MLP: The Journey of the Harmony Knights (Under Editing)

Chapter Five: A Lost Myth

When the sun rose from the horizon, the city of Canterlot has started to come to life. Birds started singing their morning songs as the sun had started to rise to from the mountains and the faint silver of the moon could hardly be seen in the morning sky. As the sun had started to rise into the golden and blue hinted sky, the ponies of the city had started to awakening and getting ready to start their day. The adults had started heading towards nearby markets or started heading towards work. The teenagers had started working their morning jobs or meeting up with each other in their favorite hangout spots. While the foals had started helping their parents, playing with their older siblings or playing with their pets.
As ponies traveled through the extremely long streets, some of them saw a small gray pony in the distance. Stygian was not the most impressive of ponies. He was small and slight of build, and while hardly disinclined towards physical activity, he would not be winning any hoofraces or carrying heavy loads for long distances. One thing that stood out about him, however, was his curiosity. The unicorn enjoying learning for the sake of learning, expanding his mind and seeing everything from every possible angle. Learn all that could be learned, and perhaps share it.
He soon approached a huge building that he was looking for. The building is pretty huge and made of strong white marble. He soon walked through the library doors and was amazed by the sight in front of him. It was like stepping into a live dream. There's a large table made of solid wood with an alit lantern, books and quills strewn across the top and stacked in piles. The walls were covered with either colorful tapestries and bookshelves that almost reached the ceiling. As he stepped closer into the library, there's more to be seen. Books were everywhere, simply everywhere, but there's also scrolls cubbyholes along the walls and cylinders around the room. Every corner had a spot to curl up and read in: a few cushioned window seats or arrangement of chairs and tables. Stygian had a feeling he should be in the room. But he started looking at the books anyways, going with his strongest instincts. It has large, pastel-colored windows and many filled bookshelves. There's some alit candles and an aflame bronze chandelier overhead.
As Stygian looked around curiously, he soon spotted a shadowy bookshelf. Stygian started looking for the right book to read and found it. "That seems to be an interesting story." But when he pulled the book backwards, a pair of bookshelves have been pulled back to reveal a secret doorway and startled him into stepping back warily.
Stygian wasn't sure what to make of it. He started thinking if he should or shouldn't. He suddenly made up his mind, anticipating every twist and turn of the secret passage. Stygian made his horn lit up and was at navigating the dark passageways — Stygian had never even seen these secret tunnels before in the town. The secret tunnels were cold and crypt-like. Loose stones and a strange lighting from the blue aflame torches on the walls made the winding paths even more eerie.
Stygian started to tap out a pattern on some loose stones that was covered in flecks of sapphire in the wall. After a while, he stepped back from the wall.
A moment later, the floor beneath him began to grumble and creak. Stygian realized the code had initiated some mechanism and now the stone floor was grinding apart, revealing a long spiral staircase to an even lower level!
He walked down the stairs, and at the bottom Stygian quickly dashed over to a small statue of a unicorn. He grabbed hold and turned it ninety degrees to the right, then gently pulled the horn down like a lever. The lever triggered the staircase to rise back up into the rocky ceiling and it shut with a loud kerthunk.
"What's happening?" whispered Stygian.
He could see rickety wooden shelves lined the stone walls. There's a large desk made of solid wood with scrolls stacked in piles and quills strewn across the top, along with a few scrolls. The walls were covered with empty bookshelves that almost reached the ceiling and a wooden ladder. The shelves were covered in dust and cobwebs.
Stygian looked around with wary curiosity and carefully walked through the room. "What is this place?" As he lit up the torches, he was surprised to see a hidden library further away from the secret doorway. "Why would anyone want to hide this?" He stepped out of the entrance to get a better look at the sight of the secret library.
The secret library was a stunning sight to see. The walls were covered with bookshelves that almost reached the ceiling. There's a large table made of solid wood, books and quills strewn across the top and stacked in piles while some papers have some drawings and writings.
"Wow." Stygian breathed in awe at the sight of the long-lost library. "It's amazing." As he walked towards the bookshelves, his eyes caught sight of a drawing of a temple in a journal, which looks like the ancient temples that were discovered in Farasi, Caninia, Abyssinia, and Ornithia. "Where is this temple at?" But according to the drawn map and the written information about the temple. Stygian had once met Starswirl's former student, Clover the Clever, in the past and learned to recognize Clover's writing. Apparently, this was one of Clover the Clever's secret libraries and had explored most of Equestria.
"Stygian!" The young gray unicorn perked up and looked at the entrance at the familiar, but worried voice. "Where are you?"
"Flash Magnus?" said Stygian, confused.
The mentioned stallion with a flawless amber coat touched down gently on the ground, clad in the very same attire he'd worn when he was part of the Royal Legion. His brilliant turquoise eyes looked deep into the azure ones of Stygian. "Are you alright?" True, Flash Magnus had given him grief about his sudden separation, but he was only looking out for Stygian's best interests. That was what Stygian chose to believe, at any rate.
Stygian nodded. "I'm okay. But look what I've found."
Flash Magnus followed his friend's gaze and was stunned at the sight of the secret library. "What is this place?"
"One of Clover the Clever's secret libraries. I mostly came here to find some books from this era. But the book I found turned out to be a secret lever and led me down here." Stygian's unicorn horn glowed bright blue as he used his magic to levitate the Clover the Clever's journal and map. "But I think we have a new problem."

Twilight Sparkle walked into the throne room, after she just finished having a press conference with the representatives. Sometimes, the princess used the throne room as her break room, where she could sit alone and let her mind wander, yet ponies could easily reach her if there was urgent need. She had not even made it up the walkway to her throne when the door opened in front of her.
But as the purple alicorn sat down on the throne, she looked up to see one of the unicorn guards had galloped into the throne room. "Flash Magnus and Stygian request an audience, Your Highness." Before the guard even finished his announcement, Flash Magnus flew over his head while Stygian trotted after his pegasus companion.
She smoothed her expression into a cordial smile. "I can spare a moment for two of the Pillars of Light." Twilight saw Stygian's excitement and Flash's curiosity. "Is something wrong?"
"Quite the opposite Princess Twilight," said Stygian eagerly. "We stumbled upon a secret library that once belonged to Clover the Clever." Stygian's unicorn horn glowed bright blue as he used his magic to levitate the Clover the Clever's journal and map to show it to Princess Twilight. "We found these in Clover the Clever's secret library. It talks about a fifth temple that refers to a tree that resembles our Tree of Harmony."
Before Twilight could say anything, an earth pony guard had galloped into the throne room. Flash landed next to Stygian and the two ponies stepped out of the way.
"Your Highness," said the earth pony guard with a quick bow. "News of a vicious, magical serpent has been attacking the village of Somnambula and a group of traveling nomads."
"What?!" Twilight stood up, stunned and worried.
"Do you think it's the Knights of Harmony?" Flash Magnus asked curiously.
As they talked about the magical serpent, Stygian started quietly reading Clover the Clever's journal about her past discoveries. But a particular page had suddenly caught his eye and accidentally started to read it out loud, which quieted everyone and stared at the gray unicorn.
"This page says 'When I was exploring the wilds of Equestria, I came across a great temple in the northeastern lands. I'm not sure who had built it and which tribe they were from. But when I went inside the temple, I found a crystalline tree that has six branches and six panels on the ground. As I explored the temple, I found drawings of what looks like different species of Knights and found some ancient writings on the walls. I managed to translate the writings from Old Ponish. It had said, "When the Knights of Harmony have lost the true meaning of unity, new Knights of Harmony with true unity shall come forth to the Tree of Patriotism."
Everyone was stunned when they heard Stygian's reading and what Clover the Clever had written down in her journal. Twilight soon understood that since the former Knights of Harmony will be replaced by new Knights in Equestria.
"We must contact my friends," said Twilight. "And alert them of the fifth temple... and the future Knights of Harmony."