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Chapter 3

The last part of the drive lasted a little more than half an hour, but was still enough time for the outside world to change considerably.

The sun was now gone and the the moon was beginning to rise over the large, intimidating trees. The fog was beginning to thicken, but Night reassured everyone that they should get there before it got too thick to see. Aside from the sound of tires on the dirt road, the only other sounds were that of owls hooting and ravens cawing.

"There it is everybody!" Velvet shouted as the castle came into view.

The girls headed to the windows and felt their jaws drop as they approached the structure. To say it was big would be a gross understatement, as it had risen and widened from generations of building off of the original structure.

They stopped at a set of iron gates as Night reached his hand out of the window before zapping the gate with a yellow beam. The gate opened with a loud creak, allowing them to continue in.

Finally, Velvet pulled up into a paved pavilion, rich in front of a statue of a beautiful woman in old armor riding a dragon! She was holding out her arm, on which a stone owl was perched.

"Last stop everyone!" Velvet called, parking the bus. Shining parked his own car just a little ways behind them.

Everyone quickly filed out and stood in awe and fear of the ginormous structure. High pointed rooftops seemed to poke the fabric of the sky as gargoyles glared down at them. The stone was old but still standing strong. Vines seemed to crawl up the walls and the windows appeared to be looking over them. Hanging each side of the door were tapestries depicting a black owl on a dark blue background between two silver lines.

"Woah..." Rainbow muttered, causing several of the others to nod in agreement.

"Everyone..." Night spread out his arms, "Welcome to Nightholde! The ancestral home of my family for nearly a thousand years!" He announced proudly, before gesturing to the statue. "This is none other than Dame Andromeda the Shadow and her dragon Nightglider! She was given this land for her services to the crown after she and her dragon led a charge against an invasion."

"Awesome..." Rainbow gasped.

"She's also where I got my middle name..." Grumbled Twilight.

Smiling with amusement, Velvet went up to join her husband. "It is said her ghost and the spirits of all those of her family still roam these very halls!"

"D-do they?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

Twilight put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I've been here plenty of times before and haven't seen or heard anything!"

"But that was before you got you power, right?" Pinkie pointed out.

"W-well, yes, but-"

"There you all are!"

Everyone turned to the front door to where the new voice had come from. Standing there was an old man around Night's height. His once dark hair was now silver which weirdly seemed to compliment his light blue skin. He wore a long black over coat over a white button up shirt and dark blue vest with a symbol of three crescent moons intertwined with one another was stitched on. On a painting he would've been dark and intimidating but his eyes sparkled with joy.

"Granddad!" Twilight exclaimed with joy as he walked down to greet them.

The man readily embraced his granddaughter, smiling proudly.

They broke off and Twilight readily did introductions. "Granddad, these are my friends I was telling you about. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie!" She said, pointing to each girl in turn.

"Excuse me?" A voice from below asked.

"Oh right!" Twilight pointed to her canine companion. "This is Spike."

The man simply raised an eyebrow. "He can talk?" He asked casually.

"Yeah, it's a bit of a story."

"Alright then."

Twilight turned to her friends. "Everyone this is my paternal Grandfather, Lord Scorpius Dob."

Scorpius gave a polite nod and smile. "Pleasure to meet you all. I've certainly heard a lot about you girls."

It was Night's turn to walk up and give his father a hug. "Hey Dad, how's the old place?"

Scorpius gave a light chuckle. "Same as always. Foggy at night with the feeling that someone's watching you, but otherwise peaceful."

With that, they broke the hug and Scorpius gave Velvet a welcoming handshake.

The time had come, as Shining and Cadence walked up holding their little bundle of joy.

"Granddad..." Shining said, lifting Flurry in his arms. "Meet your great-grandaughter, Flurry Heart!"

Scorpius's eyes brightened as he took a closer look at the small thing. "Well would you look at that? She's absolutely lovely!"

Flurry smiled and giggled as she reached out towards her relative.

"And astute too!" Scorpius chuckled. "She'll be a very bright girl when she grows up, that's for sure! Is she showing any magic yet?"

Cadence shook her head. "She's still only a few weeks old, but we're keeping an eye out."

"That's good. Our family's been known to have early bloomers, so I'm sure you'll have your hands full in no time." He began leading them up the stairs. "Now let's get on in, the fogs setting in and I'm sure you're all exhausted from the trip."

As the door closed behind them, the girls, stepping on a beautiful and old oriental rug, couldn't help but marvel at the interior of the castle as much as the exterior. Much of the front room was staircases made of shiny dark wood and covered by plush red carpet.

Scorpio quickly led them forward to the foyer, where a large, lit, fireplace stared them dead on as antique but still comfortable sofas and chairs surrounded it. On the ceiling was a small chandelier that glittered like a diamond. Around the rooms with several shelves and cabinets filled to the brim with books. On the walls themselves hung various portraits, some depicting people but others landscapes or animals.

"Just leave your bags here and Vespera will bring them to your rooms."

Despite the age of it, everything looked surprisingly modern and clean, with hardly a speck of dust to be seen and modern electric lights lining the walls and ceilings.

"I must say, this place is simply wondrous!" Rarity gushed.

Scorpius gave a slight bow. "I'm glad you like it. We try to keep certain antiques and traditions while still incorporating modern advancements whenever possible."

"Oh my..." Fluttershy gasped in wonder as she looked around.

"Well it's about time you all got here!"

Everyone turned as Twilight, Velvet, Shining and even Scorpius sighed before looking at the newcomer.

She was around Scorpius's age, though she appeared to be desperately trying to hide it. She wore a green expensive sequined dress and a hat that looked like a bunch of colorful butterflies were fighting for a spot on her head. Her yellow eyes did a quick scan of the room before laying them on the group of teens. She quickly went over and curtsied deeply.

"Oh it is simply an honor to meet the bearers of the Elements of Harmony themselves! I am none other than Narcissa Bloom of the house of Bloom near Fillydelphia. It gives me great pleasure to have you here!"

The girls just looked at each other, stunned while Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Girls, this is my Grandmother." She introduced with notable less excitement than with her grandfather.

A quiet and awkward chorus of 'Nice to meet you's and 'ditto's' followed.

Narcissa quickly got back up and rushed to her son.

"Oh Night! It is so good to see you again! You look so thin! Has that wife of your's been feeding you properly? And look at what you're wearing! Sorry sweetie but sweater vests went out of style long ago."

"Good to see you too mother." Night greeted in exasperation.

"And there are other people here too, by the way..." Velvet said with an eye roll.

It was then Narcissa remembered the reason for their visit and set her eyes on the bundle in Cadence's arms.

"Oh isn't she just darling!" She reached out her arms as Flurry buried her face in her mother's neck.

"I'm so sorry." Cadence apologized gently. "She's shy with new people."

Narcissa hmph'd and turned away just before Flurry turned her head and stuck her tongue out at her.

Rainbow snickered and turned around-

"Aah!"

She and nearly everyone else jumped back upon noticing standing there who they very surly did NOT hear come in. She was tall, with midnight black hair pulled into a tight bun and she wore a matching black high neck dress. She grey eyes were sharp and intimidated all who saw them.

"Those are the guests?" She asked bluntly, with a slight accent.

"That's right." Scorpius nodded. "Girls this is Vespera, the backbone of Nightholde! She's the one who makes sure everything is running as it should."

Vespera only nodded quickly and stiffly at the compliment. "Dinner is ready and all set on table. I will take luggage to the rooms." Her tone made it clear to everyone that this wasn't a question but a fact.

"Thank you Vespera." Scorpius said. "Now I'm sure you're all starving so let's not waste another minute!"

As they followed Scorpius to the dining room, Sunset leaned over and whispered to Applejack:

"I'm starting to see why Twilight was nervous about us coming here."

Applejack nodded. "No kiddin'."

Author's Note:

Okay, papers are coming up so the next one might take a while. Happy Halloween just in case!

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Comickook

Comickook #1 · Oct 20th, 2018 · 1 · ·

Happy Halloween in advance to you too.

Anyway, great job on this latest chapter. I LOVED the Rainbooms' reactions to the castle as well as meeting Twilight's paternal grandparents and the castle's main caretaker. Simply beautiful work on the characterizations, exchanges and future chapter set-up (ESPECIALLY the set-ups for what I'm going to guess to be an upcoming MYSTERY).

Yes, I WILL be looking forward to more, but will also respect that real world concerns need to come first.

SeventhBrony