//------------------------------// // Prologue: Forecast // Story: A Song of Storms: Of Skies Long Forgotten // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// A Song of Storms: Of Skies Long Forgotten The 24th Pegasus Prologue: Forecast Card Catalogue looked up from the pile of notes at his hooves when he heard the approach of Celestia’s pupil.  “Twilight.  So good of you to come.”  His hoof pushed back at his receding maneline as he focused his attention focused on the mare. “Princess Celestia said you had something for me,” the younger unicorn answered, excitement glaring through her expression. The librarian’s magic riffed a pile of index cards, and his stiff Canterlot accent reflected the way he looked at the young mare.  “Quite.  After what happened to Dr. Codex, I’ve been going through the library and bringing the filings up to the modern standard.” Twilight’s eyes widened, and her jaw dropped.  “But… but that was almost ten years ago!” “This is the Royal Canterlot Library,” Catalogue replied sharply.  “Thirty-four million books, scrolls, and other records.  And given what happened with Dr. Codex, Princess Celestia made it quite clear that no small fraction of them were to be handled by me alone as the head librarian, rather than deferring to the assistants.”  The pale gray unicorn’s hoof moved slightly on his desk, settling on a thin volume with a rather strange material for its cover.  “I found this volume out of place in the Starswirl the Bearded wing.  It doesn’t have a call number, and to my knowledge, it’s never been checked out.” “Is it a spell book?” Twilight asked, approaching the desk. Catalogue shrugged.  “I can’t tell.” The phrase struck Twilight even more bluntly.  “What do you mean you can’t tell?” “I can’t read it,” the librarian replied.  “I’ve never seen the language before; the symbols aren’t even Equiish.  Princess Celestia said that you would be able to.  She was decidedly less than helpful in explaining anything further.”  Irritation showing through the growing number of creases on his already wrinkled forehead, Card Catalogue slid the book across his desk.  “Well, what are you standing there for?  I’ll need a title and an author if I want to get this book entered.” Like a magnet, the book pulled Twilight over to the desk.  Soon, it was hovering gently in her arcane aura.  “Well, it’s magical,” she began.  “But… not with Arcana.  This is pegasus magic.  Empatha, and it seems like its preserving the pages.  This must be incredibly old.” “I’m sure we would know more if you would read it.” Wincing at the librarian’s aggression, Twilight opened the tome.  Slanted, formal writing, clearly from a pony’s mouth rather than a unicorn’s horn, greeted her eye.  Her eyes widened simply at the characters. “This is… Cirran.” “What?” “Cirran.”  Twilight looked at Catalogue quizzically.  “You’ve never heard of the pre-Equestrian pegasus Empire?  I admit, there isn’t much record of their history before the founding of Equestria, but Star Swirl and Clover occasionally talk about their government in the old records.  Oh, do you think this could be that old?” Gritting his teeth, Catalogue glared at Twilight.  “Why don’t you read the book and find out?” Twilight’s eyes very quickly returned to the page.  It had been some time since she’d seen the script, and this was much less formal than the language she was used too.  Soon, however, her eyes began to flow across the page with some degree of comfort. Happy Birthday, Brother! I know you’ve been keeping notes in that old field journal dad gave you, but it seemed like you should have somewhere your very own to keep your thoughts.  Just don’t get carried away filling this one up like you did with the old one.  A good journal is expensive, and I had to fly all the way to Stratopolis to get it. Anyway― Twilight stared at the strange word that followed for some time, but it simply refused to come to mind.  Finally, focusing hard on one character at a time, she began to sound it out. “Hoo… hewer… hurry…” She nearly dropped the book. Lunging forward in his seat, his horn blazing a pale yellow, Card Catalogue caught the priceless book with his magic. Handing it back, he stared at Twilight intensely.  “What?  What does it say?” “I think this is Hurricane’s journal.”  After a moment of silence, she clarified.  “Commander Hurricane.”  And then, with an almost feverish frenzy, she turned back to the book. Anyway, Hurricane, here’s hoping you get good use out of this, and have some fun with it. Love, Twister (And Mom and Dad, too!) Twilight slowly lowered the book and turned back to the librarian. “I want to check this book out.” Card Catalogue rolled his eyes. “Once we get the book filed and in the system—” “No,” Twilight interrupted, shaking her head. “I want to read this now.” The librarian groaned. He didn’t feel like bickering with Celestia’s protege. “Ugh. Fine. Take it. Just bring it back when you’re done.” Grinning, Twilight scooped the book up with her magic, grabbed some blank scrolls, fresh quills, a bottle of ink, and immediately set off for her own quiet corner of the library. As she rounded the shelves and disappeared, the yellow unicorn called out after her, “And if there’s slobber all over that book when you give it back, so help me...”