Brave

by Bright Keys

Chapter 2

I made my way back home, the unfamiliar smell of rain assaulting my nose. The sky was grey and I could see water collecting in a ditch that at one point had a bridge over it. We always dismissed it as some sort of ruin that we would never understand, a relic from days gone by, but now I could see that it was a river. A river that provided life to this town at one point. A point in time before I had to redirect water from a river much farther away to keep my small farm alive.

I walked back to my home after noticing this, many ponies staring at my new amulet, sometimes whispering to another they were walking with. Were they wanting the amulet for themselves or did they not like me wearing the amulet, or having the presence of it just being there? I continued home ignoring these notions. By the time I got home, a small crowd had gathered outside of my home. I hid nearby, wanting to see what was going on.

“Wise man! We seek your guidance!” A stallion said, knocking on my house’s front door.

“What do you want-?” My grandfather stopped mid sentence after poking his head out of the door, shocked by the crowd that had gathered.

“You call of worldly change, and we have seen the corrupted amulet!” The Stallion said, with a reaffirming cheer from the crowd.

“Your grandson was wearing it!” A mare shouted.

“I must consult the Old Knowledge.” Grandfather said, walking outside and heading to a derelict building that appeared to be a ruined tree that was known as the Place of Old Knowledge, because of its vast quantity of books. As he neared the door, a large crystal shot out of the ground, a purple unicorn mare’s face shimmering in the smooth surface.

“Only the bearer of the Amulet may enter!” She shouted with a voice that the entire town could hear.
I gulped. I knew that my grandfather knew where I was, because this had been a place he had hid in when he was a child.
“Get out here Tali!” He shouted, looking directly where I was hiding. I froze for a second. Why is he so good at locating where I’m at? I can’t hide from him! Slowly and reluctantly, I made my way out, practically feeling every eye in town watching me in awe, now completely distracted from what they were doing originally. I made my way to the Place of Old Knowledge, and the Mare in the Crystals smiled warmly.
“Bring this world to peace, Rising Hope.” She said. I was so caught off guard by both her smile and her knowing the meaning of my name, I hardly noticed the crystal descend back into the ground and the door swing open. The library seemed to spring to life when I walked in, candles lighting themselves and books flying from one shelf to another.
“There is much you need to know Rising Hope.” The mare said, this time appearing in some spectral form. I noticed that like the amulet, she too had wings. Many books found their way to a table in the center of the room, and I gulped. My grandfather had taught me many things, but there was one thing I could not grasp. No matter how hard I wanted to try, I couldn’t read. Sure, my grandfather had taught me a few things and maybe I could pick a word or two out, but it would take a lot of effort before I could even read a single page.

“By the time you see this, I will be long dead, an afterimage.” She said, placing a hoof on the stack of books. I hadn’t noticed before, but she seemed weak, as if she was sick. It was clear she hadn’t slept in days, maybe even weeks. “My death comes soon, and I need to set these books aside, for you.” She continued, and spectral forms of the books on the table flew up and onto the shelves, a purple field surrounding them for a few seconds. I stared down at the books, the strange glyphs that claimed to be words taunting me as I struggled to remember what my grandfather had attempted to teach me. “What is this?” I muttered to myself. I was struggling to even read the first little word. I should have been a lot more attentive when my grandfather was trying to teach me these things. I broke up the first few letters of the word and eventually found that the word said, “History.” I continued on in this manner. After a few minutes that felt like hours, I had deciphered the title of the first book, “History of the Alicorn Amulet.” All of the other books possessed similar titles pertaining to the “Alicorn Amulet”

“Essence of Magic, guide and protect.” I heard her say, walking over to a door that appeared to lead down to a cellar. I followed down the stairway, multiple stairs breaking as I stepped on them. The cellar was large, filled with more books and various relics. The spectre placed a small red gem on a table and turned to me. “You will bring this world to order. I can see you through the ages, and I can feel your destiny from here.” She said. I wondered if this was the same mare, because she seemed much weaker, even compared to before, and hoarseness began to show in her voice. “I leave this gem to you. It is the first that goes in the alicorn amulet. I also want you to have these.” She levitated two more books onto the table. “They are lessons that I learned in life, and I hope they serve you as well as they served me.” She sighed, and looked in my direction once more. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a well deserved rest." She walked up the stairs, and I heard a thud, as if something fell. The first book appeared to be a series of letters between a "Twilight Sparkle" and a "Celestia" it contained various depictions of day-to-day events, each having a lesson to them. The second looked like a journal between six ponies, Twilight Sparkle included. The journal portrayed a similar theme to the letter book. On the table next to the two dusty books was a small gemstone, only big enough to fit in the eye divot on the amulet. I fixed it into place, and in a flash the chain was changed to rectangular pieces of metal, as well as some of the things the blacksmith couldn’t fix were repaired.
I made my way out of the Place of Old Knowledge, putting the books in a bag that I found in the downstairs.

“What happened in there?” Grandfather asked when I left.

“The mare from the crystals spoke to me, and gave the first gem.” I said.

My grandfather smiled. “Well done, Tali. You must find the other gems. How many more gems are there to reclaim into the amulet?”

“Three,” I relayed back to him. “I don’t even know where to start. Do you have any ideas?”

“Not at all,” My grandfather replied. “Perhaps all those books you have there will have something to say.”

“Oh great, more reading,” I said. “I guess I’ll give it another shot.”

“Yes, you will need this skill on your journey. When I’m not here, you’ll want to use it to learn from the books. Here, let me go help you read some more. I’ll be inside.”

“Thanks grandpa,” I replied. I proceeded to make my way into the house when I felt a presence behind me. Another burned? I hoped not. I turned around, but before I could, something grabbed me by the shoulders. Struggling to get out of the grasp of the mysterious force, I writhed as I tried to work my way free, but I was carried into the air without my consent. I screamed, but nobody would have heard me as my words were carried away in the wind. My grandfather came back out of the house and looked up to find I was being carried away. He reached out his hoof as if to reach for me to grab on, but he was probably a hundred feet away. I continued to writhe around, but still to no avail. I quit doing this as I was just wasting energy. I didn’t know where I was going and where I would end up, so I sat, thinking about the amulet, about my family, about the purple mare I met today. What would be in store for me? I slowly just accepted there would be no getting out of this situation and just relaxed to enjoy the ride. At least I could get a view from the air. After all, it was more impressive than the ground. I eventually managed to fall asleep somehow, and I woke up in some strange place.

Author's Note:

Thanks to Dudodian for the ending!

Comments

[Dudodian]

Aww, you're so nice :D

[Rowan Ink]

wow! So good! Nice job, both of you!

[Bright Keys]

Sorry for taking so long! Writer's block strikes at the worst of times!

[Bright Keys]

I comments