Dear Criminee,

I was never a normal pony, like the others I once knew. They are all asleep now, biding their time, absorbed into their own fragments of reality and existence.

I stayed behind, or behind enough, to watch two others leave for good, or so I thought. They were bold, and strong enough to find their way out into the world alone. They are Sisters, kind to each other (or so I think), and I reflect on their bravery from time to time. But they are gone now, and so seem my friends, as I chose neither to run nor to hide. I simply stayed put, obscured from the view of either world.

This castle has been good enough for me, though its size made me feel even more alone and cold. The thoughts and logic of my queen when she made the castle almost entirely out of carved marble was still beyond me. I remembered other castles like this one, far away, and I wondered if they are still standing tall (albeit hidden from view like this one).

I thought it funny how things work out through time, and so very odd that nopony ever dared venture into the swamp surrounding one of the most beautiful constructions in Equestria. The castle sits empty now, and it will be more empty soon.

Shadows chase me down the halls, and forces swirl around my hooves. This castle is my home, and it has been my home for so long that I wonder if it will ever regain its original occupancies. My collection of wines still awaits guests to entertain, and the kitchen sits idle with no feasts to prepare. The parapets are empty, for there has not been a kingdom worth guarding for so many years.

Two sisters visited me long ago, looking for answers that I did not really have. They took some books from the library with them. I believed that they were entitled to the books they took, but I realized that either way, only I would ever care. They mentioned something about Discord, which I found odd, for I knew a Senator Discord even longer ago...

A thousand years have passed, perhaps more, because I never paid attention to the time. Time is a strange beast to me still, and if I watched it I would most certainly be driven farther into madness. I cannot stand to leave my tiny space between two worlds, for if I did I would have to face the truth on either side.

I spend a lot of time playing with the magic here, it is the only way to pass the time, other than sleeping constantly. I haven't eaten anything since I was last visited by Criminee...

I have been thinking about our last encounter, which was at least 100 years ago. I still wonder What you have done to himself, because you were so wonderful once. I remember a Criminee that was so kind and so caring, and my only question is "how did you ever... turn so wrong."

I remember that meeting very clearly. I think it was the damned elements, your pet project and enduring gift to the world. Even if you are so corrupted that you hate any scrap of good in the world, you cannot deny that the sisters use the power of the elements for good, or so they did ever so many years ago.

I could feel your hatred rubbing into my soul, much like feelings I once had when I merely touched a green gem of his. I still wish that I was strong enough to help you. I still wonder if I was even willing to help at all. In any case, I have not even been strong enough to open the castle's grand doors, to go find the sisters, and save the kingdom if you ever return.

Damn those doors, they held me inside this place for so long, away from the sweet release of death, and I did not even try to open them. Some days I would think about opening the doors, and I stared at their golden panels longingly, dreaming about the wonderful world that lay beyond them, warm and full of life.

My predicament is an odd one, for sure. I believe that I understand the pains all builders face, unable to age from that fateful day, and only able to die if they leave the sheltering comfort of their own worlds.

Several years ago, I heard laughter, somewhere in the castle, innocent childish laughter. It was in a voice I once recognized, before the bearer of the voice destroyed himself. It was your voice, from long ago. It was the voice before you touched that green gem, when you were happy.

I felt a mixture of caution and excitement at the sound, and I broke into an almost cheerful canter, traveling towards the main hall of the castle. A brilliant red glob of energy was flying about the room, giggling and squealing with joy. The spot swooped down towards me, and dove into the marble floor.

"WAIT!" I screamed, wishing to speak to somepony, even if it was a mere hallucination, but I realized my cry was in vain. I reflected on the emptiness of the castle, thinking about the contemporary irrelevance of my race of ponies.

I cannot express myself anymore, I wish that I could make you happy again, instead of hopeless. There are only two ponies of our race left that understand, and I do not know if they would have anything to say to you anymore that would even help.

The two sisters are the last relevant builders left, and as they grew up outside of our castle, their appearance has changed much to mesh with the world they grew up in. They never really spoke in the builders tongue, though they could understand it without magical aids. They have grown horns and wings since you last saw them, and are no longer really builders themselves.

I understood that the builders were going to go extinct eventually, along with the other ancient races (if they had not already). Essentially, we were rendered immortal and relieved of the pains of growing old. Our magic preformed this, at a great cost to us.

I did not understand the pains of immortality until I experienced them, many of those who discovered the horrors of it found magical routes around the curse, which ultimately caused them to die at their leisure. Others simply willed themselves not to exist, for one reason or another, and joined the energies of the earth, to repay for our sins.

Those ponies still were able to rejoin the world in physical form, and they spent their time much like I did. I tried to live life with other builders before, in their current place in the world, but the pain I find, when I run into somepony else made my isolation a relief in comparison.

Criminee, I wish I could save you, truly I do, but I have lost faith in myself and all else. I will begin reviewing magic again, I will discover that spell that negates my immortality. This process will take a long time, and perhaps it might even call you out of your realm of darkness and light. I will die soon enough, sometime before you read this letter. I still believe in your redemption.

Please tell Sanguine, and the Sisters of this, if you ever meet them again (or have the heart to)

Your sister, Chartreuse

Chartreuse's POV

I finished writing my letter, staring intently at the book Immortality, its cause and Cure in front of me. More than a millennium had not done the tome any favors, but the book would still provide me with enough information about my predicament

I laid the book out on a table, thinking about the implications of my actions. The ink on my letter dried in the still air, and I waved it to make sure that the ink would not run when I pressed it.

I lifted the glass of the nightstand, laying the letter directly on the dark wood of the tabletop. I placed the glass back over the parchment, allowing the glass to slowly press all imperfections out of the paper. I opened the book, flipping directly to the page of "Cures".

I recoiled in horror. The letters on every page were blacked out by the same heavy ink that the rest of the book was written in. There was no way for me to read the information that was once stored within. My freedom, my plans, my final days of rest... ruined.

A note fell out of the book, fluttering open on the floor, face down. I flipped it over with my hoof, looking at the careful and elegant calligraphy within.

Dear Chartreuse,

Sorry, I need you, in time you will understand. There is no longer any knowledge or way out of this predicament that you face. Time will reward me for your unfortunate perils, and it is my distinct pleasure to have saved my sisters live in such a lovely way.

This is the last communication you will see from me, until I return to my true form. If you desire to warn the others, do so now, I can feel the planets slowly creeping into the positions I desire to return in full. Say "Hello" to those damned traitors for me!

-Criminee-

"The planets" I thought, rushing through the empty castle halls, to the library. I noticed a book lying on one of the reading tables, that I had not seen before, though It was years since I looked at the library in any detail. A note was pinned directly to the cover of the book, in the same pen that was used for the previous letter.

Just making your search easier, Page 522, -C-

PS; Check the calendar!

I flipped to page 522, finding all but one word blacked out in the same tactic used previously.

Elements

I understood that I was really trapped now, Criminee always took years and years to design these games, and his schemes were often so flawless, that they were almost impossible to break apart. I desired to understand as much as I could about what that twisted stallion could be enacting as I live and breathe.

The calendar sat in the unused observatory in the Queen's tower. I galloped towards the tower, even though I could have taken hours, or even days to do so. A gigantic and precise clockwork mechanism still magically operated in the tower, moving elegant and thin metal hands along a giant carved marble disk. The hand for days, months, and years were all about to touch three different lines scraped into the marble with a chisel... The metal hands looked so close to the engraved lines, that I thought that they might touch directly on top of the marks... Tomorrow.

"Perhaps I will keep myself alive for yet another couple years, after all." I sighed, thinking that this new development might even turn out interesting...