"I want to hear more about this 'Synchrony' that you mentioned, you mentioned it came back?" Luna asked.
I nodded.
"Synchrony just disappeared and reappeared, we couldn't find anything about it, we couldn't control it, it appeared on our Synchs mysteriously, like magic", I explained, frowning.
Celestia held up a wing to prevent her sister from pressing me any further.
"You mentioned the castle, I'm assuming that's where you met my little ponies", Celestia prompted, giving me a look of encouragement.
Okay...
-----
Upon entering the castle I felt a sudden chill, it could’ve been a draft or it could’ve been a spine chilling foreshadowing I felt. Either way, I could see the castle was bigger from within than it looked without.
I surveyed the area, taking in the smooth stone rounded by no doubt hundreds of years of rain and wind. To the sides, I could see worn and tattered red and gold tapestries with faded metalwork and struts barely supporting the walls between white-rimmed archways. Torches affixed on the walls still lay dormant and I wondered how long they were there and how long since anyone had visited.
Moving my gaze upwards and further I could see dilapidated steps above of which were two brilliant but faded tapestries depicting two winged unicorns. The left winged unicorn bearing the moon above in deep rich blue and the winged unicorn on the right bearing the run in golden brown hues. Somewhat awed, I stepped into the ceiling-less chamber and approached underneath the tapestries.
I was excited.
Civilisation definitely was nearby!
I scouted around, deciding to enter through one of the archways.
As I crept through the halls I spotted faded paintings. I suspected the paintings were a joke as they contained horses dressed in various military and dignitary outfits. They looked like horses but at the same time they did not. They were of various colours and shapes with wide almost disfigured eyes. It was… strange…
I continued down, getting a feeling that I knew exactly why this whole castle was abandoned. Whoever owned the castle beforehand had to be completely off their sugar. There were symbols of the former master’s (or maybe mistress') eccentricities everywhere I looked. In one room lay a grand organ with huge stretching pipes framed at the base with pegasi holding candles. Behind and around the aged structure were curtains, giving it an almost regal look, with the red carpet leading to the organ framed by whimsical music scores.
I almost considered going up to the organ and tapping a key or two but I held myself back. Defacing what was certainly an artefact of ages past would be a heinous crime just to sate mere curiosity. Reluctantly, I withdrew and continued along the hallway.
The end of the hallway took a sharp right then left and I spotted an open library of books. Surprised that the books had not succumbed to the weather and ages I quickly scanned the various titles and found that I could not read any of them. Surprised, I saw that the titles were made of strange hieroglyphs formed of symbols like horseshoes, lightning bolts, moons, swirls and a variety of other weird pictograms.
I sighed. Looks like I wouldn't be able to even pinpoint the location of where I was, even vaguely. I felt my throat constrict and my heart pound deeply. I had heard of stories in the past of people that were marooned for weeks or even months in areas the tracking satellites did not or could not reach. I nervously tapped my Synch but frustratingly found it was not there. Satellites could not even track me without it. I sighed again.
My unintentional brooding led me pacing aimlessly to a table with two seats arranged on the opposite sides. Even though the chairs and the table were uncomfortably small I still felt a sense of relief seep into my bones as I sat down and leant back. Almost tripping over, the chair yanked me back until I was forty-five degrees off the floor. A sudden jolt ran through the frame of the chair and amazingly to my right the shelves slid back with a mechanical groan and rumbling that set my teeth on edge. A passage opened up and I could see another archway, this time smaller and recessed into the wall.
Curiouser and Curiouser… I pondered as I wandered into the opening.
The small room was dark inside but I could glimpse a faint light at the end on the left. Ahead the sky was beginning to darken and a chill crept in again reminding me of my tree and small makeshift damp woodpile for my fire.
Ah forget it, I thought negligently. I'll just camp out here.
As I crossed the threshold the passage immediately began to close and before I could turn around and head back, the shelves slid back locking with a click.
Feeling a creeping chill shoot down my spine, I looked for a mechanism to trigger the sliding shelves but I couldn't find anything. Panicking, I tried to pry the shelves apart but to no avail. I was stuck here and the only option was to head forward.
Groaning I shifted and rolled my shoulders, blaming my stiff back on the uncomfortable sleeping position in the tree. The pains caught up with me, making me hesitant and stilted with every step. There were worse circumstances though, and I might be stuck here but at least it was warm.
Indeed as I approached the light that I found came from the windows, the room was less ominous and more welcoming. Off to the sides were various tasselled cushions with varying patterns of swirls and lines. I approached a golden one and lightly tapped it with my shoe. It assaulted me with a bit of settled dust however it appeared to be in perfectly dry and usable condition. A vase also sat to the left next to a bookshelf full of books, which had no readable titles.
The moon and sun motif adorned glazed windows and my eyes settled on the small triclinium on the right. Gratefully, I slunk to the triclinium, tossing off my shoes and relaxing on the comforting furniture. I was sore, battered and tired, the soft padding was old and musty but I cared not, feeling the softness and warmth give me a nice cozy feeling. From there the sun set and I sunk into a deep sleep.