Lies In The Library

No-one was sure what to say, until Luster suddenly stomped her hoof down.

"It would seem that whoever wrote this down had a very twisted sense of humour indeed." She said, visibly annoyed. "It clearly was written down so ponies could see it, but even if you can read it it doesn't even say anything useful, just this cryptic nonsense? Then what's the point? If it's a warning, then it sure as hell is failing to do even that, Celestia-dammit."

She clacked her tongue, before turning away. The others were still quiet.

"Bah, whatever, I'll keep it in mind, if it somehow does come up. Both of you, stay on your guard, we can't waste time now."

Emerald and Spike shared a look of understanding. Even if Luster didn't show it, she was just as on edge as the two of them were, so encountering yet another mystery wasn't helping anyone.

The pegasus bowed down, picking up the book Luster had dropped. "Here, miss, you dropped this. It wouldn't do to already be littering in this place, I would assume." She said, trying to lighten the mood.

The unicorn looked at the green mare, frustration replaced by confusion. "I... dropped it? Wasn't I levitating it?"

Emerald didn't know how to reply, so she just gave the book. Luster took it, placing it in her sack. "That's weird. Well, I'll bring this along, just in case we find any more scribbles. Let's move."

And with that, the group continued again. None of their wristwatches started to blare, signifying that the air inside was in fact breathable. Still, as Luster had instructed, their masks were at the ready, just in case.

As they walked, they noticed that the downwards sloped hallway started to curve, eventually settling into a spiral. The tune had gradually been growing louder and louder, until they eventually and to their surprise recognized that it was some form of music that had been playing.

"This... is this Bald Ape music? It doesn't sound all that different from a normal orchestra, doesn't it?" Emerald spoke up, straining her ears.

Luster nodded behind her. "Not that that's much of a surprise, all in all. From some of the records historians managed to translate regarding Bald Apes, we already knew that they were extremely varied in their arts, including producing sounds through instruments. Of course, just like the voice we heard earlier, we could assume that this too is a recording that plays if someone is in the building. Think of it like background music, like the ones you hear in large malls. Or well, it's probably precisely that."

Emerald understood, before speaking up. "Miss, if you want, I can fly ahead to see how much longer this spiral goes on?"

Luster mumbled in approval, and before Spike could object that they shouldn't split up, Emerald already took off... before immediately crashing down.

"Emerald, are you alright?" Luster called out, quickly running over and helping her up. Spike wasn't sure what just happened.

"I... I think so, miss. My... apologies, but I don't know what... this has never happened before." Emerald eventually said, still a bit dazed. "I tried to fly, and I did... until I didn't?"

Luster thought for a moment, before closing her eyes. Her horn started to glow brightly, before the glow suddenly fizzled out, and she opened her eyes again.

"That's... going to be a problem." She said, taking out a first-aid kit to start treating the scrapes on Emerald's front legs. The pegasus hissed as the antiseptic was applied, but kept quiet. Her armor seems to have protected her from the brunt of the impact.

Spike didn't follow. "Wait, what is? Do you know what happened, Luster?"

Luster nodded, before looking at Spike. "I'm sorry for the sudden request, but could you send a letter, right now?"

The drake was taken aback, but complied all the same, taking out pen and paper again. "Sure, I guess. Who to?"

The unicorn shook her head. "No, just leave it blank. And send it to me, please. Just so we can be sure about this."

Spike frowned at this, but did as he was told. Throwing the paper up, he let out a belch of flame again, incinerating the paper. The ashes floated down.

Luster nodded. "Right, that clears it up then. The flame came out, but the paper was just burned, instead of reforming as a letter."

She finished treating Emerald, and put the first aid kit away again, before speaking up again.

"Our magic is being blocked. I can't cast spells, Emerald can't fly, you can't send a letter, those are all things enabled through magic, and we apparently can't do them anymore. Keep it in mind as we continue." She said, and the others understood.

"Any idea what causes it? I thought these walls blocked all magic as well, so there can't be a source of anti-magic in here as that would have been blocked as well, right?" Spike wondered aloud, being reminded of his adventure in the changeling hive a few decades ago. After a bit more thought, he was also reminded of the story Emerald had told him before, of supposed clouds of anti-magic occupying the vales after Starfall, and shuddered.

Luster pondered for a bit. "I'm not sure, but I know that it's definitively not anti-magic. Like I said, our magic is being blocked, rather than being prevented, as small as the difference may seem. If it was the latter, then I wouldn't even have been able to generate a glow on my horn earlier, you see."

She considered it a bit further. "Could it be the music? The theories for it exist, but it was never reliably proven. And would that mean that the Bald Apes sought to prevent to use of magic here? But then... " She started to trail of, mumbling to herself, until Spike cleared his throat.

"Okay, we know that magic's out now, shall we head back now? I'm not even sure if our equipment is going to be reliable anymore." Spike said, not wanting to lose Luster already.

Luster snapped to attention. "No, no, we can still go on. All of our gear is designed to not use any magic, so that's not going to be an issue. Emerald, can you walk?"

The pegasus nodded, getting up again. "Yeah, I'm fine, the fall wasn't that bad. My gear seems to be fine as well. Let's go."

Spike sighed, having hoped that Luster would have changed his mind, but turned around and continued, the others falling in step.

Shortly thereafter, the passageway ended into another doorway, and the sight behind it was almost breathtaking.

Stepping through, the party was amazed at what they saw.

"It's... " Spike began, but went silent. Emerald picked in.

"A library. It really is a library!"

As far as they could see, the huge, well-lit room they had entered was filled to the brim with shelves and stands that nearly reached the ceiling, each one overflowing with books and papers of all shapes, sizes and colours. And said ceiling was beyond tall, an estimation of forty steps probably from ground to top probably not even doing it justice, while they could only barely make out the far walls of the room.

If Spike had to guess, the numbers of books in here could range well into the millions, as he had never seen such a high density of them before. Twilight would probably faint on the spot if she were to see this, he could vividly imagine.

Walking forward, he wanted to reach out and take one of the books, before Luster quickly stopped him.

"Don't, Spike. Don't touch, well, anything."

Spike looked confused, as he thought Luster would have been jumping with joy to explore, until she explained.

"These books have been here for who knows how many millennia. Without the proper procedures, or even just without any magic at all, I don't want to risk anything turning into dust just by touching it, or something worse still. We're just here to look, for now."

Spike had to comply with that logic, remember how careful Twilight was whenever she handled a book even a century old.

"You're right, I guess. So what do we do then?" Spike asked, looking around.

"Look around, try to map out the area. See if you can find any more doors or the like, as well as anything that's unusual." She stopped, before correcting herself. "Well, more unusual than the literal ocean of literature that's staring us in the face, I suppose. Emerald, can you go left? Spike, you can go right, and I'll go down the middle. Shout out if you find something, don't try to explore it on your own. And if not, then we'll regroup once we've reached the far wall."

The others nodded, and the group spread out.

As Spike went along the right wall, he quickly lost sight of the others, the sea of books blocking his vision of them. He still couldn't quite believe it, looking around in amazement, as he walked on. So many books, all of them presumably as old as the bald apes themselves? It's a damn miracle that this place even exists. He realized that he couldn't even comprehend the scale of this discovery, and was quite eager to see how Equestria would react to... well, all of this.

Lost in thought, simply enjoying the sights, he made it about halfway into the large hall until he heard a voice call out to his left.

"Luster, Spike! Come here, you'll want to see this!"

Emerald Streak found something? Weaving his way between the various stands and shelves, he eventually found the place Emerald shouted from. Luster was already there, crouching over a...

As soon as he realized what he was looking at, did Spike lurch forward, a burning sensation in his throat almost causing him to vomit. He didn't, in the end, for which he was grateful, but he instead had to take a knee, panting heavily.

He suddenly felt a hoof on his shoulder, causing him to look up in shock, only to find Emerald standing there, looking at him with troubled eyes.

"It's okay, Spike. There, there, everything's okay. They have been lying here for a while, from the looks of it, so they aren't a threat."

That wasn't the issue here, Spike almost wanted to snap, but he forced himself to calm down. Taking a deep breath, he spoke up.

"I'm not an archaeologist, you know? I... I've never seen something like, well, like that before." He said, pointing towards where Luster was kneeling down... and the grim skeleton lying besides her. Actually, now that he could focus for a bit, Spike noticed that it wasn't just the one skeleton. There was a whole group of them lying around, some against the wall, others scattered between the shelves, one lying halfway in a doorway Spike hadn't seen before, but all very much very dead.

"This is a library, dammit, not a graveyard! Or, well, at least I thought it was. Guess I didn't get the memo, huh?" He said, not without a tone of anger to his voice.

Emerald shook her head, slightly blushing. "You're right, Spike, I didn't think about... well, me and Luster have had a lot of experience with digging up such things, yet I didn't stop to consider how this would impact you as well. That's my fault, and I apologize for it. I should have warned you in advance."

Spike shook his head, breathing in and out a few more times. "It's... fine, now, I guess. So, what's up with the bone circus over there?" He said, trying to lighten the mood, if only for himself.

Emerald looked at Luster, who had been pacing between the various skeletons now, until she made her way back.

"Curious. Very curious indeed. Did you see the fractures as well, Emerald, even on the back of their skulls?" She asked, looking at the pegasus, who nodded. "Then I guess it's clear what happened to them. As for the why and when, I can't know for sure of course... oh, Spike, are you alright? You seem like you've seen a ghost?"

Emerald let a small laugh out, though Spike himself didn't find it particularly funny, though he realized that Luster wasn't being malicious with her remark. "Mind initiating the one person here still recovering from seeing a dead person for the first time in his life? Heck, I don't even know if they are Bald Apes or not!"

Luster looked at the skeletons again, nodding to herself. "Well, for a start, they aren't Bald Apes, though it would have been nice if they were. No, they are, well, various races you can find today. A few ponies, a pair of gryphons, even a minotaur. My best guess is that they were responsible for that message back at the entrance, as my initial estimations would put them at around the time Equestria was formed, judging from what's left of their clothes and overall decay. As for how they died, it isn't... particularly pretty."

Emerald chimed in, perhaps not wanting to be left out. "They all sustained heavy fractures on their overall skeleton frames, as if they endured an extremely heavy blow, which would have instantly incapacitated them. Additionally, they all have a smaller fracture near the base of their skull, just above their neck, where the spinal nerve of most know species runs. If that was damaged, they would have been instantly and fully paralyzed from the neck up, eventually leading to their deaths as they couldn't control their breathing anymore, even subconsiously. As Luster put it, it wouldn't have been a pretty way to go."

Spike frowned, not wanting to recognize the thought, but saying it all the same. "They were... what, murdered, then? And in a pretty gruesome way at that?"

Luster nodded. "That's what I conclude, yes. Furthermore, studying the positions of the skeletons, it seems like they were all... well, running away from a single point. The door frame, over there, with the pony skeleton halfway across it? Every single one of them is turned away from that, pointing to the possibility. Still, if they did do so, then they didn't get far. Whatever did them in, it was fast, and they probably didn't even stand a chance, as their magic too was presumably blocked."

As she finished, she turned around, walking around the skeletons and towards said doorframe.

Spike finally snapped at this, anger flaring up, and he called out to Luster. "Oh come on, don't tell me you want to explore even further now!"

Luster turned around, cocking her head. "Of course I do. If there's something in there that interested them, then I want to see if I can find out what. This is an exploratory expedition, after all, what else would be doing? Emerald, are you coming? Spike, if you don't want to, you can stay outside." She turned around again, not even waiting for an answer.

Emerald gave a sheepish smile, and started to followed. "Something killed them, yes, but that also happened at least centuries ago Spike. Whatever it was that got those people killed, it shouldn't be there anymore, as only alicorns are known to live that long. Sorry, but I'm going to follow Luster now. Can't let her out of my sight, after all."

She finished with a wink, clearly alluding to what she had confided to him earlier. Spike in turn sighed, clearly not happy with how things are turning around, and cursed himself yet again for promising Twilight to look out for Luster.

And so he followed along, giving as much berth as he could around each skeleton, into the darker lit room.

As they entered the room, after making sure to not disturb the skeleton in the doorway, did Spike suddenly freeze, transfixed on an item to the side. Walking over, he couldn't help but whistle, catching the attention of the other two.

Luster spoke up first. "Did you notice something, Spike?"

The drake shrugged his shoulders, still in disbelief. He also quickly realized that this day was starting to get filled with such occurances, but put the thought aside.

"More like recognize. Is this what I think it is?" He took a closer look, turning the device around. Luster tried to stop him, but Spike spoke up before she could.

"No touching, yeah, but trust me. You're going to want to see this, if the Bald Apes really were so good at building their stuff to last."

After finally finding what he was looking for, he suddenly pressed in on the device, a soft click suddenly resounding through the room. Shortly thereafter, a kind of whirring was audible, and a vertical rectangle next to the device lit up, surprising the mares. Spike softly whistled.

"Well, what do you know? The Bald Apes had computers as well." He looked triumphantly at the confused pair, happy to forget about the skeletons lying outside for a while, starting to explain.

"It's a device me and Twilight encountered in the other world, beyond the crystal mirror, way back, before the pathways were cut off. I guess the easiest way of putting it is, eh... it's like a sort of storage device, that compresses information incredibly efficiently. Like, imagine a book, with each letter in that book being a book itself, and each letter in that book also being a book, and so on... All those books we saw outside? Yeah, I guess you could find the contents of every single one of them inside this device as well, just like it was in the other world."

Emerald was at a loss for words. Luster, meanwhile, seemed to be following along. "I don't think I ever even heard about such a device before, outside of extremely vague descriptions in recovered dead language writings. You're telling me the Princess already had knowledge of things like this?" She asked.

Spike shrugged his shoulders. "Well, Twilight tried to replicate it in our world, of course, but it required a very specific sort of power that either didn't exist in our world, or hadn't been explored and studied, as we instead had magic to satisfy our needs. She failed, and any knowledge about it was eventually laid to the side, forgotten amongst everything else Twilight was doing at the time, if I remember correctly."

Emerald eventually spoke up as well. "Then, do you know how to use it, sir Spike? If this does contain what you said it did, it would massively simplify the process and going through all those books outside, which in and of itself could be as huge as our discovery on how to get in, honestly."

"If Luster can translate, I think I can? The buttons are too small to be used by hooves, after all, but not too small for my claws."

Luster nodded, and stood next to the drake, peering at the screen.

"I think it's asking for a user name?" She looked down at the symbols on the keyboard before her, even if she didn't know it was called as such, and directed Spike to which keys he needed to press.

As he did, the same symbols started to fill up on the screen, spelling out the name Luster had used to enter the Silent Library. After hitting the confirmation key, the symbols changed again.

Welkom, Annelies. Gelieve een zoekterm in te geven.

Pausing for a moment, she directed Spike again, and a word was entered. Another press of the confirmation key, and a figure of an hourglass appeared, occasionally turning around. Luster explained. "It's a word that came up time and time again in dead language writings, though the descriptions tied to it varied immensely. So this is just to see how much this device has in store for us."

The screen changed again, a list of titles, names, dates and other miscellaneous information starting to fill the screen.

Zoekterm: Automaat. Ongeveer 52.000 referenties gevonden.

"Incredible." Luster softly whispered, and asked Spike if he could open one of them. He did, and the screen was filled with dead language writing, interspersed with strange diagrams here and there. Luster almost couldn't believe her eyes.

She asked if she could see a few more, and Spike followed along, multiple windows being opened one after another. This continued on for a quite a while, until an image popped up that gave them all pause. Even Luster was shaken by what she was seeing.

Emerald eventually found the courage to speak up. "Is that... are those... but that can't be, right? They aren't that old, surely? Please, please tell me this is a joke?"

Spike shrugged his shoulders, too stunned to even reply, while Luster was reading the text underneath it.

She audibly mumbled to herself. "... no, it's not their names, those are... designations?"

"Well done, little ponies. And dragon, of course. You've truly made me proud, all of you." A voice suddenly rang out from behind them, making them all jump. As they turned around, they saw an exact copy of what was currently being shown on the screen.

Celestia and Luna were standing there, just before the door opening, almost blocking it. The white alicorn had a great smile on her, while the black alicorn was looking intently at the trio before them, a neutral expression on her face.

Emerald Streak and Spike were too shocked to even comprehend what was happening, as Luster suddenly started to laugh.

"So, it's like that then, is it? 'The lie must live' indeed. Well, I suppose that clears a lot of things up." She said, looking towards to two princesses, though they preferred to not be called as such anymore. Twilight was the ruler now, as they had said multiple times in the past, and their time had passed, instead preferring to travel around the world as tourists.

"Celestia, Luna... or should I perhaps call you Celestial and Lunar, as this document here seems wont to do?"

The expressions on either alicorn didn't change, as Celestia spoke again.

"Truly, to think another would come this far. Luster Dawn, you are without doubt exceptional beyond measure. Twilight is fortunate indeed to have found a student like you."

Noticing the looks both pegasus and dragon were giving here, Luster decided to explain further. "It all makes a lot of sense, if you think about it a bit further. We were looking at the automaton section, which as it turns out described artificial beings that can work on their own, some even with complete intelligence and authority over their own actions. And then that image popped up, with those names under it. Do you see it now, both of you?"

Spike didn't want to consider it, dreading the answer.

"They... aren't ponies?" Emerald said, not quite believing her own words.

Luster nodded. " 'The lie must live', remember? As it turns out... this is what it was referring to."

Spike shook his head, still trying but failing to wrap his head around it.

"No, I don't understand... I mean, even if they are these, what automatons or the like, why would they need to pose as..."

"Order." Luna suddenly spoke up, catching the attention of the trio, though Luster already seemed to know where she was going to go.

"That was what we were built for, as is outlined in that document. If, in the circumstance that our creators disappeared, me and Celestia, or Lunar and Celestial if you prefer to call us, were tasked with rebuilding a new land, a new people, to stem the inevitable conflict that would arise between the other intelligent species that were co-existing with our creators, and were now warring between themselves in order to claim the technologies of our creators for themselves."

She paused for a moment, looking between each of the three ponies and dragon.

"Our creators did not want to see the world go up in flames, even if they themselves were not present anymore, and so we were given power. The power to cultivate, the power to teach, the power to build, the power to lead... and the power to destroy, if it was necessary. And so we did. We cultivated intelligence in a then yet unintelligent species, we taught them how to live, we build them a home, we led them until we were certain they could lead themselves, all the while destroying any threat along the way. As a result, the world is not in flames, as Equestria is acting as a mediator between the various races, due to its overwhelming military and diplomatic might. In short, we fulfilled what we were set out to do."

Luster spoke up. "Which wouldn't have been possible if word ever got out that you weren't one of them, of us, right? Again, the 'lie' had to 'live', as Equestria would been collapsed in on itself if ponies learned that their leaders weren't even ponies."

The dark alicorn nodded. "Then you also understand what we want to ask of you now?"

Before the other two could speak up, did Luster nod. "I do. But I neither consent nor reject your offer, just yet. Instead, I would ask you to consider a third option. Erase all mentions of your construction and purpose from these archives, as well as anything that could endanger the world, but keep the rest intact. We ourselves will not tell a single soul about the information you have removed. Does this sound agreeable? You have fulfilled your purpose, after all, do you not believe that princess Twilight can decide for herself what she should do with the remaining information stored in here?"

Celestia somehow looked suprised at that, though the smile quickly came back. She shared a look with Luna, who after a moment only nodded.

"This... is agreeable. Very well, we consent, Luster Dawn. Again, I have to say, you are truly one of a kind. Now, if you would, could you please leave and return to Vanhoover? I think someone is waiting for you there."

Luster Dawn nodded, and started to move. Noticing that the other two were still standing still, confused as all heck yet again about what just transpired, she called out to them.

"Emerald, Spike, we're leaving. Now." That seemed to do the trick, as they started to move, still dazed.

Once again taking care to not step on the skeletons in the doorframe and outside, they followed Luster, who was heading for the doorway they had come in.

As they were making their way back through the spiral staircase, did Spike finally speak. "What in the hay just happened in there?"

Luster glanced back at him, slightly shivering. "We lived, that's what happened. Honestly, for a second there I really thought they were going to reject it."

Emerald spoke up as well, realization finally starting to settle in after considering everything she had been through. "You mean, those skeletons we found were..."

"Yeah, that was probably Celestia's and Luna's doing."

Spike's vision started to swim again, while Luster continued. "Essentially, they were going to give us a choice, just as I presume they had given those poor sods lying down there. Whoever uncovers the 'truth' about Celestia and Luna, was from that point considered a 'threat', as they could very well topple all of Equestria, like Luna explained, so they were given a choice. Shut up about it, never tell anyone what you found, and leave the Silent Library sealed yet again so no further explorers could discover the same. Or... well, I already explained what I assumed happened to the skeletons. Luna and Celestia had the power to destroy, and not just on a large scale. It seems like those skeletons chose the latter option, probably not believing that Celestia and Luna were serious. Until they did make it clear that they were serious, and why they were all found turned away from the doorway. We'll probably never know how they opened the Library on their own, sadly enough. Still, as uninviting as the second option was, I would have never taken the first one either, as I simply couldn't throw away everything we accomplished. So, we lived. And we can inform anyone we want of what we found, not including the 'lie'."

Spike spoke up again just as they were nearing the entrance. "No, wait, that doesn't explain how you knew there would be a choice in the first place? What stopped Celestia and Luna from outright killing us in the first place, if it's so important? I mean, I know I'll definitely not ever tell anyone else now after all that, but that doesn't mean that they could trust us, right?"

Luster shook her head, pointing at the wall again right before they stepped outside, the symbols scribbled on it a lot more meaningful now.

"Well, because they have done so before, of course. Who else do you think wrote these words on the wall here if that wasn't the case?"