//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: In the Dark // Story: The Changelings Have a King // by Jade Ring //------------------------------// Canterlot Castle The Archives of Truth Twilight slumped against the wall and yawned. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally. She and her companions had just finished a solid three hours of postulations on the possible location of Starswirl the Bearded and the youngest alicorn mare was running on fumes. Twilight One of her ears twitched at the sound of her name being whispered. She looked back down the hall towards the central atrium of the archives and watched for any movement that would indicate one of her mentors heading her way. When no such movement came, she smiled wearily. "I must be more tired than I..." Twilight No, there it was again. Stronger now. And coming from down the hall. Her inquisitive nature took hold and she briskly trotted deeper into the archives. In seconds she was beside a heavy wooden door with arcane protection runes carved across its surface. She cocked an eyebrow at the old magic. Whatever was behind the door must've been quite important. There were few poies who still knew had to unlock spells locked with runes. Luckily, runes had been a favorite back in school. She easily cast a counter-spell that forced the door open slightly. She pushed her way in and took in the now formerly sealed chamber. Enchanted candles bobbed in mid-air, illuminating a series of shelves covered in all manner of brick-a-brac. She looked around suspiciously, wondering why a room of random junk would be defended by such ancient magic as runes. Her roaming eyes caught sight of a rusty old bell, a cobwebbed diadem, and a pot of soil that held a single waving vine. Her eyes were just being drawn to a strange, golden apple when she heard the voice again. Twilight "Hello?" She called. "Who's there?" Silence was her only answer. Twilight snorted irritably and turned to leave but something else caught her eye; something she never thought she would see again. The curved bit of midnight-black and red bone rested on a pedestal in between the rusty bell and what appeared to be a jar full of purple jelly. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of King Sombra's horn, salvaged from the frozen wastes outside the Crystal Empire. Even now she could almost taste the cruel monarch's dark magic... "Twilight?" Twilight spun to find Brother Veritas in the doorway. "I'm sorry! I heard somepony calling my name and I..." He ran a hoof down the runes on the door. "How did you get in here? This door can only be opened by the current Brother Veritas." Twilight shrugged. "Runes are kinda easy for me." The brows on the pond-green pony's face narrowed. "You said you heard a voice. That's impossible." He pointed a hoof in her general direction. "Do you have any idea where you're standing?" Twilight again looked around the room, her eyes widening as she really took in the objects around her. "Is this... is this the Room of Relics?" Veritas nodded. "Yes. Which is why you must leave immediately." He stepped aside for her to pass. Twilight, doing her best to reign in her amazement at the hidden treasure trove she had almost literally stumbled across, headed towards him. A glint of red caught her eye. She turned and froze as she took in the familiar shape of the Alicorn Amulet. It rested on a pillow of deep scarlet. It was coated in dust, as though it had not been touched in some time. "Brother Veritas?" "Yes?" "The ponies that broke in, that took your eyes... did they steal anything from this room?" Veritas shook his head. "Impossible, your highness. As I said, only the current Brother Veritas is supposed to be able to enter here." The wheels in Twilight's mind began to spin in earnest. Why would Princess Celestia lie to her about the crime committed against the aged librarian? And why would a disembodied voice call her down here, to a door that she wasn't even supposed to be able to ope... There was a flash of movement behind Brother Veritas as his shadow peeled itself off the wall. "Look out!" But it was too late. She watched as the shadowy figure blew past the librarian and rushed towards her. Narrowing her eyes, she lit her horn and blasted a bolt of magic at the entity. It easily dodged the blast and blew right past her. A sudden weakness flooded her and her knees buckled, her breath fogging as though the room were suddenly filled with an intense cold. She turned and saw the thing reach its destination; Sombra's horn. It looked back at her with eyes that flashed green for an instant, like the last light of a dying sunset. "Thanks." It whispered in the same voice that had lured her to this very room. Realizing finally that she had been used, Twilight poured every drop of magic she could muster into her horn and let loose a bolt of pure eldritch lightning. The shadow-thing grabbed the horn and vanished into the air just as the bolt struck the shelf where the horn had been. It cracked in half and fell in on itself, the bell colliding with the jar with an almighty crash. Glass fell to the floor like a sharp rain. Strangely, the bell did not ring. Twilight turned to Veritas. "Are you alright?" Veritas wasn't even looking in her direction. His face was focused entirely on the fallen shelf. "That shouldn't have happened." "What?" "The bell! The bell's magic must have countered the jar's!" He took a careful step back. "Twilight. Start walking towards me. Very slowly." "But..." "No sudden moves!" Veritas' hood fell back as his ears whirled like radars. "Just slowly come towards me. Maybe we can contain it before it gets too big." "Before what gets too... AH!" Twilight screamed as something wet and hot brushed past her hoof. Her wings spread on instinct and carried her above the floor. "What was that?!" A series of strange pops were her only answer. She watched as a number of the room's relics began to pop out of existence. "You two need to leave." The ponies looked to find Princess Celestia standing in the door's arch. She glared into the room, horn glowing, her magic sending the relics to safety in the castle above. "Princess! There was somepony here!" She gestured back at the shattered shelf as the golden apple vanished. "They took..." "We will deal with that later." Celestia's tone was even and cold. "But right now I need you to leave. I have to contain it before it..." Something small jumped with hideous intent past her face. Celestia spun to attack but the beast was already oozing down the corridor. Even as it crawled, it continued to devour a small black object it had managed to snag before it could be magicked away. "That was the Alicorn Amulet, wasn't it?" A flash of light from the kitchens was all the answer the three needed. "Well... that's not good." Veritas pulled his hood back up and turned towards the main archive. "You two should get out while you can. I will hold the beast off as long as I..." "You're leaving." Veritas spun and stared at his princess. "No Brother has ever abandoned this Archive!" Celestia looked at him, and only Twilight saw the sorrowful expression on her face. "The Archive is already lost, Veritas. You know that." Twilight made her way to her mentor's side. "I can help you." "No. You must leave as well. You have to help him." "Help him with what?" Celestia's eyes flashed and Twilight stumbled as images filled her mind. Equations and diagrams, incantations in ancient dead languages, spells that had not been attempted in centuries... She blinked several times as the rush of new knowledge sank into her. "What is...?" "You already know." Celestia whispered with a small smile. And Twilight did know. The floor beneath them shook as something enormous heaved its bulk through the librarian's small kitchen area. Celestia's smile vanished. She looked into her former student's eyes and, for the first time in her life, commanded her. "Go." Twilight's knees trembled at Celestia's tone and, for the first time in years, bowed to her until her horn grazed the stone floor. "Yes, your majesty." There was a flash of purple light and Celestia was alone. She took a deep breath to steady herself and squared herself against the looming darkness. With measured steps, she stepped into the dark. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Brother Veritas stumbled as he and Twilight winked into existence in the main Archive. He looked around wildly, his hood falling off once again and exposing his silver mane to the false sun overhead. "We need to grab as many as we can. We can make several trips and..." "Brother Veritas. I need you to stand very still." Veritas rounded on her with a snarl. "Stand still?! We have to preserve the Archive! There's no telling how much damage that thing could do!" "That's why precautions have to be taken." Veritas could not see, but he could feel the magic Twilight was gathering around her. "Precautions?" "Yes." Twilight's eyes flashed white as she finished conjuring the spell. "This might hurt." "What are you talking abOWWWWW!" Veritas screamed as magic flooded his body. The atoms in his cells parted and drifted away from each other. The flesh and blood pony ceased to exist for a moment, becoming instead a loose collection of molecules and DNA strands held together by carefully woven magics. Twilight took a deep breath and cast the second part of the spell. Now the archives themselves began to glow. Ancient tapestries and tomes lit from within as ghostly apparitions of their contents floated into the air. Pictures and paragraphs dating back millenia swirled into a maelstrom of knowledge that gathered over the being that had been Brother Veritas. The gathering storm of letters and images grew larger and larger as the sum total of knowledge contained in the ancient rooms was gathered into a single spot. Twilight took a final steadying breath and cast the final piece of the spell. At her command, the storm of information descended and collided with the incorporeal unicorn librarian. The alicorn's incredible magical manipulation sewed the two forces together as delicately as she could manage while being crunched for the time. The air seemed to sing as primal and old forces were called upon to complete a task the likes of which had not been seen since the dawn of time itself. For the pony that had been Brother Veritas, it was nothing short of a religious experience. He felt his own memories beginning to bind seamlessly with the knowledge he had dedicated his life to preserving. "Brother Veritas, I'd like to introduce you to your new pupil, the Princess Cadance. I trust you two will be great friEnd this treachery now! You cannot trust them! They will be the end of our race!" "You will purge the Archives of her very existence. Equestria must forGive me, Twilight. I thought you were beyond simple fairy tales. Very well. Once upon a time, there were two sisters..." "I forsake my lands, my family, my titles, and my very name. I am the Truth, and the Truth shall make you freezing, I'm freezing, Oh Celestia it is so cold up here how could you condemn me to this?! How could you do this to your own sister?!" "I will always love you, Blank Page. For forever and a day." The atoms pulled together, the magic became contained... and in a flash of light it was over. Twilight blinked her eyes rapidly and stared at the stallion before her. His cloak was gone, torn apart by the ambient magic. He blinked at her, a strange violet light shining from his empty sockets. He cleared his throat. "What... what am I?" Twilight crossed over to him and put a comforting hoof on his shoulder. "You are Brother Veritas, now and forever. But you are no longer the next in a long line. You are the first of a new line. Now, you will no longer keep watch over the Archives of Truth." She smiled even as she urged him towards the door. "Now you are the Archives of Truth." /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Celestia heard the door close behind the two ponies just as the thing landed on her back. She screamed as the Smooze burned her flesh and tried to consume her. It was already the size of a full grown pony and still growing, its insides flickering with the consumed power of the Alicorn Amulet. Her magic seized at it and tore it away, hurling it down the way she had come. The Smooze glared at her with it's ever-changing thousands of eyes and hissed with a mouth that was there one moment and gone the next. It swelled and grew once again. Now it was Luna's size. It reached for her with whipping tendrils of slime. Celestia lowered her horn and charged it, casting a shield spell around herself. The two combatants collided and barreled down the long passageway towards the Archive's main room. The Smooze pulsed and grew once again. It entombed Celestia in its hideous mass and set to work digesting the spell she had cast on herself. Celestia bellowed and cast the spell outwards, splattering the beast all around the central chamber. The drips, drops, and splashes became smaller copies of the Smooze. They almost seemed to giggle as they slid around the room, surrounding the wounded alicorn princess. She watched their movements carefully, already gathering strength for her next, and hopefully final, attack. The monstrosities pulsed as one and grew. The mini creatures coalesced into a single mass that began to stretch up the now fully encircled prey. Celestia stared into the shifting purple mass of eyes and tried to keep her sanity. "No... more... jars..." It burped. "No. No more jars." Celestia whispered as her horn lit with yellow light. "Not for a thing such as you." The light's brilliance grew and grew. Celestia's horn caught fire. A new sound filled the chamber, a sound of malicious mirth and cruelty that had not been heard for nearly a thousand years. Too late, the Smooze recognized the laughter. Even as it tried to form the final crushing dome over the blazing figure, the replica sun that provided warmth and light to those who guarded the Archives of Truth came crashing down onto the alicorn. At her behest, it imploded. Flames and primordial magics exploded outward in a crushing wave of heat and destruction. The ancient tomes that made the Archives were reduced to cinders in an instant. The Smooze screamed in fear and pain as it too was consumed. Canterlot Mountain shook and it was only spells put in place for just an occassion as this that kept the entire mountain from exploding with volcanic intensity. Instead, the explosion was forced down. The floor of the ruined Archives burned to nothing as the destructive power blasted downwards into the caverns and tunnels that riddled Canterlot Mountain. The ancient crystal mines melted and evaporated, their beauty and wonder lost forever. The inside of the mountain was suddenly filled with a roar greater than the mightiest dragon, ear-splitting and voluminous to behold. At last, the energy was spent. The flames became smoke and then nothing at all. An eerie stillness followed the explosion's roar, a silence broken only by the last bits of tumbling debris. At the bottom of the abyss that was now the hollowed core of the mountain, Princess Celestia stood on wobbly legs. Her ornamentation, her regalia and shoes, clattered to the ground in molten heaps of metal. Only her crown, forged from the very magics that had formed Equestria, remained. Yet even it was singed. Celestia breathed deeply of the air, still boiling hot. The last of her wounds healed and the magic faded from her horn. A girlish sort of smile lit across her face as she relished the beautiful soreness in her muscles. "Goodness." She licked her dry lips. "I haven't felt this good since that night with the farmer." Shaking herself, she looked up into the distant darkness. She had to check on Twilight and Veritas. She spread her wings and flapped them once to take flight. Her eyes widened at the jolt of pain in her chest, a vicious snarl that coursed through her body and down her front legs. She clutched at herself, desperately feeling for something she could find no trace of. There was no pulse. "My..." She managed before she collapsed into the ashes of Truth. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "...heart." Luna murmered as she clutched at her own chest. The Princess of the Moon looked into her husband's eyes. "Help..." She fell, her crown clattering across the marble floor. "Mama!" "Luna!" "Mistress!" Moon Shadow, Shining Armor, and Trixie rushed to Luna's side, desperately checking her for injuries. Luna was not responsive, her face locked in a rictus grin of pain. "What's happening?!" Shining Armor demanded. He turned to Flash Sentry. "Get the doctor! Hurry!" "Just like last time." Trixie murmered as her horn cheked Luna for any magical maladies. "Last time?" There was a blinding flash and three more ponies were in the room. Shining Armor stared at his sister, the Princess of the Sun laying heavily across her shoulders. Twilight could only manage a single word through her tears. "Help."