Blaze, Twilight and Spike had finally finished repairing the damages to the library. Happy that the book and scrolls weren’t destroyed or damaged, Twilight gleefully suggested they get back to studying. And so they did, though Blaze made sure they triple-checked their translations this time, especially before they tested any more spells.
After some time had passed, Twilight found herself unable to shake a thought from her head.
“There’s just one thing that still bothers me about all this.” She said looking up from the book.
“That’s that?” Blaze asked, keeping his eyes on the notes from their last translation.
“How exactly did you open the vault door? I tried everything I could and it wouldn’t even budge.”
Blaze looked at her inquisitively, putting their notes down. He thought back to the moment the vault doors first opened for him and didn’t recall anything special he did. Rubbing the back of his neck, he responded. “Honestly? I have no idea, I touched the door and it lit up and opened.”
“Just like that?” Twilight found that a little hard to believe.
“Why would I lie about that?” He said, feeling a little offended at the insinuation.
“I didn’t- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so mistrusting. It’s just, I can’t wrap my head around it. Nothing happened when I touched it.” She didn’t mean to make it sound like she didn’t trust him, it just frustrated her not knowing or understanding how it happened.
Seeing her frustration, Blaze looked to their notes that they had made on the door, specifically about the runes on it. Picking them up with his hoof, he read over their translation.
Kept safe is my knowledge *** here, for only *** *** *** crypt may enter
Blaze groaned internally, some of the runes on the door were too worn down, so they couldn’t get a clear translation. And the end of that phrase bothered him, ‘crypt may enter’? Honestly, that made no sense!
He wracked his brain until a sudden thought struck him like an arrow. Grabbing his book on runes from his bag, he flipped through to the Coltic section and found the rune for Crypt. It was as close as it could get but that didn’t matter, he had completely forgotten that language can be based on context! On top of that, the wear and tear may have removed any slight variation of the rune itself.
So he looked for other words that used the same rune or a slight variation of it. “Crypt, war, group…”
“Blood!”
Twilight jump at the sudden nice and looked to Blaze with a look of worry. “What? Are you okay?!” She asked, wondering why he shouted blood at the top of his lungs.
“What? Never mind that, look! We got it wrong!” He said, pointing to his notepad. To which Twilight walked over to get a better look.
“What do you mean?”
“Remember the phrase on the vault door? Well we were right, it doesn’t make any sense.”
Twilight looked back to their notes, it was a particularly frustrating point in their research that sadly didn’t lead anywhere. However, hearing that they may have a possible outcome was already making her feel better. A premature, hopeful smile started to form on her face.
“And you think you found something we missed?”
“Not just that that, I think I know what the whole phrase says.” He said with a determined smile, normally the research side of his job was silent and boring. But seeing Twilight’s outward frustration at every roadblock and glee at every success made him feel more energised, though he didn’t know why.
“What really?!” Twilight said, fully beaming.
“These runes are worn down, so I first thought we might have mistranslated it. But then I remembered that runes can have different meanings. Look here…” He said, gesturing to the list of words the use that same rune. “…if we use this list and context clues, changing the translation from ‘crypt’ to ‘blood’ the phrase becomes this.”
Kept safe is my knowledge in here, for only one of my blood may enter
Twilight just looked in disbelief, her eyes fixed to the page for a moment. Until the excitement welled up and exploded out of her in a second.
“YES! Now we’re getting somewhere.” She yelled as she looked that the new translation. Just then, the gears started turning and the full meaning of the phrase and the implications of it came to her mind. “Wait…’one of my blood’? But that would mean…“
“That I could be a descendent of Mystic the Marvel. If that were true, well that paired with this retranslated phrase, it suddenly makes a lot more sense why the door opened for me. Mystic had enchanted it so that only himself or those real aged to him could access it.” Blaze said, turning to face Twilight as his own mind started to wonder with this new enlightenment. “Did that crazy mare, or whoever she works with sent me there know that? What that what they were tested me on?…what exactly do they want?”
“That makes since.” Twilight said, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “It would explain why you were able to open the doors and why I couldn’t. And very little is known about Mystic himself, so he easily could have had descendants that were never recorded.”
“Well, outside of the issue with the door it doesn’t really matter anyway. I mean he wasn’t really that culturally significant or well known at all outside of his vaults.” Blaze said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Of course it matters!” Twilight said, pointing a hoof into Blaze’s chest. “So little is known about him and his life. If we could get into his other vaults, just think of everything we could learn!” She proclaimed in excitement, shoving her face almost into his with a beaming smile.
Seeing just how close she was, Blaze took a half step back and cleared his throat. “W-well maybe for now, we should just focus on translating this book.” He said with a slightly nervous laugh.
Twilight, now realising how she’d just invaded his personal space, stepped back with a sheepish smile and a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks. “Y-yeah you’re right.” She didn’t mean to get that close to him, she cursed herself internally for being so rude as she made her may back to her desk. “Come on, we can continue from where we left off. I think I’ve just about translated the next spell.” She said, with an excited smile.
“Are your sure?” Blaze said raising his eyebrow.
“Yes, of course I’m sure.” Twilight said defensively, to which Blaze just continued to give her a deadpan stare.
“I-I’ll check again.”
Blaze gave a small chuckle as he joined her her her desk. “I’ll help you, just so you don’t blow me up again.”
Twilight buried her face into the book and groaned in embarrassment, he was definitely not going to let her forget that.
Since there were no chores to do (courtesy of Twilight’s morning freak-out) Spike had spent his day relaxing, he took a 7-hour bubble bath, snacking on some gemstones he had saved up and was now chilling on the sofa in the main room with a Power Ponies comic. “This is the life, I could get used to this.” He said to himself as he closed his comic.
Looking up at the clock on the wall, he realised that he should get a start on dinner. No doubt Twilight had forgotten to eat today, so it looked like he’d have to make extra again. Though he hadn’t heard from either her or Blaze since they went back to studying that old book, he should go and check on them first.
“Wait, is Blaze still here?” Spike thought out loud as he hopped off the sofa, not recalling the seeing or hearing him leave.
Twilight’s study was close to the main room so he arrived quickly, not hearing any noise he opened the door and walked in. “Hey Twilight, you in he-“
He cut himself off at the sight of in front of him, it was complete chaos. Small stacks of notes, mounds of crumpled up balls of paper, scorch marks on the walls and several whiteboards covered with what looks like possible translations, most of them crossed out. He also saw the two ponies he was looking for, Blaze currently laying in one of the piles of balled up paper and Twilight with her head resting on her desk.
“Whoa, what happened here?”
Twilight opened her eyes and looked to him, her mane was a mess and her movements were sluggish as she lifted her head. “Oh hey Spike, we were just taking a small break. We’ve made some good progress here.”
“You have? I honestly can’t tell.” Spike said, looking at the mess around him. This was going to be a pain for him to clean later he just knew it.
“Tha sin ceart an dràgon beag” Blaze said through a yawn from his pile.
“…What?”
“Ignore him, we tried a spell to help him read the language in the book more fluently…but it didn’t work.” Twilight said sheepishly. “I-It should ware off soon.”
“It sounds like it worked though, I think?”
“Chan urrainn dhomh ach a bruidhinn, chan urrainn dhomh fhathast a leughadh” Blaze said in a deadpan voice as he pulled himself to his hooves.
“He still can’t read it. But at least he can speak it now.” Twilight said with a nervous laugh.
“Can’t you just reverse it?”
“It’s not that simple Spike, if I tried and made a mistake then it could permanently alter how he speaks. The spell is only temporary so It’s safest for us to just wait it out.”
“Tha do phiuthar na fhìor phìos obrach”
“Right…so I was just coming to check on you guys. It’s late and you need to eat something.”
Which that Twilight was about to protest when her stomach growled loudly. She conceded defeat with a sigh. “Okay…we can pick up on our research later, right Blaze?” She asked with a hopeful smile.
“Cho fad 's a tha mo chànan ag atharrachadh air ais”
Guilt and embarrassment began to grow on Twilight’s face for not being able to understand him because of the spell she cast on him. Spike just looked confused as he tried to repeat some of the words but found some of the words practically impossible to pronounce.
Blaze, realising the futility of his attempts at communication, grabbed a quill and a piece of paper in his magic, writing something and flipping it round.
“I said, as long as my language changes back.”
Twilight let out a small sigh of relief before responding to him. “It should revert back soon. I’m really sorry again.”
“It’s okay, just one more thing I can hold against you.” He shows with a grin, earning a stifled laugh from Spike.
Twilight’s ears fell to the side of her head as we put on a forced smile, remembering the other spells she messed up today. “What is wrong with me?! What do I keep messing up these spells? Normally I could do this in my Sleep! I wonder if I’m coming down with something…” She wondered, embarrassed that she of all ponies would mess this up.
“So Blaze, you sticking around for dinner?” Spike cheerfully asked, hoping to hear more treasure hunting stories.
“Bhithinn ach-“ Blaze began before groaning in frustration and grabbing another piece of paper. “I would, but I gotta get home and feed my cat. Maybe next time.”
Spike let out an ‘Aw’ in disappointment as Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder, chuckling. “Thank you again for the book. I’m looking forward to continuing our research.” She said with a gentle smile.
”It’s no problem, I couldn’t have you risking your flank going back for it after I worked so hard to save it.”
Twilight cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she chuckled with a hint of embarrassment at the reminder of her recklessness.
They said/wrote their goodbyes at the door, Twilight and Spike waving to their guest as he made his way home.
Once Blaze had turned a corner and was out of sight, Spike gave a small sigh in disappointment. “Dang, I really wanted to hear more stories. You want hayburgers tonight Twilight?” She asked as he turned and started heading back into the library. Though he stopped as he realised they’re was no response from his sister.
“…Twilight?”
He turned back and saw her still standing at the door, still waving as she stared into the empty street. Feeling concerned, Spike walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Twilight are you okay?”
Jumping slightly at the contact, she turned turned to respond. “W-wha? I uhhh- I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?” She stammered out, acting like a filly that got caught with her hoof in the cookie jar. Before Spike could respond, she trotted past him into the library.
“Oh boy I’m starving! What’s for dinner?”
Spike just gave her a confused look before shrugging and closing the door.
The entire journey home, Blaze had been trying and failing to speak ponish again. He was close, he could feel it!
“Hel- halò. Daingead!!” He groaned in frustration at another failed attempt. Taking a deep breath a paused for a moment before trying again.
“He-e-lll-o…”
“…Tha!! …No!! W-wai-it. I-I finally g-g-got it! Yes!!”
Feeling proud of himself, he jumped up into the air and cheered. And upon landing proceeded to dance with joy.
“Oh yeah! Who did it? I did it! Who did it? I did it! Uh huh uh huh. Woooo!”
Only once he looked at the empty pathway around him did he realise how cringey he was being.
“…Thank Celestia nopony saw that…” He said to himself shamefully as he hurried home.
Once he arrived at his destination, he fed the very hungry and very annoyed Coco. He fixed himself something to eat and sat on his bed once he had finished. Taking a breath, he though about how the day had gone. He had been damn near blown up, his language temporarily changed and failed miserably at translating the book multiple times.
It was one of the best days he’s had in a long time. He couldn’t help but smile at the ridiculousness of it all, this simple boring day had been better then almost any “adventure” he’d been on in the past year. He looked up to the picture on his shelf and lifted it down with his magic, taking it in his hooves.
“It took me a while but I think I’m finally starting to take your advice, Star.”
He found himself actually excited for tomorrow, for studying of all things. He though about the book and what he could learn from it, the fact that he might be a distant relative of Mystic the Marvel. And he thought about the one that was helping him on that journey. Twilight was an enigma to him, she was a noblepony, a princess! However she acted like just another pony, like she wasn’t special or interesting.
He just couldn’t wrap his mind around it, from what he heard about her and from meeting her, she was clearly capable and brave, fiercely intelligent with how she basically did all the heavy lifting while studying the book and she was always so excited y every new thing that she could learn. She had every opportunity to be a stuck up brat with an overinflated ego, so why was she so kind? And humble? He could even kind the right words to describe her. He found that he couldn’t stop thinking about her, which frustrated him to no end.
“What’s wrong with me, Star?” He asked the photo frame in his hooves. Sitting in silence for a moment as he started at the photo, he massaged the back of his neck as he let out a sigh.
“I wish you were still here, you’d know what to say. But you’d probably just laugh at me for not figuring it out on my own.” He said with a light chuckle. He set the photo back down on the shelf. He climbed into bed, Coco curling up on his chest, he looked up at the ceiling in thought, wondering about the new day on its way until he finally drifted off to sleep.