The castle had two dining rooms. The first one they passed through was about the size of Canterlot High's gymnasium. There were several old rectangle tables lined with chairs across the room while at the end of the hall was a raised stage with another table. Several banners depicting the family's sigil hung on the walls, illuminated by the electric lights. Scorpius explained that this was where they used to hold feasts where they would invite the townsfolk, or any other guests. The stage was reserved for the family and any special guests. Soon they would start cleaning up this place and start preparing for the Yule and Hearth's Warming feasts.
The second one was much smaller and more cozy, though still grand to some of the girls' eyes. This room contained just one circular table still large enough to sit everybody. This, Scorpius explained further, was the dining room most often used, usually for family and a few close friends. On the purple, swirled wallpaper hung a few old paintings, either of landscapes or people in old fashioned clothing, all illuminated from the lights or the moonlight pouring in from the windows.
At the center of the table was an old vases containing fresh flowers cut for their arrival. Rarity was slightly disappointed to see plain, modern cloth and utensils at the table but reasoned they would want to save them for formal events. But what interested the girls' (particularly Rainbow and Pinkie) most was the food.
Sitting on a bus for several hours could make a girl hungry.
"Please sit and enjoy yourselves!" Scorpius smiled. "I'm sure you're all starving after your trip. Vespera's also one of the best cooks I have ever met!"
Everyone quickly sat and helped themselves to the feast laid down on the table.
"I must say we were quite surprised when we got here." Rarity said, spooning some shepherds pie on her plate. "It is quite...." She searched for an appropriate but not offensive word. "....different than what we expected."
"Oh?" Scorpion raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
This caught her off guard. "It's um....distinguished!"
The Lord of the castle chuckled in good humor. "If by that you mean 'so spooky it looks right out of a horror film' then that's pretty accurate."
Rarity blushed and not so daintily stuffed a forkful of food into her mouth to halt any further embarrassment.
Scorpius shrugged. "Don't worry about it. A lot of visitors feel that way, especially if they hadn't visited another castle built like this before. Apparently this style was really popular when Dame Andromeda had it built, and similar architecture styles were used on houses and temples, which you might have noticed in town."
"Oh we noticed alright..." Rainbow remarked before yelping as AJ stomped her foot under the table.
"Sorry 'bout that." AJ shot Rainbow a look. "Rainbow here often doesn't think before she speaks."
"Oh don't worry about that." Narcissa waved her hand. "I found the place utterly dreadful when I first arrived. The Gothic style is nice but so old fashioned even in my time! I wanted to hire an interior decorator but Scorpius talked me out of it. 'It's fine as it is' he said!" She hmphed. "Of course there is a certain....antiqueness about it which I suppose has it's own value."
"Well, personally I was so excited when I first visited!" Velvet said, ignoring her mother-in-law's pointed look. "The fog! The gargoyles! It was just like the ones my mother used to tell me about. It also gave me the perfect inspiration for my book!"
"Well, this castle is a bit different from those." Scorpius spoke up with a mysterious smile.
"How so?" Fluttershy asked with hesitant curiosity.
"My ancestors loved to hide their secrets in every corner they could find. Though it takes a keen eye to find those secrets and understand them."
"Huh?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh, I'll be happy to show you after we eat."
After dinner, Cadence and Shining went to put Flurry to bed and the adults went to unpack and rest while Scorpius gave the younger girls a tour of the castle, giving an animated lecture about when certain parts were built or what a particular room was used for.
"And here we have the Great Hall!" He spread his arms our wide as they entered a large room with a grand staircase leading to a few interior balconies leading to more hallways. Several pillars depicting the gods stood leading to the stairs. In the center of the floor was a large tile pattern in the shape of a circular labyrinth. "This was one of the first rooms completed and the oldest remaining almost exactly as it is. Of course, many additions were made later on. For instance..." He pointed to one of the pillars. "Aquila only had those put in about three hundred years ago. She even designed and helped install them herself!"
"She used several new balancing techniques to keep the ceiling from collapsing and even created a new way to build into the ceiling and floor!" Twilight continued eagerly.
"Yup, it's genetic." Rainbow remarked to Sunset.
"Lord Scorpius."
Most of the group turned in fright a found Vespera standing there, seeming to have materialized out of thin air. Her narrowed eyes scanned the room before giving her boss a quick bow.
"My apologies. But there is a matter that requires your attention."
Scorpius nodded and gave the group an apologetic smile. "Sorry, looks like we're going to have the official tour short. You're free to explore any doors that are not locked as you like. If you have any questions you can just ask me, my son or my grandchildren." With that, he followed Vespera out of the room.
"I must admit Twilight," Rarity said, awed at the grand room. "While the outward appearance gave me a bit of a shock, the inside is simply spectacular! The grandeur! The atmosphere of an old and noble line!"
"The paintings that look like their looking straight at you?" Pinkie spoke up, smiling brightly at one such painting.
"Oh my!" Fluttershy gasped. "Look at this one!"
The girls followed and were similarly amazed.
"Is that your ma?" AJ asked in awe.
Indeed, it was a portrait of Twilight Velvet, though appearing slightly younger, wearing a crown of purple roses with some of the petal swirling around her. Contrasted against a dark background, her pale skin seemed to glow and her eyes shone bright as the stars. A small, gentle smile graced her face.
Twilight smiled fondly at the painting. "That's right. That was painted by my great grandmother Libra. She was an artist and a few of her paintings can be found in museums all over Equestria!"
"Wow." Sunset's eyes widened.
"This one's my favorite though. It's actually about when my parents first met! You see, they were both finalists in a fencing competition. One of the other competitors was harassing the others and my mom stood up to him. Dad saw this. So when the final round came, it was close, but my dad won. Dad was given the crown of roses to give to someone else while my mom was about to go sulk. So, imagine the shock of everyone in the arena when my dad turned right around and handed the roses to my mom!"
"Awwwww!" Pinkie and Fluttershy awed.
"How romantic!" Rarity exclaimed.
"My Great Grandmother thought so too! She painted this right after that. My mom was so shocked by what Dad did she could barely speak!"
"Well what do you expect?" Velvet asked as she, her husband and their son climbed down the stairs. "Up until that point winners usually gave the crown to their beloved, or a family member, or just someone in the audience who caught their eye. Nobody had ever given it to their opponent before!"
Night chuckled. "Well what can I say, my family's not exactly known for conforming to tradition." He gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek.
Shining rolled his eyes at the display before turning to the teens. "So how are you all enjoying the castle so far?"
"This place is amazing. Thanks for letting us come." Sunset said, followed by a chorus of agreements.
"So I'm guessing you haven't run into the beast yet?" Shining asked, grinning mischievously.
Twilight rolled her eyes while her friend's look intrigued. "Ugh, Shiny. Not that old story."
"What's 'the beast'?" AJ asked.
Shining's eyes glowed with excitement as he put on his 'dramatic' voice: "As you may have heard, but our family has many secrets, but around five hundred years ago, the husband of my ancestor, Ophelia, discovered a secret so dark and shocking that she turned him into a beast as punishment and sent him into the woods to guard the castle for the rest of his life!"
"Oh my..." Fluttershy gulped. Indeed, many of the girls were shaking or looked nervous (though Rainbow tried to hide hers).
"Don't listen to him." Twilight stepped forward. "It's complete nonsense! My family has never used that kind of magic on anyone!"
"Whether or not that's true is up for debate." Shining continued. "But Ophelia's husband did disappear without a trace..."
"He probably just got lost in the woods and died in an accident. It used to happen a lot back then."
"....and ever since then, people have reported strange sightings of a shadowy 'beast' prowling around the woods at night, and a pair of glowing red eyes peering out from the darkness."
"That's just people letting their fear and imaginations run wild. There could have been a number of explanations for those sightings but people panic and let their imaginations get the best of them."
"Whatever the case may be.." Night stepped in, halting the argument between the sibling, "Beast or no beast the woods are still a dangerous place at night and I don't want to see any of you leaving the castle after sundown. You can see the gardens in the morning, I think you've all heard enough stories for one night. With that in mind, we all might want to hit the hay, it's getting late and it's been a long drive, ok?"
A chorus of 'ok's and nods followed suit.
"Good, now let's-"
"I will show them to their rooms."
The girls jumped again as they found Vespera standing behind them.
"Seriously, how do you do that!?" Rainbow asked, exasperated.
Vespera ignored Rainbow's question nodded her head towards the stairs. "Follow me."
After wishing her family a good night, Twilight led the reluctant girls into following the housekeeper.
A few hallways and stair later, Twilight and Spike left for her old room in the family wing. The girls continued to follow Vespera until they reached a door.
Vespera swiftly turned to the teens.
"Girls." She said stoically. "Your rooms. That way." She pointed to the door. "You will find names on doors." He eyes narrowed and her turned seemed to turn even more serious. "Rules are: Stay in room. Lock doors."
The teens fearfully nodded and stepped into the hallway and shut the door without a second thought.
"Well THAT was creepy...." Rainbow muttered.
"Yeah. I'm really seeing why Twilight was so anxious about us coming here." Sunset rubbed the back of her neck.
"What's this?" Pinkie pointed to the wall near them, which held nothing but a small banner with the family heraldry, only this one had words written in silver thread: I dorchadas an Oíche
"What is it?" AJ asked.
"It must be the family words. It's sort of like a motto or rule for the family to live by. It can also take the form of a boast or threat."
"Well what does it say?" Rainbow asked impatiently.
Sunset looked closer. "Well, roughly translated, it says: In the Dark of the Night or In the darkness of the Night."
The girls just stood there for a moment, letting those words sink in.
"Well, that's not ominous..." Rainbow said.
Before anyone could say anything else a P.A. system activated and Vespera's voice echoed through the hall:
"Get to rooms."
The group looked at each other before making a mad dash to the safety of their bedrooms.
Sunset reluctantly forced her eyes open as she was pulled from the lull of dreamland. Reaching over to her phone, she winced as it lit up to display the time: 3 am.
"Wha-"
It was then that she realized what exactly had pulled her away from sleep: the faint sounds of voices talking somewhere outside her room.
She shook her head and listened; confirming that she wasn't dreaming and the distant sound of people chanting was somewhere out there.
"What is that?" She prepared to get up and check it out when she remembered:
Stay in Room. Lock doors.
Stiffening, she remained in bed until the voiced eventually fell silent.
She kept her wide eyes focused on the door for the next few minutes as she tried to make sense of what happened.
What is going on with this place?