The empire of gears

by ShadyMcChangeling

Chapter 7: Art of the Codex.

"What have ya got there Twilight?" Asked Applejack.
Twilight jumped and nearly fell off her seat. "It's just a, note saying that Mirror won't be able to make it to breakfast." Sputtered Twilight,
A forced smile on her muzzle.

"There anything else?" Asked Applejack putting some toast on her plate.

"Nope!" Lied Twilight, Applejack narrowed her eyes.

"Well if that's the case." Said rarity, gesturing with her fork. "We should hope that-" Rarity stared at the quivering mess that was Rainbow Dash. "That's it! Rainbow Dash, I am cutting you off!" Said Rarity levitating the sheer amount of coffee cups away from Rainbow.

"No! My precious!" Said rainbow grabbing a few cups. She held them like they were her only source of life, she promptly hissed at them soon flying off to somewhere unknown.

"We might need to do somethin' about her." Said Applejack.

"Agreed" Said Rarity.
The only sound thereafter was of spike munching on his gemstones.

---

After they finished their breakfast, another scroll edmyron came. Twilight opened the scroll.

1. Yes, I know where Rainbow is. we bumped into each other.
2. The sewing parlor is on the B level and on the left.
3. The orchard and farming area is on the ground floor, door 6-Y.
4. Pinkie is already in the bouncy room.
5. The bird conservatory is on the 63rd floor, decorated door you can't miss it.
6. The library is on the east corridor right at the end.
7. I think you get the idea.

It took a moment for Twilight to register what the last note meant, it then occurred to her what he meant.

"So rarity I hear there is a sewing room on.." She looked back at the note for a moment. "..Level B, I don't suppose-" said Twilight, being cut off

"Wait! Did you say sewing room?" Asked rarity leaning towards Twilight, her eyes a bit larger than usual.

"Um. Yes why is that so importa-" Said Twilight, cut off once more.

"Twilight! Don't you see? If this room is just a dinning hall," she motioned all around her. "Then this sewing room must be just, if not more, grand!" Twilight swore that, if she had a device that could measure joy, Rarity would be off the charts.

"Excuse me everyone, I have a room to go see!" Said Rarity trotting towards a door before pausing.

"Where is the room again?" Asked Rarity, staring sheepishly at Twilight.

"Level B, on the left." Replied Twilight.

"Thank you!~" Sang Rarity, the door closing behind her with a clang.

"Well, she seems happy." Smiled Applejack.

"Fluttershy, according to this letter," said Twilight reading the note again. "there's a bird conservatory on the sixty-third floor."

"That does sound nice, meeting all the birds." said Fluttershy.

"Well he said the door is decorated, apparently you cant miss it." Said Twilight sounding a bit sceptical.

"Fluttershy, go and meet the birds, ah' won't stop ya" Said Applejack, cheering Fluttershy on.
Fluttershy left with a smile on her face, and a quiet Squee.

"Twilight, ah'm startin' to see a pattern here." Said Applejack looking at Twilight.

"So, what's fer me?" Asked Applejack, Her eagerness barely showing through.

"There is a farm and orchard on the ground floor, door six-Y."

"Well," Said Applejack walking towards a door. "Bye Twilight, good luck on your room." Waved Applejack, the door closing behind her with a clang.

"Come on spike, we have a library to explore!" Said Twilight, a large grin on her face.
When they reached the large entrance to the library, the doors slowly opened revealing a huge expansive room filled with stacks upon stacks of bookshelves.

"Whoa, Rarity wasn't kidding." Said Spike, flabbergasted.
Twilight's face seemed to have some trouble choosing between a look of joy or astonishment.

"Twilight? Twilight? Hello, Equestria to alicorn?"

"Oh, sorry Spike. I um.. Got a bit distracted by all the books."

Spike raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Ya don't say huh."
Twilight fixed Spike with a deadpan stare. "Har, har, har.."

"So Spike where should we start first?"

"I don't know, you're the book-worm!" Said Spike crossing his arms.

"Oh come on, There must be at least one thing that you'd like to read in here."

"Twilight the only things in here are old legends and history books," Said spike, annoyance in his voice.

Spike spotted an Edmyron standing at a bookshelf nearby. "I can't just say-" Spike cleared his throat.

"- Excuse me, I'd like a book with a daring hero and thrilling storyline, and he'd just go and get it!" Said Spike trying to prove a point.
Unbeknownst to him, the Edmyron had heard his request and walked to a bookshelf on the other side of the room, and returned with a moderate sized, leather-bound book.

"Like I said there's only boring books in here." Said Spike holding his claw out facing upwards to accentuate his point.
The Edmyron then promptly put the book in his outstretched claw.
Spike felt the book in his claw and looked at it. "Huh?"

Spike observed the book closely. "What's this? The great adventures of Tsul Karoo: The bearer of fire."

"So what was that Spike, 'There's only boring books in here'." Mocked Twilight with a smirk on her face.
Spike looked at the book, then at Twilight, then the book, then Twilight.
He opened his mouth to say something, but sighed in defeat instead.

Spike opened the book and started to read. "Wow, this is good, to bad i don't have a chair to sit in."
Again the Edmyron headed off to the far side of the library.

"He's bringing a chair isn't he."
The Edmyron set an ornate armchair behind Spike.

"Well then..."

"It's pretty dark in here, too bad i don't have a reading lamp."
The Edmyron set a tall lamp next to the chair and switched it on, bathing Spike and the book in light.

"I officially now like this place" Said Spike his voice bearing a hint of defeat and joy simultaneously.

Twilight giggled at what had transpired before her.

"So Spike, aren't you coming to help me look for books?"
Spike replied without taking his eyes off the book. "Nah, Tsul first, books last."

"you can ask him though." Said Spike motioning to the Edmyron, still not taking his eyes off the book.

Twilight walked up to the Edmyron and asked. "Are there any books documenting this city's mechanisms and structure?"

"And any books on the process of Golemic animation?"
The Edmyron walked two steps then turned to Twilight, it motioned it's claw like it was a cat.
Twilight was a bit stumped. "Uhh.." The Edmyron repeated the action. "Do you want me to follow you?" The Edmyron nodded.

"Oh, OK then." Twilight said as She followed the Edmyron.
The Edmyron stopped at an isle of the library and motioned towards it.
Twilight looked up and saw a sign that said 'Building journals and mechanisms.'.

"OK, but what about the Golemic animation?" Asked Twilight.

The Edmyron merely shook it's head.

"Oh well, thank you nonetheless." Said Twilight to the Emyron.
It bowed and walked back to it's position.

Twilight started to read the books she was guided to.

---

After a half hour of research Twilight found out a quite a few things about the city, one was that the entire city was a huge conglomerate of extremely complex mechanisms.
Two was that Mirror mask designed the city to house thousands of rooms, yet leave the mechanisms more than enough room to function.
And three was that a large crystal somewhere in the place held a huge amount of power collected by the occasional lightning storm, the power was used to heat a literal lakes worth of water into steam to power almost three-fourths of the city.

Twilight mentally clapped at the feat.

She figured that she'd might as well copy some of Mirror's schematics for use throughout Equestria.

"Urk- Dammit, need to oil that door."
Twilight saw a door open on the far side of the room,
Mirror walked into the library and went out of Twilight's view.

She heard a voice,

"zu haalvut tahrovin, zu koraav kun lah ko golt."
But Twilight didn't recognize the language at all.

"zu fent koraav tahrovin ko miraad se dii wundun."
Twilight saw Mirror seemingly teleport out of the room and through the door he came in.
A loud clang sounded as the door closed.

"Huh..." Was the only word that came to Twilight at that moment.

"Wait a second, didn't Mirror mention that his name was ancient changeling?" Thought Twilight.

"Well technically.. No, but that is the logical assumption."

"But that didn't sound like ancient changeling at all."

"I suppose.. But didn't Mirror mention that there are ancient changeling stories in here?"

"He did, but I don't know where to find the story section."

Twilight, instead of using her mind's voice said that last bit out loud.

The nearby Edmyron Walked up to her and pointed to a sign suspended over a set of bookshelves on the opposite side of the room.
The sign read, "Ye olde Changeling tales."

"Well, thank you again." Said Twilight.
The Edmyron bowed once more, and returned to it's post.

"let's see what we have here." Thought Twilight.
Twilight pulled out a book and was greeted with:

"Narratio de insignis creatura."

"Of COURSE it's written in ancient changeling!" Thought Twilight as she facehooved.
Twilight at this moment felt very stupid for not realizing this sooner.

Twilight took the book and walked to the Edmyron.

"Is there any chance there is a translated version of this?" Asked Twilight holding up the book.
The Edmyron shook it's head.

"Oh come on!" Shouted Twilight mentally.

Twilight heard laughing in the direction of Spike.

"Is there any books here to learn ancient Changeling?" Asked Twilight.
The Edmyron turned around, took a large book out of the shelf behind it, and presented it to Twilight.

"Huh? Ancient Changeling to Modern English/Prench."

"Well, thanks!" Said Twilight.
The Edmyron winked at her.

"This is gonna take awhile." Thought Twilight setting down the book to read it.

---

If Twilight was something, then that something was that she was a very fast learner.
After just two hours of study she estimated she knew a fifth of the language already.

However a certain dragon broke her focus.

"No Tsul! Don't give up the fire, it's all the world has!"

"Spike I'm trying to concentrate!" Was what Twilight wanted to say.

"Perspicio ego temptatis Spike!" Were the words that came out.

"Twilight what did you just say" Asked Spike.

"Loquellam meam non cognoscitis?" Asked Twilight, worry strewn across her face.

"Uhh.. You feeling alright?" Asked Spike, his eyebrow raised.

"O, non! Ego perdidit in hunc Disputatio." Said Twilight clasping her head in her hooves.
Twilight took deep breath, then said

"Okay, now do you understand me?"

"whew, I thought I lost you there." Said Spike letting out a sigh of relief.
The two then heard a deep voiced bell ring six times.
Twilight looked out of a window nearby and saw that it was already dusk.

"Uhh, Spike I think-" Started Twilight.

"That we should get to the room?" Finished Spike.

"Yeah." Agreed Twilight.

---

Twilight and Spike made their way through the city and to their room.

"What ya got there Twilight?" Asked Spike seeing the book under Twilight's wing.

"Oh this?-" she held the book in her magic,

"Just some old changeling stories. I figured since I can read it, I might as well." She noticed spike was holding something.

"What's that?" Twilight asked.

"The great adventures of Tsul Karoo: The bearer of fire" Spike recited word for word.

"It seems we both picked up something to read."

"Rainbow! Snap out of it already." Was heard from their room.

"It's no use Applejack, something nefarious is going on here." Said Rarity, in a rather serious tone.

"What's going on?" Asked Twilight.
Rainbow dash sat on the far side of the room, holding her head in her hooves.
Twilight walked over to Rainbow and said, "Rainbow, what's wrong?"
Near immediately, Rainbow returned to normal.

"What happened? I..." Said Rainbow before fainting.
Rarity and Applejack spoke in unison, "Is she okay!?"
After a moment Twilight said, "Yeah she's fine, just a bit shook up."

"What happened here?" Asked Twilight.

"Well, when we got here-" started Rarity.

"Rainbow was all fine and dandy-" Continued Applejack.

"Then all of a sudden, she was sitting on that spot-" Said rarity pointing to where Rainbow had been.

"Kept on mumblin' about ice, and cryin' an' talkin' bout' a mask." finished Applejack.

"Odd, I did a scan on her and nothing showed up."

"Ah' told you it aint' magical." Said Applejack.

"Well what if the magic was made to not show up on a scan?" Retorted Rarity

"Girls can we-" Said Twilight, cut off as usual.

"Stay out of this." Was simultaneously uttered by Applejack and rarity.
Twilight chose to heed their warning, instead laying on her bed and reading.

---

Fluttershy and Pinkie entered their room together, telling Rarity and Applejack about their rooms.
At some point the argument between AJ and Rarity became a Mexican-style staring stand-off.
But twilight was more interested in the book she was reading.

In a time where the sun and moon moved on their own accord,
There lived a race that held The world in It's gentle yet firm grasp.
They did not force the plants and animals to bend to their will,
Instead they became one with energy around them.
They knew the ways of the universe,
They knew not chaos, only a source of energy to be used.
They were gifted the powers of sadness, anger, and fear,
They used these powers deftly, building great machines and cites that touched the sky.
They were extremely adept researchers and magic users,
They made music that tied to their emotions,
And held knowledge above anything else.
But one day a new power came into their realm,
One that enslaved the world totally.
They used magic to shackle the sun and moon,
And treated chaos and imbalance as if it were a poison to the world.
The plants and animals had their freedom taken by force,
And declared war on the originals yet they did nothing wrong.
Their cites were erased and their history clouded,
They killed thousands of innocents and Drove them into hiding.
But there was a prophecy the originals had faith in,

Twilight's irises became pinpricks when she read the next paragraph.

"He who control the shadows, are the one that will lead us,
They have conquered the evil within themselves to see the darkness within the light.
There will be one who bears the elements three,
And his reign will set this world free from it's prison.
Against harmony he will battle six,
And see that they all fall.
In a world of black and white,
He will stand, a stoic grey guardian. "

"Everyone, you all might want to see this." Twilight said, a look of still terror latched to her face.
She set the book face up.
While they read, Twilight did a thousand yard stare.

"Well that's not very nice!" Said Applejack.

"controllin' the sun an moon, enslaven' the world." Applejack said as she shook her head.

"I don't see the problem, it's just a story." Said Rarity.

"Don't you see?! We attacked the originals!" Shouted Twilight, looking like a crazy mare.
Rarity and Applejack looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Oh Twilight, you nearly had me for a moment." Said Rarity, wiping away her tears of mirth.

"Us? Attack anypony? Heh, good one Twilight." Said Applejack giggling between sentences.

"Okay then. Let me clarify," Said Twilight her tone extremely serious.

"What did the first line of the story say?" Asked Twilight, truly determined.

"Sigh, 'In a time where the sun and moon moved on their own accord'." Said Applejack reluctantly.

"Alright, now what was the second thing the invaders did in the story?"

"Twilight dear, do we really-" A hard glare answered Rarity. "Fine, 'They used magic to shackle the sun and moon'."

"And what do princesses Celestia and luna do?" Asked Twilight a small smirk on her face.

"Control the sun and moon." Applejack and Rarity said in tandem.
They stood for a moment before sharing a look of terror between them.

"Twilight you surely aren't saying?.." Said Rarity shakily

"Yup.. We're them." Said Twilight with a deadpan stare.

"But,But, that could just be a coincidence, right?" Asked Rarity.

"'treated chaos and imbalance as if it were a poison to the world.','plants and animals had their freedom taken by force,', it just fits too perfectly." Said Twilight accentuating with her hoof.

"Ah' think Ah' need to lie down a bit.." Said Applejack slowly walking towards one of the beds.

"I..think so as well..." Said Rarity, looking the same as Applejack.
Twilight also had her doubts.

"Happenstance! That's all it is!" Thought Twilight.

"'Tell someone an absolute truth, and they think it's a lie.'" Thought Twilight to herself.

"B-But, harmony is good right?!" Thought Twilight, fruitlessly.

"'Absolute harmony breeds stagnation, which breeds sterility.'" Retorted Twilight.

"B-B-But-" Attempted Twilight.

"We can't run from the truth, the only thing we can do, is ask ourselves-" Started Twilight.

"Are we really the good guys?" Thought Twilight, lying down and staring at the ceiling.

---