Cozy followed the quartet of ponies at a distance, being careful to watch her steps so as to not make any sound as they descended into the depths of the library. As the group moved, Cozy found it increasingly strange that the group moved in silence and carefully checked if any pony was around before moving down to each floor.

As the group neared a dead end, Cozy watched as Emerald tapped a series of books which caused a faint clicking sound. A moment later Emerald pushed the bookcase aside just far enough for a pony to enter, then motioned for the other three ponies to enter. Once they were through, Emerald entered herself and closed the bookcase carefully behind her.

Cozy waited a few moments, then made her way over and tapped the same series of books. When she heard the click, she hid for several long moments, wanting to see if any pony would come out. As no pony did, she went back to the bookcase and carefully opened it just far enough to see in. Seeing a long, dark hallway, she placed her ear against the crack to see if she could hear anything.

Focusing her attention, she could hear faint voices echoing from the distance.

“It’s not as if we didn’t try. We were up all night searching, and all morning asking around and no pony has seen her since yesterday evening.” Said a gruff male voice Cozy remembered as belonging to the largest of the three ponies, a brawny, older, gray stallion she had met earlier that morning.

“Did you talk to her brother?” Inquired a soft female voice that Cozy recognized as Emerald’s.

“And who might he be? It’s not as though we have ever met this Zeph pony before.”

“You have a point. I’m just used to everyone around her knowing her, though even if you don’t know her, you surely know her brother Zain.”

“Only Zain, I know, is the famous reviewer.”

“That’s him.”

“Aye, he is a hard one not to know. Though still, don’t know where he lives off the top of my head. Doesn’t matter now, anyway. The boss told us to come here and use a compass to find her before it’s too late.”

“I think you all are being too paranoid. Zeph is a smart pony. She’ll ask around, every pony will tell her it’s too dangerous; she won’t be able to get a trot gilder, or any other vessel that could make the voyage. The only thing she has access to is a wing glider, and no pony is naïve enough to think they could spend two days on a wing glider. The only reason I even gave her the directions and compass was to get her interested in knowing more.”

“Which in itself is a major problem. You gave the lass an ancient, unchecked, likely uncalibrated, compass! If she did use it, who knows what it would actually be pointing to. The boss doesn’t want to take any risks.”

“Well, ‘the boss’ should be less secretive then. I’ve been a caretaker for over forty years and the only contact I have with ‘the boss’ is when you come in here demanding things for them. I’d like to know how you even knew I gave her the compass. Zeph isn’t the kind of pony to go blabbing about secrets.”

“That’s not for you to know. Now if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Fine.”

Cozy heard some rumblings, as if something was being moved. A little while later, she could hear the faint whisper of voices, but they had become too distant for her to make out the words. Biting her lip, Cozy opened the pathway a little further and ventured in, being careful not to close the bookshelf all the way behind her to allow for a quick escape if needed.

Making her way through the winding pathway, she stopped as soon as she could make out voices once more.

Cozy closed her eyes as she listened to the soft female voice she knew belonged to Emerald once more. “… what you came for. Now how about answering my question? What are you going to do with Zeph once you find her?”

“Don’t know, don’t need to know. Boss said bring her in for her own safety. I’m not one to ask questions I don’t need to know the answers to. That’s why I have the job I do.”

Hearing a faint click behind her, Cozy jumped slightly. Rushing back, she found that the entrance had closed behind her. Even with her night vision, Cozy was only able to make out the layout of the pathway, not the details of it. Reaching into her saddlebag, she pulled out a cluster of crystal glow berries and held it in her mouth as she frantically studied the now seemingly solid wood wall that used to be her exit.

After a few moments of frantic searching and not finding anything, Cozy returned the glow berries to her saddlebag and made her way further in, hoping to find a place to hide.

As she came to a well lit, large, open room filled with largely empty shelves in the center of which stood a statue of a female dragon and a trio of ponies together in a boat, she heard the gruff male voice echo from an opening in the floor.

“It’s still not working.”

“Maybe we should just take it back to the boss?” Came another voice Cozy recognized as belonging to a gangly yellow mare that had been with the larger stallion.

“Suppose we have no choice. We’re done here.”

Hearing hoof steps coming her way, Cozy quietly hopped into the boat and laid as flat as she could.

Cozy stayed calm and listened as the hoof steps made their way up out of the floor and out into the dark hallway. She was careful to note that only three pairs of hoof sounds had left, which meant there was still some pony in the room below. Most likely Emerald.

After spending quite some time on the bottom of the boat without hearing anything, Cozy’s patience ran out, and she made her way out of the boat and towards the staircase in the floor. Hearing nothing, Cozy tiptoed down the stairs without a sound. Reaching the bottom, she found herself in yet another dimly lit hallway. Though this one was lined with dragon statues, most with objects radiating magical energy. A sight Cozy rarely saw outside of crystal glow berries and the few functional relics she’d come across in her caves.

As Cozy carefully walked down the hallway examining the objects, she came to a sudden halt as an intense chill rushed through her very being. One of the statues was holding a hoof mirror, and within it was her true reflection. Cozy stared mortified at the image of a translucent glass like pony staring back at her. Taking a deep breath, Cozy shook her head and re-centered her focus. Emerald could be anywhere she needed to stay on full alert.

As Cozy made her way down the hallway, she started to hear clanking and clicking sounds. Going towards the sounds, she came to a doorway off the side of the hallway where she could see the shadow of a pony casting on the wall.

“That should do it.” Declared the soft female voice belonging to the pony inside the room. Hearing hoof steps coming towards the door, Cozy hid behind a statue.

As Emerald came out the door, the hallway was suddenly lit up by a more intense green glow.

“Is some pony here?” Asked Emerald in a concerned voice. “I could have sworn I heard something just now. Maybe I’m just being paranoid. Or maybe not. It still makes no sense how they knew everything. It was as if they knew everything we talked about down here. I wonder…”

Cozy felt an intense rush of dread as the light of Emerald’s pendant suddenly bathed her and she found herself staring into Emerald's deep green eyes frozen in place with an awkward smile. Emerald stared at her with a look of completely bewildered shock for several moments before her expression changed to one of cold analyzation. A moment later, Emerald lowered her muzzle next to Cozy’s ear and whispered so faintly she could barely hear. “Follow me, but make no noise and keep acting like I never saw you.”

With that, Emerald turned away from Cozy and began making her way further down the hallway. When the pair reached the end of the hallway, Emerald looked around her for a moment and then disappeared behind a tapestry. Not sure what to expect, Cozy followed suit and found herself no longer in an ornate stone hallway lit with magic, but instead in a dusty cave lit only by the light of Emerald's pendant, which she was holding in her hoof staring at it with intense concern.

Not particularly enjoying the green light coming from the pendant, Cozy decided to once more pull out a cluster of glow berries, but this time hooked them to her saddlebag. So that they would just provide ambient light. Cozy always carried around a couple of clusters of fresh glow berries specifically to use as lights.

With the berries in place, Cozy looked back to Emerald, who was smiling as she sat her pendant on the ground, then motioned for Cozy to lead the way deeper into the caves.

As the pair walked, Cozy could hear water trickling in the distance, and her mind relaxed as a deeply familiar scent filled her nose. After a few twists, turns, and narrow corridors that Emerald had barely managed to squeeze through, the path opened up into a cliff overlooking a massive cavern. One that Cozy knew well, as it was one of the central caverns that connected a great many of the North Isle caves.

“This should be far enough.” Declared Emerald in a normal talking voice.

“Far enough for what?” Cozy said in a distrusting tone, as she wanted to emphasize her distrust of Emerald.

“Far enough for us to talk. I’m not sure how they’re listening in. One of the artifacts most let them. Or perhaps my pendant? When I was invited to be a caretaker of the library ruins, it was given to me by the previous Ironhoof.”

“Who’s Ironhoof?” squeaked Cozy, feeling annoyed at even having to ask.

“I was right. You’re not working for ‘the boss,’ are you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m helping Flare look for Zeph. That is my only interest in all this. You and that trio of strange ponies were talking about her, so I followed you, looking for answers. Simple as that.”

Emerald let out a concerned hum as she pulled a compass out of her saddlebag. “If Flare doesn’t know where Zeph is, then this really may be our only hope of finding her.”

“What’s with the compass?”

“In theory, they point towards whirlpools in the ocean. That way you can avoid them by—not following the needle. However, as I’m sure you overheard, it seems they can actually be calibrated and used to track just about anything. Since Ironhoof was in a hurry, he did it in front of me. I now know how to do it myself. I tested it with one of my feathers first and got the compass to track me; then I used one of Zeph’s feathers. So, in theory, this compass now tracks her.”

“Didn’t the Ironhoof pony say the compass didn’t work?”

“The compass he had… Which was a replica compass I had made decades ago. Honestly, I’m surprised it even fooled him.”

“Why did you have a fake compass made?”

“It was supposed to be a gift for my great-aunt. She was the caretaker before me. I never got a chance to give it to her, though. It took a little too long to have made, as the pony I commissioned was obsessed with detail. Anyway, can I trust you to take this compass and warn Zeph? Tell her everything. Especially the part about her own compass potentially not being calibrated to whirlpools.”

“Why trust me? You literally just found me spying on you, and while we have talked before, not much.”

“I know plenty about you from Flare and my own digging.”

A cold chill pulsed through Cozy’s body at Emerald’s words. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, find Zeph and make sure she’s safe.”

Cozy’s mind stirred with a mixture of emotions for a moment before she took a deep breath and made an angry huff. “I don’t need—threats to find Zeph. I’m already doing it!”

“I wasn’t threatening you, I was making you an offer. Make sure Zeph’s safe and I’ll make sure you’re registered as a proper citizen so you can live a normal life.”

“I don’t need any—favors either.”

“Just keep my offer in mind just in case helping Flare isn’t enough of a reason for you at any point. As long as Zeph’s safe, we’re on good terms.”

Emerald held out the compass for Cozy to take. Cozy sneered at the compass but accepted it, and in exchange held out a cluster of glow berries for Emerald. “You’ll need these to find your way back. Since you don’t have your pendant.”

Emerald hesitantly took the berries. “Aren’t you coming back with me? I figured we’d talk out here, but then we’d go back through the library.”

“No. If I go back, I’ll run into Flare.”

“Why would that be a bad thing?”

“Because I can’t let her come along. When you see her, tell her not to worry. I’ll make sure Zeph comes home safely.”

With that, Cozy walked over to the edge of the cliff, jumped and glided off into the cavern.

Author's Note

This is the final chapter in book one.

I'm going to take a bit of a break before book two so next update will probably be a little slower.