The Royal Archive Caves were well known throughout Equus as the single largest collection of knowledge in existence. You could spend your entire life reading through the collections of books, scrolls, and tablets and hardly make a dent in the vast stores. Complex spells, nearly incomprehensible to even the most experienced spell-casters, were constantly expanding the treasure trove of knowledge. It’s said that not even the immortal rulers would be able to read every tomb in their lives.
Shelves towered above the hard stone floors, packed with books of every size and color. The imposing black void made the ceiling impossible to see. The only sources of light were small, floating orbs, obtained at the circulation desk, that glowed a soft, yellow hue. The dull auroras did little to part the darkness for most of the foreign patrons of the Archives. The dim light was mostly to protect the older books in the library while keeping accidents to a minimum.
One such orb floated alongside a purple filly as she trotted down one of the isles deep within the bowels of the Archives. The subtle clicking of her hooves on the stone echoed off the walls of books. Her saddlebags were weighed down with numerous heavy volumes, much larger than a filly her age should be concerned with. The loaded bags thumped against her sides with each step.
She was utterly alone, as many found themselves within the Caves. No one was there to keep her company as she wandered the shrine to intellect and that was just the way she liked it. Under her breath she hummed a wandering tune in an attempt to keep the silence away.
Occasionally, the small pony stopped and squinted at the bookshelves. Her horn flared to life and wrestled the light closer to walls. She huffed in anger and moved on, unable to properly read the titles of the books. After several stops, the filly plopped down on the floor and crossed her forelegs in anger. She glared at the orb, attempting to force it to glow brighter through sheer power of will. After a few moments, she gave a large sigh.
“Dumb light orb,” she mumbled under her breath. “Why can’t you just glow more?”
The filly pulled the down closer to the ground. She stared at it some more, her silted pupils shimmering with interest. She reached out hesitantly and gave the light a tap. Quickly pulling her hoof back and screwing her eyes shut, she waited for the worst to happen.
Silence was the only thing that greeted the little pony as she slowly reopened her eyes. She let out a sigh of relief. The filly grew bolder and reached out to grab the orb with her hooves. The light was pulled close to her body as she cradled it gently in her hooves. The surface was smooth and felt cool in her grasp. The familiar buzz of natural magic worked its way up her forelegs and into her chest. A smile formed on the filly’s face as she turned the sphere over in her hooves.
“So you do run on magic. I knew it!” The filly exclaimed aloud. She brought the light closer to her face. “I told mother that you must be a magical construct but she refused to let me examine you. She said it was rude. How could learning something ever be rude?!”
