Princess," Twilight says, still suffering from the residual of the train ride.

"If you say so," Celestia says with a gentle voice as she opens the door to her private laboratory.

"Finally, sister," Luna says, stand on her hind legs with one front leg leaning on a sledgehammer as the two enter the room: "Let's crack this thing!"

"Princess Luna?" Twilight says in disbelief as Luna chugs down an entire cup of coffee before covering her eyes with goggles and lifts the hammer off of the ground with her front legs.

"Princess Luna! No!" Twilight reaches a hoof out as if she's reaching for the heavens.

With a loud sound of metal clashing, the lid of the cast-iron coffin flies off and is crushed into the wall, the head of the hammer flies towards the opposite direction.

"Um," Luna takes her goggles off as she looks at the broken handle: "That's to be expected."

"Luna, I'm cutting you off," Celestia sighs, trying not to lose it in front of her student.

"What?" Luna shouts in surprise: "It's not even that bad!"

"Yeah," Celestia looks at the lid and the head of the hammer, both embedded into the carefully decorated walls: "Sure, now, what's in the coffin?"

"It looks like the skeleton of some kind of creature stand on hind legs," Luna shrugs as she chugs down another cup of coffee.

"Let me see!" Overwhelmed by curiosity, Twilight dashed towards the coffin but accidentally fell into it. It's a human, no doubt, Twilight thinks, looking at the skeleton lying next to her. However, its' head and eye socket are disproportionally small compared to the humans she's familiar with.

"Twilight!" Luna's worried voice and a wooden stick cut Twilight's train of thought off: "Take this!"

"Are you alright?" Celestia asks as Luna pulls Twilight out of the coffin.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Twilight apologies: "Still a bit dizzy."

"Would you look at that!" Luna looks into the coffin: "The skeleton absorbed Twilight's magic and is now is in pristine condition!"

"It either uses magic to regenerate or reverting its' state of being," Celestia says: "Either ways, it is dangerous and must be destroyed."

"What?" Twilight covers her mouth after realizing that she just yelled at her mentor.

"I'm afraid so, Twilight," Luna says: "Spike is waiting for you in the train, and speak of this matter to no one."

"Agh, fine," Twilight sighs in disappointment.

---

"So, is she gone?" Luna asks as Celestia enters the door.

"Yes, and any news from Capital Armor?" Celestia replies as she locks the door behind her.

"The analysis of the gems reveals that they are synthetic, and they can convert emotion directly into magical power," Luna answers as a piece of the paper flow in front of her eyes.

"Do you supposed that this creature created Tham?" Celestia shifts her attention to the coffin.

"It is possible," Luna says: "Meaning that mother is right. Magic in Equestria will fade eventually, and the pony kind will face extinction if not prepared."

"If mother was right, then we must conduct more research into this creature and the civilization she once resided in," Celestia says: "Would those gems be operational if magic disappear?"

"That's why they are made," Luna says, reading from the paper: "It allows a non-magical creature to use magic."

"That's great," Celestia sighs in relief: "Maybe not in our reign, but Twilight will see the end of magic and perhaps Equestria as we know it."

"It's truly a dreadful fate," Luna puts the paper away: "Seeing the very elements she is embodied with crumble and disappear."

"Then we must work extra hard to prepare Equestria for it," Celestia says with a determined expression: "I feel sorry to lie to Twilight, but the bones will be of value for us."

"Of course, sister," Luna says: "But we must keep it a secret for as long as possible."