Twilight's hoofsteps reverberated around what sounded like a much bigger room ahead, and she sped up. ‘Finally out of those tunnels,’ she sighed.

Lonely windows sat on tall walls, illuminating a large hall with frigid complexion. Dust coated more heraldry that Twilight didn’t recognise, though a collapsed pillar and staircase didn't surprise her. A giant symbol was the hall’s stone centre, yet again unknown to her, cluttered with bricks from the ceiling above. She trotted inside and spotted a tall archway to her left, and a hallway beyond that with a towering wooden door at the end. That has to be the entrance, she thought.

She made for the door and looked around; Twilight couldn’t help searching for details that would date the architecture, if only to keep something simple on her mind. There were bookcases taller than most of the trees in Sweet Apple Acres, and similarly sized windows across from them. No doubt the castle had seen renovations, but she’d come across very few details she recognised from her textbooks. The door’s design was the strangest thing, but Twilight slowed as she approached, realising that whatever she was looking at wasn't by design at all.

She scowled, wafting a putrid stench from her snout; a stench like rot that burned her nostrils, and carried the smell of some undiscernible substance or chemical. The door was spattered in something organic. It was glistening, crimson and warm to the touch – for Twilight of course touched it, her curiosity getting the better of her - yet it felt bone-dry. It was tough as leather when she tried to heave it out of the way but, despite not budging, it slowly and perceptively writhed under her hoof. When Twilight went to grasp it with a spell, an immense pain shot through her hooves, her shoulders, her chest, almost her whole body. ‘O-Ow-w-ww!’ she yelped as she stumbled onto her rump, lifting her hooves, but whatever had happened to them hadn’t left a mark. ‘What in Equestria?!'

Some sort of mold? the unicorn thought, taking a moment to catch her breath. It felt as though she’d been struck by a crop cart! No, what mold looks like that? Let alone fights back?! She stood up and picked up the torch, wondering if she could burn it, but the flame had weakened since she found it, and she didn’t fancy losing its light. Any spells stronger than her would pound her head like a drum, too. She didn’t like to anthropomorphise, but whatever was covering the door seemed keen to keep her inside. ‘What now,’ she sighed. ‘There has to be another way into a castle this size... which means there’s probably some archives, too. Maybe I can find a map or some sort of floor plan.’

With a huff, she trotted back the way she came.

Questions chased away her focus. How easy it would be to identify whatever was covering the door if she were home. A jaunt through the library and she’d have her answer. Ponyville came to mind after that, along with how worried everypony must have been about her, how long it might have been since she saw them, and them her. The thought reminded her, and she looked over her shoulder at one of her saddlebags. The note she’d written hadn’t mentioned her friends.

‘N-No, Twilight,’ she said, ‘think about that when you’re out of here... but then, where would I start?'

Did she talk to anypony about what happened? Had she written about it in her diary, maybe? Again nagged the tiresome, pressing question of why she’d drank that infernal mixture. If things were truly as bad as they must have been for her to put those alarming things in writing, for her to wipe her memory, perhaps it was just a matter of time before her friends came looking for her, before Spike did – that thought Twilight decided to avoid.

Some of the doorways in the Entrance Hall had writing above them, and Twilight clambered over some rubble to read 'Cella Vinaria'.

‘Olde Ponish... "wine cellar”,’ she deciphered, climbing a nearby staircase and coming across a door with 'Tabularium' engraved above it. ‘Archives!’ she chirped, smiling victoriously – a smile that came from that part of her that bubbled up with a solved puzzle, or when the mysteries in her detective books were unraveled. One hoof on the door and it creaked into the hallway behind it which, despite being the best decorated Twilight had seen the castle, was clearly in disrepair; faded paint, aged wood and plaster, and a door torn clean off its hinges. Something in the dust beside it caught her eye, and Twilight squinted at a set of hoofprints.

They were large, a stallion's it seemed, and their shapes were clear as day, so the prints were fresh. Is somepony in here with me? Maybe it’s whoever was in those tunnels. Her note had mentioned ‘servants’, but these prints were odd. They were deep, like the pony in question put more weight than necessary on his hoof, and the stride pattern was bizarre, with each step oddly close to the last. The hoofprints were all the same size, too, even though the rear hooves were usually larger.

She pried her eyes from the prints and pressed on, translating signs that hung outside the doors on either wall. ‘”Rare Books”, “Catalogues”...’ At one point she felt a draft, which she followed to a large corridor with a pair of arched windows, and a hole in its roof with water trickling inside. Twilight trotted over to the windows, sighing when she found a sheer drop beneath both, and shook her head. Dusk was falling, so, she decided to sit down and watch.

Princess Celestia’s sun blazed below the horizon, while Princess Luna’s moon loomed like a white galley sailing cloudy seas. Rain fell, and pines twisted in a breeze that gently rattled the window. Twilight thought of a hill in Ponyville where she’d often had picnics at sunset; muffins with Pinkie, sourdough bread and apple tarts with Applejack and, though she’d never tell anypony, her favourites were with Fluttershy. The pegasus would often close her eyes, perhaps embracing the nature around her. A few picnics ago Twilight had begun trying to do the same, focusing on birds whistling, or rustling trees, the breeze in her mane, the sun warming her coat. Just the two of them, relaxed, sitting in comfortable silence with one another. Twilight smiled sadly.

The corridor ended with a wall of debris that had collapsed through a doorway. She paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow at something. I should... go back and search more thoroughly. Can’t have come here for nothing.

Her ears shot upwards. ‘Hello?’ she called out, holding out her torch. She’d heard something ahead, low and guttural, followed by some fading hoofsteps, then a loud thud. 'Hey!’ she yelled, cantering towards the sounds, ‘hey, wait!’ Looking down she spotted more prints, now damp with sweat, but ended up back where she came from with nopony around. 'Come back, please! I-I'm lost! I don’t know how I got here and I need help! Please!’

Twilight’s ears drooped, having heard no response. She hoped she wasn’t somewhere the common tongue wasn’t spoken. While the baron’s letter was written in it, perhaps the same couldn’t be said of his servants. Even so, there’s no way they didn’t hear her shouting. Why had they just wandered off? Maybe... something else made the sound? she thought, her eyes drifting to the nearest room. There was little else but furniture and shelves of antique vases and artefacts inside, nothing that would have caused such a sound. Whoever had gotten her attention must have shifted it to escape her, though everything seemed exactly how it was on her way in. Hopefully she wasn’t hearing things, but she swore she’d heard something behind that rubble, too...

Her eyes fell on the damaged door, covered in dents and scratches. It wasn't until Twilight held her torch closer that she discovered three long, curved marks carved into the wood. She frowned; if an animal capable of leaving such marks had gotten into the castle, perhaps it truly was abandoned. The marks continued across the wall, however, tearing toward the entrance in a manner a tad tidy for most animals, and she knew of no local beast whose call resembled the odd noise she’d just heard. She swallowed, carefully stepping around the door and entering the room, where she finally spotted a map laid out across a desk.

Twilight hastened to it, shoving aside a nearby chair and blowing dust from the paper. Somehow the castle looked larger than she imagined, but there were indeed other halls that looked large enough to serve as entrance chambers. That said, there was a wider map in the corner where she could see the Everfree forest, but no Ponyville. ‘Don’t tell me you’re outdated!' she yelled, for an outdated map meant certain areas might have been removed. Judging by that shaking earlier, they may have collapsed. At least I’m not far from home, she thought.

The room was filled with stacks of paper and scrolled documents, and a note beside the map. The assorted parchments varied enough in age for Twilight to gather that the Archives had been used for centuries. She took some larger scrolls and opened them, finding more maps of the castle, of Equestria, of the local area and nearby regions. Her eyes glazed over the note on the desk initially, but then felt an odd familiarity toward the words. She raised an eyebrow, picking it up.

'10th of May.

Dear Princess Celestia,

As per your last letter, preparations are going just fine, if somewhat tiring. I took your advice and decided not to do them alone this year, but Pinkie seems determined to make this “the best birthday he’s ever had!”.'

Twilight perked up. ‘Did I write this too?'

'Truthfully, I'd be at a loss without her, and I’m certain Spike will enjoy what she has planned. I'd like to mention something else, though.

I overhead some talk in the market today and yesterday – Lily Valley went missing at the weekend and still hasn’t come back. Now I’ve seen a missing poster of Starsong, too. Everypony knows everypony here, and I can’t imagine either of them would disappear without telling anypony where they’re going.’

Ponyville’s lush meadows were prime real estate for florists like Lily Valley, and Starsong was holding down a stable job at the weather factory last they talked. Twilight frowned, hoping the pair weren’t in any danger. Lily was kind and gentle, and while Starsong had a temper she could be remarkably sweet.

‘It’s starting to bother ponies, Spike especially. I appreciate I’ve been paranoid about things in the past but maybe you could send some royal guards? Have them search the Everfree? Things like this don’t happen in Ponyville, and we don’t have a village watch. I'll be on the lookout for anything strange. I just hope all this campfire ghost-story stuff doesn't get to him.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle'

Twilight grinned. The note was written by her. 'If this is here, maybe there’s more! Maybe I can piece together what-’

Something growled.

She spun around, eyes wide, and backed into the wall. Hoofsteps now, loud and heavy. Twilight dropped the torch with a gasp and it clattered against the floorboards. Another growl came from outside, lower-pitched and accusatory. Her eyes darted about and she made for the nearest shelves, shuffling underneath them. The wood squeaked and rattled. A hoof came into view, muscular and pale, then a second, but those two only. Twilight held her breath, her back pressing against the bottom shelf. The stranger waddled into the room and approached her torch, an awful rubbing sound accompanying each step. He stood over it and kicked at it, his breaths phlegmy and laboured. Droplets of sweat rolled off her face and onto the floor with tiny splats. Twilight steadied her hooves and covered her snout.

A minute or so passed before the stranger turned and waddled from the room, garbling something Twilight couldn’t understand. She waited for the hoofsteps to fade, waited to hear the doors to the Archives open and close. She waited longer after that, staring at where the stallion had stood. When she was convinced she was alone, she took some deep breaths and started inching her way out from under the shelves, which shifted about above her until she heard a wooden cracking sound and looked up.

THUMP.

The pain wiped her senses. Her knees buckled, her world turned on its side, and she felt the cold and dust against her cheek as darkness ate away her vision.

She scampered to the corner. She couldn’t escape the smell. The soldiers' coughed, hacked, and the sight of wine, phlegm and whatever else they’d vomited churned her stomach. The lieutenant bashed on the door with his hooves, his eyes glistening with tears as she covered her own.

The captain wasn’t doing anything and most of his stallions lay struggling about him; the ground was red with them. What could she do but cry? This couldn’t be the end! Was this the end?! What in Faust’s name would everypony think if she never came home?! What about Sweetie Belle? She’d never forgive her. Perhaps she’d even come looking! She scrunched her muzzle into her hooves.

A retch came from the lieutenant and took his voice, blood sloshed through his teeth. She gagged. He exploded against the door, screaming breathless screams, eyes wide with desperate lunacy, pounding and pounding until she heard his bones cracking. When the lock finally broke something audibly burst and gurgled up his throat, but she ignored her churning stomach. The door was open!

She ran away - of course she ran - squealing as the lieutenant grabbed her hoof and she kicked him away, leaving him clawing at his throat with mangled hooves. She looked over her shoulder and her tears blurred the captain. He didn’t move. He didn’t even look.

Author's Note

A lot happening in this chapter so apologies if it feels like it goes too fast. That said, there was a lot of polishing to do and a lot of chaff that didn't make the final cut, so I'm fairly happy with how this chapter turned out. I hope you feel the same, and let me know if more should come. Thanks for reading!