To End a Cycle

by Obsedian_Flame

Chapter 8: Elements of the Past Pt 1

Chapter 8

Elements of the Past

Pt 1

‘Who is Omni?’ One thought played through Flurry’s head for the entire day. It had been plaguing her ever since she had interviewed the returned Crystal Ponies. The young Alicorn had spent the day pouring through the Crystal Library’s volumes to find any mention of a former ruler named Omni, but unfortunately to no avail. After many grueling hours planted at her Library desk, Flurry decided to move on.

She figured it best to take the matter up with her Auntie Twilight who was easily the most knowledgeable of everypony she knew on all things Equestria. After closing her current book, Flurry took the stack of volumes that she had borrowed and placed them all back in their appropriate spots before heading off to notify her parents.

It didn’t take long before Flurry arrived at the Crystal Throne Room where she could see her mother seated on the throne with a scroll and quill. Hearing Flurry’s footsteps, Cadence looked up from the paper and noticed her daughter entering the room, “Flurry! How you doing sweetheart?”

“Hey Mom, I wish I could say I was doing well but I checked through the Library and found nothing about a fallen ruler named Omni. It’s just… It’s frustrating.” The young Alicorn replied with a defeated expression.

Cadence set her quill and scroll down and lifter her daughter’s chin with a wing, “I understand sweetheart. We don’t always have the answers for everything.”

Flurry nodded, “I was actually thinking of going to Auntie Twilight to ask her about it. Do you know if she’s busy today?”

Cadence shook her head, “Not at all. She wrote to me yesterday actually. She was asking about you.”

“About me?” Flurry quickly responded.

“Yes. She was asking how things are going between you and Sombra. I figured it was best if I let you tell her personally.” The Empress of Love stated with a smile.

Flurry placed a hoof on her chin, “Do you think she’d mind if I visit her in Canterlot today?”

Cadence shook her head once more, “I don’t think Twilight would ever be opposed to see you Flurry, besides, it’ll give you a chance to catch up with your friends while you’re there.”

The white coated Alicorn nodded, “Thanks Mom, I’ll be back later. Make sure to keep an eye on Sombra while I’m gone.”

“We’ll do just that Flurry.” However, Cadence then realized something, “Wait, Flurry the train doesn’t depart for another hour-”

“It’s not that far Mom, I’ll just teleport there.” Flurry interrupted before summoning her magic.

Cadence was going to interject before her daughter vanished in an instant. ‘Celestia help me… She takes after her father too much…’ The pink coated Alicorn thought to herself as she rubbed her face with a hoof.

---

Teleporting such an incredible distance would have been a near impossible feat for an average Unicorn, however, with the help of Flurry’s Alicorn genes she was able to perform things like these regularly. Albeit with some fatigue afterward. In a split second Flurry found herself standing before the gates of Canterlot Castle.

Her sudden appearance had come as a shock to the two guards on sentry duty at the gate. Or rather came as a shock to one of the two. “Princess Flurry Heart.” One of the guards remarked before kneeling in respect.

“Sorry for the abrupt visit Captain Tempest, could I please see Princess Twilight?” Flurry asked while approaching the gate.

The indigo coated Unicorn nodded, “Of course. Princess Twilight has been expecting your arrival. Allow me to take you to her.”

Flurry raised a brow, “Expecting me? But I never-”

“Come, let’s not keep the Princess waiting.” Tempest interrupted as the gates opened and she walked in.

Flurry scratched her head but followed the Unicorn captain.

Canterlot Castle was significantly larger than the Crystal Castle, and though she had been here many times before Flurry knew how easy it was for one to get lost in the many corridors and rooms. After traveling for a few minutes, Flurry noticed a number of Ponies exiting one of the classrooms for the school of magic. Among these students was a pink coated Mare with an orange mane, “Dawn!” Flurry exclaimed with joy as she ran up to her friend.

The Unicorn immediately recognized her royal friend, “Flur! What are you doing here!?”

“I came to talk to Aunt Twilight about something. How are you doing?” The Alicorn replied while hugging her good friend.

“I’ve been doing alright, but Princess Twilight has had my Mom teaching the classes lately…” Luster explained with a look of embarrassment.

Flurry giggled, “And I’m guessing she’s being typical Starlight?”

The Unicorn nodded, “Yep. But that’s enough about me. What about you? Princess Twilight told me that Lord Sombra agreed to your proposal! Are you seriously going through with it?”

Flurry nodded, “Yes, I am. I’ll tell you more about it after I speak to Aunt Twilight. Sound good?”

Luster nodded, “Alright, see you then Flur!”

With that, both Mares parted ways with Flurry returning to Captain Tempest’s side, “Sorry about that.” Flurry stated while keeping up with the Unicorn who went ahead.

“It’s no trouble Princess, after all we must always place priority on our friendships.” The half-horned Unicorn replied with a smile.

---

After a small walk, Flurry found herself before the doors to the Canterlot Castle Throne Room. The doors were grand, almost large enough to fit Cerberus if they needed to. As they opened, Flurry Heart could see her Auntie Twilight accompanied by a young purple scaled Dragon.

“Princess Twilight, Flurry Heart is here to see you.” The half-horned Unicorn announced as she led the white coated Alicorn into the room.

“Thank you Tempest, that will be all.” The Princess of Friendship replied while rising from her Throne.

As the Captain bowed in respect, Tempest Shadow saw herself out and closed the doors behind her.

Flurry returned her focus on the violet coated Alicorn, “Auntie Twilight! It’s good to see you!”

Twilight smiled warmly, “It’s good to see you too Flurry.”

The two Alicorns hugged before they each heard someone else clear their throat. Flurry looked to the left to see Princess Twilight’s royal advisor and friendship ambassador standing with his arms crossed. The Dragon had a raised brow as he looked directly at her. Although his face looked stern at first, he quickly lightened up.

Both Flurry and Spike then began to chant,

(This jingle follows the exact same rhythm as Twilight and Cadence’s “Sunshine Daisies”)

🎵Friendship ambassadors Flurry Heart and Spike!

Flap your wings and twirl your tails alike!🎵

The two then chuckled like a couple of teenagers at a comedy show before settling down. “It’s kind of weird to do that now but I guess old habits never die.” The Dragon stated with a smile.

Flurry nodded, “How have you been Spike? It’s been quite a long time hasn’t it?”

“Well, you know, between visiting the Dragon Lands, Ponyville, and the Griffon Kingdom, not busy at all!” The Dragon replied sarcastically with a tinge of pride.

Flurry giggled, “All in a days work for a Friendship Ambassador.”

Spike nodded before Twilight interjected, “Well I’d love for us to spend the afternoon catching up, but I believe you came here to ask me something Flurry?”

The white coated Alicorn was a bit puzzled with this. She hadn’t mentioned anything about a question of hers. “How did you know?”

The Princess of Friendship laughed this off, “Your Mother told me all about it. She had a feeling you’d come to me about the matter. And luckily, I think I might have an answer for you.”

Flurry was confused but decided to roll with it, “You know of a former ruler named Omni?”

Twilight nodded and proceeded on a light saunter out of the throne room, to which Spike and Flurry Heart followed. “When Cadence told me you were looking for information about a mysterious fallen ruler named Omni, my curiosity was piqued. So I went to the Canterlot archives and looked through all the historical records of Equestria.”

Flurry chuckled, “Mom and Dad always told me how much you love to read books…”

“You have no idea.” Spike whispered in her ear as he nudged her shoulder.

Twilight nodded, “But after looking through all the records, I wasn’t able to find anything about a ruler named Omni. It was a total dead end…”

Flurry stopped for a moment, “Wait, what? I thought you just said you have an answer?”

Twilight nodded, “Yes. It wasn’t until I uncovered Princess Celestia’s private collection that I found something interesting.”

The suspense was killing the young Alicorn who eagerly awaited her Aunt’s answer. Twilight noticed Flurry’s anxious expression and continued, “This fallen ruler is from a time before Equestria was formed. Over four thousand years ago.”

Flurry’s mouth hung open as she took in the information. The time before Equestria’s formation was almost unfathomable, even for the most seasoned historians. Very little was known of the land before the three tribes of Ponies had united and brought new life to the land. And what little was known was not exactly the happiest bits of history.

After walking for a few minutes, the three had arrived at the Canterlot Royal Library. The room was much larger than that of the Crystal Empire, and contained many thousands more books. In fact, Flurry reckoned that any known fact to Pony-kind could be found in this room, though finding the exact book for it would prove tiresome. Although the novels and encyclopedias were ordered alphabetically, the sheer volume of literature here would prove difficult to sort through.

Twilight led the two past the Z column to a more secluded area with most of the books being stored on very high shelves. The violet coated Alicorn used her magic to levitate several books down from their shelves and opened one. The volume looked very old, if the rough cover and dust weren’t enough to show the book’s age then the many tattered pages inside certainly would.

The book’s title read, “The Order of Grogar”. It was no doubt a callback to the now deceased Lord Grogar who Flurry had indeed heard tales of. As Twilight flipped through the pages she arrived on page 126. She then offered the book to Flurry, “Have a look.”

Flurry nodded and took the book in her own magic while reading the passage. “Emperor Grogar’s rule was divided into five different factions of monsters that each took over various parts of land. The Everfree Forrest as we know it today was taken over by the Timberwolves. The Dragon Lands to King Torch the first. Canterlot to the Changeling hive. Manehattan to the Centaurs. And lastly the Crystal Empire to Countess Omni of the north.” The young Alicorn read aloud as she scanned through the page.

“So this mysterious ruler was once part of Lord Grogar’s order?” Flurry asked as she looked up to her Aunt.

Twilight nodded, “Yes. And that’s not all.”

The Princess of Friendship then levitated the other book and handed it to her niece, “This will explain it a bit more.”

This book, unlike the last was not quite as weathered and old. At least not on the surface. The title read, “The Five Monster Factions.” Twilight opened the book and scrolled halfway through the volume before arriving at a series of torn out pages. Where once there were pages of valuable knowledge and information, there was now nothing but ripped seams and missing passages.

“What? But there’s nothing here!” Flurry exclaimed.

Twilight nodded, “Yes. And these pages didn’t just fall out from age or by accident. They were torn on purpose. So somepony clearly didn’t want this information to be available.”

Flurry ran a hoof through her hair out of stress, “I… But… This doesn’t help at all! All I learned about this fallen ruler is that they were once part of Emperor Grogar’s order!”

Spike nodded, “Maybe, but there’s also the fact that this ruler was a Countess. In other words… Wait, what’s a female monster called again?”

Flurry sighed, “Yeah, but that’s still not much to go off. Are you two sure there isn’t anything else on this fallen ruler?”

Twilight shook her head with a frown, “Unfortunately no. I looked through the entire Library but couldn’t find anything on it. It seems to just be a dead end. I feel the only way you could determine more about this fallen ruler is if you asked somepony who was alive before Equestria’s formation.”

The young white coated Alicorn looked up, “You mean Celestia and Luna?”

The Princess of Friendship nodded, “They might be the only ones who were alive at that point in Equestria’s history.”

Flurry sighed again. There was now yet another road block for her to overcome. Although she knew the two Alicorn sisters, she never knew where they were. As they both had retired when Flurry was but a foal. Nowadays the two former rulers of Equestria traveled the lands to see new sights and experience new things.

She looked up to Twilight once more, “Do you know where I could find them?”

Flurry was hoping her Aunt would know the answer to this question, but sadly the violet coated Alicorn shook her head, “I’m sorry Flurry, but I don’t. I don’t talk to them very often anymore. The last time I spoke to them was at the meeting at the Crystal Empire a month ago.”

“… Well it’s back to square one I guess…” Flurry added with slumped shoulders.

Although she could see the disappointment on her Niece’s face, Twilight began to chuckle. Flurry couldn’t understand this action and raised a brow, “What’s so funny?”

Her Aunt looked down at her with warm eyes, “Flurry, I’m not laughing at you or the situation. It’s just that you’re reminding me of myself.”

“How’s that?” The young Royal asked.

“When I was your age I couldn’t stand to not know something. I poured all my energy each day into learning and finding more information.” Twilight answered as she placed a hoof on her Niece’s shoulder.

“You’ll find what you’re looking for Flurry, just be patient.” She reassured.

This managed to calm the young Alicorn down as Flurry gave a smile. “I’ll try Auntie Twilight.”

Breaking the two out of their moment, however, was the sound of a yawn. Twilight glared at spike before lightly hitting the Dragon on the head with one of the books. “Hey! You guys were just being so sappy.”

Flurry laughed before looking back to the violet coated Alicorn, “Well thank you both for helping out. I think I’ll move on with my duties today.”

Twilight raised a brow, “Before you go Flurry, can I make a suggestion for you?”

The young Royal nodded, “Okay, what kind of suggestion?”

Twilight then proceeded to place both books back on the high shelf before going on a short walk with the other two following. “Cadence told me that your wedding with Lord Sombra is in three weeks. Have you made any plans for the event?”

The young Alicorn looked away for a moment. In truth she hadn’t given the event much thought ever since she’d negotiated the date with Sombra. One could call it procrastination, but it was more likely dread. She’d never had to attend or plan such a massive event before, much less be the bride in question. She’d of course attended weddings of some of her friends and close family, but had never thought about exactly how much thought went into them.

“I…No…” She answered sheepishly while keeping up with the Princess of Friendship.

Twilight chuckled, “I figured. From what your mother told me you’ve had a lot on your mind lately. And I can’t say I blame you. But might I suggest you get somepony to help you out?”

Flurry was captivated with this idea, “That could help a lot. I don’t really know how to plan weddings or the things that go into them. I’m just used to being in the crowd.”

The indigo coated Princess stopped for a moment, “Well, there is one Pony who just recently started researching wedding planning here at the Canterlot.”

“Really? Who could that be?” Flurry asked with interest.

Twilight chuckled again, “You actually happen to be very good friends with them.”

Flurry blinked for a moment as she put the pieces together, “Wait… Luster?”

Twilight nodded, “Yes. She’s been in the library a lot recently reading about weddings. I guess when she heard about your engagement she wanted to learn more. Maybe to help you out.”

Flurry merely shook her head with a subtle roll of her eyes before laughing, “Dawn never changes does she?”

Twilight shook her head with a knowing smile. After arriving at the exit of the Library, Flurry looked back to the Princess of Friendship and her Ambassador, “Could you both be there? At my wedding?”

Without wasting a second, Twilight and Spike both nodded, “Of course, Princess Flurry Heart.” Twilight answered.

With a gleeful smile, the young royal nodded and went to leave the two.

---

After exiting the castle, Flurry made her way to Luster’s house in Canterlot. Luster and her parents lived in a high end community in Canterlot which mostly consisted of noble Ponies or upper class moguls who’s foals and fillies attended the appraised school of magic normally taught by the former magician and entertainer Trixie Lulamoon. As Flurry arrived at Luster’s house, she gently knocked on the door but loud enough to be heard.

Within moments the door was answered by a pink coated Unicorn Mare with a purple and teal colored mane and tail. “Flurry Heart! What a surprise!” Stated the Mare happily.

Flurry returned the smile, “Hello Mrs Glimmer, I’m actually here to see Luster. Is she here right now?”

Starlight nodded immediately, “Of course Luster is here. Come on in!”

As Flurry entered the house she took a seat on a small chair in the living room. “Dawn! Flurry Heart is here to see you!” Starlight called up.

Within seconds, the younger Unicorn descended the stairs, “Hey Flur! What’s up?”

The Alicorn chuckled, “Hey Dawn, so I just talked to Auntie Twilight and she told me all about what you’ve been reading about lately.”

The pink coated Unicorn chuckled as well before sarcastically replying, “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Flurry rolled her eyes playfully, “You just couldn’t help yourself could you?”

“Nope! When I heard my best friend was engaged to be married I had to soak up all the information I could on weddings!” The Unicorn responded with pride.

“I see. So what would you say to helping me plan my wedding?” Flurry asked.

Without a second thought, the Unicorn replied, “I’d love to Flur!”

Before her friend could reply, Luster used her magic to levitate up a notepad that was lying on the coffee table at the center of the living room. “In fact, after reading a bunch of the books in the Library I started a list of things we’ll need to prepare for your special day. I guess you could say I was inspired.”

Flurry couldn’t help but snicker. Out of all her friends, Dawn was certainly the most passionate about the things she did. It was a warming thought, and something Flurry really appreciated in her friend.

“So, where shall we start, Wedding Planner Dawn?” Flurry joked.

“The first thing we need to get you is a dress!” Luster replied as she looked at the checklist on her notepad.

Author's Note:

Alright, so originally I planned to have this all as one chapter, but after seeing the word count I felt it'd be better if I divided it into two parts to make it easier to read. If I included both parts this chapter would have exceeded 9,000 words. (Insert "it's over 9000 meme here)

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the callbacks in this chapter. I enjoyed including characters like Twilight, Spike, and Tempest in this one. And believe me, there will be more of that in the second part of this chapter!

I hope you guys enjoyed this one. The next will be released very soon and is almost done. If you're new to the story and you like what I'm trying to do be sure to favorite it and write a review or comment and let me know your thoughts on it.

Cheers,
-Ace_Risk

Comments

[Rexy]

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Ok thanks! That’s good to know some extra deets (: