Awakening
Without the blizzard that had obscured every possible sightseeing opportunity the last time they were here, Sunny, Flurry, and their traveling companions were enjoying their first evening in the far north with an absolutely stunning night sky, with a small campfire and dinner to keep them somewhat warm.
"Pretty good first day, wouldn't you say?" Sunny asked Flurry.
"Absolutely. I'm thrilled that so much of the library's contents are still intact. So many works that will be made anew. That is, if more modern research hasn't overridden what we knew back then," the alicorn replied.
So far, they had loaded nearly half the trailer with books from the library that were in good enough condition to be scanned, copied, and possibly redistributed if there was enough demand for ancient Equestrian reading material. Flurry had gathered what personal effects she wanted for this trip, and began to sort what she would want to possibly collect on the next, as there would be at least two more trips to completely clear out the library of books.
"So," Sprout said, as he was warming his hooves in front of the fire. "What do you think of the odds of this place getting repopulated?"
"Um, Sprout, are you sure that that's not, you know, a bit disrespectful?" Sunny asked.
"Probably not in the way that you think, Sunny," Flurry replied. "We completely evacuated the city. As for repopulating, I suppose that would depend on all the snow melting, but even if the weather does mellow out a bit, this place was inhospitable without the Crystal Heart. That's not the only hurdle to clear, either. It's a two-and-a-half day drive to get here in that vehicle of yours. Unless Equestria's ancient railways are replaced, I don't see ponies moving here to be a very realistic idea. But at the end of the day, I hardly know what the future holds."
"Yeah, that's a good point. Even after reunification, there's still a lot of recovery and rebuilding to do," Sprout admitted. Maybe if the snow does clear, and we get all of the important artifacts out, we could make it a ghost town attraction."
Sunny just shook her head with a smile.
"I think we're considerably far away from that, Sprout. But you never know," Sunny told him. No doubt there were many more ancient places to explore, or, perhaps settlements that Maretime Bay, Zephyr Heights, and Bridlewood had merely fallen out of contact with.
After dinner, Zipp and Pipp decided to do one more trip into the library to get another container into the trailer. Once they had done that, they were just over half loaded, and if they kept a good pace, they would be ready to head out sometime tomorrow evening, towing several tons worth of books back to Maretime Bay. Flurry had already collected all of the personal items that she wanted to keep, so would likely help Sunny in the castle library tomorrow. But for now, it was time to get some shut eye. With their bellies full, the tiredness from the last day of work now quickly set in. With everything put away in the hidden compartments, there was more than enough room for everypony to stretch out in their sleeping bags, and Sunny had half a mind to ask Sprout what the timetable would be for getting a glass roof for the Scouticus, because falling asleep under the stars would be awesome, were it not for the still considerably freezing temperatures outside.
As the interior lights were dimmed, the vehicle's occupants quickly drifted off to sleep. Except for Flurry, who couldn't seem to get her mind to settle. It was like the first night camping with Sunny on the way to Maretime Bay again. She consistently felt a presence tugging at her. The discomfort seemed to ebb and flow, and just as it seemed like it would fade entirely, it would return like the tide.
'Flurry Heart... Come to me...'
Flurry's eyes shot open at the sound of the voice. She quietly sat up, and looked around the cabin, finding everyone else sound asleep. Getting all her gear on wouldn't be possible with the sleeping ponies, so she carefully stepped around her resting companions, and opened the side door as quietly as she could, stepping out into the snow and slowly pushing the door shut again, looking around.
'Flurry...'
The voice almost seemed like it was being carried on the wind, towards the castle. Lighting up her horn, she cast a warming spell so she wouldn't get chilled, and began trotting towards gargantuan structure. The sky was still clear, with countless stars dotting the night sky, with snow blowing up from the numerous drifts into the wind of the night.
Rather than go into the front entrance, she took to the air with a few flaps of her wings, and landed on the front balcony, stepping through the half-frozen curtains to the Crystal Heart chamber.
'Come... Embrace your heritage.' The voice called as she headed up the second floor staircase.
"Hello?" She called, her own voice echoing down the empty, frozen corridor. She walked towards the large doors of the throne room, and pushed them open, revealing the iced-over interior of the seat of the Empire, and her throat went dry as she saw who currently sat on the throne.
The purple alicorn stood from her sitting position, her curved horn crackling with magic.
"Embrace your birthright!" She shouted, shaking the walls.
Flurry's eyes widened.
"Opaline!"
Flurry Heart shot up in her sleeping bag with a gasping breath. She looked around, finding herself right where she had fallen asleep in the Scouticus. She calmed her breathing as she breathed in relief that it had just been a dream. She glanced up at the dashboard of the idling vehicle, seeing that there was still three hours to go before the sun would rise.
But before she laid back down, the realization hit her; that it may have been more than a dream.
She once again, got up, for real this time, and grabbed her saddlebags with a few snacks in them; she'd need something to eat. She stepped outside, and quickly lit a fire in the empty stone pit as she began warming the kettle of water for a cup of coffee. She would get an early start in the library, hoping that what she was now looking for wasn't packed away in the containers in the trailer.
The flames of the early morning campfire danced in her eyes as she tried to shoo away the very disturbing possibility that Princess Twilight's fallen student was still out there; still hunting for the magic that she had been denied.
The magic that had just been returned to Equestria after generations.
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Yay new chapter!
As great as that's idea might be, the chances of ponies traveling to see that are slim atm.
I hope this doesn't lead to Flurry taking the role Discord takes in the G5 comics, thinking ponies shouldn't have magic at all because it's too dangerous.
Sprout: still socially clueless. 😆
Dun dun dun!
11595765
I quite agree. It would probably be a lot better to try to prepare her new friends for the inevitable battle with Opaline as much as possible through open discussion and proper training.
11595747
Indeed. Only the most adventurous and/or most curious about the past would try their luck.
Again, a well done chapter. Appreciate the effort going into the dialogue, characterizations and future chapter set-up once more. REALLY liked the discussion of such things as how good of shape the library is, how beautiful the Crystal Empire is without the snowstorm obscuring it and how there isn't much that would make the Crystal Empire a practical ghost town attraction without getting the railways back in proper working condition. However, Flurry just had another premonition concerning Opaline. Hopefully, Flurry will see the wisdom and necessity in making sure her new friends are as well prepared for Opaline as possible through proper training and equipment as well as careful research.
Anyway, definitely looking forward to more of this.
And I'm wishing everyone a Safe and Sane Memorial Day.
Yeah there has to be other cities and towns out there
Oh no I figured that flurry Hearts past will come to haunt her sooner or later especially this Pony
So it looks like Sunny flurry heart and the others finally got some of the books into the vehicle and before they go they want to check it out if they can get some more but they need to rest out because they got a long travel to go but it looks like flurry heart heard something and she saw she never thought to see again and it turns out she knows Opaline the Fallen student at Twilight tried to teach but ending up another repeat of the history and flurry heart knows that she is out there I wonder if she's going to explain to them maybe they can be prepared for her I guess we'll find out next time
Is it bad that after Sprout said "repopulation," my mind when somewhere else...?
11595914
Well, considering Flurry Heart as an adult is probably rather attractive, I can understand WHY your mind would go there, especially since her late mother WAS the Alicorn of Love. Still, the mind going there DOES make Sprout look a little too perverted, especially toward a gal who is WAY more powerful than he is. :-D
I kind of hope Flurry is able to handle this news in the right manner, she should never lose sight of who she is but she needs to toughen her resolve right quick.
She is all these ponies really know when it comes to the past and what dangers lurked in it, what might still be out there. She is our darling Flurry Heart but she does need to mature quickly and honestly, I almost feel like a Celestia, mentor like mindset might help her here.
11595853
Most likely.
11595919
Whatever else he is, Sprout is a stallion, and Flurry is a beautiful mare. Is it that much of a surprise his mind went there? Doubt Flurry would fall for him though.
Hopefully.
Nice work!
wow two amazing chapters.
Another great chapter!
Flurry, please tell me that was not a vision-
The next chapter will probably have her say "Watch out for somepony named Opaline: she's a bad egg and probably why the world's a mess in the first place."
Make your mark chapter 4 starts tuesday. Cant wait to see what direction you take your stories after you watch those episodes.
A ominous dream, that's not a good sign.