The Dark Crusader

by Blackdrag-rose

10: The Hidden Lake

"So you found it," Crimson noted, catching the grin that rested on Twilight's face, "exactly where I said it would be. Leave it to my mother to leave something so important in a place where it could easily get lost and eventually be lost to history forever. I hope you enjoy history, as most of whats in that book was written by my cousin before she vanished and then finished by my own hooves, though I'm willing to bet my mother messed with whats in it."

"I may hazard the same guess dearest nephew," a voice behind them said, causing Crimson to turn around and find his aunt standing behind him, "but I am willing to bet that you could fix the book of any errors that you might find with some time."

"How did you find us so fast?" Crimson asked, merely curious so he could fix the problem before his mother was aware of how close he was to her now.

"I felt the Sigil of Fire once you removed the bindings in the ruined castle," Luna smiled, placing a hoof on the gemstone, "I knew that you would rebind the magic so you could keep it hidden, but I also knew you'd come to Canterlot to explore and see where my sister hid the other Sigils. I can see that she took your suggestion and hid the Sigil of Earth in this hourglass, something she never bothered to show me the moment I returned to who I once was. However, I was shown where the Sigil of Water was located when I came back, so I could show you where it is if the two of you are interested in seeing the third Prime Sigil."

Crimson merely smiled and nodded, silently telling Luna that they'd love to see where the third Sigil was located, to which Luna returned the smile. Twilight was surprised that Crimson was so friendly around Princess Luna, but when he was around Princess Celestia or even spoke about her he seemed to become angry. She really hoped that the book she now carried would tell her exactly what the cause of that anger was, because then she might be able to help him overcome it.

Luna led them out of the royal library, stopping to give Twilight a few seconds to check out the book, and into a side entrance that connected with the main castle. The guards bowed as they made their way down the hallway, though Twilight knew they weren't used to seeing Crimson, as he was the newest member of the alicorn Princes and Princesses. Crimson himself didn't seem to mind the guards, but he had experience with them a thousand years ago and knew that they were merely there to protect everypony.

They made their way past the throne room, where Luna quickly told them that Celestia was in the middle of a very important court session and couldn't be bothered. Crimson seemed to release a sigh of relief at that news, letting them know that he was glad they wouldn't have to deal with his mother just yet. They continued past the throne room and around the next corner, walking down a hallway that slowly cut the sunlight off until the only lights they had were the torches on the walls. Twilight half expected them to travel towards a room near Luna's personal room, but they continued deeper into the hallway until she was sure that they had gone into the mountain itself.

As they walked Twilight thought she heard the sound of running water, but she knew from the maps of the area of Canterlot she had studied that they weren't any rivers that ran through the mountain. Crimson, hearing the water as well, raised an eyebrow as they approached an opening that was surrounded by light, not wasting a second at all. Once they entered the opened area Twilight and Crimson found a rather large lake resting in the ground before them, leaving Twilight to wonder where in the mountain they were.

"A transportation spell," Crimson commented, eying the opening they had entered from, "attached to a doorway like the one we entered and designed to take us someplace else."

"Right you are nephew," Luna said, finding it funny that he had beaten Twilight to the punch, "My sister designed the spell on that doorway, choosing this very location as the place that you would come out at once you stepped through it. Now, take a good look at the lake and tell me what you see."

Twilight stared out at the lake and wondered what they were supposed to be looking for, but after a few seconds she noticed that the water was running all by itself. She cast a short look back at Crimson and spotted the Sigil of Fire, catching a small glow within the gemstone, before returning her gaze to the water. The Sigil had reacted when they had gotten close to the Sigil of Earth, but it had died down the moment that Crimson revealed, even for a second, that the Sigil was the sand itself. It clicked in her mind what she was seeing, though she wondered how long it would have taken her to figure it out without seeing the Sigils of Fire or Earth.

"Its here isn't it?" Twilight asked, turning to Princess Luna to learn the truth, "The Sigil of Water is right in front of us isn't it?"

"That it is," Crimson commented, tapping the water ever so slightly and causing a sapphire glow to appear in the middle of everything, "though the same thing that happened to the Sigil of Earth has happened to the Sigil of Water. My mother transformed this Sigil into a large body of water, which she hid in the center of the mountain that was hiding the other Sigil we just saw. Its funny really, I suggested doing this to the Sigils to prevent our enemies from learning of their existence and here I find that my mother is using my suggestions to hide them in plain sight."

"You had valid suggestions a thousand years ago," Luna remarked, grinning as the water died down and the glow disappeared, "I'm not surprised that my sister decided to use some of them to hide several of our powerful artifacts in plain sight, to confuse our enemies and pretend that they were truly lost. If I know my sister she's waiting for all four Prime Sigils to be out in the open so she can capture them and hide them wherever she wants, no doubt using another of your suggestions. She won't make her move until the Sigil of Air is revealed and she's sure that she can get it before anypony else does."

"She just wants to keep them safe," Twilight said, wondering why Princess Luna though that Celestia was going to take the Sigil from Crimson just like that, "but, as Crimson said not too long ago, the Sigil of Air has been lost for a very long time."

"And its coming back," Crimson replied, stopping Twilight in her tracks, "I cannot share with you all the details of how I know this, but just trust me that I know what I'm talking about."

Twilight moaned and decided that getting a headache from talking to Crimson wasn't something that she really wanted at that moment, not when she had what she had come for. She had the book that would tell her everything, so she really didn't need to waste anymore time with Crimson, as he apparently wanted to spend his time with Princess Luna. She walked to the doorway and passed through it, finding herself back in the hallway they had walked down not ten minutes ago and sighed. Now all she had to do was leave the castle and then head back home, where she could study the book without too many interruptions.

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"You mentioned that it would be a few days before my daughter returned," Luna commented, staring out at the lake as Crimson floated on his cloud next to her, "could you tell me more of what might happen when she arrives so I can prepare for it?"

"It'll be a storm unlike any other," Crimson said, releasing a puff of smoke into the air, "The Everfree Forest doesn't get many storms, but I've noticed that the storm that took Nightfury is going to occur again sometime tomorrow. I have spent the last thousand years setting up hundreds of spells and runes all across the forest, all designed to release Nightfury from wherever she's being held and bring her back to us. All those spells get tiring after a while, thus I have taken to sleeping on a cloud that allows me to rest until I have the strength to do the same thing at a different site."

"And you plan on keeping the Sigil of Fire with you?" Luna asked, curious if he'd say the same thing to her that he had said a thousand years ago.

"For as long as I can," Crimson replied, sighing as he stared up at the ceiling, "Look, Aunt Luna, I'm sorry for whatever pain I may have caused you a thousand years ago, but I can promise you that I will do whatever I can to bring Nightfury back to us."

"I'm overjoyed to hear you say that," Luna said, tears running down as she thought about her daughter, "I can't wait to see my darling Nightfury again after so many years. I'm sure that she and Twilight will get along, seeing how they both enjoy reading and studying whatever catches their eyes, be it Pinkie Pie or the Sigils themselves. I'm sure if Twilight knew how to reverse the spell that Celestia cast on the Sigils she would undo them and then take them to her castle so she could study them."

"Just one more day," Crimson commented, blowing another puff into the air and twisting it into the shape of a serpent, "just one more day and she'll return to those that miss her dearly."

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Twilight emerged from the hallway that they had taken and made her way towards the throne room, just so she could leave the castle and go home. The guards saluted her as she passed, to which she nodded at them and allowed them to relax as she moved further down the hallway. She eventually made her way towards the throne room, where she found the door was opened and decided that she might as well tell Princess Celestia about the Sigil she was looking for. She peeked her head into the throne room and found Princess Celestia sitting in her usual place, with her usual two guards waiting at the bottom.

"Oh, Twilight," Celestia said, surprised that her student would visit without an advanced letter being sent to her, "What brings you to Canterlot this evening?"

Twilight had been caught up in discovering so much about Crimson that she had forgotten that it had been the early morning when she had left Ponyville. So much had gone on that day that she had, for the moment, lost track of the time and then realized that she was getting hungry for missing lunch. She'd make sure to grab something before she started studying the book she had found, but she needed to tell the Princess what she found out.

"Just showing Crimson around," Twilight answered, walking up to the throne, "He's talking to Princess Luna right now, so I thought I'd come here and tell you what I found out."

"Oh?" Celestia said, wondering what her student could have found out about her son that made her want to share with her, "And what have you found out Twilight?"

"He's got the Sigil of Fire," Twilight replied, knowing that Princess Celestia would want to know that it had been found again, "He stashed it in the ruined castle with his royal jewelry. I showed him around the city for a bit, but we found where the other two Sigils, Earth and Water, are hiding. Unfortunately Crimson doesn't want to give the Sigil over, but I thought that you'd want to know that he had it."

"I knew he had it stashed away somewhere," Celestia sighed, knowing that her son would not part with the Sigil if she asked for it, "I'll have to convince Luna to ask him if she can have the Sigil for a while, so we can properly secure it with the others. Was there anything else that he said that I should know about?"

For a moment Twilight considered asking what had made Crimson so mad at her that all he could think of was his anger whenever the two of them were in the same area. Instead of asking about that she decided to share what he had told her, about the fourth Sigil that she had originally been told was lost to everypony.

"Yes, there is," Twilight said, "Crimson confessed to both Luna and myself that the fourth Sigil, the Sigil of Air, was going to come back to Equestria soon. He wouldn't share exactly how he knew it was going to come back or when it was coming back, but he wanted us to know that it would be returning soon."

"I see," Celestia said, not sure if her son had lied to them or had spoken the truth, "Well, I'll be sure to keep my eyes out for its return then, if my son was telling the truth."

Twilight nodded and excused herself, knowing that there was something going on between Princess Celestia and Crimson Flare that she didn't want to get caught between. She had her book and all the secrets that it could contain about Crimson and Nightfury, secrets she was excited to find out. She just needed to go home and she could start uncovering everything.

Comments

[Sonata Blaze]

Celestia, please don't get any funny ideas and leave Crimson alone. But the lazyness is explained, somewhat.

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

5856691 Soon enough I'd think, once Crimson is settled in, in like another chapter.

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

Twilight better get her big nose out of that business before she really pisses off Crimson.

[Sonata Blaze]

5859527 Twilight is a scholar, I don't think she can help it.

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

5860309 That's gonna suck for her then. Many a Scholar's back on Pandora got killed, some quite horrifically, by that scientific curiosity of their's.

[Sonata Blaze]

5862853 I think Twilight might walk onto something that will take her curiosity and make her want to learn more about it. I know that if she gets her hooves on one of the other Sigils she'll run as many tests as she can on it before somepony takes it away from her.

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

5862893 That mare is crazy.

[Sonata Blaze]

5863117 She's crazy to think that she could acquire one of them. I know she's thinking about it. I don't think Celestia would part with the Earth and Water ones, and Crimson already said that he wouldn't give Fire away. Her only hope would be to find the Wind one first.

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

5863157 Which is probably in some other hooves by now. Good luck with that one you purple neck pain.

[Sonata Blaze]

5863216 Lol. I wish her luck in trying to get the last Sigil.
Celestia though, using her sister's connection to her son to try and get the Sigil of Fire. That's a dirty move on her part.

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

5863232 And I do believe we're just getting started with her machinations.

[Sonata Blaze]

5864489 It makes me wonder whats in that book that Twilight checked out. Must be important if Celestia went through all that effort to hide it and change its appearance for normal ponies.