Azure Flame

by Silver Page

The Land of Friendship and Lies

“Nothing in this one, either!” Twilight groused, closing the cover of a book in a huff. She sat at a desk on the second floor of a grand library, one which was made of crystals, top to bottom. It had been two days since she, her friends, and Spike had arrived in the Crystal Empire and wound up saving it with her brother and new sister-in-law. Indeed, the day before had been a whirlwind of crazy, and only thanks to Spike’s timely intervention had the day not been lost to Sombra.

Twilight shivered, remembering the cruel Unicorn who’d enslaved and then banished an entire nation. According to some of the books in the library, Sombra had been one of Grogar's lieutenants back in the War of Undeath, and had tried to take the Crystal Empire with an army of zombies. He'd failed, and after laying low after his master's defeat, had infiltrated the one place he had not been able to conquer with force, and used guile to take it from within. Without a doubt, the evil Unicorn had been very clever and careful with his plans, as his tricks and traps had nearly cost them dearly. But, all was better now. Cadance, whom the newly freed Crystal Ponies were calling their princess, had been helping restore the Empire to its former glory while Shining Armor was organizing the relief efforts. Even her friends were contributing their unique talents to the city’s recovery.

Except her. During the escapades of yesterday, she hadn’t had any time to look deeply into the Crystal Empire’s library; a massive collection of books from thousands of years before their banishment. Now that nothing life-threatening was happening or expected, Twilight had decided to investigate the books for information of the raising and lowering of the Sun and Moon. She’d hit a dead end in her studies back at Ponyville, with little help coming from the antique books and ancient tomes she’d requested from across Equestria. Now, though, was a chance for a whole new source of potential help.

Sighing, Twilight levitated the book she’d closed to a pile next to her, before reaching out with her magic to an even bigger pile of unread books. There just had to be something!

“Twilight, are you in here?” A voice broke the lavender Unicorn’s concentration, and she looked up to see Rarity stepping around her mess to reach her.

“Hey Rarity. What are you doing here?”

“Well, I just finished the repairs of several tapestries and flags at the palace, and I thought that maybe the books could use some repair, seeing as they’ve been gone a thousand years.”

“The magic that banished the Empire kept them intact, so I doubt there’s much on that end,” Twilight mused.

“Well, we do have some books that have been damaged.”

The two Unicorns squealed in surprise, Rarity jumping with shock into the air while twilight toppled off the bench. The pair looked over to see the elderly mare librarian wearing an amused half-smile, standing in between Twilight’s book towers.

“How do you move so quietly?!” Twilight gasped in annoyance.

“Librarian trade secret,” she replied with a smirk. “But as I was saying, a number of books were damaged during Sombra’s reign. The library as a whole was barred to all save the king and his closest lackies. Many tomes of magic and arcane knowledge were moved to a secure vault in the castle, but a few were too old and fragile to move. They haven’t been maintained in a while.”

“Old books, huh?” Twilight muttered. Rarity rolled her eyes at her friend’s response, and turned back to the librarian.

“I’ll take a look at them if you wouldn’t mind.” She was soon lead to a room in the back of the first floor, an intrigued Rarity trailing behind. The room, once opened, revealed dark blue and purple crystal walls, dotted with, surprisingly, stone shelves and pedestals, the smooth marble and granite polished smooth. Each shelf was full of various tools for book care, while the pedestals had books placed upon them.

“Such books… much knowledge…” Twilight drooled, staring with glazed eyes at the surprising amount of books scattered here and there within. Each looked old and fragile, and was enclosed in a box of opaque crystal seated atop the pedestal. There seemed to be no way to open the cubes of crystal, but the Librarian placed a hoof on the side and the crystals liquefied, leaving the book behind.

“How…?” Rarity asked, surprised.

“Crystal Magic, unique to the Empire,” the Librarian explained, showing Twilight how to use her own magic to do the same. With a squeal of glee, Twilight, began to look around, trying to decide where to start. Rarity glanced around the room with a more leisurely pace, when something caught her eye.

A massive book, each page easily the size of a pony, stood on an equally large pedestal. However, the stone pillar the tome rested on was a glossy black obsidian rather than the granite or marble the other books sat on. The cover too was unusually; it was dull, rust red with a curled green dragon in the middle, resting atop what looked like a mound of broken weapons.

“Rarity? Are you OK?”

“Hmm?” The alabaster Unicorn mumbled, looking to her side where Twilight stood. “is something wrong?”

“You were just standing there, staring at the book. Is everything alright?”

“I’m fine, darling, I just… felt drawn to this for some reason,” Rarity assured her friend, looking back to the large tome.

Concerned, Twilight’s horn ignited with a spell, bathing the tome and her friend in a brief glimmer of light. There wasn’t anything lingering on either of them. No illusions, mind benders, compulsions, nothing!

“Miss? What book is this?” Twilight asked, waving the librarian over.

“Oh, this? This is one of the rarest and most valuable books in all of the Empire; the Book of the Slumbering Dragon. It was written in an ancient language; Draconian.”
“Who was the author?” Twilight asked, intrigued.
“Starswirl the Bearded himself,” the librarian declared proudly, and the lavender Unicorn gasped in shock.
“Starswirl wrote it? And it’s in Draconian, the tongue of the dragons?!”

“Yes…” the librarian said, taking a step back from the excited mare.

“This could be what I’m looking for! I saw a ‘Draconian to Equestrian’ book in the main stacks, and I can translate the contents!”

“We have copies of the original text and it’s translations,” the librarian said, smashing her research-high to pieces.

“Huh?”

“Well, we’ve had this book for a long time, even before Sombra came, and it’s been translated before. Except, it’s unreadable. Even translated, the words are in code; without the cipher, it's impossible to know what he wrote.”

“That’s not going to stop me!” Twilight said. “I’m Princess Celestia’s personal student! If I can’t crack the code, I’ll eat a hat!”

“Why would you waste a perfectly good hat on something like that?” Rarity demanded, looking back to Twilight with a scandalized expression.

“Huh, eh heh… just caught up in the moment,” Twilight said, ears flat to her head.

“Good. Now, I’m feeling tired, so I think a nap back at the palace is on the agenda,” Rarity said, turning away from the mysterious, alluring tome.

As she walked out of the library, a gust of wind picked up, ruffling her coat. A warm sensation, like being held by a kind, fatherly force, swept over her, and Rarity smiled unconsciously.

“All is well, my dear. You led the Star Child to the right book, and your prince is safe.” A whisper spoke to her, so soft and so low that for a moment the white unicorn was unsure if it had been there, or just her imagination.

“Did somepony say something?” Rarity asked, looking around in confusion. A few nearby Crystal Ponies shook their head, and Rarity frowned, worried. The voice hadn’t sounded cruel or menacing. Rather, it was kind, and filled with warmth. The more she tried to think about it, though, the more it slipped from her. The words eluded her, but the feeling of compassion lingered. After a moment of contemplation, Rarity shook her head.

Shrugging, the fashionista trotted off to the palace, oddly comforted for a reason she couldn’t quiet remember.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Wow. That is interesting. Thanks for the update. I was wondering when this story would get a new chapter.