Smolder thought over what she knew so far. Silverstream had gone on for quite a while about the dragon named Scriptus and his library. Now that they stood before the library, it was a truly impressive building. Dragons usually didn’t build much, but the massive stone structure felt imposing. It was built to easily let those with flight come and go while also offering some entrances for the kobold servants.
She tried to guess what might interest an old dragon like Scriptus. He had an army of kobold servants. He had a massive hoard of books and information. Unfortunately, Smolder couldn’t think of any especially secret or rare knowledge that she might be able to offer. That was why his note to her had been very surprising. She still hadn’t told her friends what it said. She didn’t want to explain certain dragon innuendos to them, but the letter had been full of them, even if they were very old fashioned and poetic.
Saffron seemed to get more impatient the closer they got. He motioned for them to follow. “Master want to meet all of you. Come.”
“Do you really think it has as many books as Silverstream said?” Ocellus asked.
Sandbar shrugged. “We’re here to try to get Scriptus to help, so I don’t think we’ll have too much time for reading.”
They stepped inside. Saffron led them quickly toward the center of the massive building. Smolder got a few glimpses of rooms filled with books, scrolls, or other things. The massive depictions of Scriptus almost made her want to stop and admire them. The dragon certainly knew how to decorate his place. Saffron was getting further ahead, so Smolder had to pull Ocellus away from staring at so many books.
“Whoa!” Sandbar said. “This place is huge! It’s a good thing we have Saffron to guide us.”
“Library is made to make sense,” Saffron said. “Very hard to get lost. But now you meet with Lord Scriptus. Do not be rude or lie to him.”
Saffron took a deep breath and marched through the huge doorway. Across the room, Smolder could already see Scriptus. Silverstream had described him well. He was massive, which meant he was very old. He was lanky and thin, so that meant he probably didn’t work out or fight much. His coloring looked like yellowed paper dipped in ink.
Next to Scriptus, kobolds of all colors were arranging the books and other items that were magically appearing as Scriptus tapped on the orb and runes in front of him. He glanced at their group before going back to whatever he was doing with the orb.
Saffron walked close to Scriptus and knelt on one knee. “Great Scriptus! I have returned with the visitor you requested.”
Scriptus looked up. He looked over Sandbar and Ocellus, but his gaze lingered on Smolder. She stood straighter and stared back at him.
“Ah, there’s the fiery young dragoness you mentioned in your reports. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Smolder. As well as your friends, Sandbar and Ocellus. It has been far too long since I have had a fellow dragon’s company to enjoy, especially one who values learning as much as you.”
Smolder felt her cheeks grow warm at the unexpected compliment. “Well, we’re here like you wanted. You have some nerve to send me a note like that, but I’m willing to listen.”
Scriptus smiled and stretched out his body, as if putting it on display for Smolder. His scales gleamed as if recently polished. He wasn’t all just scales and bones, now that Smolder got a closer look. He did have some lean muscle, and he looked like he could be very fast. He wasn’t being shy about showing himself off. She growled and turned her head to the side. He was way too old for her, even if he did know how to write the sort of letter she wished she could get from Spike or Ocellus.
“It’s great to meet you!” Sandbar stepped forward. “I hope we can be friends, but I still don’t know what you want. Smolder wouldn’t share why you wanted us.”
“Friends is a good place to start, but I was hoping for a bit more, perhaps. At least from Smolder.”
Ocellus was blushing and glancing between Smolder and Scriptus. Smolder gave her a fierce look, but she knew the changeling would continue to sense the hidden emotions. Luckily, Sandbar was very oblivious to any hints that had been given.
“But we shall deal with more private matters later,” Scriptus said. “For now, I have many questions. You know things that have yet to be written down well. Especially a changeling that has undergone a new transformation.”
Scriptus began to ask them questions about recent events and other things. He quickly stopped asking Sandbar questions after the pony gave a few vague responses about recent events in Equestria. He asked Ocellus all sorts of questions about the changelings and all that had happened after Thorax confronted Queen Chrysalis. When he finally got to Smolder, he only had a few questions about the new dragonlord and some dragons he knew in the past. She knew of some of the dragons he named, but they were all old or dead. Not the sort of dragons Smolder would hang out with.
“I think that satisfies my curiosity for now,” Scriptus said. “Two of you didn’t disappoint me. I’m lucky to have better ponies writing things down, though. Saffron, take Sandbar and Ocellus on a tour of the library. Feel free to stop and look at any books that interest you. I have other things to discuss with Smolder.”
Ocellus’s wings buzzed in anticipation of seeing so many books. Sandbar tapped his hooves and swished his tail. Saffron took them away to start the tour.
Smolder’s heart was beating quickly now that she was alone with Scriptus. It was unusual for a dragon to use words to try to win a mate, but Scriptus was far from ordinary. He put one huge hand behind Smolder’s back.
“Did you enjoy my little poem? Unfortunately, Saffron overestimated your age and size, but he is a kobold. They tend to do or say whatever they can to please me and fulfill my wishes, even when it bends the truth a little.”
Smolder held her hands together. “So you wrote that only based on what he told you?”
“He is a good judge of some things. You are a unique dragoness. Very few dragons would want to study anything, let alone friendship.”
“I wasn’t so sure of it when Ember picked me, but I had heard stories of how the ponies used friendship to beat powerful enemies like Discord or Tirek, so I wanted to see if it would make me stronger.”
“Yes, I was surprised by the many accounts of those same stories. But I feel we’re getting distracted. Had you been older, perhaps I would make good on what I hinted at in my poem, but you are too young.”
“Hey! I’m old enough to ‘twist tails’ or do some of those other things.”
“True, but what I truly want isn’t just that.” Scriptus sighed. “I have almost everything I could want here. I have loyal kobold servants who help me categorize and save the knowledge of countless worlds and civilizations. I have plenty of treasure and gems in my hoard. But what I need now is someone who can continue my work should something happen to me. I want a hatchling that I can raise and teach to do what I do. That is why I want a few eggs. You are old enough to provide that, if barely, but your time here is too short. And if I understand your connection with Harmony, then you are still needed to bring Equestria’s magic back.”
Smolder’s nervous bravado faded. She patted Scriptus’s hand. “It’s a relief, actually. I wasn’t sure how far you’d go to try to claim me.”
“Oh, come now. I’m not like those brutes who think that’s all there is to a relationship.”
“But it is part of the fun.”
Smolder laughed as the old dragon blushed. He quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat.
“Yes, but anyway, I have a new offer for you. Promise to convince Dragonlord Ember to send me three eggs to raise as my own. If you do, I’ll offer you my full support in getting you, your friends, and the magic of Equestria back to where you all belong.”
“Can I have some time to think it over?”
“Of course. And while you’re here, perhaps you could enjoy the library. It truly is magnificent, almost as much as me.”
Scriptus stretched in a way that made the muscles on his chest and shoulders stand out. For such an ancient dragon, Smolder did have to admit he did look sleek and healthy.
“Actually, I was hoping you could maybe teach me about the magic runes, like the ones around your orb, or the ones etched on your scales.”
“I’m not a terribly good teacher, but I could create a copy of a few books that go over the basics. I’ll include it as a free addition if you accept my deal.”
The thought of doing magic made Smolder feel eager and almost greedy to possess such knowledge. She took a deep breath to calm her feelings.
“Let me talk it over with my friends. They help me when I have a tough decision to make.”
“I shall be waiting here for your answer.”
As Smolder walked away, Scriptus summoned a kobold to guide her and went back to his work of collecting information. She walked past the heroic depictions of Scriptus saving countless books as civilizations burned or were destroyed in various other cataclysms. She tried to remember the old stories about the dragon. Legends told of a dragon who was banished for learning and teaching forbidden magic. Perhaps that was Scriptus, but he seemed good-natured and trustworthy. Why would Dragonlord Torch banish someone like him?
Smolder thought through the pieces of the legends she could remember, but none of them seemed to be particularly helpful, except for one that talked about a disagreement between the dragonlord and a scholarly dragon.
The scholarly dragon’s magic had killed some of the younger dragons when they practiced it foolishly. The dragonlord forbade the strange magic and banished the scholarly dragon. The scholarly dragon took all his books with him, and that was why dragons kept no books in the Dragonlands.
The story had always seemed a little silly. Smolder always thought that the real reason why dragons kept so few books was because they didn’t hold up well near the volcanoes and lava in the Dragonlands, but maybe the old legend had some truth to it.
The guide kobold squeaked and pointed at the door to a room. Three large beds were waiting, and a special basket of fine gems sat on a table between three chairs. Smolder sat down and started to munch on the gems. From the first bite, she could tell they were special. They seemed to be aged perfectly, with the right amount of heat and pressure. It seemed even here, Scriptus was still trying to impress her.
The basket was mostly empty by the time Ocellus and Sandbar returned from their tour. Sandbar pulled a small cart full of books, and Ocellus had a huge grin on her face.
“Smolder! You won’t believe how many amazing books I found. Some of these might even have the true origins of the changelings instead of that silly myth with the acorn and magic pond that Chrysalis told everyone. There were all sorts of books on many types of magic, but I had to only take the ones about changeling magic.”
“I found some good ones, too! Earth ponies can make plants grow better, but some of these books are supposed to teach me how to use that power differently.”
“Saffron said we could get copies of them, but he said it depended on something between you and Scriptus. Did he-” Ocellus made a gesture with her hooves.
“No.” Smolder blushed. “Is that what you thought we were doing while you toured this place? He’s several times bigger than me. Find a book on dragon anatomy if you can’t see why that would make it impossible.” Smolder felt immediately guilty as her sudden outburst made Ocellus wilt.
Sandbar’s ears flattened. “Hey, no need to shout. What did he want?”
Smolder sighed and scratched at the fin on the side of her head. “He wants an egg. Or at least some dragon hatchlings to raise to follow in his footsteps.”
Sandbar blushed as he finally put things together.
“He wants me to promise to convince Ember to send him some eggs, but I wanted to talk to you guys about it first.”
Ocellus shrugged. “Does it really matter? As long as the hatchlings have someone to love and raise them, they’ll be fine.”
“But what about their parents?” Sandbar asked.
“There are always some eggs or hatchlings that the parents don’t come back and claim. Like Spike’s egg. And he seems to have turned out okay, even if he acts like a pony half the time. I wouldn’t really think it would be a problem, but in one of our old stories, a dragon like Scriptus was banished because some dragons died when trying to learn magic from his books. Do you think he’d push young dragons too far again?”
Sandbar put a hoof on Smolder’s shoulder. “It’s an old story. We should see if he’s honest and ask him the truth about what happened. That’s the only way we can be sure he’d be a good parent.”
“Maybe we can help him somehow,” Ocellus added.
Smolder pulled them both in for a tight hug. “Thanks, you two. I wasn’t so sure, but now I feel like it’s the right thing to do.”
Scriptus listened carefully as Smolder explained the old story and why it was important to her decision. Smolder thought she saw him quickly wipe away a tear as he sat in silence for a moment once she finished speaking.
“That story is true. It is one of my deepest regrets. I freely give knowledge to those who seek it, but some knowledge is very dangerous to those who are unprepared for it. Three dragons were corrupted when they sought to dominate some void spirits and use their magic. The three attacked the other dragons. The corruption would have spread, but I worked quickly and contained it. Dragonlord Torch was furious. Even Celestia came when she sensed the void spirits. Torch and Celestia sent me and the corrupted dragons here to protect Equus from further corruption by the void.”
“Void spirits?” Sandbar asked. “But isn’t that what created Nightmare Moon or the Pony of Shadows?”
“Yes, it is similar, but those two void spirits amplify the power and pain of the ponies they control. The void spirits that the young dragons called were stronger and more dangerous. But you have given me an idea. You three possess the magic of Harmony. If we use that when the void spirits are weakened, we could purge the three dragons. I could undo my mistake and ask for forgiveness.”
“But those dragons should be almost as old as you,” Smolder said. “And I haven’t seen any other huge dragons around, especially not corrupted dragons.”
Scriptus pointed down. “They are sealed deep beneath this place. Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to lock them away. They have not aged while caught in that prison. To atone for my mistake, I have guarded the seal all these years. But now, we could try to fix things. The void calls to its own, though. Even if Nightmare and Shade have been driven into hiding, they will try to come to help their fellow void spirits. My golems and kobolds will be able to slow them down, but if we break the seal, things will get very dangerous.”
Smolder flew up and looked Scriptus in the eyes. “Friends help each other, even when it gets tough. And you can consider us your friends. Let’s get started.”