Somnambula was laying on a couch, with her familiar cat Ink sitting beside her. She had a history book propped open in front of her forelegs, and was trying to catch up on some of the developments since she'd been gone. A gentle breeze wafted through the open window, carrying the sounds of the thriving market with it. Somnambula loved listening to the sounds of her old village, especially now that the ponies there had gotten more used to her return. She'd insisted she wanted to be treated like any other pony, and finally they'd stopped flocking outside her house. Well, most of the time, anyway.
One hoof absently started petting Ink as she read, and he purred contentedly. She smiled. She couldn't imagine a better day than just sitting here, relaxing and learning at once.
Then somepony knocked on the door.
She sighed and stretched. "I am sorry, Ink," she whispered. "I will try to be quick."
"Meow," he said, but she knew exactly what he meant. You'd better hurry. I was just starting to enjoy myself.
Somnambula opened the door. "What is it?" she began, but stopped, and broke into a grin. "Daring!"
"Hi again," Daring smiled. "Mind if I come in?"
"Of course not. I can make some tea, if you'd like."
Daring waved a hoof. "It's too hot for tea."
"It is never too hot for tea," Somnambula objected, letting her in. "Perhaps for the snobby tea they have up in Canterlot, but here in Southern Equestria, we have real tea. Nothing you Northerners create can compare." She smiled teasingly as she said it, to let Daring know there was no insult meant.
"Maybe we can try it another time. For now, I have two things. First of all, check this out!" She whipped out a book and tossed it onto Somnambula's table.
"How the Legends Returned," Somnambula read aloud. "By A. K. Yearling. Who's that?"
"My pen name. I publish my adventures as Daring Do in the format of a fictional story. Remember how I told you I wanted to try my hoof at writing down your story?" At Somnambula's nod, Daring continued, "That's it right there. I tried to keep it accurate, not embellishing for the sake of storytelling that I usually do. Not that it needed embellishing anyway."
"What do you usually do to a story?"
Daring shrugged. "Amp up the action scenes a little. Add in some extra characterization, sometimes. Work it so the ending is satisfying and wraps up all the elements included in the plot--it doesn't usually, in real life."
Somnambula grinned at the book. "What is the second thing?"
"Remember when you said you'd help me with an adventure if I asked?"
Somnambula's eyes went wide. "Really?"
"Really."
"I would love to adventure with you! When should we be on our way?"
Daring grinned. "As soon as you can. Oh, but I have one more companion I need to introduce to you."
Somnambula turned back to the door as a stallion entered. He was an earth pony, with mustard-colored fur and a grey mane. She stared, looking back and forth between him and Daring Do. "Are you siblings?" she asked uncertainly.
"No," Daring said.
"Cousins?"
The stallion shook his head. "Nope."
Somnambula paused for a moment, then shrugged. "All right. But Daring, why do you need both of us? When I first met you, you were working completely alone. Why does this mission require two companions?"
Daring took a breath. "Well, that's a bit of a long story, but I suppose we have time while you pack." Somnambula nodded and got out a bag while Daring continued. "There's an old enemy of mine. His name is Ahuizotl, and he often tries to get his hands on valuable, dangerous relics. Normally, I would rescue them from him and put them in a museum, but this time is different. He's after something called the Necklace of Nightmares."
"What is that?" Somnambula asked with interest, going through the small number of clothes she owned and picking out a few to place in the bag.
"Well... Remember the darkness that claimed your friend?"
Somnambula hung her head. "How could I forget? But how did you know?"
Daring gestured again to the book on the table. "Anyway, it belongs to an ancient entity, a force of darkness. It can be in several places at once, and when a pony is consumed with jealousy and hatred, it can take them over. Quibble there might recognize it by a different name, as the Nightmare that took over Princess Luna." The stallion gasped at those words. "But either way," Daring continued, "the force behind it is one and the same. The Necklace of Nightmares will summon that force and bind it to the user's will. There is no telling what Ahuizotl could do if he had that kind of power."
"So, we're racing to get to the Necklace first?" Quibble asked.
"No. Most artifacts I would take to a museum, as I said--but this Necklace is too dark and powerful. It's nothing but evil. Instead, we need to look for another artifact, one that can destroy it. The fabled Spear of Light would be powerful enough, but I have no idea where to find it. Luckily, Ahuizotl has no idea where to find the Necklace, which gives me a little bit of time. Also luckily, I do know where to find information about the Spear, including where it might be located."
"Where is that?" Somnambula asked, dropping a bottle of ink into her bag, on top of the clothing.
"The Lost Library," Daring said. "It's said that it contains all knowledge in the world. But the ponies who made it wanted only intelligent ponies to get inside."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Quibble complained.
"It means that the Lost Library is underground, beneath an entire palace. You enter the palace from the top, and must pass through its entirety to get to the Library. Each room is a puzzle or a riddle. There is no way to get into the Library without passing every riddle and solving every puzzle, and the two of you are the best I know at solving those."
Somnambula smiled. "That does not sound like a challenging quest. That sounds like a fun vacation!"
Quibble nodded absentmindedly, but he wasn't looking at either Daring or Somnambula. He was looking at the book on the table, as if putting two and two together. Suddenly his eyes lit up, and he gasped. "No way."
"No way what?" Daring asked.
He pointed to her. "You're A. K. Yearling!" he said, then turned. "And you, you're Somnambula!"
"How'd you guess?" Daring Do asked with interest.
"Well, I'd been wondering ever since I met you how A. K. ended up telling your stories, especially disguising them as fiction. It even got me to read some of your more recent works, to try to figure it out." He rolled his eyes. "I still prefer your earlier works, but the later ones are... okay. Anyway, I thought it was weird how, after Daring Do and the Legend of Somnambula, you shoved Somnambula into the story like an actual character. At least, I thought it was weird until I read How the Legends Returned and noticed that it wasn't a story, but actual events."
Daring grinned. "See? He's a great puzzle solver."
"Wait, wait," Somnambula said. "You named a story after me?"
"Before I knew you were real, obviously," Daring explained. "I came to this town and heard your legend, and it really interested me, even inspiring me to save a friend. Normally I name the story after an important relic I recover or a place I visit during the events of the story, but I didn't do either one that time. So instead, I named it after your legend."
Quibble rolled his eyes. "Are we going to get to the Lost Library, or will we just talk all day?"
"Good point," Daring said. "Somnambula, are you ready?"
"One more thing." She scooped Ink up with a wing and deposited him on her back. "Ready."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"How are we even supposed to get in there? You said the only entrance was at the top," Quibble complained, looking up at the towering building of white marble. "And in case you didn't notice, there's an earth pony as part of this venture."
"There's a staircase around the back. Come on." Daring led the way around the building and gestured to the large spiral of stairs.
"Good grief," Quibble said. "That's every out-of-shape pony's worst nightmare."
Somnambula and Daring climbed the steps with him, rather than flying, out of sympathy. As they climbed, Daring tested ideas for how to write it. "The palace was riddled with riddles," she said. "Clever, or cheesy?"
"Cheesy," Quibble said immediately.
"Darn."
They climbed for a few more minutes. "What about, 'each room was like a puzzle piece'?"
"But they are not," Somnambula replied. "Puzzle pieces fit together. These rooms are each individual puzzles, you said."
Daring sighed. "You're right." Another pause. "What about-"
"No," Quibble said.
"You didn't even hear it!"
Quibble rolled his eyes. "I didn't have to. That way lies madness. And terrible, terrible puns."
It seemed like an eternity before they reached the top, and even Daring's legs, more accustomed than the others to use, were growing tired. Finally, panting, they reached the entrance. A plaque beside the door read, "A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid."
"Nice of them to start us off easy," Quibble remarked.
"An egg," Daring Do said. "Even I could get that one."
Quibble snorted. "Even the cat would be able to get that one."
Somnambula glared. "The 'cat' has a name, and he happens to be excellent at riddles."
Quibble rolled his eyes. "Sure. Whatever you say."
Daring sighed as she trotted in. "Word of advice, Quibble Pants? Don't argue with the millennia-old legend miraculously returned to the present day."
Somnambula laughed as she, too, entered the room and looked around. It was not as empty as she'd expected; bits and bobs were scattered about. A large bookshelf stood at one end of the room, while another corner contained a lumpy mass underneath a blanket. Daring spared only a cursory glance at the surroundings before heading for the door, so Somnambula supposed it was nothing to worry about.
"Meow," said Ink.
"You're sure?" Somnambula asked, looking around the room. "Everything looks fine to me."
"Meow," he insisted.
"What can you buy for five bits that will fill up a whole room?" Daring read aloud.
"Easy again," Quibble scoffed. "A candle and a match. The light fills the room."
The door swung open. Somnambula turned slowly around the room, looking at everything in turn. If Ink insisted something was wrong, something was.
"You coming?" Daring asked from the other room. "We haven't got all day."
"Ink says something is not right," Somnambula said.
Quibble put his hoof to his forehead. "Really? The cat?"
"He is not just a-"
"Daring is right," Quibble interrupted. "We don't have all day."
Somnambula took a long glance around the room, but still couldn't spot anything that looked amiss. "All right," she finally conceded, though Ink yowled in protest.
"How can you understand what that cat says?" Daring asked, as the door swung shut behind her.
"He's my familiar," Somnambula said. "Of course I can understand him."
This room was more like a long hallway, so Daring began to trot down it. "Think back to when you first met him. He was trying to help solve the Sphinx's riddle, but you couldn't understand him."
"No, that's true," Somnambula said. "I suppose it's been coming on gradually."
Quibble rolled his eyes. "Come off it. I read that book, and all he did to 'solve the riddle' was meow."
"And?" Somnambula asked defensively.
"He's just a cat," Quibble insisted. "You're imagining him talking."
"I am not."
"Let's focus, please," Daring interrupted, having finally reached the next door. "What has no tongue, but sings the song of a thousand?" she read.
"A forest," Somnambula said, and the door swung open.
"Where'd you get that?" Quibble asked.
Somnambula shrugged. "It has no mouth of its own, but it still resounds with birdsong--'the song of a thousand', not merely the song of one."
Daring laughed. "That's one question we've each answered. Maybe we should make it a contest. See who can answer the most riddles."
"Not all of us," Somnambula replied. "Ink still hasn't answered any."
Quibble rolled his eyes.
Somnambula's ear twitched at a sound behind them, something like a creaking door. Ink arched his back and hissed at it. "Did you hear-" Somnambula began, but the others were already halfway across the next room. Somnambula shrugged and followed them.
Rather than a mysterious door, this room opened onto a set of tiles, each tile the size of a pony. Both Daring and Quibble were examining them carefully, rather than stepping on them. "What are these?" Somnambula asked. "Why can we not simply walk across?"
Quibble tapped on a tile with his hoof. It split off from the others and fell. It was a very long time before they heard it hit bottom.
"The same wing-binding charm the sphinx used is in this chamber," Daring complained. "We can't just fly Quibble over."
"The markings on the tiles don't make much sense, either," Quibble added. "I'm sure they're the key to all this, I just can't see how."
Ink leapt off of Somnambula's back and onto a tile. "No!" Somnambula cried, but the tile held. He walked across it calmly, then jumped onto another one, which also held. Somnambula grinned. "Hold on, Ink, come back."
He returned to her easily, and she took a bottle of his namesake out of her bag and poured a little on the ground. "Wade in this," she said. "Then you'll leave a path and we can all follow you."
He jumped into the ink and splashed around, then returned to the tiles. This time, when he jumped onto one, he left a trail of black pawprints for the others to follow. Somnambula came next, then Daring, then, last of all, Quibble. Ink's paws ran dry a few times along the way, but Somnambula always gave him a fresh puddle of black to wade in. It felt like a long time, but was probably less than five minutes, before they reached the other side. Quibble breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"Do you believe in Ink now?" Somnambula asked. "Now that he guided you safely across the chasm?"
Quibble mumbled something grumpy-sounding under his breath.
"He says yes," Daring said.
Quibble rolled his eyes as they proceeded to the door. This one, rather than having a plate next to it, instead had a door knocker shaped like an eagle. "What do we do?" Daring asked.
Somnambula grinned. "It's obvious. We knock." She lifted her hoof and gave the door knocker three solid bangs.
The knocker opened its beak, and a soft voice asked, "Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?"
They retreated a few paces to debate amongst themselves. "The stories say the phoenix first brought fire to Equestria, so it must be the phoenix," Daring said.
Somnambula shook her head. "Was the fire created in that moment? No, the phoenix had fire before."
"Then the question," Quibble declared, "is whether, in the depths of time, the phoenix created fire, or fire created the phoenix."
"There is a more important question, and it is this: Why should the ponies who created this door know that answer?"
Daring and Quibble both looked at Somnambula like she was crazy. "What?"
She stepped forward and approached the door. "The answer," she stated clearly, "is that a circle has no beginning."
"Well stated," the door approved, and opened for her. Behind it was a staircase; they'd reached the end of the top floor.
"That doesn't make sense," Daring complained. "One of them has to come first, before the others!"
"Does it?" Somnambula asked simply.
They trotted down the staircase and entered the next level. Somnambula's ear twitched. "Shh. Did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Quibble asked.
"I am not certain, but I heard something. You two continue. I will stay and listen for a few minutes, then rejoin you."
"If you insist," Daring said.
Somnambula tucked herself in a corner, listening as they answered the next door's riddle and passed through. Not long after the door had closed again, hoofsteps sounded on the stairs. It sounded like at least three ponies, maybe four. Soon they came into view, but they didn't notice her. She'd counted right--there were four of them. All were earth ponies. Their leader was brown, with the barest hints of a beard, a slick grey-black mane, a white shirt with a spotted red scarf, and a cutie mark of a golden skull. The second was blue and burly, with an orange mane and a cutie mark of some strange symbols. The third, slimmer than the rest, was purplish-white, and his cutie mark was a yellow and purple explosion. He wore sunglasses. The last one was also brown with a hint of beard, but his mane and tail were brown and his cutie mark was an exclamation mark and a question mark on a patch of red. Somnambula hadn't the faintest idea what any of them meant.
"It's so hard to keep where we can hear them without them hearing us," the blue one complained.
"Keep quiet, you fool, and answer the riddle," barked the brown one in the shirt. He had an unplaceable accent, and appeared to be their leader.
As they approached the door, Somnambula stepped out from the corner. "Hello, gentlemen," she said calmly. They jumped at least a foot each; the skinny one in the sunglasses crashed into the ceiling. Somnambula had had no idea he could leap so high.
"Relax, you fools," the leader said, as if he hadn't jumped just as high as the rest of them. "It's only one pony. She cannot hurt us."
Somnambula smirked. "I would not be so sure of that. I am not alone."
"What do you mean?" the blue one snarled.
"Have you not heard?" she asked innocently, nudging Ink subtly with her wing. "There is a spirit that haunts this castle, attacking the unworthy. Those who would seek to take the work of another for their own."
Ink slid off her back and into a shadow, melting almost seamlessly into the darkness. Nopony noticed him.
"Eh, that's a load of #%*@," said the pony whose cutie mark was #%*@. "You're playin' us for fools. Well we ain't."
Somnambula privately doubted that, but said nothing. "Very well," she said, "a battle it is. But I have the spirit on my side."
They spread out, each in battle ready posture. A sudden yowl cut the air behind them. "Wh-what was that?" the white pony asked nervously.
"It is the wind," their leader insisted. "Ignore it."
All at once, they lunged, coming at her in a semicircle--and she was against the wall. There was no way to dodge.
No way for an earth pony, at any rate. But thinking in two dimensions is so limiting.
With a single flap of her wings, Somnambula leaped above their heads. They crashed into each other as she glided easily across the room. As they struggled to untangle them, the brown one who was not the leader yelped in pain. "Something got me!" he cried.
Somnambula decided she really needed better ways to refer to them mentally. Brown, White, Blue, and Leader would do.
"It's the spirit!" Brown continued wailing. "He got my leg!"
"Don't be a fool," Leader retorted. "Let me look at that."
He would see that it was only a cat scratch, and then all Somnambula's hard work would be wasted. She gestured with a flick of her head. Ink leapt onto Leader's back, dug in his claws, and held on for dear life as Leader howled.
"It's the spirit!" White cried. "It's got him!"
"Run for your lives!" Blue shouted, and they all turned tail and fled.
Leader managed to free himself of Ink, now galloping after him. "Get back here, you fools! She is tricking us!"
Ink jumped onto Somnambula's back and perched happily. "Atta boy," she whispered, heading for the door.
She passed through three more doors, each with their own riddle, then reached a puzzle. Daring and Quibble were standing, looking at it. "We've been waiting for you for five minutes!" Quibble snapped, when he heard her enter. "What took you so long?"
"Some ponies were trying to follow us, eavesdrop on our riddle solving, and then use our answers themselves. Ink and I shook them off."
"Must be Caballeron again. He always tries to hitchhike on my skills, then sell whatever I'm looking for to the highest bidder. Which is usually Ahuizotl." Daring sighed. "I bet Ahuizotl hired him to find the Lost Library to help him locate the Necklace of Nightmares."
Quibble groaned. "I guess I owe you an apology," he admitted. "You kept saying something was off, but I refused to listen to you."
"It is not I to whom you should be apologizing," Somnambula said. "Ink was the one who heard the noises."
Quibble made a little moaning noise. "Go on," Daring said. "She's right and you know it."
"Ughhh... I'm sorry, Ink."
"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Daring laughed.
Quibble rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Can we get on with the puzzle now? We figured it was best to wait for you on this one."
Somnambula looked over the puzzle. It appeared to use large sliding tiles, which needed to be shuffled around until they made a shape. "Daring," she said, "if you look at this from the air, you can tell us which tiles to move."
Daring nodded and soared upwards, hovering near the ceiling. It didn't take her long to start giving directions, though half of them were, "No, wait, put that one back and try this..."
"Tell me, Quibble Pants," Somnambula asked, moving a tile, "what does your cutie mark stand for? Is it arguing?"
Quibble snorted. "No. Actually, I write fanfiction."
"What is that?"
He bit back a sharp reply as he realized she wasn't mocking him. She genuinely didn't know. "Well, it's like... Say you read a really good book, and you really like the characters, and you wish they would have more adventures together. But they don't, the series is over. So you write a story, using those same characters, so they can have more adventures. You can't publish it officially or make any money off it, but you can share it with other fans of the series, and they can read it too. It's a perfectly legitimate and responsible hobby," he added, a bit defensively.
"Keep telling yourself that," Daring said, as the last piece clicked into place and the door swung open.
The next chamber contained another door knocker, this one shaped like a lion. "There is a hotel with an infinite number of rooms. Every room is full. An infinite number of ponies arrive, needing a place to stay. How can the hotel make room for all of them?"
Somnambula shook her head. "It is not possible. There is no solution. It must be a trick."
The door didn't open. Daring sighed. "There has to be an answer."
"Meow," Ink said.
Somnambula stared. "What?"
"Meow. Meow meow. Meow."
Her eyes grew wide. "Of course! It is so simple! Yet I never would have seen it."
"What is it?"
She began drawing on the dusty floor with a wing, drawing ten rectangles with the numbers one through ten on them, representing doors. "The pony in room one moves to room two. The pony in room two moves to room four. The pony in room three moves to room six." She drew arrows with her feather. "And so on. Then rooms one, three, five, and so on are empty. There are an infinite number of even numbers, so everypony who was already there has a room to move into. There are an infinite number of odd numbers, so everypony who has just arrived has a room to move into. Nopony is left out."
Daring's eye twitched. "Why do all the riddles with talking door knockers have to have nonsensical solutions?" she groaned as the door swung open.
"It's not nonsensical," Quibble said, staring at it. "It's incredibly logical. It's... beautiful."
"Nerd."
They trotted through the open door.
The door swung open, and the next flight of stairs appeared. As they trotted down, Quibble asked, "Has anypony else noticed the pattern the previous floors have had?"
"What do you mean?" Somnambula asked curiously.
"First there are three rooms with riddles. Then there's a room that's a giant puzzle. Then there's another room with a magic door knocker that tells you the riddle, and that door leads to the stairs."
"You're right!" Daring realized. "That makes things easier. And from what I've heard, there are only five floors. So we're making good progress."
If seen in the sky, I'll be seen in the water, the next door read. A sparkling sapphire, or a robin's young daughter.
"Robin's daughter?" Daring mused.
"Blue," Quibble said, opening the door. "A robin's egg," he explained as they entered the next room.
The next room felt unusually cold. The riddle read, Glittering points that never rust. Sparkling spears that downward thrust.
Daring looked around the room. "The cold is an extra hint. It's an icicle."
The third door of the floor contained the riddle, I swallow the fleet and the slow, the light and the heavy, the old and the young. Their skeletons rot on my floor. What am I?
"That's a little morbid," Quibble complained.
"Meow," Ink said.
Somnambula smiled. "The sea. It swallows ships."
Quibble sighed as the door opened. "Another point for you."
"No, for Ink. I merely translated."
Quibble rolled his eyes, but said nothing as they entered the room with the puzzle. Daring Do recognized the structure before them instantly; the others, less used to such things, didn't know what it was until she cried with excitement, "It's a maze!"
Somnambula tilted her head. "You like mazes?"
"I love mazes. Wait here. I'll be right back."
She galloped into the entrance to the maze, while Quibble and Somnambula stared awkwardly at each other. "Does she do this often?" Somnambula asked.
Quibble shrugged. "I've only been on one other adventure, and she wasn't there for most of that. I have no idea what she does often."
Daring poked her head out of the maze. "Back. Figured it'd be faster to run through it alone and find the right way, then pick you guys up and take you back along it. That way you aren't annoyed when I take a wrong turning."
"That was incredible!" Quibble exclaimed. "It barely took you thirty seconds!"
Daring winked. "You could even say it was amazeing."
"You'd better leave that pun out when you write the book."
"Leaving out gold like that? Do you even know me?"
The next room should have had a door with a knocker. All of them expected it. To their surprise, they found two doors, each with a knocker. One depicted a badger; the other, a mouse. In between them was a sign. Somnambula read it aloud.
"One of us will always tell the truth. The other will always lie. One door leads to a trap; the other is your way onwards. You may ask one question."
Daring rolled her eyes and approached the mouse door. "I've seen this a million times."
She rapped sharply on the knocker, and the mouse opened his eyes. "What is your question?" he wheezed squeakily.
"If I asked the other door, which way would he tell me leads onwards?"
"He would say I lead onwards."
Daring nodded and trotted for the other door. "Why that door?" Somnambula asked. "I do not understand how that worked."
Daring rolled her eyes. "I swear I've gotten this riddle a hundred times, yet I still have to explain it. Basically, if the door tells the truth, then the other door lies. The truthful door tells me what the lying door would say, which is the wrong door. Alternatively, if I get the lying door, then it lies about what the truthful door would say, thus giving me the wrong door. Either way, they tell me the wrong door, so I have to go choose the other one." She opened the door with the badger on it and trotted down the staircase.
The next room had no door.
"There must be some mistake," Quibble said, looking round the empty room.
Daring shook her head. "Look over there. There's still a plaque, it's just next to an empty stretch of wall. If I had to guess, I'd say the door will appear once we solve the riddle."
"Still weird," Quibble declared, as they approached the riddle.
Ecaps sdrawkcab a, dlrow rehtona seil ereht ssalg ym htaenrednu. Ecaf ruoy ton tub, ecaf ruoy ees ll'uoy, shtped ym otni kool uoy fi, the sign read. They froze, staring at it.
"It's utter nonsense," Daring complained.
Quibble rolled his eyes. "It's written backwards, obviously." Squinting, he leaned forwards and started reading backwards. "If you look into my depths, you'll see your face, but not your face. Underneath my glass there lies another world, a backwards space."
"A mirror!" Somnambula exclaimed. "That is why the writing was backwards!"
The wall shimmered, and a mirror came into view. "I don't understand. Is the mirror the door?"
Somnambula reached forwards, but instead of hitting the mirror, her hoof went through. "It appears to be," she agreed, and stepped through. The others followed her into the next room.
Daring trotted forward and began reading the next riddle. "There is a house. One enters it blind and-"
"A school," Quibble interrupted.
"I didn't even finish reading the riddle!" she complained, as the door swung open.
Quibble rolled his eyes. "You don't have to. It's basically the oldest riddle known to ponykind. One enters it blind and comes out seeing."
"Well, that was the rest of the riddle, yes," Daring agreed, glancing over the sign. She shrugged and moved into the next room.
The next riddle read, This travels instantly and swallows all. Yet when it is driven back, all it has devoured is returned.
"Meow," Ink said.
"Darkness," Somnambula translated, and the door opened.
"Now the puzzle!" Quibble said enthusiastically.
The room before them contained a series of colorful buttons laid out in a row. Somnambula leaped forward and pushed one. A clear note rang out, like a chime had been played. She pressed the next one; a slightly higher note emitted. Nimbly, she played them in a scale, up and down.
Quibble, meanwhile, wandered off to the side. "There's a lever over here."
"Pull it," Somnambula instructed. "I think I know what to do."
He pulled the lever, and a song began to play. Somnambula listened to it for a moment with her eyes closed. She nodded then, and began to play along.
She fumbled once or twice her first time through. The door did not open. She tried again, only missing one note. The door remained firmly closed.
She took a deep breath, in and out. "One more time," she murmured softly. Her hooves glided over the keys like swans on the water, chiming out the melody. She played along flawlessly--Daring couldn't even tell which part of the song was her, and which was playing from the lever.
The door opened.
They trotted through and found the next door. This one had a snake on the door knocker, and when Quibble knocked, the snake opened its eyes and hissed out the riddle. "Imagine you put a single grain of rice on the ground. Then you add another. Then another. At what point does it become a pile of rice, instead of single grains?"
There was a pause. "About at twenty," Daring said confidently. The door didn't open.
Quibble shook his head. "I don't think it's going to be a number. Remember the first door with a knocker? It asked whether the phoenix or the flame came first, but the answer wasn't either one. I think this will be similar."
Somnambula began to pace. "It is impossible to say when exactly it changes. There is no answer."
Quibble shook his head again as the door stayed firmly closed. "That's not it either. It's just like the phoenix and the flame, I'm telling you. We need to think outside the box."
"If you're so sure about it, maybe you should try it!" Daring snapped.
Quibble shrugged and stepped towards the door. "When it looks like one," he guessed.
"Close enough," the door said, opening.
"Wonder what answer it was looking for," Daring said.
Somnambula shrugged. "I think it had a particular answer, but would accept anything that is neither a specific number nor a claim that there is no answer."
They trotted down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, Daring looked at the door ahead. "This is the last floor. It'll probably have the hardest riddles."
Sure enough, the door's question was extremely confusing: When a chicken lays an egg on a roof, which way does the egg roll?
"That's ridiculous," Daring complained. "There's not nearly enough information. What shape is the roof? What direction does the house face? Which way is the wind blowing? Is the chicken on the top of the roof, or to the side?"
Quibble sighed. "No, the answer is that roosters don't lay eggs." The door remained closed. He looked at the riddle again. "Wait, this says a chicken! That's not how the riddle is supposed to go. It's supposed to say a rooster, and then the answer is that roosters don't lay eggs! They did it wrong!"
"It is not wrong," Somnambula said. "No matter what direction the roof slants, or which side the egg rolls towards, there is always one direction the egg will roll."
"And what's that?" Daring grumbled.
"Down."
Quibble stared as the door opened. Somnambula smiled. "You were so occupied with the way you had heard it before, with the question you knew was a trick, that you could not see the answer that was actually there."
I am so fragile that you can break me just by saying my name, the next door read. What am I?
"Silence!" Daring cried, triumphant with finally being able to solve a riddle herself. The door swung open, creaking slightly, and they entered the third riddle room.
Before they could approach the door to read it, however, Ink arched his back and hissed towards something behind them. Somnambula perked her ear up, and heard a set of hoofsteps.
"Not again," Daring groaned.
Caballeron, the pony Somnambula had mentally called "Leader", came trotting into the room, then froze. He hadn't realized they were still there, Somnambula supposed. Slowly, he smirked, and launched into an evil monologue. Quibble rolled his eyes.
"You may have frightened off my henchponies, Somnambula," he hissed, "but I am not so easily wowed. I continued following you in secret, and now..." he smirked. "Now, we have almost arrived. I could probably reach the end even without your help by now."
Daring stepped aside from the door. "Feel free to try," she challenged.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Quibble asked, as Caballeron trotted towards the door. Ink hissed at him as he passed; he swung a hoof at the cat, kicking him in the ribs.
A blur of yellow and grey charged him, knocking him backwards until he was pinned against the door. Somnambula rushed to Ink, checking his wounds, sparing barely a glance at Daring. Then suddenly she did a double-take, because it wasn't Daring who'd reacted with such speed and force. It was Quibble.
"I've always hated laziness," he growled. "Lazy writing. Lazy ponies who would rather steal somepony else's honest work than solve a few riddles themselves. And worst of all, a lazy coward who picks on the one creature, out of the entire group, who isn't his own size."
Caballeron whimpered. Quibble's muzzle was inches from his.
Quibble dropped him and turned away. "You disgust me," he muttered.
Caballeron was still panting heavily, but looked relieved that Quibble had finally dropped him. Which meant he'd missed a key detail, one that both Somnambula and Daring had noticed: Quibble may have turned his back to Caballeron, but that only meant his hind legs were towards him.
He bucked.
Even Daring Do, one of the fastest ponies in the world, couldn't have done it at that speed. Applejack, the best apple-bucker in Equestria, couldn't have done it so hard. Caballeron went flying into the door, and he didn't stop there. A giant, pony-shaped hole in the door was the only sign left that he'd ever been in the room; through the hole, they could see him lying limp in the previous chamber. There was a long pause.
"Did I kill him?" Quibble asked uncertainly.
This spurred Daring Do into action. "You better not have killed my recurring character!" she snapped. "He's a fan favorite!" She took a few galloping steps and jumped through the hole--a narrow gap for a running leap, but she made it look easy. One hoof reached for Caballeron's neck, checking his pulse. "Okay," she said, relieved. "He's alive. Just very, very unconscious."
Ink meowed--it was a bit strained and painful, but still a meow. Somnambula laughed. "I agree."
"What did he say?" Quibble asked.
"He says he deserved it."
"He deserved worse," Daring objected, leaping back through the hole.
"Just a minute ago you were complaining about it!"
"All I said was that you'd better not have killed him. I have no objection at all to a good solid beating. He doesn't get them nearly enough; he always has his henchponies do the fighting for him."
Somnambula looked up from Ink. "He'll be all right," she said with relief. "We should keep going, before Caballeron wakes up."
They approached the door. Somnambula read the riddle aloud. "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"
"What?" Daring asked. "That could be almost anything."
"It's nonsense," Quibble agreed.
Somnambula closed her eyes, thinking. "You may be right. For once, I doubt it has a real answer; perhaps what we need is an answer that is also nonsense."
They paused for a moment. Then each burst out with an answer at the same time.
"Because they both create notes, but only very flat ones!"
"Because there is a B in both and an N in neither!"
"Because Edgar Allen Pony wrote on both!"
The door swung open, and they looked at each other. "Question is, which one of those did it?" Daring laughed.
"All of them," Somnambula answered easily.
The next room was much longer than any of the others had been, and they could see nothing in it but the door at the end. As they approached the door, they realized it had another door knocker on it. "Did they skip the puzzle for this floor?" Quibble mused.
The door grew closer, and now they could see that it actually had five knockers. "The door is the puzzle!" Somnambula exclaimed.
"And the riddle door!" Daring added. "It's both at once!"
They were standing in front of it now, and could see the five knockers clearly. They were arranged like the 'five' side of a die: four in a square and one in the center. In order, left to right and top to bottom, they were a snake, a mouse, an eagle, a badger, and a lion.
"Shoot," Daring grumbled. "Which order did they come in?"
"First was the eagle," Quibble said.
"The lion came next," Somnambula added.
"Then was... the mouse?"
"No, it was the mouse and the badger in the Two Doors puzzle, but the one we actually went through was only the badger."
"And then the snake!" Quibble leaned forward and knocked on each in order: eagle, lion, badger, snake.
All four opened their eyes at once. "A fortress of defense, a bastion of might," the eagle called.
"A castle where the wise teach the young to fight," the lion added.
The badger opened its mouth next. "An armory of weapons, sharp as hooks."
"Are wrapped in leather and shelved as books," hissed the snake.
The three ponies looked at each other and laughed. After the other riddles they'd had, this one was positively easy. "A library!" they chorused, and the door swung wide, opening up onto the Lost Library.
Author's Note
This was so much fun to write! I didn't expect to finish it so quickly, but the inspiration strikes when it strikes. There will be one more story in a similar vein to this one; it should be pretty obvious what it'll be about.
This story contains four riddles/puzzles that are references; three are easy to notice, one is hard. Happy spotting!
