The Elemental Eight
a My Little Pony fanfic
Chapter One: Dusk
It was a quiet day for once in Ponyville, and everypony was enjoying the silence before it had a chance to slip away. Celestia had just lowered the sun to the edge of the horizon, spreading a beautiful array of golds, reds, and oranges across the sky. Most residents of the village-like town were in their homes, preparing meals for them and their families. A few were out in the markets, buying last minute ingredients for said meals and other miscellaneous goods, but even they were feeling the day wear thin.
As the entire town began to wind down from the long summer day, a single purple unicorn mare was busy as ever, tirelessly scribbling out a note to her mentor with a quill wrapped in her billowing magic aura.
Dear Princess Celestia,
As I have many times before, I am sending you my weekly report on the magic of friendship. Unfortunately, my friends and I have not seen much of each other this week, as we have all been busy with our own agendas. And to be honest, it feels good to be alone every once in a while. I realize now that friendship is more than just hanging out with your friends all the time; sometimes, you need a little break from the excitement they can bring with them.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
With the last drop of ink set in the parchment, she used her magic to roll it into a tightly coiled scroll. Then, using some red wax from the candle next to her and a piece of red ribbon, she sealed the letter shut, stamping the wax with the crest of the Royal Sisters. Turning away from the podium she was standing at, she stifled a sudden yawn before calling to her young dragon assistant, who was currently taking a nap while sitting upright on a nearby table.
"Spike," she said, her voice betraying a slight tone of fatigue. "Spike, wake up. I need you to send my report to the princess."
"Not right now, Twi. Can't you see me and Rarity are trying to get some alone time..." the reptile snored, his head falling forward. As the dragon snoozed, the tired mare in front of him began to get annoyed. She tried calling his name again, this time met with nothing but a loud snore. Now a bit irritated, she sat on her haunches with a huff, scanning the library for something to help her out. Eventually, her eyes fell upon a small cylinder with a little red cone situated at the top; an air horn from one of her friend Pinkie Pie's famous parties. After giving it some thought, a devious smile made its way onto her lips as she grabbed the toy with her magic. She sniggered to herself as she situated the can of evil noise next to the slumbering lizards head. Once she had it at a safe distance so she didn't hurt his ear too bad, she covered her own with her hooves and pressed the tab on the can. The toy immediately screamed to life, letting loose a flurry of confetti and tiny streamers as well.
The startled dragon jumped straight up with a shout, clinging to the rafters carved into the ceiling. Twilight giggled at the sight, those giggles evolving into unbridled laughter at his glare. Spike grumbled something under his breath, blowing a smoke ring from his nose as she started to calm down from her laughing attack.
"Not cool, Twilight," he grumbled
"S-sorry Spike," she apologized, raising a hoof to her face to hide her giggling. "I needed you to wake up and send a letter for me, but you were out cold."
The dragon sighed, letting go of the beam with his hands and hanging by his clawed toes, allowing him to cross his arms. "Try to take a short nap and this is what I get..."
As the rest of Twilight's laughter died away, she lowered her hoof, a look of worry appearing on her face. "Would you please be careful up there?" she said, seeing his dangerous pose hanging there. "You might fall if you stay like that for too long! Please use your hands too..." he may be a dragon with tough scales, but that doesn't mean she didn't worry when he did something stupid.
"Oh, come on, Twi," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I've got a perfect grip right now. I'm not going anywhere until I want to-" a sudden crack broke his train of thought, drawing his attention to the wooden beam in his toes' grip. The wood was beginning to split and shatter in his grasp due to his intense grip and sharp claws. His eyes grew wide as he reached for the wooden board with his hands, the wood giving away to his weight just as his claw grazed the underside of the beam.
Twilight gasped sharply as the dragon fell through the air, crashing into a table and causing books to go flying every which way. The impact created a large cloud of dust, blocking Spike from view. Twilight coughed as the dust cleared to reveal Spike laying in the remains of the old oak table.
"Spike!" she cried as she ran over to the wreckage, being mindful of the splinters and shards of wood from the table. The mare looked over her number one assistant worriedly as he sat up. Not wanting her to worry, he groaned in assurance that he was unhurt, sitting up out of the rubble and cracking his sore back.
"I'm fine, Twilight," he muttered as he pulled a shard of wood from between his scales. Despite his insistence, she walked around him and looked him over for any injuries, and finding none, sat down next to the wreckage.
"I told you to be careful," she said worriedly to the dragon, who was almost as tall as she was. She often forgot just how tall he had become since his second bout of dragon greed almost a year ago. Luckily, he was able to stop himself before it got too bad, but not before he gathered a small pile of "loot" as he called it. Other than his increase in size, a slight attitude, and a row of slightly more pointed spines adorning his head, he was the same old Spike she'd known all her life.
Said dragon yawned loudly as a small wisp of flame escaped with it, looking back at his boss and adoptive sister. Though you would never hear him say it outright, that is exactly how he thought of Twilight. He'd felt that way ever since he was first put into her care by the Princess herself. And he was sure that she held him in the same regards, even if it wasn't evident on the surface.
"So," he sighed. "you said something about sending a message to the princess?"
Twilight nodded and handed him the scroll, which he promptly set fire to with his green dragon breath, the smoke flying out the window in a single mass.
"There," he proclaimed with a smile. "it's on its way. Now, can I go back to sleep?" he asked, his eyes pleading.
The mare rolled her eyes. "I guess," she giggled, watching as he headed up the stairs to his cushioned bed which had replaced his small basket. Unlike Twilight's bed, his was a simple plush rug-like mattress with soft cotton sheets. Even though it didn't look like much, it was insanely comfortable and quite expensive, having been imported from the country of Neighpon. After she heard him flop lazily onto his bed, she got to work clearing the aftermath of her little prank. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were right; pranks are kinda fun! At least, they are when they're not ruining perfectly good furniture...
As she sorted through the bits and pieces of the table, she noticed something; a book lying in the very middle if the debris. Curious, she lifted it out of the mess with her magic. It looked old; much older than anything she remembered having in the library. At least by a couple centuries by the looks of it. But the even stranger part, was that the cover had no markings or inscriptions stating what it was. On the front of the book was only eight empty sockets. Or at least she thought it was the front. Turning the book over a few times in her grasp, the saw not even a single sign of anything but the sockets marring the dark, possibly leather cover of the tome.
"What in the world..?" she pondered, studying the cover. She turned the socket marked cover to her and cracked the tome open, an ethereal glow forcing her to squint.
As the strange light faded, she noticed an inscription on the inside cover, written in a different language. On closer inspection, she found it to be an ancient form of Magiken, the language most spells were written in before the founding of Equestria. On the opposite page, a lengthy note written in exceptionally neat penmanship. It read:
"Dear finder of this book,
Within these pages is the culmination of all the information I have gathered in my life about the natural world and the elements that it is composed of. To most people, this book would be regarded as fiction, delusions, or even blasphemy. But I assure you, everything written on these pages is fact. This world is governed by certain laws of nature, and nothing can break these laws. But who made them? That is what I have set out to discover. On every page of this book, there will be information that will change your perspective of this world; possibly for the better, but it still has the potential to devastate your life by making you doubt the very meaning of your existence. So please, take care not to let yourself be lost to this text. This is merely a reference guide to the world as I saw it. And if you so choose, you may see it in this way as well.
-Sir Voldreich the Wise."
After reading the note, Twilight shakily put the book down. What in the world was this thing? Some sort of evil spell book designed to corrupt the mind? Or is it just the delusional rantings of a madman? And just who was this,'Sir Voldreich' fellow anyway? Just looking at the book now sent an eerie chill down her spine. But even as she stood there, that chill began to morph into the all too familiar tingle of curiosity. Curse her love of books! Unable to resist, she picked it back up in her magic and read the magiken inscription first, translating it in her head.
"Within this tome, is knowledge untold,
And only this page to warn;
Beware the Power of Nature, so old,
To which Eight Elements are born;
Eight Elements that built the Earth,
Eight Spirits to guide with words;
Eight mortals to which we give birth,
To each hold Eight different Swords."
As soon as the last word left her mouth, she felt an incredible amount of magic energy come surging forth from within her. This energy erupted from her horn with such force that it nearly threw her into the wall behind her, stopping only a few feet away from impact. The book, still suspended in the air by some other force, quickly absorbed the cloud of magic energy into the inscription before releasing it in a large, force-less blast.
Twilight gasped for breath as her heart raced from the ordeal. The spell having consumed most of her magic, she was physically and mentally exhausted, her eyelids drooping as her body threatened to collapse where she stood. What had the spell done? What kind of trouble had she just unleashed? At the moment, she had not the energy to find out. With great effort, she managed to find her way upstairs and to her bed before falling into a long, dreamless sleep.