//------------------------------// // Everfree Castle // Story: Music of the Night // by CharlieOist //------------------------------// “Would you like to examine the ruins with me?” Twilight turned from helping set up the tent. Her friends had opted to go for one tent, instead of spending the money on six separate tents. All had agreed they would feel safer sleeping in the same tent and the single, large tent had cost less than the expense of six separate ones. “You’re heading into the ruins already?” They were in the courtyard. Nearby lay the wing of the castle where they had defeated Nightmare Moon, which, Twilight was amazed to discover, was the least intact of the entire castle, and had been the least important part: The main dining hall. The actual throne room lay much deeper within the castle, and she had never been able to venture past the ancient double doorway that led into the other sections. The castle itself was strangely intact. Upon inquiring on this, Twilight learned that Nightmare Moon had sequestered herself in the dining hall in the last few days of her reign, seeking to hide the Elements of Harmony from her sister within the castle by convincing her that the villainess had rearranged the entire structure. It had almost worked, too. If Celestia had come in the front entrance, she never would have found the Elements before Nightmare Moon had the chance to hide them on the moon, out of reach of her sister forever. As it was, Celestia had teleported into the original throne room, and had discovered the Elements as she worked her way back through the castle, to the dining room, where the final battle had taken place. The rest of the castle, however, apart from the dining room, had remained largely untouched. The red maned unicorn before her nodded. “I shall spend the night within the ruins, learning what I can about the past. You do not have to stay all night, but I do hope you’ll find the experience educational in the time you do spend there. Twilight considered for a moment. The tent was almost set up, and, with no further complications, she could be ready to go in a few moments. With all the excitement of the past few hours, she was sure the other would be turning in shortly, and therefore, that she wouldn’t be missed. Besides, this was a rare opportunity to examine the castle that had once been part of a major city of Equestria with someone there if the dark magic became too intense for her to handle alone. “Alright, let me finish up here, then I’ll tell the girls and we can go.” “Alright, then.” Nightsong pulled his hood over his head, and, for a moment, Twilight almost lost him in the fading light of, well, twilight! After they had finished putting up the tent, Twilight called over her friends. They all gathered around her in the fading light. “I’m going to examine the ruins with Nightsong. He’s going to camp out inside the castle, and has invited me to come and help him research. I-“ “Now hold yer horses there, Twi. Ah don't rightly trust that there unicorn. Fer all we know, the minute he gets yah alone, he’ll jump on yah!” Applejack eyed the unicorn, who had settled against a ruined wall and was cleaning his flute. Twilight rolled her eyes. “If you’re all so concerned, why don’t we all go camp in the ruins? I could just stuff the tent in an extra-dimensional space, and we could just pop it out when we get there.” All the others looked at her as though she had just had the craziest- and yet most brilliant- idea ever. All of them except Pinkie Pie, of course, who smiled and said, “That’s the most brilliant idea I’ve ever heard!” An hour later, Twilight had created the dimensional portal, though it had taken a bit of a struggle with her already somewhat-depleted magic reserves. They had all lined up behind the black unicorn stallion, who had put away his other instruments, and had begun humming quietly to himself, a slow, melodic melody that chilled them all to the bone. Suddenly, the humming stopped. “Before we go in there,” Nightsong said, not turning around,” I must warn you: No matter what you see, hear, or smell, do not scream, do not run, and do NOT, under ANY circumstances, look back. This castle itself isn’t evil, but evil has touched it, and all manner of creatures could be in there. Once we reach the throne room, or the temple, we should be safe.” “Hold up there, partner.” Nightsong turned to look at Applejack, his face blank. “What temple? Ya’ll never mentioned nothing’ ‘bout a temple.” “Ah, I almost forgot. The once great Temple of the New Moon was located somewhere in this castle. It was the last stronghold of Nightmare Moon’s, and, before that, Princess Luna’s strongest followers and supporters. The group has faded into obscurity over the years, but, during Nightmare Moon’s reign, they created the worst spells ever seen before or since. Some say their secrets are still locked in that temple, along with the bodies of the priests and zealots that fought the Equestrian Royal Army to the bitter end. They fought like demons, and it was rumored that a single New Moon priest could take down a legion himself. They hadn’t been expecting the castle to be raided, so they died without having prepared themselves. That’s the only reason why the raid succeeded. They priests were caught off guard, and slaughtered why they stood. One managed to get out the alarm, and took down several soldiers before being killed, but by then it was too late. The castle had been breached, and the Royal Army of Equestria poured into the castle, capturing and killing even as Celestia fought Nightmare Moon overhead.” Everyone paused to take this information in. “And you expect us to believe this place is SAFE?” Rainbow Dash flew straight into Nightsong’s face. She had heard some crazy stories, but being safe inside a temple full of the worst killers in history? Now that sounded a lot like a lie. “Of course! They weren’t evil. The Church of the Burning Sun is just as guilty, but, when Celestia won the war, she helped cover up their atrocities so that at least one church would remain, instead of two.” Seeing the disbelief on the mares’ faces, he chuckled. “’In war, the winners get to write the history.’” he quoted. Then, turning face the entrance to the castle, he lit his horn with the same red glow and led the troop inside.