Twilight stood, her forehooves gently touching the parchment of the rather strange book in front of her. She looked down at it longingly as she took in the first page. The tiny writing, that looked like it had almost been scratched into the page was difficult to read, but if she focused properly, she could just make out what was written.
Dearest reader,
I must hasten to warn thee that beyond this first page lies a story of which the likes thou hast quiet possibly, nigh, definitely, never have read. For beyond this page, the words of the story have been enchanted so as to cast a spell upon their observation. A spell which will allow thee to see the story from the viewpoint of one who hast lived it themselves. Mine. If thou art of a nervous disposition, then I must warn thee, for the story is not for those whose heart be faint.
But, if thou insistest on reading the tale which will unravel quiet literally in thy mind's eye, then there are some words of wisdom I wish to impart.
Rule the first: Tho cannest not change the past, all events in the tale will happen as they happen. So do not be afraid of what you end up doing.
Rule the second: The actions in the story are not of your own. As such, do not feel even a small amount of guilt for the actions thee perform, as they were mine and the guilt be mine to bear.
Rule the third: Since actions must occur for the story proceed, if thou doth waver or fail in action, thou will feel an intense urging that can not be fought. Do not try to fight it, for the feeling might cause intense pain if thou doest.
Rule the fourth: If thou wishest to leave the story at any point, so that thou may once again attend the 'real' world, just will it, and it will be so.
Rule the fifth: No harm can befall thou in the tale, at least, any harm that doth befall thou will not be applied to thy real body.
Rule the sixth: All the words contained within are the gospel truth, at least as far as I can be aware.
With these rules in place, and understood, thoust may enjoy the tale to it's fullest. Although I hasten to advise thee to not forget any tasks thou art required of in the real world. Passage of time in the tale can be hard to grasp.
So, with these words written and known, be aware that I imparted much warning before thou began the tale.
Twilight stood there amazed, so it appeared that not only was it a story written by Starswhirl, but the story is also enchanted so as the reader would experience it through his own eyes. It took all her mental willpower to not just flip the page and start reading.
"Careful, Twi. You don't want to get yourself caught up and make a fool of yourself." She made sure she had read, and reread each of the rules, ensuring she understood them properly. "So if I understand this right, if I want to leave the story, all I have to do is wish I was out, or think it at least, and I'll return to world? Seems simple enough."
She moved her hoof the corner of the page but paused before turning.
"Do I want to do this? Do I want to learn more about past of the Crystal Empire enough to take this risk?" she asked herself. She gulped and decided, yes, she did, and turned the page.
Of the Tango royal line, discussed in my previous volumes, there are none I know better, or find more interesting than Sombra. Son of the talented magician Siesta, Sombra seemed to inherit his fathers natural magical talent, and it was for this reason he originally caught my eye.
As Twilight started to read, she felt a strange tingling originating from the front of her skull, just behind her eyes, and began to wash all over her body, The words seemed to jump out of the page and take form in the air around her and she noticed her vision begin to dim.
Twas a day wracked by a great storm that I arrived in the capital of the Crystal Empire, and presented myself to Siesta, who apparently got wind of my approach and thus I was welcomed with open arms to the palace.
The room went pitch black, and Twilight felt a strange sensation of being squeezed through a tight tube, the feeling inducing a large wave of nausea which passed as the squeezing ended. As she waited in the darkness, she began to hear a whisper of wind which turned into a full roar as it began to blow her main. Struggling, she took a step forward, into the wind, and felt the ground beneath her change from stone to dirt. All of a sudden, light returned. However, she was now outside in a familiar street that felt so alien.
She found herself standing in the windswept main street of the city she herself was in, the street that led up to the palace itself. Normally, she had only ever seen the street in the gentle breeze she had become accustomed to in sunny climate of the Crystal Empire. Now however, it was under assault from the elements. Wind blew across the city furiously, rain fell in sheets, pouring down the street in a flood which threatened to topple Twilight and forced herself to brace herself into the flow.
Finding herself standing still for a moment, Twilight felt a sudden sense of urgency inside herself and her legs began to move of their own accord towards the palace. As she moved, Twilight found herself surprised with the ease with which she moved and noticed her legs were no longer the comfortable shade of violet of her own fur but instead were a shade of light blue. It seemed that indeed she was going to experience the story from the viewpoint of Starswhirl. This thought would have made her start giggling like a school girl if it wasn't for the fact that a huge wave of water washed straight over her.
As she started coughing and blinking the water out of her face, she felt 'herself' stop all of a sudden and her forehooves move of their own accord to wring out her beard.
"Curse this rain!" The voice came out deep and rasping, if it wasn't for the fact her lips were moving, she wouldn't realized she was talking. "One would think a place called the Crystal Empire would be warm and sunny. The palace better be warm, and the cider plentiful."
Twilight felt really strange at the moment, she couldn't quite tell if she was in any sort of control, or if she was just a passenger in this journey. She tested the theory by trying to lift a hoof, it moved, but was soon placed automatically down as she felt her balance in the tides of water shifting.
'Okay,' she thought to herself, 'I have some control, but I clearly can't change the story. Just like the rules said.'
Twilight remained focused on the scene around her as she trudged through the flood, no other ponies were out and about, they were all sanely staying in their locked and sealed houses (or trying to bail them out), as only mad ponies would be out in this weather. Which might explain why Starswhirl was out and about.
Despite how close it was, it took nearly another half hour of struggling - If Twilight had to guess about the time - to reach the palace. As she ascended up the drier - not completely flooded - steps, she found herself shaking her body vigorously, water falling off her in droves.
After ensuring as much water as possible had been shed, she regained composure, and walked up to the front door and raised her hoof to knock just as the door swung open before her. In the doorway stood a rather large unicorn, a coat of jet black and a white mane. The unicorn had a great smile on his face, and was quick to drag her off her hooves and bring her inside.
"Welcome, Starswhirl, welcome!" He gripped her hooves and shook them vigorously in a strong double grip. "Sorry about the weather, but it seemed you managed to cope." He shone a big cheesy grin, his teeth glinting in the bright interior of the palace.
"Indeed, though it did take a lot longer than I expected. Sorry if you were expecting me earlier."
"Never to worry, the staff aren't able to leave in this weather anyway, and we didn't expect you to get here quickly through all that water. Now come, I can imagine you're wanting to get dry. I'll have a member of the staff show you to your chambers, so you can shower and warm your bones, then we can have supper and discuss why exactly I am deserving of a visit of the greatest wizard of our age."
The unicorn clapped his hooves and a servant appeared as if from nowhere, standing to attention.
"Your majesty?"
"Could you please show our guest to his chamber, give him some time to sort himself out and then bring him to the dining room."
"Yes your majesty," said the servant bowing low before turning to Twilight. "Would you follow me please."
As the servant walked off down the corridor, Twilight quickly following behind, she heard the unicorn calling out after her, "I hope you like cider!"
Twilight sat at a large table in the grand dining chamber. A huge fire burned in a grate at one end of the room, proving copious heat and driving away the cold of the elements outside. Her hoof around a large mug of cider, she felt happy, and could tell that Starswhirl was happy too, as the Unicorn - clearly the current king by the crown that stood on a holder above the fireplace and the command he held over those who worked here - talked warmly to him.
She didn't know exactly how she knew it, maybe because her subconcious was reading the words off the page, but she felt she could tell exactly how Starswhirl felt at any point. Like the sense of overwhelming feeling of being out of place that came over him when they entered the room they - or more accurately he - would be staying in. She felt that he was used to more spartan conditions than a grand double bed with soft silk sheets and an en-suite bathroom with a tub that could fit ten ponies. Right now, she could tell he felt truly happy, as they sat drinking and talking in the warmth.
"So, Starswhirl, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" The large unicorn had a large grin, and his hoof wrapped around a rather large stein.
"Yes, it really is a surprise to have you come and visit our humble abode." This time it was a kindly earth pony mare that talked, the way she sat so closely to Siesta indicated that she was his wife, Belle, the queen of the Crystal Empire.
Twilight put her mug down, and stared at the couple for a couple of seconds, wondering what she should say. After a moment's hesitation she felt a slight tingling in her through and found herself speaking without her own will.
"It's about your son, actually."
"What? You mean Sombra?" The king laughed, "Why would you come all this way, in this weather, to see Sombra?"
Twilight found herself putting her hooves together, and peering over her beard at the two, a pose which was far more threatening than it sounded. "Your son is not something to be laughed at," she said in a tone which was calm but belayed power. "Your son, Siesta, actually contains a great power. A power so great that it could be felt all the way in the small town where I was staying recently in the heart of Equestria."
Siesta scoffed, "You can't possibly be serious, Starswhirl! Don't get me wrong, I would love for my son, my own flesh and blood to be that powerful, but surely if he was, others would have detected it as well?"
Twilight looked at them, a gleam of knowledge in her eyes. "Not necessarily, my king. For you see, I only noticed his power due to a rather unique piece of equipment. One which measures the potential energy of any magical source."
"That's rather interesting. I have a few magical detectors of my own, and I would have thought the magical interference from all the objects in Equestria would have stopped you detecting my son. Would it not?"
"That's rather astute, I can see where your sun inherited his power from. The magic all around Equestria would indeed have caused interference, if I hadn't taken precautions." A sly smile appeared on Starswhirls's face, nothing flash, but just enough to show he wouldn't divulge any more information.
Twilight was reeling, the fact that Starswhirl was able to track a single source of magic in the Crystal Empire all the way from the middle of Equestria was huge. She imagined that not even the Princess's could do that, not with any of the skills or pieces of technology they possessed.
"Okay, I'll believe you, say my son is as powerful as you say, why does that bring you here?"
"Isn't it obvious?" She stared at them at them with a gaze filled with mirth, both of them looking rather bewildered.
"No, why?."
"Why, to train him of course."
Both the king and queen sat frozen in place, their mouths hanging open. Cider was even spilling onto the floor from Siesta's stein as his leg hang loose by his side.
"Y-you want to t-tutor our son?" The queen whispered, the first of the pair to recover.
"But of course, a Unicorn such as your son needs his great power refined, sculpted, even for everyday use. Lest his power one day kill us all." Twilight said all of this with a smile which made her wonder if Starswhirl was lying, or some kind of psychopath.
"So you really want to teach our son? the greatest magician of the age wants to teach our son?! Siesta, darling, how great is that?" The queen was really ecstatic, almost chocking her husband as she embraced him in a large hug.
"It... Is... Indeed... Good... News... Dear..." He managed to gasp out in between breaths, his voice ragged and alerting his wife to the fact she was crushing his trachea. She quickly loosened her grip and instead chose to nuzzle his chest.
"Sorry dear," she muttered.
"Heh, that's quite alright dear." He said as he massaged his throat, he then gave her a gentle hug to show no real harm done, in response she buried her muzzle deeper into his chest. "Well, you're welcome to try and teach my son, Starswhirl, I mean it will be a great honour to have you teaching him. However, he's had quite a lot of tutors and they all end up quitting. Something I can't hold against them after I tried to teach him myself."
"What do you mean," Twilight found herself saying.
Siesta took a deep breath and tried to compose himself before speaking. However, Twilight couldn't help but be drawn to a slight nervous twitch occurring in the kings right eye. "Well, you see, it's like this. My son can be a bit of a handful. Some call him spirited, but they're just being nice. Truth is, he's an arrogant fool who thinks being a prince makes him great regardless of how he behaves."
"Ha! Is that all?"
"That all? He made the last tutor we got for him cry, and go so crazy that the tutor also thinks he's a pegasus. Poor pony."
"Shouldn't be too hard to handle, trust me, I've had some experience with arrogant ponies. I can handle your son."
Siesta sighed, "Well, if you're up to it, you're welcome to try, and welcome to stay in your room in the palace while your his tutor."
Twilight smiled, "Thanks, that would be most appreciated. Now, if you can please excuse me, I would like to introduce myself to my new student."
Siesta nodded and lifted a hoof off his wife to wave Twilight off, "You're excused, he should be in his room. Up the stairs, first left, then right, his room is the one at the end of the corridor. Should be unmissable, but if you get lost, ask any of the servants. They'll help you."
"Thanks, one more thing, I was wondering if it would be okay for me to punish him if required."
Siesta raised an eyebrow, "What kind of punishment?"
"Non lethal."
Siesta smiled, "Then by all means go ahead. No need to tell me, no doubt you'll end up punishing him several times first lesson and then he will come crying to me. Just a note of warning, he might act like a little kid."
"Then I'll treat him as one," Twilight replied with a smile.
Siesta burst out laughing, and before long, Twilight joined in with him. The two just laughed their flanks of us for several minutes, before the queen, her eyes filled with tears, slapped Siesta rather strongly across his face.
"Ouch! I guess I kinda deserved that, alright honey, I'm sorry, I'll stop talking ill of Sombra." He gave Twilight a sly wink over his wife's shoulder, "Alright Starswhirl, I guess you better get going. It's getting late, and a tired Sombra is a grumpy Sombra."
As Twilight retreated from the grand hall, she could hear more cries of pain as Siesta clearly paid for his last remark about his son.
Following the kings instructions, Twilight walked up the stairs and took a left then a right. The walk was pleasant, the architecture of the palace was beautiful, although it was still pretty much the same as it was in the current day. There were a few differences, the main being a couple of pieces of artwork she hadn't seen before. One depicted a great battle between two armies, from the looks of the banners it was two of the ancient pony tribes, from before the hearthswarming. The second depicted another battle, this time between a rather heavily armed and armoured pony and a dragon. Both pictures were rather breathtaking, the standard of the painting easily defeating the unease that the subject matters brought up.
Unfortunately, it seems that Starswhirl wasn't one to admire paintings, because before to long she felt that sense of urgency again and her legs started moving on their own, towards the door at the end of the corridor. She could see why the king said it was hard to miss, it seemed Sombra, even at this age was rather proud. His door was not wood like the others, instead it appeared that it was made of a metal that shimmered in the light and Twilight found it difficult to tear her gaze away from it. The way the metal shone seemed almost hypnotic.
She felt her horn fill with power that quickly faded, after which, the door didn't look quite so appealing and instead seemed to insult her senses with how garish it was. It seemed Starswhirl had cast a spell to counter the enchantment the door had upon it.
Without the door casting its hypnotizing spell on her, it was far easier to walk up to it and knock on it three times, rather harshly, the sound echoing out into the corridor like booming thunder. Clearly the sound was caused in some part by the strange material that the door was made of.
The echoing boom gave way to silence, and for several minutes she stood in the quiet corridor, her patience fading as she waited for Sombra to answer. Once again, as time went on, she found an urging building up inside of her and her lips moving without her control.
"I would suggest you open up, it would make a bad first impression for your new teacher to blow your doors down when you first meet him!" Her tone was neutral, with a firm undertow to show she wasn't joking. For a couple of seconds she heard nothing in response, then she heard an audible click as door was unlocked and a creek as it started to open.
In the doorway, his face bristling with fury, stood a jet black unicorn whose overall appearance was more laughable than scary.
"Teacher!" the unicorn screamed, "Teacher! What do you mean teacher?!
"I mean exactly what I said, are you death? I thought it was only old codgers like me who had their hearing impaired. In either case, I will be taking you for your first lesson tomorrow at dawn."
"Ha!" Sombra replied, "I'd like to see you try and get me up for that."
"No, you do not, not at all." Said Twilight rather matter of factly. "Me waking you up will not be a pleasant experience."
"Yeah, for you."
Twilight chuckled, "We shall see. It's nice to know you have some spirit, you will need it. Anyway..." Twilight found herself turning around and starting to walk down the corridor. "See you at dawn."
Sombra stood flabbergasted as he was left alone. After a minute, he realized how he looked and quickly headed back into his room before any of the servants could see him. "So..." he smiled, "my parents have hired another tutor. Well, this shall be fun. I shall punish him for having the gall to think he has anything to teach me, and like usual he will run off crying or insane." He moved his way across the room, pouring himself a glass of cider from a crystal decanter with his magic before sitting down on a rather ornate wooden chair. "When will my parents learn? It will take the worlds greatest magician to be able to teach me even the smallest grain of knowledge."
As Twilight entered her room, she could swear that she could feel Starswhirls thoughts swirling around her head. It was an interesting experience. Starswhirl was almost giddy with excitement. No doubt Sombra was planning some way to get at him, he thought, and he would like to see the prince try. Then he could show that pup some of the tricks he's learned in his life.
Looking at the clock on the wall opposite his bed, Starswhirl realized that it was probably time for sleep, especially if he wanted to be up for dawn. Twilight on the other hand, realized that she had been in the story for at least two hours, and if she didn't want to be discovered missing from the library when it opened she should probably return to the real world and back to the main library.
Twilight thought quite firmly about returning back to the world, and waited for something to happen. Thirty seconds passed, and with nothing happening Twilight began to worry. What if she was stuck in the story? maybe the enchantment had decayed with age and wasn't working properly? She began to pace the room with worry and was suddenly thrown to the floor as a somewhat familiar squeezing sensation wrapped itself around her. She struggled to breath and keep calm as the world faded away around her, her vision fading to black.