章 122: Chapter 122: The Crystal Empire 4
"Hello, Librarian~" Twilight Sparkle took a moment to blink the shock out of her mind for a moment as Prince Blueblood turned to face her and her friends, wearing a sapphire blue suit with a hooked cane levitating beside him, the head of the stick resting on his shoulder.
"Wha- What are you doing at the library?!" Twilight asked him, her eyes roaming around the multi-storied library that they stood inside. Crystal bookshelves that reached for the ceiling reflected the rays of sunlight that entered through the tall window on the opposite side of the library, giving the entire building an almost prismatic sheen.
"I... I just said that this is the BBF's current temporary HQ. Were you not listening?" Blueblood asked before shaking his head, "No matter, come on in, It's good that all of you are finally here!" He motioned to the group to enter before he turned his back to them, walking around the table in the middle of the floor so he could both face the group while keeping his attention on whatever was on there.
"No- I mean, why here?" Twilight explained as she started making her way down some stairs, to the lowered floor of the Crystal Library, "Why in this library?" Her friends walked after her, their eyes looking around them as they got a better look at the place.
"This library is big," Blueblood started his explanation, his eyes roaming over the thing on the table he was looking at, "It's also the only place where we could find any knowledge about the Crystal Empire."
"Any?"
"Yes, The Castle in the middle..." Blueblood's horn started shining, creating a holographic image of the castle, A towering crystal spire that stands above all other buildings in the Empire, "We searched the place, as thoroughly as we could with the time constraints given to us," The image shifted, the walls of the castle peeling away to show the inside of the building, like the architectural blueprints of the palace unraveled in front of them.
"And there wasn't another library in the castle?" Applejack asked as she walked up to stand beside Twilight, her eyes focusing on the Illusion of the Castle.
"Oh no, there was a library," Blueblood said, the illusion zooming in to a section of the castle on the third floor, "There just weren't any books in there."
Twilight and her friends stared at the Illusion of the castle's Library, bookshelves carved out of brilliant crystals reached the ceiling of the roof, standing in rows upon rows of towering cabinets and shelves, a crystal staircase standing in the middle of the floor, leading up to the floor above, where more bookshelves sat on the wall, circling the floor below them as a balcony looked down.
Twilight frowned at the image, not because there weren't any books in the library shown, but because there were.
Stains of soot and ash marked the brilliant crystals, like specks of filth that pulled her eyes away from the beauty that should have been there. The books in the library were blackened and burnt, their pages openly torn apart, and their covers were already rotting away.
"He burnt books..." Twilight whispered at the sight, of what must have been hundreds of years of History, knowledge, and art that should have been kept and preserved by the Crystal Empire, that could have inspired generations, full of priceless books and tomes.
Burnt away, destroyed, by a tyrant.
"Why would he do that?" Twilight asked herself, trying to find a reason why anypony would ever find the need to burn books.
"Because those books housed the secret to taking him down." Blueblood told her bluntly, his horn dimming as the illusion disappeared, "From what we know about him, Sombra wasn't a fighter. He was a scholar, a wizard, he relied on his mind and magic more than anything. If there was a magical way the people could defeat him, knowledge about it would have been kept in that library,"
"But-"
"Twilight Sparkle," Blueblood said her name loudly, making her close her mouth, "While I would love to keep talking about libraries, I believe we have more important things to discuss."
"I- Yes... of course." Twilight sighed as the topic changed.
"Good," Blueblood looked at the six mares, "Six days ago, The Crystal Empire resurfaced from a thousand-year-long stay outside of time. With its resurfacing, so did King Sombra." Blueblood's horn shined as a new illusion appeared in front of him, "There are no records of his past before he took over the Empire, and neither are there any records of his time ruling it." The illusion was that of a black-maned Unicorn with grey fur, his Horn bent backward, reminiscent of the Unicorns of the Far East, only much smoother, the horn turning from the dark grey of its base to a crimson red the closer it reached the tip.
"Regular spells have no effect on him," Blueblood continued as the group stared at the Illusion of Sombra, "He can pass through a regular barrier as if it isn't there. Only Love and Light seem to have any noticeable effect on him. We have searched this Library for-"
"Why are there so many Yaks here?" Before Blueblood could finish catching the group up, Pinkie Pie raised her hoof and asked a question.
"...As I was saying, We have searched this library for-" Blueblood ignored the pink mare.
"Can you teach me that secret ninja hold you did on me when we met in the Canterlot Archives? Oh! What about the golden spider thing besides you? Does it have a name?!" Pinkie Pie spoke up once more, asking more questions.
"...I'll answer any question any of you might have," One of his eyes twitched as he turned to stare at Pinkie Pie, "After I'm done speaking. Good?"
Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to respond.
"Good! Now, as I was saying. We have searched this library for a way to defeat Sombra and stop him from taking back control of the Empire, and we have found it. You should go visit Prince Rutherford to learn more, he decided to take over the Search for it." Blueblood closed his eyes to rest them for a bit, the serious look on his face slowly melting away as a chuckle started to escape his lips.
"Ehh, Twilight? why is he laughing?" Rainbow Dash asked with a loud whisper as a smile stretched over the Prince's tired face, his chuckles turning into loud and boisterous laughter.
"Because we can finally defeat King Sombra!" Blueblood said loudly, his eyes opening once more, burning with a fiery resolve, "With the Elements of Harmony, Sombra stands no chance! The concentrated blast of positive Magic will defeat him faster than any Enemy you girls could have possibly faced! And with Sombra out of the picture, Cadance can drop the barrier and let Shining Armor take over protection duty, no longer needing to worry that Sombra would just pass through the barrier! We Won! We can defeat him and then finally get this whole mess cleaned up!" Blueblood said loudly, his smile infectious enough that even Pinkie Pie started laughing.
"We don't have them with us." Rainbow Dash said, trying to hide her words behind a cough.
"Hmm?" Blueblood's laughter quieted down, "Did you say something?"
"We don't have them with us right now..." Rainbow Dash rubbed her hooves together, a nervous look on her face as the Prince's eyes stared into her own.
"You... Don't have the Elements of Harmony on you?" Blueblood went over what Rainbow Dash said, "Oh, I see. They're with Cadance, kept safe with her in case one of you dropped them as you scoured the houses for your own information~" Blueblood chuckled at that, "Oh I knew you were here, You aren't exactly a regular sight, I was told of your arrival hours ago~"
"No, Your Highness..." Applejack smiled nervously as she opened her mouth, "What Rainbow Dash meant to say was that we don't have the Elements with us... at all."
Blueblood stared blankly at the orange mare, silently judging her words, letting her stew in awkwardness under his gaze.
"Hahahaha! You got me! Hahaha!" Only to burst into laughter a few seconds later, "Not bringing the Elements of Harmony? Hahaha! You got me! You really did have me fooled there for a second!" His laughter died down as he smiled at the mares, "Not bringing the Elements of Harmony? That's the dumbest thing I've heard all week, you really did get me there. Now, enough jokes. Where are the Elements of Harmony? The sooner we can get rid of Sombra the sooner we can focus on finding the Crystal Heart and renewing the barrier keeping the cold out."
Twilight swallowed as Rainbow Dash and Applejack turned to stare at her with eyes of worry. Rarity fanned herself as she looked away, trying to ignore the train wreck that was coming, Fluttershy joining her in turning away."
Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to explain-
"It's not a joke, the Elements of Harmony are still in Canterlot!" Only for Pinkie Pie to speak up first, causing the rest of the group to cringe in anticipation of the reaction the Prince was surely going to have.
"I don't feel good about this..." Spike said as he slowly walked backward, moving to hide behind Twilight's back.
Blueblood stared blankly ahead, the small smile on his face was wiped away, replaced by a neutral frown as he slowly turned his head to look at Pinkie Pie, the pink pony looking around in worry, not understanding why she was getting this reaction.
"The Elements of Harmony... Are still in Canterlot?" Blueblood repeated her words, his voice monotone and tired, sounding less like he was speaking and closer to a machine giving out factual information.
Twilight heard Rainbow Dash gulp.
"...Yes?" Pinkie Pie responded.
"...You came all this way, and didn't bring the Elements with you..." Blueblood wasn't asking, he was speaking, "You... A Librarian, A Farmer, A Seamstress, An Animal Caretaker, A Weather Pegasus, and a Pastry Chef... none of them with any military or disaster rescue training... all of them civilians... knowingly make their way to the frozen tundra outside the borders of Equestria, where an ancient Empire magically returns from a thousand-year-long disappearance, haunted by an ancient and evil Wizard King... And they don't bring the one thing that they have that could solve the problem going on with no visible downsides..."
The walking Cane that levitated on the Prince's shoulder lowered to the ground, the prince leaning both his front hooves on the stick as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His horn glowed as he levitated the documents in front of him onto a different table, clearing the crystal table.
"...The punchline to this joke better make me laugh."
"..." Pinkie Pie looked around her, trying to see if her friends knew what was happening, "There is no joke?" She tried to ask, shrugging her shoulders, trying to smile a smile that would defuse the situation.
"..." Blueblood stared blankly at Pinkie Pie before he turned to stare at Twilight Sparkle.
The two locked eyes for but a moment, and as Twilight stared into the ice-blue glaciers, she knew something was going to happen.
Before Twilight could try and diffuse the situation, the table between the two of them flipped into the air, blocking the group's view of the Prince.
"What the-" Rainbow Dash yelped only to watch as the table shattered like glass, shards of crystal being sent flying as the group quickly moved to cover their faces.
"Dead... Dead... Dead..." Twilight heard Blueblood speak through the shower of crystals, the sounds of her friends yelping following every utterance of the word.
"Dead... Dead... Dead..." Twilight froze as she felt something cold touch her neck, She slowly opened her eyes and looked down, watching a sharp shard of crystal levitate against her neck, almost tickling at her carotid artery, as if mockingly telling her that it could kill her with a single twitch.
"And... Dead." She heard Blueblood whisper in her ear before the crystal shard dropped onto the floor, giving Twilight the room to take a breath and go over what just happened.
"What the heck was that?!" She heard Rainbow Dash yell, the shard that hovered beside her neck also dropping to the ground.
"That was an example of what could happen," Blueblood turned away from the group and started walking to the table where he left his papers, "Now that I have proven how easily I could have ended your lives, I want you to imagine how easy it would be for someone like Sombra. Now that it's been made clear that you are going to be useless against him, I want you to get out of my Library, I have actually important work to get done." Without waiting for them to move, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were picked up in a magical blue aura, their bodies levitating in the air as they were dragged outside of the Library.
"Wait! We still need-" Twilight tried to call out to the Prince, only to be dropped on the steps outside the library, the doors slamming shut in front of her, "-to know what you found in regards to defeating Sombra..."
"Welp, that was rude of him!" Pinkie Pie said, one leg moving to rub at her neck.
"...Didn't he say that emmm, I think it was Rutherford, was it? He was searching for whatever we were looking for... I think..." Fluttershy spoke up, steering the talk away from what just happened.
"You're right, we still need to figure out a way to stop Sombra, and Blueblood did give us a solid direction to go in," Twilight stood up and nodded, pulling Spike up with her, "We find Prince Rutherford, and he tells us what we need to know! Let's go girls!"
"Wha- Is no one going to mention what just happened?!" Rainbow Dash asked as the group started searching for the Yak Prince, "I feel like we need to talk about that more!"
"Hello? Am I being ignored here?! Hey! Wait for me!!!" With a flap of her wings, Rainbow Dash caught up with her friends as the search continued.
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"...I guess It's time to make sure Plan B is working as intended," I let out a long and tired sigh, my leg moving to pet Comet, the Plunderseed moving to climb onto my back, "Can't I get just one week without something going terrible?" I asked Comet, the Plunderseed making clicking sounds from behind me, "I might actually just be cursed. This happened when I went to visit Tirek, I think Tirek cursed me... I fucking hate that Centaur! FUCK!"
"Let's go," I told Comet as I turned away from the papers in front of me and started to walk outside the library, "Looks like it's once again time for me to do all the work~"
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