Faera Mossgarden tucked a book away in its proper place on the shelf. It was now 10:15 PM at the Ponyville Library. A lavender unicorn mare exited the back room, smiling with her saddlebags upon her back, of which was decorated with a star. "You sure you'll be alright running the library alone for the night, Fae?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'll be alright, Twi. Now you run along, your date is waiting!" Faera shooed her with a hoof.

"Oh! Yes, yes, of course, I can't leave Rainbow waiting!" Twilight adjusted her glasses and ran out the door, leaving Faera in the incandescent glow of the light-bulbs strung across the bronze-tiled ceiling. She looked around down through the hundreds of rows of ancient books and sighed to herself. She loved working in this library. Not only because she got to help ponies learn, but the smell of the old books and gas lamps gave her a sense of belonging. An engine sounded from outside as Twilight's custom airship undocked from the elevated landing platform. Faera gave a wave and a smile as she stepped outside to give her a friendly farewell. She gave a soft wave back and flew away, the silver sails fluttering in the wind.

She walked back inside, ready to serve whoever might enter into the library. A mirror stood opposite her desk. She admired her appearance: A dark green mane, adorned with a leather hat decorated with a band of metal gears. Her jade green Earth Pony coat rested easy upon her slim frame, which stood slightly higher than most ponies her age. A brown jacket rested upon her shoulders, complete with a nice collar. She adjusted her bowtie, straightened her jacket, and sat peacefully waiting for her next customer, her flank with a cutie mark of a silver lotus flower.

A few short minutes later, a loud crash sounded outside. Startled, Fae ran out to see what had happened. A large black and red airship with a silver gondola had docked on the library, and three ponies darted out. She could barely make them out, but they seemed like they could use help. "Make haste, My Empress!" a gruff voice shouted. A mass of dark ooze reached out from inside the airship, grabbing one of the ponies, dragging them back into the gondola, where screams echoed out and crunching was heard.

"My guard!" one of the two left cried out, supposedly the other's Empress. Whether that was a nickname or something was unknown, but of such things Ms. Mossgarden was not worrying over.

"My Empress, we have no time to mourn the loss of our comrade, we must get inside!" the other with the gruff voice called out.

"In here!" Fae called. She ushered the two ponies inside and quickly closed the door behind them, locking the door as tightly as possible.

Faera took a moment to look at the two strangers who had entered into the library. The mare was a purple pegasus, with a cloak and a golden chest-plate, of which she was in awe of. The other, a unicorn stallion, wore a full reddish-black set of armor, his eyes red and coat grey like unto the full moon. The mare spoke first. "I am Empress Scarlet Shadow, Empress of The New Republic of Hordheim." She gestured to the metal-clad unicorn and continued, "This is Admiral Thunder Storm, Leader of The Hordheim Regiments. We come seeking knowledge of artifacts known as the Sigils of Power. As you, O Wise One, being the warden of this library, I would expect you know where the information we seek is located?"

Faera gave a blank stare and blurted, "Huh?"

The Empress cocked an eyebrow and inquired, "Are you not the Wise One from the distant land beyond our seas?"

The Admiral stood menacingly, sending the poor librarian into a slight panick, replying quickly, "Well, I'm not the warden of this library, but I'm sure I can help you?" She smiled awkwardly, hoping to be giving off an air of friendliness to these terrifying strangers.

"I'm doubtful of this mare's competence, My Empress," the Admiral stated aloud, "it is very obvious she is NOT the Wise One."

"But if she runs this library, she must have some information; after all, libraries are the centers of knowledge, are they not?" The Empress responded. "Give her a chance, Admiral. If we can't find anything, we can always kill her afterwards."

Faera gulped as the Admiral stared into his soul with his piercing gaze. "Very well, My Empress."

"I think you might find the section you're looking for on Shelf 19 toward the .97's, if you'd like to go look?" Fae said, hoping to live just a little longer.

"Let us go search, Admiral." The Empress pulled her cloak and led the Admiral away down into the dusty aisles.

Faera sat at her desk at the front of the library, nervously examining the hydraulic doors, the gear-decorated walls, and especially the second story landing, where the two strangers were searching for their information.

A joyous "We found it, My Empress!" echoed through the library, quickly followed by two screams of terror and squelching of flesh and bone.

Fae panicked, remembering the mass of darkness that was outside in the docked airship. Come to think of it, if the two strangers were just now killed... that meant the mass was now inside the library. Specifically on the second floor, just above her!

She stood as still as possible, trying not to breathe too loudly, thinking she might fool the ooze demon. This did not work however, for the ooze demon was not after her at all. The glob slithered out the front door, right past her and back to the airship from whence it came. She heard the roar of the engines, a loud distorted cackle (which she presumed was from the ooze creature), and the fading of the ship's rumbling off into the distance.

Faera relaxed when she no longer heard the ship, and ran up to where the two strangers had been searching before their brutal demise. There was not a trace they had ever existed there, except for a book she had never seen before laying open to a page labelled in some ancient tongue that she could not understand. A diagram of some stone cliff surrounded by all sorts of plant life enframed a collection of 6 runes of which she knew not. It seemed strange to her, that she had never seen this book. It was in perfect condition and-

"Wait, what the-"

The book started to change, showing ancient pages tattered from use and age. She instantly recognized the book. "Starswirl's Journal of Magic?" she blurted, surprised and in a slight panick as the runes changed into what was the Elements of Harmony. She vaguely remembered the stories of the six ponies who used them almost 100 years ago. Twilight knew all the Bearers names by heart, but Faera never tried to remember their names. The Element Bearers' names were all right there in the book, so she didn't have to look far. But, she was more confused about the fact that the book had changed completely in her hooves. She decided to check the security footage at the end of the aisle. The two ponies had been standing in the aisle, as was expected, but when the Admiral pulled the book off the shelf, the video cut out and spat sparks from the gears rotating the tapes. "Gah!" Faera pulled away and stomped on the sparks that had landed on the tile floor. "Gosh dang it, I thought that would have something for sure!" She kicked the camera stand in frustration and took Starswirl's Journal of Magic down to her desk to examine it.

A few hours later, after many trials and frustrated yells, Faera gave up and screamed in anger at the innocent book in front of her. "What the freaking heck is wrong with you, you stupid book? Why the heck won't you work for me? SHOW ME YOUR SECRETS!"

At that, the book began to change back to the ancient book he had seen before and she gasped softly and sat up excitedly. She opened up to the page she found the book on and translated it late into the night using a translation guide to ancient cultures and races.

After finally translating what was the Zebrican language, she finally decoded what the page said:

The Sigils of Power were crafted by the hoof of our First Great Leader, Lord Ju'karta, founder of our land. He created them in hopes of driving away any evil beings. We lived a many great years in peace with the Sigils in place. However, one fateful year, the Sigils disappeared. The Zebra Tribes now fight for their survival from disease and darkness. Legend has it that a demon made of pure liquid darkness had hidden them away. We know not where they reside now, but only that they are still alive.

Faera groaned. "Well, that was fucking vague! What kind of information am I supposed to get from this??"

Something seemed to move in his peripheral vision. She froze for a moment, worried it was the monster that had returned to finally kill her. Fae shouted, "Who's there?"

Twilight stepped out from behind the desk, saying, "Whoa, whoa, it's just me! What's got you all riled up? And why are you still here?"

"Even if I told you, you'd probably think I was crazy."

"Is it crazier than that time you said you ran out of town because you thought you were possessed?" Twilight chuckled.

"I thought we agreed to never talk about that again, you dadgum Sparkle!" Fae burbled. "And no, it's not exactly crazier."

"Well then, what was it?"

And so, Faera recounted all the events that had happened between when she had left until she returned.

"Twilight, I don't know what to do, these runes are bugging at my mind and making me go insane!" Faera complained.

Twilight jolted upright, and she began to speak in a voice that wasn't hers.

Next Chapter: Chapter 2: The Beginning Estimated time remaining: 7 Minutes