An uneasy alliance [closed]

[dragonofruin]

The shadow king grunted softly in acknowledgement; he certainly would be moving at his own pace. He wanted to scour this place, to get a good look at what might be left over and left behind by the royal pony sisters themselves. Maybe he could gain some more insight on them, and the lives they used to live. Knowledge, after all, was power, and it was a wise thing to learn as much as possible about those who were his enemies once, unless they still were. Who really knew? Sombra only cared to keep himself safe, and his emotions closely guarded.

 

"I doubt many of them would have. The Everfree Forest is something that ponies acknowledge as too dangerous to go near, and most are likely to steer clear of it for that reason. Why interrupt your idyllic little life to explore a place you might potentially die in, if not come to great harm?" Sombra remarked, pausing when he heard Heart Shield hoofsteps slow. Glancing back, Sombra saw that the stallion had pulled out a lantern to light and attach to his saddlebags. He made a soft noise and strode on, just at the edge of the circle of light the lantern now cast so that it wouldn't interfere with his night vision too much.

 

The first doorway loomed up off to his left and Sombra paused to peer inside, to see what it might contain. Likely not much, he might guess.

[DreamWanderer]

Trotting along, Heart shield glanced around the dark corridors as he followed Sombra. Its dark and damp atmosphere was a rather bit eerie if he could ask himself. At the end of the dark hallway was a door which led to the outside of the Castle, Rays of sun poked through the cracks in the wooden door. Stopping for a moment as Sombra peered into a room within the Hallway. Passing by Sombra the gray pegasus trotted to the end of hallway. The halway took a left at the end, glancing around the corner Heart shield could see sevral more hallways that branched off to left and right. He had to keep his wits about him in here. It would be easy to get lost, especially with the company he was keeping. "You know, Its a shame this place has to go to ruin." Heart Shield commented out loud as he glanced over the dark Castle. Taking a moment to think, Heart Shield wondered where the Library might have been. From his time being a guard in the Castle at Canterlot he figured he might be able to find the Library in here. That is if they kept the same general layout in Canterlot "From my time being in Canterlot Castle, I think the library might be upstairs somewhere, that is if they kept things generally the same in Canterlot as here." The gray stallion idly commented. He cringed at thought of heading upstairs, with the castle crumbling in ruin the way it was. All tho come to think of it. He did have wings, what was worried about?

[dragonofruin]

His ear twitched towards Heart Shield's hoofsteps as the other stallion walked past him and he pulled his eyes away from the dusty, mostly empty room he'd been eying for anything interesting to jump out at him. There wasn't much in it beyond a rotting shelf and a table that'd been broken by some falling stone debris- nothing, in other words. Sombra put it behind him as he silently followed the pegasus towards the end of the hallway, and when Heart Shield came to a stop, Sombra came up close behind him, looming over the smaller stallion's shoulder with those faintly glowing eyes of his with the intent to give poor Heart Shield a bit of a scare.

 

His voice would break the dark, heavy silence with a suddenness. "Isn't it?" Sombra rumbled, his voice low in his throat, almost a purr near Heart Shield's ear. "I doubt the sisters, or at least Celestia, would be so boringly repetitive. This place doesn't seem like it would match Canterlot's layout anyway, when what little I've read about the city suggests it was going to be a unicorn city, barely built when Luna was sent to the moon."

 

"I think it has to be on the ground floor, at least. If not, then I suppose we can check upstairs if we can't find it down here.." A sigh entered Sombra's voice, as if he was finally relenting with some troublesome demands, rather than the only suggestion he'd heard about it thus far. It was both a habit of his, and something he employed whenever he felt like agitating some poor pony who simply wanted to be heard.

 

 

[DreamWanderer]

Moving down to the end of the hallway, Heart Shield peered down the hallway that branched off to the left. Staring down the dark corridor with a focused look in his eyes, The stallion felt like the hallway went on for infinity. It obviously had not, But as the hallway stretched on it seemed like it got narrower and darker, as it stretched along. About midways down the hallway one could see another hallway leading off to the left and right. Just from looking at it he assumed the hallway a ways off that went off the left most likely led back to the Great hall, but he wasn't quite sure tho. Glancing back Heart shield looked to see where Sombra had gone. Turning his head around it came to surprise of the gray pegasus when his head almost bumped into Sombra's seeing as he was almost directly over top of him. To be honest he gave a little bit of a surprised jerk before he realized who it was. Ruffling the feathers on his wing a second, Heart shield gave off a embarrassed smile. Stepping away a little to get a little room to breath. "Well who really knows?" Heart shield asked casually. "I'm just assuming, i have no idea how things where back then. I just would have assumed that a Library in such a place would be kept some place where it could be easily guarded from just any pony who would just wander in. It seems to me like a library in a Castle would hold vast knowledge. Who knows tho? Maybe its all mostly common knowledge that is stored there? At least for what it was at the time. Or could it be like the Canterlot Archives of its time?" Heart rambled off as he took a few steps down the long hallway off to the left. Half round pillars stood on either side of the hallways place every so often which helped support the vaulted roof over the hallway. Each pillar jutting out in to the corridor, providing a good place for something to hide behind at every step. Heart shield found that a little unnerving, Walking past every pillar he felt like something was going to jump out at him. His blue eyes glanced around the corner of every pillar as he neared them. Preferring to hang around the middle of the hallway, just in case something did decide to jump out from behind a pillar so he would have time to react. "Well as you wish." Heart Shield simply replied to Sombra's plan.

[dragonofruin]

Sombra didn't quite get the reaction he was looking for, but the way Heart Shield jerked and moved away from him drew a deep chuckle out of the umbrum, his sharp teeth glinting faintly in the dimness. There was a faint glow to his eyes that was more evident in the diminished light, the very same eyes that watched Heart Shield's smile and fidgeting when the stallion spoke, clearly attempting to focus back onto their task at hoof.

 

The king straightened, tearing his gaze away to peer down the hallway Heart Shield had initially been inspecting, with pillars interspersed and dividing up the walls into sections. A soft rumble rolled out of his throat and he strode after Heart Shield with a sweep of his short, black tail, intent on scouring every inch of this place to see what he could glimpse of the princesses' former life here. It was just a little bonus next to finding that library of theirs, and he felt it shouldn't be too hard to find it despite what Heart Shield was considering aloud.

 

"I don't think so. I can't see why the princesses would've tried to hide their library from other ponies, if they were meant to be the unifying force for the Three Tribes. Hiding and withholding knowledge wouldn't have looked all that good for them. Of course, I also know that those who were rich or in power did tend to hoard such things during that time. I just can't see them as the types who'd keep ponies out.. at least, one of them," Sombra mused as he followed Heart Shield through the hall. "Which means, the library shouldn't be too far away from the main part of the castle, perhaps with some important looking, tall double doors.." He strode up alongside the royal guard and tilted his head, eying Heart Shield with one faintly glowing eye.

 

"You should keep an eye out for that while we're exploring."

[DreamWanderer]

Trotting down the hallway. Heart shield strode past each pillar with caution, and nervousness. He wouldn't want some trivial object hidden behind a pillar to spook him, and cause him embarrassment now would he? Especially in front of Somepony such as Sombra. Making his way down the hall a little ways it seemed another intersection in the hallways was just up ahead. This time it seemed the two would have 3 directions in which they could go. The hallway in which they walked continued on past a hallway which branched off to the left and right. Heart shield listened to what Sombra had to say with the flick of a ear in his direction. "Perhaps maybe the Princesses living quarters had there own personal shelf of books?"  The stallion mentioned with a curiosity. All tho if that was true Celestia would have surely cleaned out her own living quarters before moving wouldn't she? He thought to himself. Noticing as Sombra strode up alongside of him now.  "Oh, Ok, So double doors." Heart simply nodded at the suggestion as he walked along the dark hallways. "With as old as this castle is, Whats to say there isn't anything much left intact, or left at all to find?" He asked a bit curiously

 

Reaching near the intersection in the hallways Heart shield had turned his focus to the two hallways that had branched off from the current one. Rounding the corner of a pillar which stood just at the end of the hallway where the hallway had branched off to the left and right. Suddenly there stood a tall dark figure of a pony in the corner casting a ever dreadful shadow over the Grey Pegasus! Catching just a glimpse of it just out of the corner his eye he suddenly snapped his attention to this dark pony like figure which now loomed over him. With a bit of a surprised gasp he reeled to the side almost into Sombra! Taking a moment to come to his senses he realized the Dark pony was just a statue which stood in the corner of the two hallways as a decoration. Sighing out he stepped back away from Sombra to gaze down each of the hallways trying to pretend like that didn't just happen.

[dragonofruin]

Sombra followed the other stallion on silent hooves, watching the guard pony closely on their way towards another intersection in the hallways. None of the few rooms they'd passed seemed very interesting, and only seemed to be empty or filled with decrepit furniture from what glances inside showed him. Even some of the wooden doors were deteriorating with age. It looked like it'd been quite a nice castle in its day, and it was a shame it was all coming apart like this.

 

His attention quickly returned to Heart Shield, drawn back by the stallion's voice responding to what he'd suggested. "Maybe," Sombra replied, sounding less than interested. There was only so long he could contemplate about the whats and wheres before he started to get bored. Besides, he had a feeling the library was somewhere around here, somewhere close..

 

The stallion paused, watching as Heart Shield was startled by something off in the shadowy corners of one hallway, sending the guardpony skittering back and right into his side. Sombra hardly budged, but he did have to move a hoof to steady himself against Heart Shield's weight running into him. An eyebrow arched and Sombra leaned his head forward, peering off at what must've scared the poor pony. From what he could see.. nothing, just what looked like a suit of armor or.. a statue, perhaps? A snort escaped him and Sombra reached over to pat Heart Shield's shoulder with a low chuckle.

 

"Jumping at shadows now, are we? It appears I won't have to do much just to scare you," Sombra teased, stepping by him and picking the hallway to his right. Summoning a werelight with his magic, a low oddly colored flame, he shed some light on the hall ahead, and he was sure he could see something. Exactly what he'd suggested, perhaps- tall, important looking doors, and one of them cracked open from the last ponies who must've breezed through here. The umbrum trotted towards it, intrigued. It had to be the library, at last! He'd guessed from the ruin's shape, that it had to be somewhere on the castle's right side.