The griffon dove and caught Maud, who was closest by. Trixie was screaming, in a panic. Starlight seemed calm, and resolute. There was a flash of light from her horn, and then another at ground level.

Cobalt spiraled towards the streets with some exertion from the weight. Trixie was falling, but there was nothing she could do.

Suddenly, a familiar light-blue pegasus stormed by at high speed. She caught Trixie on her back, and began to lose height fast. Cobalt continued her controlled descent and watched. This pegasus was clearly skilled, but the weight was too much for her.

Cobalt grimaced as ground level fast approached. Even with her strength, it was difficult to slow for the landing.

Starlight Glimmer could be seen standing on a rooftop now. She shot an unknown spell at Trixie and the blue pegasus carrying her. Their velocity slowed drastically, though the pegasus had a harder time keeping control.

They all landed now. Cobalt landed with a grunt on her back legs, and had to tuck in and roll since she was holding Maud. It wasn't pretty, and she felt a rock cut into her shoulder, but they were both alright.

Trixie and the blue pegasus came in for a very gentle landing, and settled to the ground very much like autumn leaves. They, too, were unharmed. Starlight floated down from the building by magic.

Cobalt was back up now, and helping Maud up. She was about to comment about how lucky an escape that was, when she noticed Starlight.

Her back leg was badly cut, and her silvery fur had become crimson. She seemed to be in shock, and she was beginning to shake.

She spoke weakly as the others approached, “I... don't know healing magic, never studied it... I'm feeling weak.”

Trixie encouraged her to sit down, slowly. The cut was bleeding profusely. Starlight closed her eyes several times, and almost keeled over, but grimaced and stayed alert.

Cobalt walked over to her, and said, “Hey. I've done some awful stuff in my life too, Starlight. That doesn't mean there's no hope for us. Just hang on, you'll be okay. Equestria needs you right now.”

Cobalt dug into her first aid pack. She applied gauze and healing potion to the wound, but it didn't close up completely and some blood still dripped down her leg.

Starlight lie across Cobalt's back as the griffon took off for the Ponyville Hospital. Trixie galloped along the streets below, fast as she could run. Her hat flew off, and Maud picked it up for her.

Maud stayed back to talk with the sky-blue pegasus. She knew her well. It was Rainbow Dash, who stood with a worried and somber look on her face.

There was an attempt from Maud to cheer her up, “Normally you would be gloating about your flying abilities.”

“Yeah, I guess in the past...” replied Dash, “but shit is real bad right now. What happened up there?”

“Starlight attempted to teleport all of us back from the Crystal Empire. It is good that you were around.”

“I was at home for the night. Heard this voice, it was like, in my head, and it said 'I need help, get your flank down here fast as possible.' So I took off.”

“You got down from Cloudsdale that fast?”

“No, no. I actually have this really cool cloud house a lot closer to ground level. Flying from Cloudsdale every day would be a pain... but anyways, looks like Starlight was hurt pretty bad. What happened?”

“I do not know. She used her magic to relocate herself to ground level, and what I assume was a spell of soft landing on us.”

“She must have hit something in the dark... could have been way worse. Where's Sky, I was hoping to show him and that griffon around the skies here. Help take our mind off of things, you know.”

“He stayed in the Crystal Empire to search for Twilight.”

“Pony-feathers! He'll be gone for weeks.”

“You will have time to visit Cobalt, at least.”

“Yeah, that's true... let's get over to the hospital and check on Starlight.”

They made their way towards the hospital through the flickering light of streetlamps.

It was a sturdy, well-lit building next door to the town hall. Two royal guards patrolled the entrance. They seemed a bit ruffled.

Maud greeted them by saying, “I take it from the look on your faces that a belligerent griffon and injured pony arrived here recently.”

“Aye,” said one of the guards, “They're waking a doctor up now.”

Sure enough, a unicorn was approaching. She stepped into the hospital, but the guards kept Maud and Rainbow out, as it was after hours.

Rainbow seemed to have something on her mind. Maud asked her what it might be, and she replied,

“You said Sky is looking around the frozen north, right?”

Maud answered, “Yes. Apparently an old fortress out in the tundra holds an archive on crystal and dark magic. It would be a quiet place for Twilight to sneak off to.”

“Did you warn him about the magic ice storms?”

“...No, I did not. Dear Luna. I certainly hope Sunburst lets him know.”

“I should see if Spike is able to send a message that far... Sky could be in serious danger trying to search around out there.”

“He does have an element of conflict, and experience with it. He has some magic abilities.”

“How about a strong pyro spell? Light magic?”

“Yes, and I believe so.”

“I sure hope he's alright.”

“Do you trust Twilight knows what she's doing?”

“Kinda. I think her heart's in the right place, but her mind sure isn't.”

“How do your friends feel?”

“Worried as all hell. Celestia knows I am. But... we've made it through this far, right? Just gotta stick together and we can handle whatever wants to attack Ponyville.”

“I should visit my sister. Is Pinkie in town?”

“She's staying busy with work. Folks want sweets when they get nervous, y'know.”

“I'm nervous, and I would like sweets.”

“Hahaha! Sure, Maud, that's not a bad idea. Let's all stop by Sugarcube Corner tomorrow, after they get Starlight patched up.”

They waited a while longer until Cobalt and Starlight walked out of the hospital. Starlight had a limp, but she seemed okay. Cobalt was stern and unharmed. Some of the white fur on her back was now stained dark red. The guards seemed rather leery of her.

One guard trotted up to her in an imposing manner, and began to question her. Cobalt was too tired for this, and she growled at him. The guard swiftly backed off.

Cobalt reached Maud and Rainbow, and sat down. She said,

“Alright. They got the leg stitched up. Starlight is all loopy right now from some strong sleeping potion, so we should get her back to the crystal castle to rest.”

Starlight said, slowly, “I've... been better. I'm fine to walk, let's go.”

She leaned on Trixie and limped to the crystal castle, as Maud, Cobalt and Dash walked on ahead, chatting with each other.

On arriving, they quietly walked towards the guest rooms. Cobalt noticed that Applejack and the other ponies were asleep on the floor in the map room.

They'd deal with things in the morning. They were famished, but food could wait too. For now, it was time to get some rest.

Skyblazer Haycart had finally reached his destination. The Crystal Empire had clearly been named after it. Spires and arches of the translucent crystal towered far above him. It made the one in Ponyville look like a shed in comparison.

For a moment, he considered how fun it would be to fly up to a balcony and make a surprise appearance. He eyed the heavy crossbows mounted along the walls, and thought better of it.

A crystalline unicorn guard let him pass into the castle grounds. Here, beneath the shade of several flowering trees, was a gravel courtyard. A fountain—also crystal—bubbled away peacefully off to one side, with benches nearby it.

Sky found that this was as far as he could go. Pending recent events, the castle had been locked down for security and repairs.

He spoke to the guards, “Is there any way I could talk to Shining and Cadence? I was really hoping to see their new foal, but it looks like that's not happening.”

The pegasus guard on the right responded to Sky, “I can see if either of them have time. Is it important?”

“Well, Twilight Sparkle went missing and I'm looking for any advice I can get.”

The other guard spoke now, in a rumbling baritone, “Oh wow, that is serious.”

This guard, a unicorn with yellow fur, wore armor pieces with the Canterlot seal on them.

Sky waited patiently as the pegasus guard ran down the courtyard, took off, and fluttered up to the rooftop. He entered a tower here, and returned after a while.

Dust scattered as he landed gently as he could with armor on. He spoke, “Shining Armor can talk for a bit. Cadence is too busy.”

Sky had a seat at a picnic table while he waited. The doors into the castle gave a protesting creak, and Shining stepped through. He kicked the door closed rather than use magic.

As this white-furred unicorn drew closer, Sky observed him with a mixture of shock and apprehension. He had only met the guy once before, at his wedding years ago, but this did not seem to match what he'd heard about him.

Maybe it was the lack of armor that made Shining look so bedraggled. He usually wore heavy plate mail on duty, or chain mail when traveling. While Twilight and co had taken on threats to all Equestria, Shining and his guards had frequently handled lesser monsters as needed to protect towns.

Shining Armor sat across from Sky, and now the lines beneath his eyes revealed that he'd been running on little sleep. He yawned before speaking in a deep but calm voice,

“Yep, sounds about right. Leave it to Twi to go off and try to solve problems on her own.”

Sky was taken aback. He spoke in alarm, “No one's told you yet?”

“Nope,” Shining shook his head, “and normally correspondence from Canterlot is instant. They have this young dragon—oh, dragons can send letters off at a distance...”

“Yeah, I know that,” said Sky brashly, “It seems like such a strange oversight.”

“No, no it's fine. The royal sisters have a lot to handle right now... sounds like my sister does, too.”

Sky dug into his saddlebags and retrieved the letter, while the guards quietly watched him from their post.

Shining used a glint of magic to hold the letter down against the breeze and read it. He nodded, cast a glance over at the mossy fountain, and spoke with a grim smile,

“Always the hero, Twi. I just wish she stayed with her friends. There's something to all this ancient magic, it wouldn't be popping up now for no reason.”

“You think so?” Sky thought of Cobalt, weeks away in Ponyville.

“Look, I don't believe in 'destiny' or 'fate'. That said, we have a mythical prophecy becoming true with the Elements of Harmony, and that just happens to coincide with long-forgotten monsters suddenly being free again.”

“Celestia and Luna said they think magic is weakening,” mentioned Sky.

Shining nodded, “I'm kept in the know with stuff like that. Cadence is one of the alicorn princesses, if you'll recall.”

“Um, I heard you two had a foal? Congrats.”

“Thanks, but we're keeping Flurry Heart inside for now. You know how unicorn babies can't control their magic use?”

Sky nodded.

“Imagine that, with the power of alicorn magic.”

“Yikes.”

“Tell me about it,” said Shining with a weak laugh, “I've gotten like, no sleep. Think I'd rather be fighting a dragon.”

“Been there, done that, no thanks,” responded Sky. Shining was piqued by this, and Sky told him a summary of meeting Cobalt, finding their elements, and what they had been through.

“Damn,” said Shining stoically, “That's a whole lot of nonsense to handle at your age. Be sure to take it easy when you can, fighting monsters can be rough on a pony.”

“I mean, I knew that going in. Still seemed like honest, good work. Protect folk, handle monsters, earn some bits. Of course, we're a part of something else now.”

“So three elements of conflict, six of harmony, nine crystals in total. Hmm. I think you need to gather up Cobalt and Maud soon as possible. Take some time to figure out what your elements are meant for, besides magic tricks.”

“Could they just be, what was it called... amplifier artifacts?”

Shining raised an eyebrow, “I don't know how you know about that, but sure, tis possible. With how accurate this ancient magic and prophecy stuff has been, though...”

Sky nodded, getting the point. He said, “Yeah, but for now, we need Twilight back. I'm going to look for her. Do you know anything about an old archive in the wilds near here?”

“Sure, there's a whole map to it in the library. Come on in.”

The guards shuffled away from the door, and Skyblazer followed Shining Armor into his castle.

Cobalt, a griffon with white fur and blue feathers, glided on the warm and lonely winds towards Everfree. She missed Sky. For a change, and perhaps for the first time in her life thus far, she didn't want to be alone.

She shook her head and closed her eyes, inhaling the sweet scent of the autumn woods below. The ornate, runed ring she wore—inset with a large emerald—glowed fiercely. Her spell of detect magic offered a response so overwhelming that it gave her a headache.

The griffon abruptly changed her course now, swooping into a fast climb into the big blue sky. Beneath, at ground level, an Ursa Major lumbered through the trees.

Cobalt's sharp eyesight followed the path of this surreal monster with some trepidation. Its entire hide was some sort of astral energy, same stuff as Celstia's mane. Trees shivered and birds took off in squawking flocks at each step.

The creature paused, sniffed the ground, and began digging. A nearby lake began to drain into the hole as the creature pulled a massive crystal from the ground. It began glowing, the energy flowing into the bear's mouth. The ursa dropped it when it stopped glowing.

Huh, thought Cobalt to herself, That's how those eat.

Past the whistling wind and the rustle of her feathers as she flapped hard to stay in one place, she could faintly hear a scream for help. She looked at the ground below, and saw two ponies up in a tree as the flood waters swirled around them.

A fast dive took Cobalt towards the Ursa. It noticed her, and began growling, rippling the air like thunder. Cobalt had an idea.

Her ring glowed brilliantly as tendrils of blue energy flowed towards the mountain-sized astral bear. This energy passed right through it, and was absorbed. The Ursa licked its lips, and began walking away, content. The craters from its footsteps began filling with water. The bear became more transparent, and stopped having any effect at all on the landscape, passing through trees like a ghost and gliding along the ground.

Cobalt was panting now as she flew towards the tree. There was a unicorn, and an earth pony. The male unicorn yelled over the rushing water,

“Rescue Lavender, don't worry about me! I'll figure something out with magic.”

Cobalt hefted the confused and protesting earth pony out from the tree.

“Yes, I'm a griffon,” she said, “Deal with it, I'm the only one with wings here.”

The lavender-colored pony shouted, “I don't care about that—save my sweetie!”

“Here, let me set you down first,” Cobalt flew past the muddy rapids and set the pony down on higher ground. The unicorn lost his grip, and fell into the water. Cobalt rushed over to help, but she was tired by now.

Thankfully, the unicorn had thought of something. His horn glowed, and a length of rope shot off towards a tree and tied itself around the trunk. The unicorn held onto the rope with his teeth, and tried to swim against the current.

Both Cobalt and Lavender ran over to help him get to shore.

“Whew, thanks,” the soggy unicorn said in ragged breaths.

Cobalt scolded them, “What were you two doing out here?”

“We could ask you the same.”

Lavender spoke up as she leaned on her 'sweetie', “Everfree is the best place to go for some peace and quiet.”

“I wouldn't say the best place... alright, I've got stuff to do. Be more careful.”

“Hey wait!” yelled the unicorn before Cobalt could take off, “You aren't going to bother asking my name, or telling us yours, at least?”

Cobalt turned around, rolled her eyes, and sighed loudly. She spoke in a chafing tone, “I'm Cobalt, the big, scary griffon.”

“I'm Pine Bough, the unicorn who can very well take care of himself.”

“No doubt, since you were brave or stupid enough to be out here.”

Lavender asked sweetly, “So, visiting Equestria?”

“I live here, in Everfree.”

“Great job with that Ursa... I'd heard they exist but never thought I'd see one.”

“They aren't normally a threat, long as you can see through em. If they look more solid, run.”

Lavender added, “You ain't bad for a griffon. Well, good to meet you then, take care.”

Cobalt shook her head in wonder as she took off. Clearly, not every pony was a sheer pansy.

Zecora was found in the solace of her hut. This did not bode well. Normally, in great, cool weather like this, the zebra would be harvesting flowers that only bloom in fall.

Cobalt stepped inside, where the zebra sat surrounded by books and wearing a blanket and shawl over herself. She hadn't bothered to get a fire started, so Cobalt hit the fireplace with a pyro spell and had a seat on the couch.

Zecora kept reading and muttering to herself as Cobalt munched on several fish.

Cobalt's rune glowed, and she squinted, reaching out with her mind.

Hello, Zecora, you're scaring me. What's up. Find something neat?

Cobalt gulped a bite of fish, fell off the couch, and stared at Zecora in wide-eyed shock. She cautiously walked over to the zebra, putting a front leg around her shoulders.

Zecora was sweating profusely, but shivering. Cobalt tried again, now in direct contact with the zebra.

Endless dark. No place, yet someplace. An outline of Zecora, and... something else. A shadowy figure. Is this a dream? She has her magic charms, at least. They seem to be fighting. I believe in you, Zecora, I'm with you now. Light. Approaching fast—a fracture in reality? What does that mean? Into darkness again. Please, snap out of it.

A burst of light filled the cabin. Zecora and Cobalt fell back onto their sides. A shadowy burst of energy fled through a window, hissing as it went.

Cobalt hugged Zecora, and the zebra jumped back with a yell.

“What, what is it?!” asked Cobalt in alarm.

“Your ring!” yelled Zecora back, and Cobalt looked down. The gemstone was steaming with heat. The metal band must be scorching.

Zecora was breathing heavily, and still sweating. She stared into the distance, caught her breath, and glared while gritting her teeth.

She gathered her shawl around herself, and said, “Your ring, it stings.”

“Are you alright? Holy Celestia, what was that?”

“Invoking Luna may be more apropos, with her knowledge and control of shadow. As for what that was, Cobalt... I don't know.”

“But you know everything about magic!”

“Some magic come from before the time of this zebra and her rhymes.”

“So what, ancient magic stuff? Is that what ancient magic looks like?”

“No, my friend, I fear we haven't put an end... to Sombra.”

“Who?”

In response, Zecora nudged a book over to Cobalt, who read the title out loud,

“History of the Crystal Empire, volume five. Modern translation by Sunburst. Ugh. Sounds as dry as eating sand.”

“Take a look at where I have opened the book.”

Cobalt flipped the book open, using magic rather than a talon. She wore a snarky smile as she did so.

The chapter detailed the fall of the Crystal Empire to some powerful wizard pony who wanted to seize control of the known world. He succeeded in taking over the city known as Crystal Hearth, and renamed it the capital of his Empire. From this, the name Crystal Empire has stuck until the present day.

This evil fellow, who began calling himself King Sombra, had studied and mastered the darkest aspects of dark magic. With an arsenal of spells of pain and confusion and control, it was no trouble overthrowing the city. The ponies there were academic and creative, but didn't so much as have an established army.

According to the book, two princesses (Luna and Celestia?) appeared at midnight, in their alternate forms, fully armored and with enchanted weapons to combat this serious threat. If the chapter was to be believed, they fought for days without rest and leveled the lands around the Crystal Empire.

This is really cool and really scary, thought Cobalt to herself as her eyes flicked down the page.

Through a complex web of powerful and often unknown spells and curses, the princesses prevailed. Sombra was not willing to surrender to them. With his absolute knowledge of dark magic, he became as one with the shadows, and dark masses of shadowy energy eclipsed the city like stormclouds.

As the princesses retreated and observed the magic for a way to repel it, they could only watch in awestruck horror as the entire city became as transparent as the castle was. It faded from view, the last tendrils of shadow dissipated, and only an expanse of tundra could be seen.

These final notes had been gathered from the private journal of Starswirl the Bearded, who assisted the princesses with the fight. He had forgotten his journal in the library, which allowed it to be perfectly preserved and stand as a testament to what had happened.

To the residents, it felt like no time at all had passed. Simply a new day, though over a thousand years in the future. One Twilight Sparkle located the Crystal Heart and brought the light back to the city with the aid of her friends.

From here, the book detailed how she resolved each trap set in place by King Sombra, how the shadowy being was at last repelled and banished, and then went into the modern history of the city, which didn't interest Cobalt.

The griffon put the book down and sat in silent thought for a moment.

Zecora spoke, “Possession of the mind is a magic quite rare, forbidden and forgotten and allowed nowhere. Between this and my struggle against shadow, I believe it can only be one foe.”

“And that would be Sombra, I know,” replied Cobalt, “We have to warn the princesses, and Twilight's friends.”

“I leave this task up to you. It is fall, and I have many things to do.”

Cobalt nodded. Each season brought unique materials to harvest for potion making.

With a wry smirk, Cobalt asked, “To a bloodthirsty griffon you make this demand, to go and bring warning and save this land?”

Zecora smiled now as she replied, “My dear, you have come such a ways... truly you are a griffon to be praised.”

Cobalt took off her armor and saddle bags now. She stretched fore and aft, and helped the zebra with her household chores before bed.

Back in the Crystal Empire, Skyblazer cinched his saddlebags on and thanked Shining Armor for letting him visit the castle.

Sky had gotten the chance to talk with Cadence and see their baby. He had attempted to give a snack of blueberries to the alicorn foal. The berries had all exploded like a string of small, fruity firecrackers.

After getting the mess cleaned up, Sky decided it would be safer to head out into frozen tundras full of unknown, dangerous ancient magic and various monsters than stay in here with Flurry Heart.

At first, the flight was uneventful. The glamorous Crystal Empire faded into the distance behind him. Skyblazer found himself in a land of ice and snow. A light dusting of snow fell from the clouds above. Sky could, theoretically, alter this weather any way he wanted, but it would be better to save the energy.

He kept a keen eye on the horizon. Shining Armor had given him some advice on the hazards out here. If the temperature suddenly dropped and the snow suddenly stopped, an arcane ice storm was incoming.

It stopped snowing. Sky shivered and breathed in frosty puffs in weather that was already below freezing without flying at speed through it.

Oh no, thought Sky.

While he wasn't sure how fast he could fly, this was a great time to find out. The icy wind ripped past him, and he risked a glance behind as he accelerated.

A bank of dark clouds were passing by overhead, faster than any natural clouds Sky had ever seen. He realized it was not natural.

Several rabbits and a fox, all with white fur and difficult to see against the snow, dove and dug down deep into the snow.

Sky went even faster. The air snapped and popped around him as he pressed close to the sound barrier.

Trees and mountains below blurred past. Miles went by in moments. The storm was still, against all logic, advancing on him yet faster.

Skyblazer began to feel exhausted. Nopony could keep up this speed for more than a couple minutes. He had to find shelter. At this speed, the old fortress shouldn't be far.

It was a flight of four or five hours normally, and he had been flying for three... a blocky something zipped by. Without losing momentum, Sky banked around into a fast turn as heavy g-forces wracked his body.

He dived towards the old fortress and whatever shelter it offered. The storm line advanced towards him.

Like watching a heavy downpour of rain at a distance, dark lines drained down from the massive front of “clouds” which zoomed towards him faster than a cloud had any damn right to be going.

Pine trees froze into icicles and the sap exploded, sending shards of frozen bark in all directions. A moose, which was also trying to hide in the shelter of the fortress, was speared by several shards, and fell.

The entire world ahead of him froze over. Every tree, cold-hardy shrub, unlucky animal, flake of snow, and pine branch froze solid with the sound of a settling glacier. The air shimmered from the sheer cold. The lingering curse from the battle far in the past served its purpose, and all was still.

Skyblazer flew into the fortress at speed and met the cold front right at the entrance.

His crystal necklaced glowed with fury. His entire body glowed with a golden magic energy. His tail and the feathers on his wings began to freeze over as the pyro spell, turned inwards, countered this and steam rose from his body in puffs in the icy air.

Somehow, his weather control magic cleared a hole through the storm as he dove for cover. One final burst of magic, a basic magic missile. The wooden and iron door of the fortress, already brittle from cold, shattered to pieces.

Sky zipped in, braking hard with painful wings, sliding to a stop on slippery, frozen stones. He slammed into the far wall at highway speed, and put up an arcane shield just in time. It absorbed the brunt of the impact, and caught him like a cushion.

Stairs led underground. Skyblazer ran down these, slipping on the ice, as the rafters above creaked and froze solid.

At the bottom, he found himself in a study. He crouched now, shaking in the intense cold, and kept his pyro spell active as the worst of the storm passed above.

The temperature rose to just above freezing. By comparison, this was warm.

Skyblazer shakily walked over to a table in the center of the room. He pulled a chair out and had a seat. Several brittle, frozen feathers snapped off his wings and clinked on the ground.

After several minutes of warming pyro spell and several swigs of whiskey, Sky stood back up, breathing heavily. He noticed firewood by the fireplace, including kindling. This place was probably a known safe haven to the locals.

A fire was started, and when Sky had gathered his wits, he limped over to the bookshelves, bruised and hurting all over. The tip of his right ear had gone completely numb. That was probably fine.

If Twilight had gone this way, then Sky hoped she was okay. He began scouring the library for any clues.

The books were all, without exception, written in whatever ancient language the crystal ponies used. It was probably the Old Ponish he had heard about.

He started pulling each and every book off the shelf. Every single adventure story he had read with a library in it had a hidden alcove somewhere, and it was always the last book that was the lever.

Actually, it was the first book he pulled on. Something clicked, and a small panel popped open at the base of the shelf.

Sky opened this little cabinet door. The craftsmanship was amazing—he hadn't so much as seen a seam. It was just a little nook. He made sure to use his light magic bracelet to look inside before sticking a hoof in.

Within was a solitary book. The title on the spine was Old Ponish and illegible. The book had strange, dark red crystals holding it closed all along the edges. Two silver chains crossed over it, with a lock at the center.

Sky spoke to himself now, “Wait, that actually worked? And why hide... a book? At any rate, they didn't think this lock through very well.”

He set the book on the ground, took a few steps back, and his crystal began to glow. He thought about fighting monsters, pulling a sword and swooping forward, and sparks flying.

A magic missile shot forward with precision on the lock. Even if the lock held, the book should be torn apart so he could see what it was hiding. Might even be a hidden safe in a book, that would be cool.

Instead, to his shock, the magic missile bounced right off the book with an echoing ring. The crystals glowed angrily. Without time to react, Sky was struck by the bolt. It hit his dragon scale vest, and was deflected onto the stones.

Skyblazer was sent skidding back into a table. A lamp fell on him.

“Okay, ow,” said Sky under his breath.

He walked back over to consider the book, and noticed a single black scale had fallen off his vest. He looked back at his armor, where exactly one scale was now missing on the left side. Now both sides of it were damaged. Argh.

As for the book, it wasn't even scratched. Cautiously, he placed the book in a side pouch, not sure if it would let him do that.

He dusted himself off. Great, even more bruising... he was going to be so sore tomorrow, and he had so far to fly. Hopefully there would at least be a tailwind from the northern winds blowing south.

At least his efforts weren't all for nothing. After some time spent examining the library, he found several purple feathers caught in the woodwork. He tried out a spell of detect magic, entirely unsure if he was doing it right as he walked through the study, his necklace glowing.

As he walked up the stairs, he spoke out loud, “Am I supposed to feel something if it works, or...”

He stopped. He did feel something, kind of like a ringing in his ears at first. Suddenly, the names of spells came to him in his mind: Unknown Spell of Crystal Magic, Translate—Old Ponish, Invisibility, Fourth Tier Greater Teleportation, Greater Cold Ward, Weather Control, Aerial Spatial Warp, Farsight Scrying, Detect Magic, Lesser Pyro, Lesser Arcane Shield, Magic Missile, Weather Control.

“Huh.”

Sky realized, now, that the spells which had come to mind had been from oldest to most recent. He huffed when he realized the 'lesser' spells were his. There was something more,

Forbidden Magic noticed: unknown Ancient Magic, unknown Ward against magical location tracking. Caster bears royal signet of Canterlot. Listed magic is now permissible.

Now that was... fascinating. This had to be Twilight.

Skyblazer cooked his frozen vegetables over the fire, and then returned to the Crystal Empire for the night. Surely Sunburst would know something about this.