//------------------------------// // What An Incredible Discovery! // Story: The Castle // by Discombobulated Soul //------------------------------// This library was amazing. Well, okay, I guess you already knew that. Sorry. Anyway, now that I possessed the knowledge of how to fight back against the creatures, I could stay in one spot all I liked! And stay I did, frantically searching the many shelves for what book would next catch my insatiable interest. I was learning all sorts of useful things, though none of them came close to the information I'd gained from the first book. I finished that one, by the way. Took me a few more hours, and nothing else within it was nearly as incredible as that first spell, but it was a fun ride regardless. I was now scouring a tome on quantum-magical mechanics, and boy howdy was it some great stuff! A raucous roar sounded from behind me and I scrambled to my hooves, clutching the knife tightly in my aura as I turned to face the newest assailant. This one looked sort of like a manticore, if you gave it a few hundred extra mouths, replaced the wings with spider legs, and made it sweat acidic blood. I stared boldly into the creature's pulsating, bloody eyes, threateningly leveling the knife at my barrel, ensuring it was in view. Sometimes, I didn't actually have to go through with it and they backed off, but this didn't seem to be one of those times. The monster snarled loudly and approached, its thudding steps leaving a trail of the burning green substance that gave it life. I backed away at the same speed, not breaking the mutual staring as best I could. Suddenly, a late thought entered my mind, and I glanced at the book I'd dropped in raw panic. The manticore-esque creature stepped right on top of the volume, crushing it under its paw with what could only be described as deliberate malice. I whimpered in mourning as the tome fizzled and softened before exploding outwards with a wet squelch. I could swear the monster was grinning at me. They loved to destroy any knowledge they could. First it had been the wolflike being, whose massacre I had thought was purely coincidental, but every creature that had come here since had made an effort to obliterate at least one book. I didn't know why they did this, but it made me very angry. Enraged, I twisted to the side and made a great show of dragging the serrated blade all the way down my barrel, flinging the blood on the knife at the manticore with several rapid flicks. It recoiled in shock, and I grinned upon seeing one of them look upon me with horror for a change. The creature bolted away, running at its impressive top speed as it left my sight. I stood there in triumph for all of several seconds before the pain set in. Grimacing, I noticed that the gash had been far deeper than usual, or indeed far deeper than necessary. In my anger, I hadn't taken the care to avoid hurting myself too much like I usually did, and the consequences were immediate. Sighing heavily, I conjured yet another tablecloth and wrapped myself in it, magically cinching it shut in efforts to staunch the flow. I was hoping I'd come across an advanced first aid book or something like it, but so far I hadn't seen a section of this library that would contain such a thing. As a matter of fact, I had not discovered any material to do with any kind of healing whatsoever, which was kind of odd if I thought about it. There was no time to think about it, though. With my previous book destroyed, I needed something else to occupy my interest. Something to distract me from the horrors of this place. Maybe I'd even read about a way out of here. Taking several testing steps forward revealed the pain to be dampening, or perhaps I was just growing more tolerant of it. As far as I knew, the injury wasn't life-threatening, so I dutifully continued on my quest for knowledge. One tome in particular caught my attention, its resplendently-drawn cover even more so: A stylized sun, half colored green and the other half purple. The book's title was one word, and reading it sent uncontrollable shivers down my spine, which aggravated my many wounds even more. Celestia After opening the volume, I nearly dropped it in surprise, my eyes bulging upon witnessing its dreadful contents. It was a biography of sorts. No, wait, it was also a kind of bestiary. But it also described tall tales from years past. Looking at the table of contents, my expression shifted to one of confusion, because this book couldn't seem to decide what exactly it was. Except... that wasn't right either. The book knew what it was, and I knew it, too: A compilation of all the available information regarding Princess Celestia. I decided to just start at the beginning, so I flipped to the first page. What I saw there actually made me drop the tome, staring disbelievingly at it as I let out a startled scream. "Hello, Twilight." Minutes passed with naught but my shaky breathing, and the book grew impatient with the silence. "Well? Aren't you going to greet me back?" I swallowed uneasily, slowly plodding forward to gaze at the impossible letters that spelled impossible words. "You just have to write in the page to talk to me. Don't worry, I don't mind." Having never vandalized a book before, I was quite hesitant, but I nonetheless reached for the ink bottle and quill I had been taking notes with. Carefully, I responded to the book, my writing shaky due to my aura's nervous jittering. WHO ARE YOU? HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME? Quickly, the book replied. "I'm Sunset Shimmer, and I was brought here, just like you. I know how to get out of The Castle." HOW? "You need to kill the one keeping you here: Princess Celestia."