//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10: The Crystal Empire Library 
// Story: The Strange Case of Dinky Hooves' Cutie Mark Curiosity 
// by Fluttercheer 
//------------------------------//

Two days later, Dinky sat in a train to the Crystal Empire together with her three cutie mark counselors. It was still early in the morning, the sun had become risen only a few hours ago. Despite that, Dinky was widely awake and full of energy. While all of her three companions were sitting sluggishly in their seats, still tired from getting up so early and using the seven hour train ride for an additional nap, Dinky could barely sit still. Not only was she asking every three minutes if they're already there, she also left her seat in regular patterns and began to wander around in the train car or carried out all sorts of weird movements in her seat because she didn't know where to put her energy and anxiety. Only a rather sharp command by Apple Bloom to finally cease it and let them get some sleep, spoken at the end of the farm filly's patience, stopped the twitchy, restless behavior. Since then, Dinky was quiet and did not move, except for the occasional look out of the window and one or two trips to the train's toilet.
Her restlessness was not the only sign of her anxiety, however. Inches above her head, in the rack, she had placed her backpack. It was bulging the net of the rack, so much, that the backpack almost touched Dinky's head. In her excitement and due to the importance of this trip, she wanted to be prepared in the best possible way and so, she had packed everything that seemed like they could need it somehow.
Matches, a sleeping bag, pans, a large pot, an insect net, provisions for at least two days, three flashlights, a shovel, some snacks, a large pocket knife with all sorts of tools and, lastly, even a set of umbrellas, in case they would get into rain.
As they had met at the train station in Ponyville, Dinky looked like she was going on a week-long camping trip, compared to Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, who had shown up with medium-sized saddlebags only. Their explanations that they would only spend an afternoon in the Crystal Empire, a weekend at most, that the guest rooms of the castle had been reserved for them and that there was enough food in the castle fell on deaf ears for Dinky. Nervously, she insisted to take all those things with her, to be prepared for any trouble they might get into and to ensure that everything would go smoothly. After a while, they had given up on arguing with the stubborn filly, figuring that it would be best to just let her, if it made her feel better.
And now they were here. Dinky's backpack was dangerously close to her head, her three companions were slowly waking up from their slumber and, outside, flurries of snow got blown over wide fields of ice. Dinky shot the Crusaders a look, her lips beginning to form words, but Apple Bloom leapfrogged her.
“Yes, now we're almost here. The Crystal Empire's just around t' corner.” She stretched herself, yawning loudly, then proceeded to rub her eyes.
Dinky smiled at the prospect, but, only a moment later, she cast her glance on the floor, eyeing it sadly. “I'm sorry I'm such a bother,” she whispered, her hooves trembling slightly.
Apple Bloom paused the rubbing of her eyes, looking at Dinky with one eye open and the other one covered by her left hoof. Her face signaled surprise, then her mouth formed a smile. “It's okay,” she answered. “Ah've been a little harsh this mornin', but ah was just tired.”
Dinky looked up at her carefully, her eyes still lowered.
To Apple Bloom's right, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded. All three were wearing slightly regretful expressions now.
“We all know how hard it is for ya, Dinky, and we ain't bothered,” Apple Bloom continued.
“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle confirmed with an uplifting smile. “We decided to help you and to make this trip with you, there's nothing you have to blame yourself for.”
“Are you really sure?” Dinky continued to look at them with the same, hesitant expression.
“Mhm!” A convinced and determined group nod in front of her followed.
Dinky lifted her head and, finally, her face lit up again. “Thank you.....” she said, now rubbing away a tear that formed in her right eye. “I will try to be more patient, though. It might a be while until we have found the right book.....” Her voice trailed off and she began casting her eyes on the floor again, subconsciously. But then she shook her head, ending her trance almost immediately the moment it had started. “But I won't give up!”
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle laughed happily.
“That's the spirit!” Scootaloo pointed at her with a hoof. “Somehow, in this ancient, dusty library, we're going to find an answer for your problem and find out how to get you an actual cutie mark!”
Dinky answered the uplifting words with a smile. Right before she could say something, though, her eyes got distracted by a drastic change to her right.
From one moment to another, the ice and the snow disappeared, and got replaced by lush, green grass as far as the eye could see. The train had just entered the magical sphere of the Crystal Heart; that kept the cold, arctic weather out of the empire. Dinky leaned with her forehooves against the window, pressing her nose flat on the glass.
“We're finally here!” she shouted cheerfully, her eyes glistening in awe and expectation.
Just a second later, the voice of the conductor rang out. “Crystal Empire, arrival in two minutes! Final station, please leave the train!”
Around them, movement came into the passengers. They got up from their seats, took their bags, then began heading towards the exits. Not needing any more prompts, Dinky stood up in her seat and started pulling at her heavy backpack. It was locked tight in the place she had left it and did not move an inch, despite her best efforts. Only as Sweetie Belle assisted with her magic, both unicorns managed to pull it down, through the combined efforts of muscles and magic. It landed with a thump on the floor, startling a few of the other passengers. Receiving more magic assistance, Dinky succeeded in putting it on her back. Shivering from the weight, she fought to keep herself on all four hooves while the other three fillies brought down their saddlebags without effort and put them on.
Equipped like this, all four of them went to the nearest exit, just in time for their arrival in the empire. With a hiss, the train came to a standstill and the doors opened. Fleet-hoofed, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle trotted out of the train, followed by Dinky, who set one hoof in front of the other at a creeping slow pace. The sweat on her face and her gritted teeth were other indicators of how heavy her baggage was, as she tumbled over the step and onto the crystalline floor of the platform. She wheezed, strongly, then continued her way with a red face. Conviction kept her going, much more than the strength of her body did now.
The quartet made their way through the Crystal Empire and towards the castle; the Crusaders still at the top, while Dinky did her best to keep up behind them. Each of her three companions suggested taking a break a few times, but Dinky declined this offer every time. Only as the group had reached the castle, Dinky's legs finally gave in and she collapsed to the ground, almost right in front of the Crystal Heart. Gasping for air, she remained lying there, too out of breath to answer the worried questions about her well-being by her companions.
“That's a bit much for a young filly, don't you think?”
Dinky felt her back relaxing immediately as the heavy weight she had been carrying got lifted into the air by a purple aura. Almost automatically, she let her forelegs slip out of the straps, allowing her unexpected savior to remove the backpack from her body completely. Being helped on her hooves again by Sweetie Belle, she looked into the face of the captain of the Crystal Empire Royal Guard, Shining Armor, who had just stepped outside the door in one of the pillars that served as the castle's foundation. His face showed a slightly amused, but friendly, smile.
“Thank you,” Dinky said, her voice strained. She turned around and rubbed over her aching spine.
“Don't mention it,” the stallion answered casually. “Twilight already told us of your arrival. Come inside, we have everything prepared.”
Feeling much lighter now, Dinky set herself into motion again. Together, the four fillies followed Shining Armor through the door, up a small staircase, then through the sparkling crystal corridors. Dinky still did not pay much attention to her surroundings, only fixating her eyes on their guide as he led them to their destination. It was in front of a narrow corridor with turquoise doors on each side that he turned around to them again.
“Here we are. That's the guest wing of the castle.” He waved a hoof over the width of the corridor. “The first four rooms are prepared for you. I'm sorry we can't offer a room for all four of you. The shared room of the castle is already used by a group of delegates who insisted to sleep in the same room.”
Dinky frowned over this answer, though, for a different reason than Shining Armor expected.
“It's fine, let's just get on with it. I need to see the library!” Her face looked strained suddenly, the nervous impression she was giving further reinforced by the slow, impatient scraping of one of her hooves. It produced a slightly eerie, shuffling sound on the corridor's red carpet.
Shining Armor chuckled. “Twilight only told me you girls have some research to do, but it seems it's something really urgent. Come inside.” He gestured Dinky to follow him, then turned towards the first door in the corridor and opened it with his magic, still floating Dinky's heavy backpack.
Eagerly, Dinky did as told, while Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle trotted to the other three doors. Inside, Shining Armor placed the backpack on the generously-sized crystal bed. Around the backpack, a tiny pit got formed in the blue cotton blanket. That view created a desire in Dinky; of resting her body on the comfy bed and of snuggling her head deeply into the white, soft pillow. Her eyes suddenly began to feel heavy and her lids lowered themselves without her doing, but she shook her head and snapped herself out of this state before the desire for sleep could grow too big. Instead of giving in to the temptation, she focused on the reason why she was here again, addressing Shining Armor before he had turned around at her completely.
“Where is the library?” she asked. “I need to go there now, there's no time to lose!” Her voice had grown louder now.
The sudden question and the urgency with which it was brought forth to him caused a bit of confusion in Shining Armor, but he composed himself. “Huh, you're really making it sound like things are at stake..... I'll bring you right now.” He trotted past Dinky, his tempo faster now. As they left the room, it was just in time for Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle coming out of their respective rooms as well.
The way to the castle library was spent in silence. While the three Crusaders, especially Scootaloo, admired the crystal architecture in awe, Dinky was once again focused on Shining Armor and the path ahead of them, a stern conviction radiating from her face.
Five minutes later, that went by surprisingly quickly for Dinky, they were at the entrance of the Crystal Empire Castle Library. The wings of the massive door stood open, allowing them to see the crystalline shelves filled with rows upon rows of books. The shelves at the walls weren't any less massive than the door, they reached from the floor up to the ceiling of the cavernous room. The view of the upper rows of books would have been lost to the darkness, if it weren't for the lanterns fixated on top of the shelves. Each shelf had a ladder, to reach even the highest books.
In the wide space between the walls, much smaller shelves formed a labyrinth of books. Between some of them, small desks with candles had been neatly arranged. Surprisingly, the desks were made of wood, rather than crystals.
It was a gigantic library, reaching far beyond the scope of their eyes and bigger than any library they had ever been to. Seeing at least half of this library was only possible for them because of a high plateau located right behind the entrance, that allowed them an overview of everything. A set of stairs, one in the middle and two at the sides, led down into the actual library. Not losing one single moment, Dinky was already stepping on the stairs in front of her and descending on them. A second later, her companions and Shining Armor followed her.
Arrived, they were greeted by the librarian, an elderly mare with a turquoise coat that was less shimmery than that of other ponies they had seen on their way here. Shining Armor left them in her custody and, soon, they trotted between the bookshelves, led by the librarian. Only now they noticed the small, white signs on the shelves, explaining what kinds of books could be found in them. They stopped in one of the far corners of the library. The shelves were labelled with “Magic, Spells and everything related” here. The mare turned around at them.
“So, what informations do you need exactly?” She gave them a smile that was surprisingly sugary, considering her age.
“Cutie marks!” Dinky burst out, before the Crusaders could explain anything. “I need to know everything about cutie marks; origins, mechanics and especially anything about cutie mark problems, diseases and anomalies!” The words came like a barrage out of her mouth, but the librarian remained unphased by the reaction.
Calm, she put a hoof at her chin and thought about the request for a moment. “Cutie mark anomalies, hmm.....” Then her eyes lit up all of a sudden and she turned around, waving them to follow her. Behind a corner, she pointed at a small secluded bookshelf standing at the wall opposite of them. Scattered across it, was a measly number of ten books, most of them looking worn and rotten. “This is everything we have about cutie marks,” she said, plain and simple.
“Those are all of t' cutie marks books?” Apple Bloom looked at the shelf in disbelief, eyes wide.
“Yes,” the mare replied. “Not much research has been done on cutie marks, beyond the basic facts. We always keep the books in this shelf, so that they don't get lost among the other books.”
“That is ALL?!” Dinky shouted suddenly. “You want to tell me you don't have any more books about cutie marks?!” Her face was full of rage.
Now, the librarian twitched. “Y-Yes. As I said, these are a-all the books we have. N-Now please excuse me, there are other d-duties I have to take care of.” She turned at Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “You three, please come and tell me if there is any other book you need.” With that, she turned around and trotted away, at a smart pace. Apple Bloom could have sworn she saw some sweat on her face.
The three fillies she had spoken to last shuddered slightly as they noticed that just after a few seconds had passed, they could not hear her hoofsteps anymore. The thick bookshelves and their, not any less thick, content swallowed the clopping sound very efficiently. All of a sudden, it was completely silent around them, giving them a feeling of suddenly being alone in the wide library.
“Let's start, uh..... searchin', girls,” Apple Bloom finally spoke as her mind had begun with getting used to the forlorn atmosphere around them, raising an eyebrow over her own choice of words. She approached Dinky, who was wearing a desperate expression now, her lips quivering, and put a hoof on her shoulder.
“Let's see what we find, okay? Ah know it ain't much, but there's still a chance!” She poked her as she didn't react immediately, making Dinky look at her, bewildered.
“Okay.....” she said, ears dropping. “I guess it's my only chance.” She turned away from Apple Bloom and trotted towards the small shelf, her head low. Having taken out the first book and starting to look through it, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed her example and started searching as well.