//------------------------------// // 2. The Archive // Story: King of Tyrants // by JeSuisLaPorte //------------------------------// Twilight was thrusted onto the ground, slamming belly first since she lost her balance. She groaned in pain as she stood up, now that was a brutal fall.  Examining her surroundings, she was surprised to see just how different the whole place looked. The castle now had a cozy feeling, the candles around the room were lighting it up nicely, the stone walls were wooden and there was furniture around.  Twilight turned around to look back at the painting. It was still the exact same, just a painting of the two alicorn sisters. Well, the painting was bigger on this side, but apart from that, not much has changed regarding his object. The candles were still there, but much brighter than in the other side. Did she travel back in time? No, couldn’t be. The walls were wooden and as far as she knew, they were also made of stones.  Now that’s odd for upon closer inspection, there was a small difference in the painting. One that Twilight was barely able to make out. The expression on the sisters' faces were slightly different. They were looking down at whoever was viewing the painting with a worried look in their eyes,  “Ok... that’s strange.” muttered the mare to herself before deciding she should leave this room and see if anything else changed.  The door opened and she entered the halls. Now Twilight was really thrown in for a loop. The geometry of the castle was near identical to the ruins she was in, but at the same time, it felt completely different. The walls, the floor and the ceiling were all made of stones, yes, but it was a different kind of stone altogether. It was dark, much, much darker than the ruins despite having some torches placed around.  While this darkness was quite eerie, Twilight had all her attention on something else. Far off in the distance, there was somepony playing the piano, or perhaps it was just a recording. The music itself was, how to put it, dread-inducing? Calming? Sad? All those adjectives seemed correct to describe this song. It was certainly quite unnerving to say the least as Twilight felt a slight shiver go up her spine. But I suppose it’s better to have this than to be in complete silence inside a castle that feels familiar yet alien at the same time.  In front of the unicorn was a flight of stairs that lead down, but to her left was a door with a sign resting above it. It read: Archive.   Archive? Maybe I can find something useful in there. For a book nerd like Twilight, the thought of finding rare literature inside this alternate castle sounded too exciting to pass. After all, if she arrived in this place via the painting, then that means that she can exit using this same passage, right? Should there be any danger whatsoever, she could just leave. There’s nothing to be afraid of.  Trotting up to the door, Twilight opened it. An infernal creak echoed throughout the hall. Despite being startled by this loud sound, the mare pressed on and entered the archives.  Interesting observation, the walls, the floor and the ceiling were entirely made of wood. It gave the place a welcoming vibe, a far cry from the hallway she just came from. The good news was that it was much brighter in there. She could easily see where she was going. There were windows too, unlike the hall, which allowed more light inside. Making her way down the archive, the unicorn passed by many doors and wondered just where she should go first.  She stopped abruptly when she heard something dragging across the floor in an adjacent room. Twilight Sparkle stared anxiously at the door that separated her from the source of the sound. A lot of time passed, and the sound didn’t return. The mare shook her head. Don’t be such a coward, Twilight. It was probably nothing to be worried about.   Brave words indeed, but she subconsciously didn’t believe them as demonstrated by the fact that the first door she chose to go through was one that was far, far away from the source of the dragging noise.  Inside was a long room in the shape of a rectangle filled with bookshelves. The unicorn smiled in wonder when she saw just how many books were placed on the shelves. She just had to see what they were all about. If she’s lucky, she might get to read books that were lost to time following the abandonment of the castle in the Everfree.  Walking up to one of the bookshelves, Twilight carefully inspected the state of the books. Much to her excitement, they were all in fairly good condition. They were only dusty which wasn’t really a problem for she simply blew off the dust and grabbed one of them. This book caught attention for it was more damaged than the others, an indication of its age.   Her eyes lit up with wonder when she finally got to read the title. “The pony guidebook before and after the founding of Equestria?!” she unconsciously said out loud. She knew the history of the three pony tribes before they founded Equestria but the details on how things were back then were rather vague. Most of the information regarding the way the three tribes functioned were relatively unknown. The stage play she did in Canterlot with her friends only contained a few accurate details, the rest was all imagined for the sake of the play.  Naturally, she wanted to read it right now. And so, she did just that. Placing herself down on a nearby worktable, the mare opened the blinds on the window next to her, shedding some light in the room. Her eyes widened at the view outside. The castle was normally resting on top of a hill, but the forest was on the same level and on top of that, it was foggy outside, extremely foggy to the point that she couldn’t see much beyond a couple of trees. It gave off the feeling that this forest had no limit to its size.  Feeling slightly uneasy, Twilight began her read of this ancient tome. It was separated in three chapters; The Earth Ponies, The Pegasi and The Unicorns respectively. She chose to start at the beginning rather than to fly over through it.    With clear hatred for the Earth Ponies and the Pegasi, the Unicorns lived far away from them, possessing their own power structure. The magic present in the average unicorn is not terrible, but not impressive. They are at a greater disadvantage than the other tribe, but their power resides in the few who had mastered the art of magic. These mighty unicorns are feared and respected by their enemies and thanks to them, the Earth Ponies and the Pegasi stay far from their tribe.  Now that the basic have been established, let’s move onto the more interesting part. The Earth Ponies often send small groups at a time to scour for food. These groups usually have around ten members or so. It is imperative to carefully observe each of the ponies' stances, expressions and position within the group as these can tell a lot about their individual personalities.  “Huh? Why is it written from an outsider’s point of view?” Twilight asked to herself before she continued reading.  Those at the front are the bravest, the most confident. Their walk is determined, fearless even. Their movement are all calm and collected, a far cry from those who stay at the rear. The more cowardly type moves more erratically and often keeps their head down as a sign of anxiety.  Despite being social by nature, ponies can have a rather individualistic mindset when faced with danger. It is the greatest vice of all three clans and probably the reason why they can’t get along. A group can split up if they are faced with a threat far too intimidating for their liking. As such, splitting these scouting groups are quite easy. Throwing rocks, scratching trees and loudly stomping the ground works just fine. But sometimes, just placing something out of the ordinary works wonderfully as a lure.  “That... couldn’t have been written by a pony, right?” It sounded more like a predator taking notes of its prey, quite chilling to think about. Out of curiosity, Twilight flipped through the pages and started reading the first chapter after the founding of Equestria.  With their back against the walls, the three tribes chose to put aside their differences and unite against the wendigos that have been following them since the dawn of time. It worked and gone is the endless winter. Instead, there is Equestria, a new continent claimed by the earth ponies, the unicorns and the Pegasi.   I find their new talks of friendship and unity quite amusing. Is it really that easy to let go of many years of prejudices and accept each other? I doubt it. Anyhow, this turn of events calls for major revisions in the system...  Now Twilight Sparkle was fully convinced that whoever wrote this must not have been a pony. The author seemed completely detached from their conflicts and even belittled their efforts throughout the book. At least, the mare learned that there was a third party hidden from the three tribes’ conflict documenting the whole situation. She just had to trim the less than useful information from the important ones. With time, she could more accurately draw a portrait of this ancient era of their society and of the book’s author.  Wait, the music stopped. When did it stop playing? Twilight stopped staring at the book and looked around the room, feeling nervous. The somber melody of the piano had eased itself into her ears and provided a nice background noise which was miles better than to be left in complete silence. The worst thing about background noises is that you don’t pay attention to them after a while, but you do when they’re iuddenly gone.  The absence of the music meant that the unicorn could now hear all the subtle sounds of the castle, which only added to its oppressive feeling. Dust fell from the ceiling at various points in the archive, the wind outside entered through the open windows and the rustling of hooves resonated throughout the archive. That last sound in particular startled Twilight who was sitting idly on an old creaky chair. There was somepony in there with her!  Thankfully, the sound was moving away from her. Maybe it wasn’t aware of her presence in the archive. The lavender unicorn stood up and followed the source of the rustling, hoping to see who it could be. With great care, the mare opened the door. Despite being old in appearance, it didn’t creak. Relieving to be sure for the ominous silence of the castle would have made the creaking audible by everypony within a 50-mile radius.   Slowly peeking her head through the door, Twilight looked to her right to see who could be moving around the archive. Sadly, she was too slow to spot the stranger and only caught a glimpse of its flank before they left through the hallway that led out of this section of the castle. The mare let out a small groan of disappointment before sneaking through the hall that the mysterious pony took.  The door to the archive creaked loudly before it slammed shut. Then, the whole place went quiet again. Too slow, the pony was gone now. In the shadows of the back hall, there was no chance Twilight could get a clear view of them.   Arriving before the creaky door, she waited for a bit. She didn’t want to bring unwanted attention to herself so, she wanted to be sure that this mysterious pony was long gone before she’ll make a move.  “...ight!” The lavender unicorn flinched. A spectral voice broke the eerie silence of the archive. It sounded like it came from just beyond the door. Although barely audible, Twilight felt a certain feeling of fear coming from that voice.   Come to think of it, it sounds familiar...  Fluttershy! The mare finally decided to leave the archive, heading back into the dark and unwelcoming back hall. As she did, the Pegasus’s voice returned, this time sounding clearer.  “Twilight, where are you?” The poor thing sounded terrified. Left alone in the castle in the Everfree, she could be in great danger and in dire need of her help! Without wasting any seconds, Twilight ran back to the room with the alicorn painting and jumped into it.        Back at the other side, Twilight once again landed on her belly. A squeak resonated from beyond the painting room. The unicorn groaned as she brushed off the dirt and pebbles that got caught in her fur before calling out to her friend.  “Fluttershy? Is everything alright?”  The frightened weeping stopped and was soon followed by the scared voice of the Pegasus. “T-Twilight? A-Are you in there?”   In response, Twilight charged up her horn and opened the door with just the right speed to not startle the frightened Pegasus that was now holding Angel. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy; I’m still here.”  The Pegasus’s panicked breath started to slow down until it returned to a normal frequency. “You had me scared back there. You were there for a moment and the next thing I know, I’m all alone in this scary castle.”  “Well, you see I-” Twilight turned her head to look at the painting but was stunned to find nothing there, not even the candles remained. There wasn’t even a single trace of being taken down, it looked like it never was there to begin with. “... Huh.”  Fluttershy tilted her head to the side and gave the unicorn a confused expression.   “Could have sworn there was a painting there. Did you see one?”  The yellow Pegasus shook her head. “No, I don’t think there’s even a single painting remaining. Many ponies came and stole all that had value in here long ago.”  Come to think of it, the candles were gone too. It couldn’t have been just an hallucination, right? Everything in that alternate castle felt so real, every sound, every smell, every sight...   “O...kay then.” Twilight noticed that her basket was still where she had left it. Picking it up, she looked back at the Pegasus holding her pet and noticed that he looked normal now. Gone were the pearly white eyes and the odd expression. Angel looked like he always did, and acted like he didn’t just run away from his master. He had this bored expression, like he just wanted them to shut up and go home.  Twilight placed the basket on her back and asked Fluttershy “Are we ready to go?”  “Yeah, I don’t want to stay here any longer. This castle is giving me the creeps.”      “Now Angel; I want you to apologise for running away and scaring all of us.” Fluttershy said with a serious tone.  The bunny raised his eyebrows and looked around the forest before setting his gaze back on the Pegasus, shrugging his shoulders. He was sitting on her back in the basket of carrots and treats, stuffing his face with food.  “What do you mean by you don’t know why we’re out here? You ran in the Everfree forest after disappearing for six hours! You had me worried that something bad might have happened to you.” she continued but Angel still didn’t seem to get it.  However, he did express some remorse even though he didn’t know why he made her angry and anxious. He looked away, his hands behind his back, as he spun his ankle around, seemingly indecisive. Eventually, he slowly reached out and hugged the Pegasus’s neck. Fluttershy calmed down and smiled. There was nothing to be worried about, Angel still loved her as much as she loved him.  Twilight was quietly watching the scene, knowing that she had no business in this exchange. She waited until the two were done before she spoke up. “See? I told you we’d make it before nightfall.”   Fluttershy giggled. “I never doubted you, Twilight. We can always count on you to lend a helping hoof.”    Somewhere in the Everfree, there was another pony, a stallion to be precise. His skin was light green, and his mane was golden. On his flank lied his cutie mark, a sketchbook with a pencil next to it. He was looking around the forest in confusion.  “According to the map, I must be near Ponyville...” he looked up to look at his surroundings. No sign of pony civilisation in sight. “So why am I still inside this Tartarus hole!”  Breathing heavily through his nostrils, he closed his eyes to calm himself down. “No use in getting flustered. I’ll just pick a random direction and walk until I see something. Eventually I’ll find Ponyville, uh, hopefully.”   He took a photo out of his saddle bag. It featured a purple unicorn; a stallion just like him. Somepony he hasn’t seen in years no matter how many times he tried to get in contact with him.  “You often mentioned a unicorn going by the name of Twilight Sparkle, right? Maybe she knows why you’re missing, bud...”