//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: The Castle // Story: A Harmonic Sonata // by keaton-furman-prower //------------------------------// At long last, the group had finally arrived at the Castle of the Two Sisters. As the group stood just outside, they paused for a moment, nopony wanting to be the first one in. Even Sonata, who had spent so many years living in Canterlot Castle, couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the dark and foreboding nature of the castle. “Um… it’s really different from Canterlot,” she said finally. “Yeah, more like a haunted mansion,” said Tennis. “Really haunted.” “It’s really scary,” Fluttershy squeaked, looking up at the tall, crumbling spires. “It’s just a castle that’s been unused for hundreds of years,” said Amy. “There’s nothing living in there that could be dangerous.” Everypony stared at her incredulously, then pointed at the forest surroundings. “I mean, not any more dangerous than what we’ve already faced,” she said, her face glowing slightly pink. Sonata turned around to look at her friends, then looked back at the castle. “Well… I guess somepony has to go first,” she said finally. She took a deep breath, and began to walk into the castle. Her eyes then widened as an invisible force tossed her out, causing her to crash into the other five. For a moment, there were only groans of pain. Then, Sonata began to speak. “Canterlot Castle wasn’t this rude, either.” Slowly, the group began to pull themselves back up. Tennis and Glides got up first, grimacing as they rubbed themselves. Then, they helped pull Sonata and Amethyst up. Finally, Sugar and Fluttershy managed to get up. “That wasn’t something that a normal castle does, right?” asked Sugar. “If I had to guess, the castle has been enchanted to keep intruders out,” said Amy. “It makes sense, too. After all, if the princess wanted to protect the most powerful form of magic in the world, it wouldn’t be enough to just place them in an eldritch location where few would ever dare to enter. There would always be ponies too brave or foolish to be intimidated by the forest.” “So, she’s made it so we can’t enter the castle?” asked Glides. “That’s not good,” said Sugar. “How are we supposed to get the elements now?” Amy didn’t answer, but merely pointed her sonic screwdriver at the castle. She frowned as the gadget glowed, then put it away. “Well, that’s weird.” “What is?” asked Sonata. “The shield is extremely strong,” said Amy. “However, it also seems to be enchanted to allow a certain magic signature to pass through.” “What kind of magic signature?” The words had barely left Sonata’s mouth when her whole body began to glow with a light blue aura. She then gasped in shock as a white aura surrounded Amy, while a yellow one surrounded Tennis. Glides was surrounded by a dark blue aura, while Sugar’s was purple, and Fluttershy’s was pink. The six ponies then gasped in awe as they were lifted off the ground and slowly pulled into the castle. To their surprise, it was nowhere near as dark inside as they had imagined, as the intense sunlight was pouring through the many cracks in the ceiling. “Is anypony else confused by all this?” asked Sugar. “I think we all are,” said Glides. Finally, the magic dissipated, lasting just long enough to gently deposit the six ponies on the floor. As they got up, they all looked at each other with confused looks. “Did we… have the right magic?” Fluttershy asked. Unable to answer the yellow pegasus's question, Sonata contented herself with staring at the vast interior of the castle. “It’s so big,” The other ponies didn’t argue, and followed her as she walked through the halls. There was no doubt that the castle was huge, possibly even bigger than Canterlot Castle. Along the way there were several stained glass windows depicting Princess Luna, along with a different alicorn who could only be Princess Celestia. There were also several impressive tapestries, each with its own story to tell. Even the fact that the walls and columns were crumbling in several areas did not diminish its amazing architecture. “Impressive,” said Amy. “The castle has been constructed so well that the structure is still remarkably intact, even after a thousand years of disuse.” “Wow,” said Sonata. “It’s hard to believe… after all this time.” The blue earth pony’s thoughts went back to the time before she’d been banished. How she’d seen the Everfree Castle in all its glory, back when she and her sisters had- She snapped herself out. The last thing she wanted to think about at the moment was her sisters. “Hey,” Tennis said suddenly. “What’s that?” Sonata looked at the spot where the peach mare was pointing. She immediately noticed five strange circular stones sitting on a raised platform. “Do you think those are the elements?” asked Fluttershy. Sonata felt her heart racing as she began to run towards the stones. As soon as she reached them, she bent down to examine them. She turned each one over in her hooves, trying to determine if they truly were what she sought. “So,” Glides said as she landed next to her. “Are these the elements?” Sonata frowned as the others reached them. “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, there are the five stones here, and Zecora mentioned five elements. But these just look like rocks.” “Well, they’re definitely weird rocks,” said Sugar. “I mean, don’t you think they look like they were carved out by somepony?” “So, somepony carved out a bunch of rocks and now they’re going to help save Equestria?” said Tennis. As the six discussed what to do next, nopony noticed a shadowy essence crawling along the side of the room. “Let me think,” said Sonata. “Did Zecora say anything else?” “Well,” said Fluttershy, “She said that the five elements gathered around magic. What do you think that means?” “Maybe we need to apply some magic to them?” Amy suggested. “I think there’s more than that,” said Sonata. “When Luna talked about them, she said that there were six elements, not five.” “What?!” “That’s not all,” said Sonata. “She also said that the elements needed… friendship.” For a few moments, nopony spoke. They simply exchanged glances, trying to figure out what was wrong with the elements. “These element things are so weird,” said Tennis. “What exactly did Luna have in mind?” asked Glides. “I don’t know,” said Sonata. “But Luna told me that the elements needed friendship, so I’m thinking that if we work together, we can figure it out!” The other five mares looked at each other in confusion, before looking towards her with determination. She in turn smiled. “All righty! Let’s get these rocks working and save Equestri-” Before she could say any more, a great pillar of fire erupted in front of them. Yelling out in shock, the six ponies tried to back away, only for another one to erupt behind them. The two pillars were then joined by four more, trapping the ponies in a ring of fire. “What do we do now?!” yelled Fluttershy. Sonata wanted to speak, but she had no idea what to do. All she could do was watch as the flames burst higher and higher into the air. The six pillars then collapsed in on them, and the world went dark.