//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: The 6 element seas // by Randomateverything //------------------------------// The time they'd spent in Neighgeria had been very interesting. Captain Rarity hadn't wanted to stay long, but information on the Heartless amulet was few and far between, and what information there was only brought up more and more questions. It was also incredibly hot. Even sitting inside a cool library with air con and fans blasting in her face, Twilight was still sweating buckets. After spending a week with the pirates without the stressful conditions, Rainbow and her friends had decided to stay and help them look for the amulet, of course without Captain Rarity's knowledge. They were wearing their disguises again, slightly different this time, and of much better quality, thanks to Twilight, to hide themselves from both the captain and the Kitsune citizens, who, most likely, knew by now that Princess Rainbow Dash was missing. The information they had currently gathered on the Heartless amulet had recently brought to light a series of other objects, that according to myth, were once used to defeat a great evil that had taken over half the world and put many of the citizens into slavery. So they had begun to search the library for answers, looking in any book that contained myths or artifacts or magic or history. Unsurprisingly, not many books contained even the slightest bit of information on the amulet, but those that did often had useful information. Currently, Twilight was reading a book called 'Ancient Civilizations and Cultures' and more specifically, reading the chapters relating to the Zebra tribes. She was laying down on a beanbag, completely lost in the book. The information she held in her hooves didn't tell her much more than she already knew about the amulet, it didn't even mention how it was supposedly lost, but it did give a fair amount of detail on how the amulet worked. For instance, the amulet was cursed by a witch to kill those who wore it, but only if they weren't pure of heart, and those who were pure of heart were granted the powers of the witch herself. Of course this was just speculation from the knowledge of the amulet being passed down as, well, according to history, no-one had worn the amulet and survived to actually confirm the latter case. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were sitting either side of her, reading -or in Rainbow's case, absentmindedly leafing through- their own books about artifacts or myths. Fluttershy had gone out with Applejack and the fillies to keep them occupied, and the rest of the pirates had gone out themselves-mostly to the pubs. "Hey Twilight?" Rainbow suddenly piped up "Yes?" "Do you think the myth about this 'great evil' is real?" "What? Of course not! To be fair, I don't think I quite believe that the Heartless amulet was actually cursed by a witch. Made by Zebras, yes, but cursed? Unlikely. It's probably just a story someone made up so that they could put several artifacts from across the world in a single display at a museum or something." "...But I thought no one had ever found the amulet?" "...Well I don't know then! But 'great evils taking over the world? Witches cursing amulets to kill anyone who wore it?' It's all just hoopla to me." "Didn't the amulet actually kill ponies who wore it though?" Pinkie asked, joining in the conversation "Zebras, I'm not sure anyponyhas worn it before, but yes, although the more logical explanation is because it had some form of toxin in it that made the pendant poisonous to the touch." "Then how are we gonna handle it?" "With care." "Oh." There was a moment of silence that Twilight took to get back to reading. "Wouldn't it be cool if it was real though?" Rainbow once again piped up. "Ughhh." Twilight mumbled under her breath, knowing that she likely wasn't going to get another moment of piece for a while. --- A few blocks away from the library, Captain Rarity trotted down a street, she had collected a fair bit of information, and it still didn't really help her. She decided to head back to the ship, or maybe pop into the library to discuss the information she had found with Twilight. If she poked around for information for much longer, she might look suspicious. She had spent the last week chasing up a lead about the whereabouts of the amulet, and while that had lead somewhere, she hadn't been able to extract all the information she needed. "Heh, you won' find the Heartless amulet if you keep searchin' as you are Missy. Oh no. That ain't how it works." The 7 tailed Kitsune said with a rough laugh. "Yes, as I've been told." Rarity replied "I've also been told that you are one of the few kitsunes who know how to find it. Is that right?" "Heheh. Not quite. You see, the Heartless amulet can only be found by whom it wants to be found." "That's a bit cryptic, don't you think?" "You think I'd just go around tellin' everyone who came up to me what that means?" The Kitsune shook his head "No no no. You see, this is a secret that has been passed down to me through generations of trust. And it will continue to be passed on through trust, whether that be only one more generation or fifty more." Rarity thought for a minute before clearing her throat "So, this secret will be passed on to your children? And your children's children?" "No, I'll only pass this secret to those who I think will eventually cross paths with whoever is mean' to find the amulet." "I thought you said that the secret may be passed down for another fifty generations, or maybe even more." "There will always be one who is mean' to find the amulet, whether they know it or not, and if they die before they find the amulet, then someone else is born who's mean' to find the amulet." "So, how do you know, or think you know who will cross paths with whomever it is who is meant to find the amulet then?" Rarity asked "Only a pure hearted soul can wear the amulet without croaking, and then only the one can use the amulet. Part of my secret is learnin' how to spot a pure hearted soul." "So, are there any 'pure hearted souls' in this room, then?" "Hehe, not quite. You're the closest, missy, but the definition of pure hearted is more complicated than you think. Though, lookin' at you know, I suspect you've probably been around a pure hearted soul or two a fair bit recently, and so I'll tell you this. The rumor has you believe that the amulet is deep in the sea of kindness, but really, the witch's curse means that it'll be drawn to the one when they get close." Rarity frowned, remembering what the Kitsune had told her only reiterated the point that she still didn't really know how that helped her. And he'd refused to give her more information 'Unless you stop takin' what's been offered for granted'. She groaned, that had been even more cryptic. Nothing had been offered to her, she'd had to go out and pry information out of everyone. She sighed and shook her head, she'd discuss it with Twilight.