The Equine Scrolls: SkyFiM

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 39: Scrolls

“How can I help you?” Star-Swirl asked us.

“You’re the Imperial Battlemage?” I asked, hoping my question didn’t sound rude.

“Yes, I am,” he answered, “I know I’m younger than most ponies who would even be considered for Imperial Battlemage or an Arch-Mage position, but I’ve accomplished a lot in my short time studying magic. Emperor Brass Tax considers me qualified enough, at least. I did master the amniomorphic spell, after all.”

“Perhaps it’s not such a big deal outside of academia,” he said when his final statement was met with blank stares, “So, is there something I can help you find?”

“I don’t know,” I said, “We’re looking for something on Dragonrend, the Shout the Tongues used to defeat Alduin at the end of the Dragon War, but Ambrose couldn’t find anything.”

“Hmm,” Star-Swirl said, thinking to himself, “What books have you looked at already?”

Leading him over to the shelves, we showed him the books we’d already gone through.

“Arias, huh?” he asked when he noticed a pattern in our books, “I may just have something for you.”

Lighting his horn, he caused a book to come floating toward us from the far end of the library. It was an old book, at least as old as the other books by Arias we’d been looking at. On the cover was scrawled History of the Horizon: The Dragon War. Flipping through it, Star-Swirl passed the book over to me when he’d found his place. Taking the book, I began to read.

Dragonrend, that illusive and mysterious Shout. To date, it is the only Shout that has been created by ponies alone, and not the dragons themselves. But what words make up this Shout, and why are they not written anywhere in all the Northlands? Near the end of his life, the great Tongue Erik Hammerfall came to me and shared with me the truth about the “cursed Shout.”

Dragonrend, he explained, was meant to strike a dragon in the most vicious way. All dragons are immortal, and thus cannot even fathom the concept of mortality. Dragonrend forces them to comprehend it, lashing out at their very souls and beings. Because of this, no dragon could possibly have thought up such a Shout.

Near the end of the Dragon War, things were looking very bleak, Erik explained. The pony armies could not stand against the dragons or their armies. The only solution was to destroy Alduin and hope it would demoralize the dragons enough that they would give up fighting. And so, the Tongues pooled their knowledge to create Dragonrend.

It was a Shout formed in hatred and anger, a Shout meant to destroy the very essence of being a dragon. The Tongues knew the inherent risk of creating magic out of anger, but plunged ahead anyway, staining their souls with the dark deed. When all had been said and done, Dragonrend had been completed and was given power by the Tongues’ anger and fear.

Dragonrend did its duty, defeating Alduin and causing the Dragon War to quickly wind down to a close as Alduin’s devotees either gave up or went into hiding. The Tongues swore to never speak the words of Dragonrend again, nor share them lest they pollute the minds of others with the dark magic of the Shout.

Erik, however, was not so sure that Alduin had truly been defeated for all eternity. He did not wish for the secret of his defeat to be lost to time, and so he confided in me the words of the Shout the Tongues were both proud of and hated.

Upon the next page, I have printed these words, and this shall be the only time I do so. Proceed with caution, ye who have the Voice, for into this page Erik Hammerfall has poured his own knowledge of the Shout and, if you look upon it, it will enter your mind never to be purged.

It was better than I could’ve hoped! Yes, there were many warnings about Dragonrend sprinkled through the writing, but I was certain that this was the only way we’d be able to defeat Alduin. It was sheer luck that not only would I learn the words of the Shout, but also how to use them without meditating, saving us loads of time. Carefully, I turned the page over.

Where the words to Dragonrend should have been printed, instead a new section began, about the closing days of the Dragon War, after Alduin had been defeated. Puzzled, I flipped back and forth, making sure I hadn’t missed a page. Still, there was no sign of the Draconic runes I’d need to learn the Shout.

“Dragonrend,” I said, “It’s missing!”

“Missing?” Star-Swirl asked, taking the book from me.

Carefully, he examined the book, also flipping the pages back and forth.

“Aha, I see the problem. You see how the binding is loose here?” he said, showing us the book, “Somepony has removed the page.”

“You mean we’ll never find Dragonrend?” I asked, taking the book from him.

“But who would remove the page?” Mystic asked, examining the book with me.

“I have some idea,” he said, “At the end of the Third Era, the Arcane University chose an Arch-Mage that was strongly against any kind of dark magic. He led an ultimately unsuccessful crusade to rid Unicornica of all mention of black magic, but his reforms did last in a way. When he became Arch-Mage, he must’ve purged the Mystic Archives of any mention of dark magic. Judging by the warnings from Arias here, he must’ve considered Dragonrend to be a dark spell.”

“What did he do with the banned books?” Steadfast asked.

“Burned them in magical fire, I should think,” Star-Swirl said.

“So we’ll never be able to learn Dragonrend,” I said, hanging my head.

“Well . . .” Star-Swirl said, “There may be one other way you can yet.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“I’ll explain in my office,” he said, leading the way out of the Mystic Archives.

Crossing the practice ground again, we made our way to the University’s central spire, which was nearly an exact copy of the White-Gold Tower, except smaller. Once inside, he led us through the empty foyer to one of the alcoves that surrounded it. Beckoning us inside, we all crowded into the enclosed space, standing atop the circular seal of the college.

Star-Swirl lit his horn, and suddenly we were looking out at a hallway instead of the foyer. We were still atop the seal of the college, but somehow we were now somewhere else. Star-Swirl stepped out into the hallway, and we followed him.

“How did you do that?” Mystic asked, examining the seal on the floor.

“Short-range teleportation pad,” Star-Swirl explained, “They have them all throughout the University. It used to help with the flow of traffic. When you have a college filled with unicorns, why waste space with stairs?”

The hallway we were in appeared to be shaped in a semi-circle, hugging the outside of the tower. Star-Swirl led us to the very middle of the hallway, where a door opened into a central room. Flinging the door open, the Imperial Battlemage led us into what had once been the University Arch-Mage’s quarters.

It was a spacious room, with several tiers lining the walls. The room was filled with reading desks piled high with scrolls, arcane enchanters burdened with staffs and soul gems, and telescopes pointed to the heavens. On the walls were displayed several antique maps as well as some newer ones, depicting everything from the entire Northlands to the island around the Red Mountain of Morrowhinny. From the ceiling fluttered several banners. Though one did feature the bust of Emperor Brass Tax, the others were faded but well preserved banners from the Alicorn Empire and the Arcane University back when it was still an educational institution.

“I may not know much about Shouts, but you can learn them from another pony who does, right?” Star-Swirl’s voice suddenly came from right next to me.

I jumped back as I was taken by surprise. Just a moment ago, he’d been rummaging through his scrolls, looking for something. How had he gotten next to me so fast?

“Yes,” I answered, keeping my eyes on him.

“And the Tongues are the only ponies who know Dragonrend?” he asked, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he’d nearly just scared me out of my skin.

“Right, they didn’t share it with anypony but Arias.”

“So, theoretically, one could learn Dragonrend from the Tongues?”

“I guess so,” I answered, not sure where he was going.

“Well, there may be a way after all,” he said, producing a scroll, “In my studies of time magic, I’ve managed to create a spell that allows a pony to go back in time to whatever date they so choose.”

“So, I could go back and time and learn Dragonrend from the Tongues?” I asked hopefully.

“Theoretically yes, but I’m afraid the spell has a catch.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“This spell can only be cast once, and it will only last a few seconds.”

“How many seconds?” I asked.

“Oh, ten, twenty, probably not enough for you to learn all of Dragonrend.”

“So we’re still stuck,” I said.

I’d thought for a moment that just maybe there was hope, that there would be a way I could learn Dragonrend after all. But it seemed that no matter what we tried, something always got in the way. I’d had my fill of disappointments on this quest. I didn’t think I could take it anymore.

“Not exactly,” Star-Swirl said, passing me the scroll, “You see, time is a tricky thing. While it may not take an extraordinary amount of effort to move something through time, keeping it there takes a ridiculous amount of magical energy, more than even the most gifted unicorns can access.”

“My spell overcomes that by tricking time into believing that the object that has been moved truly does belong there. Of course, it doesn’t take long for the trick to be exposed. Hence, the time limit for the spell. But I hypothesize that bringing an Equine Scroll along could significantly lengthen the spell’s duration.”

“You see, while you, I, and most inanimate objects exist as points moving through time, Equine Scrolls exist across time, synonymously present at every moment from the creation of the world to the end. Because of their inherent nature, they truly do belong in every time period. If you were carrying one when you cast the spell, it would theoretically create a protective time field around you, allowing you to stay in the past for a much longer time before snapping back.”

“How much longer?” I asked.

“I don’t know for sure, as every time I test this spell I have to completely rewrite a new one in a different way, and the Emperor isn’t willing to let me get my hooves on an Equine Scroll to test my theory. However, I would think that the spell’s duration would be lengthened to at least an hour, if not more.”

That would be plenty of time to learn Dragonrend, so long as I traveled back to the correct time. The only way to be sure to catch the Tongues would be to travel back to Alduin’s Defeat, and I was sure Paarthurnax could easily provide us with the date. Now all we needed was an Equine Scroll.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Steadfast asked later as we sat in the Arboretum.

After thanking Star-Swirl for his help, we had left the Arcane University. The time travel spell was safely kept in my saddlebags until the proper time came to use it. Of course, as it was it would be of little help to us, but I had a plan. I waited until we found a secluded portion of the Imperial City’s gardens before I shared it with my friends.

“There are other ways to get an Equine Scroll,” Mystic said.

“But maybe not in time,” I said, “Time is something we don’t have. Alduin has released nearly all the dragons. Before long he’ll put the main part of his plan to devour the world into action.”

“But breaking into the Imperial Palace?” Mephalda asked.

“I know,” I said, “I’m uncomfortable doing it too, but this is our best chance to get an Equine Scroll. I know there are a few scattered throughout the Northlands, but the chances of us stumbling onto one are about the same as our chances at finding a magical sword of dragon-slaying. The Imperial Archives have hundreds of Equine Scrolls; we only need one.”

“I understand if you don’t want to be a part of this,” I told my friends when they still looked uncertain, “I’ll go alone.”

“Hey, we’re your friends,” Steadfast said, placing a hoof on my shoulder, “And if you think this is the best way to go about getting an Equine Scroll, then we’re with you.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” Mephalda said, “But I hope your plan is more complex than simply walking through the front doors of the White-Gold Tower and asking to see the Scrolls.”

“Oh yes,” I said, “Much more complex.”

For the remaining hours of the day we hid out in the Arboretum, dodging the guards until night fell. Once the sun set, we began our infiltration of the Imperial Archives. As I’d hoped, Mephalda’s experience as a Blackwing had come in handy. She still remembered that there was a secret entrance to the White-Gold Tower through the sewers beneath the Arboretum. While she pried up the ponyhole cover that led to them, the rest of us stood watch.

We had abandoned our heavier armors and saddlebags in a thick cluster of bushes within the Arboretum. If all went according to plan, we’d be able to retrieve them once we had the Equine Scroll. We had to travel light and quietly to reach the Imperial Archives, and I had my enchanted Thieves Guild armor on to help stay stealthy. Steadfast had exchanged his warhammer for a mace he’d bought in the Market District. For some reason, this reminded me far too much of our botched attempt to infiltrate the Blackwing Embassy.

Once Mephalda had the ponyhole cover up, Steadfast, Mystic, and I jumped through. Mephalda followed, closing the sewers up behind her, plunging us into darkness. Mystic used the light from her horn to illuminate our surroundings, giving us a clear look at the sewers around us.

Thankfully, it was a dry sewer, making it not quite as unpleasant to travel through. Weathered stone lined the walls, holding up the city above us. From the light of Mystic’s horn, I could see the tunnel stretched off into the distance, other tunnels branching off to both sides in several places. It looked like we’d entered a labyrinth beneath the city.

Mephalda led the way, following a map in her head she’d memorized long ago. I was soon lost in minutes, and glad we had Mephalda with us to lead the way. She stopped as the sound of skittering came from up ahead, and all of us drew our weapons as quietly as possible.

Out of the darkness came bounding a giant rat. Mephalda drew her bow and shot an arrow straight through its head, killing it immediately. The corpse slid to a stop at our hooves. I guess even the Imperial City had its share of oversized rodents.

As we turned the next corner, we ran head on into another rodent of unusual size. Swinging the Blade of Hoofingar around, I killed it by slicing through its body. As I did so, it gave a squeal that echoed off the walls of the sewer. Multiple eyes opened up ahead of us in the darkness.

Five more of the giant rats came bounding out of the darkness. A swift flame spell from Mystic took out two, roasting them instantly. With his mace, Steadfast caved in the skull of another, and Mephalda shot a fourth before it could close the distance with us. The fifth one jumped at me. Holding my ebony sword up, the rat impaled itself.

“Disgusting creatures,” Mystic commented.

“We’re just lucky it wasn’t something bigger,” Mephalda whispered back, “Who knows what else lives in these sewers.”

As we continued to sneak through the sewers, I noticed our path was very indirectly leading to the White-Gold Tower. We’d traveled much farther than the short distance between our entrance and Green Emperor Way, no doubt having traveled all the way around to beneath the Market District.

As we traveled beneath the city, I began to hear the sound of running water. Shortly afterwards, Mephalda led us out into a wetter part of the sewer. The stone we were standing on was still dry, but a river ran through the center of the cavern we’d entered. A few narrow stone bridges led across the canal, allowing us to cross safely.

As I began to cross the bridge, the sound of shifting rock suddenly came from beneath me. The bridge seemed to be holding up fine, but the sound continued on, joined by the splash of water. Out of the water a massive lizard composed of rock suddenly leapt, its jaws closing on the bridge.

“Craggidile!” Mephalda exclaimed as I jumped off the bridge.

My leap didn’t occur a moment too soon, as the craggidile tore the center stones out, causing the bridge to collapse. Unfortunately, this stranded Steadfast on the other side.

“Run!” Mephalda called as he drew his mace, “You’ll never be able to take it on!”

Steadfast ran along the edge of the canal as fast as he could. The craggidile seemed to realize his goal and began to lumber through the water toward the bridge. I could see that Steadfast might make it to the bridge first, but he would never be able to make it across in time. Thinking fast, I ran down the edge of the canal as well. As Steadfast’s hooves touched the bridge and the craggidile leapt, I jumped in front of it.

<<<FUS~RO~DAH!!!>>>

The craggidile went flying backwards from the force of my Shout, making a colossal splash as it hit the water. Steadfast grabbed my hoof before I could fall in as well, and hoisted me up onto the bridge. Before the craggidile could recover, we galloped toward the tunnel opening where Mephalda and Mystic were waiting. The craggidile snapped at the entrance, giving a roar, but it couldn’t fit and soon gave up, returning to the water.

“You are one crazy mare, you know that, right?” Steadfast said once we were safe.

“Yeah, well, what was I going to do?” I retorted, “Not save your flank?”

After Steadfast conceded my point. we moved on, and judging by Mephalda’s even more cautious hoofsteps, we were getting close to our goal. At last she stopped, and began to carefully examine the wall. When she finally seemed satisfied, she carefully removed a stone at the base of the wall and ushered us through the hole. It was a tight fit, and we had to slide on our stomachs to make it through, but we all managed to make it out of the sewers.

The room we were in was completely empty, a storeroom at first glance. A plain wooden door was set into the far wall. Grabbing the handle, Mephalda gently tugged it open. Inside were rows of bed in which ponies slept, though a few were up and about in the darkness. Mephalda placed a hoof over my mouth when I was about to whisper a question to her and slowly shut the door. Once it was closed again, she ushered us to the far end of the room before speaking.

“Those are Moth Priests in there,” she whispered, even more quietly than before, “With no Alicorn Emperor to read the Equine Scrolls, they’re the ones in charge of reading the prophecies. Of course, they go blind after only a few readings. Because of that, their hearing is exquisite. If we make even the slightest sound, they’ll know we’re there. We must be careful not to make even a peep on our way to the Archives.”

Once we all nodded that we understood, Mephalda opened the door back up. Since the Moth Priests were all blind, Mystic was able to increase the light from her horn enough that we could clearly see where we were going. It wouldn’t do to bump into a bed or trip on a loose moccasin.

Very carefully, Mephalda led us through the maze of beds and around the Moth Priests that were wandering around. I nearly held my breath as we passed by each one, afraid that even the gentle sound of my breathing would give us away. My worry was not in vain, for their ears seemed to twitch as we passed, even though I could hear no sound at all in the vast sleeping chambers.

Finally. we made it through the Moth Priests’ quarters, and Mephalda opened the door to the Imperial Archives. At least, we assumed it was the Imperial Archives. Since the Moth Priests couldn’t see anyway, there was no need for a sign over the door. However, upon opening it, I knew we were in the right place.

From ceiling to floor were custom-built racks filled with scrolls like nothing I’d ever seen before. They were much larger than any sensible pony would choose to write on, and the cases that covered the scrolls were made of gold and crystal so refined it couldn’t have come from this world. The scrolls themselves seemed to exude an otherworldly sensation, marking them as the special gifts from the Equines to ponykind.

Mephalda stopped me as I moved to pull one off its shelf, motioning to a Moth Priest that stood just down the aisle from us, running his hooves over the scrolls that had taken his sight. Looking around the Archives, I could see that two other of the blind ponies were doing the same.

Mephalda pointed to each of us and the Moth Priests in turn before flapping quietly up above the racks of scrolls. Following the pegasus’s lead, the three of us split up and positioned ourselves close to a Moth Priest. When Mephalda saw we were all in position, she suddenly gave a whistle. In an instant, all the Moth Priests’ heads turned toward where Mephalda was hovering.

Quickly, I brought the hilt of Calcion’s Cleaver down upon the pony’s head, knocking him out cold. With the help of Mephalda’s distraction, Steadfast, Mystic, and I had all rendered our Moth Priests unconscious.

I was just finishing pulling an Equine Scroll off its rack and strapping it to my back when the door of the Imperial Archives flew open. In rushed several of the Moth Priests we’d seen back in the sleeping quarters, searching for the source of the ruckus we’d caused. Carefully dodging them, we made our way back through the sleeping quarters and into the sewers.

As we snuck back through the tunnels, I couldn’t help taking a peek back at the tube strapped to my back. We had an Equine Scroll, and with it, we would soon have the key to Alduin’s defeat.