I woke up from my nap to the sound of books slamming on the ground. I didn’t have to look to guess who was doing that. After doing a couple of stretches, I entered the main room to see Twilight reading intensely. I had a feeling this was when Castle Mane-ia took place. I didn’t know what I could’ve changed though.
“Still trying to find out how that chest works?” I asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?!” Twilight asked panically. “I've gone through every book in Ponyville, Spike, and there isn't a single mention of the mysterious chest that came from the Tree of Harmony, nor anything about keys to unlock it!”
“Well, you gotta remember that not even Celestia knew about the chest, Twilight. I doubt Ponyville would either given it was built later around Granny Smith’s time as a filly.”
“Still, there has to be something written about the chest. I hope Princess Celestia has some ideas. If the library in Canterlot doesn't have anything, I don't know where else to look!”
That’s when my stomach squeezed. I quickly belched out a scroll. Twilight grabbed and read it.
“My dearest Twilight,
While it would be perfectly lovely to have you in Canterlot once more, I have another option in mind much closer to Ponyville. As you know, the ancient castle that I once shared with Princess Luna lies mostly in ruins, deep in the Everfree Forest. But if you look carefully, you may find a book that could prove helpful to your research, hidden somewhere in what's left of the castle library.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia.
P.S., I’ve included some directions on the back of this letter.”
Twilight clapped her hooves in excitement. “Finally! We’re getting somewhere! Come on, Spike! We’re going to the Castle of the Two Sisters!”
After Twilight and I packed our bags, we made our way to the Everfree Forest. The path was rather spacious compared to the last time we entered.
“Hey, Twilight,” I said. “I’ve also been thinking about the chest, and I think I have a theory.”
“What theory is that?” asked Twilight.
“Well, given how there are six locks, and that Celestia mentioned you wouldn’t open it alone, I’m guessing that sometime in the future, you and the girls will earn those keys.”
“How would we earn them?”
“In order to open the chest, the tree needs to know that you girls are worthy of being an official Element of Harmony. Thus, it’ll give each of you a test in order to prove that you can represent your respective element. These tests might happen at random, and once you pass them, you might earn your key.”
“That does sound like an interesting theory, but how would we know if we’re taking the test? I’ll need to study nonstop until mine comes up!”
“Twilight…” I put my hand on her back. “This won’t be a test you have to study for. You just need to use what your element was, and you’ll be fine.”
Once we arrived at the castle, Twilight took out the letter that we got from Celestia.
“Okay, so all we have to do is go down this hall, up the stairs, and to the right,” Twilight said. “Wow, this castle’s seen better days now that we’re seeing it up close. Maybe we should clean it sometime...with Princess Celestia’s permission, of course.”
We followed Celestia’s directions until we reached the library. Once we got there, Twilight’s face lit up faster than a Christmas tree.
“Wow! Look at all these ancient books!” Twilight exclaimed as she flew around the place. “It's a veritable goldmine of information! I can't believe it!”
“More like a goldmine of star-spiderwebs,” I said to myself. “Strange how all these books were exposed to the elements all these years and aren’t ruined enough to be illegible.”
“This place is perfect!” Twilight squealed. “Now, to find that book Celestia mentioned.”
Twilight and I spent the next few hours looking at some of the books. Most of them were written in Old Ponish, but Twilight conveniently brought a Ponish to Old Ponish dictionary with her. I then remembered a specific book that Spike took from this library. It was what turned the Ponyville streets into gold and everything else into a stylish dystopia. I knew I had to avoid using it, which was going to be surprisingly easy.
I just have to give Rarity a few pointers to improve the puppet theater when she starts crafting it.
“Spike, could you turn on the lights?” Twilight asked. “It’s getting dark in here.”
“Sure thing,” I replied as I went to find the light switch. “Wait, Twilight, this is a millennium-old castle! There’s no modern light system here!”
Twilight looked up. “Oh, right. Then I guess we’ll have to find some candles. I remember seeing a candelabra back there. Come on.”
Twilight and I went out of the library and to the other side of the staircase.
“Look, there’s one,” Twilight said as she pointed to a candelabra on an old side table.
“Careful, Twilight,” I said. “It could be a trap.”
“Don’t be so paranoid, Spike.” Twilight lifted the candlestick from the table. “See? Nothing happened. Now, to light this...”
“I got ya!” I blew my green flames on the half-melted candles.
“HEY!!”
Twilight nearly dropped the candelabra in fright. After a few seconds of smoldering, the wicks started burning.
“Thanks, Spike, but warn me next time,” Twilight said. “You almost singed my mane.”
“Sorry. But what did you expect? I’m a dragon who breathes fire, and you needed fire.”
“Anyway, let’s get back to the library before these burn out.”
I followed Twilight as we returned to the old library.
“I wonder what the girls are up to?” I asked. “What if they came to the castle just like we did?”
“Well, then it would have to be one big coincidence,” Twilight replied. “Don’t know why some of them would.”
“Maybe Rarity wanted to see the castle’s design, or maybe Angel Bunny wandered here and Fluttershy had to go look for him, or maybe AJ and Dashie were trying to settle a bet.”
Twilight and I passed the staircase. I looked out one of the cracked windows to see the sun setting.
“Uh, how long are we gonna be here?” I asked.
“We're gonna be studying late into the night,” Twilight replied. “We have to in order to find that book Celestia talked about.”
“In that case, maybe we should use only one candle at a time?”
Just as we left the staircase, I heard voices.
“This is where we got the Elements of Harmony,” One voice said.
“When I was just a filly, Granny Smith told me of an ancient legend,” said another.
It’s Rainbow Dash and Applejack. I knew they would be here.
I looked at Twilight and had an idea.
“I’ll be right back, Twilight,” I said.
“Uh, okay. Just don’t get lost in this castle,” Twilight said.
I nodded. I quickly shimmied against the wall until I was at the corner where the staircase was.
“You mean, like a ghost?” I heard Rainbow asked.
“Nopony knows!” Applejack replied spookily.
This is where I have some fun.
I cleared my throat and began speaking in a very deep tone of voice.
“Who dares intrude the Castle of the Two Sisters?!”
“Yah!” Applejack shouted. “What was that?!”
“P-P-Probably just some old recording spell Princess Celestia made,” Dashie denied. “You know...like a, uh, magic security system?”
“Who are you calling a security system?!” I bellowed.
“Eep!” squeaked Rainbow Dash. “We’re doomed.”
“Please don’t harm us!” Applejack cried.
“If you do not wish to be tortured by the many ghosts that haunt this castle, you will kiss each other on the lips!” I tried so hard not to make my snickering sound obvious.
“Wha?! Kiss?!” Applejack snapped.
“Woah! Woah! Woah! Why do we have to kiss?!” Rainbow shouted.
“The paranormal beings of this place are strong homophobes! They find same-gender relationships distasteful! You two must kiss in order to scare them all away!”
There was a long bit of silence. Then I heard a sharp sigh.
“Spike, is that you?” Applejack asked.
“Gotcha!” I said as I jumped out of the corner. “Scared you both, didn’t I?” I chuckled a bit.
“I-I wasn’t scared!” Rainbow contested. “I was...uh...making sounds that sounded like I was scared.”
“What in tarnation are ya doin’ here, Spike?” Applejack asked. “Ain’t it a bit late for ya to be roamin’ around here?”
“I’d ask you two the same thing,” I replied. “Were you trying to settle a crazy bet or something?”
“It ain’t crazy! Just figurin’ out which one of us is the Most Daring Pony.”
I scratched my chin, and my brain hatched another idea. “Then I’ve got a dare for both of you. I’ve heard rumors that Fluttershy and Rarity are at this castle tonight as well. The first pony to find both of them and bring them to the castle’s library will be the Most Daring Pony in my book. You just need to go up the steps and turn right until you see a room with a lot of books. Twilight will be there.”
“Hah! You call that a dare?!” Rainbow asked triumphantly. “I could bring those girls back before you can say ‘Rainbow Dash the Most Daring Pony’!”
Applejack glared at her.
“But be warned, ladies,” I said eerily. “This castle is home to dangerous tricks and traps, so you better watch your step if you don’t want to fall victim.” I walked backwards and waggled my fingers. “Mwahahaha—woah! Oof!” I tripped over a rock. “I’m okay! But seriously, be careful. There’s no telling what’s in this old ruined castle.”
I quickly ran up the stairs and back to the library. There I saw Twilight reading.
“Where did you head off to?” Twilight asked.
“You’re not gonna believe this, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash are here, too,” I replied. “They wanted to find out who’s the most daring pony.”
“Why didn’t you bring them up here? We could always use more hooves finding that book.”
“Knowing those two, they’d probably get bored fast and find something else to do.”
Twilight rolled her eyes.
We continued to look for the book Celestia mentioned. I remembered the journal that she and Luna made. I had to find the chair that opens the secret room though. Given how many there were in the library, it was going to be a challenge.
“Any luck yet?” I asked Twilight as I tilted back a chair.
“Not yet,” Twilight replied as she sat at a table. She then noticed a star-spider crawling on the book she was reading. “Woah! Shoo! Shoo!” She brushed the creature off. “Please wait until I’m done reading this.”
That’s when I felt something else brush up against my leg. I jumped away with shivers down my back.
“What was that?!” I shouted. “That felt too big to be a spider!”
A fluffy ball of fur appeared from under the table. Once it revealed itself under the candlelight, I instantly knew who it was.
“Angel?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”
“Is Fluttershy with you?” Twilight asked. “Where is she?”
Angel shrugged.
“Well, you’re welcome to stay with us until she shows up.” Twilight then saw me pull back another chair. “Spike, what are you doing?”
“I wanna see if there’s a secret room or something,” I said. “You know, like in some of the stories I’ve read.”
“Oh, Spike. We don’t have time for that. Please sit down and help me find the book.”
I sighed and walked to the chair on the other side of the table.
“Well,” I said as I sat down. “I guess I’ll just have to…”
Suddenly, my chair leaned back on its own and made a clicking sound. Two of the bookshelves next to us moved with a loud creaking sound.
“Woah! There is a secret room!” Twilight exclaimed.
The three of us entered the room. While the place looked run down, it was more appealing than the library outside. There were a couple of bookshelves that had more books, but Twilight’s eye caught one book perched upon a pedestal .
“‘The Journal of the Two Sisters,’” Twilight read. “Maybe this is the book Princess Celestia was talking about!”
Twilight grabbed the book and sat on a nearby pillow. Angel and I sat next to her.
“Do you think it’s a good idea to look through the princesses’ diary?” I asked.
“She never said we couldn’t,” Twilight replied. “Now, let’s see...”
She opened the book. I quickly took a step back. Twilight looked at me.
“Just making sure it didn’t explode,” I said concernedly.
“You brought that on yourself, you know.” Twilight read the first entry. “‘This journal belongs to Celestia and Luna. If found, please return to...’ Oh, this is written just in case it gets lost.” Twilight flipped through the pages. “‘We still can’t believe it was our first day as princesses! We have not earned our cutie marks yet, and now we have been tasked with ruling an entire country! Our mommy and Mr. Bearded said they have faith that we will do well, but I’m still a bit worried. Luna seems to enjoy her new role. I wish I could be like her. That’s what mommy always suggested.’”
“I guess that was written by Celestia,” I said. “But wow, they ruled Equestria as fillies? Talk about being a prodigy.”
“I’m sure Star Swirl the Bearded and their mother ran the ropes for a while until they became grown-ups,” Twilight replied.
Crunch!
Twilight and I turned to see Angel munching on a bowl of carrots.
“Angel, where did you get those?” Twilight asked.
Angel shrugged. He pointed to the bowl and threw his arms in the air.
“The bowl couldn’t have come from nowhere, Angel,” I said. “Even if it did, I doubt the carrots would be this fresh after over a thousand years.”
Twilight flipped through some of the pages.
“Oh, here’s something! ‘After a long time of searching, we found a great spot for our new castle! We wanted our castle to be at the edge of the Everfree Forest right next to a canyon that contained something called the Tree of Harmony. Mr. Bearded said it had some special magic powers and stuff.’”
“You think Star Swirl knew about the chest?” I asked.
“If he did, we’re way too late to ask him.”
“We could always time travel.”
“No, Spike! The chest may be important, but I’m not gonna risk traveling through time to find answers. I’m sure we can figure it out here in the present.”
Twilight flipped through more pages.
“Oh, you’ve got to hear this. ‘I love to duck behind the paintings, and though the Hall of Hooves still gives her a bit of a fright, the trap door slide is Luna's favorite.’ Looks like they designed this castle with lots of traps. ‘Soon the Organ to the Outside will be finished. I can hardly wait.’”
“An Organ to the Outside?” I asked. “Is it an actual organ?”
“I have no idea!” Twilight happily replied.
Right after Twilight said that, I heard the faint sound of a playing organ.
“I guess they finished that organ,” I said.
“Huh?” Twilight tilted her head.
“You didn’t hear it? The sound of the organ? I guess one of the girls found it.”
I looked at Angel and noticed another bowl of carrots have appeared.
“Say, Angel,” I said. “Is it okay if I have one? Please?”
Angel growled at me. Suddenly, the sound of thunder blasted through the castle walls.
BOOM!!
“Okay! Okay!” I shouted. “No need to get savage!”
Angel looked around with a confused face. I bet he was wondering if he did that. A flash of lightning followed by another loud thunderclap shook the castle once more.
“Uh, oh!” Twilight said. “Sounds like there’s a storm coming!”
“We gotta go,” I said. “Being inside a ruined castle while there’s a storm is a recipe for a horror novel.”
“More like a recipe for catching a cold. With so many exposed rooms, it would be hard to escape the rain.” Twilight got up and put the journal in her bags. “Let’s find the others before—”
“AAANGEEEEEL!!!”
Angel’s ears perked up at the sound of Fluttershy’s voice. He struggled to get up with his bloated belly.
“That must be Fluttershy,” Twilight said.
“We better find her,” I said. “The thunder must be frightening her!”
“Given how the weather works in the Everfree Forest, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
We all hurried to the staircase. Once we got there, we saw Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity all panicking.
“Okay, I understand Fluttershy, but the other girls?” I asked.
Twilight hopped down. “Alright, everypony, stop!” Twilight sent a big blast of magic across the room that froze everypony in place.
“It’s Twilight,” Applejack said.
“Must...save...Angel...” Fluttershy cried. Angel waved at her from the stairs. “Oh...”
“Fluttershy? What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked.
“She's with me...” Rarity whimpered underneath a torn tapestry.
Twilight undid the spell and removed the tapestry from Rarity’s head.
“Thank you.”
“Have you all spent the whole night running around, scaring each other?” Twilight asked.
“Well, that depends,” AJ replied.
“On what?”
“On whether or not you're the Pony of Shadows,” Rainbow replied.
“The Pony of Shadows?” I asked.
“Oh, that's just an old ponies' tale,” Twilight replied.
“Like Nightmare Moon, the sonic rainboom, and the Crystal Empire?”
Twilight raised her hoof up, but nothing came out of her mouth. She slowly put her hoof down.
Suddenly, creepy organ music played throughout the halls. The other girls huddled close to Twilight and me.
“Wh-who’s playing that?!” Fluttershy squeaked. I held her hoof to calm her down.
“We're going to find out,” Twilight said.
As we walked along the halls, I counted the ponies.
“One, two, three, four, five. Where’s Pinkie Pie?” I asked.
“She told Dash and me that she was ringin’ the bell at the schoolhouse,” Applejack replied.
“But it’s summer. How can there still be school?”
“School doesn’t end on the Summer Sun Celebration, sugarcube. There’s usually a couple of days or so afterwards.”
We continued down a giant set of stairs. The organ music grew louder. Once we came into the room, we saw a hooded figure playing the organ.
“The Pony of Shadows!” Twilight whispered.
Everypony was shivering, but I knew who the organ player really was. I slowly walked past the door.
“Spike, what are you doing?” Rarity hissed.
“Watch this, everypony.” I cleared my throat. “Cease your playing of the Organ to the Outside!”
The hooded figure instantly stopped playing and put their hooves in the air.
“If you ever want to get out of this castle alive, you must vow to never eat sweets again!”
The girls behind me shot a confused look.
“No, wait!” The hooded figure squeaked. “Can’t we talk this out, Mr. Scary Voice?!”
“That voice...” Twilight said. “It can’t be!”
“Refrain from calling me that, Pinkie Pie!” I bellowed.
“How do you know my name?” Pinkie looked around and noticed me. “Spike?! Girls?! Were you playing a trick on me?” She then giggled and removed her hood. “You got me good.”
The girls sighed with relief and entered the room.
“I thought ya went to ring the school bell all week!” Applejack exclaimed.
“Oh, yeah! I only had to ring it for, like, five minutes,” Pinkie said. “They said that was good enough. Can't imagine why...”
Pinkie then explained that she wanted to throw a “finish ringing the school bell” party with bluebells. She went to the Everfree Forest with a tarp to pick some, but then she spotted Rarity and Fluttershy entering the castle, so she followed in and helped them with the “everypony come to the scary old castle and hide from each other while Pinkie plays the organ” party.
We all rolled our eyes. Pinkie pressed a note and a springboard shot up right next to me.
Wow, I was lucky I wasn’t at that spot.
Everypony returned to the room where Twilight found the journal. Rarity was restoring one of the tapestries while Fluttershy was talking with Angel.
“So how did you know it was Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked me.
“Seeing how she was the only pony absent, I had a feeling she was going to show up sooner or later,” I said. “I guess I was just lucky.”
“What you would’ve done if it wasn’t her? What if it was ‘the Pony of Shadows’ like the girls talked about?”
I pointed to the candelabra. Twilight squinted her eyes and suddenly got the picture.
“Oh...”
“I can't believe I was so frightened,” Fluttershy said as she finished nuzzling Angel. “Guess I let my imagination get the best of me.”
“I think we all did,” Applejack said.
“I always let my imagination run away from me!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Then it comes back with cake!”
“Well, it's good to know that whenever your imagination is getting away from you, a good friend can help you rein it in,” Twilight said. “And even though I didn't find anything out about the mysterious chest, I'm glad I was here to help all of you.”
“You certainly did that, Twilight,” Rarity said.
“Yeah! Why weren't you scared?” Rainbow asked.
“Reading Celestia's diary made it hard to be afraid,” replied Twilight, “because I knew what it was like when she and Luna lived here. Knowing something about the past made it easier to deal with my problems in the present, even the scary ones.”
“It’s like the old saying goes, ‘those who fail history are bound to repeat it,’” I said. “And those who know it can avoid doing so.”
The other girls nodded in agreement.
“I've just thought of a great idea! Why don't we keep a journal, just like the royal pony sisters?” Twilight proposed.
“All of us?” Fluttershy asked.
“Sure! That way we can learn from each other! And maybe someday, other ponies will read it and learn something, too!”
Assuming they don’t turn into either a toxic fandom full of manchildren that overanalyze and nitpick everything, or the brony fandom.
“What a splendid idea,” Rarity said.
“I know what my first entry will be,” said Applejack. “‘Dear Diary, I'm glad Granny Smith's legend wasn't true.’”
BOOM!!
The flash of lightning and the clap of thunder made everypony jump.
“Oh, no! I forgot about the storm!” Twilight shoved some of the books into her bags. “Let’s hurry back to Ponyville’s library before we get drenched!”
“Forget drenched, we gotta get back before we’re wet!” Pinkie shouted as she bounced out of the room.
“That’s what I said.”
The girls, Angel, and I hurried out of the castle as fast as we could. While Twilight was disappointed we couldn’t find anything about the chest, it was nice for her for suggesting the idea of keeping a journal for ourselves. Not only that, we learned a bit about Celestia and Luna’s past. It really surprised me how those two ruled Equestria since they were fillies. If alicorns were smart enough to run a land at that age, then I wouldn’t be surprised if Flurry Heart gets to rule the Crystal Empire before Magic Kindergarten.