mylittlejamjar | Second Duel

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Second Duel

*Today's backdrop is Canterlot's library and a tall stack of books sitting on a table, Margulis looking rather suspicious about something. His horn is glowing red, presumably holding the scroll up.*

I'm certain by now everyone paying even the least bit of attention to these scrolls has heard the story of the origins of that weather gem by now. The astute might have noticed that there are two versions, one as told by the zebra and one as claimed by the griffons. As the zebra's tale included mention of involvement from the various subtypes of ponies, I felt it might be prudent to investigate the local version.

*A book glows red and floats from the table to hover near the unicorn's head.*

I was unable to find anything in the history books regarding the creation of such a gem, but I did come across a reference to the names associated with it. Crazy Eights and Emerald Miner...both are connected to a magical artifact of a decidedly different nature.

*The book opens to a specific page and tilts forward to show a picture of a necklace that should look unnervingly familiar to Ponyville natives.*

This is called the Alicorn Amulet. According to these records, it grants the user a significant boost in power, but corrupts them as they continue to wear it. What I've found seems to indicate that the two individuals from the story of the gem had a hand...or rather, a hoof, in its creation and may even have been solely responsible. They're commonly regarded as mad, possibly even outright malicious.

Given this information, I have a strong suspicion that there's more going on here than the simple theft of a rare but otherwise ordinary weather control device. If the zebra's tale is correct, I'm left to wonder if these gems might be more dangerous than we've been led to believe. If the griffons have it right, then that leaves the question of why the other story references those specific ponies, particularly when it's told from the perspective of an entirely different culture.

Considering the possibility of the latter, I did go back to the history section to look into what might have actually happened to inspire the other version. I still found nothing on any form of weather gem, but I did find references to a strong international friendship between Equestria and Griffaltar as a result of unspecified actions taken by three ponies whose names seem to have been lost to history. The details are severely lacking, but they seem to suggest that these three are regarded as heroes for whatever they accomplished.

Of course, all of this is simply from searching one library. If anyone else has uncovered any other information of interest, it may be wise to compare notes. If we can fill in the gaps or find more details that seem conflicting or out of place, we might be able to figure out why someone would steal this gem and perhaps even who would have motivation to do so.

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[At this, Don frowns.]

We're assuming that the thief actually knew the legend surrounding the gems, though. But it seems like the legend isn't nearly as widespread here as it presumably is across the water.

If they didn't know the legend, then the list of potential motives is simple. Lust for power leading them to steal a unique magical artifact, hostility against the griffons resulting in the theft of an object crucial for their survival or a desire to ignite conflict between Equestria and Griffaltar by stealing something they knew could create an international incident.

Given the circumstances, I'm inclined to find the third option the most likely. Otherwise, the culprit would have either made use of the gem's powers by now or stolen both to entirely cripple the griffons' ability to maintain their ecosystem.

Wouldn't stealing both cause a more optimal incident, though? It would make more sense if they wanted to up the tensions to rid an "enemy" of their ability to fully fight back or replenish supplies when things come to their inevitable head.

That assumes they intend the griffons to lose this conflict. This may be an attempt to attack Equestria using the griffons as a convenient tool, either out of hostility towards the natives or in response to us off worlders.

But then the culprit behind it would have to assume that all of us would refuse to work with the griffons, wouldn't it?

That assumption lends itself pretty damn well to the thought that the Pale Pony has her hooves in this, you have to admit.

That's...true.

[Much as he hated to admit it.]

[What. Just what. Nope. Nope nope.]

What are you doing researching that!? It has nothing to do with weather!

If you'd been listening, you would have heard that I came across it while looking for information regarding the supposed creators of the weather gem.

You're wrong. That book is wrong. The weather gem and that dreaded amulet were never created by the same person.

And what evidence do you have to refute this story?

It's simple: Nopony as evil as the ones who created The Alicorn Amulet would have created something of actual benefit.

[Trixie may be a bit biased against The Alicorn Amulet, having been a former victim.]

Well then, we'd best hope you're right, seeing as that raises suspicion about whether or not the weather gems are truly as beneficiary as they appear. But hope is just that, we'd be fools to proceed on assumptions based purely on such limited impressions.

Limited impression- I wore The Alicorn Amulet once!

And the weather gem? We have no information about it beyond the fact that it's what the griffons use to manage their weather.

It's common sense! Ugh, just think about this logically: The weather gem allows the griffons to manipulate weather. That's all it does. Take it away, and they cannot manipulate the weather.

The Alicorn Amulet twists and corrupts the user to do unspeakable things. They couldn't be more different if you tried to make them more different!

You're the one clearly allowing emotion to bias your considerations. Not all forms of drawback are quite so obvious as what you've described and even something as obviously dangerous as the Alicorn Amulet has an appealing aspect to draw its victims to use it.

Then please inform all, pony and griffon alike, what the drawback is to this weather gem? Sergent Cerulean, it may deign out to listen to such an accusation, for this pony has some potentially helpful information!

[Yeah, Trixie's just setting this up so that Margulis makes a fool out of himself.]

[Sergeant Cerulean is indeed listening to this. Be careful, Margulis.]

Given that I've never interacted with the gem in question and haven't been able to find references to it in this library, I don't have enough information to determine what it might be capable of. At this point, all we can manage are theories to keep in mind as we continue our search. It would be foolish to discount any of them based on assumptions...either that the Alicorn Amulet and weather gem were created by the same individuals or that one or even all versions of the story are wrong. At the moment, it's even possible that Crazy Eights and Emerald Miner were responsible for the amulet but the gem was mis-attributed to them due to it being a similar brand of magic.

So you say that the Griffon's weather gem is corruptive. You have proof of this claim, Trixie takes it?

[She stretches after listening to his post.]

Any longer Margulis and I think you could've created the next sleeping spell. Seriously.

*He sets the book down and gives her an unimpressed look.*

And what details would you have suggested I leave out?

Never heard of condensing, have you? How about this:

"We decided to look into the origin story of the gem in Canterlot. While we didn't find a direct conection with Crazy Eights and Emerald Mines to it, another artifact was referenced.

The Alicorn Amulet gives its owner power boosts but it corrupts them. The two ponies are credited for its creation. With that being said, there's a possibility that the weather gems are not what they seem. Perhaps even the potential to be a weapon--a possible motive for the gem's theft.

As for the conflicting stories, we looked into that as well. We didn't any proof that said which story was true but instead a new one. Equesteria and Griffaltar formed an international friendship that's credited to the action of 3 ponies whose names are now lost to history.

Now we only went through Canterlot library but if we can pool our notes together, we might be able to detect a motive or maybe a way to locate it."

Hah, if I had a mic, I'd do a mic drop now.

Edited 2014-02-26 03:43 (UTC)

Interesting! This at least suggests that Crazy Eights and Emerald Miner were real.

Your theory the gem is a weapon though- control of the weather is of course a force to be reckoned with. I have no doubt it could be used in an aggressive manner as a weapon. But do you really think that these ponies would create three gems with the intention of using them as weapons and give them away to other countries? Even if they were allies, why not keep one of the three to defend your own nation?

It seems strange also that leaders would trust the creators of an evil amulet to make something meant to ensure the survival of others.

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Second Duel

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