//------------------------------// // #9. Dreambrad Annie // Story: The Bradical Adventures of Twilight Sparkle & Flash Sentry: The Book of StarSwirl // by Chelis //------------------------------// It took them around ten minutes to fly from the restaurant to the imposing castle at the edge of the rocks. The castle grounds were one of a few rare areas in the cliffside city where there was a large expanse of flat surface to walk around on. Outside, the castle looked like any other one Twilight had seen in their history books or Flash's military strategy textbooks. Inside, however, they were nearly blinded by the amount of gold that lined the walls as part of the trim and texture for the maroon ramparts, the gold plated base and ceiling boards, and many decorations along the walls that were either gold, ivory, or of an assortment of precious gems. "They seem to be doing okay," Flash joked. Twilight and Spike snorted out a quiet giggle, which attracted the attention of Rainier. He turned around, gave a quick huff and continued to escort the three down the lavish hallways. The largest room in the castle was the throne room, about the size of a Canterlot city block. Like the halls, they had a maroon wallpaper laced with gold. The many pillars were made out of marble, and at the end of the room stood a large stairway that led to a lavish chair made of gold and gems. On top was an older griffon, nude in comparison to everyone else with their jewelry and fancy clothes, but he had one object on his head: a crown. "Ah, Princess! Welcome to my kingdom!" His dark and brooding voice bellowed from the throne. As per tradition, Flash Sentry and Spike bowed, leaving Twilight to stand there and prepare for what she was hoping for: the location of Starswirl’s book, or if the king had it, to have it handed over, for a hefty sum of course. "Hello, King Carloman, my name is-" "Available, I hope." Everyone's attention turned to a younger, more stylish griffon with white clothes, undressing the princess with his eyes. "Ignore my son, he is a charmer." The king replied. "You came for something, as I was told?" "Yes!" Twilight replied. " A book, from-" "Starswirl the Bearded," The king interrupted. "Yes! We know of a few places where it can be if you would so kindly allow us to look in your ancient castles?" Twilight asked. King Carloman had a grin. Sinister, yet warm. "I'll do you one better, Princess. The book!" Twilight stood in awe at the griffon in a golden robe as he walked in from the side of the throne room. On his back, placed on a silk pillow was the book: It looked more like a diary than anything, with some of the pages torn and sticking out of the book. It looked delicate, but if Twilight knew Starswirl's bookbinding, it was built to last forever. "So, this is the book of Starswirl's early magic... I'm impressed" King Carloman said as he glided from the top of the throne, snatched the book and flew back to the throne with a thunderous flap. He sat on the throne as he opened up a random page. "I love books, I love reading, I made literacy decrees that forces my subjects to learn to read. But it comes with some risks. One of the risks is the idea that Gryphons are inferior. So, when I see a magic book, it makes me compelled to show my power." He pinched one page between his fingers and tore it off, the sound of the paper ripping in half made twilight flinch. "What are you doing!?" Twilight hollered. "This book has no use to me, I don't have magic, so it must be destroyed." As he ripped another page. Twilight watched in horror as the king was desecrating the book. The king simply laughed as he did so. As he prepared to rip a fourth one she disappeared in an amazing ball of purple. She instantly reappeared in front of the throne. The book became possessed and yanked itself out of the Carloman's reach. She disappeared and returned to her spot next to Flash. "Guards! Seize them!" The guards surrounded them, with spears hanging from their wings. "I don't know why you would have me arrested! You performed an act of desecration to-" Twilight looked at one of the ripped off pages and discovered that the words in the book were not in her language. In fact, it wasn't even any common language. "Ah, the old fake book trick. Love it!" Coleman said. "So, you are wondering why I was entertaining you with the fake for so long... Well if you haven't known, the Kingdom is always in need of more gold. so, I captured all of the ponies in my kingdom for ransom. Celestia at first refused to believe someone would be so 'evil'. but having you as my top ransom... Well, I’ll be swimming in pure Equestrian bullion. " All three were speechless, they were lured into a trap and it was sprung open. "So, Princess. Will you go quietly-" His demands were answered with Flash charging at the king. He had no armor or weapons, but he knew where to hit where it hurt, which was the head and using his hind hooves. The entire throne room was agasped as Flash was chased all over the room, ten angry, armored griffons trying to fly down the quicker, more agile pony. His luck quickly ran out as he was surrounded and tackled to the ground. "Run!" He yelled. With the guards also about to grab her and Spike, she used her wing to scoot Spike close. she disappeared in a cloud of purple magic. The king walked to the young stallion, who was still struggling against his captors. "You attack a king in his own throne? Oh, you are so screwed."