//------------------------------//
// Of Rooms and Rubble 
// Story: Lines and Webs 
// by Airstream 
//------------------------------//

Twilight knew she was in trouble the moment she rounded the corner and saw the hallway in front of her. Stairs descended into the hallway, and passages branched off in different directions, disappearing into darkness. She'd have to use a hornlight for these, or find a lantern or something. Morning Star had the magelight in his bag, along with the extra supplies, so she'd be on her own for illumination. She racked her brain. There had to be a way to eliminate some of the tunnels, right? Immediately, Twilight thought back to her days growing up back in the castle in Canterlot, and what she had learned while she was there. Some passages were rough and cramped. Servant entrances, then, not likely to lead back to the throne room or anywhere else she wanted to be. Likewise, she didn't think the entrance to the throne room would be behind the swollen-shut wooden doors. If the architecture in the Hall of Heroes was anything to go by, the way to the Alicorn Sisters would have been impressive, almost intimidating. Twilight checked around her again. On her right hand side, she noticed that one of the passages seemed quite a bit larger than the others, and seemed to have plinths for small statues and the like along it. It looked promising, so in she went, her hooves echoing faintly off of the walls.

The hallway was pitch black, prompting her to summon light. This definitely seemed to be the right way, seeing as the runes and carvings along the walls were growing more intricate as she went. Her light threw them into eerie shadow, illuminating a snarling Manticore, a rearing knight, some horrible beast with too many tentacles, and others, lending them the illusion of life once more. She noticed that the runes and the carvings were beginning to split, the carvings traveling down the passage and into the distance, the runes spiraling up a staircase that appeared to be richly inlaid with silver. Twilight's natural curiosity was piqued. She marked the passage, and followed the runes up the stairs. The runes themselves contained traces of silver, slowly shifting from High Equestrian into actual magical Runes. She reached a door, simple wood bound in iron, with a pull-ring set on one side. Curious, she gave it a slight tug, the aged wood groaning in loud protest as it swung open. Twilight gasped. Before her stood a treasure indeed.

Books lined the walls, glimmering behind protective spells similar to the ones in her library at home in Ponyville. With a little squeal, she darted into the room, hardly hesitating long enough to check for magical traps before she entered. Finding none, she immediately began scanning the nearby shelves. Loaded with scrolls, it packed itself up to the shelf above with recipes for different potions. She whirled, dashing to another corner of the room. Carefully bound books on enchanting items were here. Twilight sped to a third shelf, stopping in front of a rack of defensive spells. This was a library. A library devoted entirely to magic, in all of its wonderful forms and variations. This was a collection that put her library back home to shame, shelves stacked high with ancient tomes and scrolls and even a few tablets. Three levels of bookshelves, with stairs leading up to the next levels. There were even areas for reading. Twilight looked around in awe, seeing what else she could find.

She spotted a cramped office to one side, carefully trotting over to check if it was clear. Inside was clearly the study of a master Mage. A claw-footed cauldron stood off to one side, and the wall next to it was lined with vials of alchemical tinctures and powders. A large scrying mirror hung from one wall, with a summoning circle next to it. Another shelf of books, these remarkably preserved and also unprotected by spells, sat behind a large desk carved of some black wood. Twilight walked behind the desk. The books were written in magical script, indicating words of such power that they needed to be contained even when they were written down. 

Twilight had hoped for something like this. The Ancient Library of the Capital was legendary, said to contain the knowledge of the universe itself. And Twilight had found its Magic section. Giggling like a schoolfilly, she cracked open her bag, levitating a small wooden box out of it. She'd set it down, watching as it expanded to the size of a regular trunk, one able to hold one's dearest possessions. She levitated the books out of it, settling them neatly inside. Focusing, she shrank the box, and therefore the books inside, down to a manageable size. Levitating the box into her bag, she trotted out of the door, closing it behind her with a click. Knowledge like this didn't come along too often. Quietly, she left through the door she had entered. 

Unbeknownst to her, invisible guardians watched her leave. True, they had been charged to guard the library, but it had been ages since somepony had visited, and besides, it was obvious from the look on the young unicorn's face that she would take care of those books. And yes, they had been instructed to rend the limbs from those who tried to steal from the library, but nopony had said a thing about the Archmage's chambers, mostly because nopony would have dared to steal from the Archmage. A consensus was reached. Those fool librarians should have been more specific. Sighing, the demons settled back in to wait on another pony to enter. There was an invisible murmur of excitement among the ranks. None of the beings were sure why, exactly, but the feeling was that things were about to get a lot more interesting around the castle.


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Twilight trotted down the stairs, humming as she went. The sliver of the runes glimmered off of her hornlight, fading with her passage. She arrived at the other passage, removing her marker as she passed. The purple light once again threw shadows, and Twilight was again surrounded by flickering, snarling horrors. The passage grew even wider, and Twilight wondered where she was. It couldn't be far now, there was no way this wasn't the way to the Throne Room... Never mind, then. The passage had opened up into a ballroom of sorts, a wide open area. There were no less than four doors in front of her, wide double doors carved with the sun and moon. She groaned, realizing that this castle was not only big, it was ludicrously complex as well, a real labyrinth. She resolved to open the doors one at a time, progressing through the one that seemed most likely to lead to the throne. Starting with the door on her left, she began to open them.

The first opened onto a room that could only be described as an armory. The walls were lined with spears, bows, and swords, while helmets and armor decorated racks in the center of the room. Twilight could see a quartermaster's desk as well, a plain wooden affair with two burned out lanterns hanging from the front. She noticed something odd about the quality of the armor and weapons. Much of it was not steel or iron, but some other metal entirely. Twilight attempted to levitate a helmet over to her with magic, but much to her surprise, her telekinetic grip slid off of it, as if the metal were too slick for her to hold. She tried again, with the same result. Annoyed, she trotted over to it, trying to decide whether or not to grip it with her teeth. Spying a smaller bracer laying on the floor, she picked that up instead, sliding it into her bag. The metal on the weapons was also similar to the armor, but not exactly the same. These seemed to reflect less light than the armor did, for some strange reason. Twilight attempted to lift a small dagger into the air, frowning in frustration as her magic sank into the blade, disappearing as soon as she stopped pouring magic into it so she could lift it. This soaked up magic like a sponge. Again, Twilight picked up the blade with her teeth, dropping it into her saddlebag. She turned to leave, shutting the door behind her. She would have so many questions when she got home.

The next room consisted of a desk and an absurdly large vault set into the stone, looming over Twilight by a good margin. She surmised that this was probably the treasury, and seeing as she had no way of opening what was surely a locked door, she turned to leave. She stopped, turned back around, and tried to tug it open. Predictably, it did not budge. She sent a bolt of magic off of it halfheartedly. The bolt splashed against it, not even marring the pristine surface. Twilight sighed, closing the door behind her. Probably for the best, actually. She already had treasure enough for this trip.

She felt sure that the throne room was most likely through the third door, so she trotted over to the fourth, tugging it open. Inside was probably one of the more unusual things Twilight had seen in the castle. Before her stood a garden. The plants were in full bloom , the trees looked wide and inviting, birds nested in the branches, and Twilight could see fruit dangling from some of the boughs. What set the room apart, however, was the fact that everything in the room had turned to stone. It clearly wasn't carved. Somepony had cast a spell on the room in order to preserve it as it was exactly in one moment. Twilight had a feeling as to why, too. If the ponies who inhabited this castle had left, there would have been nopony there to maintain the garden. So, as an act of twisted kindness, some unicorn had petrified every living thing in that room. Silently she shut the door, leaving the garden to itself. 

Finally, she turned to the third set of doors. She cracked both of them open, walking through the gap. And there before her stood a horrific scene. This was the throne room, no doubt about it. However, it was filled with ponies. Twilight sensed these statues were at one time living, as well. These particular ponies bore the armor and weaponry of soldiers. Each of them was locked in combat, Solar and Lunar crests prominent in their armor. One had actually pierced the side of another with a spear at the time of their petrifaction, the Loyalist forever frozen with a snarl of pain on his face and a surely fatal wound in his side. Several statues lay on the floor, wings outstretched in flight. None, thank Celestia, had snapped them off as a result of their weight. Twilight chalked it up to magic. After all, the stone created by petrifaction was meant to preserve things. It would be a poor choice if the stone was brittle. She wove in and out of the frozen melee, approaching the dais. Studying it closely, she noticed that the throne was indeed split into several pieces, although it looked reparable. It was beautifully designed, but sadly devoid of any carvings depicting the beginning of the world. Twilight studied the dais. It was in perfect condition, High Equestrian curling around it. Twilight peered closer. She could almost understand it...

A door slammed behind her. Startled, she turned around, horn flaring with light. It was Morning Star, covered in bruises and cuts, panting heavily. His mane was singed, and he smelled strongly of smoke. Twilight noticed that he was listing drunkenly to one side, limping heavily. She rushed over to him, taking his weight and helping him to the dais, where he collapsed.

"What happened?" Twilight asked, unpacking the medical kit from her bag.

"The way I chose was full of these statues. I think the Lunar forces were coming in from that side, though I didn't see how. Either way, somepony had laid traps the entire way down the hall. Most were fairly easy to avoid, but a few almost got me. One almost roasted me, a big old fire hex set on a ceiling. There was magical interference everywhere, I couldn't activate the beacon." he replied as Twilight tended to his injuries and dumped some water on his still gently-smoldering tail.

"Glad I chose Celestia, then." Twilight teased, tying off a few bandages and applying disinfectant to several cuts.

"Hardy har har." Morning Star grumbled, wincing as the iodine hit his skin. "Ouch, that stings!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby. In case you haven't noticed, you are lying on top of your prize." Twilight said, kissing him on top of the head.

Morning Star gave a charming smile. "Nonsense, my prize is right next to me. What?" he asked, as Twilight flashed him a look. "From my point of view, I fought off monsters, braved the Everfree, spoke to the witch, and stormed the castle, risking my neck the whole way through. You think I don't get the mare at the end?"

Twilight packed up the medical equipment. "Keep in mind I did most of those things as well. You don't get to pretend you did all the work." She looked at him, a small smile on her face. She kissed him again, on the cheek. "But yes, you will definitely be getting the mare."

"I'd say the quest is a success, then." he replied, as they lay there, in their own private castle. And they rested, for they had finally found their prize.


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After they had rested, Morning Star pulled out his equipment. A stick of graphite, special paper, and adhesive to fasten the paper to the dais with. Twilight helped him by clearing off the grit and dust from the script beforehand, using a special brush to slowly remove all of the smallest debris. The letters themselves were so small and intricate as to be almost illegible already, so even the tiniest bit of sand could be enough to throw off the structure of a rune. The going was slow. Twilight would use her brush, and with incredible attention to detail, gently removed the dirt from the edge and top of the dais. Once a section was clear, Morning Star would carefully levitate a strip of paper on top of the newly cleaned area and affix it perfectly to the side. With the utmost care and patience, he gently rubbed his stick of graphite along the side of the dais, blackening the paper and leaving the exact impressions of the runes in white on the sheet. Once finished, the strip was then marked along the back, treated to make sure that the graphite did not smudge, and filed in a wooden scroll case that Morning Star had packed for the occasion. Twilight had thought that the process would take maybe an hour, but the sun had already crossed the hall, and the room was darkening by the time they had reached the point where they had begun.

It was clear that the throne was a loss. There were no carvings anywhere on it, save for grooves along the bottom to make it more comfortable for the Sisters to sit upon. The stone was of good quality, and it was clear that at one point it would have been an example of beautiful craftsmanship. The artisan who had made it had somehow managed to fuse onyx and marble together in the middle, causing the stone to swirl and spiral where the two Sisters had met. A crack ran through the middle of the throne, and the backs of the seats themselves had been blown off entirely, lying in pieces along the back of the throne room. It was oddly symbolic, that crack, representative of the struggle the Sisters had gone through, almost destroying them both. After poking around in the throne room for a while longer, they retired to the ballroom to sleep for the night, neither of them wanting to sleep among the statues.

A lack of wood meant there would be no fire tonight. Morning Star took out the magelight, creating a circle of warm golden light that drove the darkness of the room back quite effectively. The two unicorns talked over some cheese and bread, comparing the parts of the castle they had seen, laughing at some of the more humorous events of the day, and discussing what this castle must have been like when it was in use. Both were in agreement that the next priority was to find a bridge to cross and get home. The castle's drawbridge would have to do, seeing as they had no flying boat and the rope bridge Twilight had crossed was most likely at the bottom of the chasm. After dinner, Twilight brought out the pieces of armor she had found, showing them to Morning Star.

He picked up the bracer, holding it up to the light. "Well, I'm not completely sure, but I think that this might be adamantium." he said, twisting it around to get a look at it. "It's a fairly light and strong piece of armor, made for use against magic users. Depending on how it's treated, it can do a few things. This looks like it was made to repel magic entirely, sort of like a built-in shield spell, latent in the metal. It can turn a crossbow bolt at ten paces, and you could hit it with a hammer all day and hardly even dent it. Every piece of literature I've read mentions how horrendously difficult and expensive it was to make, though."

Twilight held up the dagger. "And what about this?" she asked, demonstrating its ability to soak up magic.

"Also adamantium." he replied, being careful with it. "Another treatment of the metal gives it the ability to actively drain magic, making it useful for weapons and the like. If you hit a unicorn with an adamantium arrowhead, they'll find themselves unable to use magic. This stuff is grade-A weaponry, repels rust, hardly ever needs sharpened, won't ever bend or break...it's kind of scary. You said there's an armory full of it?"

"Yes, right over there." Twilight said, pointing with one hoof in the direction of the first door. "That's fascinating. Why haven't I heard about this before?"

Morning Star grimaced. "The making of it was a very closely guarded secret among the old smithies. After the war, any House that could create good quality adamantium usually made a fortune. But it's a metal for war, and we haven't had one in hundreds of years. There's no demand for it anymore, so the secret has been lost. It was passed down orally through generations to protect the secret, and now it's lost to us. It's amazing that you found some, if anypony could replicate it, you could, Twilight."

Twilight blushed a bit, embarrassed by the compliment. "Guess what else I found?" she asked, levitating the small box out and releasing the shrinkage spell on it. Morning Star's eyes widened when he saw the haul. He knew exactly what he was looking at when he looked at the script. 

"Well, forget finding treasure, we got these." he said, gently picking one up. "I take it you found the library?"

Twilight nodded. "I'm going to get to work on transcribing these when we get back to Ponyville. Who knows what I could find out? The spells in here are powerful, and I'm sure there are bound to be new ideas inside."

Morning Star's voice was excited. "This is big. Promise me that you'll make me a copy too, the Archives could really use something like this. I mean, the Ancient Library was one of the biggest repositories of knowledge in history! Who knows what we could find in there?" he flipped through the pages of the book, and gently set it back inside the box. "I've got my treasure, this is yours. Keep it safe."

"I intend to." Twilight said, leaning in and nuzzling him. 

"Now who's being ridiculous?" Morning Star asked. "You get some sleep, I'm going to take another look at that throne." he said, heading for the throne room and lighting up his horn. Twilight settled herself by the magelight, curling up and closing her eyes. This was an excellent ending to the day, and tomorrow they would be heading home. Morning Star smiled at her fondly before gently closing the door behind him.


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As the door closed, the smile faded from the Candidate's face. All business, he walked behind the throne to the wall, levitating a large piece of stone out of the way. It was almost the appointed time, and his mistress did not appreciate lateness. Pressing one of the stones, marked with a small carving of outstretched wings, he stepped back smartly. The wall swung open silently, hinges greased by magic. Walking inside, he closed it behind him, leaving no indication that he had ever been there. A private room stood before him, with little to its name but a desk, some few books, and a scrying glass. It was before this last that he paused, before flaring his horn. Reaching into the glass, he found its twin in Canterlot. His mistress was there.

You are one day late. Explain yourself.

"My apologies, mistress. We ran into a unicorn mare who offered us shelter for the night, an offer we accepted. We reached the castle early this morning."

I see. This mare, was her name Radiant, perhaps?

"Yes, mistress. You know of her? Who is she?"

There was a silence from the mirror, and the Candidate suddenly remembered who he was talking to.

"Apologies, mistress. It is not my place to question. What are your orders?"

We must tread with caution. Follow the river tomorrow, it is both deep and wide. You should arrive at the swamps tomorrow morning. Events have been delayed for you, but I cannot hold things I place much longer. Travel with haste. Cite a desire to return to Ponyville as soon as possible if you must. How is she?

The Candidate smiled, a cold thing devoid of compassion or mirth. "Everything has gone exactly as planned, mistress."

Good. See to it that it stays that way. You are dismissed.

Bowing slightly, the Candidate returned to the throne room. Morning Star shut the door behind him, trotting back to the mare asleep in the antechamber, dreaming dreams of her love.