Monster of the Monastery

by JesterOfDestiny

Chapter 5

The sun was now quite high in the sky. Some few hours before noon, the monastery’s denizens were still sleeping. I was leaning out the window, staring into the distance, listening to the birds and wondering how the monastery can remain hidden at day. I wasn’t wondering for long, because I could see two ponies walking around, swearing that they were at the right place, walking through the monastery’s walls as if they didn’t exist.

I should have been sleeping, we were going to be up all night. I just wasn’t sure if that was such a good idea after what happened back in the library. Bon Bon wasn’t sleeping either.

“You want me to make some tea for you?” She was concerned about me. The previous snarky attitude she showed towards Zao and me was now gone completely.

I shook my head silently.

She sat down next to me and put one hoof over my shoulder. “You were really scared back there,” she said, “I’ve never seen you so scared before.”

“It is so silly.” I said. “I know it was all just the wind and echoes and pareidolia, but somehow I convinced myself they were ghosts.”

“It’s not silly. Half of fear is imagination and you have loads of that.”

“Whatever, going into the forbidden library was utterly pointless.”

“Was it? Your suspicions were confirmed, that the pony of shadows is really just a trick.” She tried to comfort me with a benign lie.

“Not really. Until we know for sure that the book contains that one specific spell, nothing is confirmed.” I paused. “What’s the point of a forbidden library anyway? What’s the point of keeping books that you’re not allowed to read?”

“Well, there is information that is better off being hidden.”

“But why not just destroy the evidence? Why keep it documented?”

“Well somepony has to know about it, to prevent others from discovering it again.” She explained. “I guess, after the labyrinth library was built, they figured, they could use it to store such information.“

“I bet you could say a lot about the subject.” I remarked.

She did not dignify that with a response.

We sat there in silence for a while. We looked at the two ponies leaving the monastery, by walking right through the outside walls. A lot of time has passed since we were in the library, but I could still feel the fear inside me somewhere.

“I’m sorry for keeping you up, Bon Bon.” I said. “You can go to sleep.”

“No, it’s more important for me to make sure you’re okay.”

“I don’t know what you could do for me though.”

“Is staying here with you good enough?”

“Yeah, that should do.”

She rested her head against my shoulder and stared out the window with me. There was not much to look at, but we sure took a very hard look at it.

“You know,” I broke the silence, “I’ve been wondering something about you.”

“Whatever it is, I can’t tell you.” She dismissed any potential questions I could have.

But I asked away anyway. “When you were a secret agent, did you wear a suit?”

She was silent for a few seconds, but she answered eventually. “Yes.”

“What was it like?”

“It was comfortable, because it was specially designed to not hinder any movement.”

“Do you still have it?”

“You want to see it?”

“Heck yeah!”

“Sure, once we get home and make sure nopony’s looking.”

“Sweet!”

She lifted her head for a moment and looked at me. “I think you would look good in a suit as well.”

“You think so?”

“Of course! You’re not that feminine anyway, you could pull it off.”

“I was thinking about asking Rarity to make me one, but I wasn’t sure.”

“You should totally! When we get home, that’s the first thing we’ll do.”

“Nah, the first thing we should do is have some sleep.”

She brushed up against me again. “Feeling okay now?”

“Yeah, I think I just needed more of you.”

We sat there leaning against each other by the window. I took my lyre and improvised something calm and quiet, just to enhance the mood. Good thing I take my lyre everywhere. It’s like a portable sentimental atmosphere. That’s definitely what it did. It reminded me of the time she first heard me play. It was under the night sky, during the day, because that was the time of Nightmare Moon’s return. I like to play for the stars and those stars were ones I haven’t seen before, so I just had to play for them as well. At the time it was me who had to calm Bon Bon down.

She appreciated it now, just as much as she appreciated back then. It calmed me down as well. She sighed and was ready to fall asleep right there. I closed my eyes too and made an ending to my quick song.

But as soon as I put my lyre down, there was a knock on the door and Zao stepped in. Her face was visibly tired, but she had something to say, that couldn’t wait ‘till night.

“That was beautiful I’ve never heard somepony play the lyre so beautifully before.” She prefaced what she wanted to say then got straight to the point. “Anyway, I just want to say that I found something very important.”

“What is it?” I asked, while Bon Bon lifted her head off my shoulder, slowly blinking at Zao.

“Let’s meet in the scriptorium after breakfast,” Zao whispered, “or dinner for you, I guess. Nopony will be there at the time. I’ll tell you then.”

I nodded, while Bon Bon walked to her bed.

Zao was about to leave, but she had another thing to say. “I wasn’t interrupting anything, was I?”

“No, we were just about to go to sleep.” I replied.

“Okay. By the way, the beds here support only one pony.” She then left and shut the door behind her.

A moment of silence passed, but what Zao just said, did eventually hit us.

“Wait, did she just...?” Bon Bon stood there, holding a pillow.

I laughed. “Come on, I make for a good pillow.”

“Oh shut up.” She threw the pillow in my face. “We’ve had enough romance for today. Separate beds!”

I giggled and laid my head down onto the pillow she threw at me.

“Oh and stop looking at my butt!” She shouted and made me laugh.

A few hours passed, we were woken up by the bat ponies’ wake up call, towards the sunset. They were willing to give us food, but we had to go into a separate diner. Magma explained that the bat ponies were still distrustful of outsiders, but they didn’t want to miss their morning duties. Well, dusk duties. They wanted to make sure we’re not in the way. After dinner, we were allowed to roam the monastery freely, until the pony of shadows opens the gates again.

So we were in the guest diner. Magma also mentioned, that Zeuhl has suspicions, that somepony broke into the forbidden library during the day. Apparently Zao just discarded the map, which turns out to be outdated, when she finally figured out how to navigate the library. How does a building’s map become outdated? Don’t ask me.

“Were there any books missing?” I continued my questions.

“Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to say,” Magma replied, “but I can tell you that everything was just as Zeuhl has left it.”

“Wait,” Bon Bon interrupted, “why are we being told about this? Isn’t this the monastery’s business, that doesn’t concern guests?”

“That is true,” said Magma, “the only reason I wanted to talk to you, is because Zeuhl is sure it was you.”

“Really?” I tried to cover our hoofsteps. “We don’t even know where the bathroom is, how are we supposed to find our way around a labyrinth?”

“I don’t know, but Zeuhl is convinced that it was you. He might be paranoid and considers curiosity a threat, but I still trust him enough to not disregard his opinions.”

“You don’t think it was us, do you?” Bon Bon asked.

Magma thought hard about how to phrase what he had on his mind. “I can’t say anything, but let’s just say, I wouldn’t be surprised if that turned out to be the case.”

“We have our own suspicions though.” I said.

“Suspicions about what?”

“About who’s behind the pony of shadows.”

Magma sighed. “Look Lyra, you’re just going to have to let that go.”

“What? Why?”

“The doors will soon open back up and you will have to leave. You will have to accept not knowing something.”

“I’m sorry Magma, but doing such thing goes against my very being.”

“I understand that. But sometimes things are exactly as they seem and there’s no hidden knowledge to find. And when you try to uncover it, you may fall to dangers that do exist. Some monsters are real.”

“But the monastery! Are you fine with the monastery being hidden forever?”

“We could handle being hidden for a thousand years, we can handle more.” He stepped out the door and turned back to us. “Until then, I simply ask you to silence the questions inside of you. A curious mind is a dangerous mind.” He then left and closed the door behind him.

Oh how much I hate that logic. Curiosity isn’t something I can control, for one thing. But even if I could, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t be one of the leading anthropologists, I wouldn’t have saved ponies by finding the answers behind mysterious problems. Heck, Equestria wouldn’t be where it is, if ponies could just tone down their curiosity. I hate it when somepony tries to turn close-mindedness into wisdom and I will simply not stand for such acceptance of evil deeds. I wasn’t going to leave that monastery, until the pony behind the monster was revealed. And I was going to reveal them, whether Magma liked it or not.

After breakfast, to us dinner, we went to the scriptorium, just like Zao asked. Everypony was tending to their morning duties, so the scriptorium was empty. Just like Zao told us it would be. The only thing that was different from what she said, was meeting her. She wasn’t there. Maybe she just got caught up with her duties, maybe she’s having a hard time getting away without looking suspicious. Maybe she was currently trying to come up with a good excuse.

Well, none of that was the case. After waiting for like half an hour, the scriptorium’s doors swung open, revealing a very displeased looking Zeuhl. Well, more displeased looking than usual. Downright angry. He was holding a book under one of his wings and there was Zao behind her, looking very distraught.

“Not only were my suspicions correct, as they usually are,” Zeuhl talked with his usual pompous tone, but much louder, “but the already unclean image of one of the monastery’s denizens has been further filthied!” His voice echoed through the empty scriptorium.

He stepped closer to us, dragging Zao after himself, with the sheer force of his authority. “Zao told me everything you three have done in the morning!” He continued. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice anything?”

“I’m sorry Zeuhl,” I tried to be firm, “but we needed to find the spell that could be used to fake the pony of shadows.”

“There!” He opened the book and showed us the very spell the letter described. “Are you happy now?!” He put it back under his wing. “And might I point out, that it was Zao who delivered the book to me, revealing, that she somehow knew it was missing, in a moment of more absentmindedness than usual. She even had the brains to think I’d believe, that she just found it laying around the corridor.”

Zao was silent. She stared at the floor in complete shame.

“If I didn’t know you were leaving in a few minutes,” Zeuhl ranted, “then I’d rip you all in so many pieces, that not even my grandmother, who can solve a two thousand piece puzzle of the clear night sky, under an hour, would be able to pull you back together, even if she went back to a time where she could still see further than her own muzzle. And you Zao!” He shouted and turned to her. “You don’t have the privilege of leaving the monastery and will not be able to avoid whatever punishment I see fit for you!”

Zao slumped her entire body and she was on the verge of tears.

“Uhh, Zeuhl.” Magma stepped in quietly.

“What?!” He growled back.

“The gate is open, I’d like to escort our guests out.” Magma said quietly, as if he was scared of what Zeuhl could do to him as well.

“Good! Take these snivelling weasels out of my sight!”

We stepped out through the scriptorium’s doors. We briefly looked back. Zao was standing there, frozen in place. Zeuhl kicked both sides of the door and the scriptorium has closed with a loud bang.

“Is she going to be okay?” I felt so guilty about her.

Magma didn’t answer. He simply told us to follow him.

“I-it was us who convinced her to go into the library. It was our idea!” I tried to save her.

“Doesn’t matter,” Magma talked coldly, “peer pressure doesn’t absolve you of sin.”

“But we figured out who is behind the pony of shadows as well!”

He sighed. “Look Lyra, your search for answers betrayed the only pony here, who has fully trusted you. I don’t want to hear any more of this!” His voice was calm, but showed a sort of anger that’s even worse, when it comes from somepony like him, due to its rarity.

We arrived at the gate. Magma held one side of the door for us. Bon Bon stepped outside, but I refused to leave until I get to reveal the pony behind the monster. I stood there for a few seconds staring at the floor, thinking of what to say. Magma waited for me sympathetically, but impatiently.

“I’m sorry,” I lifted my gaze to him, “but I refuse to leave, until we can carry out Luna’s will.” I stood solidly, like the most stubborn child. “This monastery will be open!”

Magma didn’t have time to object, because the doors slammed open by themselves and the pony of shadows appeared again.

“LEAVE!” It roared.

But I knew it was just a pony with no real knowledge of magic, so I boldly stepped up to it. “Drop the facade, I’m not scared of you! I know who you are!”

That is when it did something I did not expect. It fired a magic beam at me. In a quick surge of energy, I could conjure a shield to block it, though the beam was still strong enough to knock me back. I was on the floor and it was about to shoot another one. Then out of nowhere, Princess Luna landed in front of me and effortlessly blocked the second beam.

“Cease this, monster! We shall have answers!” She yelled in her traditional Canterlot voice, followed by a clear echo.

The monster roared and then retreated into the shadows.

Bon Bon ran up to me. “Lyra, what were you thinking?! That thing could have killed you!”

“I didn’t expect it to do that.” She helped me up. “Wait, the shield, how did I do that?”

Luna stepped up to me and directed a very stern look at Magma. “Gather everypony involved with the incident. The unicorn shall give us answers!”