CHAPTER 2: THE CASTLE
The door swung open and Twilight entered. She twitched her head from side to side with a brow raised.
"Spike! Spi-ike! Spike?"
Twilight tried to call his name a fourth time, only to yelp when a blade whizzed through the air, narrowly missing her face before embedding itself into an unoccupied wall with a loud clunk. She took a couple of steps back, and her eyes grew wide as she recognized her assistant.
A tall anthropomorphic young drake whose black leather vest and blue jeans didn't quite fit with his current appearance. He was still young enough that it looked like he could still be considered a kid.
Spike's eyes were narrowed for a brief second until they blinked in recognition. "Oh, sorry Twilight. I was in the middle of training." He chuckled and brought up his claw to rub the back of his nape. "Didn't mean to scare you."
Twilight shook off her shock and put on her professional expression. "Quick, find me that old copy of Predictions and Prophecies." Her eyes rolled across the floor to see a small red box with an orange ribbon wrapped in a bow on top. "What's that for?"
Spike glanced at the present behind his feet. "Well, it was a gift for Moon Dancer." He pointed down at the present.
Twilight shook her head and started forward past him. "Oh, Spike, you know we don't have time for that sort of thing."
"But we're on break!" The young drake protested.
Twilight lit up her horn and started pulling books off the shelf. Looking at them with a growing scowl. "No, no, no, no... SPIKE!!"
Spike chuckled on his way down from the second floor. Carrying a book in his hand. "Quit your hoarsin' Twilight, its right here."
Twilight turned around, and Spike threw the book towards her. Twilight's magic wrapped around the book, pulling it towards her waiting hands. She dropped all the other books she had been holding in her magic, the pile thudding down the floor.
"Elements, elements... e, e, e, e, e, e, ah ha... Elements of Harmony, see: Mare in the moon?" Twilight stated, reaching the correct section only for a redirect.
"Mare in the moon?" Spike questioned as he climbed the ladder to put the books back. "But that's just an old ponies tale."
Twilight flipped through the pages of the book back to the M's.
"The Mare in the Moon, myth, from olden pony times." Twilight read. "A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon." Twilight continued ignoring Spike's comment." Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal."
Twilight gasps with her hand over her mouth. "Spike! Do you know what this means?"
Spike tilted his head at Twilight. "No?"
"Take a note please, to the Princess." Twilight stated, her magic floating a quill and parchment over to Spike as he climbed down the ladder. Out of the two of them he had the best writing.
"Okey dokey." Spike shrugged, preparing to write.
"My dearest teacher, my continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster..."
"Hold on." Spike muttered. "Precipic..."
"Of disaster." Twilight corrected Spike's spelling.
"Of disaster. Got it." Spike stated.
"The mythical mare in the moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she's about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
"Got it." Spike claimed.
"Great, send it." Twilight ordered.
"Now?" Spike asked.
"Of course."
"Uh, I dunno, Twilight, Princess Celestia's a little busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration. And it's like, the day after tomorrow."
"That's just it Spike, the day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration, It's imperative that the Princess is told right away."
Spike rolled his eyes at the odd logic and submitted by rolling the scroll up. Wrapping a seal around it before breathing in deeply and incinerating the scroll with a blast of green flame.
"There, it's on it's way. But I wouldn't hold your breath." Spike chided.
"I'm not worried Spike, the Princess trusts me. In all the years she's been my mentor she's never once doubted me." Twilight grinned.
Just as Twilight said this, a flash of green appeared and the scroll fell Spike's hands.
"See? I knew she would want to take immediate action." Twilight declared.
Spike cleared his throat and began reading what was written on the new scroll. "My dearest, most faithful student Twilight. You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely."
Twilight nodded in agreement as Spike continued.
"but you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!"
Twilight gasped upon hearing those words.
His world blurred around him as he was descending fast in the air over the expanse of trees. Marcus screamed in terror, and the massive Raven that carried him croaked tremendously. The mighty behemoth soared high above the treetops. Wind whipped past Marcus's ears, nearly deafening his vision with the force of it. The Raven dived head first in midair towards an open field and Marcus screamed out of pure fear as he felt himself flying through the air.
Marcus never felt so terrified in his life. Not since the time he went on his first roller coaster at Six Flags. He remembered the wheels bumping over the tracks, metal clanking together, the cart rising two-hundred-&-thirty-three feet high, and the horrific drop followed by his and everyone's screams in unison. The pain of that memory stung in his gut; but even then that felt much less terrifying and far more anticlimactic. This felt so much worse. A-hundred times worse!
Marcus lifted his head and saw the Raven's black eyes staring down at him. Even from below in the grasp of its talons, the Raven looked large enough to swallow a man whole. Marcus shouted and he tried to reach for the hilt of his sword strapped to his side but found himself being thrown off balance by how quickly the Raven flew. Marcus clutched desperately onto the Raven's third toe in fear as the behemoth tucked its wings to its sides and plummeted downward. The ground was approaching fast. His heart pounded against his chest in anticipation of the impact.
The behemoth spread its wings at the last second to slow its descent. As it descended the behemoth let go of him, causing Marcus to yelp and land hard on his chest, knocking the wind out of him. Marcus coughed harshly and stared up at the giant bird. It landed gracefully on its feet on the grassy surface. The Raven gave a harsh croak, looking coldly back at Marcus lying on the ground.
Marcus slowly pushed himself up into a standing position. His heart was hammering inside his rib-cage. His chest rose and fell rapidly while his eyes gazed up at the massive bird. The behemoth seemed to stare deep into his soul with its eyes, sending shivers down his spine. Marcus blinked when he noticed the Raven's eyes shifted past him. Marcus's head snapped back to look around him.
Behind him was a large opened doorway of a castle. Said castle was covered in ivy and vines with a few torches in front. There were plants, grass, and trees growing from the inside behind the brick wall. It probably looked like that for a very long time, quite ancient in his case.
Marcus heard the Raven croak and turned around in time to see it open up its wings. Giving them a good flap lifting its body into the sky and causing everything to shake with the force of the wind. With a few more quick flaps it flew up into the clouds, disappearing from sight. The flaps gave way to silence.
And now, Marcus was alone.
Jesus, Marcus thought to himself, breathing heavily. I hope to God I don't have to see that bird again.
Marcus turned his gaze towards the doorway of the castle. He scanned his surroundings, a sense of caution welling up in him. The area seemed empty and devoid of life. The castle appeared ancient and abandoned; the architecture was worn and faded from neglect.
Marcus started up to the front door of the castle and walked inside. Entering a long passage at the end were stairs climbing up to two more from side to side. His eyes darted from left to right as they found four paths leading to long carpeted hallways. He turned to his right and walked forward down the carpeted hallway. Steps of his feet echoed through the hall. It took a moment for him to realize that it seemed like a long walk to reach the edge of said hall. The castle had been deathly quiet much to Marcus's discomfort. There were moments where he had frozen, thinking he had heard a noise from behind him or the pillars, but it faded as quickly as it came.
The only inhabitant seemed to be him as he entered his way out of the entrance, in the hallway following the carpet path, past the pillars, approaching two high double doors. Marcus's eyes studied over the double doors. Clouded with dust from top to bottom his hands rested on his hips shaking his head in an unamused manner.
"You'd think they hired housekeeping to dust this place." Marcus ran his finger over the hill of the nob staring into both his index finger spattered with dust. He rubbed it off on his thigh almost without thinking.
Raising both hands Marcus pushed through the high double doors whilst entering the room. With the benefit of the sun illuminating the room, he was left in awe of what he was seeing. The room looked ancient, battered due to the small lot of rocks and rubble that filled the floor, few tables were thrown over minus one still in its place at the far left of the room. What really amazed Marcus the most were the giant horizontal shelves fixed against each wall in the room stacked with hundreds—possibly thousands of books that hadn't been touched for who knows how long. Another thing Marcus noted was the architecture of the pillars next to the bookshelves; he'd seen many pillars in museums, mansions, and temples but not like these.
Marcus trots further in the room carefully watching his feet to avoid stepping on pebbles or shards of glass. He felt a little jumpy when he heard loud creaking from behind him causing Marcus to turn to his shoulder watching the double doors closing slowly with a slight click to its completion. He turned back, moving deeper in the room as he began to look around at various shelves in the library.
Unbeknownst to Marcus, he failed to notice the silhouette of a thirty feet tall armored leviathan. He didn't notice it standing motionless in the corner of the room. Hidden perfectly in the darkness. The armored behemoth gripped its massive sword in anticipation.
It was patient. It can wait.
A/N: Star Shimmering: I'm sorry that this chapter is a little short but next chapter will hopefully be one worth reading.
Triple B Studios: I wholeheartedly agree. It'll also be one where Marcus will discover his strength and high level.
Star Shimmering: I can only imagine how readers will react of what we have in store for Spike.
Triple B Studios: Well it'll be a spoiler if we just spill the beans. it's better for them to read the next future chapters to find out.
Star Shimmering: We hope you guys enjoy this chapter, though. While we both are busy with our own stuff we will be working on the next chapter as soon as possible. :twilightsheepish:
Triple B Studios: So stay tuned until then! A battle is coming for our reborn knight; a battle that will be legendary! :raritywink:
Star Shimmering: Did you just use a Kung Fu Panda reference?
Triple B Studios: Yup!
Star Shimmering: Lol, have a good day my shimmerings!
