//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Awake // Story: Chimes In the Dark // by Faindragon //------------------------------// Chimes In the Dark - Chapter 1: Awake Notharam’s nightmare came to an abrupt end. A pair of hooves gently shook him, shattering the dream that had held him in its grasp, made it vanish back into the darkest part of night. The embrace of sleep slowly let go of him. The memory of the nightmare was still fresh in his sleepy mind, although he could only remember one thing from the dream that had haunted him during the night. A pair of deep blue eyes which he had been fleeing from the entire night. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring into the eyes from his nightmare once again. The eyes shone with amusement, but a single tear had formed in the corner of one of them. He flinched in shock at the sight of those eyes. The deep blue eyes slowly faded away; fading and leaving behind nothing but a feeling of loss inside Notharam. It wasn’t until then that he realized that he wasn’t in his own bedroom. ‘Where am I?’ He thought as he tried to stand up. His leg wouldn’t respond so he did not have any choice but to stay on the cold, dusty stone floor. “I would not try to stand for a few minutes if I were you.” A green coloured unicorn walked into Notharam’s vision. “You have been drugged with a strong tranquilizing venom which knocked out your ability to control your body. But do not worry, its effects will end soon.” the unicorn continued. As the unicorn had said, the venom began to release its hold over his body only seconds later; Notharam could feel how his body slowly started listening to him again. He tilted his head from side to side, and saw a gray mare who he guessed had woken him up standing over a pale yellow filly that was lying on the ground. The small filly’s sides moved in the slow, regular breath of sleep. The gray mare had a scarf around her neck and her cutie mark was nothing more than a few white lines on her gray flank. He looked back at the green unicorn. “Who are you and what is this place? Why am I here?” Notharam asked. The green unicorn looked down at him, meeting Notharam’s eyes with his own chestnut-brown ones. Notharam found calmness in those eyes, eyes that hide a sadness that he could not place. “I am Emerald Scroll, scrollkeeper at the royal library of Canterlot. What this place is, I do not know, nor do I know what you are doing here. I can try guessing though; I will bet my hoof that this place once was a church. But that does not answer why you, or we for that matter, is here. I have given your my name, but I still have to get yours.” “I’m Notharam, pegasus guard of Cloudsdale. Who are those two ponies? And how do I know that I can trust you?” “The grey earth pony is named Mistrunner,” Emerald said as he raised his hoof and pointed at the grey mare who was trying to awaken the small filly lying on the ground. ”The name of the little filly is as unknown for me as it is for you. We will have to wait until she is awake before we will get that name, Mistrunner do not know either. As to why you would trust me... That’s up to you. If I had wanted you any harm, would I wait until you woke up and until the venom started to lose its hold of your body?” Emerald said. “No, if I wanted you any harm then I would have made that reality before Mistrunner awoke you.” “When you put it that way...” Notharam said, still not sure if he could trust the green unicorn. He could feel how the last trace of the venom vanished from his veins. As he tried to get up did he feel that the venom had left him too weak to do so alone. Unsteadily, with help from Emerald, did he get up on his legs. The strength of his body slowly returned. Carefuly did he try to flap his wings a few times, but was rewarded with nothing but a sudden pain from his right wing. The sudden pain that shoot through his body made him draw a breath in surprise. Only seconds later was the pain gone, the only remains of it a fading memory in Notharam’s mind. The wing had been damaged somehow; he couldn’t use it; it only hung useless from his side. No sooner than Notharam was standing steadily on his own legs again did he take a closer look at Emerald. The unicorns coat had the same green color as the gem he was named after, his mane a faint yellow color. He carried two small saddlebags on his back; one of them filled to the brim while the other seemed nearly empty. He also noticed the cutie mark on Emerald’s flank; he wasn’t surprised to see a scroll. Emerald had tilted his head and looked into the distance; Notharam guessed that the unicorn had not even noticed that he had looked at him. Then Emerald shook his head, seemingly trying to shake something of him, before he slowly started to move towards the other ponies. Notharam followed and together did the two ponies make their way towards Mistrunner, their hoofsteps swirling up dust from the stone floor. Notharam’s right-wing hung down unusably; dragging after him through the dust. Withstanding the small pain emerging from the wing, did Notharam look around the place he had woken up at. The room was circular. Large pillars had once supported the ceiling, but some of them had long since been eroded by the hooves of time and collapsed. The pillars still standing, as well as the base of those who weren’t, were placed in four circles around the middle of the room; rippling outwards from its center. The first and third circles were of white stone, the second and forth made of a dark stone. The ceiling had crashed down at some places, and was scattered around the pillars that had once supported it. And in the middle of the room stood two statues, representing two ponies; one white and the other black. Both had the horn of a unicorn and wings of a pegasi, evidence that the statues was that of alicorns. The white alicorn had the sun in a necklace around its neck, the black one had the crescent moon. Two braziers stood beneath the two strange sculptures, illuminating them with a pale light from the fires within. This was also the only light source in the room, casting shadows around Notharam and the other ponies. Dust covered everything but the statues, as if somepony had kept the statues clean. They both gleamed in the light from the fires, the black statue nearly gleaming as much as the white. It was not hard for Notharam to recognize the pony that one of the statues was made to represent. “Celestia? Who would make a statue of her? And who is the other? What is the statue of not only one, but two alicorns, doing down here?” he asked as he eyed the masterly made sculptures in front of him. “You ask a lot of questions, Notharam, and I will answer those I can. The white statue is indeed of princess Celestia, riser of sun and moon, ruler of Equestria. As of who made it, can I say nothing more than whoever it was were skilled in the art of sculpturing; that or that they are made of magic. I have a faint idea of what a statue of the princess is doing here. To answer why they’re here, however, I would have to recite something I read in a scroll a long time ago.” Emerald cleared his throat. “And she ruled the sky and the earth, raised the sun and the moon, took care of the living and the dead. She was the goddess over all, and the ponies of Equestria lived in harmony with each other and with the nature. The unicorns used their magic to build Canterlot, the royal city, to show Celestia their affection towards her. The pegasi makes sure that the sky over the royal city is clear every day and every night, while the earth ponies make sure that it gardens are in perfect condition every day of the year. And Celestia blessed the ponies with her presence, and she has since that day lived in the royal palace of Canterlot.” “So what you are saying is that Celestia is not only our princess but also our goddess?” Notharam asked with a frown. He didn’t believe what he had heard. “Exactly. That makes me believe that this is a church, once used to praise her. It still doesn’t answer who the other alicorn is; I cannot recall reading about another alicorn in those scrolls.” Emerald said with a puzzled frown against the darker statue. “But I assure you that I have never laid my eyes on a puzzle I cannot solve, and this one will not be the first.” “But how come that I, who served in her army, or anyone else I know doesn’t know about that? The fact that she is our goddess, I mean.” Notharam asked, still not believing. Emerald looked away from the statues and looked directly at Notharam. “That, my friend, is a question I cannot answer. Very few know it, even fewer believe it. I can give you my theory on the subject, and that theory is a pretty basic one. She does not want to be worshipped. Perhaps she doesn’t even want to rule, but, being the kind soul that she is, doesn't want to lay the pressure of celestial control on somepony else." The walk wasn’t long and they found themselves at the place where Mistrunner stood over the other earth pony, the small filly, still trying to wake her up. Mistrunner turned around and looked at Notharam, her pale amber eyes meeting his. “Ah, you are awake. Good.” Mistrunner smiled at him, a warm smile that made his mind dull. “I will check on your wings just as soon as this sleepyhead here wakes up”. Emerald laughed softly behind him. “Don’t let her melt your heart my young friend. I tell you, she is as hard to catch as the mist that lent her its name.” “You know her?” Notharam asked in surprise, eyes still on Mistrunner. “She was... well, if we get out, is my assistant at the library. She did brighten my days there, always there to help me when I needed.” Mistrunner smiled as she turned around, giving the pony on the dusty ground her full attention. The earth pony had started to move. “Ah, it seems as if you are awake. Now, now, take it easy my little friend.” The earth pony filly slowly opened her eyelids, revealing the jade green color of the eyes that had been hiding underneath. There was something about this small filly that triggered a memory in Notharam’s mind, but it disappeared as fast as it had appeared. “Where am I? Who are you?” the small filly started to cry. “I want to go home.” Mistrunner gently patted the small filly on her head, and tried to soothe her. “There, there. You are safe. I’m Mistrunner, and the old dusty unicorn over there is Emerald Scroll. I have yet to catch the name of that pegasus, but I’m sure he will say it if we ask him nicely, don’t you think?” Mistrunner smiled at the little filly, who turned her tear-filled eyes towards Notharam. “What’s your name, mister?” she asked; her tear-filled eyes on the brink of flooding once more. “I’m Notharam from Cloudsdale. And who are you, if you don’t mind me asking?” “I’m Zinky from Ponyville.” The little filly started to cry again. “I want to go home; I don’t want to be here anymore!” Emerald slowly trotted towards Zinky, descended himself to her level, and looked into her eyes. “You know what, my little filly from Ponyville? I might have a treat for you if you stop crying.” Zinky immediately stopped crying, and looked in awe as Emerald rose from his knees and picked out a lollipop from the saddlebag that seemed nearly empty. “Here you go Zinky. Its raspberry flavor; I think you might like it.” Zinky took the lollipop from Emerald and swiftly put it in her mouth. Notharam must have given the scrollkeeper a questioning look, the unicorn looked at him and said: “It’s always good to have a lollipop around the foals in the library.” he said, smiling warmly at Zinky. “A library is supposed to be quiet, and some of the more... ordinary visitors does not like a crying foal. A lollipop usually stops that crying and everypony is happy.” Notharam nodded. “Ah, she reminds me of the small fillies and colts at Cloudsdale. I can’t wait to get home and watch them pla…. Wait, correct me if I’m wrong; but the colors of our eyes are brown, amber, green and my orange ones, right?” Emerald chuckled. “More questions, but at least I can give you an answer to the one you gave me this time. You are completely correct; we do indeed have those colors on our eyes. My chestnut-brown ones, Mistrunner’s pale amber ones, Zinky’s jade green ones, and your own dark orange ones. Now that I have answered your trivial question, let me ask one in return. Why do you ask?” Emerald chuckled again. “I must sound crazy, but when I woke up I looked straight into a pair of deep blue eyes. It felt like those eyes gazed into my very soul. But there are only the four of us in this room, and none of us have deep blue eyes.” Emerald shook his head, his mane whirling around him. “Those words does indeed sound as if they came from a broken mind, the mind of a crazy pony. I however, do not think of you as such a pony. I noticed that you flinched only moments after Mistrunner said that you were awake, but I thought it was as an effect from your body fighting of the venom. But now I guess that you were flinching from those eyes, were you not? “He gave Notharam a questioning look. “Those eyes did not belong to any one of us at least, but I still have the feeling of being observed, and I can’t shake that feeling away.” he added. A voice filled the room, a voice cold as ice. A chill ran down Notharam’s spine, his eyes widened in shock. He knew this voice, although he could not remember from where. “Ah, our guests have arrived, how cute. Our last… guests are being taken care of as we speak. What my name is, you need not know. Oh, don’t look so surprised, I can see everything that happens in here, and your cute little faces are so easy to read. Surprise being the easiest feelings to read.” A scream of terror was heard, and three faces turned towards the sound. The scream got higher and higher, until it suddenly stopped. The only sound that could be heard when the scream disappeared was that of Zinky sobbing. The little filly pressed herself against one of Mistrunner’s legs, eyes shut and her small body trembling in fear. The ice-cold voice laughed softly. “As I said, that was the last guest to be taken care of. Let us see if you stand a better chance against us, shall we? Now listen carefully…” “What did you do to them? What is this place, why are we here?” Mistrunner shouted out, her voice heated with rage and anger. “Well, we killed them of course. Don’t look so shocked, you asked what we did with them. This place is a holy place, built to honor the goddesses. You are here to be sacrificed to them, a sacrifice for the harmony of Equestria. And you are not the first who have come to this place to be sacrificed. In fact, you are the last to be.” Notharam realized where the sound of that ice-cold voice came from. Above. He flapped his wings, and the sheer force of a single flap took him into the air. He didn’t get any further than that; the agony he had forgotten about came rushing back from his right wing. He let out a scream of pain as he fell to the ground again, the impact of his body causing the dust that covered the ground to whirl upwards The ice-cold voice took up again. “So easy to read, my dear Notharam, but your wings are useless for you now.” The voice laughed, and Notharam once again felt his spine chill as he recognized the laugh. “I will give you one more chance to listen to what I have to say.” The silence was once again interrupted by the sobs of the little filly. Notharam could hear another sound in the distance, a sound of something dripping onto stone. He didn’t want to know what was causing the sounds. The silence stretched out for a minute, before the laugh of the cold voice was heard once again. “You amuse me, small ones. But, I’m a mare of my word; you will be given your chance. This is your only chance to survive this room, so listen closely; I will only say this once. This game is a game of life and death; if you lose you lose your life to me, if you win then you are free. This game is played in the rooms of this holy building and your mission is to survive. Celestia has raised the moon, the clock starts now. Survive until the next rise of the sun, and then you are free to leave.” “I can’t help but notice the flaws in that. If, as you say, the moon has been raised, would it not be lighter in here? Wouldn’t the moonshine beam through some windows and give us its light, if not from this room so from the hallways that leads from here? Who has ever heard of a church without windows?” Emerald asked. The cold voice chuckled. “You also ask a lot questions, scrollkeeper Emerald, and you will get your answers. It would indeed have been lighter in here; if there actually were any windows in these halls. You see, this isn’t an ordinary holy building. This is a building of a long-lost time; a time when the ponies of Equestria lived differently. It was made without windows; the only windows in here are the windows of the throne room. The inside was lit up with the magic from the unicorns that worked here. And then Celestia took over as superior ruler after many years of harmony. If that wasn’t enough did she also close this place, destroyed it purpose. But the goddesses demand sacrifices; the harmony must not be contested!” Notharam couldn’t take it anymore; he recognized this voice more and more with every passing moment. But he couldn’t place his hoof on where he knew if from, nor who it might be. “I... I know you, I know you! Show yourself!” he yelled at the ceiling. The cold voice laughed, a hard and lifeless laugh. “Of course you know me, Notharam. You were the one who abandoned me. You abandoned me; you were the one to betray me! You betrayed me, Notharam; and now, I will be the one that destroys you.” The voice disappeared, leaving behind only the sound of the crying Zinky and the sound of something dripping on the stone floor not far away.