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// 76 - The Truth will Set You Free// Story: Ponyfinder: Roots of Stone// by David Silver//------------------------------//

Under led them into a well-appointed office, whose walls were lined with countless books on equally myriad shelves. The caretaker of the space was an elderly unicorn that was reading when they came in. The tome she browsed hovered just before her, seized with the innate magic of her elegant horn. She looked up as the door opened, brushing the tome gently aside. "Miss Shadow, is it?" Her eyes slid to those that accompanied the warrior and a brow raised in silent question.

Fast nodded low as she took up a place before the desk of the mistress of the library. "Yes. I'm Fast Shadow." She gestured to her friends, naming each in kind as they waved or bowed as the urge struck them. "You've been informed of our mission?"

"Hardly a mission," came the aged tone of the unicorn as she leaned back in her chair. "Forgive me for not rising to greet you, these old bones prefer to sit. The quest you've undertaken is both more, and less. You hardly know where to go, but are driven by the gods. You have no formal support, but look at you." A smile spread on her wrinkled lips. "A human, in my office. I did not predict this."

Tabitha took an uncertain step forward. "Nice to meet you, uh, ma'am."

She nodded in kind. "Well met. Is it true you were born as human as the gentleman here? I could study the lot of you, but the winds of fate are hardly so obliging. Fast Shadow, may I see the artifact?"

Fast glanced to the others, then drew out the crown. It felt heavy... important. She was finally in Viljatown with it, capital of Ponykind. "Here. Can you learn more about it?"

She smiled at Fast. "You've asked the right question." The tome beside her slowly lowered to the desk until it rested there, then a new force plucked at the crown, picking it from Fast's teeth to move in front of the elderly mare. "This will take some time, perhaps an hour? It isn't very interesting to watch, I'm afraid. If you were hoping for fireworks, you will be disappointed."

With a hoof at either side of the crown, she began to drone and chant strange and unknowable words. She slowly turned it one way and the other, but her eyes never rested directly on the crown, as if she could see ghosts of images beyond and through it.

Fast settled on her haunches, and the others parked themselves similarly. Under gently tapped Tabitha and gestured out of the room before leading her away.

Outside he nodded to her. "So, a sorcerer, and fresh, I gather? You've been learning the hard way, though an efficient way. I imagine you've made good progress, or you or your friends would already be dead."

Tabitha shuddered softly. "That's an unpleasant way to consider it, but yes. I haven't had time to... let it happen. I have to keep looking for it, and trying to bring it out." She wiggled her fingers. "It's in there, inside of me. But it's pony magic... Should I even have this magic?"

Under Score raised his own brow before reaching out and swatting at Tabitha's tail. "You are a pony. You clearly had a pony in your family. A human and a pony found love, and that line was not broken." He nodded softly. "You could continue it, taking a pony stallion and strengthening the pony blood in your line, or a human one and weakening it. It is your choice alone." His shoulders lifted. "You're an adult, no one else should have a say in that."

She stifled a laugh, glancing nervously about the library. "This is good and all, but you didn't call me out here to tell me I'm free to chase after ponies, did you?"

Under turned on himself and nuzzled a book out of his bags, holding it out carefully in his teeth. "Take this."

Tabitha accepted the book in uncertain fingers. She spun it around to face herself even as she folded it against her front. "What is this?"

"I want you to read it." He raised a hoof at her. "The art of sorcery is very intimate and personal, but that doesn't mean there's no wisdom to be learned from the trials of others."

Tabitha peeked down at the book. "This is some famous book?"

"In a manner." Under nodded. "The most famous sorcerer in the pony lands."

"Who?" Her fingers tightened on the book, her eyes locked on the wizard before her.

Under gave a soft chuckle. "Who else? That is Queen Iliana's text. She thought to pen it for other sorcerers. You share her blood, her purpose. It seemed appropriate."

Tabitha sank against a shelf of books. "A queen wrote this?!" A few soft shhs rang out and Tabitha went red as her voice lowered. "A queen?!"

"Queen Iliana. Come, we'll visit the reading room. You can browse alongside Maud." He turned and began trotting towards the reading room with a mildly dazed Tabitha trailing behind.

She reached out, tapping him on the withers. "Look... I'm not an illiterate... but I bet she writes all kinds of fancy words... Could you read to me?"

"Wrote." Under shook his head. "Come along." A little smile spread on his lips. "Luminace would be quite ashamed of me if I wouldn't read to someone eager to learn." He entered a new room, nodding at Maud, who didn't even look up from the book she seemed to be thoroughly engrossed in.

Tabitha wiggled a few fingers, but stayed close to Under Score and, together, they vanished into a private room attached to the reading room. There were no books there, or much of any decoration. It was barely more than a closet with a desk. "What is this?"

Under took the book from her unresisting hand and set it out on the desk. "This is a private reading room. You can speak normally here. It's well buffered. We'd have to shout to make much noise outside, and it wouldn't be much. It's quite ideal for tasks such as this."

Tabitha pulled over a stool and sank down onto it as Under flipped open the page. She smiled a little as he began to read to her. His voice was somehow reassuring, and the words of the dead queen didn't feel as terribly oppressive and weighty as they might otherwise have.

"Hello young sorcerer. I never liked that title. It has dark roots, and fearful roots. Hold your head high, pony. Your blood is the blood of unity. We are not bringers of death or destruction, nay, we are tools of fate, and binders of community. I may have banished the common acceptance of outright hostility between the tribes, but to say they view one another as entire equals... I'm not that proud, or blind, to say I've been that successful. Whether I still breathe or you've somehow found this centuries after my passing..."

Under glanced up at Tabitha. "It has not yet been a full century since she has left us. Her passing is a fresh wound in the hearts of many ponies."

Tabitha nodded slowly. "Can you... tell me about her? She sounds like a nice pony."

Under rested a hoof on the page as he regarded Tabitha. "That is a complex question. She was no personal friend of mine, but I did meet her. A rare pleasure, she preferred to hide away more and more as time went on. Not for lack of love for her people... No... She loved every pony around her, but they confused and vexed her as well."

"She was confused?" spoke Tabitha with a voice thick with the same confusion. "How? She was their queen!"

"A title." Under let out a slow breath. "And not even the correct one. They would have hoisted the title of empress upon her brow, but she refused. She would have preferred a country ruled by equals, but there was no room for that. We needed unity, or so they claimed at the start. 'We need stability', they cried as the empire became established. It never was a good time. The last request of her, I should imagine, was for an heir. She denied them that."

"Can you do that?"

"Do what?"

Tabitha rolled a hand. "Can you have a country ruled by everyone? How would that even work?"

He shrugged lightly. "It's been done, in smaller communities. Such 'democracies' can be quite efficient in some ways, and quite slow in others. No model of governance is perfect. We are not here to discuss matters of state, however. Let's return to her words on your bloodline, and how you might better grasp it."

"You're an earth pony, right?"

"Earth-bound." He perked an ear. "Of the prairie tribe, though that term is less popular. We galloped across the wide open plains. We were the most numerous, the widest spread, and the most tightly knit. It is by good fortune that our queen should come from our line first. She knew the value of family before she learned the value of state."

Tabitha leaned forward, chin resting on the palms of her hands. "You know just about everything, don't you?"

He erupted into a fit of laughter. "Luminace would strike me down if I agreed with that. The most essential wisdom is understanding you know nothing, and seeking constantly to fix that very flaw."

"Would she really?"

"Of course not." He gave a little smile. "She is a kind goddess, and would, at worst, drop a book on me. I hold myself to my own standards, however. No, I don't know 'everything' or even most things. I enjoy fixing that every day that I can still draw breath."

She wriggled her fingers back at the book. "Please, do continue. Thank you for reading it to me."

With a soft nod, he did continue. They both learned something from the experience.