Chapter 4
“A library?”
Celestia checked behind her, but was pleased to see that the pony from before had left. She was an obsessive type, one that couldn’t stop asking questions, probed every aspect of Luna’s life, and got every bit of trivia down to a creepy T. It was only when the princess of the night bluntly requested her to stop unless she wanted a lifetime on the moon that her lip was zipped. But undoubtedly, being seemingly ungrateful for her efforts would’ve opened another can of worms for her seemingly endless supply of controversy.
Luna nodded. “Yes. A library.” She stepped into a hallway of books, scanning the spines for anything that yelled ‘ancient monsters’. She plucked one off the shelf, fanning the book open at near Twilight-speeds, grunting, and putting it back. “We—I figured that since the monsters were sealed near here, there would be a record about it somewhere.” She opened another book, and not even two seconds after she reshelved it and sighed. “Just not this one.”
Celestia smiled sheepishly, blocking the shelf before her increasingly irritated sister could unshelve another. “Why don’t we find a librarian?” she suggested as Luna turned and unshelved three other books from the other side of the aisle.
“I do not need a librarian,” the princess of the night grunted. She fanned through the books in quick succession, but to no avail; each one went neatly back on the shelf. Her horn grew a little brighter. “I need a little bit of time.”
Celestia bit her lip. She didn’t need too much of an imagination to picture her sorting through the books for hours on end. But instead of arguing with her, which would be more futile than the search itself, she sighed and turned from the hallway of bookshelves, scanning the room for any type of help she could get.
While she was doing this, she couldn’t help but stand in wonder at how big the library looked from the inside as compared to the outside. It was a humble abode, nothing too fancy or disruptive. But there were two floors to the building, two flights of stairs converging to the entrance. The colors of the walls and the carpet were warm and pleasant, driving her energy much higher than the pure white of most other establishments.
It was honestly relaxing to be in such a place, Celestia noticed. Everything in Canterlot was larger than life, grand, shiny to the point of being dull. But the subtle hues on the walls and the scent of spring-flavored candles gave the library a homely feeling, a feeling that she only felt when she was in her own bedchambers. But even here, the feeling was amplified to a degree that the thought of leaving tugged at her heart.
“Haven’t been here much I see?” a voice said rhythmically behind her. She turned to see a zebra, dark stripes racing around her silvery coat. Spindly glasses rested on her muzzle, half-moon lenses catching the flicker of a nearby candle. “Although I trust a princess’ taste, I must wonder what brought you to this place?”
Celestia sucked her lips in. If the zebra’s voice were a tad lower in pitch and less wavy with age, then she’d be an older version of Ponyville’s Zecora. Except this zebra was noticeably more plain; there were no bracelets or earrings in sight, her glasses being the only thing that adorned her body. “I-I was looking for a book on ancient creatures,” she answered finally, her voice cracking into existence.
The zebra cocked her head to the side, her erect ears flopping to the side. “Interesting. You have the royal library in Canterlot, but is there knowledge that you have not?”
“We were just in the neighborhood,” Celestia said, shifting her weight to her right side. “But it seems we’ve come upon a threat… indigeonous to this area. Do you have a record of any snake-like creatures with venomous blood?”
The zebra paused, pouting as she brought a hoof up to lips in thought. “I’ve got to admit, it does ring a bell…” She hummed to herself, knitting her eyebrows. She put her hoof down, gesturing to her right with her head. “Then, you must come with me for a spell.”
Celestia nodded as the zebra stepped ahead of her, making a beeline for the staircase to the second floor. She followed close behind, climbing the stairs after her. “I don’t think I’ve heard your name,” she said.
The zebra came to a sudden stop, and Celestia nearly tripped over the stairs to avoid an embarrassing accident. But the zebra chortled, lifting a hoof affably as she looked back over her shoulder. “My my, that was silly of me. My name is Chipo. Welcome to my humble library.”
As Chipo began to lead the way once again, Celestia checked back over the balcony. Three windows were level to her at the top landing, the golden sunset now turning a bright pink. Night faded in on the eastern horizon as a faint aural glow lit below her. She smiled, admiring Luna’s commitment to raise the moon even when searching frantically for a book that may not even be on the bottom floor.
Chipo led her then to a hallway of bookshelves near the eastern wall. An old, musty smell filled the halls. While it may have been a deterrent to other ponies, Celestia fell in love with the smell. Nothing could top the ancient smell of old books. The shelves were lined with them, faded spines blending into one another as the books dated even further back in time.
Books turned into scrolls further down, but at the line between them, Chipo stood on her hind legs, plucking a book from the shelf in a smoothe yet careful motion. She eyed the cover closely before offering it to the princess. “This record dates to twelve-hundred years old. It has been decayed to the cord. Please be as careful as your magic can afford.”
“Thank you,” Celestia uttered, lighting her horn dimly and levitating the book towards her chest. The cover didn’t have a name, unsurprisingly. Yet the forlorn look that Chipo gave it made her wonder what the book held.
“Sister!” Luna’s voice sounded from around the corner. Celestia turned only to find her sister sprinting toward her, coming to a skidding halt as she held a book in front of her. “I found an answer to our question and…”
That’s when Chipo and Luna held each other’s surprised gaze for what felt like an eternity. Luna pouted at her sister. “Do you not have faith in us?” she grunted.
“Not really, no,” Celestia deadpanned. “How many books did you have to skim before you got to that one?”
“Eighty-seven,” her sister chimed triumphantly, and Celestia clopped her hoof against her face. “But I bet you don’t know the mating habits of a Manticore!”
“No, and I don’t really want to know,” Celestia said, waving her hoof dismissively. “But do tell me what you’ve found concerning our immediate situation.”
Luna smirked, her horn lighting a bit more as the book flipped to a page toward the back of it. She scanned over the pages, then she pushed the book in front of her sister’s face. “Bottom of the right page,” she directed, and Celestia’s eyes fell on a paragraph-long passage titled ‘Gorgons/The Gorgon Sisters’. Unlike other entries next to it, the passage had no illustrations. It read:
Gorgons are often described as snake-like creatures, with an upper body similar to a primate. Scales cover their bodies from head to tail, and hair atop their heads are braided in such a way that it looks like a bundle of snakes. These attributes are supposed to have frozen their prey in fear, petrifying them as if they were stone.
“Gorgons,” Celestia repeated, committing the passage to memory. But a few unsteady clops sounded behind her, breaking her concentration. She flipped around, setting the ancient book she held down with a careful thud as the librarian backed against a bookshelf, her eyes wide. “Chipo?”
“I-it was as I expected, nothing less,” Chipo’s voice quivered. “The legend has been passed mouth to ear, bearing nothing but tidings of fear.”
“You know of them?” Luna asked, stepping to Celestia’s side.
The librarian nodded swiftly. Her adam’s apple bobbed up and down, as if her next sentence was caught in her throat. “The Gorgon Sisters’ name could not be mistook…” She nodded towards Celestia’s levitating aura. “But the rest of your answers are contained in that book.”
Celestia’s eyes flicked to the decaying record, the outer layer of the cover peeling off. A new sense of foreboding sank a cold feeling into her gut. She opened it slowly, the outsides of the musky pages chipped and torn from age. The contents of each one were neatly organized into rows, marking the date and time, names, and descriptions of sentences.
“A legal record?” she guessed aloud.
The librarian nodded. “To aid your discretion, the date of February sixteenth will give you direction.”
Celestia kept her eyes on the book, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she skimmed page by page, swiftly but carefully. The dates contained were all tens and hundreds of years before her rule, all localized to this small village. Her anticipation increased with each turn of the page when she finally found it: February sixteenth. Her heart hammered as she read three names: Euryale, Stheno, and finally, Medusa.
“Luna,” she called, waving her sister closer. When their bodies were nearly pressed together, Celestia began to read aloud, “Three Gorgon Sisters. Eldest, Medusa. Euryale and Stheno appear to be the same age.
“‘Eldest, Medusa, was arrested for treason. Exchanged Saddle Arabian information with Abyssinia. Put to death by beheading at 6:14 AM. Younger sisters Euryale and Stheno were sealed in the desert by... Somnobula and Starswirl The Bearded.’”
“That confirms it,” Luna mumbled.
“There’s more,” Celestia blurted, flipping the page. “‘Due to the questionable legal nature of their arrest, they could not be executed, but the seal will keep the sisters from recovering Medusa’s body…?” She creased an eyebrow. “Why would they want to recover her body?”
Luna shrugged, and Celestia scanned the page for more information. “Medusa’s body is buried on Olde Towne Manehattan,” she concluded, shutting the book slowly, “under the city hall.” She gently levitated it over to Chipo, who accepted it in a hoof. The zebra gingerly slid it back into place.
“Our next stop is Manehattan, then?” Luna grunted, stepping back and stretching downward-dog.
The princess of the sun nodded. “It would appear so.” She frowned. “Since there’s been no sign of incident since the attack out in the desert, I think we’re clear. I’ll send a letter back up to Canterlot and have them taxi over the Prince. We’ll go to Manehattan once he’s here.”
Just as she said that, she turned around and noticed that the sky was now pitch dark. The only light in the library was the yellow flicker of nearby candles. She hummed to herself as she began to feel exhaustion flood her body. Even if the chariot brought the Prince over tonight, the pegasi pulling it would have to rest too… not to mention the dangers of flying exposed like that at night.
“They can’t have slithered too far off, though,” Celestia started with a yawn.
Luna raised an eyebrow at her sister. “Are you suggesting that we make a pit stop for the night?”
“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”
The princess of the night chuckled. “You say this although you napped the day away at the infirmary.” She rolled her eyes. “All right, sleepyhead, you win. But where can we find an inn?”
“To the north of us, you may find an inn,” Chipo pitched in, pointing a hoof to her right. “There, you will find rest within.”
“That’s a cheat rhyme,” Celestia said bluntly.
“Do not try me,” the librarian deadpanned.
“Duly noted.” The princess bowed her head. “But you have our thanks.”
Chipo returned the gesture. “And my thanks to you, for visiting my abode. For the night, I bid you rest from your load.”
“Good night,” the sisters replied simultaneously, climbing down the stairs. But Celestia couldn’t help but feel that her ‘load’ was strapped to her with chains, lock and key. There was no rest from it, and anxiety hammered into her heart when she thought of what might happen if she shirked it.