//------------------------------// // Chapter 47; Off Topic // Story: The Wander Through Lands Unknown // by Tomas Lutwig //------------------------------// “Honestly, you make friends with one of the Princesses, then you think that the others will just do what you ask? I don't know if you're just narcissistic or a genius.” Sundance said as we walked down the dirt road towards the outline of the large crystalline castle in the distance. “Probably more the former than the latter, but I figure she'll talk to me. I mean she's supposed to be the 'Princess of Friendship', which in and of itself is a strange title, but I figure it's either her, Princess Luna, or the shrink” I replied as the morning sun shown down. The unicorn shook her head, “I have no idea how you can think those are viable options, but who knows, maybe you're right. I mean, the Princesses are supposed to listen to their subjects.” she said shrugging. “Well I do have other things to talk to her about that have been kind of weighing on my mind, but that's a bit of a different topic either way.” A raised eyebrow was shot my way, with an incredulous look that screamed of her belief in me. I put my hands up defensively, “Don't worry, I'm not going to just bypass the whole subject.” “You'd better not, I'll talk to her later if I have too” Internally I rolled my eyes, “I can't say I doubt you on that one.” After a quick slug to my arm, we reached the bright yellow and magenta castle doors. Knocking with a fist did little more than tap the ornate metal and wood. Blowing air out from between my lips I looked over the door for some kind of knocker before loud thudding was heard from Sundance's hooves against it. I gave the unicorn a smile of thanks which she returned. It wasn't long before very muffled steps could be heard, only audible from a sound that was vaguely familiar to claws clacking on some hard surface. The door creaked open to reveal a tired looking purple baby dragon. “Geeze ponies seem to come earlier and earlier, what do yo-” he started only for his tired eyes to shoot open at the sight of me. “Hey Spike, I was hoping I could talk to Twilight. Is she busy?” I asked trying to sound and look as harmless as possible, remembering my last, ill fated exchange with the small dragon. The youth's eyes narrowed at me looking me up and down. Despite having washed my clothes earlier that morning, I still looked ragged. Having forgone most of the armor settling instead for the simple pair of pants, with the quilted green long sleeve shirt that had seen better days indicated by the large hole where the changeling had tried to gore me. My boots lacked their sabatons looking instead like simple well worn work boots. “Why should I let you talk to her?” the young dragon asked making my thought process grind to a halt. After a moment of stuttering I could only look at him confused. “What do you mean?” I finally asked. “I mean, why should I let you talk to her? As far as I know you've been nothing but trouble for everypony. Twilight, The Princesses, Applejack, you nearly scared Fluttershy and Zecora half to death, and you threw Rarity's hospitality right back in her face. Not to mention I don't like you.” He stood in the open doorway. “So, why should I let you see her?” “Well hey that's-” Sundance started only for me to hold up a hand stopping her. “All of that may be true.” I started only to make the dragon's scaly eyebrow rise. “Honestly, I wish I could say it was something super important, but it's just about what happened when I was captured by the changelings, with a few personal inquires that I was hoping she could answer.” Spike looked me up and down one more time before turning to Sundance next to me. “Yea, alright fine. Hold on I'll go see if she'll talk to you.” He said before turning away and shutting the door. “Well geese, I can see you're one of the popular foals” Sundance said, sarcasm practically dripping from her lips. I shrugged. “I wasn't before I came here either so not like it's much of a difference, though I wish I hadn't screwed up. The little guy was pretty cool.” I said 'Or at least I thought so' “What were those things he was talking about? Nearly scaring ponies to death? Throwing hospitality back in others faces'? What's up with that?” I let out a sigh and rubbed a hand up and down my face. “The first two on Zecora and Fluttershy were both unfortunate accidents, or bad luck. I mean a python that apparently belonged to the pegasus attacked me when I miss took it for a vine, and the other... Well let's just chalk it up to bad luck, ask her Celestia if you want to know more, I explained it to her” A questioning eyebrow rose, “Alright I suppose. What about the Rarity thing?” I frowned before tucking my thumbs in my belt. “There was a pretty bad storm a while ago, I got kinda stuck in it while I was patrolling town and she thought it was a good idea to let me into her house.” I waved a hand dismissively. “That's all well and fine, but unbeknownst to me, her little sister was home. She let a virtual stranger into her home while her baby sister was running around. So when I noticed that the storm had calmed down, I left.” The curious glance turned scrutinizing, “Because her little sister was home? What was she annoying or something?” I looked at the mare confused. “Well no, I mean Sweetie Belle and I barely spoke, but why would you let some unknown dude that you know screwed up in the past around your baby sister? To me that was just asking for trouble and made little sense.” “Maybe she just trusted you more than you obviously trust yourself? I mean she is the element of Generosity” she said her tone starting to match her look. “Were you going to try to do something to the filly?” I blinked and stepped back from the mare holding my hands up defensively. “Whoa, I was just thinking it was a bad idea not going to try something. Do I look like a child molester to you?” A chuckle sounded from the mare as she shook her head. “No I don't think you do. I kinda understand where you're coming from, but this isn't Manehatten or Las Pegasas, or even where you're from. Ponies like that are rare at best, even in the big cities from what I understand” I let out a sigh of relief. “Glad to hear that, and happy that it doesn't happen all that much either I mean-” The door starting to open up interrupted me revealing the same purple dragon who gave me the same untrusting look from before. “Alright, c'mon she said she'll talk to you” he said opening the door wider. “Thanks Spike” I said only to receive an annoyed look in return. “I'll see you back at the barracks with any luck” Sundance said turning to start back down the small set of steps leading up to the door. “Oh, uh sure see you!” surprise echoed in my voice and curiosity shown on the young dragons face before he shrugged and shut the door. A wave of the young drake's hand prompted me to follow as he walked past me deeper into the castle. “C'mon Twilight's in the library” he said dismissively. The castle still struck me as incredibly beautiful, with minor additions from the last time I had been inside making me gawk at them as if I had never seen the interior before. After hitting the throne room we made a few different turns before we arrived at a green crystal door like all the rest. “Now I don't want you doing anything stupid or else” the young dragon threatened opening his mouth and letting loose a small puff of green fire. 'Geese, if I manage to earn this kid's trust again it's going to be a miracle' I though putting my hands up. “Wouldn't dream of it” I said earnestly. Narrowing his eyes he made the old 'I'm watching you' sign before pushing the doors open. My jaw nearly dropped at the size of the room, the show did it no justices. Like much of the castle's rooms the ceiling towered over us with rafters made of ornate and almost carved looking crystals. Thin crystal windows depicting a tree and a myriad of other designs allowed light to shine down effectively illuminating the entire room. Multiple bookcases nearly touched the ceiling all containing an assortment of books. Ladders reached up to higher shelves that jutted out more than the rest allowing to reach the next ladder which went on to the top shelf. Simple tables sat around the room the middle most occupied by the reason for my visit. Twilight Sparkle sat in front of a large pile of books that she seemed to be sorting through before her horn ignited sending the stack away. A quill, inkwell and a piece of parchment sat in front of her which she scribbled a few words out before glancing up and noticing Spike and I. “Ah, uh, Welcome to the Castle of Friendship” she said, obviously uncomfortable. “Spike said you had something you wanted to talk to me about?” A second later the piece of parchment rolled itself up before disappearing in a flash of light as she replaced it with another blank piece. I scratched the back of my head silently wondering what the strange vibe was about before walking closer to the table she was at. “Well yea, I had a few questions on some things...” The alicorn blinked before pulling up another stool across from her's “Well by all means, have a seat!” Sitting down on the stool was rather awkward. Similar to an adult sitting on a footstool or a little kid's stool. Shrugging it off I racked my brain, trying to figure out a way to start. Looking up I found her staring at me expectantly. “Ah, well, uh.” I stuttered making her eyebrows rise in anticipation. After a moment I let out a sigh and just went with what I was curious about. “Well I was wondering if you know what a bag of holding is” The princess blinked a few times before a confused look overtook her face. “A bag of holding? Isn't that simply a bag?” she asked unsure. A short snicker sounded from across the room where I say Spike sitting on a small stool reading a comic. I rubbed the back of my head before turning back to the mare. “Well sorta, imagine a normal bag, with an enchantment that allows for anything that can fit into the mouth of the bag to be placed in it. It basically is much bigger on the inside than on the outside.” Twilight's eyes seemed to spark with curiosity. “I can't say that I've ever heard of such a bag, or an enchantment like that. Where do you know it from?” “Well, the concept itself has been a good part of legend in my world so I was wondering if something like that could exist in a place like this where magic actually works...” Twilight and I started talking on different subjects from magic that 'came from legend' in my world to things in Equestria that made me curious enough to listen. Things like wands and staves to more relatively mundane things like runes and the language that the Minotuar use to craft said runes. “Of course enchantments can be done without runes, as that's how unicorns tend to enchant things like sound and light crystals, or other such objects. Minotuar runes just tent to be more easily crafted and take less ability to manipulate the magic around them.” Twilight finally said, smiling more noticeably calm. “Huh, I guess that makes more sense. Back to the original topic, do you think it would be better to make a bag of holding with runes or enchanting?” Twilight's muzzle scrunched up for a moment in thought before she nodded “Runes can be made on cloth though you have to have some way of protecting them from damage as if you were holding a great deal of bits, for instance, the contents could either explode out violently showering anypony nearby with bits, or they could disappear into the ether leaving behind only a bag with a damaged rune on it. Enchanting however would take an extremely skilled unicorn, or possibly even multiple, to manipulate the magic properly. Unless you had a pretty good number of friends or bits to pay off enchanters runes would be easier.” I nodded stroking my beard thoughtfully. “I knew talking to you would be best on things like this. Thanks for your incite Twilight” I said smiling at the alicorn. She chuckled, “Well you know me: always for teaching ponies about magic, and friendship! Was that all you wanted to ask about?” she said, the previous nervousness and uncomfortable look seemed to of vanished. I blinked a few times, before one of the other things came to mind. “Well, I suppose there's always something that kind of confused me.” Curiosity returned to her face as she looked at me, “Oh?” “Well I was just kind of wondering if...” I started to trail off trying to think of the right wording. After a moment I let out a sigh. “Do you know the name Sunset Shimmer?” It was the alicorn's turn to blink a few times, confusion written across her face. “I... I can't say the name rings any bells. Should it?” she asked, a bit of the previous nervousness returning. I let out a breath between pursed lips, before snapping. “All these books came from the Canterlot Royal Library right?” I finally asked motioning to the massive bookshelf behind her. “Oh, uh, well a good number of them actually came from a number of sources ranging from a few of the more esteemed colleges who were willing to donate and good number are my personal books that I bought, but yes, Princess Celestia gave me quite the collection from the Canterlot Library as well as her personal library. I nodded my head, “Was there a fairly old looking brown book that had the image of a two colored sun on it? One half bright red the other half yellow?” I asked only to receive a confused look. Motioning for her to pass me her inkwell and quill, I drew a rough sketch of the cutie mark on my hand and showed it to her. “Like this” Twilight looked at the image for a few moments tapping her hoof on the table for a few moments before it seemed to come to her. “Spike!” The young dragon in question seemed to of fallen asleep long ago in a pile of books shaped similarly to a bed with one of the comics draped over him like a blanket. At the unicorn's call he seemed to rustle before jolting up. “Huh what? Did that jerk try something?” he said quickly before turning to us. “Oh” he said simply before getting up with a stretch. “What's up Twilight?” “Spike could you get that weird book from up in seven hundred thirty two?” The alicorn asked motioning up to the second ladder. He looked up where she was pointing, “You mean that one you can't really decide if it belongs in 'general works', 'literature', or 'history'?” he asked scratching his back with a claw. “Exactly the one” she said with a smile. “Sure thing, be right back” The young dragon yawned in return before scurrying up the ladders. I blinked in surprise at the speed at which he reached the second then third 'story' of the bookshelf. “Wow, he's a quick little guy” I said. Twilight smiled brightly, “Well of course! He's my number one assistant!” The drake in question was down even faster as he used the side rungs to slide down hopping off at the last couple rungs before running over to Twilight, panting lightly. “Anything else Twilight?” he asked. “Not that I can think of Spike, if you want you can head up to your room with your comics and finish that nap” She said with a smile. I chuckled internally the two of them looking almost like siblings or like a mother and son. 'Well I suppose that's normal when you raise someone' I thought. Spike looked at me untrustingly before looking at his roommate, seeming to be debating in his head. After a few moments he agreed walking over to the strange book bed grabbing his box of comics before walking past and whispering something to Twilight I didn't make out, but that made her roll her eyes. “Don't worry Spike, just head on up, I'll be fine.” After a moment the young dragon did the same 'I'm watching you' motion at me before leaving, only to pop from behind the wall and do it again. “Strange, he seems to be aging slower than the CMC” I said offhandedly before shrugging. “Dragons do age differently I suppose” A raised eyebrow from Twilight caused me to elaborate. “Well the dragons I'm used to live to be a couple thousand years old, if they're not immortal to time. While ponies on the other hand, while I don't really know their age cap I know it's abnormal to live to a thousand, as evident by the princesses.” “We live to be a fairly good age, most earth ponies end up living to around five hundreds while the others range from a strong two hundred to four hundred.” she said before motioning for the book. I blinked in surprise 'Well hot damn that's a long time, how long does it take for a pony to reach full maturity?' I wondered before looking a the book. “Why did you want this by the way? All that is inside is letters between Princess Celestia and...” she opened the book before shrugging, “The other author didn't sign their name, but there are a large number of blank pages left” I nodded, “Good, may I see the book?” I asked extending a hand. After she gave it to me I flipped through the pages skimming Sunset's life learning magic. “Interesting” I finally said, “Alright, you're going to think I'm crazy, but do you know what this actually is?” I asked holding up the book. A raised eyebrow was all that replied. “I'm sorry I can't say I understand, it's simply a book. Isn't it?” she asked motioning to the object in my hand. “Not exactly. Try scanning over it with magic, to detect any enchantments” I said with a smile. The confused look turned to one of curiosity as her horn lit up. A similarly aura surrounded the small book in my hands levitating for a moment before falling back into my grasp as her eyes widened. Her eyes narrowed as the book did the same levitating act with help from her horn before dropping again. “Princess Celestia enchanted this herself...” she said motioning for me to pass it back to her. “And you said the author of these other letters was a pony named Sunset Shimmer?” I nodded watching as she examined the book in further detail. “Well, it's connected through a magical link to another one which was similarly enchanted. The link however seems to be incomplete as it trails off before dissipating, even though I can feel through the book that it's still connected” she said starting to trail off. I nodded again, the smile only having grown larger before it crashed and burned. “Perhaps I should ask her about this...” she said thoughtfully looking through the pages of the book. I motioned for her to give me the book shaking my head. “Don't, I'm telling you about this so I could make sure that the pony in question existed. I was planning on asking her myself, if she thought you needed to know, trust me, you'd know.” Confusion crossed the young alicorn's face. “Make sure she existed? What's going on, and what's so important about this book?” she asked holding the book in question close to her chest. I let out a sigh. 'Almost seems like it would have been easier if I had simply asked if I could borrow the book and just not told her about it at all' I thought pinching at the bridge of my nose. “Honestly I don't think I should tell you what I know, it would be better for you to ask the Princess yourself. Just tell her I was looking for a book and mentioned the name or something” I said waving a hand dismissively. Rubbing an eye I looked at the mare who seemed quite perturbed. “Why are you being so secretive about this? I don't understand what could be so important to someone like you that you think you need to try to simply leave me in the dark.” “Twilight please...” I started only for her look to harden. Letting out another sigh I held out my hands in an attempt to placate the alicorn. “Alright alright, I suppose I owe you a little bit to go off of, at least for why I think I need to find her. Sunset Shimmer was one of the Princess' pupils before you, I don't remember exactly how long before, but it was before you took up learning with her.” I started earning a look of interest similar to our earlier discussion. “She basically screwed up, there was a falling out between her and the Princess and the unicorn decided to take it into her own han- er, hooves I suppose, to get the power she believed she deserved. I'm trying to find out what changed as, well as hopefully keep her from causing unneeded trouble for my few friends” I held out my hand again this time a pleading look forming on my face. “So please, just let me do something right.” The Princess of Friendship looked over my face for a moment before looking at the book, obviously thinking hard about what she was going to do. After minutes that seemed to turn into hours she finally shook her head. “No, after all that's happened, if this is as big as you seem to think it is, I can't trust you with it.” I opened my mouth to protest, but the alicorn held up a hoof silencing me. “I'm going to send a letter to the Princess, she's involved in this as well if what you said about her student were true. She can decide how we should proceed” I let my head fall into my hand 'Damn all of it to hell' I found myself thinking before shaking my head. “Fine, fine. I don't seem to have any bargaining chips so just do what you think is right.” I said finally, trying to keep my annoyance from seeping into my voice. I started to open my mouth again making her raise an eyebrow before I shook my head. “Could you tell me how to get in touch with Princess Luna?” I finally asked. I walked down the road, rubbing a hand down my face in annoyance. 'Son of a bitch! This got way too complicated way to quickly!' I thought wondering what I should do. 'Isn't much I can do at this point. Though I should be glad I can simply talk to Luna about my little problem...' “Princess Luna? Why do you need to talk to her?” Twilight had asked confusion obvious on her face after our little heated discussion. “I've been having a few problems with dreams since you guys got me away from the changelings, and I think they might have used them to manipulate me somehow” After some minor convincing that I wasn't in fact trying to waste her friend's time, she agreed that when she sent the letter to Celestia she would send one to the dark alicorn as well at my request. A breeze blew past as some pegasi flew overhead giving me a rather annoying reminder of the ragged condition my clothing was in. “I suppose that's always something I could do” I muttered under my breath looking down at my shirt. “I'll have to ask Sundance if I can borrow some bits to get my clothes fixed though” The trip back to the barracks was about at eventful as could be expected, the ponies had gotten used to me enough that they didn't hide in their homes and shops anymore, but they were far from friendly. They had taking to instead giving me an extremely large amount of breathing room. Sundance was nowhere to be found at the barracks, along with her squad. A note was left on my bed with a slightly bulging white cloth sack next to it. James, Sorry I couldn't be there when you got back, orders came down from the Captain for my squad and I. The bits you were given as per your weekly pay showed up, as well as the standard immediate danger and P.O.C. Pay. Due to being captured, there was also a tax exemption you were afforded. All around, money wise, it seems like a good idea to get captured. I scoffed rolling my eyes at the mare's humor before shivering at the thought of the damp cell. 'Money or no, I think I'll just cut my neck next time' I thought rubbing my arm. When we get back tell me how things went with Princess Twilight, and if I'll have to contact the shrink anyways since you got told off. I know you'll be fine, but just try to remember that yourself. Don't die out there, Sundance. P.S. Go get some new clothes. Yours are ragged. I rolled my eyes again tucking the letter into my backpack next to the one from Celestia that had been put inside next to my dead MP3. 'So how much did I end up getting from being locked up for weeks?' I wondered turning to the bulging sack of bits. Opening the draw string on the simple cloth bag, I started the arduous task of counting the silver dollar sized gold coins. 'Almost makes me wish she had just counted them out herself and wrote it down' I thought, the gold coins starting to form a large pile between my crossed legs. 'Either that or the ponies in general simply started using things with higher value to represent multiple bits rather than individual bits. Take one hundred bits to one platinum bit or something, I mean with as much as they use gold as bits it's not as though they lack 'precious' metals' reaching inside the bag for another my fingers were met with only the coarse fabric of the sack's inside. 'Huh, little over a thousand' I finally thought starting to push the money back inside the bag before it hit me. “Well... that's unexpected...”