Archmage - Chapter 30 “Knowledge Lost - Part 2”

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“Rarity!” Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs. The sand pelted at her mercilessly. She could feel it driving into her side, first hammering her left, then her right. Then it would sweep in from behind, sending lancing pain through her stomach and hindquarters. The worst of it was when it came from the front. Twilight had to use her magic to shield her sensitive eyelids, and even then, she couldn’t see anything in front of her.

“Rarity! Where are you?!” The storm was so intense, she had almost immediately been separated from her friend. Rarity’s reassuring presence had left her side, not five steps into the storm. Twilight opened her mouth to call out again, but something stumbled into her right side. She spun about, horn already blazing. Through the briefest break in the storm, Twilight saw Rarity’s frightened expression. Twilight nearly blasted her on the spot. Instead, she rushed forward, pressing firmly to her friend’s side.

“Stay with me!” Twilight called out. The storm was deafening. She couldn’t hear Rarity’s response, but the white unicorn’s neck shifted beside her, indicating a nod. Together, the two of them trudged onwards. Twilight could seldom see further than a few feet in front of them at any given time. But she trusted in Regal, in his directions. They kept walking. Twilight counted the seconds in her head. ’One. Two. Three. Four…’ The storm shifted, pushing them along from behind. She let the fierce wind do her walking for her, while she focused on staying close to Rarity. When it shifted again, Twilight smoothly transitioned, leaning to her left into the fierce, driving wind.

Five minutes in, Twilight and Rarity suddenly came to a large boulder. “This is it!” Rarity called out loud. “Regal said it’d be here! He was right!”

“Ninety degrees left, facing North.” Twilight mumbled to herself. She followed the face of the boulder a quarter of the way around. Sure enough, the pointed edge pointing North directed her along her path. She stared into the storm ahead of them, looking for any indication before them.

“Twilight!” Rarity’s voice came to her again. She glanced at her friend, who looked back at her with a serious expression. “We can do this!” Rarity pressed closer. “Together!”

Twilight nodded.

“Together!”

Together, both of them looked straight ahead. Their voices lifted together, in one single word.

”RUN!”

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“Rarity.” Twilight sobbed, collapsing on the stairs. Tears streamed from her stinging eyes, washing away the sand built up in her eyelashes. “I’m so sorry, Rarity…” She shook and sobbed harder, all but completely giving up on the stairs right then and there. “Please…” She whimpered, sniffling as she rose to her hooves on the stairs. “Please be okay.”

They had ran side-by-side through the storm for about a minute before the first monster turned on them. Twilight had blasted it aside, just enough for her and Rarity to slip by and keep running. The second had loomed up out of the sand beneath their hooves. Twilight had been thrown onto her face, but managed to use a quick teleport to right herself and blast it aside as well. In the aftermath of the devastating spell, she had spotted Rarity in the commotion, and managed to rejoin her. They were home free, it seemed. They ran faster and harder than either of them ever had before. Twilight thought they would get there.

And then Rarity was ripped away from her side. Twilight had suffered three cuts, where the beast’s claws had wrapped around Rarity’s midsection. The last things Twilight heard were Rarity’s scream and the impact of a spell that her friend had cast in desperation. Twilight stood on the spot for a full minute, casting spells out into the storm, hoping to spot Rarity or hit her captor. Nothing. There hadn’t been anything but another two monsters. Twilight ran for the rock outcropping, hoping against hope she was still oriented properly.

She had found the rocks after another two minutes. Diving between the two that looked like Canterlot’s peak, Twilight had landed on the stairs. And there, she had collapsed. “Rarity,” She choked, coughing against the sediment in her lungs. After retching on the stairs, Twilight wiped her mouth, still crying for her loss. “I never should have brought you along. I’m so sorry. Please, for the love of everything I hold dear, be okay… Please…”

A new type of determination filled Twilight’s muscles. Before her was a long, dark hallway. It bore into the ground at an angle, beneath the fierce, howling storm. Behind her, Twilight could hear the terrible screams of the monsters that stalked the storm. The screams of the creatures that had taken Rarity.

Ignoring the burning pain in her side, Twilight pushed forward. She walked down the long hall, not even limping. She tried to ignore the pattering sound of her blood hitting the rough stone floor. Her horn glowed with a soft light, giving her vision of the hall before her. Her lungs burned, her eyes stung, and her side ached. But more than those trivial pains, Twilight felt something much more intense, and much more profound. She felt loss. Rarity’s loss. Her friend was dead in the storm.

“No.” Twilight growled at herself, walking faster. “No, she didn’t die. She’s alive. Rarity’s alive.” Her hoof-falls echoed down the hall. The only sound aside from her heavy breathing. “She’s alive.” Twilight groaned. “She’s alive.” It became her mantra. A chant. She repeated it, even as she began to walk faster. “She’s alive. She’s alive. She’s alive.” She was trotting now. “She’s alive. She’s alive. She’s alive.”

Twilight broke into a full sprint.

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“Urgh.” Rarity crawled into the opening, dragging her limp leg. Her white coat was shot through with streaks of blood. The gruesome wound was caked with sand. Her forelegs gave out on the first step, sending her tumbling down them. She ignored the impacts on her broken and sore body. When she landed at the bottom of the stairs, on the cool stone, she didn’t move. She didn’t want to. She looked up at the dark ceiling, feeling her blood begin to pool around her. Slowly, she closed her eyes.

“Aw fuck…”

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“Stairs!” Twilight gasped as the stairwell loomed out of the darkness. “I did it! Rarity, I did it!” Sobbing with relief, Twilight scrambled up the staircase. She slipped and fell more than once, but desperation fueled her. Twilight wasn’t about to let her own tiredness stop her now. Willing her muscles into motion, she crawled forward, her hooves scrabbling on the stone. Ahead of her, a light shone. The top of the staircase. The library.

With an exhausted gasp, Twilight spilled out onto the landing. She felt cool tile underneath her. Not stone, not sand… Tile. Above her, she could see a vaulted ceiling, shining with the magical glow of whatever lit the library.

“I made it.” Twilight panted. Her eyes closed, and a smile spread across her lips. “I did it… Luna.” Consciousness fled her. Twilight sank into a deep sleep, borne of exhaustion and depression. She didn’t stir, her only movement that of her chest rising and falling. In her dream, a figure approached her.

“Bolt.”

“Hello, young one.” The ancient unicorn smiled warmly at her. Twilight knew that he was over a thousand years old, but didn’t look a day past thirty. He was handsome, tall and strong, but his horn was shattered off of his forehead. Twilight slowly rolled to her hooves, wincing as the pain in her side intensified for a second. With a steady breath, she stilled herself, looking up at Bolt’s kind smile.

“What are you doing here?”

“I live here.” Bolt said simply. Twilight looked around, noting that she was no longer in the middle of a library. Instead, she stood on a flat landscape, shot through with multi-colored diagrams of a very intricate and complex spell.

“Woah… What is this?” Twilight breathed, looking around in awe.

“This is the spell that protects the library.” Bolt said simply. He smiled faintly at her before looking around at the spell. “It’s what I gave my life to do. In short, little one…” He looked back at her, his smile turned sad. “It’s me.”

“Wait… You exist in this spell?” She asked, straightening up a little. Bolt nodded sadly, heaving a gentle sigh.

“It’s all very complicated, but I know you’ll be able to follow. Come.” He nodded his head, indicating she should follow. Twilight limped after him, grimacing, but driven by her pure interest in the magnificently large spell around them. It was larger than some of the shields beneath Canterlot. Maybe not quite as powerful, but it certainly was strong. Bolt led her a short distance away, to what appeared to be the central part of the spell. “This is the essence of the spell here. All of the formulas and equations are out there, but this is the battery. The life of the spell. From here, the creatures and the storm are fueled. As you can see, it’s still strong. And it will remain strong for many, many years to come.” Bolt turned to her, frowning slightly.

“But I made a grave mistake.”

“What?” Twilight asked, her eyes wide at the core of the spell. Bolt’s frown intensified.

“The manifestation of the spell is wrong. The parameters.” He waved a hoof over the entire landscape. “It’s all wrong. When I gave my life to the spell, I gave it to protect the books.”

“Right… What’s wrong with that?” Twilight asked. Bolt shook his head slowly. As she watched, he began to fade. His voice faded in and out. Twilight’s heart thundered with panic.

“-sit, ick… -or, it’s-… And there-… ge.” The image of Bolt began to flicker and fade. Panic took hold as Twilight stepped forward.

“Bolt! Tell me what’s wrong! BOLT!”

One last statement reached her ears.

“Save me.”

With a gasp, Twilight woke. She shot up, ignoring the pain in her side. Panic gripped her heart. She looked around with wide eyes, staring intently at the library around her. Her first impression was that the library was massive. As far as she could see, shelves of books stretched into the distance. At first glance, they all seemed only lightly worn. They were in excellent condition, for being thousands of years old. But the books didn’t worry her at that moment. Twilight had to find the spell. She had just been there in her dream. What would it look like for real? Limping away from the underground tunnel, Twilight went deeper into the library.

She soon discovered it wasn’t just long, but tall as well. Several staircases were built into the middle of the floors, and along the walls. They led to what she assumed were four different floors, each as massive as the last. Furthermore, there appeared to be quite a few basements and cellars, filled with cleaning and upkeep supplies. These, too, were in good condition. Twilight gleaned over them all. She needed to find the source of the spell, and she needed to find it fast. Still dripping blood from her wounds, Twilight walked as fast as she dared, searching and searching.

Finally, on the top floor, she found it. Not that it was hard to miss. In fact, about ninety percent of the floor was devoted to it. The spell matrix consisted of a massive apex, swirling and shifting as if it were a fog trapped in suspension; constantly being pulled by a gentle breeze. All around it on the floor were the skittering lines of the equations and formulas that gave the spell’s power shape and purpose. She glanced over each of them, taking in the expert calculations as fast as her brain would allow. Slowly, she walked into the diagram, feeling the energy crackle and shift all around her.

“What did you mean, Bolt? What’s wrong with the spell?” Twilight asked nopony in particular, her eyes wide. She looked over two different parts. One of them was the formula giving shape and life to the creatures that walked the storm. The other was the formula for the spell itself. The two were intertwined, containing the creatures within the bounds of the storm. The storm itself wrapped around the library, but didn’t quite touch it. There was a standoff distance of about fifty feet. The monsters protecting this place never had nor would they ever be able to set foot inside of the library.

“Come on…” Twilight muttered, looking over each section carefully. “What’s wrong with the spell?” She came upon another section of the spell, her eyes going wide. This one was a formula that protected each book within the perimeter of the spell. If ever a book were removed from that perimeter, the creatures would automatically converge on them, and kill them, then return the book. So even if anypony made it to the library, they wouldn’t be able to leave. Except by the tunnel! Twilight leaned in, looking at the specific diagram of the tunnel. It acted as a sort of pressure equalization system. Spells, like carbonated beverages, built up pressure when they were sealed. To prevent the pressure from building up too much, a ‘hole’ or a vent had to exist, to allow the energies to go back and forth, without consequence. That tunnel was the failsafe for the spell. It was difficult to reach, and certainly had been well-defended, but any book removed through that tunnel wouldn’t call the creatures to it. At least, not specifically.

“So where did you go wrong?” Twilight whispered, looking around at the rest of the diagram. “This is all sound. It’s functional. It works… So what’s wrong with it?” Twilight fell to her haunches, feeling despair settle heavily on her shoulders. She had been defeated. Any spell designed to protect something would automatically destroy that thing if it were dispelled, or at the very least damage it. If Twilight dispelled this, which would be an undertaking in and of itself, she would destroy the books. What’s more, she would destroy Bolt, whatever remained of him. The tears came then, falling to the stones beneath her hooves.

She fell onto her front, sobbing helplessly. “I’m done.” She whimpered, shaking and crying. “I can’t do this. It’s too much. I’m so sorry. Luna, Rarity, Celestia… I’m so sorry.” Sobbing, Twilight blubbered her heart out onto the cold tile. “I’ve failed you. The books are lost. We’ll never read them. The knowledge is lost to us. Knowledge…”

It hit her.

“Knowledge!”

Bolt had given his life to protect the books. Books were physical. Books could be destroyed. Books could be moved. But knowledge. Knowledge was absolute. Her quick gaze slid over the formula once more. She could do this. She could fix this. She was the Archmage. This was her destiny. This was her purpose in life.

With a triumphant cry of victory, Twilight thrust her horn into the air, filling the entire chamber with a blaze of lavender light. Her magic pulsed outwards, screaming with intensity, crackling with power. She gripped the formulas, spinning them about, changing them, fixing the wrongs.

”The manifestation of the spell is wrong. The parameters. It’s all wrong. When I gave my life to the spell, I gave it to protect the books.”

Twilight was changing the spell. She wasn’t going to protect the books. She was going to protect the knowledge the books held.

”RRAGH!”

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“Archmage.” Twilight’s eyes opened. At first, she blinked, but then she realized she was standing normally. Around her, the shifting light of the new spell pulsed with a warm heartbeat. Before her stood Bolt.

“Did it work?” Twilight asked. She felt awfully dizzy.

“I’ll say.” Bolt chuckled, turning a circle for her. “You even changed the manifestation arc. I now have a corporeal being.” He wore a silly grin. He had a horn again.

“Yeah… That was tricky…” Twilight lifted a hoof to her horn, wincing as she felt the soreness tweak just a little.

“You did it, Twilight. You fixed the problem.” Bolt turned to the spell form, looking over the revised equations and formulas. “You didn’t dispel it, which would have destroyed the books and the knowledge. You changed the parameters of the spell. Come.” With a nod of his head, Bolt ushered Twilight towards the wall. His horn glowed with a brilliant silver glow. Twilight watched as he pulled several bricks free of their mortar joints, re-arranging them until he had a neat window.

“Woah.”

“The storm is gone, and the monsters are dead.”

All around the library, a lush meadow flourished. The grass was thick and overgrown, perfect for stretching out on with a good book. Several trees cast cool shade in the high-noon sun. No more sand. No more wind. No more monsters.

“But… If the storm’s gone, anypony can come in here… And steal the knowledge.” Twilight said. “Or worse, destroy it.”

“Aah. I beg to differ. Follow me.” Bolt turned towards the stairs, leading Twilight down one floor. He approached the nearest book shelf, and pulled one heavy tome free. “Try to destroy the book, Twilight.” He smiled confidently. Twilight frowned at him.

“I’m not going to destroy a book.”

“Oh for the love of-“ With a sigh, Bolt flung the book into the air, his horn glowing intensely.

“NO!” Twilight lunged forward, but was too late. A silver bolt of energy shot through the air, hitting the book full-on. It vanished into thin air. Twilight nearly turned to Bolt in her anger, until she heard it. A soft thud. Almost like a book landing back on a shelf. With wide eyes, Twilight turned to the shelf Bolt had pulled the book from. Where the spot had previously been empty, it was now filled. With the same book.

“You see?” Bolt teased, smiling at her. “The books, or more importantly, the knowledge stored within the books is protected. Rain, fire, wear and tear… Nothing will destroy them. Not even time.” Bolt’s eye twitched. “Well… As long as the spell remains fueled, time won’t take these books. One condition.” Bolt lifted his hoof. At the same time, his horn began to glow. He pulled another book from the shelf, while he opened another window in the nearby wall. He levitated the book out of that window. Twilight followed it, watching the miniscule dot as it shot away from the valley.

“Woah!” The book came screaming back through the window, nearly hitting her head as it shot past. Smooth as can be, it landed back in it’s place, almost as if it were never taken away.

“The books can never leave this valley.” Bolt said solemnly. “Anyone and anything is free to come and go as they please, and study these books. But their knowledge cannot be removed. Copied, yes. But not removed.”

“That’s… Wow…” Twilight breathed. Her head swam with all that had happened. She frowned, then. “I came with a friend. Rarity. I lost her in the storm on the way in… Is she…?”

“Your friend?” Bolt smiled. “She’s alive. Barely, but she’s alive.”

“What?” Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Where? Where is she? Can you find her?”

“There.” Bolt pointed out of the window. Twilight followed his hoof. She saw the outcropping of rock. The tunnel entrance.

Twilight ran faster than she ever had before.