Thus the riddles began.



“What is this place?”





The answer was an easy one for Twilight. “This is Castle Cloudspire overlooking Ceothatch Glen, the Misty Valley. It was carved out of the Grey Mountains by the Shee-folk for the legendary Finn MacCapall. It was his home for a thousand years, and the capital of his kingdom Capalland.”

“Hmm,” pondered the crow. “A decent start, but many have heard the fairy tales. Few know the truth. Who was this Finn MacCapall?”

“Just the greatest warrior before the pre-classical era,” Spike answered. “He’s the only earth pony to ever practice magic using his own earth powers.”

“Impressive,” the crow conceded. “Very few knew he was an earth pony, for the myths made him a unicorn. I wouldn't have fathomed hearing this knowledge from one so young.”

“What can I say?” Spike replied with a smirk. “I learned from the best.” Twilight blushed.

“What happened here?” was the next question. This was a much harder one, and it took all Twilight and Spike's power to remember the stories read and the histories leaned. But after much labor, the answer came at last.

“Long before he took control of the Crystal Empire,” Twilight answered, “Sombra came and became an apprentice of Finn MacCapall. He learned all his spells and grew mighty in word and deed. But as he grew stronger, he also became more and more jealous of Finn. For Finn was always his better, and he thought it was unfair that an earth pony should be better at magic than a unicorn. So on this very day he…he.” Here Twilight faltered, for the fable took a dark and unpleasant turn.

“He what?” the bird demanded.

“He summoned the Windigoes and the wicked Will-o-the-Wisps,” Spike continued sadly. “There was a battle. The Shee-folk were driven away into the wild. Capalland was destroyed…and Finn MacCapall was gone.”

“A plague upon that fell beast and all his foul company,” the crow hissed, vengeance and hate dripping from his beak. “Only three trespassers knew the answer to that one. But none could answer the final question…”





“What happened to Finn MacCapall?”





Twilight and Spike fell silent. There was no record of what happened to Finn, not even in legend. For here the storytellers' memories failed them. Here the historians let down their pens and shut their books. For there were too many conflicting accounts for them to make any sense of it. Some say he vanished. Others say he perished. Still others say he became a servant of Sombra. In trying to explain his fate, they lost it forever.

“I…I…” the alicorn stammered, her words and memory failing her. The answer growing more and more distant.



“You don’t know…do you?”



In that moment, Twilight began to despair. Then Spike placed a hand on her. She looked down at him and he looked back. His gaze was one of reassurance and fear. Reassurance in that if anyone could answer this question it was Twilight Sparkle. Fear in that the consequences if she didn't were dire. But she could do it. She had to do it. She nodded back with renewed determination. She would not let Spike down!

“I can answer," she said with as much courage as she could muster. "I just need time to think.”

The lost history had to be there somewhere. So she looked to the land for answers. Perhaps it told a different story than what was written in the books. She sat down and gazed upon the valley, the castle, and the towering trees. Then she looked to the sword the crow guarded. The rain ran down its blade, dancing and weaving among the carvings and runes etched into the rusted metal. Suddenly, Spike pointed.





“Twilight,” he whispered. “Look at the handle!” She obeyed and saw that the pommel reflected the crow's eyes in spite of the rust. But the reflection did not imitate its maker like a mirror. Rather, the reflection’s eye was older, wiser, and more oblong. Then she looked to the sword’s blade. Within the rusted knotted designs, the raindrops formed similar eyes. And within the eyes, the waters took curious forms as they ran down the runes. Clarity struck. Twilight and Spike had their answer!





“It’s you!” they exclaimed. “You’re the keeper of this sword! The sword was Finn’s. You’re Finn MacCapall!”



“Sombra cursed you and turned you into a bird,” Spike said excitedly, “and bound you to this valley.”

“He cursed the land to ensure no one ever learned what happened here,” Twilight said. “Not even Star Swirl the Bearded or the Royal Princesses dared to approach this place with all its evil.”

“Then Sombra took over the Crystal Empire and forgot this place,” Spike continued.

“But everyone else forgot too!” Twilight said. “You were cursed to be the one to remember the day you lost everything. But now others will know too! You’re free Finn!”





None saw the tears of joy Finn wept, for they were lost in the rain. He silently landed on the stones beneath and stood before the sword.





“Farewell my friend,” he croaked. “I must leave you at long last. May we never meet again, but I shall remember you well, recalling happier times of errantry and valor.” Then he turned to Twilight and Spike. “Well done my children. The curse is gone, and now I must go.”

“Where will you go?” Spike asked.

“Home,” Finn replied. “To my people. To the Shee-folk who have been waiting for me. Three thousand years is a long time to wait, is it not?”

“I'm sure it is,” Twilight sincerely replied. "May the road rise to meet you."

“Thank you.” And with those final words, Finn MacCapall flew into the sky and vanished in a flash of golden light. And in that flash, the sunlight began to pierce the still cloudy sky in thin but brilliant slivers of gold. The misty land, while still foreboding and perilous, was a little less evil than before. The sky began to cease its weeping, its sorrow spent and reduced to a mere trickle.



"Who are those?" Spike asked, pointing to the distant mountains across the misty vale. Twilight looked and saw a great company of joyful ponies and creatures of all species and kinds. They sung songs as old as the hills, in words too distant to make out.

"I think they're the ponies who tried to answer Finn MacCapall's questions," Twilight surmised.

"It looks like we freed them too," Spike said thoughtfully.





“So Spike,” Twilight said eagerly, “what now? Do you want to go explore the castle and see what other adventures we’ll find?”

“Well…” Spike said hesitantly. “I dunno. Being threatened with a curse sure made me hungry. How about we go back to the inn and get some…you packed a lunch didn’t you?”

“Yep!” With a flash of magic and a grin, Twilight took a sack lunch from her cloak.

“Uh huh,” Spike said grimly. Twilight smiled compassionately and took the dragon under her wing.

“But I can see you’re tired. I’m sorry you had to go through that.” With those words, Twilight gave Spike a great big comforting hug.

“It’s okay,” Spike said as he took comfort in his mother’s embrace. “We’re all fine, so it’s all good.”

“Tell you what,” Twilight offered jovially. “We can go home and come back another day, since that curse is gone. Now let’s head back to the inn. Those warm beds need some company, and that fireplace won’t light itself!”

“Great!” Spike said happily. “Back to the inn it is! But...let’s not go home just yet.”





Twilight laughed. The adventurer in Spike would show itself soon enough! But it would have to wait for tomorrow. For now, it was back to the warmth of the inn, where a roaring fire and a tall glass of sarsaparilla was waiting for them.









The End