Words in Shadow

by Golden Vision

Rating: everyone
Tags: Dark
Length: 5029

Beneath the catacombs of Canterlot Castle lurks a dark secret. Twilight will find that shadowed books can hold more than just words.

Slumbering deep beneath the catacombs of Canterlot Castle, the Eastern Library has laid abandoned for the better part of a millenium. A chance discovery by one Twilight Sparkle, though, leads her to its ancient shelves, thirsty for knowledge. But in its time alone, the library has grown host to things that thrive in the dark. Soon, Twilight will find that these shadowed words hold more than just stories.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-10-29 18:30:01 UTC

Chapter 1

"And in the year 529 Anno Solaris, the Library of the Eastern Wing was opened to the wider population of Canterlot Castle. It was expected to become a popular site for academic pursuits, due to its large population of arcane and theoretical texts; however, it was badly damaged by flames following the Upper City Fire later that year. There was only a certain portion that had been burned, though, and so it was surprising when the Eastern Library, rather than being repaired, was instead closed off and sealed from the rest of the castle. It is unknown to this date how many of the original texts would still lie in the chambers, although—"

"Okay, that's enough."

Twilight turned around. "What do you mean?"

Spike groaned, flopping back onto Twilight's bed. "You've been reading that book for the past three days. I'm surprised you haven't memorized it yet."

Twilight frowned. "Spike, this is an extremely interesting topic!"

"Yeah? So what?" Spike sat up and pointed to the stacks of textbooks littering the room. "That's what you said about those, too."

"Well, they were!" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure what you're getting at."

Spike sighed. "Twilight, you haven't left the room in almost a week!" He gestured around the dorm, scowling. "Every time you want to read something new, you have me run to the Archives to get a whole new stack of books for you. It's not even for exams—the Princess herself gave you the week off! You've been living off old haycakes and instant noodles for days, and frankly, it's not a whole lot of fun for me." He gesticulated wildly. "I mean, take a look at this mess!"

Twilight sniffed. "I'm sure it's not that…bad." She slowly surveyed the room, blinking a few times. "Oh. Oh, my."

"Yeah," Spike muttered. He threw up his arms. "How am I even supposed to clean while you're in here twenty-four-seven? The second I clean up one wrapper from the floor, there are three others right next to it!"

Twilight reddened. "Whoops. Sorry, Spike." She shrugged, grimacing. "I guess I have gotten a bit… disorganized, what with all the studying I’ve been doing."

Spike crossed his arms. "And that's saying something."

Twilight tilted her head. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Get outside!" Spike shrugged, biting his lip. "Get some fresh air! Do something!" He put a claw to his lip. "I'm no expert on ponies, but there's no way in heck that this kind of thing can be healthy."

"Well," Twilight said slowly. "I suppose I could explore around the castle or the grounds. I'm sure there're plenty of areas I haven't seen since moving in as the Princess’s apprentice." Like that library.

"Yeah, whatever." Spike hopped down off of Twilight's bed, reaching for a broom leaning in a corner. "Just don't come back for a few hours, okay? Go do something, and maybe have a little fun."

"But books are—"

Spike tapped his foot, folding his arms across his chest.

Twilight gave him a strained smile. "Right. Leaving now."

Twilight's hooves echoed dully off of the corridor’s marble floors as she began to pass into the lower floors of the castle. She'd known that there was more to Canterlot Castle than what lay on the surface, but she couldn't help but notice that the deeper she went, the fewer ponies she seemed to find.

She finally came to an intersection, with three halls branching off. Twilight squinted down at the map and then looked up, frowning. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something: a very faint and very faded marker upon the wall of one of the corridors. It appeared to have been inscribed in gold leaf many years ago, but it had since disintegrated to a line of just barely readable text.

Twilight could feel herself shaking in anticipation. "E. Library," she murmured, and grinned. "Looks like I'm getting close." She paused, peering around the corner and down the hall. Strangely enough, nopony was there.

Twilight frowned. I wonder why nopony comes down here anymore? She shrugged. I guess there just wouldn't be much point.

Walking on, Twilight barely noticed when the marble floors turned to stone, or when the lamps lining the walls began to disappear, instead being replaced by everburning torches. She finally came to a stop by a large stone bust, placed in a wide alcove within one of the walls.

“Crinkled Page,” she said, reading the inscription upon the bust. “Librarian. 529 AS to—” Twilight blinked, squinting. There was no marked end date to the librarian’s tenure. Huh. That’s weird.

“Then again, if this is here,” Twilight murmured, looking around. “Then the library itself can’t be too far.” She frowned. It’s still weird how there’s nopony around. You’d think that there’d be at least a guardspony around or something.

Shrugging, she resumed trotting down the hall, only stopping once she had rounded the next corner.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Aha!” She galloped up, a thin smirk on her face. “This looks promising.”

A large foyer, lined with several statues of academic-looking ponies holding books, served as the bulk of the next corridor. Much of it was boarded up, with wooden planks nailed over the walls, but there was one small door left untouched, off to the side. Above it all was a large granite plaque, slightly faded, yet bearing a proud and ancient engraving:

Eastern Library

May Words Show Us Light

Twilight’s face lit up, and she bounced up and down in place. “Yes! I found it!” She grinned. “Hm. I wonder if I can get in.”

Humming, Twilight looked up at the only unbarred door. She frowned, and poked at it with one hoof. Strangely enough, it opened without any resistance, creaking inward with a quiet ticking sound.

Well, that’s convenient.. Twilight peered in past the door and frowned. “Huh.”

She was met with an inky blackness. As her eyes adjusted, she was able to make out the vague outlines of a few bookshelves and pieces of furniture. Overall, though, much of the room was completely in shadow. Twilight bit her lip, thinking.

There’s got to be some kind of lighting system in place, no matter how archaic. She frowned, feeling around blindly with one hoof. Hm…

Something clicked beneath her hoof, and a small jolt ran through Twilight’s body.

To the side of the door, a single torch flickered to life, casting a warm glow over the surrounding area. Twilight slowly pushed the door open, and paused by the entryway.

One by one, torches flared in their places on the walls of the library, casting a shifting, orange glow onto the shelves. The light danced on the floor, melting in and out of the shadows. Twilight smiled and looked around the room to inspect it.

Many of the bookshelves were run-down, the wood old, dusty, and rotting in places. Several chairs and reading tables lay scattered around the room, abandoned and forgotten. A thick layer of mildew covered most things, and Twilight sneezed a few times before getting her nose under control.

But the most important thing was waiting for her to notice it. Twilight’s eyes grew wide, her face lighting up in glee as she took in what was sitting on the shelves: books. Beautiful, old, wonderful books.

“Yes!” Twilight squealed in delight before dashing in, staring closely at the books. “They’re still here, oh my gosh. I was afraid that they’d all rotted to bits!” She peered in, sticking her lip out. “They seem in good enough condition…”

Her eyes scanned over some of the titles. “A Development of Thaumaturgy… On the Creation of Intrinsic Runes…  Origins of the Amniocentric Spell…”

Twilight had to stop herself from exploding with happiness. “Oh, my goodness; this is amazing! How are all these priceless books still in here?” She carefully ran her hoof down the spine of one of the volumes: a dusty tome entitled Annals of Starswirl the Bearded, XXIV. Twilight nearly shivered in excitement.

She peered around. “I wonder how they got that lighting system to work?” Her eyes focused on the wall near the door. A small circle of light rested upon a button about shoulder-height, and several glowing lines ran from it and through each flickering torch. Squinting, Twilight could just barely make out thin swirls of intricate symbols making up each line. “Of course! A runic system comprising a network of everburning torches! Brilliant!”

Twilight frowned, rubbing her chin. “I wonder why they closed this off, then, if they put so much effort into making sure that everything worked? All these books are still here.” She shook her head. Bizarre.

A chill breeze drifted through the room, brushing Twilight across the cheek. She shivered and looked around with a bewildered expression.

“Where did that come from?” She glanced around the room. “I could have sworn that I didn’t see any windows in here or outside.” She frowned, pursing her lips. “Come to think of it, I’m underground. There shouldn’t be any wind down here, anyway.”

Twilight hummed to herself. “It might just be thaumathermic discharge from the torch network.” She nodded. “That’s probably it.”

Twilight smirked. Now. If there are books this good here, then there are probably even older and better ones in the back! Her mind drifting in the sea of academic possibilities, Twilight trotted down the line of bookshelves, eyeing each title with a mixture of interest and awe.

“Oof!”

Twilight fell backwards, hitting the ground. She looked up, rubbing her head.

Huh. I could’ve sworn that bookshelf wasn’t there before.

Twilight coughed a few times and then stood up, brushing herself off. She glanced over a few of the books on the wall. One in particular caught her eye—a thin and tattered book whose title had faded quite a bit. Twilight hummed to herself. “Lavender,” she murmured. “That’s an odd name for a book.”

Not knowing entirely why, she reached up and removed the book from the shelf.

The book felt warm and smooth in her hooves. The cover, although old and unkempt, still retained some of its original artisanship. Twilight slowly slid one hoof down the spine, smiling as it proved firm, even after all these years. Whoever printed all these books really knew what they were doing! She looked around thoughtfully. There isn’t a trace of insects or other pests anywhere!

Still handling the book with great care, Twilight opened the cover and flipped to the first page. She furrowed her brow and began to read.

The book seemed to be a tale of a young unicorn, named Lavender. Oddly enough, it seemed to be a children’s picture book. Much of the first few “chapters” were tales of Lavender’s whimsical adventures through a fairy-tale royal castle. Twilight was able to empathize with the protagonist at least somewhat—it seemed that, above all, this unicorn loved books. She treasured them: stories of adventure, of magic and intrigue, and most especially, of knowledge.

Twilight skimmed through these chapters, as they seemed mostly to be small, discrete tales detailing Lavender’s exploits through the castle, with little to no lasting significance. One chapter title, though, kept her attention.

The Library

Twilight’s frowned as she read through the chapter. It began innocently enough, with Lavender happily exploring the castle one day, until she found an old library.

Lavender loved books, so she peeked inside. To her wonder, there were books everywhere—on the walls, the floors and all the way up to the ceiling!

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Well, that might be a bit unrealistic,” she said with a chuckle. Not that I wouldn’t want to see that myself.

She looked inside, and played in the library for a few minutes. Her friends were having fun outside, but she was happy to be here, with these beautiful books.

The library was dark, but Lavender was not afraid. Instead, she decided to curl up and read a book, which was her favorite thing to do.

Twilight smiled down at the picture of Lavender, who was happily reading while seated on a velvet cushion. “I know the feeling.”

Lavender forgot to pay attention around her, though. She did not notice the Shadow in the library. Poor Lavender was too busy reading her book.

Twilight frowned. “Wait, what?” She shook her head.

Lavender was reading when the Shadow watched her behind the walls.

Lavender was reading when the Shadow crept out, and into the halls.

Lavender was reading when the Shadow smiled and reached for her throat—

The next page had a large, colorful picture of Lavender who was cowering in fear. A large blob of dark ink covered about half of the page, and Lavender’s eyes were wide and terrified. A lump rose in Twilight’s throat. What kind of foals’ book is this?

Twilight flipped to the next page, and then the next. The rest of the book seemed to be nothing more than increasingly graphic descriptions of the tortures and horrors that the Shadow visited upon Lavender, all while the neatly typed font slowly degraded into a meaningless scribble. Twilight read on, her eyes blurring across the pages, unable to look away. As she read, the words slowly faded into increasing illegibility and soon disappeared altogether, leaving behind nothing more than shapeless blobs of black ink upon the page.

The last page was blank, and Twilight slammed the book shut, breathing heavily. A cold sweat ran down her forehead, and she felt dazed and chilled to the bone.

“What... what kind of book is this?” Twilight glared down at the innocent-looking picture book. “What kind of sick, twisted author would—”

She shook her head. No. It’s just a book, Twilight. Put it back, and move on.

Something twitched in her peripheral vision.

Twilight whirled around, the book thudding to the ground. “Who’s there?”

The library was empty.

Twilight scowled. “Come on; stop fooling around!”

One of the torches, just across the room, went out.

Twilight blinked. “Well. That was weird.” She shook her head. Come on, Twilight. There’s nobody else here. Stop being so ridiculous. You—.

Twilight...

Twilight’s eyes snapped open. “Okay, who is it?” She glared around the library. “Who’s down here?”

Twilight...

“I’m warning you!” Twilight grumbled under her breath. She stomped forward toward a vague estimation of the noise’s source. “Cut it out!”

Come...closer...

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Alright, you weirdo. Where are you hiding?” Eyes peeled, Twilight glanced around the room as she prowled forward between the shelves. As she turned a corner, though, there was a loud thump on the ground behind her.

Twilight whirled around. “Aha!” She froze. “Wait...”

A large book had fallen onto the carpeted floor, and was sitting there innocently.

Twilight frowned. “How’d you get down there?” Still looking around warily, she trotted over to the book. A light purple aura surrounded it as she lifted it up with her magic, setting it down on the shelf. “There.”

Twilight looked up and froze, all thoughts of any unseen prankster gone from her mind.

Advanced Theoretical Magicks..

Twilight’s eyes glittered at the plaque upon the shelf, and she nearly had to stop herself from drooling at the sight of books upon books waiting for her there. Without even thinking about it, she began to walk down the shelf-lined corridor, and down to the Advanced section that waited for her.

Five seconds passed.

Thirty.

Two minutes.

Twilight frowned, narrowing her eyes. Much as she walked, the shelf didn’t seem to be getting any closer. If anything, it seemed to be getting farther away.

She glanced up to her left, and her eyes widened. Twilight needed to rub her eyes for a second before believing what she was seeing.

The heavy book that she had picked up from the floor was still in its place on the shelf where she had left it.

Right beside her.

Twilight stared at it for a second, eyes open wide in disbelief. “But...how?” she sputtered, putting a hoof to her forehead. “I know for a fact that I’ve been walking! There’s no way I haven’t moved!”

As she shook her head, a soft tinkling noise reached her. Twilight’s ears pricked up, taking in the sound, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Twilight’s mouth dropped.

Before her, floating in the air, was the librarian’s statue that she had seen before entering the library. But this time, the inscription on the bottom was scribbled out with a mess of angry scratchmarks. It glowed softly, shining a soft, blue-white light onto the shelves around her. Twilight found herself almost unable to speak.

“No—but how...?” She shook her head, giving a high-pitched laugh. “There’s no way. There’s got to be some prankster illusionist in here, right?” Twilight glanced around, swallowing. “Right?”

There was no answer. The statue continued to regard her with its dead, stone eyes.

Twilight gulped. “Look, if you just come out and show yourself, I’m sure everything will be—”

The vision vanished.

The lighting returned to normal.

Twilight exhaled slowly. “Hello?” She peered at the shelves, her voice cracking. “Anypony?” She turned around—and nearly screamed.

The bookshelves that she had been walking toward earlier, the Advanced Theoretical Magicks, were no longer in their place, standing tall with the weight of their combined knowledge. Instead, they had been dashed to the floor, the books scattered everywhere. Ripped pages drenched in a sickly purple liquid fluttered to the ground, sticking together in a giant pile of paper and ink. Above it all, one word had been left on the wall, inscribed into the plaster in a mess of jagged, red, and dripping letters.

Mine

Twilight shook her head, her pupils dilating. The words were still there, though, burning into her retinas. “Oh, no-no-no-no.” She licked her lips nervously, backing away from the sight.

She turned around, her breathing becoming ragged. Okay. Nothing to worry about. No matter what the heck is going on here, I’ll get through it. Just got to walk through the door, and then everything will be—

Something shifted in the shadows of the bookshelves.

Twilight whirled around. “Who’s there—?”

Two glowing orbs of white lurked between the books on the wall. They shimmered in the darkness, and then the chance flicker of a torch cast light upon them. Two eyes, pupils lit with a glimmering, sickly flame, stared down at Twilight Sparkle with an indescribable hunger. A dark, twisted face watched, its features elongated and exaggerated. For just a second, its silver teeth glinted in the crimson light, and a long tongue ran across its lips.

And then it was gone.

The color slowly drained out of Twilight’s face, a muffled squeak escaping her throat.

The room filled with a blinding flash of light, and for a fraction of a second, the face was there once more. Nothing else. Only the eyes, staring into her soul, and gazing hungrily at it.

There was nothing else.

Twilight didn’t even bother to check whether it was gone or where she was going. She just ran, bumping into a shelf on the way, and sending a pile of books tumbling to the ground. Her eyes were squeezed tight, and she didn’t notice as the glowing circle of runes far off by the door vanished. One by one, the torches began to go out, extinguishing themselves as the shadows slowly stretched from their hidden places, reaching toward Twilight in her escape.

But Twilight didn’t care. She ran, and she ran, and she ran. She didn’t stop.

Until she ran straight into a wall.

Twilight lay curled up, whimpering by a corner in the fading light, as the shadows whispered and swirled around her. She shivered, feeling a bone-chilling cold creep down her spine, trickling down her neck, and whispering darkness into her ear.

“No,” she murmured, her mind spinning. “It isn’t possible. It isn’t right. It—it could never—”

She fell silent, still whimpering in the dark. Minutes passed.

Slowly and hesitantly, Twilight opened her eyes. Her vision took a moment to adjust to the darkness, but it still wasn’t good enough. Everything was merely a vague, fuzzy outline, and fading stars still swirled in front of her eyes.

A light spell, Twilight suddenly thought. I can cast that light spell that I’ve been working on, and find my way to the exit with it! If it works, at least.

...But do I really want to see what’s waiting there for me, whatever it is?

She bit her lip. ...Yes. I have to, if I want any hope of getting out of here.

Slowly and hesitantly, Twilight focused on her magic. She held the picture in her mind: a flickering light, centered atop her horn. She closed her eyes. She could feel the energy moving through her, coursing through her veins, and for a moment, she felt truly alive.

Come on...work! Twilight squeezed her eyes tighter. Work, dang it!

A small light popped into existence, glowing at the tip of her horn.

Twilight opened one eye, peeking past her eyelid. The small part of the room illuminated by her spell seemed to be empty; there was nothing more than the dancing glimmer produced by her magic.

Twilight let out her breath, and opened the other eye as well. Glancing around worriedly and licking her lips, Twilight began to edge her way around the wall. If I go this way, then I should end up at the entrance eventually.

Peering ahead, Twilight’s eyes widened and she caught her breath as she saw another pony staring at her by the opposite wall. “Mmph—”

It didn’t move.

Twilight stared for another moment, and then raised an eyebrow. The other pony did nothing.

Narrowing her eyes, Twilight slowly raised one hoof off of the ground. The pony did the same.

Twilight felt the tension leave her as she lowered her head, noting that the other pony did the same. Walking up to it confirmed her suspicions. It’s just a mirror! She wiped her forehead. I guess it was just me, huh? She almost wanted to laugh, but—

She froze.

A dark, silent figure stood behind the Twilight in the mirror, watching her from over her shoulder in the distance.

Something caught in Twilight’s throat, and she felt it constrict as though there were a snake around it. A cold lump slid down into her stomach. Oh, no. Oh, Celestia...

She mustered up the courage to turn around—

There was nopony there.

Twilight swallowed, and turned back around to the mirror. The figure behind her had moved, and was now several feet closer. No eyes were visible on its shadowed face, and it peered at her almost curiously from the glass.

Twilight turned her head. “I...I’m warning you,” she whispered, her face a pale violet.

There was still nopony there.

Twilight slowly turned back and felt her hair stand on end when she realized that the dark figure in the mirror was now directly behind her. Its face seemed to shimmer in the darkness like a twinkling star, and slowly, it began to lean forward over her shoulder, its neck extending down toward Twilight’s head.

A soft, steady breathing echoed in Twilight’s ears as something cold and moist caressed the back of her neck.

Hello.

Twilight bolted.

The light spell vanished as she ran for the door, not caring what she ran into. It was there: a shadowed, tiny glimpse of light in the distance.

Something moved between the bookshelves.

Twilight stopped in her tracks, skidding to a stop. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the shape: a tall, lanky form, lurching down a book-lined corridor. Whatever it was, it was no pony.

And it was coming closer.

Twilight withheld a whimper and looked around frantically. Just barely, she could make out the outline of a tall object by the wall, standing quite still in its place. Straining her eyes, she could also make out the outline of two doors on its surface.

She glanced around. Nothing else offered even the slightest bit of protection or disguise.

The shape drifted forward toward the end of the corridor. Soon, Twilight would be in its sight. There’s no other choice.

Nowhere else to hide.

Nowhere to run.

She made a mad dash for it.

Twilight threw open the doors of the wardrobe and nearly slammed it shut. She forced herself to close it quietly, and it did, with a soft click.

The inside of the wardrobe was completely black. A few decayed bits of paper or fabric rustled beneath Twilight’s body as she tried to curl up into as small a shape as possible. Her body shook in the darkness, and her breathing was short and jagged.

Outside of the wardrobe, something made a soft thump on the floor.

Twilight held her breath, squeezing her eyes shut tighter than ever before. An alarm was going off in her head, one that refused to shut off. She could almost feel each hair standing up on her body, as well as the shivers tingling around her spine.

There was a long, shuddering breath.

Twilight swallowed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw images, the thoughts and fears in her head swirling, dancing in the shadows. She shut her eyes tight and waited for the inevitable end.

A shrill scratching noise ran down the outside of the wardrobe’s doors. Twilight had to stop herself from flinching. It sounded like nails on chalkboard, dragging through the mire of decayed and ancient wood.

It knows I’m here, Twilight realized. Or if it doesn’t, it can find its way in easily enough. These doors won’t hold, and if it decides that I’m hiding here...

The breathing intensified. An odor of rot and decay wafted through a crack in the doors, swirling around in the depths of the wardrobe, and disappearing into the stained wood. Twilight shuddered, her mind spinning.

It’ll be okay. Just think about something else—anything else. There is a thirty-two percent chance of survival in the wilds of Zebrica. The square root of four is two. Canterlot is the political capital of Equestria. The digits of pi are three-point one four one, five nine two, six five—

The scratching stopped.

Twilight held her breath for a minute, not daring to release it. From here, barely anything was audible but for the soft sound of a dull and jagged breathing.

After a moment, the sound of soft footsteps began to move away from the cabinet. As they faded, Twilight gulped, and reached for the door.

I have to know.

As a drop of sweat beaded on her forehead, Twilight opened the door just a crack, and peeked out.

There was nothing there.

A chill breeze whispered through the air, caressing Twilight’s face. The goosebumps on her skin rustled in the darkness, and each hair in her coat was standing straight up, on alert for any sign of danger. One eye twitching, she inhaled slowly and looked around once more.

A shadow flickered on a wall.

She shut the door, and disappeared once more into the darkness.

Seconds passed. Minutes passed. What felt like days, and even years passed by before Twilight Sparkle dared to open the door again.

There was nothing there. Twilight’s heart was pounding, her own breaths shuddering and short. Her shoulders shook with tension, and she turned her head, looking back at the wardrobe’s door. Three jagged gouges had been taken out of the wood, their edges raw and sharp.

Twilight’s eyes narrowed, and she took a deep breath, steadying herself.

It’s now or never.

Her hooves pounded on the floor. Colors, shadows, and shimmers of eyes seemed to flash into the sides of her vision as she ran, but Twilight had no time for them.

The exit danced in front of her like a mischievous imp. Twilight shut her eyes and redoubled her speed, letting out a shrill battle cry as she leapt for the door—

She crashed right through it.

“Oomph!”

“Whoa!”

Twilight coughed as the dust cleared. Her eyes fluttered open.

“Shining!”

“Whoa, kid, where’d you come from?” Shining Armor chuckled, ruffling Twilight’s mane. “You just popped out of nowhere! Were you really that excited to see me?”

Twilight shook her head, panting. “I just escaped from the library.” She pointed back at the exit as she wiped the dirt and sweat away from her forehead. “Shining, there’s something in there. It’s old, it’s mean, and it’s dangerous. The guard needs to—”

Shining held up a hoof. “Wait a minute. What library?”

Twilight’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean, what library? The one right...there.”

She gestured lamely at the space behind her, and slowly stopped. “Um.”

Shining raised an eyebrow. “All I see’s a blank wall.” He frowned, giving Twilight an odd look. “You sure you haven’t just been playing around a bit too much?”

Twilight rubbed her eyes, and took a second glance at the wall. No indication that the library was or had ever been there was present; even the statues and plaque had disappeared. Only a smooth, white surface remained.

Her mouth went dry.

“Heh.” Twilight swallowed, offering Shining a shaky smile. “Right. Of course.”

Shining sighed, and then smiled back. “Well, no reason for us to keep lurking down here. I got assigned dungeon patrol duty for talking back to another trainee, but my shift is pretty much over.” He snorted. “It wasn’t my fault; that guy really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut.”

He grinned down at Twilight. “Good to go?”

Twilight nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

As they began the walk back up to the main castle floors, Twilight’s mind drifted, spinning in a world of darkened shadows, and shimmering books.

Why...was any of it real? At all?

She kept her mouth shut, and continued walking, nodding politely as Shining chatted about his position. Twilight did, however, notice one thing in the back of her mind.

The alcove holding the librarian’s bust was still there.

The statue, however, was not.

Walking alongside her brother, Twilight thought she noticed a faint glimmering of blue-white light behind them, dancing across the whitewashed stone walls.

And then it was gone.