Horror filled glances were all the five ponies could show, each staring at the piece of armor without pause. Twilight and Rainbow Dash both saw the perfect resemblance to that of the statue they had seen days ago, while the others remember the description given to them before they began their quest.
Spike's entire body ached, feeling a horrible sense of dread pouring into his small form as he held onto the helm. The realization of what had happened crashed into him like a wave against the land from an unforgiving sea. Everything was still for some time as the six friends stood silently.
Their idleness was broken quickly however as a startled yelp escaped the young dragon, brought to terror as the helm crumbled in his hands. For hundreds of years, the armor was stuck in time, untouched from the place it was left. Now, at the touch of the dragon, the years finally caught up with the once dependable piece of armor.
“My goodness,” Rarity whispered, still stunned as she was unable to remove her eyes from the spot.
“He died here,” Twilight murmured, her own sights rooted in place.
“They all did,” Applejack added quietly, removing her hat in a gesture of respect.
“And nopony knew,” Pinkie Pie whimpered, feeling tears beginning to build
Rainbow Dash's expression was the first to change, her eyes forming into a fierce glare. “And it was all because of dragons!” The others looked at her in surprise, all but Spike who kept his gaze to the ground.
“Rainbow!” Twilight scolded. “Don't say that. We have no idea what could have done this.”
“Oh, come off it, Twilight,” the pegasus retorted. “It's obvious what happened here. Just like how those dragons attacked us the other day. It's what they do, it's in their nature.”
Twilight was appealed to hear her friend saying such things, especially in the company they had. She looked down toward Spike, who didn't react at all to Rainbow Dash's words. All he did was keep his head down, not even facing the ponies.
Her gaze was redirected to her friends as Rarity spoke up, a begrudged expression on her face. “As much as I hate to, I must agree with Rainbow Dash.” All of her friends looked at the seamstress in shock, even Rainbow Dash herself, having not expected the similar mindset.
“What?!” Twilight blurted out, hardly believing what she was hearing. “How can you say that? What about Spike? He's a dragon and he isn't some monster!”
A heavy frown creased on Rarity's lips as she was stared down by the scholar. Her gaze turned glassy for a moment as her eyes drifted down toward the floor in a moment shame. “But, Twilight, ponies are afraid of dragons for a reason. What have we seen of them that doesn't coincide with what we have always been taught about them as dangerous? That red brute who nearly drowned Ponyville in smoke, I shudder to thank of what would have happened if Fluttershy had not been there. And don't you remember that green scaled one who attacked you and Spike in the forest? Or those young ruffians who tried teaching Spike such bad habits, like harming defenseless hatchlings. And I know I don't need to bring up that trio that attacked us hardly a day ago.” With a small sigh, she gazed toward her purple scaled companion, having not moved from his spot. “Yes, our little Spikey Wikey is different. He's kind, gentle, generous, and a wonderful friend. But how can that vouch for every dragon when we know how different he is from them? Even his upbringing is unique. Who is to say he would be the same kindhearted dragon if he were raised by one of his own?”
Even in her irate state, the evidence was too logically sound for the young scholar to argue against. It struck her even harder as the small voice in the back of her mind silently whispered how she knew the truth of the matter all along, that dragons were indeed horrible creatures. Even with Spike as evidence to the contrary, what could one pony-raised dragon do against an entire species?
Twilight met Rarity's eyes for a moment, her anger having dissipated and now replaced with terrible sadness. “But... Rarity,” she tried saying, vainly attempting to go against the alabaster unicorn, but knowing she could not. The others remained silent, already knowing the outcome of any dispute on the matter.
But their downtrodden expressions all perked up as small footsteps echoed onto the stone floor, and a voice spoke up against the silence.
“She's right.”
It was Spike, looking at the five ponies with a firm stare of acceptance.
“She's right,” he repeated. “As we've seen, dragons are terrible creatures that do bad things to good ponies.”
Utter shock was displayed on Twilight's face. Though having come to the conclusion herself some time ago, to hear Spike say it was baffling. “No Spike... don't say that.”
“But it's true,” the little dragon pressed, his resolve on the subject unmoving. “I know that more than anypony.” His steeled expression slowly shifted as his eyes drifted back to the cold floor, his lips quivered as the welling sadness within him rattled through his body. “But... does that have to mean all dragons are so horrible?” With one swing of his arm, Spike gestured toward the entire room. “We are here because of an ancient dragon named Serilex. We know he was different, if only physically. But what if he was different in other ways? Can my similarities with him be more than scale deep? Even if it was just one dragon. To be able to know that they don't all have to be the way that we see them now, that will be good enough for me. And I'll know... I'm not so alone.”
Twilight looked to her dragon assistant with sympathy, knowing that she would never truly understand the crisis he was going through. But she knew it was her duty to make sure he was aided in his time of need. Without a word, the lavender mare approached him. With one smooth extension of her forehoof, she brought Spike close to her in a tender embrace.
“We will find the answers, Spike,” she said determinedly, “I promise.”
Becoming filled with an overwhelming happiness, Spike buried his face into his caretaker's coat, feeling as though her were the luckiest dragon in the world to have such friendship.
Having been silent for far too long, Applejack stepped forward, giving the two her most confident smile. “Ah know we will find out what this Serilex was. We've come so far already, it'd be downright foolish to just give up.”
“Oh yes yes yes,” Pinkie Pie cheered, hopping beside Applejack with her usual enthusiasm. “I'm sure as sugar sprinkles gonna keep going. We've had so many cool adventures already, just think of all the wonderful stories I can tell everypony when we're finished.”
Without a moments waste, Rarity quickly began brimming with confidence. “I agree wholeheartedly. This Typhoon character had great faith in this dragon, so should we all.”
Even Rainbow Dash, with just a momentary hesitation, smiled with her natural determination to any challenge. “Of course I'm gonna help,” she declared. “Can't let everypony else go off to finish this adventure without me. And who knows, maybe we can find out that not all dragons are bad. I wouldn't mind being made wrong for once.”
Spike grinned from ear to ear as he saw his friends declare their perseverance. To realize how far they would go to make his hopes come true.
As the moments ticked by, Twilight relinquished her hold on the dragon and allowed him to climb onto her back. With Spike in position, the librarian turned to her friends and nodded toward an exit that had yet to explore.
“Come on,” Twilight said, addressing the ponies. “The captain said Typhoon had a room here, maybe we can find a clue on where to go next.” The others nodded and followed the scholar as she trotted from the dining hall, leaving behind the resting place of their ancient guide.
It took some time walking through the featureless halls and chambers of the crumbling hold. But with most of the structure having been explored already, their continued trek soon brought them to what they were searching for, the barracks.
The barracks of the hold were something else that held a slice of resemblance to the lavender unicorn. It was set up as a large hallway, with rows of rooms on both sides. Each room was a small, four cornered space that had a bed that nearly took up half of the floor and a simple desk. In some rooms, scraps of parchment or small scale alchemy sets made the desk their resting place. It seemed evident that the denizens of the hold used the space as a place for quiet, late night work in solitude.
Just at the doorway of each room, a small metal plate was fixed into the stone. On each plate, there was a name, showing which room belonged to who. Several of the plates were either broken off and lying on the floor or the metal was so tarnished that the name was barely recognizable. There was one name however that caught their eyes as they passed. 'Swift' a name that immediately struck a cord within their minds, having just heard of it not long ago.
Deducing that this was their target, the five ponies crowded to get inside. With the limited size of the room, it was somewhat difficult when they attempted entering the room at once. After several awkwardly pressed hooves, yelps from a tail being stepped on a time or two, and a near incident with a horn nearly gouging out an eye, the six friends were able to fit themselves into the room.
Using her wings, Rainbow Dash simply hovered above the crowd, finding the open air near the ceiling to be quite roomy. Applejack and Rarity stood together side by side, barely given enough room to move without bumping into the other or brushing their manes into their faces. Pinkie Pie was quick in nabbing the bed, happily testing how bouncy it was as she jumped up and down on the old sheets. Twilight had the most space, given to her so she could locate whatever it was they needed to find. Spike himself opted to give the unicorn her room to discover, jumping from her back and onto the bed beside Pinkie, taking part in the merriment.
Just a momentary glance was needed for Twilight to notice the bag that sat against the desk. Searching through it, the unicorn found a small amount of supplies, several pieces of parchment, as well as a small book. Her magical grasp quickly snatched the book from the bag, already knowing that it matched that of the others they had seen before.
A collective intake of air was had by the everyone, all bracing themselves to hear what the long passed pegasus had to say. Even Pinkie Pie stood still, having stopped her bouncing ways in an instant as to not miss a thing.
Ignoring the silence of expectation, Twilight slowly turned the old pages of the journal. To her understanding, the first few pages were the continuous sentences of an irate pegasus, having many less than decent words to say about having lost much of his supplies in a cave-in.
It then went on to record his time within the hold, expressing his mixed feelings for the workforce, addressing how he felt the captain held disdain for him. Then, it shifted drastically to what Typhoon's writings usually had. With quickly jotted notes on whatever it was he was trying to figure out within the hold. Even the well-read scholar couldn't make heads or tails of what he was writing, appearing to her as unintelligible gibberish.
The others watched their lavender friend as she searched through the old piece of writing. Their curious minds raced eagerly to hear what their next step would be, following the word they had been shadowing for some time.
But their stiff expressions of curiosity and wonderment slowly began to dwindle to looks of confusion and worry. They continued to look on as Twilight's violet eyes scanned through page after page of the journal, her expression only ever shifting slightly.
But then, as the turning of the pages stopped, the unicorn's gaze turned to a stare while her pupils slowly dragged across the page. There was a subtle quiver in her lips while it even appeared that her eyes were shaking within her skull.
“Twilight,” Rarity asked hesitantly, “is everything all right?”
As if snapping out of a trance, Twilight blinked and quickly shook her head. For a moment, she looked about the room she was in, looking as though she had forgotten where she was. Her gaze quickly returned to her friends who each looked at her worriedly.
“It's... nothing,” she said, her tone only holding a fraction of the reassurance she meant it to have. “I did find something though.” With their eyes once again brimming with anticipation, the five friends stared at the unicorn mare as she cleared her throat and began to read.
23x17x823
This cold is dreadful, seems to have gotten worse since I've last been here all those years ago. I'm certain I would have already found the place if I could only stay out longer than the storm allows me.
But, I've found it now, I'm certain of it!
Though I've only been able to decipher a small portion of what this tome has hidden from me, it has at least shown me where I can find the information I seek. Mentioning an old tower as well as Serilex himself, I know it will hold some answers.
Finding it has been a challenge however. Fighting off this ever-persistent storm has made my progress minimal. The tome never gave a specific location, but I've been able to figure out a general area where it should be. For the past few days I've dwindled down the area with my constant trips, none have been successful, but now I know the exact place the tower should be.
I will take my last trip there in the coming morning and pray I find something to bring clarity to the many questions that plague me.
“That's the last page,” Twilight said, finishing the entry, “but there is one thing.” She turned back to the page before the last. There, she showed her audience the depiction that the piece of parchment held.
Their hopes were realized as the ponies and dragon saw a scrawled sketch of a map taking up the entirety of the small paper. It was a rough outline of the area, depicting the Tempest Hold clearly in its rightful place. Only one other mark was made onto the otherwise blank map, a piece of land that was circled a distance away from the hold. Inside of the circle, much of the area was blackened, showing where the old pegasus had journeyed in his task to find his target. Only a small patch of white within was untouched, marking where he was certain that the supposed tower existed.
Twilight's gaze then returned to the old bag beside her. Searching through it once again, the unicorn withdrew a small object from within. It was circular, flat on the bottom and top but rounded at the sides. There was also a noticeable groove running across the side.
A moment of quite examination passed as Twilight looked the object over. Only after a few seconds did it take the scholar to see that it could be opened. Using her magical grasp to do so, the top half of the object easily lifted up to reveal a thin piece of glass on top of a rotating needle, underneath the needle there was four letters carved at the top, bottom, left and right.
“Oh,” Rainbow Dash breathed, recognizing the exploratory device straight away and being the first one to speak, “that's a compass. Daring Do uses those all the time in her adventures.” It was simple in design and looked just as old as it actually was, but it was still functioning.
“Makes sense,” Twilight murmured, slowly turning the compass and watching as the needle moved as well, making sure to point in its proper direction, “something like this would be invaluable against that blinding snow. We could probably use it to help us find this tower.”
Spike beamed at the lavender mare, his eyes sparkling with bursting excitement as he saw their next course of action. “Okay then,” he said happily, “let's get going.” He jumped down from the bed, and after a few extra jumps from the backs of the two mares blocking the exit, Spike left the room and headed down the hall they had entered, his voice echoing by as he ran off. “I bet this next stop will be our last!”
The ponies simply smiled to themselves as they squeezed their way out of the room one by one. In no hurry, the four pony friends simply trotted their way after the eager dragon. But there was one who stayed behind.
With her friends gone, Twilight's controlled expression broke down into distress and sorrow. There was a sickening pounding in her chest where her heart used to be, the pumping organ having sank down into her stomach..
All she could think of was how she had just lied to her friends, to think of what she had read on the final page of Typhoon's journal that she had kept hidden from them, to think of the inevitable conclusion to their adventure. And then, all she could think of was Spike.
His excitement, his joy, his expectations. He put it all on one foolish journey, his hopes high to discover some portion of fantasy in his dreams of a wingless dragon.
Twilight quickly began second guessing herself. To think if lying just now, delaying that impending realization, was what she should have done. But the scholar quickly shook her head, throwing away such thoughts. Of course it was right, she couldn't allow Spike's journey end so unceremoniously. He would have to find out on his own, even if it would crush him immeasurably.