//------------------------------//
// Chapter 78: Castle Calamity 
// Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

A few days had passed since the rather eventful Summer Sun Celebration in Canterlot, but Shining Armor found that despite the restoration of harmony, he couldn't sleep. That mysterious six sided chest that had sprouted up from the Tree of Harmony nagged at his every thought, refusing to let him be. Night after night he tossed and turned in his bed at the Crystal Empire, as he kept asking himself. "What's in that chest?"

At last, Shining knew there was only one way to satisfy his curiosity, he'd have to do some research and see if there was anything that could tell him what the chest was and how he was supposed to open it. And so it was that the young alicorn prince was strutting about the royal archives in the crystal castle, searching in vain for any leads on the chest, growing steadily more frustrated as he failed to find anything.

Flash Sentry had the great misfortune to come in, just as Shining was furiously tossing another book clean across the room and causing it to smack against the wall with a loud thud! "Captain, you okay?" Flash nervously asked, barely ducking under what would've been a direct hit. "I've never seen you this frustrated before."

Shining slowly turned to face Flash, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Flash. It's just... I've been searching for answers to that mysterious chest, and I've found nothing. No clues as to what it is, what's inside it, or how to unlock it! But something tells me unlocking it is more important than ever! I mean, why else would the Tree of Harmony make it sprout up?"

"Honestly, I don't know. And if you want my personal opinion, I don't think it's worth getting all worked up over," Flash replied. "I'm sure the keys will turn up eventually, and for all you know that chest could be a dud."

"But what if it isn't? What if whatever's inside it is intended to replace the Elements of Harmony?" Shining wondered. "With the elements gone, my friends and I lost the only failsafe protecting Equestria should something go horribly wrong. It's imperative we find a replacement as soon as possible," With a sigh he then added. "I just wish I knew where else to look. My sister's searched through every book in Ponyville, and even she hasn't found any leads. I'm running out of options."

Just then, as if to answer Shining's prayers, a scroll materialized in a light green swirl. Unfolding it, Shining read the message written on the paper:

My Dearest Captain Armor,

Your sister has informed me of your research into the mysterious chest from the Tree of Harmony, and your failure to find any leads. And while it would be lovely to have you both come back to Canterlot and assist me in my search in the royal archives, I have an alternative solution in mind.

You know of the castle I once shared with my sister, and how it mostly lays in ruins deep in the Everfree Forest?

Well, I believe that somewhere what is left of the castle's library, there might be a book or scroll that will provide you with the answers you desire. As it is, I cannot abandon my royal duties for what could be a royal goose chase, but I suggest that you try the library in the Castle of the Two Sisters. With any luck, it will contain what you need.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia 

Shining barely resisted the urge to slap himself, how could he have forgotten about the Castle of the Two Sisters?! "Well, looks like I'd better get down to the train station right away! Flying all the way to the Everfree Forest would be impossible! I should probably write to Twily and let her know I might need to crash at her place for a couple of days."

"What about me, Captain?" Flash eagerly asked.

"You're going to stay right here, and this time you're not to leave the empire no matter what!" Shining instructed quite firmly. "Disobey me again, and I will have you court martialed! Do I make myself clear?!"

"Captain, for the last time, your wife gave me permission!" Flash protested. "Besides, surely you're not crazy! After all those lectures you gave to the guards about using the buddy system and never going off on your own, you're about to break your own rules! I mean, what if something happens to you because I wasn't there to protect you?! You're not all powerful and invincible just because you're an alicorn!"

"I never said I was, and I can't believe I'm having this discussion!" Shining groaned in response. "Flash, please! I can manage just fine on my own, I've been to the castle before, I know my way around!"

"So, why can't I tag along with you?!" Flash demanded. "Two heads are better than one, and we can reduce the time you need to be in that old castle if you let me assist you with your search! I'm not taking no for an answer, captain! If I'd listened to you last time and stayed put, Canterlot would've fallen into chaos and who knows what might have happened?! Like it or not, I'm tagging along! And it's not because I want to see your sister again or because I'm bored or lazy, it's because you need somepony to watch your back whether you admit it or not!"

Shining stared Flash firmly in the eyes, and sighed. Flash was as stubborn as they came, but that's part of why he'd allowed Flash to ascend the ranks and become second in command of the royal guards. A good leader always needed someone to hold them in check and reign them in. "There's no convincing you otherwise, is there?" He reluctantly asked.

"Nope," Flash said with a smirk. "And if you're worried about the guards, you needn't be. You've trained them pretty well, and I think her crystalness, Princess Cadence, can manage just fine in our absences. We'd already be well on our way if we hadn't gotten into this arguement."

Reluctantly, Shining was forced to cave in to Flash's demands. "Oh, very well. I suppose you can tag along, just this once. But don't think this is gonna start a precedent or anything, future 'field trips' with me are gonna be given out on a mission by mission basis, and final jurisdiction will rest with me."

"I would expect no less, now let's get going!" Flash replied. "I can't wait to see what the Castle of the Two Sisters looks like!"





When Flash and Shining finally arrived at the ruins of the old castle, Flash was anything but impressed. The castle was old and decrepit, a good portion of the roof had clearly been destroyed, and the entire building was covered in dust and cobwebs. There was not a sight to be seen, and the only sounds that could be heard was the occasional groan of the rotted wood as it creaked against the faint breeze.

"Wow, I heard stories about the castle, but I didn't think it was this bad," Flash observed, as he and Shining made their way inside. They had to take great care to watch their step, because the entire castle looked like it was barely holding itself together and could fall apart at a moment's notice. "It's a real eyesore, and I've seen my fair share of them over the years. Heck, I've seen better look buildings that have been all but completely demolished."

Shining just laughed. "Well, this castle has been abandoned for decades. Really, what did you except?"

"Not much, but I at least expected a few remaints of glory." Flash commented.

"Well, we didn't come here to make fashion statements, Flash," Shining chuckled. "We're here on a research mission," A short time later, the two stallions managed to find the castle library. It was full of dusty, cobweb infested shelves, all of which were lined with a huge assortment of books that had clearly not been touched in a long time. Shining carefully took a couple of books off the shelf, and began to stack them into a small pile. "Start looking through the books for anything that can help us, Flash. We're probably gonna be here for a while!"

Flash reluctantly obeyed, even though a rather nagging question lingered at the back of his mind. "Just who or what made all these cobwebs?"





Unknown to Flash and Shining, they were not the only ones who had chosen to visit the castle that day. For at that very moment, Fancy Pants, Thunderlane, and Rumble, were carefully making their way through the Everfree Forest, trotting along the path that led to the Castle of the Two Sisters.

Rumble was most excited, this would be the first time he'd lay eyes on the old castle, something he couldn't wait to brag to his classmates about! And so it was that he was running ahead at a rather fast pace, much to Thunderlane's concern.

"Rumble! Slow down, please!" Thunderlane called out. "Mom and Dad will kill me if I lose track of you."

"Sorry big brother," Rumble apologized, reluctantly reducing his pace to a normal trot. "But I'm just so excited! Wait til I tell my fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders about this, man they're gonna be so jealous!"

Fancy Pants chuckled at Rumble's energy. "Easy young lad, no need to get ahead of yourself. You scare your brother and I half to death as it is with your crusader schemes, sometimes I really wonder what goes through those little heads of yours."

"Hey, you're only young once." Rumble protested.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you can afford to be careless," Thunderlane cautioned, and then to Fancy Pants he asked. "So, why did you insist that I accompany you on a journey to that crumbling old castle. You know it's star spider season."

Fancy Pants nodded. "But you said it yourself, the star spiders won't harm us as long as we stay out of their territory. And getting back to the main subject of discussion, it would seem word has reached Miss. Rarity's ears about the condition of the tapestries in the Castle of the Two Sisters. She has longed for the chance to do some restoration work on them, but with fashion week in Manehattan lurking just around the corner, it's imperative that she remain focused on her new fabric that she'll be debuting at the contest. That contest could easily make or break her career."

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain why you need me," Thunderlane commented, as he, Fancy Pants, and Rumble, carefully made their over the rope bridge leading to the castle. "Seems like you could do this all by yourself."

"Alas, my magic isn't nearly strong enough to lift those heavy tapestries," Fancy Pants reluctantly confessed. "And so I require your assistance in removing them. I should have no trouble taking them back to Carousel Boutique for Fleur and I to work on. It's certainly nothing to sneeze at," Just then, Fancy Pants let out a small sneeze. "Stupid allergies." He muttered.

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad," Thunderlane commented. "We'll just snag the first tapestry we can find and get out, easy peasy," But those words had no sooner left Thunderlane's mouth, when Rumble ran ahead! "Rumble, come back!" He shouted, and raced after him. Fancy Pants sighed, and did the same.

Thunderlane quickly caught up with Rumble in the main room of the castle, and he was quick to scold his younger brother. "You really shouldn't be running off like that, you could get hurt! And this time, I really mean it! This castle is quite dangerous!"

"I'm sorry, big brother, but just look at this place!" Rumble replied, buzzing his wings in excitement. "This would be the perfect place to hold a game of hide and go seek, it'd take ages to find anypony here!"

"This time is certainly no time for games!" Fancy Pants spoke up. "Rumble, you stick close to your brother while he helps me search for a good tapestry to restore. And once I've got, we're out of here, no ifs, ands, or buts!"

The trio went off to search one of the many hallways of the castle, and thus they were not around to see Shining and Flash walking past, with Shining holding up an entire display of candles with his magic.

"Are all of these really necessary?" Flash commented to his captain. "I mean, why don't we just call it a night and resume our search in the morning?"

"Normally I'd agree with you, Flash, but this is no ordinary research mission," Shining replied. "There's still a whole bunch of books left to get through, and they're going to keep us busy until late into the night, maybe even into the next day."

"Just great." Flash sarcastically remarked to himself, as he and Shining trotted to one of the castle's studies to read.

Just as Shining and Flash had left the main hallway, two more stallions came trotting in, Big Macintosh and Soarin. Though Soarin was quite confused, he'd been invited to the castle by Big Macintosh, but the farm stallion hadn't told him why.

"Ah, here we are, and just in time." Big Macintosh smiled.

Soarin took a look around, the castle somehow seemed even worse for wear this time than it had before. "I don't get it. I mean seriously, why did you ask me to meet you here, Big Macintosh?" He asked. "This place is a dump!"

Big Macintosh just grinned. "I heard you're among the bravest The Wonderbolts have to offer, Soarin."

Soarin quickly brushed off the compliment. "Ah, I'll bet Spitfire told you that. She and I go way back, but truth be told she can sometimes be a tad too boastful for her own good."

With a chuckle Big Macintosh replied. "Maybe, but even so I'd like to see just how brave ya really are! Didn't anypony ever tell ya, this place is haunted!"

"Haunted? Really? Do you seriously expect me to fall for that?" Soarin quipped, rolling his eyes.

But Big Macintosh only laughed somewhat wickedly, as he ominously narrated. "Oh it's haunted alright, Granny Smith used to tell me stories when I was but a little colt. Accordin' to legend, when Nightmare Moon was banished, not every last bit of her dark magic went with her. And Granny used to say, that when night falls on the castle, that magic takes on the form of... the Pony of Shadows!"

"Pony of what now?" Soarin remarked. "Sounds to me like you made it up."

"Maybe it is, but then again they say nopony's ever seen the Pony of Shadows, and lived to tell the tale!" Big Macintosh said in a spooky voice.

"Ugh, give me a break," Soarin replied. "If you're trying to scare me, you'll have to do better than that."

Big Macintosh said nothing, he just trotted off somewhere and Soarin followed. Neither of them knowing that any of their friends were in the castle as well.





After a little bit of wandering around, Fancy Pants, Thunderlane, and Rumble found a tapestry hanging from one of the walls. It depicted Princess Luna as she appeared in various books written about the two sisters prior to Luna's banishment. 

Fancy Pants was most impressed. "Ah, perfect! That tapestry will do nicely," He commented, and turned to Thunderlane. "Would you be a dear and take it off the hook for me?"

"Why can't you do it?" Thunderlane commented, eyeing Fancy Pants with suspicion.

"Alas, my magic isn't quite strong enough to move something that heavy from its resting place," Fancy Pants replied with a hint of unhappiness. "Otherwise I'd gladly do it myself."

Thunderlane reluctantly obliged, quickly moving up and trying to take the tapestry off the hook. But it wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tried.

"Maybe try from below?" Fancy Pants suggested, as he watched his friend struggle.

Thunderlane did so, fumbling around beneath the tapestry. But then suddenly, there was an audible clattering sound! Like magic, the entire wall the tapestry was attached to spun around, taking Thunderlane with it! Fancy Pants and Rumble gasped!

As luck would have it, at that very moment, Soarin and Big Macintosh were passing by on the other side of the wall. And they were completely unaware of what was going on.

"I don't see anything daring or brave about some old legend your grandmother made up," Soarin remarked, making it quite clear he didn't believe Big Macintosh's story for a second. "Besides that, I don't really believe in ghosts. Everypony knows there's no such thing."

But Big Macintosh wasn't paying attention to Soarin, he was focusing on the moving tapestry behind the Wonderbolt. "Uh, ya might wanna rethink your position on that, Soarin. Look behind you."

"Oh come on, you expect me to fall for the oldest trick in the book?" Soarin replied. "I'm gonna turn around, there's not gonna be anything, and when I look back you'll be gone. Nice try, but you're gonna have to do better than that to trick me."

However, at that very moment there came an ominous (and quite eerie) wailing sound. Soarin turned his head in time to see the tapestry of Princes Luna that seemed to be moving all by itself! And in a flash of lightning, a shadowy figure seemed to manifest itself before the two stallions!

"Don't believe in ghosts, eh?!" Big Macintosh nervously commented. "Well, whadya have to say to that?!"

Soarin didn't bother trying to respond to Big Macintosh's question, he just shouted "Run!" at the top of his lungs! And both and he and Big Macintosh did so, fleeing from the hallway as fast as their leg (or in Soarin's case wings) would let them!

Just a few seconds after Big Macintosh and Soarin had left, there was another clattering sound and the wall spun back around! Thunderlane flew out from the tapestry and thudded onto the floor in front of Fancy Pants and Rumble. Almost immediately, he felt a small twitch of pain on his left wing. "Ow, I think I might have pulled a muscle or something!" He complained.

"Oh dear," Fancy Pants commented, quickly rushing up to inspect his friend. He examined the wing carefully, while Rumble waited anxiously for news. After a bit of inspection, Fancy Pants spoke up. "Well... I'm no expert on pegasi anatomy, but it's probably best if you stay off that wing as much as possible. I'm terribly sorry, it seems that tapestry was too big and too stuck on there, we'll have to find something smaller." He then set his saddle bag down on the floor, and pulled out a pair of scissors and a roll of brightly colored pink fabric.

"What are you doing?" Thunderlane asked, as he saw Fancy Pants cut a small patch of the fabric off and use his magic to wrap it around Thunderlane's wing.

"I was going to use this fabric in case we got separated, but I figured using a small patch of it for a make-shift cast wouldn't hurt," Fancy Pants explained. "Now come on, we'd best be going. We're not gonna find anything just standing around here."

"O-okay." Thunderlane nodded. He wanted to leave the castle, but he couldn't bring himself to abandon Fancy Pants.

"By the way, where, pray tell, did you disappear to?" Fancy Pants asked Thunderlane, as they trotted along the castle grounds.

"Whatever do you mean? I didn't go anywhere, did I?" Thunderlane replied in confusion.

"We saw it with our own eyes, big brother!" Rumble eagerly explained, recalling every detail effortlessly. "It was like all of a sudden, the wall just spun around and took you and the tapestry with it! And then, a few seconds later, you came back! Like 'Poof!' you're gone, and 'Poof!' you're back!"

"Indeed, somehow you must've triggered a secret door or something." Fancy Pants concluded.

"A secret door? Oh my, I'm sorry." Thunderlane apologized, though he wasn't sure what he was sorry for.

"It's alright, it's probably a part of castle security," Fancy Pants reassured his friend with a gentle pat on his uninjured wing. "No castle would be complete without some kind of security system. Chances are. in a place like this, there's bound to bobby traps."

Thunderlane gulped. "Y-you think so?"

Fancy Pants nodded, even though he knew the answer would make Thunderlane nervous. "Absolutely. And therefore, we must use the utmost care as we—" But the rest of his sentence was cut off, as a sudden clunk sound was heard, before the floor suddenly and without warning opened up! Before either Fancy Pants or Thunderlane had a chance to realize what would happen, they plunged into darkness!

"Big brother?! Mr. Fancy Pants?!" Rumble called, as he turned around. He just now realized he'd accidentally stepped onto some kind of switch that had triggered a trap door. There was no response from either of them! Rumble immediately began to panic! "S...stay there, guys! I'll.... I'll go get help!" He shouted, and ran off as fast as he could! Of course, Rumble didn't know if there was actually anypony around that could help him, but at the moment all he could think about was finding a way out of the castle!





While Rumble was dashing about the castle in a mad search for the exit or somepony who could help him, Soarin and Big Macintosh were still running away from what they thought had been the Pony of Shadows.

"Alright, so maybe the legend is true after all!" Soarin reluctantly admitted. 

While still running, Big Macintosh smiled. "And now you know why I brought ya here, Soarin! This is the true test of bravery! Only the most darin' pony of all time could stay in this here castle all night long without bein' scared off."

Soarin skidded to a halt, as he touched down on the ground in front of Big Macintosh. "Whoa, hold up a second! You trying to sucker me into a game of chicken?! I ain't playing that game, no way, no how!" 

"Givin' up already?" Big Macintosh teased, hoping to press Soarin's buttons a bit. "And here I thought you were brave. Guess you really do scare easily."  

"Scared? I'm not scared! You want me to play your little game? Fine, I'll play it!" Soarin firmly declared. "I don't scare easily, you know! You gotta be brave to be a Wonderbolt!"

"I don't doubt that for a second, but I don't scare easily either!" Big Macintosh replied. "So, do we have a contest or what?"

"You're on!" Soarin boldly announced, a big smile forming on his face. "Whoever stays in the castle the longest is the Most Daring Pony, and gets all the bragging rights associated with it."

"You got yourself a deal!" Big Macintosh declared, and he and Soarin bumped hooves in agreement.

"But just so you know, it's gonna take a whole lot more than some shadowy ghost pony to get me to leave." Soarin firmly declared.

"Same goes for me!" Big Macintosh replied, and the two friends set off. If they had been looking, they might have seen one of the nearby paintings move its eyes ever so slightly.





Shining Armor and Flash Sentry weren't aware of anything that was going on in the castle, they were too busy reading through all the books they'd obtained in the hopes that one of them might contain information about the mysterious six sided chest. And so, they were currently relaxing in the dusty old study, the only source of light being the stand of candles Shining had lit up earlier.

"Did you find anything yet, Flash?" Shining asked, looking up from the book he was currently reading.

Flash shook his head, setting yet another book aside. "No, nothing yet. I'm starting to think this is a dead end, captain."

"We can't give up yet, Flash! If there's even the slightest chance one of these books contains what we're looking for, we've got to keep searching!" Shining said seriously.

But before either Shining or Flash could resume reading, there came the sound of frantic hoofsteps and rather urgent panting. And then, suddenly, who should come running out from the darkness but Rumble?! He practically leaped into the lap of Flash Sentry, giving the pegasus stallion quite the fright!

"Rumble?! What are you doing here?" Shining immediately asked. "And why isn't Thunderlane or somepony else with you?! This castle is far too dangerous for a little pony like you to be wandering about alone!"

"Big brother and Mr. Fancy Pants came here with me, and I made them disappear!" Rumble blurted out! "I stepped on some kind of switch or something and they fell down a trap door, and I don't know where they are!"

"Calm down, Rumble!" Flash cautioned, as he lightly patted the colt on the head, while inadvertently pressing a switch that caused the bookcase in front of them to move. Shining, Flash, and Rumble could hardly believe their eyes, as the bookcase moved back to reveal a lone room with a book resting on some sort of stand.

Shining's curiosity getting the best of him, he carefully trotted close to the display stand and took the book off it with his magic. "'The Journal of The Two Sisters'," He read outloud, then gasped! "Perhaps this is the book Princess Celestia had in mind when she sent us here!"

"Well, that's great and all, but what about Rumble?" Flash asked. "The poor kid looks like he's scared out of his wits."

Carefully holding the book with his magic, Shining trotted over to Rumble and kindly but firmly told him. "Rumble, please take us to where you last saw Thunderlane and Fancy Pants. Maybe we can find a clue that'll tell us what happened to them."

"O-okay, but no promsies, I don't really remember the way." Rumble confessed, as he reluctantly led Shining and Flash out of the castle study.



    

Meanwhile, Big Macintosh and Soarin were exploring a different part of the castle. They'd managed to somehow stumble across a spiraling staircase that led down into an unknown location obscured by the darkness.

Soarin couldn't resist the obvious tease. "I sure hope you're not scared of the dark, Big Macintosh."

"I ain't gonna bother answerin' that," Big Macintosh snorted in response, as he made his way down the stairs while Soarin floated down after him. "But assumin' I was, I'm sure I'd be at least fifty percent less scared of it than you are, Soarin."

"Well you'd better check your math, 'cause I'm not scared at all!" Soarin protested.

"Well, I ain't either!" Big Macintosh replied, as he reached the bottom of the stairs just as Soarin landed beside him. But what the two stallions saw, was enough to unnerve them, just a little. They found themselves facing down a dark hallway with the only source of light coming from torches that were held by a series of random hooves that looked like they'd once belonged to somepony.

Soarin reluctantly broke the silence. "W-what's the matter, Big Macintosh? There's nothing to be scared of. It's just a dark hallway full of... disembodied pony legs."

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh gulped. "There's absolutely nothin'... creepy about that. Eenope."

"R-right," Soarin replied, as he used his wings to cover his face a bit. "Well, guess I'll go ahead. No funny business though, you hear?!"

"W-wouldn't... dream of it." Big Macintosh stuttered, as he followed Soarin down the hallway. Neither stallion was willing to admit just how much they were disturbed by what they saw.



 

Fancy Pants was able to light up the darkness with his horn, but he was anything but happy with his current situation. "You know, I'm starting to wonder if maybe this castle doesn't want my expertise after all!" He complained. "Seriously, Thunderlane, how do we get into these situations?"

Thunderlane sighed. "Your guess is as good as mine," Then his thoughts turned to his little brother. "Say, did you see Rumble at all?!"

Fancy Pants shook his head. "I don't think he made the trip down with us. In fact, as much as it pains me to say this, I think he's the reason we ended up here. He must've pressed a switch or something."

Thunderlane gasped, he'd been hoping for the alternative! "We've got to find him, Fancy Pants! If we don't, my parents will kill me! Rumble's supposed to be my responsibility, and there's no telling what could happen to him here!"

"First thing's first, we've got to find a way out of... whatever this place is," Fancy Pants commented, then his eyes fell upon a hole that was just big enough to fit a hoof through. "Hmm.. what do we have here?" He pondered, as he stuck his hoof through the hole and began to search for anything that felt like a switch or a lever.

Unknown to Fancy Pants, the hole he'd stuck his hoof through just so happened to be part of the very hallway full of detached pony hooves that Big Macintosh and Soarin were currently trotting through. Of course, since neither of them were aware of Fancy Pants' existence, Soarin didn't realize who's hoof he was feeling when it suddenly touched him. With a smug grin, he said out loud. "Big Mac, you know if you're scared you can just admit it. You don't need to put your hoof around me."

"Um, I'm over here, Soarin." Big Macintosh nervously called, prompting Soarin to note that the farm stallion was a good distance away and thus wouldn't be able to put his hoof around him at all.

Soarin gulped, as he felt a chill run down his spine. "Wait, if you're over there... then who's hoof is touching my back?" Of course, he didn't need to wait for a response, he quickly realized what that must mean. And with a scream, he and Big Macintosh took off running as fast as they could!

Fancy Pants let out a gasp, as he pulled his hoof back! "I felt something... alive!" He commented to Thunderlane.

"Rumble?!" Thunderlane exclaimed with a gasp, as he stuck his hoof out and tried to feel for something. He ended up pulling on the disembodied pony hoof on the other side wall, prompting it to spin around and deposit both him and Fancy Pants in the hallway.

"Well, this has certainly been an 'experience' to say the least," Fancy Pants dryly remarked. "But I for one have had just about enough of all these secret passages, mysterious presences, and an unappreciative castle!"

"But we can't leave yet, not until we've found Rumble!" Thunderlane insisted! "We don't know where he is or what's happened to him!"

"I was just about to suggest that," Fancy Pants replied, he hated seeing Thunderlane upset. "Come on, we're not going to find him just standing around here."





Rumble lead Shining Armor and Flash Sentry to the best of his ability, but he unfortunately he couldn't find where he'd been standing when he'd triggered the trap door. 

"It's no good, Rumble," Shining concluded at last. "We need to go back to the study before we too get lost. We're not going to be of any help to anypony if we keep going around in circles."

"B-but... but my big brother's down there somewhere, and so is Mr. Fancy Pants!" Rumble protested, tears starting to form in his eyes. "We've got to find them, we've just got to!"

Much to Shining's surprise, Flash instinctively reached out a wing and wrapped Rumble in it. Then, in a gentle and calming tone he told the young colt. "Don't you worry, I'm sure wherever your brother and Fancy Pants are, they're safe. They're big ponies, they can take care of themselves. I promise you we'll find them first thing in the morning if they still haven't turned up, okay?"

"Okay." Rumble calmly replied, feeling a little bit better about the situation now.

Flash smiled, and ended the wing hug. "There's a good colt. Now come along, you'll be safe with us rather than trying to search on your own."

"Guess you're right, and I'm sure my big brother's looking for me," Rumble nodded. Then shooting Flash his best pair of puppy dog eyes he asked. "Is it okay if I hold your hoof? Just to be sure you're by my side no matter what."

Flash warmly smiled and told Rumble. "Of course." He extended his hoof out, and Rumble gladly accepted it.

As he lead Flash and Rumble back to the study, Shining commented to Flash. "I never knew you were so good with kids, Flash."

Flash just chuckled. "Well, you're the not only who grew up with a sibling. In my case though, I was the younger brother. However, I got a chance to get some hooves on experience with kids with my niece. She lives here in Ponyville."

"You never told me you had a niece," Shining replied, though he knew he'd never really asked. "What's her name?"

"Scootaloo," Flash smiled. "Her mom, Dizzy Twister, just happens to be my big sister. That's part of the reason why I wanted to accompany you here, I was hoping we'd get to spend a little time in Ponyville, and I'd get a chance to see how my favorite niece is doing."

"Hey, that's the same Scootaloo that's part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders group that I'm a part of!" Rumble realized. "Oh, this is so cool! I get to be pals with the niece of a royal guard!" 

"Yeah, but of course she doesn't like to talk about me much. Because I'm that crazy uncle who always loves to act like a goofball, or at least that's how she puts it," Flash chuckled. "Can't help myself though, something about her just brings out that inner child in me."

Shining and Rumble snickered quietly as Flash blushed, but neither said a word and the rest of their journey back to the study passed in silence.

Once safely back in the study, however, Shining waited until Rumble and Flash were comfortable, before he began to read from the journal he'd obtained earlier. Soon, he commented to Flash. "Hey, get a load of this," And he read outloud the following journal entry from Princess Celestia. "I just love to duck behind the paintings, and although the Hall of Hooves still gives her a bit of a fright, the trap door slide is Luna's favorite."

"'Hall of Hooves'?" Flash wondered. "Sounds like somepony had a rather creepy sense of humor."

Shining continued to read outloud. "Soon the Organ to the Outside will be finished. I can hardly wait, it'll be just the thing to make this castle even livelier." 

"Uh, what's the 'Organ to the Outside'?" Flash commented. "I haven't heard any organ music yet."





But unknown to Flash, there was an organ! And at that very moment, a cloaked figure was playing away on it, the music echoing through the hallways!

Big Macintosh and Soarin were the first ones to hear it, as they passed right by the room that housed the organ. Upon hearing the rather unsettling and ominous music, they both came to a stop!

"Do you hear that?" Big Macintosh asked Soarin, even though he knew the question was rhetorical in nature.

"Silly, of course I hear that!" Soarin protested. "It's the... creepy sound of a... haunted pipe organ? Right?"

"Uh... maybe... I think." Big Macintosh replied. 

"That's reassuring." Soarin sarcastically remarked, before both heard the organ music blare out loudly and echo through the hallways, prompting them both to whinny and dash off in fright!

While that was going on, and Shining and Flash were keeping an eye on Rumble (while Shining continued to read through the journal he'd discovered), Fancy Pants and Thunderlane didn't seem to be aware of the organ music. Or if they did, they took no notice of it, they were too preoccupied with their own problems.

"Rumble! Rumble, where are you?!" Thunderlane called, but there was no reply.

"I'm sure we'll find him, he couldn't have gotten far." Fancy Pants reassured his friend, though deep down he wasn't so sure himself. The castle was pretty big and easy to get lost in.

Thunderlane called again, as he and Fancy Pants approached the throne room. "Rumble? Rumble, if you're hiding, the game's over, you win," This time there was a response, but from Fancy Pants, not Rumble. And it came in the form of a noticeable yelp! "What is it?! Did you find Rumble?!" Thunderlane asked.

"No, but I think I've found a tapestry small enough for me to carry," Fancy Pants replied, eyeing the one displaying Princess Luna that rested above what might have been her old throne. "No castle in its right mind could possibly object to me 'borrowing' and restoring such a fine work of art."

"They are lovely," Thunderlane commented. "But I need to find Rumble. Oh, I hope he doesn't think that I've given up on him." And he turned to leave.

"Don't you worry, Thunderlane, I'm right behind you!" Fancy Pants called, as he tried to carefully grab hold of the tapestry with his magic. It proved to be just as stubborn as the bigger tapestry from earlier. "Just... give me... a moment or two!" He grunted, as he attempted to grab the tapestry with his hooves.





Soarin and Big Macintosh made their up to a room that was filled with old suits of armor, that looked like they could easily come to life at a moment's notice.

"Seriously, is there a single room in this here castle that's not completely filled with terrifyin' things?!" Big Macintosh complained.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Soarin shrugged, before he accidentally bumped into one of the armor suits and caused it to wobble slightly. "Whoa!" He exclaimed, before he looked at Big Macintosh and nervously laughed while saying. "I mean... it's just some old pony armor. What's the big deal?"

"Yeah!" Big Macintosh laughed, even though he was just barely keeping his fears under control. "It ain't like it's gonna come to life or anythin'. Right?" And he trotted closer to one of the suits to get a closer look.

At that very moment, the hooded figure unknown to everyone began to play the organ. With the pressing of several different keys, the figure triggered many of the trap doors and secret rotating walls that had been hooked up to the organ.

Big Macintosh was the first to fall victim to the traps, as all of a sudden the armor suit he was standing on gave way and spun around, causing him to disappear! Soarin, having seen this (and being quite frightened by the armor) screamed!

Fancy Pants was next! As he continued to strain himself while trying to remove the tapestry, the throne he was standing next to and the entire wall it was on spun around and caused him to disappear too! Thunderlane had turned his just in time to see this, and thus he screamed too!

A few more chords of the organ were belted out uneventfully, before one finally caused Big Macintosh to be deposited on the exterior of the castle! A flash of lightning and a crash of thunder revealed the presence of a bronze dragon statue, and it was then that Big Macintosh saw he'd somehow ended up on the roof of the castle, with only a thin ledge keeping him from falling to the ground! Horrified, he screamed, and pressed himself up against the wall to try and maintain his balance!

And last but not least, Fancy Pants was deposited outside the castle, still clutching the tapestry that he'd somehow managed to pry loose in the chaos. But he took one look at himself, and screamed in horror! He was covered in dirt and bruise marks, a few loose twigs were sticking out of his mane and tail, and his suit had torn to pieces in several spots.





It didn't take long for those displaced or otherwise affected by the trap doors and secret walls to come to their senses and try to pull themselves together. Fancy Pants was the first one to try. "It figures, I try to do something nice for Miss. Rarity, and this is what I get for it," He complained, removing the twigs and branches from his mane and tail, all the while the wind was whistling past him quite ominously. "Maybe I should've told Miss. Rarity those tapestries aren't worth it. This castle doesn't get a lot of visitors, and I'm starting to see why." He then set off to find a window that he could climb back into the castle hallways.

Soarin was still quite phased by what he'd seen, but a small part of his mind was clinging to the belief that it was all a well crafted trick   by Big Macintosh. "Uh... Big Mac? You there? If you needed to go back to Ponyville for any reason, that's okay. This contest isn't really worth it anymore, it's getting out of hoof." But unfortunately, there was no reply, and to make matters worse he ended up bumping into one of the suits of armor, causing it to come crashing down on top of him! Horrified, Soarin screamed at the top of his lungs and took off! He had no particular destination in mind, but he wasn't willing to spend anymore time in the room he was currently in.

Thunderlane was searching in and around the throne room for Fancy Pants, hoping that somehow his friend hadn't been whisked away by a trap door. "Fancy Pants, I know this sort of thing isn't usually your sense of humor. But please, just this once, let this be a joke!" Nervously, Thunderlane trotted up to the steps to the throne that he'd seen Fancy Pants standing on earlier. He reluctantly reached out a hoof and tapped the throne lightly, only for a loud chord from an organ to frighten him! Rather than stick around, Thunderlane took off! "Now I've lost Rumble and Fancy Pants," He thought to himself. "Can this night get any worse?"

Big Macintosh re-entered the hallway filled with suits of armor, with another spinning door. After taking a moment to compose himself and shake off the shock, Big Macintosh looked around. But he didn't see Soarin anywhere, which prompted the farm stallion to gulp. "Uh, Soarin? Hello?" He called, his voice echoing. "Um, I guess if I can't find ya, then that means I win by default, right? Come on, the game's over, you win!" But there was no reply, and Big Macintosh could barely keep himself composed as he made his way out of the hall.





At last, Fancy Pants found a window that he could fit through, but it took quite a bit of effort for him to actually squeeze his way inside. He landed with a thud in what he assumed was the main hallway. "Fleur's going to kill me when she sees me like this," Fancy Pants commented to himself. "To say nothing of what Miss. Rarity will think. With any luck, she'll faint before I have to endure one of Fleur's lectures. By Celestia, Fleur is so scary when she's angry." After receiving a bonk on the head courtesy of a stray stone, and witnessing a flash of lightning, Fancy Pants slowly began to back away. "I hope you've found Rumble, Thunderlane. Because I don't know how much more of this ungrateful castle I can take!" He thought to himself.

Unknown to Fancy Pants, Thunderlane was making his way into the very same hallway. In a hushed but still noticeably yelling tone he called out "Rumble! Fancy Pants! Oh please, for the love of Celestia... be together! I can't lose you both!"

Big Macintosh just so happened to be entering the main hallway too, he'd been frightened by a rock slide and decided now was as good a time as any to leave. Better to flee and lose some of his dignity, rather than stay and risk his life.

Meanwhile, Soarin was flying through the castle at a breakneck speed, not particularly paying attention to anything below him. All he could think about at the moment was finding someway to get out. "Haunted statues, creepy armor... What else is this castle gonna throw at me?" He complained, unintentionally getting his answer in the form of a clap of thunder. "I had to ask." He groaned, as he slowly retreated towards the ground.

Needless to say, none of the four stallions were aware they were all in the same room. So you can imagine that when they ended up bumping into each other, since they were already very much on edge, the surprise encounter was enough to set them off! They all screamed, each of them bolting and running about in various directions!

It didn't take long for the stallions' frantic running about to cause confusion! Fancy Pants ran forward, hoping to escape what he perceived as some shadowy force trying to grab him, only for Soarin to end up accidentally knocking down the giant tapestry from earlier! Fancy Pants lit up his horn in anticipation, but alas he lacked the strength to keep it from falling on top of him! "I was only trying to do something nice for my business partner!" He complained, as he blindly ran about while trying to shake off the tapestry.

A flash of lightning caused Thunderlane to see the shadow of what he thought was Rumble. "Rumble, is that you?" He called out, hopefully. But at that very moment, Big Macintosh came rushing past in a frenzied state, accidentally knocking down one of the pillars and causing it to collapse towards the location of the shadow. "Oh no, RRUMMMMMMMMMMMBLLLLLLLE!" Thunderlane shouted at the top of his lungs, as he rushed to try and prop up the pillar.





As it just so happened, Shining Armor, Flash Sentry, and Rumble had been nearby. And when they overheard the commotion that was going on, they immediately rushed to the scene of the disturbance.

"Whoa, what's gotten into them?" Flash wondered, as he looked down on the four stallions who were running about, yelling and screaming.

"It's okay, Rumble, you're gonna be okay. You're lucky you're so small." Thunderlane commented, as he groaned while trying to lift up the heavy pillar.

But Big Macintosh kept interfering with the "rescue" process, as he frantically jumped on top of the pillar and madly shouted. "Yaaaaah! Shadows everywhere! Gang way!"

Soarin was only screaming, and Fancy Pants seemed to be sobbing to himself.

"Geez, they're acting like they've seen a ghost." Rumble commented.

"Well, it ends here, they've got to get a hold of themselves!" Shining said seriously, as he carefully hovered down to the platform overlooking the main hallway, and quickly lit up his horn. "Alright, everypony, STOP!" He commanded, casting a powerful spell that froze all of his friends in their tracks!

It didn't take long for Shining's friends to realize what was going on, the voice and the magical glow were a dead giveaway. Big Macintosh was the first one to respond. "Shining Armor? Where the hay have you been all evenin'?"

"I could ask you all the same question," Shining remarked. "You were running around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. I know this castle can be pretty spooky at night, but honestly I didn't think it was that scary."

"It's a long story, really," Thunderlane commented. "But for right now I need your help! Rumble's in trouble and I need your assistance to-"

"-Big brother, I'm right here!" Rumble called, waving to his brother from the platform. "And you'll never guess what I just found out about Scootaloo, her uncle's in the royal guard!"

Thunderlane smiled and blushed, as he realized he looked quite foolish. "Oh, good to know. And I'm glad you're okay. Gosh, I look so stupid right now."

"What are you doing here, Thunderlane?" Soarin asked, still frozen in place. "I didn't peg you as the kind of pony who liked creepy old castles."

"He's with me," Fancy Pants spoke up, his face still obscured by the tapestry. "And I should forewarn you, I'm a bit worse for the wear at the moment. It's all my fault really, I had this brilliant idea to borrow a tapestry or two from the castle for Miss. Rarity, and things didn't go quite like I'd hoped," Despite his condition, the business pony was still very much relieved to have the tapestry lifted off him so that he could see his surroundings. "Thank you."

"Have you all been spending the night running around, and scaring each other?" Flash asked, hovering down to Shining Armor's position with Rumble.

"Well, that depends." Big Macintosh bluntly commented to Shining.

"Depends on what, I might ask?" Shining spoke up. He had no idea what his friends had been up to this evening, so he had no way of knowing what they would ask him.

"On whether or not you're the Pony of Shadows," Soarin commented. "So, are you?"

"What's 'the Pony of Shadows'?" Flash wondered outloud, the most confused look appearing on his face. "I've never heard of such a thing."

Shining just laughed. "Oh, it's just an old pony's tale, nothing more. It's as real as the headless horse, and we all know that's fake." But at that very moment, ominous organ music began to echo through the castle hallways, prompting everypony to huddle close to Shining.

"So then, if we're all here... then who's the one playing the organ?" Flash nervous asked, struggling to control the urge to shiver.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out!" Shining boldly declared. "Come on!" He trotted off, only to notice that all of his friends and even Flash were clinging desperately to him. "You guys can stop me clinging to me now, you know," He remarked, rolling his eyes. "I mean really, the only one who should be doing that is Rumble, he's a kid. So what's your excuse?"

"S...sorry, guess we're still a bit on edge." Thunderlane apologized, as everypony detached themselves from Shining and followed him closely.



  

The six stallions and Rumble trotted carefully through the castle, listening to the organ music as it grew louder and louder. At last, they reached the source. Resting in the very depths of the castle was a room that housed a gigantic organ. And at that moment, a cloaked figure was playing away at it, seemingly unaware of the world around them. Who it was, nopony could tell, for the figure's cloak completely obscured them.

"Alright, it's time to put an end to this mystery!" Shining declared quite firmly, as he carefully but quickly trotted up to the altar and pulled off the cloak, exposing the figure beneath it for all to see! 

The figure underneath the cloak was a familiar light gold coated earth pony stallion, with a brownish orange mane and tail with amber highlights, and bright green eyes. His brown rodeo hat and vest made him a dead giveaway. "Braeburn?!" Everypony exclaimed!

"Hey guys," Braeburn innocently replied, a huge smile plastered on his face. "Fancy runnin' into you all here."

"You mean to tell us, you're the Pony of Shadows?" Soarin asked, flying up to Braeburn.

"Pony of what now?" Braeburn laughed in reply. "Sounds like ya'll 've been listenin' to Granny Smith's tall tales again. She really oughta save 'em for the camp fires where they belong."

Shining smiled. "See guys, I told you there was no such thing as a Pony of Shadows." Nopony said a word.

It was Big Macintosh who broke the silence, as Braeburn continued to play the organ, producing several different melodies. "Since when did you learn how to play the organ, cousin Braeburn? Ya'll never mentioned you could do that before."

"You never asked me," Braeburn chuckled. "Not that I blame ya, I doubt anypony would've guessed if ya'll didn't see it for yourselves."

"But what about the cloak? Were you trying to scare us half to death or something?!" Fancy Pants pondered.

"Now what kind of a pony do you take me for?" Braeburn replied, temporarily halting his organ playing. "Thing is, it can get of drafty down here. I borrowed a cloak I found layin' on the ground and put it on. I'm sure whoever it belongs to won't miss it, after all I looked all around for 'em, but didn't hide or hair of 'em, figured they must've dropped it and not noticed." 

"So you've been down here, playing this organ, the whole time?" Thunderlane concluded, hoping he wasn't misinterpreting anything.

"Yup," Braeburn happily nodded. "I came back to Ponyville for a little r and r, and I was hopin' to invite ya all to my party. Heh, sounds like ya'll went and had a heck of a time without me though." As Braeburn finished that sentence, he inadvertently leaned on the organ and pressed a key, triggering a spring that Flash had the unfortunate luck of standing on. Luckily, Flash was able to quickly flap his wings and escape what would've been a nasty collision with the ground.

"I hope you didn't do that on purpose, Braeburn." Flash told the stallion, a hint of anger contained in his tone of voice.

"Course I didn't, I had no idea this here organ could do that," Braeburn commented. "Makes me wonder what else it's capable of."

"That explains all the accounts of trap doors and rotating walls," Shining thought to himself. "Braeburn must've been playing the Organ to the Outside that Celestia mentioned in her journal! Man, she and Luna had such a strange sense of humor when they built this place."





Shining quickly lead all of his friends and Flash back up to the study he'd found, figuring it was best if everypony stayed away from the organ for the forseeable future.

Fancy Pants was occupying himself with repair work on the tapestry he'd managed to inadvertently snag in the confusion earlier. "This is going to go right back to its rightful place once I've done with it," He commented to nopony in particular. "It's just not worth the trouble of lugging it all the way back to Carousel Boutique."

Thunderlane, for his part, was just relieved to know that Rumble was safe and sound. "Rumble, promise me you won't go running off like that again. You gave your big brother quite the fright!" He scolded.

Rumble tried not to hang his head in shame. "Sorry big brother, but I had no idea where you and Mr. Fancy Pants went, and I couldn't think of what else to do," He apologized. "Besides, I ended up finding Mr. Shining and Mr. Flash, they were a lot of fun to hang out with."

"I'm sure they were," Thunderlane smiled and turned to Flash. "Thanks again for keeping an eye on Rumble, you truly are amazing with foals!"

"Hey, it's all part of the job. Besides, I see a lot of myself in him," Flash confessed. "So young, so full of life, and so over eager to prove himself. Celestia knows how many times my big sister had to bail me out of a jam. I guess that's why I never joined The Wonderbolts like she did, I just couldn't stay still."

"I still can't believe I got so frightened," Soarin said to himself. "I guess I let my imagination get the best of me."

"I think we all did, more or less," Big Macintosh concluded, before he turned to Shining. "Except for you. I know you and Flash came here hopin' to find some answers on that mysterious chest, but how come you weren't at all frightened by everythin' that was goin' on?"

"Well, part of it has to do with royal guard training. I didn't become captain of the guard by cowering in the face of fear and letting it get the best of me," Shining replied quite seriously. "I had to learn early on how to suppress my fear and keep it from controlling me. Fear's a powerful motivator, and it's fine in small doses. But too much of it, and you're no help to anypony. It can lead to paranoia, making you feel like everyone and everything is out to get you. Plus, I had the Journal of the Two Sisters, the diary Celestia and Luna kept while they lived in this castle. Knowing something about the past made it easier to deal with all of my problems in the present, even the scary ones," With a sigh he then added. "Unfortunately, even with the journal, I didn't find any information about the chest. I've exhausted just about all of my options. It seems that, whatever that chest is, nopony's ever seen or heard of it before, or knows what's inside it. But I have a hunch we'll find the keys eventually, the Tree of Harmony wouldn't have given us that chest if we weren't meant to open it."

Everypony nodded in agreement.

"And speaking of journals," Shining went on. "I was thinking, maybe all of us should consider writing a journal as well. That way we can learn from each other! And maybe some day, other ponies will read it and learn something, too! Think of it as our contribution to future generations."

"Sounds like a lovely idea! I've actually been considering something like that myself, though it was intended to be more of a planner and organizer, than a journal." Fancy Pants commented.

Big Macintosh laughed. "Well, I don't know about the rest of ya'll, but I know what my first entry's gonna be! 'Dear Diary, I'm glad Granny Smith's legend turned out to not be true.'"

"Same here!" Soarin replied. "And the next time I agree to some ridiculous contest to prove my bravery, please knock some sense into me. Literally if you have to."

Everypony had a good laugh at that, but as they laughed they were unaware of a glaring shadow gazing upon the ruins of the castle from afar. "Curses, they're not here!" The figure thought to itself. "And after all this time I've spent growing stronger too! Mark my words, princesses! You can run, but you cannot hide from me forever! I will find you, and I will take what was rightfully mine!" And with those thoughts clear in its mind, the figure departed before anypony had a chance to notice it.