Flutter Mane-ia

by Emerald Skysoar


The Setting Sun

Chapter One: The Setting Sun

Deep within the depths of Everfree Forest, the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters stood proud. The once beautiful capital, rusted by the sands of time, was a grand sight to behold. Several species of moss had taken root along its many crumbling walls, coating the surface with varying shades of viridian. Its spires were still erect, defying the tests time had given them, shooting high up into the foggy sky. Large and jagged masses of dull grey brick littered the ground around the gaping entrance, fortifying the structure with an ominous sense of foreboding, almost to signal visitors were not welcome.
 
On this fateful day, the newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle and her faithful assistant Spike had business in the old castle. In light of returning the elements, the young alicorn was hoping to reveal the secrets of the locked chest the Tree of Harmony had given her. She casually walked through the opening, too caught up with excitement to realize that she was not wanted.
 
Her assistant however, did. “T-T-Twilight, I don’t have a good feeling about this.” said the baby dragon with a shaky voice, stopping to stare at the room they found the Elements of Harmony.
 
Slightly annoyed, the alicorn turned around and responded, “Don’t worry, Spike. There's nothing to be afraid of here. Unless dust bunnies terrify you." She smirked, and continued, "Besides, think of the books! Something in here is bound to help us open that mysterious locked box.” Receiving low mumbles as her answer, she took that as a sign to continue their march into the decrepit building. She entered the cavernous arch with the purple dragon close behind, slowly fading from view of the outside.
 
Soon the large opening quickly drew very close together, almost as if trapping the duo in the old castle. Then, almost magically, the narrow hallway they were walking through quickly expanded into a large entrance hall. The Sun filled the room through the broken ceiling with its plentiful rays, highlighting the ruin of the castle. Nearly all the walls were cracked, as if they cried in pain from countless years of weight on their shoulders. Ancient sconces hung on to their positions by a thread. Pillars were barely able to stay in place, becoming tipsy with even the slightest of breezes. On the ground lay debris of differing sizes, washed in a field of small, blooming yellow flowers. The air smelled very strange; a mixture of the sweet smelling flowers and malodorous mildew and mold, with a flair of something even fouler. Every few moments, they could hear a groan from the straining structure. Other than that, the castle was dead silent. Six arches broke the agonizing brick, opening into the unknown. Deeper in was a small staircase that would lead to more mystery on the second floor.

Above all of this hung two large tapestries, gazing down on the battle scars littering the room. One was a mustard yellow color, and the other a dusty blue. Both were ragged, torn, and even chewed in some places. Twilight recognized the faded insignia of the old capital on them, lamenting briefly on the collapse of sisterhood and state a thousand years prior before continuing to press on. With no idea where the royal library was, Twilight went down the first path to the left, with a very scared dragon trailing close behind.
 
As fate would have it, they ended up searching nearly all the paths. Many stretched deep throughout the castle, filled with numerous branching paths and rooms with an assortment of oddities. It wasn't long into their venture when they sprung their first booby trap. In her letter, the Princess did mention that the old ruins were filled with many devices to ensure nopony would steal from the old capital. It only took a fall into a spontaneously opened pitfall for Twilight to remember to cast the disarming ward on Spike and herself. With that done, they pressed on with no event. Sooner or later they ran into a dead end and went back to the main hall and down another path. They had found a number of notable rooms along the way, including the old barracks, kitchen, private chambers, many small sitting rooms, an organ room, a cider cellar, and even the destroyed throne room, but no library. By now it was late into the afternoon, and the two worried they would not find it before nightfall and would have to return the following day. However, just when they were about to turn away, their path opened into an ancient room filled with an abundance of information.
 
Upon entering the library, the pair were hit with the pungent scent of old paper mixed with various animal feces blended with the overwhelmingly strong presence of dust. The vile mix of these made both Spike and Twilight to cough and sneeze as their bodies adjusted to their new environment. When the shock cleared, the alicorn and her dragon analyzed the dilapidated room. Innumerable old tomes abounded countless shelves that lined all the walls. They were organized into several towering aisles that reached up to the ceiling of the tall room creating a number of sections. Each section had a faded label, containing more and more knowledge from the bygone society, eagerly awaiting somepony to absorb them. Grand tables with chairs were placed like islands for refuge in the large ocean of wisdom. And in the back, a few small windows let in the ever-dimming sunlight that soaked the room in gold.
 
In Twilight’s eyes, it was like she died and went to a wonderland filled with unimaginably ancient, magical info. She gasped at the amazing sight with awe etched on her face. Her eyes lit up as they scanned the room, taking in the splendor of the scene. Then delight swept over her face as she happily flew forward into the academic’s paradise, moving from shelf to shelf exclaiming “WOW! Look at all these ancient books! It’s a veritable goldmine of information! I can’t believe it! Woohoo!!”
 
Now to Spike, a different scene was shown, one that was rather daunting. The decrepit expanse of books, tables, and shelves told him that this endeavor was going to be impossible. With his keen dragon eyes, he was able to get a much more accurate display of the numerous residents that had taken lodging in the abandoned study. Deadly star spiders, rodents and—the most dreaded of all—vampire bats glared at him menacingly with shining eyes from their various hiding spaces. It took all he had not to bolt out of this spooky castle and go back to the library in Ponyville where it was safe. But he knew Twilight needed him, and by his dragon code and his friend code, he would help her——even if it killed him...
 
So, with his trepidation evident, he began to step tentatively into the room, making his way ever so gently to the purple alicorn. Upon his arrival, (after a disapproving look from Twilight) they went to work immediately, going through the endless supply of books in search of anything that would tell them about the box, and in Spike’s words: get them out of this creepy castle.
 
Every so often, Spike would feel a very strange presence, but when he turned around to find nothing, he just assumed it was his fear getting the better of him. This thought ceased when he saw something move in the corner of his eye while he was looking through a book. Even though it was just a glimpse, he could have sworn it was a pony, but it was washed in shadows. The apparition surprised the baby dragon so much that he jumped back and fell straight on his head. Seconds later, he slowly opened his eyes to find he was face to face with a menacing, stone alicorn statue crawling with blood-thirsty star spiders. With a yelp of fear, he jumped back and ran to hide behind an absorbed Twilight. Done with this place, he quivered behind her and shakily asked “S-so T-twilight, are y-you r-r-ready to g-g-go home n-now?”
 
Twilight blinked, having lost her train of thought for a moment. “I’m sorry Spike, but we need to go through some of these books.” She explained as she walked to a nearby table, with her faithful assistant sticking to her side at all times. “If there’s anything that can aid us in opening that box, it has to be here.” She finished before using her magic to levitate several books off their shelves. “Now then, let’s continue. We could be here all night.”
 
Spike’s eye twitched as his pupils shrunk. “A-a-all night?!
 


 
Meanwhile, outside the castle, two more ponies just arrived. One, a stark white unicorn with a dazzling, light indigo mane. Her milky coat made her almost invisible as she walked across the misty rope bridge. The other one was a buttery yellow pegasus with a flowing pink mane, who cowered at the edge of the cliff as the other walked towards the looming structure.
 
"Um, Rarity? Don't you think it's a little late in the day to be walking through the forest? It is the season of the vampire fruit bats, after all. A-and they can be very territorial… though, I-I'm sure you have a very good reason." Fluttershy stuttered as she trekked over the precarious bridge, the shy pony nervously looking down, half expecting something to jump out from the dark chasm beneath her.
 
“Oh I’ll have you know that it is simply the most important reason I've ever had in my entire life!” Rarity proclaimed dramatically, walking closer to the entrance.
 
The shy pegasus gave her friend a small smile. “O-Oh, well in that case I'm happy to help. W-What is it?” She asked.
 
“Well, I've heard rumors that the Castle of the Two Sisters is filled with the most gorgeous of ancient tapestries in all of pony history! It pains me to think of those magnificent creations rotting away in those old ruins, totally unappreciated.” She said, putting her hoof over her head dramatically. “So I’ve decided to...um...borrow one or two of them so that I may restore them to their former glory!” She proclaimed with confidence before turning to the shy mare. "Plus it also helps to have some company." She added while giving her a reassuring smile and then entered the wide open gate.
 
Fluttershy smiled back warmly. "Oh, I see... well that does sound very important... I'll be happy to help." Fluttershy sighed as she followed her friend towards the entrance hall through the narrow passage. Personally, she would have paid any amount of bits just to be back at home with Angel Bunny, but she kept the thought to herself. 'After all, all she needs is some old cloths...' She thought to herself. 'I can just help her get them and get out of this spooky castle...'

Within moments of walking through the narrow opening, it opened abruptly into a large room, and they were hit with the strong scent of the time-tested building. As their sensitive noses adapted to the new aroma, the two looked around at the deplorable state of the thousand-year-old structure.
 
“Oh how marvelous!” exclaimed Rarity as she spotted the two tattered banners blowing slightly from a stray breeze. “But these simply will not do. Surely there is a larger, more magnificent fabric elsewhere in this grand castle. Come Fluttershy, let the search for the perfect tapestry begin! We will not rest until we find the most suitable fabric and save it from this dirty place!” With that, she walked over to a path and began going down it.
 
‘Oh dear!’ thought Fluttershy as she saw Rarity disappear behind the veil of darkness in the pathway. The archway holding the hallway in place was cracked severely in several places and seemed very unstable. ‘Who knows what kind of scary things could lurk inside?’ Fluttershy quivered as she thought of all the scary things that could dwell in the passageway. But once again she was reminded that her friend needed her help, and she would help her.
 
With those thoughts in mind, she hesitantly followed her friend inside...
 


 
“Whelp, here we are!” Applejack said as Rainbow Dash and her stepped inside the wide hall. It had been a tiresome day of challenges for the title of The Most Daring Pony, and after all the weird things she did today, the orange mare didn’t even notice the horrid smell.
 
“Ehh, what’s so daring about this place? This is where we got the Elements of Harmony.” Rainbow asked coolly as she walked around to examine crumbling ruins scattered across the floor. After a challenging day against her rival she too failed to notice the smell due to her fatigue. The rainbow pegasus was determined to make the numerous trials worth it by adding the title of The Most Daring Pony to her already long list of titles.
 
"Just shut it, I'm getting to that." AJ snapped. After a second of composure and a roll of the eyes from Rainbow Dash, she started her story. “When I was just a filly,” began Applejack speaking slowly and ominously, “Granny Smith told me of an ancient legend.” At this point she climbed the stairs and continued “When Nightmare Moon was banished, not every last bit of her dark magic went with her. Granny used to say, when night falls on the castle, that magic takes the form of——The Pony of Shadows.” She waved her hooves in a menacing motion to heighten the frightening tale.
 
“You mean like a ghost?” interrupted Rainbow Dash. She was skeptical about the whole thing, but whatever this challenge would bring, she was ready for it.
 
“Nopony knows.” Responded Applejack ominously. “But some say, it takes the form of a rabid bat pony, using its sharp fangs to suck the life out of any pony that dares enter its domain.” She said, trying her hardest to make the words sound spooky.
 
“Ugh” was her only response as Dash walked over to a random path on the right side. “Let’s get this challenge over with. The sooner you get scared off, the sooner I get my title. I’ll take this side, you take the other side. We meet back here at sunrise. Last pony standing earns the title. I’ll see you back in Ponyville after I win.” And with that, she simply walked off, her multicolored mane swallowed by the rising shadows.
 
“Sometimes I can’t believe the arrogance of that pony.” Applejack muttered, shaking her head. “But no matter, if any pony’ll win, it’ll be me.” And with those words, she slowly proceeded down the last path on the left side, just as the final rays of light were stifled on the horizon, bathing the land in total blackness.