//------------------------------// // Chapter Three : Silent Rumination // Story: CoH (Book Two) : Of Ancient Castles and Soldier Hassles // by Diespitris //------------------------------// They were deep within the ruins of the castle before Sombra saw fit to drop his disguise. It was effortless to drop the illusion spell whilst he continued to light their way. Sconces and chandeliers alike burst into flame as they walked—each one responding immediately to his magic. “Where are we going?” Twilight finally asked. “Someplace you'll enjoy, I'm sure.” His smile fell a bit. “If it's not too badly damaged, or gone altogether.” Of course, it wasn't too long before they reached another set of doors. The aged, brittle wood was stained a strange pinkish color. Given their age, Twilight surmised the true color was once a more purplish shade, before time robbed it of its brilliance. “Here it is,” said Sombra. He took the round, silver door handles into his magic. Yet, he seemed to hesitate for a moment before he slowly pushed the doors open. Book-stuffed shelves lined the massive chamber on the other side from floor to ceiling. Well, what was left of the ceiling. There were obvious chunks of it gone, revealing the Everfree's gray sky overhead. More than likely, those missing chunks were responsible for the piles of rubble littering the floor, alongside some of the broken and overturned reading tables. Still, the library was in better condition than Sombra's imagination led him to believe. He exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding. “Thank the stars,” he mumbled. As Twilight stared in wonder, he wandered over to a bookshelf. While the tightly-packed books were caked in dust and showed minor signs of wrinkling from their exposure to the elements, he was delighted to see they were in acceptable condition. The same couldn't be said about the poor, unfortunate tomes unceremoniously strewn here and there by whatever force ripped them from their proper places, but a few casualties were better than the destruction of an entire library. “Ah, it does my heart good to see this place again,” he said. “Welcome to the Roan Royal Library, Twilight.” A giddiness welled up in Twilight as she gazed at the old books. One-thousand-year-old books! Row after row after row of one-thousand-year-old books! “This is amazing!” she nearly squealed. “I had no idea this was here!” Oh, which one should I read first?! Sombra laughed. “What you see here was once the largest collection of knowledge in Equestria. It doubled as a public library—highly guarded but accessible to the public from dawn to dusk.” He grinned. “Needless to say, I spent a lot of time here.” She followed him to one of the few intact tables, which seemed to set directly in the center of the library. “I can see why!” she exclaimed. “It's extraordinary!” “Yes.” He set a hoof on the table. His brow furrowed. “What I don't understand is why it was left to rot in such a horrible manner. Roan was once the most sophisticated city in the world, rivaled only by the Crystal Empire, but it seems this castle is the only remaining structure... and almost everything within it was left behind.” Twilight breathed out a silent, “Oh.” Right. He didn't know. “I think I can answer that for you.” She took a seat at the table and she rubbed her hooves together as she spared a glance at Sombra. “I don't have all the details, mind you. I never really had a reason to ask Princess Celestia about this place after my friends and I found the Elements here.” Sombra pulled up a seat to sit beside her. Yet, he remained silent. “Well, a thousand years ago, when the Princesses still lived here, Princess Luna slowly grew jealous of Celestia because she believed their subjects loved Celestia and the daytime more than they loved her and her night. When the finally fell to the darkness inside her, she became a malevolent being called Nightmare Moon. She then tried to take the throne for herself. They battled, and I'm sure that's how the castle was damaged so badly, but in the end Princess Celestia had no choice but to use the Elements of Harmony against her own sister. They banished Nightmare Moon to the moon.” She looked up at the sky. “I can't imagine what Princess Celestia went through back then. I don't know what I'd do if I had to use the Elements against Shining Armor. I guess it makes sense she would leave this place behind after her ordeal.” “Too many bad memories,” grumbled Sombra. Her ears perked. “Pardon?” “Nothing, Twilight.” He stood and moved to the end of the table. “It must have been some battle, to reduce Roan to nothing but a chasm and decrepit ruins.” There was a monotone to his voice, which Twilight found odd. As suddenly as it appeared, however, it was gone, and Sombra's voice found a nuance of hope. “But, what was left behind will not go to waste,” he continued. His eyes sparked with mischief as he touched the chair at the head of the table. In one motion, he pushed it backwards. It didn't fall to the floor, but instead stuck fast at an odd angle. The clinks and clanks of unseen machinations came, muffled, through the left wall. Then, before their very eyes, two of the smaller shelves shifted open to reveal a secret door. Unlike everything else Twilight had seen, this door didn't appear as worn as the others. It was faint green in color and there were no markings of which to speak. Before she was able to ask about it, Sombra was already in the process of hauling his luggage through to the other side. “Wait for me!” she exclaimed. Once she entered the room on the other side she was greeted by walls of green and blue. The left wall was home to a small bookcase; a red couch set snugly against the right. There was only one small, round table, and there were cushions on the floor in random places. Upon said floor was a soft, violet carpet, which muffled her steps as she approached the murals in the back. There were two. The left was comprised of orange and yellow paints. It depicted the sun among the clouds. Its neighbor, a combination of different blues, was of the moon and stars. “What is this place?” she whispered. As he set his luggage next to the couch, Sombra replied, “This was once the Princess' personal reading room.” “How did you know this was here?” A minute or two passed them by in silence, but Twilight was patient. She made her way to the solitary table as the sandwiches and juice she packed away floated out of her saddlebags. She banished the dust from the oaken surface, then placed their lunch upon it. There were two sandwiches and two bottles of apple juice for both of them, so there wasn't much to divide and organize. As soon as she was finished, she cleared her throat. “I brought lunch, if you want some,” she said. The stallion snapped out of his thought-fueled daze and turned his head to momentarily regard the food. His previous thought process seemingly forgotten, he approached. “You didn't have to do such a thing,” he said. “Well, I did, and I brought daisy and dandelion sandwiches and apple juice.” “Thank you. I am grateful.” Sombra unwrapped his portions; Twilight followed suit. The exact time eluded her, but she herself had been looking forward to eating since they set hoof in the library. Surely, her friend was just as famished, and so she was thankful he had accepted her meager offerings. Yet, she kept an eye on him. His eyes didn't leave the table, even as he ate. His continued silence made her uneasy. Did she ask one too many questions? Was he tired? Was it the food? Did he really not like it here? Should she have demanded to pay for his continued stay at the inn? “Twilight.” Startled, she hastily swallowed her last bite of her lunch. “Yes?” she gasped and coughed. He didn't seem to notice. “To answer your earlier question... This castle holds many secrets—mostly mischievous traps and passageways. I, in all honesty, know the majority of them, because the Princesses revealed them to me.” “Really?” Her head tilted. “Why?” Sombra took a deep breath. “We were friends once.” His gaze, for a brief moment, met hers. “Once. Then, we weren't... and that's all I have to say about that.” Twilight simply nodded, and she mentally tucked away her many questions for a much, much later time.