//------------------------------// // Chapter One // Story: Birth of a Draconniquis // by Inkywell //------------------------------// Page Turner sat, as he usually did, among the books of the Canterlot Royal Library. The volumes reached to the ceiling in many places, and the smell of dust, mildew, and paper invaded the nostrils in a not so unpleasant way. He smiled and, using his magic, flipped to the next page. The book he was reading was one of the hundreds he'd read before, ancient and falling apart. But this one was different, this tome had what he wanted: Draconniquis. Page had been studying the legendary race of creatures for what seemed like eons, but time passed slowly when he was knee deep in literature. He had always felt a sort of kinship with the books. They held the knowledge he sought and he was willing to give them his time. This wasn't his first book on this topic though, he had looked through several different ones about the fauna of Equestria. Luck was on his side it seemed. As he began to read the section titled Draconniquis his enthusiastic smile descended into a frown. His brow furrowed and he felt his eye twitch. The book had a particular smell, as thought the spores inside had died and now stunk even more awful, or perhaps it didn't, and he just wanted it to smell bad. The chapter on his target was vague to be generous. The only example of the draconniquis was Discord. The ancient lord of chaos made things very difficult for him. Because of him, books from before his rule were reduced to dust. Nothing was known about him before his time in charge, and no attempts were ever made to find out. "Page? You alright back there?" said Ink Writer, the librarian and court wizard, "You haven't crushed yourself under mountains of text have you?" "No," he said, his voice nearly cracking, "I just haven't found what I need yet." "Go out and get some fresh air boy! If you lock down in here day in and day out you'll go mad." "But I-" Page bit his lip, he couldn't think of a good reason to stay, "Right. I'll see you again tomorrow Ink." "See ya tomorrow," the older unicorn said while returning books to their shelves, "And Page?" "Yes?" "Get some rest. You're no use to anypony exhausted by your work. Celestia counts on you more than you know," Ink moved a book from a higher shelf to a lower one, "Take a walk in the gardens then get to bed." "Of course. Have a good night my friend," Page mumbled dejectedly on his way out. As Page opened the heavy wooden doors to the library with his magic he felt the breeze from a nearby window. It caressed his face with it's icy fingers and drew him toward a balcony overlooking the city. The sight was always fantastic from the castle, but there was a certain charm from this particular point. It was just after dusk, and several lights from inside houses were still lit, they illuminated the streets. From here it looked as though veins of light ran throughout the town. The ivory towers that dotted the area, with their awe inspiring architecture, seemed like nodes for the veins. These thoughts comforted him, and even though the frustration from mere moments before continued to linger. He found solace in the near night atmosphere. That was when he noticed the figure down below. An Earth pony mare, white coat with brown mane, that was tied up in a fancy bun tonight but would usually be in a simple albeit beautiful natural style. A cutie mark of a heart shaped box of chocolates decorated her flank. She carried a blue parasol over her shoulder and walked through the hedges of the royal gardens. "Weiss!" he called down at her. She looked around confused for a moment before meeting eyes with him. "There you are Page! Hurry down here, I've been waiting for you." It was unusual for her to come meet him here. He could spend hours upon end in the library and there was no certainty that he'd have been out any time soon. He knew the layout of the castle well, and after several winding corridors and a few nods to a guard he took the final turn that lead to the gorgeous outdoor area, and the even more gorgeous pony who was out there. "It's so strange for you to meet me like this, nice though. I hope you had a good day my love," he nuzzled her. He felt a slight bit of resistance from her as she returned the gesture. "Is something wrong?" "Wrong? No. I-I just wanted to see you at work. You spend all day here and I barely ever see you during the week," she said. It seemed like she was avoiding something to him. She began walking the cobbled path while Page responded. "Huh. Well you know that I spend every minute I can with you,that makes you happy right? I wish I could take off some time to spend with you some more, but you know," he rolled his eyes, "she keeps us working day and night." Weiss stopped quickly in front of a statue and turned around wide eyed, "She?! Who's she?!" He was taken aback, "Whoa! Princess Celestia! Who else?" "Oh, yeah. Of course that's who." "Uh, is there something you want to talk about?" Page asked as subtle and polite as he could. If she thought he was cheating with another mare he needed to straighten her out. "No I don't want to talk about anything. I'm fine, thank you!" she said defensively. Page heard a small cracking noise. "Are you sure? You know you can trust me. I'm here for you Weiss. Don't shut me out, if you need help I'm more than happy to-" "I don't need your help. Just..." she stopped for a moment and hid her face from him, "Just come see me tomorrow, my father wanted to talk with you." He put on a fake smile, "Perfect. I have tomorrow off so nothing should get in my way. I'll meet you at Carnation Corner like usual?" "Yes. Goodbye for tonight, you can go back to work now if you want," she said giving him a quick peck on the cheek before trotting away quickly. What the hay was that? He thought. He turned away from her and sat against the statue. Did she think he was seriously cheating? There was no way. She always seemed to have the right of things. For every single one of the 26 months they had spent together she had seemed content and comfortable. Why in Celestia's name would this start now? "Poor little colt, you cannot see it can you?" He shot to his hooves and searched frantically for the source of the voice. Unless the hedges had gained the ability to speak he was completely and totally alone. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, he suddenly had a terrible feeling about this garden at night. "Up here." He spun around and in a moment of terror realized exactly where he was. Discord, or at least the petrified body of Discord, stood on the stone slab he had leaned against. His logical mind argued against the notion that it was the stone that spoke. "I've seen this before, maybe ages ago but I remember as though it was yesterday. She's hiding something from you boy, something that will break your heart." There was no doubt in his mind, the statue of Discord was speaking to him. A small crack ran up it's leg, but structurally it seemed secure. It occurred to Page that the cracking noise from before must have been the statue, and it had happened when Weiss tried to hide her feelings. "Discord?" he asked quietly. "At your service, although I doubt I can be of much help besides a talking paperweight. You should watch her Page, I remember..." said the statue in response. "You remember?" "I remember all those centuries ago, back when the world was new. It seemed so flawless, now I know, that no perfection's ever true." the statue didn't move but Page could have swore he saw the stone sigh, "I can only tell you to watch her." "I know your legends! You're tricking me! You're scheming for freedom or something!" shouted Page. "Believe what you want, I'm telling you the truth. I tell you that even though I plan and plot deceit and chaos, you have to listen to me so you don't make the same-" A beam of light shot from somewhere above Page and struck the statue in the scar upon it's surface. He turned around to the sight of Princess Celestia floating down using her wings. Discord spat out one final word before his only connection with the outer world was cut, "mistake." "Silence you!" the Princess shouted. When the statue returned to complete lifelessness she went to Page's side, "Are you unharmed?" "Yes my princess," he responded with a kneel, "Discord only spoke to me." "Then forget all he has said," she frowned, "His words can only bring pain and suffering." "Y-yes my princess." Satisfied with the problem being solved, she flew back onto the balcony above and retreated into the palace. Page turned back to the statue one last time. He could swear that, if he focused hard enough, the wind around it seemed to whisper, "I loved you." He shook his head. Today was proving to be too much. He dusted himself off and wandered to the exit. From the ground the roads didn't look like veins, and by the time he was safely back in his home he didn't care. Discord's words whirled around in his mind like Weiss's. He needed to sleep, and luckily he had a bed he could fall into. Sadly that didn't matter, the Lord of Chaos' had uncovered doubts that crawled in his skull. He wouldn't sleep that night, no matter how hard he tried.