The Archive Chronicles: Crystal Visions [Book 1]

The warm afternoon sun shone brightly over the Crystal Empire. Ponies bustled about the streets. Today was the Crystal Faire, so the streets were lined with booths selling various items. The crystal ponies mingled with tourists from different parts of Equestria. One pony in particular from a far off village, 10 days by train from the Crystal Empire, was given strange but friendly looks as they trotted through the streets. The pony was a mare who looked like a zebra but had a unicorn horn. The mare's coat was soft primrose color, the unique Zebraic markings, and horn a dark tan. The mare's mane was a soft pink and creamy white color pattern and was long and somewhat curly, however, the mare had it pulled back into a large ponytail, her tail a similar style. To add onto her strange appearance, the mare's eyes were two different colors, a stunning gold, and bright lime green color.

Ponies gathered around the Crystal Heart, looking at it in awe and sharing stories about it. The zebra-looking mare walked up beside a pink pony with a swirling looking mane with balloons for a cutiemark and a white mare with a fancy styled purple mane and diamonds for a cutiemark. The two were talking about the items they had bought at the Faire.

"Excuse me, do you know where the library booth is?" The zebra-looking mare asked the pink pony, her voice having a tint of Zebra to it. The pink mare giggle-snorted at the other mare's appearance.

"I've never seen a pony like you before!" The pink pony declared cheerfully.

"You do look rather odd." The purple maned mare spoke. The zebra-looking mare chuckled.

"I've been hearing that all day. My name is A'azuri, I come from a village 10 days by train from here. I heard a fair was going on and that the library had a booth selling books." The mare spoke.

"You came all this way for some dusty old books? You'd be good friends with Twilight. My name is Rarity and this is Pinkie Pie." The white mare spoke.

"Come with us! We can show you the way to the library booth!" Pinkie pie said cheerfully.

"Thank you," A'azuri said happily.

The three mares started trotting past the Crystal Heart, but before they could get fully past it, a large wall of black crystals blocked their path. They tried to turn and run the other way, however, another wall of black crystals blocked their path. Soon, the three mares were trapped and surrounded by strange black crystals. A'azuri's ears flattened against her head as her eyes widened in fright. Rarity furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the black crystals.

"What in Celestia's name is happening?" Rarity asked.

"I dunno, let's ask the evil looking pony over there!" Pinkie Pie replied cheerfully.

"What evil-looking-" Rarity paused when looked over and saw the figure to their left "Who are you? What do you want?" Rarity demanded. The figure was a tall unicorn mare whose horn was large and curved, tipped with black, and looked similar to King Sombra's. Her coat was a dirty pink color, her mane and tail a dirty purple. A black crystal crown with a red jewel in the center adorned her head. Wings adorned her back, however, they looked fake and velvety. Red jewels adorned the center of the top portion of her wings. Black gooey-looking tendrils surrounded her wings and writhed around and tangled around down her legs and hooves, which were adorned by silver shoes. Lastly, her eyes were a dark purple. The mare laughed and walked over to three mares.

"Give me the book, and you will all be free to go." The scary looking mare spoke.

"Book? What book?" Rarity questioned.

"That book that zebra-unicorn looking thing has." The mare snickered.

"Nuh-uh, no way you're getting my book. It's a family heirloom. And I'm not a thing, I'm a Zunicorn. Or a Zebricorn. Whichever you prefer." A'azuri said defensively. The mare laughed. Without a warning, the mare cast a spell that slammed A'azuri into the black crystal wall with such a force, it knocked the Zunicorn out. A'azuri groaned and slightly curled up before she lost consciousness. Her satchel came unclipped and the book she had been carrying slid out.

"How did you know she had that book on her?" Pinkie asked.

"I have eyes in many places." The mare simply replied, lifting the book with her magic, the aura a green-purple. "What do you plan on doing with that book?" Rarity questioned. The mare looked at Rarity and smirked.

"Why spoil the surprise when you can find out later?" The mare snickered. Before Rarity or Pinkie could say another word or move a muscle, the mare, the book, and the Crystal Heart was gone.
Pinkie gasped. "The Crystal Heart is gone!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I can see that Pinkie. Helping A'azuri is a bit more important right now." Rarity spoke, looking at A'azuri, who was still unconscious. Pinkie nodded in agreement. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor teleported in front of them.

"Rarity! Pinkie Pie! What happened?!" Cadence demanded softly. Rarity explained all that had happened as best she could. Cadence sighed and looked at A'azuri.

"We'll worry about the Crystal Heart later, let's make sure this mare is okay." Shining Armor spoke. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Cadence nodded.

* * *

Everything was all blurry as A'azuri opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, her vision returning to normal, and sat up. She was clueless as to where she was, however, the room being made of crystal told her she was still in the Crystal Empire.

"Excuse me, are you okay, miss?" A voice asked softly. A'azuri looked over at Princess Cadence. The Zunicorn bowed her head respectfully.

"I'm fine, Princess Cadence. I only have a small headache." A'azuri replied, lifting her head. Cadence gave her a small smile.

"That mare Rarity told me about took a book that belonged to you. What was it about?" Cadence asked.

"It was about folklores, myths, legends and fairytales. It was a family heirloom. You see, my family has been the local storyteller of my village. I'm only a child, so it's my responsibility as storyteller to keep the book with me and read to the children." A'azuri explained.

"So it's nothing more than a book for children? Then why would that mare want it?" Cadence thought aloud.

"I dunno, but I need that book back," A'azuri said. Cadence looked at A'azuri.

"Twilight and her friends will be able to fix this, and soon, you'll have your book back," Cadenced assured.

"No," A'azuri said.

"No what?"

"I can't let somepony else fix something that was my fault."

"None of this was your fault."

"It was. If I hadn't come to the Crystal Empire, the Crystal Heart would still be where it was."

"You don't know that."

"You're right, Princess, I don't. Besides, that's my book, and I was given the responsibility of taking care of it. It's my duty to get it back."

Cadence sighed. "Fine. You can fix this if you desire to do so so badly. But how are you going to-" Cadence was interrupted my two guards bursting into the room with a regal looking stallion behind them.

"You're majesty! We found this scoundrel lurking the halls!" One of the guards exclaimed. Cadence looked over at them.

"Scoundrel? I am no scoundrel, I assure you, miss." The stallion spoke.

"Who are you?" Cadence asked.

"My name is Astral Ice, miss. My father was King Sombra, but I take it you've dealt with him since the kingdom looks like it's flourishing greatly." The stallion spoke. "Sombra had a wife and a son?!" Cadence gasped.

"And a daughter too. Her name was Orchid Jewel." Astral spoke.

"Your sister. Where is she?" Cadence asked. "I have no idea, miss. Probably causing chaos if I'm out of the Chamber." Astral replied with a shrug. "Chamber? What Chamber? Come with me and explain to me everything you know," Cadence said to the stallion as she turned to A'azuri "When you feel like you're able to, come meet me at the place the Crystal Heart used to be." A'azuri nodded and looked at Astral Ice, who gave her a shy smile.

The other ponies left the room, leaving A'azuri alone. She sighed, knowing what Cadence was going to ask. How was she going to get her book back and ultimately save Equestria by herself? A'azuri didn't even consider herself the hero type, so she had no idea where to even start if she was going to do it alone. A'azuri sighed and got out of bed, then trotted over to the door and left. After taking a few wrong turns and getting lost along the way, A'azuri finally made it to the spot where Cadence told A'azuri to meet her. As she approached the Princess and Astral Ice, she took a deep breath in. While she had been finding her way to them, she had come up with an idea that was crazy enough it might just work.