A visit to Twilight's ancestral home brings about family drama, and the girls uncovering some of the castles' dark secrets.
As per tradition, after Flurry Heart's birth, Twilight's family takes a trip to their ancestral castle in order to introduce her to her great-grandparents. The rest of the girls come along too, eager to see the place. But when they get there; they learn strange rumors concerning the place and their friend's family. The large and foreboding place itself doesn't help either. Throw in a creepy caretaker, dark family secrets and hidden passageways, and soon they find themselves wondering if they truly know their friend as well as they thought they did.
"You're not seriously going to repeat that again, are you?"
...maybe...
"Sorry Ms. Narrator, but at this point it's getting kind of redundant."
Fine, Pinkie, how about this:
It was NOT a fine day at Canterlot High. Not in the sense that something bad had happened, but that it wasn't all that nice out. On the contrary; it was raining pretty hard that day as the sound of thunder roared through the air followed by bright flashes of lightning.
"Much better!" Pinkie nodded with approval as said flash of lightning appeared outside the window next to her.
"Who are you talking too?" Rainbow asked, setting her lunch down next to her friend.
"The narrator silly."
"'The Narrator'?"
Pinkie casually waved it off, "I'll explain later. Let's just get the plot started, the readers have been waiting weeks for this!"
Rainbow blinked, but quickly shrugged it off a 'Pinkie being Pinkie'.
Soon enough, the whole gang had arrived to their daily lunch gathering.
"So how does a movie at my place sound? We're finally getting the cable fixed in a few days." Rainbow offered.
Twilight shook her head. "Can't make it. We're visiting my grandparents."
This caused Rainbow's eyes to widen. "Your...grandparents..." She said cautiously. "Like....the dead ones...?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "No, the live ones. My father's parents."
"Oh..." Rainbow blushed and took a quick bit of her sandwich. She knew she shouldn't be surprised at this, as mages on average live to their early hundreds, making the possibility of great-grandparents meeting their great-grandchildren more possible.
"That sounds nice but why now?" AJ asked. "The holidays aren't fer a little while now."
"They got really excited when they learned Flurry Heart was born and they want to meet her as soon as possible. Besides, it's kind of a tradition when a baby is born to have them visit the castle right away."
"That sounds nice." Fluttershy nodded politely. To the right of her, however, Rarity's practically hit the floor and she gasped as though she were desperate for breath.
"I'm sorry darling, but did you say 'castle'?" She asked excitedly. "As in an actual honest-to-goodness castle!? You have your own castle!?"
"...Sort of?" Twilight answered nervously. "Technically, at the moment it's my grandparent's castle. It's been in my family for centuries."
Still, most of the other girls were amazed.
"Woah." Rainbow breathed. "When did that happen?"
Sunset spoke up before Twilight could come up with an excuse. "You'll mostly find them in the hands of old pureblood families like hers. Like, really old."
Twilight glared at the red head while the rest of the girls processed this information.
"Wait, 'pureblood'?" Fluttershy tilted her head. "I think we went over that briefly a few weeks back."
"Basically, it means a family of a particular species, mages in this case, who claim to have no outside species or non magical members in their family tree." Twilight explained. "It's complete nonsense of course. If you go back far enough you'll usually find a nomaj ancestor or two."
"But your mom doesn't have magic." Pinkie pointed out.
"Which makes me and Shining Armor half-bloods, like most other mages and supernaturals today. My dad can be considered a 'pureblood' though." She glanced to her childhood friend. "Sunset can be considered one too."
Their friend's turned in surprise. "Really?" Rarity asked. "You never mentioned that."
Sunset groaned. "Because it's like Twilight said; it doesn't matter. Scientists have proves over and over again that blood only makes it more likely you'll have magic at all and has nothing to do with whether you're a gifted mage or not." She sighed. "Unfortunately, some people still don't see it that way."
It was Rainbow's turn to groan. "Can we save the history stuff for later and get back to 'Twilight's visiting her family's castle'?"
"Gladly." Twilight nodded, eager to change the topic too.
"Darling you simply must take me with you!" Rarity got a faraway look in her eye as she began daydreaming. "I've always wanted to visit a castle! Oh I'll bet it'll be simply marvelous! So full of history and culture!"
"Is it like in the fairy tales!? Or scary movies!?" Pinkie asked.
"Pinkie!" AJ scolded her friend before turning back to Twilight. "Still, even Ah'm mighty curious to see it."
"I want to go." Fluttershy whispered.
"I've always wanted too see the place too." Sunset admitted.
Twilight began fidgeting and looking around nervously. "Are you sure? Like, really sure? I'm warning you; it's not like other castles, even in magical society. I just don't want you girls to freak out."
"We'll be fine!" Rainbow answered confidently. "We've seen way freakier stuff before; how different can this be?"
But Twilight didn't seem any more confident. "Look, I really want you girls to come too. It's just..." She seemed to struggle finding the right way to say something. "...My family has certain...quirks...We're not exactly good with outsiders...." She saw their disappointed faces and took a deep breath. "Look, I'll talk it over with my dad and grandparents and let you know. I'll personally be more than happy to have you girls with me."
The girls cheered at this, delighted at the prospect of visiting a centuries old castle that wasn't in complete ruins like the one in the Everfree forest.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Pinkie squealed.
"Of course, if this is just a family trip, we'll completely understand." AJ smiled at Twilight before giving a stern look as the girls quickly quieted. "This is your family's home and you're going to introduce your niece to her great-grandparents and if you want to keep it private; we'll respect that. Right everyone?"
This was responded by several nods and murmurs of confirmation.
"It's alright!" Twilight quickly comforted, her eyes brightening at the idea of having her closest friends with her. "It wouldn't be a bother at all! We have plenty of room and I'm sure my grandparents will be more than happy to meet you all." With nobody hearing her, she muttered. "...hopefully."
With that, the matter was mostly settled. All Twilight had to do was talk it over with her family and she would text her friend's as soon as she had a definite answer.
A few days later, the Rainbooms found themselves at Twilight's house packing up the last of their things.
"Thanks again for letting us come Mr. N." Sunset smiled at Night Light as she tossed her bag on the bus. Because of the large number of people, they decided to use the Rainbooms' multicolored bus that they had fixed up. Twilight's parents and the girls would be riding in the bus while Cadence, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart would be in their own car.
Night smiled back at his daughter's friend. "Not a problem. My parents are so excited to meet you girls. I'm sure you'll like them."
"One of them, at least..." Velvet muttered as she held her granddaughter while Cadence help Shining pack their own car.
Night just sighed. "Please try to be cordial to my mother this time Vel? Especially since we're bringing guests with us this time?"
"I will if she will!" Velvet fumed, causing little Flurry to laugh at the funny face her grandmother was making.
Rainbow let out a yawn as she packed up the last of the bags. "Any chance they'll be just as excited if we come a little later?"
"Sorry for the early start but it'll be a couple of house until we get there."
Meanwhile, Twilight was going over the final checks. "Bags packed? Check." She marked her list. "Rainbow complaining about the early start time? Check. Food and games for the ride? Check? Pet supplies?" She looked over to see her familiar safe in his cage and Spike being petted by Fluttershy. "Check. Baby supplies?" She looked over to the ominous pile of diapers, formula and other essentials stocked up in the cars' backseat and trunk. "Check! We're all set to go!" Strangely, after talking to her family, all traits of doubt and uncertainty seemed to have vanish...well mostly. "I've got a map and a list of all pitstops and roadside diners for meals or in case of bathroom emergencies. If we leave now we can grab breakfast at Cal's before the morning rush." She went over and gave her niece a kiss on the cheek before Cadence collected her and secured her in her car seat.
"All right everyone!" Shining called out from behind his steering wheel. "Let's get this show on the road!"
With that, everyone boarded their respective bus or car seat and buckled up. Velvet grumbled a little when Night claimed the driver's seat for the first half of the trip and immediately called dibs on driving the second half.
"Trust me." Twilight whispered to AJ. "We're going to need the wake up call."
Aj could only stare at her friend with worry as the bus took off.
"Eye spy with my little eye....." Pinkie announced to a group of sleepy teenagers. "...something white!"
"Let me guess." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Is it a cloud?"
Pinkie gasped with excitement. "How did you know!?"
"How about we play a new game?" Sunset offered.
"Ooh! Ooh!" Pinkie waved her hand. "How about 20 million questions!? I'll start! What-"
"NO!!!" Was everyone's gentle, calm response.
"I need to make a pit stop!"
AJ face palmed. "Seriously Rainbow? We passed by a pitstop 15 minutes ago!"
"I didn't have to go then!"
"Um...I have to go too." Fluttershy spoke with embarrassment. "I didn't want to be an inconvenience."
"I thought I could hold it too, but I can't!" Pinkie announced with her usual cheeriness.
"I'm with them here." Spike said.
Now it was Twilight's turn to face palm.
"Honey, I think we missed the turn off." Night said, looking at his phone. "Maybe we should ask for directions?"
"I don't need directions because I know where I'm going!" Velvet replied irritably.
"But you haven't been here in a while and I think-"
"Look, I have an infallible sense of direction, alright?"
"Really? Then where was it that time we went to that amusement park and somehow ended up in the Appleloosan plains?"
Velvet just gave him a sideways glare.
The sun was just beginning to set when they arrived in the medium sized town of Shadowmoore. It was surrounded by dense, dark woods and the road leading there looked like it hadn't been paved in a while. They quickly passed over a bridge above a deep, roaring river before officially entering the town.
Iron fences appeared dominant outside the large, arched houses next to the old, stone buildings. The forest apparently didn't stop at the town boarders and many buildings appeared to be built around the trees instead of vice versa and some had already lost all of their leaves, giving them a skeletal look. Most of the older buildings were old, stone with a tower that seemed to dominate anyone standing in front of it.
"Alright everyone we're almost there!" Velvet cheerfully announced as she turned into a convenience story. "How about one last stop to stretch our legs before we arrive?"
Nobody bothered to answer as everyone on the buss raced and pushed at each other to get onto stable ground as soon as possible.
"Ugh..." AJ groaned as she leaned against the bus for support. "You weren't kiddin' about that wake up call sugarcube..."
"I most certainly would have been happy NOT taking that shortcut through the woods..." Rarity said as she regained her balance.
"Hey, we beat Shiny here, didn't we?" Velvet asked innocently.
"Mom, for the last time, this wasn't a race!" Twilight gave her mother a stern look.
"And even if it was, couldn't you still have done it on a paved road?" Spike said, collapsing on the sidewalk.
"Or have gone around the broken bridge instead of jumping over it?" Fluttershy wobbled.
"I thought your mom gave up speed racing?" Sunset asked, hanging onto a trash can just in case.
"She usually only does this when she knows she can get away with it."
"Still, it beats your dad's game of car bingo." Rainbow shrugged.
Once their stomachs and minds stopped spinning, the finally got a good look at where they had arrived.
"Well in any case.." Twilight spread her arms out. "Welcome to Shadowmoore! It's been by family's property for centuries! What do you think?"
Looking around at the grim trees, houses that looked like they could be very well haunted, the townsfolk who simply glanced their way before sneaking into the shadows and the light fog that was starting to roll in, the girls felt a shiver go down their spines as they tried to answer without insulting their friend.
"It's certainly...distinguished."
"It's spooky....."
"It's....got lots of trees?"
"I like it! Very lively!"
"It's like something out of a ghost story. OW!" Rainbow rubbed the side where AJ had elbowed her.
Twilight's smiled faded. "I know it's a bit....eerie. But it gets better the longer you stay. And the people are so friendly once you get to know them!" She turned to enter the store. "Let's just walk around and pick up some last minute snack and use the restroom while we wait for Shiny to get here."
They did enter and found rows of various groceries along with an old fashioned candy bar. The latter of which was the first thing Pinkie zoomed towards.
"Hi there mister!"
The bartender, an older, muscular man didn't return Pinkie's bright smile and simply grunted a hello in return as most of the other girls joined her. Twilight was busy helping her dad pick up some last minute things.
"Are you all visiting?" A deep yet feminine voice asked as the girls turned and saw a woman and another man playing dominoes at a nearby table.
"Yup! We're visiting our friends' castle!" Pinkie pointed across the store at Twilight who didn't notice them. "Cool huh?"
The three citizens all gained looks of surprise and recognition. "Wait..." The bartender spoke. "Your visiting Nightholde?"
"Your Twilight Sparkle's friends?" The woman asked with surprise.
"Twilight Sparkle has friends?" The second man asked with even greater surprise before receiving a stern glare from the woman.
"Yes to all three." Sunset replied, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Why?"
The three strangers shared a look before nodding. The girls looked to each other uncertainly.
"In that case, I'm sure you haven't heard the...stories...about the place?" The bartender asked cautiously.
"What stories?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh just the usual." The woman shrugged. "Strange sights and sounds. People disappearing without a trace. The same old stuff when it comes to old castles." She gave a stern look. "But then there's the dark magic."
"Dark magic?" Fluttershy gasped.
"Twilight would never do dark magic!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Oh please!" Sunset rolled her eyes. "What pureblood family these days doesn't have rumors of them being involved in dark magic? Most of it's just ignorance and nonsense."
"Yes." The second man nodded. "But I've looked into it, and that place has an unusually....high amount of stories and rumors throughout it's history."
"What kinds of stories?" AJ asked cautiously.
The bartender took a deep breath before starting. "A century or two after the family settled there, a warlord tried to invade the land and take everything for himself. The lady of the time; Polaria, met with him and tried to dissuade him from entering. When he refused and boasted about taking her as soon as his army arrived the castle, she only laughed and wished them luck. He left, and returned with an army of his most brutal warriors. They entered the forest, but, to the warlords' surprise, they couldn't find their way to the castle or the town. It was if the trails had suddenly....vanished! Indeed they appeared to be cursed, and they wondered for days in the maze like woods, unable to trace their steps, leaving trails that would disappear the moment they looked away. It was as if the very trees themselves where keeping the army confused and lost." The bartender's voice had dropped to a near whisper and everybody leaned in to hear it. "Finally, after many weeks of walking, they escaped....only to find themselves back where they had entered the woods! Most of the army was gone, having either starved, gotten lost or taken their own lives out of desperation. But the rest of them didn't fare better. Their time in the woods had left them exhausted and half mad! Especially the old warlord himself. He could barely put a sentence together and mumbled about the most unspeakable horrors. They say that Polaria had watched them from the castle windows, smiling knowingly as they left and never returned."
"Woah..." Was all Rainbow could get out.
"Indeed." The Bartender nodded. "And there's plenty more where that came from.
"Come on guys!" Twilight's voice echoed through the store. "Shining and Cadence are here! It's time to go."
"Looks like that's enough for now." The bartender nodded. "Now, of course, there's no definite proof of any dark goings on, but I'd watch your backs if I were you."
"And lock your doors at night." The woman advised.
"And never go into the woods at night." The second man said gravely. "Especially by yourselves."
The girls gulped and quickly made their way back outside.
"Hey girls!" Twilight greeted with a smile. "I saw you talking to old man Iron. What was he saying."
"Oh...nothing." AJ fumbled with her hat. "He was just telling...stories."
Twilight's smile disappeared. "Is he still telling those old ghost stories about my ancestors again?"
The silence was enough of an answer.
"Look." Twilight sighed. "This is part of why I didn't want you girls to come in the first place. There's lots of....stories about my family, but it's all just nonsense!"
"Twilight's right." Sunset stepped forward. "What are doing? They're just old rumors and urban legends. We're just all probably tired from the trip."
"Yeah!" Rainbow pumped her fist in the air. "We've never let some tall tales get to us before!"
A louder, moor cheerful chorus of confirmation quickly raised their spirits.
"Thanks girls." Twilight smiled. "Now let's get going. We should make it just in time for dinner."
With that, everyone was back on the bus, leaving the town of Shadowmoore behind them.
But the story the old man Iron had told were still running through the girl's heads....
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."
The castle had two dining rooms. The first one they passed through was about the size of Canterlot High's gymnasium. There were several old rectangle tables lined with chairs across the room while at the end of the hall was a raised stage with another table. Several banners depicting the family's sigil hung on the walls, illuminated by the electric lights. Scorpius explained that this was where they used to hold feasts where they would invite the townsfolk, or any other guests. The stage was reserved for the family and any special guests. Soon they would start cleaning up this place and start preparing for the Yule and Hearth's Warming feasts.
The second one was much smaller and more cozy, though still grand to some of the girls' eyes. This room contained just one circular table still large enough to sit everybody. This, Scorpius explained further, was the dining room most often used, usually for family and a few close friends. On the purple, swirled wallpaper hung a few old paintings, either of landscapes or people in old fashioned clothing, all illuminated from the lights or the moonlight pouring in from the windows.
At the center of the table was an old vases containing fresh flowers cut for their arrival. Rarity was slightly disappointed to see plain, modern cloth and utensils at the table but reasoned they would want to save them for formal events. But what interested the girls' (particularly Rainbow and Pinkie) most was the food.
Sitting on a bus for several hours could make a girl hungry.
"Please sit and enjoy yourselves!" Scorpius smiled. "I'm sure you're all starving after your trip. Vespera's also one of the best cooks I have ever met!"
Everyone quickly sat and helped themselves to the feast laid down on the table.
"I must say we were quite surprised when we got here." Rarity said, spooning some shepherds pie on her plate. "It is quite...." She searched for an appropriate but not offensive word. "....different than what we expected."
"Oh?" Scorpion raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
This caught her off guard. "It's um....distinguished!"
The Lord of the castle chuckled in good humor. "If by that you mean 'so spooky it looks right out of a horror film' then that's pretty accurate." Rarity blushed and not so daintily stuffed a forkful of food into her mouth to halt any further embarrassment.
Scorpius shrugged. "Don't worry about it. A lot of visitors feel that way, especially if they hadn't visited another castle built like this before. Apparently this style was really popular when Dame Andromeda had it built, and similar architecture styles were used on houses and temples, which you might have noticed in town."
"Oh we noticed alright..." Rainbow remarked before yelping as AJ stomped her foot under the table.
"Sorry 'bout that." AJ shot Rainbow a look. "Rainbow here often doesn't think before she speaks."
"Oh don't worry about that." Narcissa waved her hand. "I found the place utterly dreadful when I first arrived. The Gothic style is nice but so old fashioned even in my time! I wanted to hire an interior decorator but Scorpius talked me out of it. 'It's fine as it is' he said!" She hmphed. "Of course there is a certain....antiqueness about it which I suppose has it's own value."
"Well, personally I was so excited when I first visited!" Velvet said, ignoring her mother-in-law's pointed look. "The fog! The gargoyles! It was just like the ones my mother used to tell me about. It also gave me the perfect inspiration for my book!"
"Well, this castle is a bit different from those." Scorpius spoke up with a mysterious smile.
"How so?" Fluttershy asked with hesitant curiosity.
"My ancestors loved to hide their secrets in every corner they could find. Though it takes a keen eye to find those secrets and understand them."
"Huh?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh, I'll be happy to show you after we eat."
After dinner, Cadence and Shining went to put Flurry to bed and the adults went to unpack and rest while Scorpius gave the younger girls a tour of the castle, giving an animated lecture about when certain parts were built or what a particular room was used for.
"And here we have the Great Hall!" He spread his arms our wide as they entered a large room with a grand staircase leading to a few interior balconies leading to more hallways. Several pillars depicting the gods stood leading to the stairs. In the center of the floor was a large tile pattern in the shape of a circular labyrinth. "This was one of the first rooms completed and the oldest remaining almost exactly as it is. Of course, many additions were made later on. For instance..." He pointed to one of the pillars. "Aquila only had those put in about three hundred years ago. She even designed and helped install them herself!"
"She used several new balancing techniques to keep the ceiling from collapsing and even created a new way to build into the ceiling and floor!" Twilight continued eagerly.
"Yup, it's genetic." Rainbow remarked to Sunset.
"Lord Scorpius."
Most of the group turned in fright a found Vespera standing there, seeming to have materialized out of thin air. Her narrowed eyes scanned the room before giving her boss a quick bow.
"My apologies. But there is a matter that requires your attention."
Scorpius nodded and gave the group an apologetic smile. "Sorry, looks like we're going to have the official tour short. You're free to explore any doors that are not locked as you like. If you have any questions you can just ask me, my son or my grandchildren." With that, he followed Vespera out of the room.
"I must admit Twilight," Rarity said, awed at the grand room. "While the outward appearance gave me a bit of a shock, the inside is simply spectacular! The grandeur! The atmosphere of an old and noble line!"
"The paintings that look like their looking straight at you?" Pinkie spoke up, smiling brightly at one such painting.
"Oh my!" Fluttershy gasped. "Look at this one!"
The girls followed and were similarly amazed.
"Is that your ma?" AJ asked in awe.
Indeed, it was a portrait of Twilight Velvet, though appearing slightly younger, wearing a crown of purple roses with some of the petal swirling around her. Contrasted against a dark background, her pale skin seemed to glow and her eyes shone bright as the stars. A small, gentle smile graced her face.
Twilight smiled fondly at the painting. "That's right. That was painted by my great grandmother Libra. She was an artist and a few of her paintings can be found in museums all over Equestria!"
"Wow." Sunset's eyes widened.
"This one's my favorite though. It's actually about when my parents first met! You see, they were both finalists in a fencing competition. One of the other competitors was harassing the others and my mom stood up to him. Dad saw this. So when the final round came, it was close, but my dad won. Dad was given the crown of roses to give to someone else while my mom was about to go sulk. So, imagine the shock of everyone in the arena when my dad turned right around and handed the roses to my mom!"
"Awwwww!" Pinkie and Fluttershy awed.
"How romantic!" Rarity exclaimed.
"My Great Grandmother thought so too! She painted this right after that. My mom was so shocked by what Dad did she could barely speak!"
"Well what do you expect?" Velvet asked as she, her husband and their son climbed down the stairs. "Up until that point winners usually gave the crown to their beloved, or a family member, or just someone in the audience who caught their eye. Nobody had ever given it to their opponent before!"
Night chuckled. "Well what can I say, my family's not exactly known for conforming to tradition." He gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek.
Shining rolled his eyes at the display before turning to the teens. "So how are you all enjoying the castle so far?"
"This place is amazing. Thanks for letting us come." Sunset said, followed by a chorus of agreements.
"So I'm guessing you haven't run into the beast yet?" Shining asked, grinning mischievously.
Twilight rolled her eyes while her friend's look intrigued. "Ugh, Shiny. Not that old story."
"What's 'the beast'?" AJ asked.
Shining's eyes glowed with excitement as he put on his 'dramatic' voice: "As you may have heard, but our family has many secrets, but around five hundred years ago, the husband of my ancestor, Ophelia, discovered a secret so dark and shocking that she turned him into a beast as punishment and sent him into the woods to guard the castle for the rest of his life!"
"Oh my..." Fluttershy gulped. Indeed, many of the girls were shaking or looked nervous (though Rainbow tried to hide hers).
"Don't listen to him." Twilight stepped forward. "It's complete nonsense! My family has never used that kind of magic on anyone!"
"Whether or not that's true is up for debate." Shining continued. "But Ophelia's husband did disappear without a trace..."
"He probably just got lost in the woods and died in an accident. It used to happen a lot back then."
"....and ever since then, people have reported strange sightings of a shadowy 'beast' prowling around the woods at night, and a pair of glowing red eyes peering out from the darkness."
"That's just people letting their fear and imaginations run wild. There could have been a number of explanations for those sightings but people panic and let their imaginations get the best of them."
"Whatever the case may be.." Night stepped in, halting the argument between the sibling, "Beast or no beast the woods are still a dangerous place at night and I don't want to see any of you leaving the castle after sundown. You can see the gardens in the morning, I think you've all heard enough stories for one night. With that in mind, we all might want to hit the hay, it's getting late and it's been a long drive, ok?"
A chorus of 'ok's and nods followed suit.
"Good, now let's-"
"I will show them to their rooms."
The girls jumped again as they found Vespera standing behind them.
"Seriously, how do you do that!?" Rainbow asked, exasperated.
Vespera ignored Rainbow's question nodded her head towards the stairs. "Follow me."
After wishing her family a good night, Twilight led the reluctant girls into following the housekeeper.
A few hallways and stair later, Twilight and Spike left for her old room in the family wing. The girls continued to follow Vespera until they reached a door.
Vespera swiftly turned to the teens.
"Girls." She said stoically. "Your rooms. That way." She pointed to the door. "You will find names on doors." He eyes narrowed and her turned seemed to turn even more serious. "Rules are: Stay in room. Lock doors."
The teens fearfully nodded and stepped into the hallway and shut the door without a second thought.
"Well THAT was creepy...." Rainbow muttered.
"Yeah. I'm really seeing why Twilight was so anxious about us coming here." Sunset rubbed the back of her neck.
"What's this?" Pinkie pointed to the wall near them, which held nothing but a small banner with the family heraldry, only this one had words written in silver thread: I dorchadas an Oíche
"What is it?" AJ asked.
"It must be the family words. It's sort of like a motto or rule for the family to live by. It can also take the form of a boast or threat."
"Well what does it say?" Rainbow asked impatiently.
Sunset looked closer. "Well, roughly translated, it says: In the Dark of the Night or In the darkness of the Night."
The girls just stood there for a moment, letting those words sink in.
"Well, that's not ominous..." Rainbow said.
Before anyone could say anything else a P.A. system activated and Vespera's voice echoed through the hall:
"Get to rooms."
The group looked at each other before making a mad dash to the safety of their bedrooms.
Sunset reluctantly forced her eyes open as she was pulled from the lull of dreamland. Reaching over to her phone, she winced as it lit up to display the time: 3 am.
"Wha-"
It was then that she realized what exactly had pulled her away from sleep: the faint sounds of voices talking somewhere outside her room.
She shook her head and listened; confirming that she wasn't dreaming and the distant sound of people chanting was somewhere out there.
"What is that?" She prepared to get up and check it out when she remembered:
Stay in Room. Lock doors.
Stiffening, she remained in bed until the voiced eventually fell silent.
She kept her wide eyes focused on the door for the next few minutes as she tried to make sense of what happened.
The morning brought the sun and, with it, a much brighter atmosphere at the castle.
Sunset rubbed her eyes at the breakfast table. Though she eventually returned to sleep, it had been light and unsteady due to the disturbance.
"You ok Sunset?" Aj asked, pouring herself some apple juice.
"I'm fine, just heard some weird noises last night."
"I'm sure it was just the wind darling. Old castles like these are sure to have a noise draft or two."
Sunset shook her head. "I don't think it was the wind. It sounded like....people were talking or chanting."
"Are you sure you weren't just dreaming?"
"Yeah," Rainbow agreed, stacking up some pancakes, "I know we kinda joked about this place being out of a horror story."
Sunset stared down at her food for a minute, thinking it over before sighing. "You're probably right. I'm sure I'm just letting my imagination run away from me."
"My imagination runs away from me all the time!" Pinkie said. "But it always comes back....with cake!"
After breakfast, the girls (sans Twilight) were in the great hall, looking it over.
"You know, during the daytime, it's a lot less creepy." Rainbow admitted, admiring a suit of armor.
Fluttershy nodded as she looked around, admiring the paintings.
"Huh.."
"What's wrong?" AJ turned to Sunset.
"Something's wrong with these pillars. Look here..." She pointed to a column with the sea goddess on it. "Thalassa's usually shown with a trident, right? But it's not here, even though it looks like she should be holding something." Indeed the image on the pillar was of a woman rising from the sea with her arm in the air, but her hand was grasping nothing. "And there, the Sun Goddess's crown is gone. And Mictlan's scythe!" Indeed, in several of the pillars, there appeared to be something missing.
"This is an old castle Sunset." Rarity pointed out. "They were probably taken off for repairs."
"This place is HUGE!" Pinkie shouted. "I bet you could invite a ton of people to party in this room alone!" With that she pulled her party cannon out from...somewhere....and fired it. Unfortunately, it was in Rainbow's direction which caused her to jump back and hit the armor, which began to lean forward.
"WOAH!" Rainbow stumbled as she tried to catch the falling armor, to no avail as she was pushed back into-
"AH!"
-Fluttershy which pushed her into the painting she was currently admiring: the portrait of Velvet from last night. The sudden tumble caused the painting to be knocked to the floor.
"PINKIE!" The girls exclaimed, glaring at their friend.
"...Oops." Pinkie admitted with an embarrassed smile.
"Come on," Sunset said, picking up the painting, "Let's try to clean everything up before Vespera finds out."
The very mention of the housekeeper's name caused a shiver down everyone's spines.
Fluttershy and Sunset continued to hang the painting back up until-
"Huh?" Sunset noted a piece of paper falling from the back of the portrait.
"What is it?" Rarity asked, using her magic to put the armor back up.
After securing the portrait, Sunset picked up the note and read it:
"'If Ancient trEasure is what you sEek
then BehinD sagittarius, tAke a peek."
"Ancient treasure!?" Rainbow exclaimed, eye's widening in excitement.
"Right here in the castle!?" Rarity continued, just as excited.
"That's odd....Scorpius or anybody else didn't mention anything about treasure..." Sunset said, looking the note over.
"Maybe they forgot or something." Rainbow shrugged.
"Or maybe they didn't want us to know..." Fluttershy offered.
"Who cares? You all heard them talking about 'secrets' and that the castle has a tone of them. We've gotta check this out!"
"I'm with Rainbow on this one, this is way too good to pass up!" Sunset said.
"Alright then..." AJ nodded slowly while the rest agreed eagerly. "So, where do we start?"
"The note says to 'look behind Sagittarius' so maybe behind a picture of it, maybe?"
"Girls!" They turned and saw Twilight waving as she entered the hall. "What's going on?"
"Twilight, do you know anything about a 'secret treasure' that might be here in the castle?" Sunset asked.
"Sunset!" Rainbow turned to her. "Why would you tell her that!?"
"Her family's castle. She knows more about it than us."
"You mean that old legend?" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Supposedly a great treasure is hidden somewhere in the castle and my family's guarded it for centuries, or something like that. Nobody's ever found it though, not even me and I searched this place top to bottom when I was a kid."
"Oh..." Sunset's and the other's faces went downcast. "Can you at least tell us if there's a picture of Sagittarius around here somewhere?"
"Sure." Without asking further questions, Twilight led them up the stairs and down a few hallways before...
"Hello? Is anyone there?" An electronic voice called out.
Fluttershy jumped. "W-what was that!?" Everyone turned and saw a table with a white sheet covering something.
"Oh!" Twilight ran over and lifted it off, revealing one of those cute, old robot toys with a continuous track for movement, a square body with buttons and a screen and claw arms poking out of it and a square head with blue light eyes a speaker mouse and a light bulb sticking out of it's head.
"Girl's, meet Word-Bot!" Twilight said as Word-Bot waved. "My Grandad made him decades ago. He made a designed a lot of computers and programs, see? He's programmed him with all sorts of word games where you say a word and he'll say something else back. He's also a translator."
"Hello! I am Word-Bot! How may I be of assistance?"
"Shiny and I used to love playing around with him when we were little. I'll leave the tarp off for now, so he doesn't scare you later."
"Oh!" Fluttershy, Rarity and even Pinkie Pie gushed over him. "He's so cute!" Fluttershy squealed with Pinkie and Rarity nodding.
"Yup....definitely genetic." Rainbow whispered to Sunset.
They continued a little further on before stopping at a door with the constellation pictured on it in tiles. "Here you go, I don't know why you want to find it though, there's nothing much in here except some old junk. Oh! There is a secret passage though!"
"Really!?" Pinkie asked as everyone leaned in.
"Yeah, there are several around the castle. I don't remember how to open this one though. All I remember is that I was playing around in there as a kid when it opened. I've got to take Spike for a walk, have fun though!" With that, she was off.
"So...do we still want to look?" AJ asked. "Ah mean...she did say she looked for it herself..."
"I know, but c'mon!" Sunset shrugged. "A secret passage? Tell me you don't want to at least check it out?"
With that they opened the door and it was indeed as Twilight said: just a few random items stored in here from what looked like old journeys.
"Um...what do we do now?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know." Sunset said, looking the note over. "It doesn't say."
"Looks like Twilight's ancestors did a bit of traveling." Rarity said, looking an old cheignese vase.
"Maybe there's another clue in the room!" Pinkie suggested.
With that, they got to searching, but seeing as the room wasn't all that big and there weren't that many items in the first place, they came up dry.
"Ugh!" Rainbow slammed the dresser door shut. "There's nothing in here! Not even a secret lever or a button or something!"
"I don't know about that Dashie!" Pinkie said, "This longbow's kinda interesting! It's so big and stringy!" She tried to pick it up, but it appeared attached to the wall where it hung.
"Wait a minute...." Sunset's eyes brightened. "I have an idea! The picture on the door is of Sagittarius, right?"
"I think that's the constellation, yes..." Fluttershy nodded.
"Well Sagittarius is the archer! What if that's a clue to look at the longbow!"
"But there's not much to it." AJ pointed out. "It looks pretty strong, but I don't think it's even been used much."
Sunset looked at the note. "Look over here! Notice how some of the letters are capitalized? I think their music notes! I think we have to play it!" She went over and began to pluck the string, manipulating it to get the right notes. "Let's see....A...E...E..." She continued until the last note was struck.
Suddenly, the back wall lifted up, revealing a new hallway!
"Yes!" Sunset exclaimed. "This must be the secret passage! Let's go check it out!"
"A-Are you sure?" Fluttershy asked nervously. "It looks dark, and old...maybe we should wait for someone..."
"C'mon!" Rainbow grabbed her hand. "It'll be fun! Besides, we've faced worse."
"Well...I guess...."
"Good! Let's get moving!" Rainbow announced, dragging Fluttershy forward with a slight yelp."
Fluttershy did have a point: the hall was carved from old stone. And it was dark. VERY dark. Luckily Sunset used her magic to light thew way.
"What were these for?" AJ asked.
"Probably to hide from intruders, to hide valuable or just as quick shortcuts from one part of the castle to another." Sunset explained. "We had a few at my family's home."
They continued down the old, dark passage in single file line for a few minutes before walking down a few staircases and continuing on.
"You gotta admit," Rainbow said as they walked down the stairs. "Twilight's family didn't do things by half measure."
"Yeah." Sunset nodded. "It looks like when they wanted to hide something, they hid it really well."
Eventually, their journey came to an end as they reached a metal door...
"It's locked!" Rainbow stomped her foot after pulling on the door handle.
"Somehow that actually makes sense down here..."AJ noted.
"What's this?" Sunset looked over an image on the door. The image was of Word-Bot with a word bubble with letter slots. Above it was the word: 'bakery'.
"Looks we'll need to talk to Word-Bot and see what he has to say about this."
Carefully, they made their way out of the secret passage and back to the room before retracing their path back to the small robot.
"Hello!" It repeated again. "I am Word-Bot! How may I be of assistance?"
"Word-Bot....does the word 'bakery' make any sense to you?" Sunset asked.
"Computing....I'm sorry. But I cannot continue without the password to begin?"
"What password?" Rainbow asked, frustrated.
"Password required to begin word games. Please come back when you have the correct password."
"Well this was a bust." Rainbow groaned.
"How in the world are we supposed to find the password to that thing?" Rarity wondered.
"Why don't we just ask someone?" AJ suggested. "Twilight said her granddaddy designed the thing and she and her brother used to play with it. Why don't we just ask one of them for the password?"
"Sounds good to me." Sunset nodded. "C'mon girls, time to explore this place!"
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.
"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.
AJ and Fluttershy soon made their way to the garden, hoping that something, maybe a hind, was hidden somewhere out there.
"I must say, the woods and gardens certainly seem a lot friendlier during the day." Fluttershy noted, waving to a few bunnies hopping by. The gardens, while not carrying the exotic and new flora the conservatory had, was no less beautiful. What was interesting was that, aside from some minor required maintenance, the the gardens and the surrounding wildlife were allowed to grow as wild as they pleased.
Soon leaving behind the stone path for a more natural line, the two teens walked a short way through the woods. These woods were a dark, primal place, untouched ever since the family settled here and before that. It not unlike the Everfree forest back home. Remembering that and the story they heard last night, they kept a lookout for anything that might jump out at them.
Before long, they came upon an open area with a pond under an ancient tree with giant, dark twisted branches that looked like they hadn't been cut in hundreds of years. Sitting on a rock below the tree and at the edge of the pond was Lord Scorpius himself, looking deep in thought.
Realizing they might be intruding, the teens stepped to make a quiet getaway when the man spoke up.
"I was wondering when you might find this place."
Freezing, they guiltily stepped forward.
"We're really sorry to disturb you." Fluttershy said quietly.
"We were just looking around-"
"Don't worry about it." Scorpius waved them off. "You're guests, and I did say you were free to look around. Come." He stood up and gestured to the area. "Welcome to the wildwood, not a very creative name, I know, but we don't like to sugarcoat things. Anyway, this place has been mostly untouched since Andromeda settled here. In the past, these kinds of places were used for praying to the gods, but they're also a great place to think in peace and quiet."
"It's lovely..."Fluttershy, a bit dazed. AJ nodded, she too felt something strange about this particular area.
"Do you sense it?" Scorpius asked. "This particular wildwood is a focal point for magic. A large natural source of mana. Fantastic for large spells. It's said only those with magnificent amounts of magic themselves and sense them. Though, considering who you are, I'm not surprised."
"Woah..."
"Let me show you something else." He led the two mages even further beyond the wildwood before coming upon a stone statue that looked almost as old as the one in from of the castle. However, this statue depicted two people in a loving embrace. Flowers blossomed around the bottom and a few vines and some moss had made their way onto the people. The woman they released was Andromeda, but the man they couldn't place.
"This is Andromeda and her husband, Clover the Clever. They wed not long after the castle was built."
"They definitely look like they were in love." Fluttershy noted.
"Indeed they were. Clover was even an apprentice of Starswirl the Bearded himself! Story has it their first meeting ended up with an argument between them over some new mana transferral theory. They kept meeting, and kept arguing about theories and experiments before eventually they realized their rivalry had turned to love."
"That....definitely sounds like Twilight's family." AJ consented.
"Apparently they were the only person the other found who could match them in wits. They loved each other more than anything in the world and did everything together, never liked to be apart for too long. Their daughter built this after they died to commemorate that love."
"Awwww...." Replied both girls.
"Yeah, they were one of the lucky ones." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Love has been sort of a...complicated issue for this family. Many of us were scholars, and I'm sure you've heard of how scholars can be. Especially in our family. A lot of us excelled in magical and academic pursuits, our ability to maintain relationships....wasn't the best. It's either, you find your soulmate and live happily ever after, or it ends up a mess."
"Well, I'm sure you're one of the 'lucky ones'." Fluttershy said innocently.
"Scorpius!" A distant, piercing voice echoed. "You'd better not be in that wildwood again! I will not have you looking like a woodsman in front of out guests!"
"It's...complicated." He admitted. 'But I'm glad Night and Shining found their other halves.
AJ moved closer to inspect the statue the top part had the two lovers gazing longingly into each others eyes. The base had an inscription carved onto it:
Andromeda the Shadow and Clover the Clever
May their love continue to shine even in the darkest of nights.
While AJ though that was sweet, what intrigued her what that there appeared to be some sore of stone piece missing, as there was some small stones looking like they were supposed to hold something.
"That's odd..."
Rarity and Rainbow Dash arrived back at the music room, to find Cadence and Shining Armor playing with their daughter. The room was large but set up with sofas and chairs that added an air of comfort when families sat down to listen and play.
"Hey you two!" Cadence greeted cheerfully, sitting near a harp, bouncing her giggling baby on her lap. "We were planning on taking Flurry out later on when it got warmer, so we decided on staying in here for a while."
"Abababa!" Flurry cooed, enjoying herself.
A painting of a young woman holding up what appeared to be sheets of music hung on the wall near them. Rarity checked the nameplate and found that her name was 'Lyra'.
"Some music room this is. Where are the amps? The electric guitars?" Rainbow asked.
"This room was built long before them, Rainbow." Rarity pointed out. "It was built for classical musicians."
Rarity soon noticed and went over to where a large, old piano stood against the wall.
"Oh! Isn't this lovely!" She said, playing a few keys.
"I think that was added by one of our ancestors, who was a singer. I'm not good with history like Twilight and Dad are." Shining said with a shrug.
While Rarity enjoyed the piano's finely tuned keys, Rainbow noticed something else, namely that the piano appeared to be built directly into the wall itself.
This castle is way weirder than I thought.
Sunset and Pinkie soon found their way to library and both were stunned with what they saw.
"Ooh!" Pinkie awed. "Look at all the books."
"Is it possible to be both surprised and yet not surprised at all?" Sunset wondered.
Indeed, the library was huge, with each level filled top to bottom with books both old and new, enough to rival even the Canterlot Public Library!
Walking around, they found paintings, seats and lights for reading, and at the center a giant globe of the world.
"Hey girls!" Looking up, they found Twilight Velvet waving to them from the balcony of the story above them. Taking the stairs, she quickly made their way over to them.
"Isn't this library marvelous! There are books here dating back to way even before Andromeda! Even my own mother couldn't resist this place when she came here. I'll show you around a bit."
They walked on, with Velvet pointing out significant shelves or tomes.
"Those are old law books being preserved, apparently one of Night's ancestors was a prominent judge, and installed some of them himself. See over there? Those books are so old and rare it was commonly though there were lost forever! A few scholars came over to archive them. And those magic tomes over there are supposedly one of the few of their kind in existence."
"Wow. It looks like Twilight's family did a lot in the past." Sunset observed. "How come we don't hear more of them?"
Velvet just shrugged. "They preferred working behind the scenes, from the shadows, then casting a spotlight on themselves. Oh!" She pointed to another shelf. "Those tomes were recovered by Vulpecula during the burning times. You see, during that time, witch hunters and other followers of the 'New Religion' burned and destroyed any piece of knowledge they didn't like or agree with their beliefs, especially books about magic. Vulpecula went out and rescued as many of these books as she could, and openly opposed them at every turn until she was eventually caught and hanged as a witch by Queen Night Templar the Zealot."
"That's awful." Pinkie said dejectedly.
Velvet smiled mischievously. "What you might also like to know that she was the last witch Templar killed. On the night of Vulpecula was killed, Templar's room burst into flames! The history books say it was either an assassination or a candle falling over. But rumor has it Vulpecula's ghost had come seeking vengeance, along with the other victims of Templar's reign. Or that it Vulpecula's family seeking revenge. Whatever it was, it put an end to the burning times and the civil war, and Templar's sister Artesia was crowned Queen. And she certainly didn't see any reason to punish this family."
"Wow..." Both teens were in awe.
"Fascinating right? Over there are some books written by Ophelia herself."
"Ophelia?!" Sunset exclaimed.
"The one whose husband turned into a monster?" Pinkie asked excitedly.
Velvet nodded cheerfully. "Exactly! She loved experimenting and studying new spells. Rumor has it that one of these spells resulted in the beast. Because when word got around that there was something in the woods, several government officials and hunters asked her to put a bounty on the beast head. But not only did sh refuse, she forbid anyone from hunting the creature!"
"Woah.." was all Sunset could way.
"Yeah. It's with stories like these that Night's family has a....spotty reputation."
They soon passed by a statue of a beautiful young woman holding a wand.
"Who's this?" Pinkie asked.
Velvet shrugged. "I think she's the goddess of wisdom? Religion isn't my specialty. You can ask someone else later."
Sunset couldn't help but feel there was something familiar about the stature. She then noticed something odd about the eyes: they were pointed down, as though she were looking at something on the ground.
They eyes...they look like they're supposed to move!
They continued on before Velvet stopped and pointed down a hall of books to a desk where and old computer sat. "That is the first computer that ever entered the castle. Scorpius bough it back in the day. There are some newer ones, but he likes to keep that around for sentimental reasons."
They walked over and saw the computer was opened to a screen that said: Hello Scorpius! Please enter your password!
The group eventually decided to meet back together in the great hall.
"So, did anyone find anything?" Sunset asked.
"Nothing in the garden, aside from a statue that was missing a part." AJ stated.
"And a beautiful love story about Andromeda." Fluttershy sighed wistfully.
"All we found was a library full of books and funny statues!" Pinkie said, joyfully putting her arms around Sunset's shoulders.
"Well, we found some of the most marvelous classical instruments!" Rarity gushed. "There was one of the most beautifully crafted harps I had ever seen! Just the detain on it! And a piano that was perfectly in tune! Especially given how old it is-"
"Now that you mention it." Rainbow interrupted, ignoring Rarity's annoyed look. "There was something odd about the piano."
"What about it?" Sunset asked.
"Come on and you can see for yourselves."
"You were right Rainbow." Sunset stated, looking over the old instrument. "It's definitely built into the wall, the question is: why?"
"I saw a movie once where you play certain keys on it, and it's supposed to trigger something." Rainbow explained.
"But what are we supposed to play?" AJ wondered. "It could take hours to guess what to play!"
"I think, I have an idea." Rarity said, standing in front of the portrait of Lyra, She peered closely at the sheet music the woman was holding before taking out a jewelers loupe, and peered even closer. "Look at this!"
Everyone gathered around Rarity, peering at the portrait.
"What?" Rainbow asked, confused. "What are we looking at?"
"That." Rarity stated, pointing at the sheet of music. "Shining armor said the woman who designed this room was a singer. And in this portrait you can clearly see-" She paused for dramatic affect.
"A song!" Sunset exclaimed excitedly.
"Exactly!" Rarity walked over to the piano and proceeded to play the song from the portrait, the moment she hit the final note, two things happened.
First, a panel in the wall opened up, revealing yet another secret passage. Second, a leg in the piano opened up, revealing a secret compartment.
"Smart thinking Rares!" AJ said.
"Oh my!" Rarity gasped and looked into the compartment.
"Another secret passage!?" Rainbow exclaimed in shock.
"Well ya gotta admit, they have a knack for keeping them hidden." AJ acknowledged.
"Look!" Rarity pulled out what looked like a fork and a stone heart. "What are these for?"
"Let's look through here first, Sunset said, stepping a foot inside the wall.
"Ooh!" Pinkie awed. "Spooky!"
"Oh! Uh..." Fluttershy stammered, not eager to head into another unknown path. "D-Do we really have to go through it?"
"It's ok." Sunset nodded. "Pinkie, AJ, you two come with me. The rest of you stay watch and keep a lookout for anything else unusual."
"You mean....like that?" Rainbow casually pointer her thumb over to their pink friend......who was busy playing a tuba while riding a unicycle and juggling balls with one hand.
Sunset could only blink. "Oookay....maybe Pinkie should stay here and Rainbow can come with us."
"Sweet!" Rainbow jumped for joy while Pinkie continued doing.....whatever is was she was doing.
Sunset, AJ and Rainbow carefully made their way through the passage.
"Hey, what's that?" AJ pointed to a nearby wall, on which a circular object was built into it.
"Let's check it out." Sunset went over and carefully traced her fingers over it. It was cool and covered in rust. "It's definitely been here a while, probably came with the passage."
"Try opening it." Rainbow insisted.
Sunset traced and, upon finding a ledge, pulled until it came off, revealing a small hole in the wall.
"What is it?" Rainbow asked.
"Looks like a peephole." Sunset leaned down and put her eye up to it, once she focused, she could make out a room with people in it.
"It is a peephole! And it looks like Scorpian, Night Light and Shining Armor are talking."
"Can ya hear what they're saying?" AJ asked.
"Shh. I think so."
Ever so faintly, she could make out what the men were saying behind the stone wall.
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Night asked, slightly worried. "It seems....mischievous."
"Oh I'm sure they'll be fine." Scorpion reassured his son. "Twilight said two of them were constantly pulling this stuff on others."
"Yeah." Shiny agreed. "They've been through worse. Besides, if Twily's on board, so am I?"
"But what about the centuries worth of secrets?" Night raised an eyebrow. "Some of them are hard to figure out, not to mention dangerous."
"Like Shining said, they've had worse. Besides, Twilight says they're practically family, so what's the worry? Either way, it's good fun for us."
"See? Nothing to worry about?" Shining said, heading for the door. "I've gotta catch up with Cady and Flurry, see you at dinner?"
Quickly enough, the room was empty and Sunset shut the lid.
"Well?" AJ asked. "What were they talking about?"
"I think they were talking about.....us."
"What do ya mean?"
"I think they're....planning something, involving us. It doesn't sound bad! But apparently Twilight's in on it."
"Well if Twilight's part of it, then it can't be bad....right?" Rainbow asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Night said he was worried about the secrets, and the fact that 'something' could be dangerous. But they also thought we could handle them."
"Ah'm sure we'll be fine." AJ tried to reassure them. "Let's just keep going and see what we fink, alright?"
The teens agreed, though all three of them still harbored some doubts.
Eventually, they came upon another panel with glowing blue writing on it.
"What does it say?" Rainbow asked.
Sunset went up to it and began to slowly read, carefully translating the ancient language. "It says, 'Only the good and wise may pass here. All others shall be turned into creatures of shadow, their nails will grow, their teeth shall sharpen and shall become as dark as your minds and hearts. Prove thy worth by putting down the name of the one convicted for trying to save lives and knowledge. Who fell victim to fear and hysteria. Else consider thyself unworthy and truly cursed.'"
All three teens felt a chill go down their spines.
"C-cursed!?" Rainbow sputtered, face almost as white as Rarity's.
"Do....do you think it means the beast that's supposed to be in the woods?" AJ asked, hiding a shudder.
Sunset gulped. "Most curses aren't real, they're either fake magic or a way to keep people out."
"Does anything we've seen so far, even remotely hint that everything here is 'fake'?" Rainbow argued.
"Those townsfolk did say there was dark magic here." AJ mumbled. "And that does sound like what happened to Ophelia's husband...."
"Well, if we are cursed now, then I guess the only thing to do is keep going?" Sunset nervously asked them.
Reluctantly, they nodded at her to continue and so she lifted up the panel, revealing rows of Ophram letters.
"'Put down the name of the one who fell victim to fear and hysteria'..." Sunset repeated, trying to understand what it meant.
"Whatch'ya reading Sunny?" Pinkie asked, causing the trio to scream.......which led to Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy screaming.
"What are you doing here!?" Rainbow asked once she realized who it was.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't find anything else in the music room." Rarity admitted.
"And the author felt bad about not using us more, so we decided to come down and see if you found anything! See!" Pinkie pointed to their shaking friend. "We even got Fluttershy to come along!"
"Adventure...."She wispered.
"So did you find anything?"
"Well....." Sunset, Rainbow and AJ looked at each other.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE MIGHT BE CURSED?!?!" Rarity exclaimed when Sunset finished explaining. Fluttershy had turned even paler than her friend, and Pinkie wasn't affected at all.
"Well, right now it sounds like if we don't want to end up like Ophelia's husband, we need to solve this riddle." Sunset said, lifting the plate and showing the letters, which glowed brightly in the dark.
"It better! I do not want to spend the rest of my life in the woods eating people! Do you understand how hard it is to get blood stains out?"
"Ignoring that suspicious comment....it looks like we need to put in the name of someone who 'fell victim to fear and hysteria', but what could that mean?"
"Isn't that the lady Twilight's mom told us about?" Pinkie asked.
"What?"
"In the library silly! Remember? She told us about Vulpecula and how she stood up to that meenie Night Templar? Then her ghost was like 'no way jose!' and-"
"Pinkie Pie you're a genius!" Sunset exclaimed, interrupting Pinkie's story. "Vulpecula was hanged by Night Templar for opposing her oppression! She's the one who fell victim to fear and hysteria! We have to put her name in!" With that, she carefully selecting the sigils and pressing them in to spell out 'Vulpecula'. As she pushed in the final stone, something inside the wall made a noise and it slid out and to the side.
"A secret passage...inside a secret passage?" Fluttershy wondered.
"Again...Twi's family were really good at keeping them hidden." AJ nodded.
"Well, not much to do except keep going." Sunset declared as she and the other stepped into the darkened pathway.
After walking a bit, the group found themselves in a round room with another door right in front of them. One the walls were carvings of animals, constellations and magical symbols. Only the glow from Sunset's magic allowed them to look around.
"What is this place?" Fluttershy asked.
The door looked like it could be a map of the night sky: several constellations were painted on it..
Sunset walked to the center of the room where a pedestal stood. Carved onto the top was a sort of square diagram with four symbols carved at each side: two were skulls and bones, one was a triquetra and another was a star. A square tack surrounded a round disk, where a stone with a pentagram carved on it was stopped in front one of the skulls. One the long side was another arrow and a line with several animals carved onto it: an owl at the top, followed by a bat, a dragon, a bear and a wold. Currently, the arrow was pointing at the owl.
"I wonder what's behind here-" Rainbow said, reaching for the door.
"DON"T!" Sunset screamed as Rainbow pulled it open, revealing a dark room. Before she could step inside though, Sunset pulled her back.
"Hey! What-"
Suddenly, the two walls clashed together before slowly opening back up. Rainbow's eyes were pinpricks.
".....Oh."
Sunset hurriedly closed the door. "I think this is another puzzle. I think that pedestal controls what's behind the door."
"And considering we're currently in front of the skull and crossbones...." Rarity shivered. "Who know's what's behind the other one?"
Sunset tried to turn the disk, but it wouldn't budge. "Okay, maybe we need to unlock something for this to work."
AJ leaned down and picked up a few things off the floor. One was a stone carved into a heart with holes in the center. The other looked like a mini scythe.
"Now where have I....?"
"Look at this." Fluttershy pointed to another plaque on the wall. She began reading; "To find what you seek, find the two lovers and they will show you the way."
"What does that-" Sunset wondered.
"Now I remember!" AJ exclaimed before showing what she found. "I think this goes into the statue of Andromeda and Clover! Remember Shy? How it was missing something on the bottom? And Rarity! What did you find in the compartment?"
Rarity pulled out what looked like a little fork. "Only this little thing, why?"
AJ grabbed the object and held it next to the scythe. "Ah think these pieces go on the columns in the Great Hall! Remember some pieces were missing from there as well! I think someone took them and hid them all around this place!"
"Applejack you're a genius!" Sunset said, hugging her friend. "Let's head to the statue right now!"
A low growl could be heard, making the girl's freeze up. Fluttershy latched onto AJ.
"W-what was that?" Fluttershy asked, looking around nervously.
"Me!" Pinkie said, patting her belly."That particular grumble means it's lunchtime!"
"Okay, we can go after we've grabbed some lunch." Sunset conceded.
After a quick lunch, the group immediately headed for the garden and from there to the statue of the two lovers.
"Here it is!" Aj said, walking ahead. Indeed, the statue looked just as they had left it earlier.
"Now let's see what we find." Carefully, she fitted the stone over the pegs and slid it on.
It fit perfectly.
As soon as it slid into place, the panel opened up, revealing another secret compartment containing a piece of paper and a little crown.
"Quick! What does it say!?" Sunset asked eagerly.
AJ took the object and opened the yellowed note. "'To continue on your path, bring water to what once was dry. Pray to Thalassa and she will bring forth water."
"So....we're just supposed to pray?" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh please!" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "What weirdo solves all of their problems by praying? That just sounds like a story from a religious nutjob!"
"There has to be more to it than that..." Sunset started thinking.
"Um.." Fluttershy whispered aloud. "What about the pillars?"
"What darling?"
"The....pillars in the great hall. They had Gods on them and they were mssing things..."
"Goodness darling! You're right!" Rarity said, giving the shy girl a hug. "I found Thalassa's trident in the piano!"
"And Mictlan's scythe in the weird room!" Pinkie pointed out before suddenly disappearing and reappearing on top of the statue. "And that looks like Sola's crown!"
"Well what are you waiting for?" Rainbow asked eagerly. "Let's get going!"
The sun was beginning to set by the time they returned to the castle. Back in the Great Hall, they gathered around Thalassa's pillar. It showed the woman rising from the sea, arm stretched above her as though holding something up high.
Rarity quickly set the trident and it clicked into place.
Then, the pillar opened up, revealing a long pipe going from the ceiling to the floor running inside the column. Stuck in the valve was another not while on the floor was a marble duck.
"What the-?" Sunset picked up the duck, examining it closely for any clues. "Who would put this here?"
Rainbow took the note and read it out loud.
"Turn to start the waters. But to finish, go to where rare life flourishes, and return your new friend to his home."
She crumpled the note. "Well, might as well turn this on and see what happens." Before anyone could stop her, she turned the valve, and the old pipes shook as water flowed freely through them again.
"Well, what did that accomplish?" Rarity asked.
"It has to be part of the riddle." Sunset deduced. "Where in this castle would 'rare life' flourish?"
"What even is 'rare life'?" AJ wondered.
"Maybe we should place the other pieces on the columns and see what happens?" Rainbow suggested.
Before anyone could ponder further on this question, a scream echoed from down one of the hallways.
"That's Twilight!" Sunset realized.
"Let's go!" Rainbow said, leading the group towards where the sound had come from.
