//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Accruing Phial // by PwnySwag290 //------------------------------// DISCLAIMER My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Is property of Hasbro, Inc Inside the library, its current custodian, Twilight Sparkle, was busy rearranging the books and checking for (and repairing) any minor damages the books may have sustained. They were after all, mostly public books, and Twilight always found it alarming how careless ponies could be with books. Suddenly, a loud knock at the door interrupted her train of thought, causing her to briefly drop all the books in her magical grasp. Reacting quickly, she caught them all again. “That was close.” She thought to herself, breathing a sigh of relief. She opened the door with her magic and stuck her head through into the main room to call her assistant to answer the door. “Spike! Get the door please!” She shouted. No answer. She listened intently for what she knew she would hear. Yep, there it was, that deep rumbling that could only be Spike’s snoring. Levitating a book over to the sleeping dragon’s basket, she opened the book, and slammed it closed, causing a loud thud mere inches away from the dragon’s face. His eyes snapped open and he yelped, jumping clear out of his basket and onto the floor. “Huh? Wha? I’m awake, Twilight!” Exclaimed the dragon, running over to the unicorn, saluting. “Excellent.” She said, smiling to herself. “Spike, get the door please.” With this she levitated the book towards herself, and retreated back into the room to her work. Once the door had closed, the dragon rubbed his eyes and yawned widely, grumbling to himself as he walked towards the door. “This had better be something important” The dragon mumbled to himself, as he grabbed the handle and turned. On the other side of the door, Umbra was becoming increasingly nervous. His smile widened unnaturally, and sweat dripped from his forehead. The door creaked open slowly, revealing a baby dragon. Umbra wasn’t particularly surprised; even he had heard of Twilight Sparkle and her draconic assistant. She had after all, saved all of Equestria Twice. Umbra stared at the dragon, unsure how to start the conversation. “Uhh…” He croaked. “I… uh I mean to say… is Miss Twilight…” Umbra stuttered. Tye rolled his eyes, swooping down in front his friend and pushing him back with a foreleg. “What my friend here is trying to say is… Is Twilight home?” From behind Tyedye, there was an audible sigh of relief. “Sure. She’s in the back. She’ll be out in a minute.” With this the dragon proceeded to a small basket placed on the floor, curled up and went to sleep. Umbra looked around the great library. The whole place had a magical feeling; both literally and metaphorically. The shelves themselves were actually carved into the great tree; many hundreds of books lined the shelves, and there were a few pony high piles scattered around the floor. Umbra saw a copy of Super Naturals: Natural Remedies that are Simply Super. He had read that book many times, given its practical uses in alchemy. High above him, Tyedye was also inspecting the books on the higher shelves. He scanned them with level disinterest until he came across one particular shelf. Grinning to himself he pulled issue one of The Amazing Spider- Mare off the shelf and sat down to read. Umbra looked over at him and grinned at his friend’s antics. It was at that moment that the door to the back room of the library opened, and a lavender unicorn walked through, a contented smile on her face. Looking through the door behind her, Umbra could see many books, arranged neatly on the shelves. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, faithful student of the Princess Celestia. How may I help you?” Twilight asked, smiling happily. Tyedye was the first to speak up. “Hi, my name’s Tyedye Tundra, and this is my friend, Umbra Nightshade. We’re here for a book.” He said simply. “Well you certainly came to the right place! May I ask what kind of book?” “I’m not really sure.” Tyedye responded. “You’d be better off asking him.” He motioned to Umbra, who since the mare had entered the room, had said nothing and looked very nervous. As Twilight approached him he grew visibly more panicked. He thought back to earlier when he had asked the two mares for directions. This was much different in his mind. He would actually have to talk to her for an extended amount of time. He was so lost in his panicked thought that he hadn’t noticed the mare stood in front of him. His eyes widened as he noticed her. She merely smiled and held out a hoof. “Hi. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” Slowly, Umbra reached out and grabbed her hoof, shaking it slowly. “I… Don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” He said, trembling slightly. Umbra looked over his shoulder at Tyedye, clearly looking for support. Tye grinned encouragingly then motioned with his hooves for Umbra to continue talking. “My name is um-Umbra Nightshade” He said, once again stuttering. “I am the faithful student of Princess Luna, and I have come here seeking information on the dark phial…” He trailed off, and was soon interrupted by Twilight. “Wow! So you’re the Princesses’ new student!” She, said putting a hoof to her chin and inspecting him. “I expected you to be… taller.” She seemed almost disappointed. Umbra was unsure how to react at being inspected by a mare, but luckily she interrupted his thoughts before he got too lost. “Anyway, I do believe I’ve read about that before. Let me see…” With this she wandered off, inspecting the shelves and occasionally pulling a book down with her magic. Pretty soon she had a small stack of books, and she added titles until it was just taller than her. She levitated the books over to him. “Here. There should be some information somewhere in these.” She said. Umbra nodded in response, mouth agape. “Mind if help you look?” Twilight asked, smiling happily. “I love to read and I need to refresh my memory on some of this.” Umbra nodded in response, and Twilight levitated him a book down, also doing the same for herself. The book she had given to him was called “A Guide to Equestrian Myth and Legend” Umbra opened the cover and started to read. The book held many strange legends; there were tales of hairless apes that had the knowledge necessary to use tools, and speak. Eventually he came to the magical objects section of the book. He was disappointed to find no mention of the phial. Twilight; however, seemed to have had more luck. “Ah ha!” She shouted, clapping her hooves together and jumping up excitedly, with book in tow. She placed the book down on the table in front of him, standing next to him and motioning to a line in the book. “Here”, she said, and began to read aloud. “The phial is an object said to contain great magical power, and is capable of amplifying the effect of any potion brewed or stored in it by a thousand times its original strength.” She took a breath and continued. “While its exact location is currently unknown, the last time it was seen… was somewhere in the Marehara desert. It is said to be guarded by beings of great power…” She trailed off. “The Marehara?” Asked Umbra, “But that’s months away! We might even need an expedition! Then again, organizing an expedition for something that might not exist and don’t know the location of might be tad ridiculous… Not to mention the costs it would incur if we found nothing…” Umbra stopped. Everything had gone strangely quiet. He looked around the room, realizing only now that everypony had been looking at him, and he had been thinking aloud again the entire time. He quickly looked to the floor in embarrassment, but recovered several seconds later. “Well,” said Twilight “looks like you two have a long journey ahead.” “We’ve had a long journey to get here.” Said Umbra “Well I’m sure you’re both very tired. It’s already dark, so you’re quite welcome to stay here.” She said. “The beds are in here” She motioned to a door at the back of the room, opening it with her magic. Behind the door, Umbra could see a few beds and a magically sustained fire to heat the place. Umbra and Tyedye slowly walked the staircase into the dimly lit room. Ther were five single beds arranged in a row. They picked beds at random, too tired to care. It had only become apparent how utterly exhausted Umbra was until he had reached his bed. Umbra removed his cloak and placed it carefully on the peg on the wall; the various items contained within the pockets clinking and jangling as he did so. He carefully placed the saddlebags at the foot of his bed. Seeing that his friend had already done so, Umbra scrambled under the covers of his bed. “Night, Tye” “Good night, Umbra” They exchanged. They were soon soothed to sleep by the gently flickering flame. The road to the Everfree forest was quiet. Even the animals that usually prowled the Everfree were quiet. Tonight was their turn to be afraid, for, that night an evil far greater than them prowled the forest. Luna’s great moon cast beautiful shafts of blue tinted light onto the forest floor, creating a patchwork of light and dark. In one of the darkest shadows, a pair of red reptilian eyes scanned the road in anticipation. “Soon, they will pass this way” It thought to itself. Then I will finally get what i… There it was again. That familiar urge. Chase. Hunt. Kill. Feed. This instinctive urge was the only thing that silenced the voice in its head. The voice that told it what to do… “Stupid creature!” It thought to itself. “How was it supposed to get anything done while hunting?” The creature ignored it’s own thoughts, it’s forked tongue flicking in the air in search of the next prey. There was a lot to choose from here…