Lutscintorb

by Mary Sue

Toward

Sparkler squeezed her way out of the cave and returned to the gorge. Exiting the cave felt like exiting the barrel of a cannon, shedding the hot stuffy air she hadn’t realized had been suffocating her, and the tall granite walls on either side ushered her forward. But a curious weight in her hooves held her at the mouth of the cave, staring down that channel at the gray-as-rock sky and the little patch of green all the way down at the end. For however long it was, she simply stood there breathing fresh air and trying to pick out the thoughts rolling inside her head.

Patch Moss walked up behind her, the echo of his hooves leading the way. “I didn’t mean to offend back there,” he said slowly.

“You didn’t,” Sparkler said after a pause. She lifted a hoof to her brow. “It just... Sorry. I’m just confused right now.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Patch Moss said. “You’re kind of a confusing pony.”

“Don’t I know it.” She sighed. “You said that language was... Drak-renic? Looked like Old Ungular to me.”

“It’s been Old Ungular for over two hundred years,” he said. “‘The light of the world hides inside a heart of stone, waiting for the torch to come and carry it home’. That’s what’s inscribed all over the sarcophagus in there ad nauseum. There’s been scholarly types from all over the North throughout the years, and they all agree that’s the one real translation. Then a few days ago, some pony from Equestria stops by and says there’s part of a secret language hidden in plain sight? Just the words for ‘waiting’ and ‘torch’ scrunched together to make another?” He laughed dryly. “I don’t believe it. But you...?”

She shook her head. “I don’t even know, honestly.”

Patch Moss hummed to that and nodded. “And that’s what I meant when I said you looked lost. You seemed just as surprised as I was to hear you repeat what that inquisitor said.” He thought for a moment. “What is Drakrenic, by the way? I mean, what kind of language is it?”

Sparkler clicked her tongue. “It’s... very old.”

There was a pause as Patch Moss waited for her to expand, but when she didn’t he just laughed. “Yeah, that’s all the inquisitor was willing to say too. You scholarly types sure are a secretive bunch, you know that?”

She blinked at him. “I never said I was a scholar.”

He smiled. “And that’s how I know for sure you’re telling the truth.”

Her gaze hardened. “What?”

“I’m not going to press,” he said, lifting his hooves. “But you really need to work on your lying, you know that? I could’ve bought your cutie mark story, but you really don’t have the acting skills to support it.”

She stared at him and he just laughed. He continued, “You seem like a good pony. But you just, as I’ve said, look lost.”

Sparkler shifted uneasily on her hooves. But before she could summon the wherewithal do something other than stand there, Patch Moss started walking away down the gorge. “Come on!” he said. “You said you wanted a map earlier, right? I know there’s a bunch laying around in the shop.”

Comments

[Emotional Flight]

Drakrenic

If I had to guess, the 'Script of the Dragons', though I have no idea whether that is even close. Drak is dragon, renic is rune, or script.

[ConsciousHaze196]

‘The light of the world hides inside a heart of stone, waiting for the torch to come and carry it home’

The whole place is a volcano, and the sarcophagus is placed in the center?

[Revan]

I'll be going offline soon, but I'll continue following this story.

[Mary Sue]

6962417
Thanks for hanging in! I'm glad to hear you'll still be tuning in even after you disappear for however long, and I hope to make it worth your while. Take care with whatever it is you're doing andor wherever it is you're going. I wish you the best and I'm happy to see you (in addition to several others, evidently) have been enjoying the story thus far.