Title: The Seventh Element
Rating: T
Chapter: Chapter 4 Twilight and Lunar
AN: You know when you listen to REALLY awesome music, it just gives you the itch to start writing things? Well, that DIDN’T happen to me. I… I read “Cupcakes”. I now have a greater appreciation for Rainbow Dash. BTW, Doomlord, why do you call me a sir? I am, last time I checked, a woman. :P
***

A week has passed since we have come to the Celestial Palace. Twilight was at a table, reading a thick dusty old tome. Beside her was another tome opened next to her with an English to Latin dictionary, with an open scroll with quill next to it.

“If only I was able to use a translation spell on this, then progress wouldn’t be this slow…” Twilight murmured to herself. Lunar was sitting across from her with similar tomes, minus the dictionary.

“And doth thou wishth for my tomes to be destroyed in the process?” Lunar replied icily. She had voiced this opinion before when they first started their search, but Lunar was very protective of the books in the libraries. “Thou hast forgotten what I have said.”

Twilight groaned, “I know, you said that I cannot use magic on your books. But I know simple spells that don’t even have to touch the actual book, therefore destroying all that you have to fear.”

Lunar shook his head, “no. I will not have my precious tomes be put in such danger.” He then went back to reading the Latin tomes. Twilight sighed, then went back to deciphering her pile.

It was like this every day for a whole week, Lunar choosing books, Twilight choosing books, Twilight getting the smaller ones, since she can’t read Latin fluently, and Lunar taking the larger ones, being fluent in Latin. Things worked out fine until Twilight noticing Lunar getting through his pile faster than her and even reading some of hers! “Lunar, I can do my pile, just go get some more from the shelf!”

Lunar would then tell her, “why? There are plenty in front of me. Thou canst keep onto your own whilst I help.” Then he would ignore what she would say next and start reading.

After the whole week, he still did that, not caring if she told him that she was getting better at her Latin. “Lunar, if you want to read so much, then why don’t you just bring more books when we start for the day?” Lunar would smile and not answer.

And then, like every day for that week, at the stroke of 6pm, he would drop everything he would be doing, even stopping abruptly when reading and briskly head out the door. He would then leave her all alone in the huge library, leaving her cold and angry.

She’s so cold because she would feel so warm and hot whenever she would scold Lunar when he would ignore her, or complain about their progress and he would brush it off. And so angry because he would have the gall to just leave her there all by herself! He’s supposedly the prince, but he just goes and… Twilight roared in frustration. It didn’t help that she was pressured in telling Spike to go ahead and help the others. That he was perfectly capable of being there to help Twilight with their research, but now she has to deal with this… this…

Twilight huffed angrily then slammed closed the tome. If Lunar was there, he would get all huffy and tell her that she was abusing the books.

Ugh! He goes on and on about how much he loves books, and if I so much as even mistreat one remotely, he would send me icy glares and just act like… like Lunar! Twilight read over the list she had come up with, there were many scribbles and scratch outs everywhere. The song that she had practically memorized, was much tougher to crack.

They had almost nothing to work with, except a scrap of paper that was found in between the pages of a tome of fairy tales. The fairy tales have nothing to do with each other except just about elves, witches and giants. Although… Twilight flipped through the pages and looked at the few pictures in the book. They do share resemblances… She dipped her quill in the ink and began to write briskly, glancing at the pictures.

“Long appendages… ten smaller appendages… appendages… appendages!” She brought out the scroll with the song.

Another day, another night

Lost shall be your own fright

Close ones eyes, and stretch ones legs

And shall only be woken by the ten pegs

Fly high, and fly low

But stay away from the crow

Dream of your exciting world

Before all is cold

“Ten pegs. Ten appendages…” She glanced at the forms on the pages, then quickly sketched them, “they all have these, ‘pegs’, but why?” She looked at her own hand, “we have the same, ‘pegs’. But why?” she grasped the quill, “it’s like with Spike. He has those claws of his, so he was able to write…” She then sketched Spike, before their whole change, “so similar yet so different…”

She grasped the paper she found in between the pages, then unfolded it for what seemed the ninth time. It read:

-n has ten fi-

-gular eating habits. Be-

-od been known to att-

-keep away.

Twilight wrote the words down, and after they were written down, she rubbed her temples. “This doesn’t make any sense… none of it does…” She stared at the slip of grayed paper, “so small yet…”

“So full of wisdom I see?”

Twilight internally cringed. “Lord Venom Mix. Long time no see.” Twilight turned and was face to face with a tall lean young man with deathly pale skin, dark soulless eyes, long black hair, thin face, and dressed in heavy black robes. He sneered at Twilight.

“Twilight. Staying in the library alone again?”

Twilight bristled, “no. I was left all alone here by Lunar.” Lord Venom Mix tutted at her, then walked slowly to her table and peering at her notes. His eyes landed on the grayed paper.

“Where did you find that?” He reached for the paper and held it delicately in his long bony fingers. He studied it with utter fascination, even taken notice on the splayed fibers of the page’s edge. “it’s… it looks as if it was ripped.”

Twilight laughed humorlessly, “gee, I didn’t know that.” Her voiced dripped with sarcasm, “just look at the edges, you can see how it gets thick and thin, and you can even see on its color that it’s quite old and you should really-”

Venom mix chuckled, “dear, dear Twilight… This page was ripped not too long ago.” Twilight narrowed her eyes at Venom mix, “honestly, I thought you were a genius. The prodigy child, apprentice of Princess Celestia herself. I would hope you have much more intelligence to know that this paper was dyed.” He smirked at Twilight, who in turn glared him daggers. “This paper was ripped deliberately.” He waved the paper in her face before she snatched it from him.

“Easy now!” He patted her head, “easy now little sister.” Twilight slapped his hand away, “Now, I must leave. My potions lab isn’t going to fix itself.”

With a whish of his cloak, and a sharp turn on his heel, he silently strode out of the library, passing by a very confused Lunar. Lunar approached Twilight, who was grasping the table leg so tightly, her knuckles turned white. “Did I miss something?”

Twilight let go of the table leg and slapped Lunar on the chest, hard. “Where were you!?” She closed the books on the table roughly, ignoring Lunar’s darkening face.

“You dare hit me?” Lunar growled out as Twilight was packing up her materials.

Twilight turned to him, tears in her eyes, “because of you, I had to deal with Venom mix by myself! I had to deal with his taunting and his… Holier-than-thou attitude!” She collapsed on the chair, “I have to learn a whole new language, solve a mystery, deal with Venom mix, and I have to deal with your bipolar self!” Lunar stiffened, he assumed, like everyone else, that Twilight could handle all of this.

Apparently he was wrong.

“It’s so hard… I have to go off on a song that doesn’t make sense, and now, Venom mix tells me that someone deliberately ripped this scrap from a whole different page…” She screamed in frustration, “why do we have to do this all alone?” She brought her knees to her chest and rest her head onto them.

“I always work better with help.” Twilight sighed.

Lunar spoke, “But I help you.”

Twilight scoffed, “all you do is read, never take notes, and you then read my pile and act like I don’t exist. Some help you are!” Twilight then got up, but was stopped by Lunar.

“Listen. You may think you have it rough, but compared to me, you have the easy end of the stick.” He chuckled softly, “not only do I have to commit all of this to memory, I have to give a reason to my sister on why we just don’t have anything yet.” He looked her in the eyes, “I know it’s rough, but we have to keep going.”

He made a motion with his arm, gesturing around them, “all over the Celestial palace, your friends are doing their part during this time. Your friend Rarity is making clothes for everyone in the castle. She has it rough, but she doesn’t complain, she takes it head on and tries her best. Rainbow Dash has to look after the skies of the castle by herself, and she doesn’t even bat an eye. Your friends are strong.” He smiled and raised her chin to him, “and so are you.”

Twilight sniffed then brushed his hand away. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have broken down like that.”

Lunar took a step back and shook his head, “no, it’s alright. At some point or another, you have to just let go of your feelings. If you hold in those feelings, they’ll build up and soon spill over.” He smiled, “everyone is entitled to a breakdown.” He smiled sadly inwardly; I’ve done plenty of that in my life.

Twilight wiped her face and smiled at Lunar. “You’re right. I shouldn’t act so selfishly. I have a job that only I can do-”

“-we.”

Twilight giggled, “Right, right. A job only we can do.” Lunar nodded.

“And also, I’m sorry I’m always leaving you all alone here. I have to be very precise with my timings, according to Clockwork.” He chuckled with Twilight, each knowing that Clockwork gets very fussy when things are just a minute late. “But that doesn’t give you the right to abuse my books!”

Twilight scowled, “I may love books, but they are books. Not real people!” Twilight banged a fist against a tome, sending Lunar into a fury.

“Stop it!”

“You stop yelling!”

“Stop abusing the books!”

“Stop being so bipolar!”

“This is a library! You stop yelling!”

They started at each other then they nodded slightly and then they sat at the table again. “Can we go over our findings like civilized beings?” Lunar nodded, then looked over the notes Twilight took.

Sometime later…

“So, all these beings have the same ancestor? Is that what you’re saying Lunar?” Twilight had been taking extra notes, following along with Lunar. Celestia was a sadist and savior by pairing up Lunar with her to help solve this mystery. He questioned everything, and he explained things in a very precise way. But he was terrible because he questioned everything.

“Right. See how the craniums are all similar in shape? They all have a distinct difference, but it’s completely apparent that they all originate from the same being.” He motioned with his finger, “elves have longer pointed ears, unlike the witches and giants, which are more rounded. And size varies, look how elves are much shorter than the giants and witches. According to this, We can safely say that the ancestor is able to adapt to different shapes, sizes and different shades.”

Twilight yawned suddenly, “I’m sorry Lunar, it’s getting late. Let’s head to dinner and just continue this tomorrow?”

Lunar shook his head, “before that, can you show me this paper again?” Twilight sighed then handed the slip to Lunar, who studied it closely. “How peculiar…” He flipped it over, “no text is printed on the back.”

Twilight nodded, “yes, that’s true. But can we talk about the front? The words are cut off.” Lunar nodded then flipped it back over and read the words.

“Twilight, write this down. I can make out faint traces of other letters.” Twilight closely inspected it, and noticed there are in fact small black lines that were used to make letters still there. “First line, there is a curve next to the, ‘n’. Most likely a vowel.” Twilight wrote that down. “Next to the, ‘i’, there is a short straight line. A short letter.” Again, Twilight wrote it down.

“Read it to me.”

Twilight read, “an has ten fin.”

Lunar rubbed his chin, “they are fragments. They have to be.” He picked the paper up again and read. “second line, before the, ‘g’, there is a loop and a curve at the bottom. An, ‘e’.” Twilight wrote that down quickly, ignoring the fact that she wasn’t writing in the most, elegant way anymore. But she didn’t care. “and next to the, ‘e’, most likely another, ‘e’.” His brows knit together, “read.”

“Don’t command me.”

He smiled softly, “sorry. Please read it?”

“Better.” She read, “egular eating habits. Bee.”

Lunar sighed, “before the, ‘o’, is a curve, another, ‘o’. And after the, ‘t’ at the end is another line with a curve, ‘r’.” He double checked the paper, “these sentences are making absolutely no sense.” He sighed then rubbed his forehead, “please read?”

“ood been known to attr.”

Lunar then stopped. “there’s nothing before the, ‘keep away.’”

Twilight read the sentences again, “an has ten fin. Egular eating habits. Bee. Ood been known to attr. Keep away.” She laughed, “at first glance, these fragments sound like gibberish.”

Lunar smiled, “don’t all fragments sound like gibberish? But when they are paired with the right words, they can go from gibberish to in depth meaning.” He then took a quill and wrote down the sentences. “We have done enough for today.” He stood up, “come, let us go and have dinner. We are having chicken.”

Twilight’s stomach rumbled, “if we were still ourselves, we would still be repulsed at the thought of eating other animals. But now…” she let her eyes go downcast. “Butterscotch has a hard time eating meat. He only eats vegetables and fruits.” They then packed up their things and were soon out of the library and walking down the halls.

“Lunar? Why did you make me send Spike off?”

Lunar shrugged, “I sent him off because I saw how heavily you rely on him. You wouldn’t write or do much without his help. What if one day he’s gone? You would be left not knowing what to do.” He sighed, “so I made you send him away, to boost your independence.” He waved a hand, “I don’t mean to sever the bond between you two, but you must see things my way.”

Twilight grumbled, “I understand. But I relied on him because I couldn’t do a lot as a pony. Spike is used to a body like these, so he knew how to do things. I don’t.”

“But you learned quickly enough.”

Twilight snorted, “Yeah, that’s because you made me.”

Lunar smirked, “Twilight, I didn’t threaten you, I just said that that you should consider letting him take time off. You’re the one who decided that I meant one thing when I really meant another.”

Twilight’s face flushed in anger, “well… you… Just keep walking.”

Lunar smiled as they continued to walk, a sudden thought coming to mind, “and your brother?”

Twilight gulped, “the less we talk about Venom mix, the better.”

Lunar nodded, “perhaps another time then.”

They then continued to walk down the hallways, in a comfortable, yet still tense silence. Lunar’s boots clicking against the floor, and Twilight’s sneakers making a soft put. Along the way, they passed by a garden, and on the other side walking together was Big Mac and Rarity. “They look happy.”

Lunar smiled then started to walk quickly.

Twilight caught up to him and grasped his arm, making Lunar flinch. “Lunar? What’s wrong?” Lunar turned to her and with just a look into his eyes, you could see visible pain and suffering. His eyes held a deep dark loneliness and hate. “Lunar…”

Lunar shook his head, “I’m not a being to get too close to.” He then continued to walk at an increasingly fast pace, almost losing Twilight along the way. But Twilight was determined to not lose sight of him, no matter what. They both reached the third entrance to the dining hall, and Lunar threw open the door, and a pie then flew past his head.

“What the-?”
DONE!
Alright! New record! It took me less time and more research hours into this chapter. I’m sorry if at parts it gets confusing, I got confused at parts too, so I wrote it down. Don’t worry, I intend to answer all the questions and holes by the time this fic is done! So yeah, I hope you guys are keeping up with the story. I’m sorry of I made Twilight and Lunar’s relationship too fast and too bipolar. I don’t know, but I think they would have that kind of relationship. Anyway, read, rate, review, subscribe!