Heart of Light

by TheCrimsonDM

Chapter Eleven: Castle Dash

Heart of Light

Chapter Eleven: Castle Dash

Written by TheCrimsonDM

Valiant went to bed that night still angry and bitter over how unfair Maud was being over this whole situation. In fact Valiant was sure that she was being picked on specifically by the universe itself. Teasing her with the possibility of getting to see the Seekers Archive and it’s wealth of knowledge. Just before having Maud take it away from her.

So that’s why as she laid in her bed staring up at the dark ceiling her mind could only think back to all the things she had hoped to achieve. All of the things she’d never be able to do now. It was a cruelness that she could have done without. Slowly she closed her eye and began drifting off.

A series of taps at her window snapped her back to attention. Valiant rose out of bed and glared at the window. Why does Sweetie have to bug me on a night like this of all nights? She shook her head and got out of bed. Maybe I can complain to her about Maud’s stupid over protective crap.

Once Valiant reached the window and opened it she was surprised that it wasn’t Sweetie Bell hiding outside her window this time, but rather it was Twilight Sparkle. Valiant opened her mouth to speak but Twilight’s hoof shushed her. “Listen, Val. I told Maud that I wouldn’t take you on any trips that took longer to get to than the Everfree Forest. But I can get you to the tomb in but a few seconds with a teleport spell. It’ll take a lot of energy but I can do it.”

Valiant nodded, and then glanced at her bedroom door. It was locked. “How long will we be gone?”

Twilight flashed a grin. “Just a few hours. But I fear we need to hurry. That Shade pony took the correct folder because he already knew who the right Book Mark was. This means he will probably be going to the tomb to get rid of any information.”

“We need to beat him to the last clue.”

Twilight nodded. “So come with me and we’ll go on the greatest adventure yet.”

If this had been Valiant’s first time leaving the house in the middle of the night she might have been more hesitant. This was not her first time running away, between fight’s with Maud and Sweetie’s secret night time meetings Valiant was quite used to getting out and coming back in before anypony could miss her. So Valiant jumped out the window and followed Twilight as they snuck away from the house. Tonight they were going to explore an old tomb just like Daring Doo.

They walked a little ways until they entered a small forest. It was dark, yet that was sort of comforting in a way. Sure Valiant felt more in tuned with the sunlight, but moonlight was really just a poor reflection of the sun so it wasn’t too far off. The full moon was out which felt great and let her see at least enough to avoid tripping over any logs.

When they stopped they stood facing one of the most elusive princesses in Equestria. Princess Starlight Glimmer. Rumor had it that Starlight got bored and turned herself into an alicorn one night with a spell. That caused endless amounts of grief between Celestia and Twilight. Starlight was busy preening one of her pink wings as they approached. She looked over and offered a warm smile.

“Starlight,” Twilight greeted.

Starlight nodded. “Twilight, Valiant Heart. I’ve been waiting here forever.”

“You ready to teleport us?”

“Yeah, if you have a way back home planned.”

Twilight pointed to her missing eye. “I always have a plan.”

For a moment shame covered Starlight’s face. “Yeah… you do. Okay let’s get this over with before Trixie finds out and murders me.”

Twilight laughed. “She doesn’t have the power, I highly doubt anypony in Equestria does.”

“You are talking about the mare that single hoofedly slayed an ursa minor… and survived Fluttershy’s assault as a result.”

Twilight’s expression grew stiff. “She doesn’t have that kind of power anymore.”

“I won’t take my chances.” Starlight’s horn lit up with a green aura. “Remember; I had nothing to do with this.”

The world grew bright green and the air tense. Twilight only offered a coy smile. “Had nothing to do with what?”

The world vanished all around Valiant. For a brief instant it felt like she was standing on nothing and all she could see was green. When her vision returned she was still surrounded by trees, only these ones were completely different species. The vines hanging down from them were low enough to touch the earth. The air felt almost thick here, and wet. Valiant looked around and saw what looked like a small castle nearby, it was covered in dirt, grass, and vines. Though it was still in much better shape than the castle of the two sisters, the jungle was quick to absorb as much of the castle as it could.

Starlight whistled. “Have fun you two, that place looks like a mess to navigate. I got to keep my village from destroying itself though so I gotta leave. More unicorns showed up trying to get me to teach them magic.”

Twilight laughed. “I know the feelings, why do you think I haven’t taken on an apprentice after you?”

“Because you’re a lazy snob?” Starlight guessed.

That brought out a deeper laugh from Twilight. “That’s probably true. But even without another apprentice, I still have my wonderful student-friend-assistant.”

Valiant was only half paying attention as Starlight and Twilight spoke. She didn’t even notice when Starlight teleported away. All she could see ahead of her was the castle, the resting place of Book Mark, the possibility of finding the last clue, and then the Seekers Archive itself. Her heart was racing with excitement. This was going to be the second greatest adventure of all time, right next to the one she imagined going on for the Seekers Archive itself.

Twilight looked down at her, she too had a light in her eye. “Let’s go find us a clue.”

The walk into the old ruined castle would have been nerve wracking for a lesser pony, an old castle, built to hide a powerful secret as well as pay homage to a fallen pony. There could be monsters, traps, and maybe even ghosts inside. Yet none of that bothered Valiant, no she was too fixated on what she knew was there for certain.

The old stone brick had been carefully placed, and where the vines were broken up murals stood out. Each one depicting a different scene with most of them showing ponies inside some sort of library with glowing crystals, books, and surprisingly cake. Her mind had to wonder if this was not actually showing the Archive itself back in its prime.

The front gates were shut firmly but a little bit of magic from Twilight had them coaxed into opening. Inside there were almost no plant life, instead the dark entryway was covered in a layer of dust. Old banners hung from the wall, each one showing the sign of the Seekers. A large banquette table was set up along with six chairs all close by one another. Candle sticks stood mostly melted, and dirty plates lay on the table.

“Why was there a feast here if Book Mark built this place to be his tomb?” Twilight asked.

Valiant looked around. It was indeed weird. It almost looked like this castle was meant to be lived in, yet if that was true, than how could he have been buried here? This was all a bit odd. Still Valiant and Twilight made their way through the main chamber and into a long hallway. Their hooves echoed as they hit the hard stone floor.

“This is actually less engaging than I thought it would be,” Twilight admitted. “I must say I expected a fairly simple tomb. One filled with maze like passage ways, a terrible beast, and lots of traps. Perhaps even a moat of snakes or some fire breathing traps. This however is just… dull.”

Valiant Heart gave her a sideways glance. If that what she thinks is normal and safe, what does she think is dangerous?

A soft voice sounded from down the hallway in front of them. “I believe I might be able to liven things up for you.”

The doors at the end of the hall opened up and a cloaked pony standing taller than either of them walked out of it. Her face might have been obscured by the shadows but her long orange hair flowed down. Her muzzle was white and her wings stretched out to impressive an impressive length. The mare’s horn lit up as she continued speaking, “Or you could simply leave.”

Twilight bared her teeth. “Just great, more freaking alicorns. Let me guess you want to fight us as well?”

Valiant took a few steps back.

The cloaked alicorn smiled. “I do not need to fight you.”

There was a clicking sound, followed quickly by the turning of gears from somewhere out of sight. A large square section of floor just in front of Twilight fell into a black pit below. Valiant Heart back peddled, but just as Twilight got her hooves in motion the floor underneath her opened up and she vanished into the darkness. The floor was disappearing bit by bit, and if it hadn’t been for her half second advantage Valiant would have fallen as well. As it stood she was now galloping for all she was worth to beat the floor trap.

Every muscle burned and her mind was blank with fear as she galloped out of the hallway and back into the dining hall. The floor stopped disappearing just behind her and so Valiant took it as a sign that it was her time to relax and catch her breath. Of course she had forgotten just what her opponent was. The alicorn had already taken flight down the hallway, her wings nearly too large for the hall itself.

Valiant needed no more encouragement than that to get her flank into gear and gallop down a side passage.

***

The dark tunnel that Twilight found herself in was about as long as the hallway above. The cold stone beneath her hooves was covered in dust, and cobwebs littered the walls. The floor under her hooves was cracked from the impact. When she had first dropped down her mind went back to all those Daring Doo books and how each and every pitfall had spike traps or worse in them. So of course Twilight would raise a bubble shield around herself. When she landed in a bare open hallway and damaged the floor beneath her with the shield spell she realized that maybe she had read one too many books… oh who was she kidding, there was no such thing as too many books.

Twilight would have loved to fly up and back into the dining room after realizing that Valiant was not with her. A glowing golden energy shield was preventing her from leaving that way.

Keeping an eye out for any potential dangers ahead Twilight moved forward. It took awhile, just walking down this lonesome corridor but she eventually found a staircase leading up. The smell of charred wood was drifting down them. Twilight took extra precaution to keep several spells at the ready, from a flood spell to a teleportation and even another shield spell, Twilight was prepared for everything.

She reached a door at the top and pushed it open. The handle wasn’t hot, so she assumed this meant it would be at least mildly safe on the other side. Of course Twilight was, as usual, wrong. There was a library on the other side of the door, was being the key word. Most of the bookshelves were burned, along with most of the books. It was pure horror, a slaughter of literary works, a massacre of the written word. Twilight felt her heart breaking at the sight of all these murdered books.

On a bare space on the wall there was a message burned into the stone.

“Stop your foolish quest now or else the Archive will be destroyed.”

Twilight was not prepared for this.

***

Valiant couldn’t tell for sure because she was too focused on getting away to turn and look, but she swore she heard a set of hooves slam into the floor with tremendous force. Valiant turned about a bend and kept going. Her little legs were putting in a valiant effort but the sound of the alicorn galloping after her was just behind her. There was no way that Valiant could outrun such a tall creature, yet what choice did she have?

Valiant felt more than saw a golden aura wrap around her, but somehow it slid right off as though Valiant was covered in some sort of magical grease. Considering the slew of curses that were being uttered behind her, she assumed that this was not going according to her pursuers plan. Daring a glance behind her, Valiant saw that the alicorn was nearly upon her.

The side passage turned into another dining room with some tables that were just tall enough to allow Valiant to run under. So Valiant ducked as she galloped nonstop. The tables hid her from her attacker for a brief second until a golden aura surrounded them too and threw the tables aside. Each one that was thrown behind Valiant kicked up its wooden legs in threatening positions. She’d gone from just trying to outrun an alicorn, to outrunning an alicorn a slew of tables.

The moment Valiant got the chance she slipped out from under the tables. It wasn’t until she remembered the way she’d escaped Shade that she saw her opportunity. Valiant continued her blind charge down the hallway while building up energy. It was harder, much, much harder than last time. Maybe it was because it was night time, but there was almost no light around her to grab. This was looking like a lost proposition as well.

Valiant turned around yet another corner and came to a dead end. She slid to a stop and turned around. The alicorn followed her and slowed down at the end of the hallway. Valiant backed up.

“You’ve given me quite the little chase,” the alicorn said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had to chase down a disobedient filly.”

Valiant’s rear hit the wall. There was nowhere to go, and nowhere to hide. She was screwed. This alicorn was going to kill her and there was not a darn thing she could do about it.

If only Trixie was here, she could save me.

“Give up little pony it’s the only option you have left.”

Valiant shook her head, she didn’t want to die. A tiny voice in the back of her head spoke, “The torch next to you isn’t a torch at all. This isn’t a dead end.”

If it had been anything less than dire circumstances Valiant would have argued with her imaginary friend. Right at that moment she had no option but to try. She saw the torch, it was the only one on this wall. The alicorn wasn’t approaching her, but rather keeping her position at the end of the hall keeping Valiant trapped her. Or so she thought.

Valiant jumped up, reaching out with her hooves as high as she could. She barely managed to hook a foreleg around the torch and much to her surprise it was jerked downward dumping her onto the floor. It stopped after a foot and Valiant saw that it was actually some kind of secret lever. Of course she wasn’t sure what it went too. All she could hear was the sound of gears turning.

That’s when the floor vanished underneath Valiant Heart and she fell into the darkness below.