//------------------------------// // Chapter 33 // Story: The Inheritors of Friendship // by NgKQ //------------------------------// Saturday morning. Melody got herself groomed and went downstairs and opened the door. To her surprise, her friends are already there, waiting for her. “You guys are up early?” she asked. “Coz today’s really important, Sugarcube,” replied Applejack. “Where’s your mother?” asked Rarity. “Oh, uhh, I think she’s just getting ready. I’ll call her.” She headed to the stairs. “Mom, are you done yet?” “Nearly done! Just one more thing!” Twilight called from her room. She turned to Spike. “Spike, you go an meet up with the others. I need to head to the library.” “What for?” “Just go! I need to keep the horn a secret from Melody.” “Uh… okay.” When she made sure Spike had gone downstairs, she immediately teleported herself to the library, and made her way towards the safe. Meanwhile, while waiting for Twilight, Melody chatted with her friends. “Where’s Beryl?” Melody asked Chaos Control. “Some of our critters are down with sicknesses today. Beryl has to care for them,” replied Chaos. “That’s bad.” “Prudence Aura’s got some hairstyle studying to do, so it’s a shame she can’t come!” continued Platinum Royale. “Too bad Thunder Clash can’t come. He’s got some Junior Wonderbolt camping to do,” said Greenie Hats. “Fiji’s gotta visit Auntie Babs at Manehattan,” said Raisin Brandy. He turned to Pepper Flake. “Where’s Peanut Butter and Pizza Frenzy?” “My bros?” she asked. “Two days ago they misbehaved at Sugarcube corner! Mom’s now grounding them for the weekend!” “Oh, dear…” Melody gave herself a facehoof. The brothers’ antics would sometimes end up in hilarious predicaments, but punishments are usually inevitable. “Anyway that’s all we have?” “Yep. Nothing else more,” said Chaos. “Alright, everypony ready?” Twilight finally appeared at the door with a pouch. “What took you so long, darling?” asked Rarity. “Uh, just to check some stuff are safe before I leave. Anyway, let’s go.” As usual, everyone paid attention to the surroundings in the Everfree Forest to make sure no enemy ambushed them suddenly. As they approached the old castle, they could see the Tree of Harmony shining brightly. It hadn’t been losing its luster for almost twenty years after Lord Tirek’s invasion. “Feels like Lord Tirek’s invasion just happened yesterday,” whispered Rainbow Dash, reminiscing the old times. As they entered the castle, a gush of eeriness blew past the group. “I-is it haunted?” asked Raisin. “It was haunted,” explained Fluttershy. “Not until we cleaned up everything and made it prettier.” “So, what do we expect in there? No ghosts or something?” asked Pepper. “Ghosts don’t bump in the day!” chided Platinum. “Ooh! This is gonna be thrilling!” said Malinae. “You sure are fearless, don’t you?” asked Melody. “Alright, I’m sure you all know what to do,” Twilight began to brief them. “What is it?” asked Greenie. “All we need to do in the library is to do some research on Queen Myra. A long time ago, somepony came from the future and warned us of a threat that she will soon conquer all of Equestria and then the whole universe. Now we need to find out if it’s stated by an age-long book that existed sometime when Star Swirl the Bearded was alive.” The mention of Queen Myra sent shivers through Melody and Chaos’ spines. They recalled the day when they visited Zecora to know more about Melody’s necklace, at the same time Chaos had hidden abilities that were soon revealed when the queen’s minions ambushed them. “I-I don’t want to think about it,” Chaos whispered to her. “It’s too scary.” “Neither do I,” replied Melody. “Okay,” announced Twilight, reaching a huge hallway. “We’re at the castle’s library!” “Man, it’s so huge,” gasped Raisin. “Feels like I’ve never been here before,” said Platinum. “This quiet atmosphere… it’s giving me creeps…” shivered Chaos. “Hey, we’re together now! There’s nothing to be feared of!” encouraged Greenie. “Yeah, you’re right,” Melody brightened up. “Let’s get to work!” In no time, the fourteen of them were busy taking books from the shelves and discussing the contents. “This doesn’t make sense.” “Are you sure?” “Then let’s find another book! It’s nothing but a piece of crap.” As they continued to do their research, Niku approached Twilight. “Hey, Twilight.” “What’s the matter, Niku?” “Did you bring that along?” Twilight looked into her pouch and felt it. After making sure nopony else noticed, she took it out and showed it to him. “So it’s your future daughter’s horn?” “When I arrived back at Canterlot from our mission, Princess Celestia gave me this,” reminded Twilight. “You told me about it.” “Right now we can’t let our children know!” “Why?” “Like I said, it’s going to be crazy if we tell her and her friends all about it!” “Oh… okay…” Fortunately, Pinkie Pie bought over snacks to satisfy everypony’s hunger. After lunch, they went back to work. “So, is this related to Queen Myra?” “This doesn’t look right…” Soon, they searched almost the whole library. They found nothing. “Looks like there’s nothing we can find,” said Rainbow Dash at last. “Is that so?” asked Platinum. “I was sure I didn’t overlook anything.” “So do I,” agreed Chaos. “I did examine every detail.” “Me, too,” added Melody. “C’mon, everypony,” called Twilight. “Let’s call it a day.” They left the old sisters’ castle, tired and disappointed. “How wish we could stay longer and research further!” complained Greenie. “Don’t worry,” assured Twilight. “I’m gonna find some time to move all books over to my castle.” They were still in the middle of the forest when they suddenly heard unfamiliar hoofsteps. “Who’s that!?” cried Chaos, his ears straightened up. Then an evil, familiar voice came from behind. “Looks like we haven’t met for a long time, eh?”