The Secrets of Nightholde

by Bookpony579

Chapter 6

Finding someone to get the password proved to be harder than they thought. Not because of any intentional obstacles or because of anyone deflecting the question.

It's just that this castle was very big and very easy to get lost in.

After wandering around, the girls found a few more bedrooms, a few sitting rooms, a music room, a room full of old weapons (Rainbow was particularly fond of that room), a room full of maps and cartographing equipment, a room full of paintings, a games room and the kitchen (Pinkie was particularly happy about that one).

They eventually found themselves back in the main hall, tired and frustrated.

"You know, this castle actually seemed smaller of the outside." Rarity noted in annoyance.

"Yeah, a lot of magical buildings are like that." Sunset explained. "Saves construction space."

"Ugh!" Rainbow stomped her foot. "How are we supposed to get the password when we can't find anyone to get it from?"

"Can I help you?"

The girls jumped again when they found Vespera right behind them, looking though she had never moved a muscle.

"Seriously; how do you do that!?"

"Um.." Sunset stepped forward. "Sorry, we're just trying to find someone. Anyone actually. Do you know where they are?"

Vaspera stared at her for a few seconds before pointing directly at a door. "Walk down that hall. Take left. Go through metal door on right. You will find Master Night in conservatory."

"Ok. Thank you!"

The girls quickly rushed through the door, following the housekeepers directions.

"Talk about creepy." Rainbow muttered once they were out of earshot.

"She certainly seems to know a lot about this castle." Rarity noted. "Maybe we could ask her about the treasure or the passage?"

"I'd rather not..." Fluttershy whispered.

"I'm with Fluttershy on this one." AJ said. "She doesn't exactly seem like the chatty type."

"Yeah. We'd better steer clear of her for now." Sunset agreed.

Through the metal door, they found a large a well maintained conservatory full of plants both known and unknown to them, all bathing in the sunlight pouring through the glass walls and ceiling.

The group made their way down the metal steps into the main part below where they found a bench, a fountain that didn't appear to be functioning, and an old trophy on a stone pedestal with a plaque from the Botanists Association of Equestria.

"Huh." Sunset said, reading it. "Apparently one of Twilight's ancestors, Lepus, may have developed some of the plants here himself."

"Oh my!" Rarity gasped. "It certainly seems that Twilight's ancestors were very talented people from what I've seen."

"No kidding." Aj nodded, looking around.

After walking around and checking out some of the unique and strange plant life (including one that nearly snapped of Rainbow's finger) they soon found Night tending to some of the plants himself.

"Hey girls!" He smiled. "How are you enjoying your stay so far?"

"It's been...eventful." Sunset answered carefully. "Mr. N, do you know anything about a treasure in the castle?"

Night put a hand to his chin in thought. "Treasure? I thought it was a secret that was hidden."

"What do you mean."

"When I was growing up, I heard talk about how there was some fantastic secret hidden here somewhere. Of course, later on I heard some people say it was treasure. Then again, I've one or two rumors say it was a curse."

"Curse?" Fluttershy gasped.

"Yeah, like the one that Ophelia's husband discovered." He shrugged. "Oh well, I guess rumors spread and change so often it's almost impossible to know the truth."

This comment did not stop the girls from giving each other nervous glances.

"Anyway, I hope you like the conservatory. The garden's beautiful of course, but here is where Lepus did his work with plants, he even breed and created some of the plants here himself."

'That's interesting but can I ask you something?" Sunset said.

"Sure."

"Do you know the password for Word-Bot?"

Night's eyes lit up. "Oh you met Word-Bot? I loved that thing when I was a kid. I would play with him for hours! He'd reset every few hours or so and I'd have have to unlock him again by saying.....oh what was it?.....oh yes!.....You have to tell him 'I'd very much like to have a word with you please' just say that and you can play too."

"Thanks Mr. N!"

"Have fun girls!"

---

Through memory, along with plenty of trial and error, the group soon made their way back to Word-Bot.

"Hello." He greeted. "Can I be of any assistance?"

"Yes. 'I'd very much like to have a word with you please'." Sunset repeated.

"Calculating.....Password accepted. Please say any word to initiate game."

"Bakery."

"Bread."

"Thanks!"

"Hold on a minute>" Aj said. "What if that door wants more than one word?"

"You're right....okay, AJ and I will go back through the passage and put in the word. The rest of you stay here and I'll text you if it needs another code. It'll at least be easier than going back and forth for every word."

They agreed, and the two girls set out for the passage.

---

Sunset and AJ made their way through the passage and to the door. Sunset slowly rolled the slots until the letters formed the word 'bread'.

Something in the door clicked, and the word in Word-Bot's mouth bubble flipped, revealing the word, 'butter'.

"Looks like you were right about it needing more than one code." Sunset noted taking out her phone.

We do need another code. Say 'butter'

"Sunset, I don't think this door was part of the original design." AJ observed. "It looks like it was put in less than a hundred years ago, judging by the rust and the scrapes on the stone."

"I wonder why it was put in?"

Her phone buzzed. She looked and saw a text from Rainbow.

Okay, it said 'fly' right back.

This continued on for some time, with Sunset sending a new word to Rainbow with Rainbow sending another one right back:

Clock : Watch

Table : Dinner

Quarter : hour

At last, the door clicked open.

"About time!" AJ said. "Now let's see what all the fuss was about."

Inside, they found another hallway....which led to another locked metal door.

"Seriously?" AJ fumed.

"That's weird." Sunset muttered, examining the door.

It was indeed a very odd door, for it showed half of a dragon and a small grid bearing circles on it before being completely cut off by the wall.

"I think the other side of this grid is on the other side of the wall." Sunset deduced, opening the grid showing four small panels with squares in them.

"Can I?" AJ stepped forward and, after looking on the cover, slid the panels until they all showed circles as well. Something clicked from the other side of the door.

"Nice deduction skills AJ." Sunset nodded, impressed.

"Thanks, but I'm not sure it did much."

"Let's head back and regroup so we can figure out what to do next."

They soon arrived and found Rainbow arguing with the robot while Pinkie looked on in curiosity and Rarity and Fluttershy were shaking their heads in dismay.

"Stop acting so smart you piece of metal!"

"You appear to be apoplectic. Is there anything I can do?"

"Stop making up big words!"

"My programming prevents me from 'making up' words and all the words in my vocabulary do indeed exist, may I list them all to you?"

"Uhh...what's going on?" Sunset asked.

"Don't ask." Rarity said with a roll of her eyes. "So did you girls find anything?"

"We found another hall with another door behind it, but it's locked." AJ explained. "Not even solving the puzzle on it appeared to do much."

"So basically, we're stuck." Rainbow folded her arms.

"Unfortunately." Sunset admitted.

"So now what do we do?" Fluttershy asked.

"Now...we split up."

Rainbow's jaw practically hit the floor. "Are you crazy!? Have you never seen a horror movie? Don't you know what happens when people split up!?"

"Rainbow, this isn't a horror movie!"

"Right, it's just an old, creepy castle full of secret passageways and ancient curses."

"The best way to finding out the next clue is splitting up and seeing if any one of us can find something else. It'll take too long if we just go as one big group. We'll even go in pairs if that makes you feel better."

Rainbow, after thinking it over for a minute, finally nodded in agreement.

And thus they split up into pairs : Rarity and Rainbow Dash, Sunset and Pinkie and AJ and Fluttershy and set off in different directions with the hopes of finding something that will allow them to continue.

As they set off, nobody noticed the eyes on one of the portraits hanging nearby following them.

Author's Note:

Alright, school's started again so this might be my last update for a while.

Comments

[SeventhBrony]

Anyone else getting The Boy who cried Werewolf vibes? Love that Nickelodeon movie
Seriously, been getting that vibe for most of this story!

[Bookpony579]

9401728
That's one of the influences for this story yes.

[Comickook]

Really good job on this latest chapter. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are all well done in all the right places. I especially liked the search through so many rooms of the castle for somebody to help them translate the clue, getting through all those doors only to come across yet another door (only this one is one where even figuring out the clue didn't do any good). Of course, considering the fact that somebody is going to all this trouble to keep something hidden, it stands to reason that it HAS to be a good reason. Which means there is either something very valuable, very dangerous or both at the end.

Anyway, as I said earlier, job well done and I'm definitely going to be looking forward to the next installment.

[SeventhBrony]

9401781
Caretaker kinda gave it away