Azil

"The flowers....they're blooming dearest...do you see them?"

"Yes...I see them."

"They are quite lovely...do you think they'd look nice on our windowsill?"

"Yes...I do."

"We can pick a few once we are done with lunch, oh I cannot wait till the cottage smells of roses, can you?"

"No...I cannot."

"Dearest...you are a mare of few words today....are you feeling alri-"

"I'm so sorry."

Twilight Sparkle recognized the first feeling she could feel as pain when her consciousness returned. A low, aching groan passed through her lips as her frail body trembled from the cold, stale air seeping into her bones. A light breeze was gently wafting over her, a muffled voice crying out to her from her left somewhere. She clenched her eyes tight, her head throbbing like crazy as she tried to press herself back into the blackness of the unknown.

She so very desperately wanted to go back to sleep, to go back to the cottage...the clean air...the soft grass....her soft, delicate skin and gentle touch. The unicorn took in a shuddering breath as she opened her eyes very slowly, the world unfocused and naught but a hazy blur. Her body shook slightly as two gentle hooves pressed at her, trying to rouse her from her slumber. "Twilight!" The voice wept, the sounds of crying reaching her slowly perking ears "Twilight please say something! Say anything!"

Twilight turned her head to the left ever so slowly, her eyes opening a small bit more. The world slowly came into focus as her eyes locked upon Ditzy Doo's watering ones. The mailmare sniffed loudly, repressing a choking sob as she gasped "Oh thank the goddesses that you're alive!" She sniffled quietly, rubbing at her nose with a hoof as she whispered "I...I thought the pipe had...had killed you when it fell and hit you from so far up." She smiled slightly, wiping at her eyes as she went on "But at least you're awake now! Better than being...than being dead."

The unicorn slowly turned her head the other direction, blinking as she took in the scene around her. Piles upon piles of ash littered the floor around her, the rest of the tower-room remaining relatively unchanged. She felt her wounds starting to ache, drawing the mare to look down. Her eyes widened slightly as she beheld her entire mid-section wrapped up tight with bandages. Green tufts of leaves poked out between some of the bandages, a salve of some sort it seemed used to soothe her burns. She held up her two front hooves, the appendages in the same patched state as her mid-section. She looked over towards Ditzy, the mailmare blinking at her as she whispered "Thank you Ditzy Doo...for patching me up."

Ditzy's next words had Twilight's eyes widening as she muttered "Um...it....it wasn't me that did this..."

"Then...who?" Twilight asked in response, the unicorn groaning slightly as she sat up. "It's only you and me here Ditzy Doo, who else could it have been?" Ditzy responded merely by pointing a little hoof to Twilight's right, towards the end of the room. She looked over, a light gasp passing through her as she beheld the metallic door she had failed to get through before opened wide. She could faintly see the length of a large hallway just behind the door's entrance. She turned her head back towards the muffin mare, her mind in a fuzz of confusion. "Ditzy...," she whispered, holding up her bandaged hooves "Who did this...who else is here with us?"

"She told me not to say..." Ditzy whimpered, rubbing her hooves together as if she was guilty of getting caught with a hoof in a cookie jar "She said that when you were ready...to help you through the door and that...that she'd explain."

Twilight narrowed her eyes, looking back towards the open door and taking in a deep breath. Another mare huh? Perhaps this was the same 'Her' that had been labeled on the map she had tucked away in her...saddlebags. She gasped, looking around her frantically. Her saddlebags! When had they fallen off!? "Ditzy have you seen the saddlebags I was carrying?" She asked, looking around her for any sign of them.

Ditzy shook her head, muttering "N...no...I did see some straps of leather falling off of you when you were climbing the staircase though." She whimpered, bowing her head as a fresh set of tears watered her eyes "I...I think the white ponies burned them away when you ran through them..."

Twilight sighed, staring up towards the tall, tall ceiling as she whispered "Dammit..." She looked back down after a moment, noticing Ditzy Doo was crying again. "What's wrong?" She whispered, putting a bandaged hoof against the mare's cheek "Why are you crying?"

"I..." Ditzy started, a sob choking out of her as she whimpered "I just wanna go home..." She looked around her in fright, a look of distrust etched on her face as she looked upon her surroundings with an uneasy feeling in her gut "I mean...where are we anyway? What is this place, some kind of crazy prison filled with monsters or something?"

"I don't know..." Twilight whispered, looking back towards the hallway "But if this mystery mare said she'd explain things, then I think it's best we get after her quick. The more knowledge we get our hooves on, the better chances of survival we'll have in this place." Ditzy nodded, putting her hooves gently on Twilight as the unicorn struggled to get off the splintered picnic table she had landed heavily upon. She groaned slightly as her body ached and throbbed, unwilling to make Twilight's journey through this terrible, monstrous place an easy one. As she slipped off of the table, she was quickly supported by Ditzy Doo on her side, the mare helping Twilight limp along as her front hooves were still too tender to put her full weight upon.

As they moved towards the open doorway, questions began to slowly flow through her head. This place was dangerous...that was as obvious as the sun was scorching. A cell that tried to drown her within minutes of her awakening, monstrous ash ponies that burned and melted fur and skin upon contact, a maddening siren that nearly deafened the ears of all who heard it, and a mysterious mare who could have killed Twilight Sparkle at any time during her unconscious state. She did not however...and chose to bandage and heal Twilight's wounds, saving her rather than murdering her. That didn't make her able to be trusted however...the mystery mare could have very well been keeping her alive for her own personal gain...a bargain or a deal of some sort, or maybe for some kind of dark pact or ritual. It seemed a bit far-fetched by any normal standards....but then again, things were hardly normal right now, were they?

The two passed through the doorway after several moments of pained yelps and quiet whimpers from Twilight, moving into the long hallway beyond. It was lined with all sorts of olden-style decor, small mahogany tables spaced every fifteen or so feet apart with bouquets of roses sat comfortably within white vases with ornate designs of blue color. The patterns on the vases, Twilight noticed, reminded her of....wind. She shivered as she looked towards the many picture frames that hung upon the walls, most of them depicting very old and rich looking ponies. They were probably the benefactors of the establishment the two found themselves trapped in. One mare caught Twilight's eye, her beauty breathtaking and her eyes a gorgeous, light chocolate brown. Her fur was a very light grey, her mane a dark brown streaked with many lines of silver. She wore what looked like an emerald-colored cloak with its large hood pulled back, a faint smile lingering on her lips. Twilight shifted her eyes towards the bottom of the frame, a nameplate bearing the slightly worn words:

Mrs. Penny Saved

Dearest wife, Cherished mother.

Elite Guardian, Master Ranger

Married to the Kurranian Line

"May the winds carry you home swiftly."

She's beautiful, Twilight thought, her gaze lingering upon the painting. She couldn't help but shake the feeling that she had...seen...this pony before. There was something oddly familiar about her, her smile, her eyes...her everything. An uneasy feeling passed through her, a shiver running up along her spine as she stared at the canvas. The eyes of Penny Saved seemed to narrow slightly, her smile growing as the two mares walked by her spot on the wall. The unicorn shook her head, her mind fuzzy as she looked back down the long hallway. The far door didn't look any closer, if anything, it looked like it was getting further and further away. She looked over to her rear, gasping as she came to a stop and stared backwards. Ditzy halted as well, looking towards Twilight and whispering "What is it Twilight? What's wrong?"

"How long..." Twilight breathed, her irises shrinking "Have we been walking, Ditzy?" The mailmare blinked, quirking an eyebrow upwards as she looked back behind her and felt her own gasp slipping through her lips.

The hallway behind them was immensely long, the door that they had once come from not even visible from the impossibly stretched passage that only moments ago, would only take maybe a few minutes to pass through. Now...it looked like hours. "What...the fuck...is this place...?" Twilight breathed, looking back ahead of her. Her heart sank as the way ahead now mirrored the way back. "What the hell!?" she screamed, looking around her frantically "Why, why is this happening?!"

The hallway suddenly started to dim, Ditzy shivering and clinging to the unicorn as she whispered quietly "Twilight I...I'm scared..." Twilight narrowed her eyes, backing the two of them up against one of the walls and pushing Ditzy behind her. She had tried to abandon the muffin mare once...she wouldn't catch herself doing that again.

The light had faded considerably, the darkness now becoming almost impossible to see through. She could barely even see Ditzy Doo behind her, and she was only mere inches away. The two of them stood in the dark for what seemed like an eternity, their eyes looking every which way for any sign or indication of incoming danger. "Could this just be some sort of night time?" Twilight whispered to herself "Or...is this another supernatural danger?" It was only a few more moments before Twilight's suspicions were confirmed, the distant sound of wings flapping reaching her ears. "Ditzy stay behind me!" She hissed loudly behind her, the unicorn taking a low, protective stance. Her body still ached, but she'd still do what she could to save Ditzy Doo.

The flapping got louder, and by the sound of it, there were a LOT of wings contributing to the noise. But what those wings were attached to, Twilight didn't know...and she wasn't sure that she wanted to find out either. Closer and closer the sound came, and louder and louder it grew. The unicorn could barely hear Ditzy's whimpers over the thundering sound of wings it was so loud. Twilight could just start to see black, shadowy shapes moving somewhere in the darkness when the sudden sound of a door opening echoed out behind them. She heard Ditzy yelp as she felt a sudden touch around her tail, the two of them being yanked backwards.

Twilight gasped as she was tossed backwards, the sound of a door slamming ringing in her ears a moment later. She landed on her rump, blinking as she looked up to see what had happened. An earth-pony mare stood with her rear pointed at Twilight as she stared towards a door, presumably the door she had just pulled the two mares through. Her fur was a deep, dark grey, a cutie mark of a filled bookshelf displayed on her rump. Her mane, a dazzling, shining silver, was done up in a bun with two chopsticks crossing in a plus sign through it. The mare sighed, turning to look at Twilight after a moment. She wore square-shaped, golden spectacles that were clipped with a neck chain to secure it in place around her in case she needed to take them off. A few wrinkles were prominent on her long, slim muzzle, and a soft, but very wise gaze in her eyes. She was a mare getting on in years, but not too old it seemed. A mare in her later years, but young enough it seemed that she was only now just getting past her prime.

The three mares stared at each other a moment before the grey mare opened her mouth, quirking an eyebrow as she said "Ah, salut Twilight Sparkle. Este foarte bine să te văd." Twilight simply sat there on her haunches, dumbfounded as an awkward silence settled over the air for a moment before the mare went on "Tu ... mă înțeleg, da? Acesta nu a fost atât de mult timp de când am vorbit ultima oară le-a?

"I'm sorry..." Twilight breathed "I don't...understand you." The grey mare giggled, pushing a hoof against her own lips as she smiled, taking a moment to collect herself as she let out a happy sigh.

Her voice was like a soothing rain, gentle and calming as she spoke "I am sorry, I forget that you are Equestrian. Our language has been lost for a very long time now...though I swear you and I have spoken once before." She paused to scratch at her head, mumbling "Haven't we...? Time is so broken and confused here...I would not be surprised if the Wind has not already blown it into pieces by now.."

"Excuse me," Twilight interjected suddenly, holding a bandaged hoof up. "Not to be rude and all but...who exactly are you? Are you the mare who bandaged me up and told Ditzy to bring me to you?"

At this, the grey mare gasped, putting a hoof over her chest and 'tsk tsk-ing' herself. "Oh gracious me," she exclaimed "Where are my manners, I do so greatly apologize!" She cleared her throat, walking past Twilight as she giggled, the unicorn following her with an intense stare. Ditzy took the moment to look around as the grey mare trotted up to a large, wooden circle that rested in the also circular, and not to mention large, room they found themselves in. It was a desk of some sorts, the wooden circle, the grey mare taking a seat upon some unseen chair behind it and looking around her at the towers upon towers of bookcases that lined the walls surrounding them. Wherever there was a gap between the bookcases, a door with an intricate design etched into its surface or a different colored wood was placed. To Twilight, it looked like some kind of hub, an entrance to a maze of some kind, but with no exact entrance or exit.

The grey mare took a moment to shuffle some papers on her desk before clearing her throat once more, smiling as she crossed her front hooves in front of her and said simply "I, am the Librarian. And this..." she held out a hoof, passing it in the air all around her "This....dearest Twilight Sparkle and Ditzy Doo...."

"This is Azil."