Misty awoke with vigor. It was a bit later than she usually woke up, but that was fine with her. The previous day, she had cast a spell that levitated everything in her room.
She could hardly believe herself. This new feeling of excitement buzzed within her. She jumped out of bed, scooping up the book she was reading last night. She needed more, more books, more knowledge, more magic.
She wondered if this was what Opaline felt like when she had more magic? She happily trotted out of her bedroom door. She felt lighter, and happier than before.
She turned her head, seeing that Opaline had already awoken. She was glaring into her precious pool once again. Misty wondered why she couldn't just leave the castle herself…
"Opaline always sends me away to do everything. Why is that? Why can't she leave this castle?" she thought.
She pondered it while walking towards the shimmering pool. The alicorn had a sour expression on her face, but when didn't she. She did not even notice Misty standing right next to her, glancing at what Opaline was looking at. It was the dragon Sparky.
“Ohhh” Misty said, still standing next to Opaline.
“Gah!” Opaline yelped, looking shocked that Misty was standing there. “When did you get here Misty?” Opaline asked, confused.
“Hm? Just a moment ago Opaline” Misty remarked calmly.
The alicorn pried her eyes away from the bright-eyed unicorn to look back at the pool. Misty noticed that she hadn't yelled yet or even ordered her to do something yet. Misty’s mind once again wondered about spells, the small dragon Sparky very easily cast all sorts of spells. Where did dragons come from? Was there only one left? Or did magic awaken them from some sort of slumber? It was actually quite fascinating, many ancient creatures could have gone extinct, but maybe they didn’t, maybe they were just dormant until now.
"Hey Opaline, do you think there are any other dragons?" Misty asked.
"What? Well… I don't know." Opaline said. "His egg practically came from nowhere, I doubt there would be others" She firmly remarked.
"But it couldn't have come from nowhere. Hey Opaline, do you think any other ancient creatures came back?" Misty asked.
"Misty, I'm going to say this in the nicest way possible. NO. I’m too tired for your questions" Opaline established as she pulled her hoof down her drowsy face.
"Ah…alright." Misty said, backing off and rocking in place.
Opaline stared at the small dragon intently. She didn't say anything, merely looking without speaking. She had planned to tell Misty eventually, but she wondered if she should.
"Misty, I'm going to tell you a story." Opaline said, while looking queasy and unkempt.
"Huh?"
"There were many things that happened in ancient times. Magic artifacts and creatures were as common as technology is now" Opaline continued with a blank stare into the pool, the colors shining and dancing on her face. "Unicorns were both numerous and powerful. Making them the obvious leaders. But the dragons were jealous, some stole unicorn magic and adapted to their fire. Making any magical qualities a unicorn may have, completely accessible for dragons as well."
Opaline turned to Misty, weighing her next words carefully. Misty felt caution in the alicorn's face.
"And so, these dragons became powerful adversaries, possessing size, brute strength, and magic on a whim. It was madness, spells of great caliber once held for sorcerers were now in the clawed hands of dragons. I chased them down. Finding them and taking back what was ours. I fought many foes at once, many called me insane for going up against them. But I persevered, and that is how I became a princess. I defeated them all single-hoofed." Opaline shook her head and hoof in a threatening manner to the sky.
Opaine stopped, putting thd hoof on Misty's face.
"Misty, the old Princess tried to stop me in my pursuit to claim back what was already ours. We deserve everything that they stole from us. I became the way I am by liberating unicorn magic. Even earth ponies wanted to steal our power for themselves, that's why you must restore me. Once I'm restored, I can liberate Equestria once again. I can be a princess again! You want me to become a princess don't you Misty?" Opaline said with a glaring crazed look.
Misty looked at her caretaker. All she could think was how insane Opaline appeared, desperate and deranged. Misty smiled at the alicorn, responding with two words.
"Yes Opaline"
"Good good Misty. You know I'm hard on you, but this really is of the utmost importance."
Misty bowed her head, she might be nice now, but Misty knew, she always knew. It would never last. From time to time, Opaline would shower Misty in the fondest words, reassuring her. Misty quite enjoyed it, but it was temporary. Merely a tool for Misty to be even more desperate for that next time, those sweet nothings. The next hit.
Misty shook her head, she needed to be anywhere else but there.
"I'm going to the town, I'm getting more books Opaline" Misty said, looking at the alicorn with the saddest eyes.
"Sure, yes of course. Go get more books" Opaline remarked flippantly, not really caring about the words Misty said.
Misty went down the long ever-winding stairs of the castle. It was so beautiful. The texture and the history ripe with every hall, every crack, and every stroke of a brush. It was all hoof made. Misty always felt a little sad that she was the only one to ever enjoy any of it. It was carefully crafted and for what? Some small unicorn to awe at it each day?
"Really…I wish there were others here…" Misty thought as she reached the end of the stairs and to the giant front door.
Misty walked with her book out of the castle. She turned towards the door, noticing a flame on the front. She hadn't thought much of it before. But now, it made sense. It all made sense. Opaline was a powerful and ruthless mistress. But she couldn't leave the castle, for whatever reason. Misty looked to the grass, seeing multiple bugs.
Suddenly tears leaked from her eyes.
"W-why? Nothing bad h-happened" Misty put her hoof to her face, smearing her tears around her cheeks.
She just wanted a cutie mark, was that too much to ask for? Misty gasped through her sobs. Her tears ran down her face and gave her a chill.
She needed to go and fast, she thought perhaps it would end her distress. She clopped her hooves hard on the path, she galloped fast, with the book being held in place by her teeth. It helped her run faster.
Her tears were blown away by the wind she was running against. She felt mad, she didn't know why. Her anger persisted as she ran, beating it out onto the hard path.
Maybe it was the adrenaline, or maybe the persistent nature of the book in her mind, but Misty felt truly like she might be able to do anything.
Soon enough she was standing on the edge of Maretime Bay. She wondered what things looked like back then, with countless magical creatures of all shapes and sizes roaming the earth. It would be unlike now, where ponies and regular animals prevailed. Perhaps they were merely too far away, but out there somewhere. They had to be.
She could see the concrete town street. It was any other normal day in Maretime Bay. Ponies walking around, enjoying their day. It was strange, coming from the dreary castle, over to the town that had no idea about Misty's life from beyond.
Misty once again passed by the shops and ponies she had seen before. Maretime Bay was the only place other than Zephyr Heights that had such a different atmosphere than almost everywhere else. The castle in which Misty resided was a relic of the past. Many of which were sprinkled throughout Equestria, presumed to be abandoned.
She saw that none of the BrightHouse members were around. That was ok with Misty, she wanted to go to the library for more books anyway. She trotted down the streets, taking a deep breath, she let go of all the shame she felt. Pretending to be a normal citizen, not being bothered with anything else was freeing.
“Today will be a good day I think.” Misty whispered to herself, calmly opening her book to the final pages she had not yet finished.
The pages of that book held ideas and magic that Misty had not yet known. Teleportation for one, but also manifesting objects, changing them into whatever the spellcaster wanted, or even foreign ideas like age manipulation and transformation into different forms of other creatures. Very, VERY high-level unicorns could perform age manipulation like alicorns. Then there were barrier spells that could cover and protect an entire kingdom. Not necessarily for alicorns but certainly a level of magic casting that had to come from a talented unicorn.
"Page 160
The last thing about a unicorn's magic is that it is produced from within. The drive to cast spells and fulfill the endless search for more ability. But it is all within your reach, always strive to do more, and you will succeed.
Happy casting, -Starswirl the Bearded"
"That's it? There has to be more." Misty frowned at the book she was holding. She was almost at the library anyway.
Once she saw the bright sign indicating the library, she felt her buzzing excitement again. She heard the jingling of the door as she walked in once again. She smiled to herself, entering the dusty bookshop, she saw many more titles she wanted to read. There were plenty more both fiction and non-fiction books she could choose from, and she was ecstatic for whatever would come next.
"Hey Ms. Bookkeeper?" Misty asked quietly, looking around the shelf she had seen the pony before when she came the first time.
"Ah, you're back" the bookkeeper remarked as she opened the door to the back of the counter. She walked up, smirking at Misty as she did. "That was quick" she leaned her body at the counter.
Misty blushed. "Um..you wouldn't happen to have Any other books with magic, would you?" She said as she held out the previous book she had gotten.
The pony continued to smirk, "Well, you're certainly committed. Here let me take that" the pony took the book Misty was holding, and put it on a cart.
She skimmed the shelves, searching for something to give to Misty. Misty leaned towards the mare reading off some titles in her mind.
"Twilights Reign", "How To Beat a Pegasus in a Competition" that one was a bit peculiar. "Living with Yaks" that one sounded a bit outlandish.
"Hmm, stay here, I'm heading to the back" the book keeper said, clasping the door handle to the backroom and opening it.
Misty knew the librarian had told her to stay, but all the books were mystifying. She slowly turned her head towards the other shelf, taking a peek at the kinds of books that were featured there. She turned back to the door, a couple minutes browsing wouldn’t hurt anypony.
She walked over to the bookshelf. Many books had bright and unique colors on them. She leaned down to the bottom shelf. “History of Equestria - Celestia and Luna” Misty stared at the book with zero recollection. Who were Celestia and Luna? She’d never heard of these ponies before. She had only ever heard of Twilight and her imprisonment of magic within the crystals. Never of these mysterious other ponies. She moved on to the next title.
“Cadence of the Crystal Kingdom" Misty was confused yet again, she didn't know who Cadence was either. These ponies sounded important, but she had no idea who they were. She snapped out of her trance, when she heard the sound of the door opening again.
"Hey unicorn, I got something for ya" the old librarian said, pushing her glasses up her snout.
Misty moved in front of the pony "Oh really, what is it?"
"Since you seem to be such a fast reader, this baby right here is 800 pages" She said as she smiled and patted the book.
"Wow, uh, that's quite a lot of pages…" Misty said, eyeing the giant book, she didn't know if she could even carry it back to the castle. "Twilight Sparkles lecture on magical forces" Misty read out.
"Yep, Sunny already read this whole thing, she's obsessed with anything to do with that pony" the old pony said.
"Well..who is she anyway?" Misty asked.
"Huh? Oh, she was the last princess of Equestria before it's collapse, apparently some other princess didn't agree with her methods and they duked it out, leading to the loss of magic. They say the other princess was locked up somewhere afterwards" she said.
"L-locked up…." Misty whispered. "Can I have a couple more books? Those on the bottom shelf?" Misty asked, pointing to the two books she saw earlier.
"Yeah sure" the pony said, taking the two books off the shelf, and handing them to Misty.
"Oof! These are heavy!" Misty said, crunching her legs beneath the weight.
"Ok bye then!" The librarian exclaimed, turning and walking away while chuckling and saying quietly "just use your magic horn, seriously."
Misty struggled towards the door, opening it slightly and squeezing her body outside. Walking on unstable hooves, she tried to stumble her way to the shoreline.
"Oh! Ah! No, no, no! Don't fall yet"
Her legs finally gave out, tumbling her books straight to the pavement.
Misty blushed, groaning her embarrassment as she laid her head on the ground.
"Misty???" Somepony said from above.
"Huh?" Misty exclaimed, looking above to a floating white pegasus.
"Woah there girl, you've bitten off more than you can chew!" Zipp lowered herself to the books messily strewn on the ground.
Misty looked at Zipp, as she smiled and offered a hoof to the pony.
"Need help?" Zipp asked.
"Oh..yeah." Misty slowly took her hoof, helping her up off the ground.
"You sure you need all these books Misty?" Zipp asked as she picked up the largest one.
"Oh well…no, but the librarian said I should take it…s-so I did" Misty stammered.
"Well" Zipp said, handing the two smaller books back in Misty's hooves, "you shouldn't do things just because ponies tell you to" She smiled, still holding the large 800 page book.
"Ah…." Misty exclaimed, looking to the ground with embarrassment.
"So..Misty, I'm sorry for the other day, I was being unfair to you." Zipp said. "I was being hasty and rude, would you forgive me?" She asked with sincere eyes that spoke to Misty's soul.
She felt she was being unfair to Zipp, she was actually responsible for everything Zipp had acusssed her of. Every suspicion, was correct. But here Zipp was, apologizing to a guilty pony. One who had abused their kindness from the very beginning. Zipp was passionate about what she did, and owned up to her "mistakes" when she made them.
Misty started to tear up, she couldn't tell the truth! No! No! Nopony would ever trust her again!
"Oh no! Misty, I'm so sorry, I-I feel so bad. Are you ok!?!" Zipp said, hyperventilating and looking around nervously.
"Z-zipp, it's fine, I forgive you. I get it, sometimes you get so caught up in what you're doing. And my behavior didn't help much either, I WAS acting suspicious, wasn't I?" Misty said, wiping her moist eyes, chucking a bit.
Misty thought about her behavior, it was despicable, how could she possibly right her wrongs.
"Oh thank you Misty!" Zipp was beaming, absolutely shining with her smile. "Can I give you a hug?" She asked.
Misty thought about it, staring with a blank smile "Sure"
They hugged very quickly, Misty was awkward and felt out of place in the gesture. Opaline hadn't hugged her much as a filly. They pulled away, and Zipp was a bit confused but still happy for Misty's forgiveness.
"Misty, what would you get, if it was anything in the world?" Zipp asked.
"Huh? Why…" Misty said, pulling her ears down onto her head. Was she still suspicious of her?
"I don't know, I guess I just don't know much about you." Zipp said, rubbing the back of her head.
Misty knew what her answer would be, but she couldn't say Cutie Mark. Ponies thought she already had one, the placebo butterfly.
She paused, thinking over her answer. She had decided.
"If it was anything.. then it would be magic" She said. That was another thing that she now craved, the ability to cast a spell like any normal unicorn.
"Magic? Like, what kind" Zipp asked, confused.
"Well..I haven't told anyone, but I'm not very good at unicorn spells. Can't properly levitate anything yet" She said, smiling.
"What! Well, you must just need more practice then!" Zipp exclaimed seriously, holding her head up high. "Uh, well, what else would you want" Zipp asked.
"If it was anything else, then it would be my own saddlebag, to carry things in" Misty said.
"Oh, alright then" Zipp said, pondering something. "Do you really need this huge book?" Zipp asked still holding the giant book. "My arm is tired" she said, tired.
"Oh…no not really" Misty told her.
"I could take it back it to the library for you" Zipp exclaimed, happily looking at Misty.
"U-um…yeah thank you" Misty said, looking away from Zipps sharp gaze.
"No problem!" Zipp said as she leaped into the air with little issue. "I'll get it back right away! Bye Misty!" And there she went, flying through the air toward the library.
"Oh! Bye!"
Misty was left in the sidewalk with the two other books she had. These ones were about some ponies that Misty knew nothing about, Cadence, Celestia and Luna.
She peeked into the first book, Celestia and Luna.
"Page 1
Celestia and Luna, the leaders of Equestria. Controlling both the sun and moon respectively"
Misty already gasped, these two ponies were leaders before Twilight was even ruler?! And they controlled the sun and moon?
She quickly closed it back up again. She wondered if she should wait until she was back at the castle to read these books. She decided that would be best. But maybe just a little peek into the other book as well.
"Page 1
Cadence of the Crystal Kingdom, leader of crystal ponies and cultivator of the element of love."
Wow, just wow. Misty was stupefied. She never knew magic and history could be so interesting.
She happily trotted all the way to the shoreline. Which showed a sunset of the most magnificent kind. It reflected the colors in just the right way creating a display of beauty that would never occur again.
She smiled, maybe life wasn't all bad. Even with all the lying and guilt and shame. The sunset still smiled on her face.
The mysteries of the past, like Opalines castle, and the magic may never be uncovered. But there were some good things about this version of their world as well. Even if there was only one magic dragon.