*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.