//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: The Secrets of Nightholde // by Bookpony579 //------------------------------// The group eventually decided to meet back together in the great hall. "So, did anyone find anything?" Sunset asked. "Nothing in the garden, aside from a statue that was missing a part." AJ stated. "And a beautiful love story about Andromeda." Fluttershy sighed wistfully. "All we found was a library full of books and funny statues!" Pinkie said, joyfully putting her arms around Sunset's shoulders. "Well, we found some of the most marvelous classical instruments!" Rarity gushed. "There was one of the most beautifully crafted harps I had ever seen! Just the detain on it! And a piano that was perfectly in tune! Especially given how old it is-" "Now that you mention it." Rainbow interrupted, ignoring Rarity's annoyed look. "There was something odd about the piano." "What about it?" Sunset asked. "Come on and you can see for yourselves." "You were right Rainbow." Sunset stated, looking over the old instrument. "It's definitely built into the wall, the question is: why?" "I saw a movie once where you play certain keys on it, and it's supposed to trigger something." Rainbow explained. "But what are we supposed to play?" AJ wondered. "It could take hours to guess what to play!" "I think, I have an idea." Rarity said, standing in front of the portrait of Lyra, She peered closely at the sheet music the woman was holding before taking out a jewelers loupe, and peered even closer. "Look at this!" Everyone gathered around Rarity, peering at the portrait. "What?" Rainbow asked, confused. "What are we looking at?" "That." Rarity stated, pointing at the sheet of music. "Shining armor said the woman who designed this room was a singer. And in this portrait you can clearly see-" She paused for dramatic affect. "A song!" Sunset exclaimed excitedly. "Exactly!" Rarity walked over to the piano and proceeded to play the song from the portrait, the moment she hit the final note, two things happened. First, a panel in the wall opened up, revealing yet another secret passage. Second, a leg in the piano opened up, revealing a secret compartment. "Smart thinking Rares!" AJ said. "Oh my!" Rarity gasped and looked into the compartment. "Another secret passage!?" Rainbow exclaimed in shock. "Well ya gotta admit, they have a knack for keeping them hidden." AJ acknowledged. "Look!" Rarity pulled out what looked like a fork and a stone heart. "What are these for?" "Let's look through here first, Sunset said, stepping a foot inside the wall. "Ooh!" Pinkie awed. "Spooky!" "Oh! Uh..." Fluttershy stammered, not eager to head into another unknown path. "D-Do we really have to go through it?" "It's ok." Sunset nodded. "Pinkie, AJ, you two come with me. The rest of you stay watch and keep a lookout for anything else unusual." "You mean....like that?" Rainbow casually pointer her thumb over to their pink friend......who was busy playing a tuba while riding a unicycle and juggling balls with one hand. Sunset could only blink. "Oookay....maybe Pinkie should stay here and Rainbow can come with us." "Sweet!" Rainbow jumped for joy while Pinkie continued doing.....whatever is was she was doing. Sunset, AJ and Rainbow carefully made their way through the passage. "Hey, what's that?" AJ pointed to a nearby wall, on which a circular object was built into it. "Let's check it out." Sunset went over and carefully traced her fingers over it. It was cool and covered in rust. "It's definitely been here a while, probably came with the passage." "Try opening it." Rainbow insisted. Sunset traced and, upon finding a ledge, pulled until it came off, revealing a small hole in the wall. "What is it?" Rainbow asked. "Looks like a peephole." Sunset leaned down and put her eye up to it, once she focused, she could make out a room with people in it. "It is a peephole! And it looks like Scorpian, Night Light and Shining Armor are talking." "Can ya hear what they're saying?" AJ asked. "Shh. I think so." Ever so faintly, she could make out what the men were saying behind the stone wall. "Are you sure we should be doing this?" Night asked, slightly worried. "It seems....mischievous." "Oh I'm sure they'll be fine." Scorpion reassured his son. "Twilight said two of them were constantly pulling this stuff on others." "Yeah." Shiny agreed. "They've been through worse. Besides, if Twily's on board, so am I?" "But what about the centuries worth of secrets?" Night raised an eyebrow. "Some of them are hard to figure out, not to mention dangerous." "Like Shining said, they've had worse. Besides, Twilight says they're practically family, so what's the worry? Either way, it's good fun for us." "See? Nothing to worry about?" Shining said, heading for the door. "I've gotta catch up with Cady and Flurry, see you at dinner?" Quickly enough, the room was empty and Sunset shut the lid. "Well?" AJ asked. "What were they talking about?" "I think they were talking about.....us." "What do ya mean?" "I think they're....planning something, involving us. It doesn't sound bad! But apparently Twilight's in on it." "Well if Twilight's part of it, then it can't be bad....right?" Rainbow asked, a hint of worry in her voice. "Night said he was worried about the secrets, and the fact that 'something' could be dangerous. But they also thought we could handle them." "Ah'm sure we'll be fine." AJ tried to reassure them. "Let's just keep going and see what we fink, alright?" The teens agreed, though all three of them still harbored some doubts. Eventually, they came upon another panel with glowing blue writing on it. "What does it say?" Rainbow asked. Sunset went up to it and began to slowly read, carefully translating the ancient language. "It says, 'Only the good and wise may pass here. All others shall be turned into creatures of shadow, their nails will grow, their teeth shall sharpen and shall become as dark as your minds and hearts. Prove thy worth by putting down the name of the one convicted for trying to save lives and knowledge. Who fell victim to fear and hysteria. Else consider thyself unworthy and truly cursed.'" All three teens felt a chill go down their spines. "C-cursed!?" Rainbow sputtered, face almost as white as Rarity's. "Do....do you think it means the beast that's supposed to be in the woods?" AJ asked, hiding a shudder. Sunset gulped. "Most curses aren't real, they're either fake magic or a way to keep people out." "Does anything we've seen so far, even remotely hint that everything here is 'fake'?" Rainbow argued. "Those townsfolk did say there was dark magic here." AJ mumbled. "And that does sound like what happened to Ophelia's husband...." "Well, if we are cursed now, then I guess the only thing to do is keep going?" Sunset nervously asked them. Reluctantly, they nodded at her to continue and so she lifted up the panel, revealing rows of Ophram letters. "'Put down the name of the one who fell victim to fear and hysteria'..." Sunset repeated, trying to understand what it meant. "Whatch'ya reading Sunny?" Pinkie asked, causing the trio to scream.......which led to Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy screaming. "What are you doing here!?" Rainbow asked once she realized who it was. "Unfortunately, we couldn't find anything else in the music room." Rarity admitted. "And the author felt bad about not using us more, so we decided to come down and see if you found anything! See!" Pinkie pointed to their shaking friend. "We even got Fluttershy to come along!" "Adventure...."She wispered. "So did you find anything?" "Well....." Sunset, Rainbow and AJ looked at each other. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE MIGHT BE CURSED?!?!" Rarity exclaimed when Sunset finished explaining. Fluttershy had turned even paler than her friend, and Pinkie wasn't affected at all. "Well, right now it sounds like if we don't want to end up like Ophelia's husband, we need to solve this riddle." Sunset said, lifting the plate and showing the letters, which glowed brightly in the dark. "It better! I do not want to spend the rest of my life in the woods eating people! Do you understand how hard it is to get blood stains out?" "Ignoring that suspicious comment....it looks like we need to put in the name of someone who 'fell victim to fear and hysteria', but what could that mean?" "Isn't that the lady Twilight's mom told us about?" Pinkie asked. "What?" "In the library silly! Remember? She told us about Vulpecula and how she stood up to that meenie Night Templar? Then her ghost was like 'no way jose!' and-" "Pinkie Pie you're a genius!" Sunset exclaimed, interrupting Pinkie's story. "Vulpecula was hanged by Night Templar for opposing her oppression! She's the one who fell victim to fear and hysteria! We have to put her name in!" With that, she carefully selecting the sigils and pressing them in to spell out 'Vulpecula'. As she pushed in the final stone, something inside the wall made a noise and it slid out and to the side. "A secret passage...inside a secret passage?" Fluttershy wondered. "Again...Twi's family were really good at keeping them hidden." AJ nodded. "Well, not much to do except keep going." Sunset declared as she and the other stepped into the darkened pathway.