//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Castle Sweep-Up // Story: Another Chance Beyond the Door // by Dat Merc //------------------------------// Chapter 6: Castle Sweep-Up Four Days Later… Twilight stepped out of her room and sighed in relief. She walked down the stairs and entered the main room where the books of the Golden Oak Library were stored. She looked around and saw Spike putting a couple of books back on the shelves. On the other side of the room, she spotted Edward sitting by a desk reading a book. In fact, there were several other books beside him as well. “Hi, Ed.” “Twilight? I haven’t seen you out of your room since you and the others left to go look for that author the other day. What’s her name again…? AK Yearning..?” “It’s AK Yearling.” “Right… Anyway, how are you doing with that book I gave you?” The alicorn paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. She knew he would ask her that question eventually, “I’m still digging deeper into it, Ed. When I’m ready to share what I got after I’m done, I’ll let you know right away.” The blonde human raised an eyebrow to her and sighed in disappointment, “I was hoping you were ready to share what information you have with me.” “As much as I want to, I’d rather finish it completely before I can share it.” “No argument there, I guess… She chuckled and smiled in agreement before she looked over his shoulder, “Now, I wonder… What are you reading?” “Just reading a book about Equestria.” He answered as he moved the book a bit closer for the alicorn to see, “I figure I should read more about Equestria’s history on my own. You know… For my own knowledge.” “I’m glad that book caught your interest, Ed. I wasn’t sure if any of these books would be interesting to you in any way.” “Anything to help me pass the time. Thanks for choosing to take me in, by the way. It would have been different if no one did the same at all.” Twilight stood there as she stared at him for a moment. Soon, she was slightly blushing and turned away quickly, “Um… You’re welcome. Considering your circumstances, neither my friends nor I can simply leave you by yourself after you helped us.” She turned around to face him after she regained her composure. “Anyway, there’s something else I want to ask you.” Edward looked away from his book and gave the mare his undivided attention again. “I was talking to my friends yesterday about tidying up the Castle of the Two Sisters and I was wondering if you would like to join us.” “Back to that old castle again? I figured we were all done with it for good…” “Come on. I know it’s been abandoned since Nightmare Moon’s banishment but it would be nice to make everything nice and clean again from top to bottom for Celestia and Luna. This is the perfect chance to see more of your alchemy at work. I’ve been thinking about that idea since the last time we were there. Who knows? Maybe they would like to see it back to normal again.” The alchemic prodigy was about to counteract until a thought crossed his mind. He was considering taking another look at that mural again. It looked like he found an excuse to go back to the old castle again, “Fine, I’ll go there with you.” “Yes!” She cheered with excitement, “This is also another good break from my research! Thank you, Ed.”  The human looked at her dumbfoundedly. He had never met anyone in his life who was excited to tidy up ancient ruins until now. Perhaps she would have loved to visit the ruins of Xerxes... She suddenly froze and looked up at a nearby window and noticed the dark sky outside, “Uh… What time is it again?” “It’s quarter to nine,” Spike answered. “Oh… I guess we should get to bed soon if we’re all going to clean up Celestia and Luna’s old castle tomorrow.” Edward couldn’t help but chuckle at the mare’s absence of time, “You seem to be enjoying yourself with your research to lose track of time, Twilight.” The alicorn rolled her eyes and began to walk towards the stairs, “Spike, come with me. I need your help getting some books out of my study room and back down here.” “Sure thing, Twilight.” The baby dragon replied as he placed a small book on a stool next to the human before walking upstairs with her. As the two disappeared into the next floor and entered the study room, Spike walked over to Twilight with a smug look on his face, “So… Mind telling me what that was about?” “What about what, Spike?” The lavender alicorn asked as she picked up a book with her magic. “Come on… You can tell me. I saw you blush when Ed thanked you just a few minutes ago.” “I have no clue what you’re talking about,” She claimed as she levitated a pile of books with her magic and used it to hide the slight redness on her cheeks. “Okay, whatever you say, Twilight.” Edward turned his head and took a glimpse of the book in question the dragon left behind. He picked it up and immediately noticed how flimsy it looked. There was a front cover but it was not a hardcover. “Power Ponies…?” He opened up a random page expecting text for him to read. Instead, there was some sort of drawings with speech bubbles which were almost similar to comic strips he occasionally came across in newspapers. In fact, this entire reading material in question was basically that but was exclusively dedicated as such. After skimming a few more pages, it appeared to be about a group of ponies who fought crime with some sort of supernatural powers. Rolling his eyes in disbelief, he placed the comic book back on the stool. A few seconds later, Twilight and Spike returned downstairs, each carrying a pile of books, and began returning them to their respective spots on the nearby shelves. The young human watched in awe as he observed the alicorn use her Equestrian magic for the job at hand. It was as though she made typically tedious tasks look easy. He already witnessed much of it in a short matter of days since his arrival in this new reality and it had yet ceased to amuse him. “Ed?” Someone called him out of his stupor and made him blink a few times. “Are you okay, Ed?” Twilight asked with confusion. “Oh!! Perfectly fine. Just perfect,” He responded in embarrassment. He quickly turned around to close the book he was reading and returned it to the spot on the shelf where he first found it earlier.  The lavender mare raised her brow with a puzzled expression as she watched the blonde human putting away books. She shrugged it off and continued her current task with him and Spike. The Next Day… “Ed should already be stepping out by now, right, Twilight?” Twilight and Spike stood outside in front of their own home together. It’s been at least five minutes since then and they were waiting for their human friend to join them. “Hey, sorry for the holdup,” Edward stepped out of the Golden Oak Library as he put on his red coat. “I thought I would rather wear something different and lighter.” The alicorn and the baby dragon looked at the human again. The red coat… a black sleeveless shirt, black trousers, and shoes… White gloves…  “Is that the same, exact outfit you wore when you first arrived in Equestria?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, I figure it’s appropriate considering what we’re planning to do at the old castle today.” “I guess that’s a good point… Anyway… Ed, Spike, let’s get the others before we can head over to the castle.” “Right.” “Got it.” After gathering everypony, Twilight and her friends made their way to the Castle of the Two Sisters. As soon as they arrived at the throne room, they all began their chores. Watching everypony at work, Edward removed his red coat and set it aside. “Okay then… Time to get to work as well.” He said to himself as he flexed his automail arm for a moment. “I’m already looking forward to seeing more of your alchemy, Ed.” Twilight complimented him with a smile. The blonde human rolled his eyes in ridicule and sighed. He then turned his attention to two piles of rubble on either side of the small flight of stairs that led up to the Princesses' abandoned thrones. He walked over to the closest pile and took a moment to examine it. Eventually, he clapped his hands together and placed them on the rubble to transmute a life-size statue of Princess Celestia. He went over to the other pile of rubble and did the same, but a life-size statue of Princess Luna was transmuted in its place. The alchemic prodigy smiled in satisfaction at his latest work. “That’s just simply amazing, Edward.” Rarity commented excitedly, “I can’t help but see you have an artistic sense for your alchemy.” “Thanks. It was only a matter of how much material I need before I can make any alchemic transmutation due to the Law of Equivalent Exchange. In this case, it was already enough to make these statues.” “You’re just making this job a lot easier than we wanted it to be,” Twilight chuckled. “Well, you were the one who wanted me to come here with you. Remember?” Edward smirked. “Well… Yeah, that is true.” The blonde alchemist smiled and quietly laughed in triumph. “Anyway… There’s another room right below here. That’s where I found that book I gave you, Twilight. The path leading to it is right behind the old thrones. I’ll be clearing out any mess there if any of you need me.” The lavender alicorn nodded her head in approval as she watched him walk away from her and her friends with only a broom and dustpan from the cleaning supply carriage they brought with them. Edward found himself back in the same room where he found the mysterious book and the mural that also caught his eye. He took his time sweeping some dust and smaller messes away. Any bigger messes in the room were taken care of with alchemy.  After what felt like at least twenty minutes of cleaning, he paused as a thought entered his mind. The alchemist looked up at the mural and examined it once more. What confused him about it was that its design was almost similar to the mural from the ruins of Xerxes…. Which was similar to the transmutation circle from the Fifth Laboratory. There were still unanswered questions since the last time he was here… What was the meaning of this mural? Who designed it? Why the similar design? Does Equestrian magic have an equivalent to human transmutation? Does the legend of the Philosopher's Stone exist in this reality!? Or… Was the young alchemist simply overanalyzing this mysterious information? He cursed under his breath and turned away from the mural…. Only to be greeted by a pair of big, light blue eyes inches from his face. “Hi, Eddy!! What are you doing in this room?” Pinkie Pie asked him with excitement which caused the latter to yelp in surprise and fall to the floor. “Pinkie, I don’t think Edward likes it when you do that,” Rarity scolded her friend. “Oh… But I like greeting everypony that way!” The rest of their friends also arrived into the room as well as they let out a light chuckle from what just happened to the human. Twilight walked over to him and looked up at the mural with curiosity, “Hm… What do we have here…?” “As I said earlier, this room was where I found that book I gave you a few days ago,” The human alchemist answered. “I also came across this strange mural while I was at it.” The studious alicorn brought her attention back to the mural in question and examined it with her own eyes. Her knowledge in alchemy may be limited and still new from what Edward already told her but its circular design looked similar to a transmutation circle, much like the one the human used for demonstrations a few days ago. What confused her more was her cutie mark was in the center of the mural. It was present on the Tree of Harmony, but what was it doing here? “If it’s any help, I saw this mural in the book as well,” Edward commented. “I don’t know if you saw that already or not…” The lavender mare thought for a moment, “Well… I don’t recall seeing it but I may have missed that page by accident or I haven’t found it yet. I’ll look into it soon, Ed.” “I do admit…” Rarity joined the two and examined the mural’s design, “Despite how long this castle has been abandoned, this mural somehow managed to retain its wonder throughout the test of time. Such an amazing discovery, dear.” Rainbow Dash continued to hover over her friends and sighed in boredom, “Yeah it looks pretty and all, but aren’t we supposed to start looking for Spike?” “Oh, that’s right!” Twilight gasped in realization and turned her attention to Edward, “The reason we came down here is that we’re about ready to take a break from all the cleaning. I was wondering if you’re also ready for one.” “A break? You all can go on ahead. I’ll keep cleaning up around here for a little bit longer.” “Sure thing, Ed. We have to look for Spike before we start our break. I’m sure he’s around here somewhere reading his comics. We’ll see you later.” “And one more thing,” The pink mare said, “Join us as soon as you can, Eddy. I know you need a break sooner or later.” The blonde human watched Twilight and her friends left him in the room. He rubbed his head before he looked around again. There was still some dust and debris in the room…. Back to work then. Another twenty minutes passed, Edward walked back to the throne room with the broom and dustpan he borrowed. The area was empty… Twilight and the others were probably still on break but where were they taking it exactly? He placed his fingers on his chin in thought about their current whereabouts. A possible idea came to mind as he dropped off his cleaning materials in the carriage and picked up his red coat and left the throne room. With a bit of knowledge of where to go in this old castle, it did not take long before he reached his destination: the Organ Room. Unfortunately, his arrival fell short of his expectations… There was no sight of Twilight or her friends anywhere in the room as he scratched his head in confusion. The young alchemist walked out of the room empty-handed and continued looking for them. “Dammit, come on already…” Edward was back in the main atrium. He even swung by the throne room again to see if anyone was there. Still, he had no luck finding at least one of them. Where could they all go? Maybe their break was ending and they were about to return… Or they were still waiting for him to join them. Then, another idea entered his mind… There was a certain room that he overlooked. With that in mind, he made his way towards his new destination. That destination was the old library that was suggested to Twilight by Princess Celestia which prompted their previous visit. If the alchemist remembered correctly, the lavender alicorn hoped to find some old books that may hold answers to the mystery chest. Unfortunately, that was not the case. She did, however, find the Princesses’ old journal. It was located in the secret room within the library. Upon entering, he checked into the secret room, only to find it empty... But something on the podium in the center of the room caught his eye. He walked over and blinked in confusion… It was the Power Ponies comic book he came across back at Golden Oak the night before. Did Spike leave it here? Why? That still did not answer the question of where everyone else was? “Great... It’s going to take a miracle for them to literally appear in front of me to actually find them!” Edward ranted in frustration. Just when he was about to turn around and walk away, the comic book glowed in white light with a vortex-like force. The alchemic prodigy gasped in surprise when something suspicious was about to unfold. He was bracing for the worse… Until something… Or someone burst out of the vortex and fell on him like a pile of bricks. In fact, more than one individual fell on him… Make that a pile of ponies plus a baby dragon instead. Twilight regained consciousness and weakly opened her eyes. She noticed that she was on something different than a typical floor. When she lifted her head, she realized that she was lying on top of a disoriented Edward’s chest. Blushing from embarrassment, she shoved herself out of the accidental body pile and shrieked. She now found herself hovering above her friends. Eventually, the rest returned to their hooves, and in Spike’s case; his claws, which allowed the human alchemist to sit up and see them for himself… Only to be greeted by a familiar pair of light blue eyes again. “Hi, Eddy! We miss you!! I hope we haven’t been gone for long.” “What are you talking about? I’ve looked all over the castle for all of you for break time. Where have you been?” “In the most epic, flank-kicking adventure ever!” Rainbow Dash answered with excitement, “Considering the fact that you know how to fight, you should have been with us, Ed!” Spike stepped into the conversation and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “Yeah… I can explain everything….” There was a lot for Edward to grasp. Long story short, the baby dragon explained that they were sucked into the world of the Power Ponies comic. There, they were the title characters of the series. In order for them to return to Equestria, they had to defeat the Mane-iac who was planning to use a doomsday device on Maretropolis. They successfully stopped her and here they were back home and back to normal… Whatever was considered normal in Equestria at least to the blonde human.  After the explanation, Twilight assured her dragon assistant that because she and her friends didn’t always need their help, it did not mean they did not think he was helpful. Edward was still beside them as he overheard the conversation. This made him think about what caused those types of thoughts to be planted inside the baby dragon’s head in the first place. He probably missed those signs… “Where exactly did you get that comic book?” Asked the lavender alicorn. “I got it in Canterlot at the House of Enchanted Comics,” Spike answered with a smile. In response everypony, including the alchemic prodigy, glared down at him with skeptical looks on their faces. “Well… I didn’t know they were literally enchanted.” Their response was in the form of rolling eyes and light chuckles before they turned around and left the room with Spike following suit as he tried to explain his mistake from his visit at that store in Canterlot. The group walked out of the library wing and started to make their way back to the throne room. When they reached their destination, a break was overdue and needed. Pinkie pulled out a tray of cupcakes she claimed she quickly bought from one of Maretropolis’ bakery shops right before their return to Equestria. Applejack brought some refreshments from her home for the rest to enjoy once they were ready for break time. “Sorry if we made you think we bailed out on you, Ed. This was mostly my bad,” The baby dragon apologized.  The human alchemist chuckled lightly, “Don’t sweat it, Spike. I still stuck around until you all showed up. I doubt any of you are the kind that would pull a harsh trick like that.” “Is that so?” Dash hovered next to him with a smirk, “You barely started hanging out with us, bud. I have to let you know, I’m really good at pulling pranks on everypony.” “Oh, really? I like to see you try.” “Ed, one of these days, I’ll pull a prank or two on you. Just keep your head up. You never know when or where I’m gonna make it happen.” “I’ll be ready then.” “Now calm down, you two.” Applejack spoke out between the blonde human and the cyan pegasus, “Let’s just sit here and enjoy our overdue break.” “She’s right, you know.” Rarity added as she poured herself a cup of tea, “Our unexpected adventure really tired me out. I’m sure everypony feels the same.” Edward rolled his eyes and chuckled in agreement before taking a sip of apple cider. Whatever happened inside that Power Ponies comic must really give them more than enough reason to call for a break.  “Edward, may I ask you something?” Fluttershy looked up at the human. “Of course. What is it?” “There’s something I'm still curious about. What are you going to do about your prosthetic limbs? I’m not an expert in stuff like that, but I’m sure they require some sort of maintenance. I can tell you’ve been wearing those for a while.” The young alchemist looked at his right hand and left leg for a moment. He still remembered the last time she mentioned them. She was right… Automail limbs may be well built and sturdy, but they were not invincible. Five years of experience while wearing them proved the positive and negative sides of its use. It felt as if it was only yesterday when he decided to undergo automail surgery before attempting to become a State Alchemist. “You’re right, Fluttershy. The problem is that I don’t know anyone here to turn to.” “You know…” Twilight caught his attention, “When I have time later I’ll send a letter to Princess Celestia. I’m sure she will be able to point you in the right direction.” “Really? Thank you, Twilight.” “I’m just trying to help. By the way, is there a name of some sort for those metal limbs of yours?” “Yeah, there is. Where I’m from, they’re called automail.” Pinkie raised her eyebrow in curiosity while she ate a cupcake, “Automail? Is that some sort of contraption for mail deliveries? I know somepony wh-” “No, Pinkie,” Applejack interrupted and corrected her. “That’s the name of the metal limbs he’s wearing. Weren’t you even listening?” “Oops, sorry. Got too busy indulging in these cupcakes I bought from Maretropolis right before we came back here.” Edward rolled his from the pink mare’s ridicule before he continued, “they're usually made of steel and can be cumbersome due to their weight. My original models were pretty much like that, but I’ve since replaced them with lightweight variants which I'm currently wearing. They’re more resilient in cold weather environments and easier for me to move around. They’re also tempered with lighter metal materials such as aluminum and a high percentage of carbon fiber.” “Steel prostheses and lighter metal counterparts, huh?” The studious mare smiled in deep thought, “This sounds just as unique as your alchemy. Although, it did raise another question… You had to have surgery to have those limbs, right? How long did rehabilitation take you?” “It typically lasts about three years. I took a different route though. I was in rehab for only a year.” His answer made everypony gasp in shock. The yellow pegasus asked, “A year? That can’t be right. Why spend a year in rehabilitation instead of three?” “Because I made a promise to someone…” “To who, darling?” Rarity asked curiously. “It’s… It’s personal.” Twilight scratched her chin and blinked in confusion. She sensed hesitation in his voice when he answered. Was it… “Was it a promise you made to your brother, Ed…?” She thought for a moment thinking it was the case. She could also tell the human was in deep thought.  The human alchemist’s mood changed when he stood up and took a deep breath before he asked, “Well, should we get back to work?” “Yay! More cleaning to be done!!” Exclaimed the pink earth pony. In the case of the throne room, there was not much left to clean. Much of it was already done before their break-turned-adventure occurred. They decided to relocate to the main atrium to continue the cleaning effort. As everypony moved on with their respective cleaning duties, Edward saw more discarded rubble around the area. Two piles of rubble in particular had enough debris for another alchemy project for him. He transmuted one pile into four sets of life-size statues of Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, and Rarity. The other pile was transmuted into the same fashion but it was statues of Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Like when he transmuted statues of Celestia and Luna earlier, he smiled once again with satisfaction from his work. “Okay, Ed. You’re just showing off with what you can do your alchemy,” Rainbow Dash glared at the human with a smirk on her face. “Yeah, yeah. Really funny.” “But I must say,” Rarity examined the life-size statue of herself and smiled with glee, “You never cease to amaze us with your alchemy. I’m quite flattered that you even made statues of us and the Princesses out of mere rubble that has since fallen apart from the castle. A very sweet gesture you made, darling.” The last sentence sounded a bit sultry. The young alchemist turned around and waved the fashionista off, “Yeah, yeah. I’m just trying to do my part cleaning this place up, that’s all.” With conditions similar to the throne, the atrium has finally been tidied up. It was already late in the afternoon as Twilight called it a day for her friends. After collecting their cleaning supplies into their carriage, they made their way out of the castle and headed back to Ponyville. After some time, they reached the Golden Oak Library. “Thanks for all the help, everypony.” The lavender alicorn said with happiness and satisfaction, “Despite our magical hiccup earlier, we’ve made a lot of progress cleaning up the castle. I’m sure the Princesses will be pleased.” The baby dragon scratched the back with a hint of embarrassment at the mention of the hiccup in question. “It’s only a matter of time until that castle is spotless, Twilight. I’ll see y’all later,” Applejack waved farewell and walked toward the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Everypony was also doing the same as they made their way back to their homes but Rarity had something in mind right before she was able to leave. “By the way, Edward. Please come over to the Boutique tomorrow. I nearly forgot to tell you that your outfit is ready.” “Sure thing. Thank you.” “You’re definitely welcome. See you tomorrow, dear.” With everypony else returning home, Twilight, Spike, and Edward entered the Golden Oak Library and made themselves at home. “Well, I hope next time we’re back in the castle again, nothing crazy like earlier today happens,” Spike commented. “Oh, please don’t jinx it,” The blonde human begged. The alicorn could not help but laugh at the small conversation. The Next Day… Dressed in his black suit, Edward approached the door out of the library, “Hey, Spike. I’ll be swinging by the Boutique for my outfit right now. I’ll be back.” “Gotcha, Ed.” The alchemist stepped out and entered the streets of Ponyville and walked towards the direction of the Carousel Boutique. “I almost forgot Rarity was making another outfit for me… I hope it’s not a dress, heh.” Back in the Golden Oak Library, Twilight was back in her studies with the book Edward gave her. She wanted to continue researching the mystery chest from the Tree of Harmony, but she had a hard time resisting her latest research material.  “Hm… Something doesn’t feel right in this book…” She quietly said to herself as she wrote down more notes. As she turned to the next page, there it was… Edward was right, it was a drawn rendition of the mural he found in the old castle.  Still, what was it for…? An annotation in her notes was added before moving onto the next page. There was still more in this book that had yet to be read.