Book Two: Chapter Six
“Why does it seem like we could still eat off of all of this stuff?” You asked, holding a small teacup in your hand. Twilight was wandering around the rest of the dining room trying to figure out the very same thing. Dust just didn't seem to like this home enough to settle on anything.
You had searched every room on the ground floor and found only marvelous pictures, marvelous craftsmanship and whatever else could be described as marvelous. This place was far beyond privileged and you almost felt like a filthy peasant for even walking its halls.
You placed the teacup back down on the table covered in plates and all sorts of ceramics and turned to see what was keeping Twilight so quiet. She was simply deep in thought as she rounded the room again and again, your eyes staying with her. “Hey, Twilight?”
“Yes?” She doesn't break her thought for a second regardless of the acknowledgment.
“Maybe we should head to the basement? I don't think Spry is anywhere around here,” you had past a door leading down to below ground level a few hallways back and you knew that that was the only place left that you could search, though you knew that Spry was more than likely up on the second floor.
“Okay,” she broke from her thoughtful state in an instant when you suggested another place to search, and she was all cheery smiles again. You responded in turn with giving your own encouraging grin.
You exited the dining room swiftly and tried to remember all the halls you had come through. They tended to dissect through one another quite often, with paintings on the walls of regal looking lords and lady ponies and several small tables under those being the only set pieces to get any sense of familiarity.
The painting with the bearded pony painting you had past for sure. The one that snazzy mare with the long title printed under the artwork was another familiar face.
“You remember where the door to the basement was in this place, right?” You finally asked, giving up on trying to remember yourself.
“If I remember correctly, it should be after this next corner,” how many times had she bailed you out in the halls of Canterlot castle? It was no surprise she would have an idea as to where you were going.
There was the door, smoothed and polished wood only slightly worn. Despite what it was made out of, it seemed cold and when you opened it last time you passed by to see nothing but steps leading down into the darkness.
You opened it again by pushing it and gazed down into the uninviting darkness once more. You were supposed to be down there already on your own, but you would have needed Twilight with you anyway, since there seemed to be no source of light in the blackness.
“After you?” You suggested with a modest gesture of your arm, “I can't make light or anything...”
She winked slyly with a simple, “I know,” and took the first step down. Her horn began to glow as you stepped down after her. Nothing but stairs and carved stone walls greeted you both, a rather plain view compared to the rest of the lavish home.
You both stepped down and down as the descent continued. You couldn't believe how far down these stairs were going, even for a place of this size, this was almost inane.
“This is getting really old...” You moaned, nearly missing a step. You made sure you had a hand on the wall at all times after that.
“I know how you feel,” Twilight said, “have I ever told you about when I was in the Crystal Empire?”
“Uhh, no,” you stammered out, “was there a lot of stairs?”
“You wouldn't believe,” You hoped it would end with that, but things rarely went how you hoped they would. “Maybe I should take you there sometime-oh!” Apparently that was right when the steps ended, for Twilight had dragged a hoof over the ground and had tripped ahead in what looked to be an open area. The light from her horn flickered once before returning to its stable state.
You hopped down from the last few steps after her, kneeling down to pick her back up. You made sure she was okay as she nuzzled your neck lightly. You huffed out a heated breath in response as you suddenly felt faint. She knew how to get you riled up in an instant.
You released her after a moment and switched your focus to the area ahead. Twilight took a few steps forward and the light from her horn finally bounced off the surface of something. Something that made you and her both gasp in awe.
What you saw was the largest bookshelf ever, its height going well beyond any of Twilight's light. You rounded the side of the shelf and saw rows of them aligned with this one, stretching out of Twilight's horn's radius as well. This entire chamber was a library, and it was easily the biggest one you'd ever been in. Who in the world could have had a use for all of this?
“Are you seeing this?” You asked in disbelief.
“Y-yes...” You looked at Twilight who seemed to be having some sort of episode. She loved her books, you knew, and this was like unearthing gold for her.
“I don't think Spry would be down here,” you noticed the books were just as untouched as the rest of the house from the residues left by time. You pulled a book out from one of the many shelves before you, but before you could open it or look at it, Twilight prompted you to bring it to her. Best to do as she asked when it came to books.
You held it before her as she read the cover. “A history of Saddleworth and its Lords,” she studied it for a second before motioning for you to open it. You did quickly, going to the first chapter of the book. “Fascinating... it seems Saddleworth was here even before Equestria was founded.”
“How does that work?” You asked, looking back at the shelf. All these books seemed to be pertaining to the history of Saddleworth in one way or another. This city must have really been something important back then.
“Flip the page, please,” she asked politely, and you obliged. “Hmm... apparently this was once a bastion for the unicorns before the other pony races came together to form Equestria...”
“That's great,” you quipped, “a lot of these books are about Saddleworth.”
“Really?” She popped her head up over the book you were holding before her and she scanned the shelves. She nearly gasped when she confirmed what you had told her. “This is going to take forever to read...”
“You're not actually going to read all of these? I mean, aren't we already breaking and entering?”
“Well, we could bring a few. What's the harm, anyways? Nopony is going to read all of these and-” you might have kept listening to her if something hadn't caught your eye.
There, in between the books of the bookshelf, right off the top of their leather bound backs, was a flickering flame. You stared at it further trying to discern the area it was illuminating, but couldn't make out much more than the flame. “Hey,” you began, “look right here.” You knelt down to her height but found that the flame was obscured at this elevation.
“What exactly am I suppose to be looking at?” Twilight had been slightly irritated upon realizing that you had ignored her for a long moment.
“Just follow me.”
You cut between the bookshelves and headed in the direction where you saw the flame. Twilight stopped almost every other second, attempting to snatch a book from the shelf, but each time left you in the dark for a short second as she levitated them in front of her. You reminded her of why you were there, and she finally stopped. “Maybe when we get this all sorted out?” You suggested at one point.
You found the wall to the darkened library finally, smooth like marble, but certainly not as pretty as such a material. You found a few wooden chairs up against the wall, but more importantly, the flickering light was clearly in your vision now.
You walked up to what was a small reading desk with a lit candle that made the shadows of a closed book laying the center dance about its surface magnificently. It was almost hypnotizing. There was something about the way fire and shadows worked that always made for an enchanting scene.
Twilight was already looking at the book while you watched the flame flicker. “Horrors of the North,” she flipped the cover open and read the title page, “an account on the hardships one faced during darker times in these harsh lands.”
“Sounds like quite the read,” you commented, uninterested.
“Somebody was here reading this recently, it could be something important. May I please just read a little bit? I won't be long,” she wasn't looking at you, instead she began to flip a page magically and began reading the book silently.
“You already started, so I guess I can't really stop you now,” you slump up against the wall and began to hum a melody to yourself to pass the time.
“Oh no...” Twilight said after a while, something bothering her, “this isn't good.”
“Hmm?” You were nearly dozing off at this point, but were back in reality in just a split second.
“It's the book! It says-” suddenly, multiple voices could be heard bouncing off the many bookshelves of the library. They sounded worried and frightful.
You made out Blues' voice from the sound. “What is down here?! Why are you going here, father?!”
“What isn't down here? This place is glorious!” The silly old voice of Spry answered his son a belated laughter.
You looked at Twilight, questioning whether or not she was going to continue. She finally gave a grunt and closed the book, floating it over to you for safekeeping so she could illuminate the two of you once more. “It can wait, but not too long.”
You told her you understood and went back the way you came, searching for Blues, Spry, and Cadence. Before you could even get into sight of the other group, something rather unfortunate happened.
You heard a loud “oof!” and you froze for a single second. As you and Twilight were about to continue moving, the sound of two hard surfaces crashing against each other filled the air, followed about another. You couldn't see with the limited light, but the ground around you soon began to vibrate in accordance with the crashing that caught in your ears.
“I think we should hurry,” Twilight commented with her ears perked up and reacting to every sound.
You only grumbled in irritation as you began to move again with her down the rows of bookshelves. Well they weren't rows for long, for they were the source of the sound you were hearing. They were toppling like giant walls of words upon you and by the time you realized it, the domino effect had already reached you.
The shelf to your left began to lean heavier and heavier towards your direction, on the verge of crashing into its comrade to the right. You heard Blues voice again, but that wasn't really a concern, since you were in yet again another dangerous situation brought on by horrid luck.
Books began to fall from the shifting shelves, threatening to hinder your escape in the hopes that you would catch one on your foot and fall. You stayed standing however, and kept running straight ahead, unsure if you were going to make it as your salvation was diluted in darkness.
Just as the shelf crashed into the other by your right side, you fell to your knees and began crawling with only one available arm. You cursed aloud as it slowed your progress quite significantly. Twilight had not been forced to slow, however, for she was much closer to the ground then you were naturally.
Instead of rushing on ahead though, she slowed down for you and that's what bothered you the most. “Go! Please!” You implored, desperately trying to get her away.
“No! We're almost out, I can see it!” She was dead serious, and it wasn't like there was time for an argument.
You were close like she had said. As you tore your eyes from her, you noticed that her horn's light registered the stairs you had come down from. That was all the incentive you needed to pick up your feet, tossing the book that you carried in your hands ahead and struggling towards the break on all fours.
It all happened in a split second and you found yourself leaping forward, hitting the steps hard with your chest and stomach. You croaked out in pain and relief as your hands reached for Twilight to make sure she was with you.
You held each other on the steps, recovering from the latest disaster to have crossed your path. You knew the library was left in shambles now, even though you couldn't see any farther than past your feet a few yards. The book “Horrors of the North” laid opened at the bottom step of the stairs, seemingly undamaged despite your rather rough treatment of it just seconds before.
“Where are you?” You called out as you cupped your hands around your mouth for better volume.
“Over... over here!” You hear Blues answer after a long moment.
You stepped over one of the shelves, placing your foot in between each break in the old wood. You felt yourself atop more than a dozen books as you crossed the library in the direction where you heard the worried earth pony's voice.
Twilight made it her mission not to damage any books at all, choosing to step on the spinal regions of the shelves, regardless of the lack of hold they had on her hooves. More than one you had to put a hand on her back to steady her.
A faint pink light broke out from the corner of your eye like a beacon through the darkness. You pointed Twilight towards it and you both eventually met up with Cadence who was the source of the light. She and Spry stood over a grunting Blues who seemed to have sustain some sort of injury.
“Blues... I'm sorry,” Spry whispered to himself and his son. His tone had changed from cheerful ignorance to a much more sober and pained voice. That was all you needed to hear to know that the old coot had been the cause of what had happened here.
“I think... I think I broke my hind leg,” his son groaned out while trying to roll onto his side.
“They both ran ahead,” Cadence began to explain, “apparently the old one ran right into one of these large shelves and sent the whole place toppling. His son was caught under one of the shelves until I freed him.”
“Shouldn't we take him to some sort of medical place?” You asked as you knelt down to find Blues' leg twisted a bit far to the left. You tried not to let it bother you too much, but the sight wasn't pretty.
“Th-that would be nice,” Blues coughed out.
“We should. Would you mind carrying him?” Twilight asked of you after a second. You nodded and let her take the book out of your possession since Cadence was the one providing light now.
You carefully put Blues over your back. He weighed more than you thought, but it was your own fault for not suspecting that he wouldn't be. You finally said, “let's go, before he breaks my back.”
“Oh, ha.. ha..” Blues answered from behind.
You slowly crossed back the way you came and slowly ascended the stairs that you thought would never end. Once you did get back to ground level, you stopped to take a break. Blues didn't complain, he seemed to understand what carrying somebody up stairs did to one's strength.
After a moment you continued again, exiting the estate the way you had came. You expressed concern over the roof, but Twilight insisted that no one would particularly care. If looters had not come already, then it seemed that none would. Instead, she insisted that she talk to you about whatever she read in the book after you get Blues to the clinic.
Spry, staying true to his uncanny familiarity of the town, guided you to a small private practice clinic near one of the walls of town. It wasn't very impressive, but it was still more than what Canterlot had. You were still surprised by the lack of medical professionals in Canterlot to this moment, but with all the medical experts showing up immediately, you made the assumption that something had happened to have them come together before.
After the receptionist inside saw the state Blues was in, she immediately brought a stretcher and a collection of documents for him to sign. It went quicker than they could have hoped as you took the quill and wrote down his information yourself as Blues told it to you. You handed it over to him when the time came for him to sign his signature, which he did slowly and with his mouth holding the writing utensil.
As soon as that was done with, he was carted off back with his father following so they could see about helping him recover from his current condition. You and Twilight waited in the lobby, silent for a long while.
You suddenly broke the silence with a quiet whisper to the silent unicorn. “You wanted to show me something, right?”
“Oh, yes I did,” she levitated the book over to you, placing it on your lap, “I think it would be easier if you just read it,” she flipped it to the page you needed to see and pointed to a paragraph, “you'll know when to stop.”
You nodded solemnly and proceeded to read through the old book's pages.
Northern Equestria has been one of the longest populated areas in history. It's habitation dating well before the land was ever in the jurisdiction of the later founded Equestria. Its largest city, Saddleworth has sat as a jewel, protected by the outside threats of the north by its walls.
I myself, am a native of the giant of a city. Born and raised within its boundaries, it was natural to grow curious about what laid beyond those high reaching walls. When I came of age, I traveled outside of the city for the first time in my life, completely clueless to whatever living was like outside. Why, this was one of the reasons I wrote this book, so that nopony would ever head out blind into the cold and brutal north without any idea ever again!
You read on about the author's adventures out in the wilderness, and his many life threatening encounters. At one point, he was stuck up in a tree while a bear threatened his life from below. You kept giving Twilight looks, unsure of what had bothered her so, but she only insisted that you read on.
Eventually, things grew much more interesting as the author had just uncovered ruins that did not look like any architecture he had ever seen before in his life.
The ruins were strange at first glance. Nothing that seemed to be of pony origin. I couldn't be sure, however. I was about as sheltered as one could be at the time, so everything was extremely foreign to my young and cloistered mind.
I entered the strange ruins against my better judgment and was taken aback by the beauty that were these abandoned foundations. It was around this time that I discovered that these were indeed the remnants of some pony building.
It appeared to be some sort of monastery, as some old wall art hinted at worship revolving around the sun and the moon. Perhaps this was a time before all ponies were aware of our glorious princess Celestia and her banished sister? If so, then each sunrise and sunset must have been truly overwhelming for them. The poor creatures.
As I ventured further within, something began to concern me. The wall art slowly grew from religious symbolism, to something much more dark and sinister.
What was simple images of ponies around the sun and moon turned to cities on fire and war erupting with black skies overhead. It took me awhile to recognize some of the places, but I noticed Canterlot within the center of it all from atop its glorious mountain.
Black silhouettes dotted the land surrounding the capital of Equestria, their obvious intent on marching all the way up the mountain. My first thought was that this had happened at some point long before I was born, but then I noticed that the art continued well beyond those dark images.
Soon, those dark images gave way to ones that showed flames and a broken sun, almost as if princess Celestia had been damaged. I knew it was some sort of prophecy now. A prediction.
Despite the broken sun, the silhouettes seem to leave, meaning whatever tragedy they had believed would happen would have been averted quickly and with only the damage done being that to the sun.
After that, I was really taken aback when what was obviously Saddleworth was brought into focus. The city behind the walls was just as prominent as Canterlot was to these ponies, and I found myself swelling with pride. I continued to study the images despite this, my distress only growing.
Following the silhouettes and Canterlot came the image of Saddleworth being berated by what seemed like black winds. Was it plague? Was it a natural disaster in the works? This wouldn't worry me, for we had magic on our side to protect us from most dangers, but then I noticed that the damaged sun loomed well over the city. If these ponies are correct, whatever happened at Canterlot would soon be followed by something quite malevolent setting its sights on my home.
It still bothers me to this day, so many years after. I know I shouldn't let it, but there was something in that art that made me shiver. If this doesn't happen during my lifetime, then I pray whoever it happens to, whenever that may be, will make it through this alive.
Whatever those black winds bring, whatever happens to the broken sun, remain resilient. I have a feeling that if or when this occurs, you'll need to be the strongest you've ever been.
Anyways! Upon leaving...
You closed the book with a fleeting glance towards Twilight. She seemed serious, and you could now understand why. It seemed like whatever was on those walls in those ruins was indeed an accurate depiction of recent events.
“How old would you say this book is?” You asked with a nervous gulp.
“Show me the cover page,” she commanded quickly. You responded by doing just that for her, “from what I can see, it was published nearly three hundred years ago!”
“Uh huh... and that's just the book. We don't even know how old those ruins are that this pony was looking at. Hey wait...” something just caught your mind, “seems a bit strange that the book was just out there for us to see, don't you think?”
“It does seem quite peculiar. Somepony had to be there before us reading that book. The question is, who was it?” She began to go over all the possibilities, none being too likely. At one point, she even had the strangest guess you had ever heard involving a time paradox. You told her you were pretty sure it wasn't anything like that.
“Is there something we can do at least?” You finally asked after the brainstorming session was over.
“We can tell my brother... maybe he and Cadence could at least protect the city with their... love,” the word rolled off of her tongue with a bit of hesitation.
“Yeah, I guess,” You weren't looking forward to your next encounter with Twilight's brother, but at least it would be backed behind good reason.
“Aww, he'll learn to like you, I promise,” you hugged each other and you gave her a questioning look. “Think Spry and Blues will care if we leave?”
Twilight peeked down the hall that they had taken Blues. “I'm sure they wouldn't mind. We aren't exactly obligated to stay here, you know.”
“It's always nice to be courteous, I suppose,” you shrugged as your decision was made.
As you both got up to leave, a young colt in the waiting room along with his father suddenly rushed towards the window of the clinic screaming. “Dad! You've got to see this! It's snowing!”
“That doesn't sound right,” his father commented, coming up to his side and then gasping. “I need to check the calender when we get home...”
You and Twilight exchanged eyes that screamed curiousity. You both quickly hurried to the exit to confirm what you had just heard and you were left staring.
It was indeed snowing, if only lightly.
It was quite early for this kind of weather. You stepped outside and looked up into the sky, suddenly chilly. Clouds hung heavily over Saddleworth, sprinkling the white flakes lightly upon the city.
Ponies stepped out from the houses, looking upwards as well in disbelief that this was indeed happening. They knew something wasn't right. It seemed to bother them and it sure as hell bothered you. It seemed to bother Twilight even more.
Talking to Shining Armor again didn't seem like such a bad idea anymore.