December 27th
"Okay, are you sure everything's here?"
"Well everything you wanted to bring hasn't left your sight since you woke up so yeah, I'm pretty sure."
Twilight sighed slightly to herself and nodded, making one last double check that all the books and notes she needed were present before getting up from her study desk and stretching slightly. It was so much easier to think when she had a clear head and a proper nights rest behind her.
Much of her shocked reaction to the possible revelation about the alicorn race had come from the stress on top of physical weariness, she had decided. All the same, she had woken up in Spike's bed the following morning still feeling shaken and more than a little guilty that he had ended up sleeping on a cushion pile that was normally reserved for when he was in a more feral mood. Though a little weary himself, he hadn't seemed to mind though and the two of them had been able to enjoy the rest of Hearth's Warming as it had been meant to be, relaxed and in the company of those closest to them.
The break had been invaluable for Twilight, letting the worst of her concerns and doubts be withered and blown away by the crisp winter air. It was impossible to let everything go though, not for a detail focused pony like her. She had brought the issue of her discoveries up to Spike again at dinner that night and they had both come to the conclusion that something like this should be followed up on, both to get it out of her system before it turned into an obsession and for the fact it really was a curious subject. Given everything they had at the moment, the only real lead available was to follow the information back to its source.
Back to the Crystal Empire.
"And the notices are up?" Twilight asked as she flicked through the notes and tucked them under a wing, placing the history book under the other.
"Directions to the library, the sorting method and why we aren't available, check," Spike confirmed as he scratched the back of his neck. "Gotta admit, I'm actually looking forward to going after some ancient secrets, possibly unravelling some great threat to Equestria and bringing it down with the others."
"You miss the old days?" She asked in surprise.
"Well...Yeah. I don't mind helping ponies but we haven't had any major adventures like that since St-" He stopped and bit his tongue before he could finish the name. Reopening old wounds was the last thing he wanted to do. "...For about twenty years. They kept things interesting."
"Hmmm, true," She nodded, seemingly not catching his little faux par. "This is going to be a nice little change of pace. You ready?"
"Always!"
Twilight nodded and stepped over to Spike, moving up to his side before her horn lit up and she teleported them out. As the flash faded she nodded to herself that her aim was as accurate as always. The purple crystal walls of her castle study had been replaced by a blue crystal walled room, devoid of furnishings. She'd long stopped wondering why a room in the palace of the Crystal City had been set aside just for her to teleport to anytime she needed. Having a space that was guaranteed to be clear helped more than most ponies realised. A quick look to the side confirmed Spike was unfazed and the two of them headed out.
The hallway outside was empty as they stepped out, Spike with some difficulty due to his bulk. Twilight knew from experience that they were on the south side of the castle, near the library and with some great views of the city available. While she wanted to head for the former, they had to make her presence known first. With that settled the duo moved toward the throne room, keeping a look out for anypony else. After a minute of silent walking a unicorn mare rounded a corner in front of them and stopped in surprise.
"Princess Twilight! Spike! This is an unexpected pleasure." The pony said as she dropped into a bow. White coated with a mane of red-violet with ice blue highlights, light blue eyes and a cutie mark of a snowflake surrounded by a pink glow, Twilight recognised her as one of Cadance's aides. That simplified things a little.
"Flurry Heart," Twilight greeted her in return, motioning for her to stand and relax. "How are things here?"
"As well as we could hope for, all things considered," Flurry Heart said as she stood up, rubbing the leg she'd bowed on. "However, I'm afraid Queen Cadance and King Shining Armor are in todays' deliberations at the moment and have asked that they do not be disturbed under all but the most serious circumstances."
"I see," Twilight frowned for a moment before letting it pass. "That's okay. I'm actually hoping to speak to Aurora, is he around?"
"Of course, the Prince is in the library," Flurry said as she bowed her head again. "If I may, once Cadance and Shining are free I shall let them know you're here."
"I'd appreciate that. Thank you." Twilight said with a smile, watching for a moment as Flurry turned and headed back the way she'd come from before turning and heading in the opposite direction toward the palace library.
"Hrrmmm. Wonder how bad it is." Spike mused as he fell into step beside her, drawing the alicorn's attention.
"What do you mean?"
"Shining and Cadance always make time when you visit. If whatever they're talking about is important enough to come before you, it has to be something major."
"Well they do have a kingdom to run. You should know full well what kind of complications can come up." She replied, though she couldn't help but frown again. He had a point.
The rest of the walk was made in silence until the two of them stepped into the library. While she wasn't as familiar with it as her own, Twilight quickly felt that familiar sense of calm from taking in thousands of books on display, ready to dispense their knowledge to those who sought it. These rooms had been a second home to her for several months while her nephew was growing up, introducing him to books and finding out what subjects he liked best. As well as giving him a drive for learning that was almost a match for hers, it made it easy to know where he would be right now.
A quick trot through to the history section brought them to a study table in the center of the area. As expected a lone unicorn stallion was sitting there, poring over a book. Only twenty years old, he had a bronze coat and a long, flowing silver mane with a white fringe, focused hazel eyes and a cutie mark that could best be described as the ghostly white outline of a pony. His ears twitched on hearing both hooves and claws approaching and he looked up. Any seriousness on his face vanished at the sight of who it was and he barely had time to light his horn in a white aura before he teleported from his seat to in front of them.
"Aunt Twi!" He exclaimed in excitement, grinning happily and wrapping his front hooves round her shoulder in a hug.
"Hey Aurora. Surprise!" She replied without missing a beat, returning the hug and patting his back as she did. Most ponies would be put off by how passionately he embraced the bond they had but she was thankful to be so close with her nephew.
"Sorry. It's, been a while and things have been quiet around here," Aurora managed to say as he extracted himself from the hug and smiled sheepishly before turning his attention to Spike. "Hey, little guy."
"How's it going, bookworm?" Spike replied with a chuckle, offering a fist out to the stallion and getting a hoofbump in return.
"So, how have things been for you? We haven't really had a chance to talk recently." Twilight asked. To her surprise, Aurora looked away slightly and bit his lip.
"Well, things have been about normal here, probably a little better than usual since Onyx Dawn has been pretty quiet. Except for yesterday. Princess Luna came to us, saying she wanted my help. Some top secret military project in Canterlot. I didn't understand it fully but I think it's because of my talent. Mom and dad have been discussing if I should go through with it all morning."
"Well, that explains the deliberating." Spike said.
"What do you think about it though?" Twilight added.
"I...I actually don't know," Aurora turned and went back over to the book he had been reading, taking it in his magic and putting it back. "I mean, I know I need to push myself a little harder but you've seen how ponies react to me. What if the whole reason I'm there puts me at odds with everypony again?"
"I'm sure Luna wouldn't have asked you if she didn't think you were the best pony for the job." Twilight said reassuringly. She had no idea what the project he had been invited to would involve as Luna handled all of Equestria's military affairs on her own, but she trusted the princess' judgement.
"Maybe, but you didn't come just to catch up. Something bigger concerns you." Aurora said, his horn still glowing after returning the book to its shelf.
Twilight's ears twitched slightly as she noticed the nervous edge had left his voice. As expected, when Aurora turned back to her his eyes had paled to a white-brown mix. It made him look like he was blind but both Twilight and Spike knew it was simply his special talent at work, sensing how those around him truly felt through his magic. Ponies unfamiliar with it did tend to be deeply unnerved but Twilight and Spike had seen it more than enough times to be unfazed and he was usually much calmer when doing.
"You're right. I'm actually here about this." Twilight stepped forward and brought the book out from under her wing. Aurora looked at it and gasped slightly, his magic fading and eyes returning to normal.
"Oh. Was there something wrong with me giving you it?"
"No, no. I've had a great time working on translating it. I just came across something in there that I wanted your help with," Twilight explained as she took her papers out from under her other wing and placed them down on the table. A few moments searching brought out the page that had started all this and she passed it to Aurora. "Take a look through this."
Aurora took the page in his magic and read quickly. The way his eyes widened the further he went told the others all they needed to know, and by the time he reached the end his jaw was occasionally opening and closing as if he didn't know how he was supposed to respond. Even his reaction wasn't far off her initial one, Twilight thought as she watched. The more she was around him, the more she realised just how much he acted like she used to before becoming the element of magic.
"Wow," Aurora eventually said, shaking his head slightly. "That's quite a whammy if it's true."
"Exactly. So, you want to help us get to the bottom of this mystery?" Spike offered. It took a moment for the words to sink in fully but the moment they did Aurora broke into a grin.
"You bet! What do we need to do that?" He replied, looking round and scratching the side of his head.
"Anything we can use to compare records of the old Crystal Kingdom and the Crystal Empire. Make special note of anything in the forty-six to forty-nine hundred years before the foundation of Equestria or of any old maps. We're looking for a Ferruci region." Twilight explained as she gathered her things up, privately relishing a chance at a proper research project.
"Right. Will we need a comparison between the old imperial crystal calendar and modern equestrian?"
"It'll definitely help. Where should we start? You know this library even better than I do."
"Well, I found the book over in the depths of the empire's archives. I bet we could find a few more classics like that on the way. Let's go!" Aurora was moving before anyone else, gathering everything up and heading for another section of the library.
"You'd never guess he still has trouble making friends." Twilight commented to Spike.
"Eh, more often I have to remind myself he's not actually your son." Spike replied, getting a chuckle from her as they went to follow.
The quiet echoing of hooves clacking against the floor was the only thing to distract Shining Armor from his thoughts as he made his way through the castle hallways, mid-afternoon light filtering through the windows and warming his coat. In the forty-nine years of his life, and especially the twenty-one he'd led the Crystal Empire, he'd had to make a lot of tough decisions. Decisions regarding his family were tougher still. Coming to an agreement with his wife that it was best for their son to go ahead with Luna's request was one of the toughest. On the plus side, Flurry had told them that Twilight and Spike were here. Cadance had gone to make some preparations for them while he went to find them in the library.
Some good news like that was just what he needed. Today had been rough enough with word of fresh disturbances within Crystal City that were related to Onyx Dawn on top of his family issue. As he stifled a yawn as he walked, he silently admitted to himself that the fatigue would have been another issue if it hadn't been lingering for years after a diplomatic meeting with Princess Celestia and Sunset Shimmer...Went awry. He did his best not to think about what little he remembered of that day and continued onward.
As he stepped into the library, Shining's ears twitched and he followed the unmistakable sound of voices in discussion and multiple quills at work on parchment. He followed the sound to its source and stopped at the sight before him. Twilight and Aurora had pushed a pair of tables together and now had them covered with books, notes and translation sheets they were studying, copying and note taking from intently. Spike was facing the wall behind them, poring over a dozen maps that ranged from modern Equestria to what looked like ancient exploration charts. He didn't even have a chance to ask what it was with how quickly they were talking among themselves.
"Okay, I might have it narrowed down but I need an answer." Spike said as he stood up and cupped his chin in his hand.
"On it," Aurora told him as levitated several papers over and skimmed through them. "The area between Crystal City and Rainbow Falls, that was marked as the Tolis region at that time."
"Then the only other area with hills like those..." Spike nodded and clicked his fingers. "The Ferruci Region has to be the current Luna Bay!"
Twilight immediately teleported out of her seat and next to Spike, looking over everything he had noted down and the maps he indicated, breaking out in a grin.
"Spike, you're brilliant!" She exclaimed happily as she gave him a quick hug, smiling more at his gentle smile in response. "Aurora, didn't you say you found a record of the last time the crystal ponies sent explorers that way?"
"Yes, I did," Aurora quickly brought some more papers over and tapped at them. "The last recorded group were in Equis during year four seventy-four of the Time of Chaos. Not much to go on, but an area and a lead is better than nothing."
"It is. Your help has been invaluable in this too." Twilight said as she stepped back. Any further comments she had died in her throat as she turned and caught sight of Shining Armor standing there, a bemused look on his face. "Oh. Hi, BBBFF."
"Twily. Should I ask what all was all about?" Shining asked, chuckling slightly at the sight of his little sister, one of the most powerful beings in the world, still getting excited over learning as much as she had when she was a filly. For her part, Twilight simply gave a sheepish little shrug.
"Long story. But, we've got some time to explain."
"Glad to hear it. We've all got some catching up to do as well." Shining said as he watched the others gathered their things back up. He had no idea what all this was about but based on the little he'd heard, he could only suspect that it was something big.