If I could name a moment where I felt paranoid when things were perfectly normal, this would be it. My heart raced despite nothing being wrong. But that’s just it, something was definitely wrong. That tooth-like object was something I had seen before but I couldn’t put my hoof on it. The rest of the day was about as uneventful as I’d expect it to be even if there was that little outing I had with Cadance. Speaking of which, I’d take it that Cadance thought our day at the cafe was my gift to her. That night, I went to bed thinking only about the events of the mysterious object. It was a quiet night; the crickets were out and about while the townsponies slowly receded back into their homes, dimming the lights and closing the shutters. I thought my concerns would fade as my mind drifts off into slumber; I was mistaken.
Sorely.
These flashes, they’re all so surreal; I thought I woke up in another world. Everything here was just where they should be but the overall mood of this nightmarish world was simply terrifying. Even the air reeked of decay. Though nothing seemed to be rotting, the putrid smell definitely irritated my nostrils. The crystals around me were pitch-black and covered in cracks, the sky a deep gray, and I didn’t see anypony around. Strangely, I can move freely in this place as I normally would back in reality. Maybe I’d find Cadance here?
I moved carefully through the castle halls, always watching my step as I passed through the familiar sights of my abode. There was this faint sound coming from outside the castle, the first sign of life in this alternate world in my dream, or nightmare. I decided to take a peek and I found an eerily disturbing sight. It seems all the citizens of the empire were chained and being brought somewhere. It didn’t look like guards were watching over them but something was telling me that whatever was watching them was also watching me.
And then, a bright flash. I was awake.
All sweaty and confused, I started down to the dining room to meet with Cadance, beautiful as always. She just finished preparing our meal, sending the royal chef out to enjoy himself a breakfast. She noticed that I didn’t fix myself up like I usually would, my gruff and messy appearance being more than enough of an indication. I then felt a sharp pain in my head; strange because I’ve never had a headache after waking up from a nightmare.
“Good morning!” Cadance started with her always cheerful greeting, the same one that I get every day, and one that I will never grow tired of. “You look like you had a rough night. Something you want to tell me?”
“Morning, dear. Didn’t sleep well. Had some bad dreams and well, you know what happens...” I guess crazy is another way to put it. It was definitely a rough night with a horrid dream. My wife didn’t need to know anything more about it. If that nightmare had any connection to the object I found while on patrol, she’d quickly dismiss it as me getting worked up over nothing.
“Don’t worry, Shining, it’s just a dream. I’ve made us some breakfast, maybe it’ll take your mind off your troubles.”
My head was still throbbing with the pains of the previous night. It wasn’t as sharp as it was earlier but I couldn’t keep my thoughts off it. Cadance’s breakfast should do the trick. The usual toast and egg with some hay and clovers on the side, just the way mom used to make them. It reminded me of how long I’ve been away from home that taking a bite out of a familiar dish brought back a rush of memories that have been long forgotten. It felt good.
“I take it that you really like the meal,” the pink alicorn remarked, hinting a subtle smile through her almost expressionless face. “After you told me how much you missed home, I thought it would be nice to give you some reminder of what you’ve missed for a long time.”
After breakfast, I began my usual patrol of the town’s perimeter. I won’t be expecting to see anything unexpected from today’s work after what happened yesterday. The heat of the sun bore down on the blanket of snow that covered the town a few days ago and the town began to look like the time I first saw it. I didn’t get that feeling of being in a new place all over again but it was satisfying enough to see the full beauty of the town.
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Nothing out of the ordinary in the west pass; nothing going on in the east. I didn’t come across that white tiger from yesterday. I thought about heading a bit further out into the wilderness, maybe I might find something that could relate to the object I encountered.
I continued down a beaten path, party covered by snow, to a place I thought never existed in the Crystal Empire. It was a bunch of ruins, partly destroyed buildings with hints here and there of erosion on the ground. I came across something that looked like a dresser, and a scroll hidden in one of it’s hidden compartments. I searched the rest of the dresser, looking for any other possible openings but the lone drawer I first came across was the only one I could find. Unfurling the scroll revealed the sight of a language I couldn’t understand, all those sharp curves and sunken dots seemed foreign to me. My guess: a dead language. I couldn’t approach Cadance with this since she is quite new to the crystal pony culture. Guess there’s only one other way to do it, do what Twiley would do: go to the library.
I came back into the town and approached the entrance of the library. Being adorned with crystal griffons, I wondered why the effigies of these hybrid creatures would even be here in the first place. I suppose I may never find the answers to all the questions I have but a little mystery isn’t too bad.
“Good morning, sire!” The librarian greeted me with a cheerful smile as she walked me in. “What brings you here?”
“Good morning to you too.” I replied. “I’m wondering if you have a book about the history of the Crystal Empire, preferably something that has to do with ancient languages of the empire.”
“Ooh, that’ll be tough but I’ll see if I have what you’re looking for.”
The librarian left me standing right next to her desk just by the entrance. I can see that she knows her way around; she didn’t even move from one side of the building to the other, just went to the bookshelf on the farthest end of the bottom staircase and climbed up to the thirty-fifth rung of the ladder to search along three rows of books. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for; the speed at which she ran back was enough to tell me she was successful, even if she only has one book in her mouth.
“Here you go, your highness. If you don’t mind me asking, since when did you take an interest in ancient languages and history? I thought your schedule was so cramped that you didn’t have time to go through this.”
“Just something I decided to look into. Besides, knowing your kingdom is a first step to governing it properly.”
In the back of my head, I knew that what I said was absolutely false. I had to get answers but no one would believe me if I simply said learning about ancient history suddenly grew on me; I was never the best in academics back in Canterlot.
“Well, since you’re looking at ancient languages, you’re going to need a guide. Almost no one in the Crystal Empire knows how to read this stuff.”
“You know someone who can read this?”
The librarian smiled back at me and giggled a little bit though she tried her best to purse her lips and cover it up with one hoof just to be sure.
“Of course I do, your highness! You’re looking right at her!”
I was taken aback by her enthusiasm. Considering her age, I’d expect her to know a little bit but never really take the initiative to help out. I guess being a part of royalty entails a bit of support from your subjects.
The librarian opened the book and showed me a chart of ancient languages. On it was the one I had found earlier today. Seeing all the familiar sharp curves on the page, it was definitely the one.
“Do you know what this language is? The one with the sharp curves and sunken dots?”
My librarian guide now pondered, placing her hoof on her chin and stroking it back and forth. I just stared at the page with eyes wide open. My mind was blank but I tried to make myself look interested in it. I really am looking forward to finding the answers I seek but with no knowledge on what I’m looking at, I couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded and empty.
After some time, my guide simply noted down a few things on her notepad that she pulled out from nowhere before giving me her answer.
“It’s not really a dead language as far as I can tell; seems more recent. I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and I managed to cross-reference a few sources with this language. This dialect is from the pre-conquest era. It was adopted by the king who quickly took over the Crystal Empire and ruled it for almost a thousand years. There is no specific name to this language so it is simply referred to as a pre-modern crystal pony dialect. It’ll take me roughly a week or so to decipher this kind of text but I think I can come up with a translation guide for you in about a few days tops.”
“Thanks. Uh, I didn’t get your name ma’am.”
“Oh, right. I am Agatha Chrystie but you can call me Crystal.”
“Thank you, Crystal. Come stop by the castle some time when you’re done with that translation guide, I’m looking forward to it. I almost forgot,” I said while pulling out the scroll from my saddlebag. “you might want to have a look at this. It was in the ruins and it had the same text as the one we saw in the book.”
“Alright then, I’ll do my best to translate it for you. You can count on me, your highness!”
Crystal walked me to the front door and as I turned around to wave goodbye, I could feel that I’ve given a little life to a common citizen of the empire. Though a prince’s duty lies within the proper governance of his own subjects, it is fair enough that working through the lives of individuals is a step towards success on a grander scale.
For now, I’ve got one less problem on my mind. But still, could there be any links between the mysterious horn-like object I recovered and the writings in the ancient ruins? I shouldn’t be thinking about it. There’s always something good to look forward to and as I made my way back to the castle, I can only hope that there really is nothing to worry about, that everything is fine.