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Champions of Equestria

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Description

The Library had seen better days. A towering monument of sandstone, marble, and crystal, the centuries had stripped away much of its glory. While it towered up high over the sandy drifts of its isolated home, the damage brought on by ages of disuse was evident. The colours once magnificent architecture had dulled to a barely distinguishable flash of colour against the nests of creatures which had made there home among it. Walls had crumbled away, leaving vast gaps among its defences and even the earth itself seemed to be slowly consuming it, as the building sank lower into the sand with each passing year. What imagery had been left spoke of desert cities, tribes, and an arid realm. It was quite the contrast to the aquatic environment of its modern day resting place.
 
Stomping across the South Luna Shallows, Crash Dive couldn’t help but smile as she looked out once more toward their destination. Weighed down by her heavy equipment and sealed with the familiar confines of her atmospheric diving suit, she could feel herself ready to burst out singing with joy at the sight of the ruined Library. Only the memory of the headache which had followed her last effort to cheerfully bellow a chorus within a metal helmet prevented her from doing just that. Excitement flooded through her body, enough to make her wings flutter within their pouches as she headed for the lost Library and whatever lay within. Her excitement was matched only by that of her companion, now little more than a turquoise blur hurtling through the nearby water as he whooped with joy.
 
“Depth Charge, you’re supposed to be keeping watch for any sea monsters guarding this thing!” she said, trying to keep track of the seapony as he whirled past her, cheering to himself.
 
“And I’m doing that! Just very, very quickly!” he answered, disappearing behind a nearby dune before hurtling back toward her, “Besides, if there were sea monsters, they’d probably have shown themselves by now! Especially after all the yelling i’ve been doing!”
 
Crash Dive planted a booted hoof against her visor - the closest she could manage to a facehoof in her current getup - but it was mostly to hide her own grin. Depth Charge had been trapped in a barrel for most of the initial journey over land, and held up in the cargo hold for the rest as he helped prepare for their expedition. Allowing him to vent some steam - or bubbles, as it were - seemed only fair. Well, so long as he didn’t actually draw some ancient sea serpent to their location anyway. She didn’t want to deal with that again.
 
“Really though,” she giggled, holding out a foreleg to keep him in one place for a moment, “Just keep a lid on it, would you? We go in, we go out, and we make Princess Luna a very happy mare. No mistakes?”
 
“No mistakes, mariner’s honour!” Depth Charge said, proudly crossing his heart. She could believe it. Despite his excitement at momentarily escaping his home of Lake Saddle for the open sea, she couldn’t think of a time when he had not kept his promises. Not when it really mattered, at least. Still, this venture meant even more to Crash Dive than he might have ever imagined. It wasn’t the fact that the Library itself was a lost ruin filled with ancient knowledge which made her heart hammer against her rib-cage. She had raided these before, recovering anything of worth and braving the challenges within in return for whatever pay her buyers could afford. These were mostly the same now, with a few magical traps and odd guardians wandering the nearby waters. No, it was just what it represented that made her typically timid disposition evaporate upon being introduced to this challenge.
 
The Library of Alexsauntria had been a rare monument dedicated to Princess Luna over a thousand years past, devoted to recording her teachings and talents. While small, the value of its tomes and the solitude found within the southern deserts of Equestria had given it immeasurable value among a select few scholars. That had ended with the rise of Nightmare Moon and her exile. The disruption of the moon’s orbit during the battle against her sister had caused the seas to rise, engulfing the desert and adding it to the South Luna Sea. Only recently had its location been rediscovered and the fact Crash Dive of all ponies would be the first to enter it since its loss had made her heart flutter. The fact Princess Luna herself had requested her services, to reclaim the legendary Pemarebra Codex at the very centre of the Library, had almost made Crash Dive faint on the spot.
 
“Right then,” Crash Dive smiled, as Depth Charge swam to one side, flanking her slow, stomping movements as he began to look out for any potential dangers, “I’ll watch for traps, you watch for anything big, nasty and probably angry. Nudge me if you see anything, but keep quiet.”
 
He didn’t answer, settling instead for an enthusiastic nod which sent his kelp-like hair flying in all directions. Good, that meant he was paying attention then.
 
Taking out a small copper and glass aetherometer from her saddlebags, Crash Dive raised it up and tapped it several times. An inner light glowed momentarily, brightening as it focused in on the Library before dimming entirely as it moved away. Something in there was generating vast amounts of magic, enough to be detected even far beyond the boundaries of the Library walls. Crash Dive just hoped it was their treasure…
 

 
Page 1 of a commission/collab with Turanic~

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Background Pony #35DD
Between the ruins and the old-timey diving gear, I keep reading the text in the Strange Brigade narrator’s voice.