Books, Spirits, and Deals
There were some advantages to now being Equestria's sole ruler, Twilight Sparkle though with a goofy smile as she bounced excitedly to her destination. One only a few in Canterlot knew about.
The Restricted Section of the Canterlot Archives. Unrestricted access was one of the perks of her new station. Only Celestia and Luna had ever been allowed to be in here at one time. One of the last things they had given her before they had left for Silver Shoals had been the magic necessary to open it. Magic only they had known.
She had been in here before with Sunset looking for information about the Memory Stone mess going on at Canterlot High at the time. While they had discovered much about the stone and how it had ended up in the Human World, it left little time for all the books.
Time Twilight now intended to make up for. Her schedule for the day was clear, no random disasters had popped up, and even Sunset was bored out of her mind at C.H.S. Bored enough it seemed that was she was asking if she could properly bring the Rainbooms to Equestria. They had been there before, but Twilight really did not count that as one.
Except for Rainbow Dash and her counterpart at least. And really, who was going to tell her no? Very few knew of the World Mirror as it was, and while she knew it was for the better, Twilight knew it could not last forever.
A problem for another day though as she stopped and looked at the mass of books reaching up to the ceiling. Like last time, the sight took her breath away. For a long time, she had thought she knew the archives like the back of her hoof. Oh, how wrong she had been. Now without the looming threat, she had all the time in Equestria to read as much as she wanted. But where should she start? There were so many to choose from.
Squeeing more than was probably allowed for a princess, Twilight decided to just start with a random book as she bounced over to a nearby shelf. None of the books she saw really stuck out for her. Names like How to Train Your Pony by L.J. Browndig and Tombs to be Wary Of, with the author's name missing, were some of the first she saw.
One though, did stick out when she looked at it. Maybe it was the name of the author, Bean, the Onion of Big, but something drew her to it. Knowing she had to start somewhere, Twilight pulled the book out with her magic. It was not very big, but there was a definite weight to it. Like there was something inside. Something that she would find as she read the book. Smiling, Twilight took the book over to a nearby desk and began to read.
As she turned another page, Twilight took a moment to collect her thoughts. While it was an interesting read to be sure, a lot of what she was reading didn't make much sense. If she was reading it all right, spiritual strength was a two-pony bond, one that went beyond what was shared between lovers even, and if this was right, it worked between species as well.
Twilight was not sure what to make of it though. She'd had enough spirit related annoyances with Discord to know this was real. His screwing of Equestria and pony's minds and souls were proof enough.
As she looked back at the page before her, Twilight was surprised at what was shown. A dragon stood before a pony, and it seemed they were making a bond of their own. In fact, it looked like the pony was absorbing the dragon into themselves, but that did not make any sense. Did it?
And now the dragon was looking at Twilight herself, smiling. She blinked. "Wait, what?"
Before she could say more, the book began to glow and shake violently, as if something were trying to get out of its pages. Twilight took a step back as the book floated above her. She closed her eyes as it became too bright to look at. After a moment the glow faded away, and Twilight could look again. What she saw made her mouth drop in shock and awe.
A rather large dragoness now floated before her. Her pink scales stood out nicely next to her blond mane. A single horn protruded from her forehead, while her eyes glowed an angry red.
"Meep," was all Twilight could squeak as she took in the dragon before her. Maybe it was her lack of sleep recently, but she found the dragoness rather cute. Not that she would ever say that out loud of course.
The dragoness must have heard her though, for her head soon turned in Twilight's direction. Her red eyes made Twilight take another step back, and then another as the dragon lowered her head down to Twilight's level. And then something happened that Twilight did not expect. The red glow faded from the dragon's eyes as she smiled gently, and then she spoke. "Thank you for releasing me."
Twilight took a moment before what had just been said clicked for her. "Released? Released from what?"
Her companion frowned. "That damn book of course. Do you know what it's like to be stuck in a book for Tiamat knows how long? It's boring! Not to mention I have had something riding up my tail for years."
Twilight tried not to gulp. She did not want to be too close to an obviously annoyed dragon. But something caught her attention. "How long were you in there?"
Her companion's frown grew. "Is that loud-mouthed, boulder for brains, Torch, still Dragon Lord?"
While she giggled at the best description of Torch she had ever heard, Twilight shook her head. "No. His daughter Ember is Dragon Lord now."
Her companion's expression turned to one of surprise. "Some dragon put up with him long enough to have his family? I never thought I would see the day."
Now it was Twilight's turn to frown. "That's not very nice to say about her father."
The dragoness laughed. "I could care less what he thinks about it. I never liked him to begin with. I could have been made Dragon Lord in that Gauntlet of Fire instead of him." She soon calmed down though as her expression softened. "But that is beside the point. I am grateful you let me out of that damn book." She sniffed the air, and it seemed Twilight as well. "You have the smell of a youngling on you. You raised one yourself."
Twilight nodded. It wasn't really a question. "Yeah. I helped raise Spike. Do you know him?"
The dragoness shook her head. "I never had any children of my own." She ran a claw through her mane. "But it feels good to let my mane down again."
Twilight looked at it herself. If she had not known any better, she would have said it was a mare's mane. "How do you have a mane? Dragons I know do not have one."
Her companion smiled. "Few would. I did not have regular parents though. My mother is Tiamat, the Dragon Queen."
Twilight's jaw dropped in shock. "The Chromatic Dragon?"
The dragoness nodded. "The same. She comes to this world more than you know, even if you do not know it's her. I was born from one such union. Call me Cinder if you must."
Twilight scratched her chin. "Doesn't that mean you are, I don't know, a goddess or something?"
Cinder nodded. "Demi goddess, but yes. I am one of the few who can claim direct descent from her. Only those of us who can have a mane like this. No other dragon will."
Twilight made sure to write all this down. This was far more than she thought she would get when she came here today, but she still had a lot of questions. "So why were you in that book?"
Cinder frowned. "Someone bound my spirit to it. I never found who did so or why. I will make them pay if they still live," she said, snorting flames as she did so.
Twilight took a careful step back. "And if they do not?"
Cinder shrugged. "Then I will figure something out then." Her eyes lowered though, and her whole body slumped. "But I can't do anything now."
Twilight was confused. "What do you mean?"
Cinder looked at her, and Twilight was surprised at the sorrow she saw in her eyes. "I can't leave this room or this forsaken book. My spirit was permanently bound to it. Someone must be willing to let me attach myself to them to leave."
Twilight sat down before her. She had heard of this magic before. "You mean body sharing?" It was not very common, but it was known to exist.
Cinder nodded. "In a way. I would bind myself to them. They would still be themselves, but their body would change to fit the both of us."
"For how long?" Twilight asked.
Cinder shrugged. "Until both of us agree to cut the bond and set me free. By then I would have the strength to give myself a new body of my own."
Twilight's ears drooped. That was not fair at all. Who would do any of this to anyone? "Did Princess Celestia ever know about any of this?"
Cinder shook her head. "No. Only you ever read that book. It is what allowed me to be like this as it is. It is now much, but it is better than what I had."
Twilight was conflicted. On the one hoof, she was excited to know more now than she had. But knowing Cinder's plight put a damper on all of that. She also knew that, even if she took the book with her, Cinder would still be bound to it. Could Twilight give her more than that though? In her heart, Twilight knew it was the right thing to do. But what would it mean for her? For Equestria?
In the end, though, her heart won out, as it always did, as she laid a hoof on Cinder's arm. "I will do it. I will let you out."
Cinder gave her a shocked look. tinged with hope. "Do you mean it?"
Twilight nodded, smiling. "No one should be like you are. I don't know how long this has been going on, but it ends today if I have anything to say about it."
For the first time in longer than she could remember, Cinder's smile was no longer tinged with sadness.
After a moment Twilight blinked as something finally occurred to her as she gave Cinder a look. "So um, how exactly does this even work?"
Cinder's smile grew as she leaned down and touched her horn to Twilight's own. "Just hold still and let our magic mingle. It will do the rest."
Twilight was still lost, but before she could ask what she meant, Cinder transformed into a stream of pure energy. Bouncing excitedly, it zoomed into Twilight's throat and into her body. Twilight didn't have the chance to say or do much as the stream entered her body. It oddly felt rather pleasant all things considered. After a moment, the stream ended, and Twilight was able to breathe again.
She took a moment to collect herself as she looked around at the now empty room. She could feel Cinder's spirit begin to fill her body, her magic and power mingling with Twilight's own. Despite the massive difference in their power and the fact that she and Cinder were different species, the effect was rather pleasant. Far more than Twilight had thought it might be. But few before them had even done this, so maybe this was normal?
At the moment though, she doubled over as she felt her body begin to shake and shiver. Closing her eyes, Twilight felt the changes begin, and these were not as painless. She felt her fur and skin harden into scales, her hooves lengthen and become razor-sharp claws. Her tail grew longer, as the fur along it shrunk into only a tiny little tuft at the end.
But it was her wings that really hurt the most. She felt the bones in them lengthen, becoming leathery as the feathers in both fell out. It was not as fun as she had thought it would be. At last, Twilight felt her teeth lengthen into long serrated blades, and her snout lengthen as well to accommodate them. Her eyes were the last to change, become slits, even though she couldn't see anything at the moment.
All this left Twilight rather short-tempered. In fact, she felt a wave of vicious anger and fury rise within her, Cinder's own fury and anger rising alongside her own, together as one. "Let us come. Release it," they thought, their thoughts coming together as if they had been made for each other. Turning her head to the ceiling, Twilight let out an ear-splitting roar, roaring her fury to the sky far above.
As she did, a stream of flame came gushing out as well. It felt rather nice on her throat if she was being honest. After a moment, Twilight came to her senses, and cut the stream of fire out, as she clamped her jaws shut with her claws, an embarrassed blush coloring her scales as she felt her fire die down for the moment.
"Excuse me," she said sheepishly to the room at large. She opened her eyes as she removed her legs from around her snout and looked down at her new body. She was surprised to see that she had grown in size quite considerably. Nowhere near large enough to touch the ceiling, but it was much closer now than it had once been.
Aside from being a full-blown dragon now, she looked much the same as she had as a pony. Her legs now ended in foot-long claws, but she could still see the pony she had once been. "So, now what?" Twilight asked, directing much of the question at Cinder, who she could feel curl up in her mind. She had not planned this far ahead when she had agreed to this.
Cinder smiled. "This is still your body Twilight. Unless you want to let me, I am but a passenger for the moment. I will help you, of course, adapt to your new form, but much of this will be up to you."
Twilight nodded. That made sense she guessed. "What was the anger I felt though? I have never been that angry before. Not even against Tirek."
"That was part of my own coming out," Cinder replied. "Dragons are not known for being nice all the time in case you have forgotten. The more you get angry though, the more I will come out."
Twilight was worried at that. "Is that a good thing?"
Cinder shrugged. "It depends. Point your anger in the right direction, and there is very little that can stop you. A fully angry dragoness is almost impossible to stop. One that is a demi-goddess is even more so."
Twilight had forgotten about that part. Cinder was Tiamat's daughter, which made her part divine. Did that mean Twilight was now as well? That would take some thinking on. At the moment though, she saw another problem. "How am I supposed to get out of this room now? I'm too big for the door."
Cinder giggled. "You still have your magic. I am sure you can find a way to get us out of here."
With that, Cinder retreated into her own corner of Twilight's mind. Twilight could still feel her, but she was distant now, exhausted it seemed from the changes for both of them. With that avenue cut off, Twilight looked up at her forehead. She did in fact still have her horn, and she could still feel the magic within it. She did know several shrinking spells in fact.
Not knowing how her magic would react now, Twilight tried the first one she knew of but applied only a little of her magic to the casting. To her surprise, the spell was much easier than she remembered, and she had soon shrunk down to her normal pony size. She blinked as she readjusted to being this height again as she looked at the book that had started all of this. "Well, that was easy." She giggled like a school filly as she left the room behind for the time being. "Spike is going to flip when he sees this."
As Twilight left the Restricted Section behind, getting more than a few very confused and shocked looks along the way, Cinder settled herself down in the princess' mind with a sigh.
It had been far too long since she had been able to stretch out like this. Even though it was in another's mind, the space around her was limitless, thus she was able to stretch out to her full length. Mother alone knew how long it had been since she had been able to do that, she thought. But that was a time of her life Cinder was quick to try and put behind her.
And while it would be some time before she was corporeal enough to even think of leaving this place, even now Cinder could feel herself pulling back together and feeling more solid than she had for a long time. It was a feeling she never wanted to leave her again.
As she lay down after a time, she allowed herself to sift through her host's memories. Twilight did not feel a thing as her companion looked back at the life of one she was now bound to. Cinder let out a dismissive snort at some of the things she saw. Ponies, for all they professed to harmony and friendship for all races, up until recently, were no better than their ancestors had been. Twilight and her friends had done much to change that of course, but it would take a lot more than this to convince her that this was nothing but a momentary thing before it fell apart.
She was surprised to see that Dragon Lord Ember was nothing like her loudmouth father Torch. Cinder respected her for that much at least, but she had a long way to go. But what interested her the most, however, was Twilight's relationship with the youngling Spike. From the little she could sense of the young drake from this angle, he saw Twilight as an older sister, not as his mother, no matter that she had hatched his egg.
And Twilight, as well, saw Spike as a younger brother, far more than her son. Cinder was impressed that the pony had been able to hatch the egg at all. Very little could hatch a dragon's egg if its mother didn't herself.
That Spike pinned after a pony that clearly had no interest at all in him as he did her, or that he fell for the lies that insult to dragons everywhere Sludge had told him, did not speak well for his intelligence. But he was still young and therefore could grow out of it in time. For Twilight's sake, Cinder hoped he would.
And speaking of her fellow dragons. Cinder felt her anger grow as she saw what little of them Twilight knew. Her kind had fallen far from her own time. By the fires of Avernus, they had forgotten what they had once been. Equus itself had once lived under their rule during the Age of Dragons. When ponies had been nothing but dumb heard animals, while the other races were barely much better.
Griffons it seemed had never outgrown it, their kind as weak now as it had once been long ago. Only a few had tried to bring them above that status, but so far it had not lasted long. Celestia and Luna were an enigma though. Ponies who embodied all three kinds of ponies into one, and they had been born that way as well. Interesting. Twilight herself was an ascended alicorn, as was her sister-in-law Cadance. Strange, Cinder thought as she dug deeper.
How they had become like this reeked of Elder Magic. The kind only her mother knew. Yet Tiamat had nothing to do with this. Another question in her long list of questions. Questions she hoped she would get answers too. They were also questions Twilight herself had, Cinder felt, yet she didn't know much more than she did.
Part of the reason she had gone to the Restricted Section, as it turned out, was in a hope of discovering more about alicorns in general, and maybe even more so, about Celestia and Luna's own past. They had revealed very little it seemed to their younger counterparts, and it was driving Twilight crazy. Something that Cinder could sympathize with.
She too wished to know more. But for her, it was who and why she had been trapped away for as long as she had been. This Starswirl the Bearded had nothing at all to do with it. She had been trapped long before he had even been born. Nor had it been this, Grogar, character.
As powerful as both seemed to be, neither was even a quarter strong enough to bind her as she had been. So, for now, that question would remain unanswered.
Cinder snorted as she lay her head down, letting her mane fall over her eyes as she closed them. The answers would come in time, she vowed so. It wasn't like she didn't have all the time in the universe, as did Twilight herself as it turned out. Cinder smiled as she felt sleep take her. She wondered if Twilight knew this as well.
And when the day came that she discovered who had done this to her, they would pay. Oh, how they would pay. Their suffering would be spoken of for all time and their death would not be pleasant.
Author's Note
Okay. I do need to apologize for the cover art. It's the best I have at the moment. The artist was kind enough to crop it from a comic they did. And this story will go in a different direction than the comic did. Old art was done by CandyClumsy and Bigonionbean.
Moving on to the story though. Tiamat is in fact real in this Equestria. Very real to those unfortunate enough to meet her when she's in a bad mood. Which with her is 50% of the time. She is not evil though. More Chaotic Neutral, with evil tendencies. Cinder will be the only new dragon in the story.
Reactions and News (edited)
Having known the mare his entire life, Spike had grown rather used to the odd things that happened around and to her. Heck, barely a week went by when something did not happen to her, and he was usually the one who had to clean up the mess afterward. Granted, it had become less so ever since she had risen to the High Throne of Equestria. But still. But seeing his big sister like that? Took the cake, and the entire bakery along with it.
"Twilight. Why are you a dragon?" He asked, before pinching his nose. "Better yet. How are you a dragon?" Spike finished, crossing his arms and giving the former alicorn a pointed look.
Twilight, for her part, looked rather sheepish, as she tapped her claws together. "Long story short? I released a spirit trapped in one of the books in the Canterlot Archives. One who happened to be a dragoness. And since she needed a body while hers reforms, I offered her mine. And here I am!"
Spike sighed. Only Twilight could read a book and have this happen to her. Just his luck. "So. Do I need to call the girls and have them use the Friendship Lazer of Death on you? Does Canterlot need to worry about losing its new princess already?"
Twilight gave him a rather deadpan glare. "I wish you would stop calling it that, Spike." She sniffed as she crossed her arms. "And I will have you know that I feel fine. I have no plans to go on a city-wide rampage, thank you very much. Neither does Cinder for that matter."
Spike's brows rose. "And who is Cinder I might ask?"
Twilight blinked, before smiling. "That is the name of the spirit I share my body with, now. She is rather cute once you see her. You know. For a dragon at least."
Spike rolled his eyes. "I will be the judge of that, Twilight. So, what does this mean for you now?"
Twilight sighed. "I do not know, Spike. I can't keep this a secret for long. Ponies have already seen me. The whole castle knows by now probably. All of Equestria will soon enough."
Spike could see how much this was tearing Twilight up inside and ran over and hugged her as best he could. "Come on, Twilight, Sure ponies will talk about this. A lot. It is about the only thing they do anymore it seems." His smile grew. "Besides, you have friends who'll stand by your side no matter what. Who cares what other ponies think when you have got us?"
Twilight hiccuped, as her own smile grew and kissed the top of Spike's head. "Thanks, Spike. I needed that."
Spike grinned. "That's what I'm here for!"
They held the hug for a moment, just enjoying the peace and quiet. Spike, though, finally broke the silence. "So, uh. How did a book with a dragoness in it end up in the Canterlot Archives? How did she even end up trapped in a book in the first place?"
Twilight blinked back to the present. "I am not sure, Spike. The book was in the Restricted Section. This means only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna knew that it existed."
Spike couldn't argue with that. "Come on, Twilight. You need to stop calling them that title. You know they're just normal ponies now. They made it a Royal Order too."
Twilight snorted. This was not the time for this argument. "Not the point, Spike."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Fine. Do you think they could have done this? I mean, they are pretty powerful. I wouldn't put it past them."
Twilight thought about it for a moment. "I am not sure. This seems cruel and unusual to do to someone. Even for them on a bad day."
Spike folded his arms. "Yeah? Tell that to the Legion of Doom."
Twilight growled. "They deserved their fate, Spike. They showed time and again they didn't care about friendship. Not the way we know it. Maybe in a thousand years, I will change my mind and let them out. But until then, they can stay that way."
Spike winced. This was almost universally what all were saying following the Battle of the Bell. While a few said that it was cruel and unusual, especially to a filly Cozy Glow's age, they were in the minority. He decided to move past this. "What about Discord? Sounds like something he could do."
Twilight tapped her chin. It was true. This did feel like something Discord could do. The trouble was, nopony knew where the Chaos Spirit was. Not even Fluttershy. Once it was revealed that he had instigated the entire thing with the Legion of Doom by posing as Grogar, the world turned on him, what little trust he had been able to build, now destroyed beyond repair. Fluttershy's protests and attempts to make ponies see why Discord had done what he had, were roundly ignored by all. Not even her friends stood by her in this matter, though they never once held the Pegasus responsible for any of what had happened.
Twilight sighed. "Maybe. But who knows where that no-good spirit ran off to. And if Discord has any sense at all, he will not be coming back to Equus anytime soon. So, I can't ask him."
Spike nodded. He knew better than to keep this line of thought open. "So. Celestia and Luna then?"
Twilight nodded. "Do you still have the Dragon Fire Mail Spell, Spike?"
Spike grinned as he pulled a quil and parchment. "Yep, Never thought I'd have to use it for this, though."
Twilight giggled. "Ready, Spike?"
Spike was about to answer, when he remembered something and winced, putting down what he had and grabbing another sheet. "Um. Hold that thought, Twilight. Smolder sent this in while you were out. We've got a problem. Someone's coming to see you."
Twilight blinked. "Okay? I am not sure how I'll explain all of this," she said, gesturing to her new body. "But I do not see how this is a problem, Spike."
Spike winced. "Yeah. But it's who is coming that's going to be a problem. Even more so now. Please don't panic?"
Twilight groaned. "Spike, spit it out already! Who is it?"
Spike gulped. "Tiamat."
Twilight took a moment to process that. And then began to panic. "AHHHHHHHH!!!!"
"Spike, what am I going to do?!" Twilight panicked as she paced back and forth, pulling her mane out as she did. She was not ready for this. "I am so not ready for this. How the hell am I going to meet Tiamat? How am I going to explain this to her?"
Spike sighed. He was used to his big sister's freakouts by now. But it never got easier listening to them. "Twilight, you need to calm down. You can't meet her in this mood, that's for sure."
Twilight shot him a glare. "Spike. I cannot calm down. This is too important. The Dragon Queen never comes to Equestria. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna always had to go to her. Why would that change now?"
Spike shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because you freed her daughter? If she really is the Lost Daughter."
Twilight blinked, stopping in her tracks, even as she felt Cinder shift in her mind. "The what? What do you mean, Spike?"
Spike tapped his claws together. "Well. There is an old story in the Dragon Lands. Tiamat is the Mother of All Dragons as you know. But there are five that are directly descended from her. Not like most dragons. One for each of her heads. Supposedly, one of them was lost a really long time ago, and no one knew why."
"He is right," CInder said, taking over Twilight's mouth for a moment. "I remember my sisters. The five of us got into all kinds of trouble. Mother never cared of course, and we had to make our own way in the world. I wonder where they are now?"
Spike pinched his nose. Hearing another voice coming from Twilight was just too much for him. "Well, whoever you are. Can you talk her out of coming to Equestria? I do not think Canterlot is ready for this."
Cinder turned their head to look at him. Spike was surprised to see the different look in Twilight's eyes. "You really think she would listen to me? The Chromatic Dragon listens to one only. And I was the youngest of us. I have even less clout than the others."
Twilight blinked as she regained control of her body. "Who would Tiamat listen to? No one on Equus is strong enough to face her."
Cinder nodded. "Indeed. You know her as the Mother of All Life or the Destroyer. She is the only one mother will ever listen to. Not even my father could, though he was closer to her than most."
Twilight wondered who he might have been, but decided to hold off on the question for now. "So what am I supposed to do? Tiamat is coming for you, I feel. What is she going to do to me?"
Cinder did not reply for a time. "I cannot say, Princess Twilight. But mother can be peaceful when approached correctly. It is only when you do something to anger any of her heads that lead to carnage. If you anger one of them, the rest will quickly become the same. I can't teach you how to approach them. You must learn that yourself."
Twilight groaned. Just her luck. She could only hope that everything would work out in the end.
Author's Note
Redid this chapter. Everything after the scene break is new. I just wasn't happy with how I had it in my head. So, I combined the next chapter with this one. I know Cloverleaf and Redandready45 has said Cinder is lying about something. She isn't. There's no reason too. As for something Vaguely Demented said, Starswirl had nothing to do with her imprisonment.
