//------------------------------// // chapter 3 - Exploration // Story: Royal Relations // by DamagedQ //------------------------------// Spry looked around and decided he might as well explore the palace. It was much larger than the one he lived in back in Makuria. He walked slowly along the wall of the castle until he came to another entrance, with two guards blocking it. He wearily approached them with his usual non-expressive features. “Identify yourself,” one of the guards demanded. Spry took a little while to examine the guards before he replied. They were almost completely indistinguishable. They possessed the same stature, skin tone, a similar build, and they wore the same armor. It seemed uncanny to the young prince. Perhaps they are identical siblings? Or maybe someone in Equestria has been able to develop a safe way to create clones…? “My name is Roí Spry Villanueva… of Makuria,” he said after nearly a minute of staring. “Right this way, Sir,” The guard responded instantly after Spry had mentioned Makuria. The prince found it peculiar that neither of them recognized his name, but he didn’t mention it. “Thanks,” he said softly as he passed through the large doorway. The guards bowed to him, but he disregarded it and moved on. The entrance immediately turned into a hallway, and the door shut behind him when he was only a few steps in. The only sounds were his own footsteps resonating throughout the wide hallway. There were no doors on either side for a long time, but he kept walking. By all logic, the hallway had to lead somewhere, eventually. After another minute or two, he spotted a tall archway coming up on his right. He slowed to a stop in front of it and peered inside. It was a library. The massive room probably contained miles of bookcases, along with millions of books. He took a few steps inside and looked around a little. It won’t do any harm to look around a bit. He glanced over a key posted on the wall to see what kind of books he was dealing with. Mostly old tomes for research, apparently. However, there was a small section of mild interest to the prince. Luckily, the section he was looking for was very close. He skimmed the signs above the shelves until he found '700-950', which according to the key, marked mythology. He slowly walked down the first isle of interest, skimming spines of books until he found something worth reading. He picked something after a few moments. The cover read ‘The Crystal Pony Empire: Forgotten Wonders.’ It sounded interesting enough for the Prince to read. He kept the book in his grasp as he walked, moving towards the back of the library. He wondered what was back there concerning magic textbooks. Maybe there were books with teachings foreign to his homeland of Makuria. Once in the back, he noticed another door, but it looked old and generally unused. There was a red cloth covering a sign just above the door. He flew up and lifted the fabric. Underneath was an almost ancient looking inscription that read, ‘Forbidden Magics.’ Oh, why not? He shrugged to himself, letting the red cloth hang back down and landing in front of the door. He reached out and tested the knob. Coincidentally, the door was unlocked. Not forbidden enough, obviously. It creaked as he opened it, but he entered as quietly as possible, carefully shutting the door behind him. There was no light switch, but a window on the far side of the room provided some natural light. There were only two medium sized bookshelves inside, which was as good a start as any, the prince thought. He carefully read through the spines of several books: The Creation of Dark Magic- Illusions… How to: Create Unrestricted Illusions… Incapacitating Spells… He picked out the last one, flipping through the pages and getting in idea for its contents. The book contained many spells for sleeping, paralysis, and even a few death spells. It was definitely not misplaced when it was put in the room labeled ‘Forbidden.’ He grabbed it up and put it on the floor next to the bookcase, looking for another spell book. Spry traced the shelves with his finger so he wouldn’t lose his place, reading aloud a title when it perked his interest. “…Demonic Illusions: No Constraints…” Sounds like it has potential for some bad things, he thought wearily before picking it out and placing it on top of the first book. Immediately after he looked back up, another book suddenly caught his eye. It was a very small, red-leather bound instruction book. The title read Complete Control: All Five Senses. Controlling all five senses at once? He thought eagerly, excitedly flipping through all the pages. As the title suggested, the book seemed to contain methods for controlling all five senses of a person at once. But before he could do that, he needed to learn how to control a person’s sense of smell. The book must have been made for very powerful Illusionists, as only a handful of people in the world could even separately control all five senses. He immediately added the book to the pile, looking back up and continuing his search. He almost got to the end of the last bookshelf and hadn’t seen anything else of interest. He decided it would be alright if he didn’t find anything else though, because he had enough already, but he wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything else he wanted to look at. A loud thud suddenly sounded from behind him, breaking his concentration. He whipped his head around in surprise, only to find that a book seemed to have fallen from the desk behind him and onto the floor. It was very large and looked like it had been used recently, which came as a surprise. It had no title on the spine so he picked it up and turned it over to see the cover. It was barely still readable, but it could make out the words alright. It was called Basic and Advanced Curses: From Foreboding to Hellish. “…way to be subtle,” Spry mused softly. He opened the book and took a look at the first paragraph. A curse is the effective action of some power, distinguished solely by the quality of adversity that it brings. A curse may also be said to result from a spell or prayer, or other imposition by magic... The prince shut the book there and placed it on top of the small pile. Spry lifted all five books, including the one he picked out from the main library, and studied the stack he held. The four he just picked out contained copious amounts of Dark Magic, which was strictly forbidden, but he figured as long as he kept them to himself, there wouldn’t be a problem. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, after all. The opportunity to gain power like this may not present itself ever again. It wasn’t like him to misuse any such power, anyway, so he figured no harm could come of it. He stepped out of the room slowly, careful not to alert anyone that may have entered the library while he was in the forbidden section. He carried the small stack of textbooks back with him. To the front of the library, where he looked around and spotted several wooden tables, each with four chairs neatly tucked under them. He chose one in a location where he could see someone entering before they saw him. It was a habit of his in order to avoid undesirable situations. He went over to it and sat down before opening the book he picked out first from the mythology section. Finally, a quiet atmosphere… The quietness was only disturbed a little over an hour later, when Spry heard another person’s footsteps echoing down the hallway. He shifted his eyes to look up from the book, making no other movements as he watched the library’s entrance carefully. Eventually, the person revealed herself, stepping into the room with a dainty smile. Spry eyed her closely for a moment. She had long, purple hair with a single pink streak down on side. Not out of the ordinary for Equestria. She carried a shoulder bag of some sort with her, immediately emptying the contents on a table by the entrance. She had a purple mage’s glove over her left hand, which Spry had only seen before on those who practiced magic profusely or scientists who studied its properties. She looked through the contents of her bag for a moment before glancing up and looking around. He flicked his eyes back to his book before her gaze reached him so he wouldn’t look interested. Inevitably, she eventually took notice of him with a gasp. He used his illusion magic to change the covers of the dark magic books, so she wouldn’t take notice of the forbidden books lying on the table in front of him. “Oh, hello there,” she said amiably. Spry finished the sentence he was on before setting his book upside down on the table to keep his place. “Hello,” Spry said softly in return. “Sorry for interrupting,” she immediately apologized, “No one else usually comes here. I’m Twilight Sparkle, it’s nice to meet you.” The girl walked over and extended her hand to the prince. This was rather unexpected for Spry, and he was hesitant before returning the gesture, placing his hand in hers before completing the handshake. “My name is Spry,” he said. “And the feeling is mutual,” he added out of politeness. The girl glanced downward for a moment at the book Spry was reading. “Oh, really?” she said, lighting up a little, “So you’re the prince from the kingdom of Makuria, right?” she asked, looking back up at him. Spry’s eyes widened a little when she recognized his name, but he managed to repress any other reactions. Who was this girl? Did she have any affiliation with Equestrian royalty? “That is correct,” he replied. “Do you work here in the palace?” “Oh, no. I’m actually the resident librarian of a small town pretty far from here. I learn under Princess Celestia, so I’ll be joining you at dinner tonight,” she answered with a smile. “Interesting… It’s a pleasure, Ms. Sparkle,” he said before lifting his book from the table. “Please, Prince Spry, just call me Twilight,” she insisted. “Then simply Spry will do for me,” he replied modestly, looking back at his book. “Alright then,” Twilight chuckled, “I’ll let you read then. Catch you later, Spry.” The prince gave her a half-wave before she went back to taking care of her own business. The student of Celestia… her title rings a bell. --- Twilight had left the library soon after she returned some books to their proper place. Apparently, that was all she had come for. Spry took another five minutes to finish the book on mythology and returned it to the shelves before flipping open one of the textbooks on Dark Illusion Magic. He studied the writing; it looked incredibly old – so it probably contained ancient magics as well – and had someone else’s notes taking up the majority of the book’s margins. The ink had ironized and turned a brownish color over time, revealing its age. He studied this book and a few spells in particular for another hour before eventually leaving the library. He continued down the hallway in the same direction he had started going a few hours ago in hopes of finding something new, with the four new books in tow. He stepped through the quiet hallway once again, but soon heard muffled voices of people talking and joking. The voices continued to grow until he came to a more open area, like a large foyer. This area had several more rooms and hallways branching out of it, and he walked towards the one where the voices resonated from. Setting the books down just outside the entrance and casting an invisibility spell on them, he tucked his hands nonchalantly into his pockets and stepped in front of the large, open doorway and saw several men jesting with each other, seemingly having a friendly conversation. Most of them appeared to have just showered and were in some sort of locker room. A few still had armor on, while others were in casual dress clothes or t-shirts, conversing freely. There were two still fighting, and one more waiting to join in. Although no one had yet noticed Spry, the room suddenly grew silent and the ones fighting momentarily stopped and looked over at an unseen distraction. He wondered why they had stopped talking for a few moments before the distraction stepped out. To be specific, an officer of some kind stepped out in front of the guards, preparing to say something. Spry watched with unexpressed interest as he began to speak to them in a slightly authoritative, but very friendly tone. “Today was really great, you guys. All of you have improved greatly, and I look forward to our next sessions after the Winter Wrap-up break. You are dismissed,” he said professionally. He seemed above rank in the others, but as soon as they were dismissed, some of the guards approached him casually and talked with him. He was young, but still old enough to be respected. “Hey Armor, come get some drinks with us tonight, we’re goin’ down to the Forest Tavern,” one of the guards in a t-shirt asked him, moving next to him and putting his hand on one of his shoulders. “Sorry guys, I gotta attend a dinner tonight. Some royals are visiting from Makuria and it’s mandatory,” he said indifferently. “Really? Visiting royals?” the guard asked. “Why haven’t I seen any of them?” “One of them has been standing in the doorway for a while now. I take it none of you noticed him,” the officer replied mirthfully. Inevitably, several heads immediately turned towards the prince. “He’s rather quiet, or so I’ve been told.” Spry tilted his head at the strange looks he got form the guards, which only caused most of them to flinch. He could easily guess why, but he wasn’t concerned. “What… What is he?” one of the guards said softly. “Private Graywing! Mind your superiors,” the officer quipped immediately. Spry’s expression didn’t change. He really didn’t care. “My apologies for my subordinate, Prince Roí Spry Villanueva,” the officer said. The guards swapped hesitant glances at the prince’s name before looking back to the boy. “My name is Shining Armor, captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard.” The boy slowly stepped forward with the usual expression on his face until he reached the captain. This one was much more informed than the rest of the palace’s inhabitants. He knew the prince’s full name and recognized him immediately. “Just Spry will do. It’s a pleasure,” he said in a contradictory tone, taking the already extended hand of Shining Armor. “Would you like to see the barracks for just a moment? I really have nothing to do until dinner,” he said amiably, in a similar tone as the girl from the library. Spry glanced over to the three still sparring. “Sure, I suppose it would be interesting,” he replied softly. What’s the worst that could happen?