//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: Sohndar 
// by CTVulpin 
//------------------------------//

Workshop, Book Maker’s Island
As Twilight quickly skimmed over the first few pages of the book, she found she had to revise her initial impression about its language.  The characters were recognizably Equestrian, but from the spelling and sentence structure she concluded that it was a slightly modified form of Classic-age Equestrian, an old form that was still fairly easy for even casual modern readers to decipher.  The writer of this book, however, didn’t seem to be a native user of the language, resulting in some curious phrasings.  Flipping back to the first page, she began to slowly read in silence.
The freshly new formula for ink is a failure.  I held high hopes, but upon conclusion of enscribing, the linking panel remained dark and useless.  These constant failures produce much frustration, having to destroy what were in other ways perfect Books.  There are days where the workshop is unbearably heated by the flames of ruined Books. So many Variables, trying to make the correctest kind of paper, bindings, inks, and onward, only to fail somewhere…  My constant refinements only show that near infinite combinations exist.  Without access to my Kl’Kai resources, it is perhaps my long-term goals are impossible.
“Well Twi, what is it?” Rainbow Dash asked, startling Twilight back to the present.
“Oh, right,” the lavender unicorn said with a slight blush, “I’m guessing it’s a journal Aldro kept of his work on trying to create a linking book.”
“You can read that?” Arcem exclaimed, incredulous.
“Yes,” Twilight said simply, giving the guard a flat look.
“But…”  Arcem’s expression hardened and he shook his head.  “No, I don’t believe you,” he said, “The Great Aldro’s private records are written a in a script he developed himself.  Not even the Book Maker’s guild is taught it.”
Rainbow walked over to the workbench and looked at the book.  “Looks like old Equestrian to me,” she said.
“Early-Classical Equestrian to be precise,” Twilight said.
Rainbow rolled her eyes.  “Whatever, I can still read it.  Heck, I’ll read this page out loud just to prove it.”  She met Arcem’s suspicious gaze for a few seconds, and then looked back at the book and read off the first page in its entirety.  “How do you like that?” she asked.
“You could have made that up,” Arcem replied quickly, “Looking around this place, it’s not hard to realize Aldro did work on his books here, and I told you myself he’s only created the one new world so far.  Making up an entry about earlier failures isn’t that difficult.”
“You…,” Rainbow hiked her tail up in annoyance and stalked away to examine another workbench, “Like I care what you think anyway.  Keep reading Twi, and let me know if you find anything useful.”  
Twilight nodded and turned the page.  She only made it through a few sentences before her eyes widened in interest.  “Listen to this,” she said, getting Rainbow’s attention and a skeptical look from Arcem, and then cleared her throat and read, “‘I have concluded study of the star-filled fissure, determining I can learn no more about its nature with my present resources.  If future fortune allows a return to study, I will record what has been determined so far.  The fissure seems to contain its own space, existing separate but alongside the Fifth Age.  Contrary to the stories which make rounds among the ponies, the origin of the fissure is unknown to me and was likely created by Star Swirl for the purposes it served him and Clover.’”
“Lies,” Arcem said, “The Great Aldro did create that rift, to cast out the Deceiver and several who sided with him.”
“Did you see him open the rift?” Twilight asked, giving the guard pony a measured look.
“Well, no,” Arcem admitted, “It was before my time, and it was sealed over shortly after its creation-”
“Sealed over.” Twilight said, “Not closed back up?”  Arcem frowned slightly in thought and Twilight turned back to the book.  “‘In our concluding confrontation,’” she read, “‘my foe cast himself and the final of my books into the fissure, linking out as he did so.  It is perhaps evident that even Star Swirl knew little of the starry expanse, as he intended Sohndar as a kennel and not an execution ground for me.  The fissure-world contains an atmosphere of its own, but sucks in a powerful vortex of air so strong I required much force and threat to make the natives approach to close it with metal.  I once considered the fissure as an avenue of liberation, but for two reasons I dare not use it: I know not where it leads, if anywhere, as anybody thrown in is quickly lost to sight, and it is a present danger to the world’s stability.  I fearfully dread what may occur if the seal is breached in these days of decay.’”
“Yikes,” Rainbow said, “I vote we steer clear of wherever that fissure is.  Uh, where is it anyway?” she asked, turning to Arcem.
“It is on the Golden Dome’s island,” Arcem answered, “close to the trap laid over the spot where most outsiders appear.”
“Oh my,” Twilight said, eyes wide in shock, “That huge metal plate in the ground where we arrived…”
“Well, good thing there’s nothing to go back there for, right?” Dash asked.  Twilight nodded slowly and returned to her reading, noticing that the wording was starting to resemble proper Equestrian now.  The journal went on to discuss a large project Aldro had undertaken in the pursuit of creating a working linking book.  Utilizing something he called “fire marbles,” he’d attempted to overcome the perceived weaknesses in his materials by focusing large amounts of power into the books.  It had taken some time, but he’d eventually succeeded, establishing a link to a new world.  After mentioning that success, the book transitioned into what Twilight figured was a meditation on Aldro’s culture.
I continue to find proof that the ancient Kl’Kai fascination with the number five is more than cultural.  The strongest and greatest remnants of my people were constructed around that number, and even in other worlds it possesses power.  
To look upon the surviving data of the Kl’Kai, my soul mourns for the loss of such greatness and how I have been prevented from restoring it and the Kl’Kai’s rightful place.  Things have changed now though, with my recent successes, and all built around the number five.  I shall continue in study of five’s power and history so as to fully implement.  In particular, I must determine how the Kl’Kai colors mesh with the Number…
Below the entry were six small circles that resembled eyes, some with a dot for a pupil, some with a line instead, and some appearing to be opening sideways.  Twilight copied them into her notes and labeled them “colors?” before continuing on to the next page.  After a brief entry about catching somepony trying to read the journal and, to Twilight’s amusement, Aldro expressing relief that he’d been writing in a language the Sohndar ponies couldn’t read, he began to describe building the spinning domes as part of a network to provide continuous power to his linking books with minimal effort.  From the accompanying sketches, Twilight deduced that the large golden dome on the first island was the central power hub for all the domes.  “That bears more investigation then,” she muttered to herself.  She skipped over most of the next entry, which focused on harvesting some creature called an ytrim that was used for something or another that Twilight didn’t wish to dwell upon.  That entry ended with an explanation for the curious behavior of the water the would-be rescuers had noted: Aldro attributed it to a microscopic organism that could raise the surface tension of water to outstanding degrees and which fled from heat sources, taking the water with it.  The final entry Twilight read really caught her interest, because it not only explained that the locks Arcem had said stood between opening the domes and accessing the books had been put in place because Aldro suspected a group of rebellious natives had been using the domes for their own purpose, but the entry ended with five of the Kl’Kai numerals.  After casting glance over her shoulder and seeing that the silently cranky guard was apparently occupied with his own thoughts, Twilight copied the symbols into her notes and put the papers away.  “Arcem,” she said in a charming-sounding but transparently manipulative voice, “By chance, do you know the code to unlock the books in the domes?”
“I won’t tell you what it is, so don’t bother,” Arcem replied brusquely.
“But you do know it,” Twilight pressed.
Arcem gave the lavender unicorn a flat look.  “What are you up outsider?  You’ve been putting on that reading act for so long…”
“It’s not an act,” Twilight said, “I run a library at home; I know my language when I see it written.  Just tell me if I’m right or wrong on this: the code is seven, eleven, thirteen, seventeen, twenty-four.”
“How’d did you-  I mean…” Arcem sputtered, trying too late and too hard to hide his surprise.
“Come look,” Twilight said, beckoning, “I think you should at least be able to read this bit.”  The guardpony walked over and looked down at the page.  His eyes went wide as he looked up into Twilight’s knowing smile.
“By my life,” he muttered, “you really can read this…”
“Hey Twi,” Rainbow called from across the room, “Come check this out.”  Leaving Arcem to process the realization that Twilight could read his master’s “secret” script, Twilight went over to join her friend by one of the other workbenches.  Rainbow was rolling a familiar-looking wooden ball back and forth with one hoof, a ball with a gilded eye-like pattern on one side and a square scratched into the other.  “What’s this number?” she asked, stopping the ball so Twilight could get a good look at it.  The square had two diagonal lines forming a K with the left side.
“Three,” Twilight answered after a second, “What is it doing here?  Does this mean Aldro had something to do with placing these around the village island?”
“Not according to this,” Rainbow said, tapping a piece of parchment sitting next to the ball.  Twilight picked it up in her magic and read.
While ambulating through the village, I noticed an object of peculiarity floating in the lagoon as if anchored in place.  Ordering it retrieved, I saw it to be a wooden orb and took it for study.  To my surprise, on the next day I noticed another had mysteriously appeared to replace it, and I have since been noticing similar balls placed around the largest island. The ball I first located floats near a point where villagers have been noticed to disappear suddenly and with mystery, which the ponies continue to blame on the Black Moeity, their boogey-hound spirits.  The Surveyors Guild will record the location of the wooden balls and watch them for patterns and strangeness.
“Well, that’s interesting,” Twilight said, but then frowned at the ball and said, “unfortunately, we don’t know where this one is supposed to be located, so there’s no telling what animal it’s associated with.”
“Well maybe our new friend knows where it belongs,” Rainbow said, turning around, “Hey Arc-”  She stopped short and looked around wildly, not seeing the stallion anywhere.  The door leading out onto the catwalks stood ajar, its hinges squeaking quietly.  “He got away!” she exclaimed.
“Catch him,” Twilight said, running for the door, “We can’t let him raise the alarm!”  Dash beat her outside and saw Arcem galloping away to the right into a tunnel.
“Come back here!” Rainbow shouted, charging in for a tackle.  Her shout alerted Arcem to her approach, and he whirled around and threw the journal at her, hitting Dash in the face and causing her to veer into the cliff face when she flinched.  With a low laugh, the guard turned to start fleeing again, only to have Twilight appear in his way in a flash of light.
“One of you flies and the other moves without walking,” Arcem muttered darkly, “you really are spirits in pony guise.”
“Will you stop being difficult?” Twilight snapped, “Just help us with a few things and we’ll be out of your mane in a short time.  At least promise you won’t try to stop us.”
Arcem snorted and cast a numbing spell that took Twilight’s front legs out from under her.  “I am a loyal member of the Maintainers Guild,” he said, “Your weak methods of temptation are nothing to me.”  He tried to move forward, but Twilight managed to block the tunnel with her body and a small force field.  Arcem glanced over his shoulder to see that Rainbow was still dazed from her collision with the wall and whirled around to run back to the workshop, giving the pegasus another glancing blow to the head as he passed.  He entered the building and slammed the door shut.  Twilight grunted in pain as she fought off the effects of the numbing spell and feeling rushed back into her legs, and then she ran to check on Rainbow Dash.
“Are you ok?” Twilight asked.
“Which way’d he go?” the pegasus asked, in a daze as she tried to stand up.
“Back into the building,” Twilight answered, “He’s probably going to try and barricade himself in there so we can’t proceed.”
“S’nother door,” Rainbow slurred, “I’d say he’s making a break for it.”  She spread her wings and took to the air with an unsteady wobble.  “I’ll go head him off!”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Twilight asked, “You’re not looking too good.”
“Hey, I’m Rainbow Dash,” Rainbow said huffily, “The day I can’t fly after a little knock to the head is the day I die!”  With that, she took off, skimming quickly over the workshop.  Concerned, Twilight ran to the door and tried to open it so she could follow her friend, only to find it locked from the inside.
Dash’s head began to pound and her vision blurred slightly as she passed the apex of her arcing path over the building and began to dive down to the grav-car station on the other side.  Cursing mentally, she acquiesced to her body’s demands and slowed down.  As her vision cleared, she saw Arcem climbing into the grav-car, and by the time she got down to his level he’d already turned the vehicle around and engaged the thrust.  Rainbow briefly considered chasing after him as the grav-car sped away along the rails to another island in the distance, but the pain in her head and her rule against leaving anypony hanging dissuaded her.  She landed on the hard stone of the grav-car station and muttered dark threats against Arcem as she waited for Twilight to catch up to her.  A minute or two later, the lavender unicorn came trotting down the stairs from the workshop, looking more concerned for Rainbow’s well-being than for the obvious loss of Arcem.
“How are you feeling Rainbow?” she asked.
“Like I flew into a cliff,” Rainbow answered flatly, “I’ve bounced back from that before; I’ll probably be fine by the time we get to the next island.”
“You think we should go that way?” Twilight asked, “He’s bound to be raising the alarm this time; we could be heading into a trap.”
“Then we’ll spring it on purpose,” Dash said resolutely, “There’s no point in being subtle anymore, and we still don’t have any idea of how to find that pony who took the trap-book or how to get to where Star Swirl’s family is.  I say we just press on forward and handle whatever comes our way.”
Twilight frowned, unable to come up with a solid argument against her friend’s assessment of the situation.  “All right,” she said at last, sighing, “but we’ll need to call the grav-car back over here.”
“There’s a button that looks just like the one we used to summon the first grav-car inside the workshop by the door,” Rainbow said, “I’ll fly ahead and meet you at the other end.  I won’t go anywhere besides the station, I promise,” she added when Twilight started to protest.
“Be careful Dash,” Twilight said as she climbed back up the stairs.