//------------------------------// // Learning about history // Story: Flurry Heart and the Imprisoned King // by ddstory25 //------------------------------// She wanted answers and her parents never gave her any. They always said when you’re older. She was already sixteen. How much older could she get? None of the many history books she read could soothe her buzzing mind. Not even her aunties would tell her the full history of her homeland; they always told her to ask her parents. Flurry Heart knew there had to be more than what they told her because every time she asked them about it they always shied away from the questions. She was always fascinated by the history of the Crystal Empire, from the crystal fair to the first princess of the Crystal Empire, however, whenever she managed to get to the part about the dark unicorn king, the books and stories always sped through it. Flurry couldn’t believe that everypony would skip over something so important. She seemed to be the only pony who cared about knowing the full story of the dark king who was lost to time. After years of asking about the unicorn king, she had finally gotten her Auntie Twilight to talk a little bit about him. In the heat of the moment, Twilight accidentally revealed that the dark king had a study beneath the throne room of the crystal castle. Flurry was amazed to hear this and she quickly started working on Twilight, trying to convince her to show her the study. She wanted answers and so far this was one of the few leads about the dark king she had. After several months of working on Twilight to show her the dark king’s study beneath the throne room of her home and lots of negotiations later, she had won Twilight over. It was perfect, especially since the crystal fair was coming up in another few days, and she was finally going to get some answers, and it only cost her having to work in her aunt’s library for about three months reorganizing all her books. It was worth it to see the study of the unicorn king who ruled the empire before her mother. That night after dinner when everypony else was asleep, Twilight took Flurry into the throne room and proceeded to open the passage that leads to the king’s study. They descended the stairs to the door at the bottom; Flurry watched closely as her aunt performed the dark spell again. The door swung open by itself revealing the study. It was like a time capsule, everything was persevered perfectly, even the journal of the king was in pristine condition. She entered the room and wanted to touch it, it seemed to lure her to it but before she could even touch it, Twilight separated her from the book. Pulling her out of the room, she forbade it, not wanting her to even touch that book let alone be in the study any longer than they had to be. The next night, which was the night before her sixteenth crystal fair, she was going to go down into the study and read the king’s journal, the artifact Twilight would not allow her to touch when they went down together. She crept down the corridors of the castle, avoiding all the guards until she came upon the throne room. Grinning smugly at the crystal that decorated the top of her mother’s throne, knowing what secrets it held, she focused hard letting the dark spell she watched Twilight use the other day come to her, so she herself could open the doorway. ZAP! Her eyes fluttered open to see the floor opening up with a long winding staircase appearing before her. Although her head hurt, she clapped her hooves together in excitement as she approached the staircase. She started her descent down the stairs, reaching the door at bottom in record time. She focused once again on the dark spell to activate the door that leads to the study and again she opened her eyes to see the room before her. It was the same as before: a bookcase filled with old books, two statues of the unicorn king himself, a desk and chair in the middle of the room. Flurry sat in the chair as she looked at the desk before her with a book sat before her. It was a blue covered journal with gold trimming and binding. She opened the journal and began reading about the dark king that every pony wanted to forget. Flurry couldn’t wait for nightfall she wanted to get to the crystal dungeons which lay deep below the Crystal Castle. Her parents thought that they had hidden away the fact that they had hidden a prisoner from their daughter, however, Flurry was too clever for them. She had found the guard's logbook when she was six and knew that every three months a new guard switched off to watch the dungeons. She could only wonder who was imprisoned below her home, the logbooks never mentioned who their captive was. As a child, she could only imagine a dragon or rouge changeling that served the malevolent Queen Chrysalis, however, now she had a feeling there captive was the king of monsters. Her heart raced just thinking about it. She knew her parents were always hiding something from her but a whole prisoner was something else. Her heart just wouldn’t slow down as a new thought about the prospect of a piece of history sat imprisoned before her. She couldn't wait until nightfall, and at that moment, her mother walked by and noticed her excitement. Cadence approached her daughter with a smile on her face. “Are you excited for the Crystal Fair, Flurry?” “Hmm, oh yeah I can’t wait.” Cadence gave her a skeptic look but let it go. She figured her daughter’s giddiness was because of some boy she met. She could feel her heart racing, a lovely melody. One of the perks of being the princess of love was when somepony was excited about something they loved she could feel their heartbeat. Her smile returned to her. “Well, I hope you have fun today.” “Oh, I will mom I can’t wait to see the Crystal Heart and the rest of the fair.” “You seem really happy this year did you learn something new about the Crystal Fair? You always get this giddy when you discover something new about the Crystal Empire. Or is it something else?” Cadence said raising her eyebrows in a lewd manner. Flurry forced a smile; she was slightly disgusted by what her mother was implying but she didn't want to reveal what she had done the night before to her. She quickly thought up a lie instead of playing along with her mother's fantasy. “Oh, I learned that if you mix crystal berries with crystal corn the flavor is unbelievably bad. Apparently, it was an old tradition at the pie eating contest to eat the two together and see who lasted the longest before some pony got sick. Until one too many ponies got sick and they stopped doing that.” Cadence looked a little disappointed but just shook her head in amusement as she walked away from her daughter. “Well please don’t try that tradition I don’t need you getting sick my love.” “I wouldn’t dream of it, mother.” “I’ll see you at the fair honey.” Flurry watched her leave, as soon as she was out of sight she sighed heavily. “That was close.” “What was close?” A masculine voice asked from behind her, she instantly recognized the voice. “DADDY!?” Shining Armor looked down at his daughter, a smile crossed his lips, “What was close? Are you hiding something from Mommy?” He asked in a childlike way. “Dad I’m not a child anymore and maybe.” Flurry could always talk to her father more easily than she could her mother, something about him made it easier to talk to. He cocked an eyebrow as he spoke playfully. “Oh! What are you hiding, what did you do?” “NOTHING!” She yelled back playfully. “Nothing or something?” He gave her a funny look. She knew she wouldn’t be getting out of this, if anything her father was a great detective, and although she was good at hiding things, he seemed to find out some of her secrets. She figured that's why mom liked him and why he was head of the royal guard. She had to make a convincing lie for her father. She knew he hadn’t figured out what she was planning but one slip up and he would be investigating her. “Well you see dad, I figured I would get something nice for mom at the Crystal Fair and she almost caught me in the act of figuring out what to get.” “And what are you getting her? She has everything anypony could ask for.” “I figured I would get her…Well me.” She smiled brightly hoping he bought it. His playful face turned into confusion as he questioned her. “But she already has you, Flurry. So why are you getting her yourself?” “Well, I was thinking about giving her me, with a new mane cut.” “A new mane cut?” He looked unconvinced, Flurry was worried but kept smiling to hide her panic. He held his gaze but let it go and rubbed her head. “Well if you think she’ll like it I say go for it, sweetie.” “Thanks, Dad.” She watched as her father left to go check on the fair. She relaxed as she let her breath go. She didn’t realize she was holding it the whole time as her father left her. She got up and walked outside to the fair ready to get through the day.