Forgotten: Sunrise

by milesprower06


Hidden Away

After having a large piece of pie along with Sunset at one of Zephyr Heights' downtown confectioneries, Sunny had retired to her guest suite in the castle, and had set her alarm for what she had assumed would be early enough to get a head start on Sunset. To her surprise, by the time she was showered and had a granola bar for a quick breakfast, Sunset Shimmer was still waiting for her outside her door.

"You're quite the early bird, aren't you?" Sunny asked, stepping out into the hall and walked alongside the unicorn towards the front exit.

"I'm used to it. Plenty of early exams and band practices the past year," Sunset replied. "I think you can take your time if you want down in the restricted section, because Pipp and Sprout aren't up yet; think they went well into the night with Pony League," the unicorn commented.

"How could she possibly have the energy to play that long after that concert?" Sunny asked, bewildered.

"Take it from someone who's put on quite a few live shows; when the curtains close, you have such an adrenaline high that you can barely sit still. Takes awhile to come down from, and when you finally do get to sleep, yeah, you're probably going to sleep in." Sunset told her.

"So you mentioned that there's not a lot down there, but what is there has to be treated carefully? What do you mean by that?" Sunny asked.

Sunset took a few moments to consider her words carefully.

"What I mean is, magic is far more complicated than levitation and illumination spells. Some schools of magic take lifetimes to master, and if you don't know what you're doing, the results can be disastrous, for yourself and those around you. Nearly all of the magical problems that I dealt with over in the mirror world... Almost every single time it was because someone got their hands on an artifact, or something that they really didn't know what they were dealing with. So whatever is left down there, should probably stay down there for the time being, and the same goes with the Crystal Empire Library when we get up there; I'd like to check each spell book to make sure they're not dangerous before we even consider reprinting them for the unicorns of today."

"What about earth pony magic?" Sunny asked. "Unicorn magic is in their horns, and pegasi magic is in their wings. What about us?"

"In my time, earth ponies were almost always physically the strongest in Equestria, and almost all earth ponies have an affinity for either plants, botany, or farming. Yeah, unicorns and pegasi could try their hooves at it, but in almost every case, they were nowhere near as successful as the earth ponies. But that was long ago, things have obviously been modernized a considerable amount."

The earth mare and unicorn mare exited the castle's main entrance, and stepped out into the morning sun, riding the elevator down into downtown Zephyr Heights. They had barely reached the ground when Sunset's phone started vibrating in her saddlebags. She dug it out and tapped the alert on the screen.

Unknown Number
Miss Shimmer? It's Swift Melody from Sky High Notes. I don't suppose you could tell me anything at all about the manufacturing process of your 'guitar' instrument, could you? I understand you performed with Princess Pipp last night at her concert, and now I've got more than two dozen ponies on a waiting list to see if they can purchase one, after I explained to them that from my understanding, it was an experimental instrument, and is so far, one-of-a-kind.

I would be immensely grateful for any assistance you can provide.

"Oh boy..." Sunset muttered as she began to type in a reply. "Got a whole lot of concert goers wondering where they can buy a guitar now..."

Sunset
I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything in a timely manner, I've got quite the crowded schedule the next several days. I'll be in touch.

"I wonder if CanterLogic has three-dimensional scanning, so I can give him detailed designs. But... I mean, making them is one thing... All those pegasi are going to want lessons... And I'm being pulled in enough directions as it is."

"Well, I'm fairly certain CanterLogic can help you out there, and as for teaching them how to play, maybe that's another book we can keep an eye out for up north, so they can be self-taught," Sunny offered.

It was certainly an idea, and Sunset gave it some thought. She had never been in the Crystal Empire's library, but she was aware that its size and wealth of knowledge rivaled Canterlot's library, publicly accessible and otherwise.

The unicorn's phone went off again, and this time it was a picture message from Hitch.

Hitch
Somebody is getting quite comfy on top of the cabinet.

Sunset couldn't help but smile at the picture of Ray content on top of Hitch's cabinet, with a view of the entire precinct office.

"You were certainly right about Hitch. Ray is right at home with him."

More and more ponies came out onto the streets as businesses opened for the day, and a few minutes later, Sunny and Sunset found themselves at the entrance of Zephyr Heights Historical Museum. They entered the lobby, and were immediately spotted by the curator, Whirlwind.

"Ah, welcome back, Miss Shimmer. Miss Starscout, it is always a pleasure having you here," the pegasus replied, giving the earth mare a short bow.

"We're here so I can show Sunny our discovery from the other day," Sunset explained.

"Of course. I figured you'd be coming back, so we relocated the painting and put up a curtain. Please help yourselves," Whirlwind replied.

Giving the curator a smile, Sunset and Sunny walked down the corridor and retraced the steps that the unicorn had taken with Pipp, coming up to a velvet rope in front of a curtain, with a simple podium and sign that merely said 'Pardon Our Dust'. They stepped around the sign, over the velvet rope, and through the curtain, coming to a plain wall with a four-inch hole in it.

"Alright, you ready?" Sunset asked, and Sunny immediately nodded.

"Alright, take my hoof," Sunset told her, offering her left front hoof, and Sunny placed her right front hoof on it, and Sunset closed her eyes in concentration as her horn began to glow. Sunny began to feel tingly all over, and after a flash of light, she found herself surrounded by total darkness, followed by a brief bout of dizziness.

"Easy, first time teleporting is a bit of a doozy," she heard Sunset say. Blinking a few times, waiting for the tingly sensation to fade, she saw Sunset's horn begin to glow dimly, and she saw that they were standing in a cobblestone corridor, with a set of stairs. "Alright, right this way, it's not far."

Sunny took a moment to dig out her LED headband from her saddlebags, place it on her head, and tap it on, following Sunset down the winding staircase, to a large set of doors that had been opened.

"Lux," Sunset said at just above a whisper, and the warm orb of light on the tip of her horn floated up into the air until it came to rest against one of the largest stalactites on the ceiling, before slowly expanding its luminescence, coating the entire cave in a warm orange glow.

Sunny was trying not to be disappointed, because Sunset had indeed warned her that there wasn't much here, and indeed, nearly all of the shelf space here was bare. Sunset took a quick look around, and her horn lit up again, and the half-dozen or so books that were here glowed and floated down to the stone slab table in the middle of the room, where the light was brightest.

After gently being set down on the table, Sunset eyed each one of them closely.

"I told you there wasn't much here, and I'm most comfortable with keeping these right where they are. These are Class Five spell tomes, Sunny," Sunset told the earth pony.

"Class five?" Sunny said.

"There were five widely accepted skill levels in magecraft in my time. Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, and Master. One, two, three, four, five. The more complicated, or usually, the more dangerous a spell or incantation, the higher class it was assigned. Most elder mages were masters in a single school of magic, and they honed their craft for most of their lives."

Sunny looked at the covers of each of the ancient books, and saw that the one thing they had in common was the small 'V' etched on the bottom of the binding.

"I'm sorry if I'm not quite getting a grasp on this. What's so dangerous about words on a page?" She asked the unicorn.

"If you don't have the experience required, most Class 2 or 3 spells would simply be weaker, or not work. Class 4 and 5 spells, however, have to be controlled meticulously, and if you don't have the necessary experience, a spell can easily go out of control, and cause harm to the user, or those around him or her. Take this one, for instance," Sunset said, pointing to the red book cover with a half-bare, half-blooming tree on the cover. "Dracopellis, or Dragonhide. It's a Class Five alteration spell, that takes your skin, your coat, and makes it as indestructible as a dragon's scales. But if you don't know what you're doing, the spell could very well have a permanent effect on you, rather than temporary."

Sunny visibly gulped, now rather intimidated by the book, and Sunset sympathized with her.

"Like I said, Sunny. The things down here were kept here for very good reasons."