"don't worry Im pretty good at silent hoofsteps. You need it if you have a mild west sheriff as a dad and want to go out past 7pm curfew". He smiled making sure to not touch any creaky floorboards.
Tyro rounds a corner, down to the large, ornate but woodworm infested doors at the end. The carpets where raggedy and decayed. With the thick dust present in this air, it was a wonder that didn't catch alight from Cyanside's fireball. The paintings have long since faded into smudged and dull canvas. Some have fallen from the walls and smashed on the floor. Tyro trots silently by the door, looking through a small hole where a missing panel in the door should be. He checks for guards in the bright light shining through then steps inside into the Library of Life again. The shelves were tall here. The white marble floors stretch onwards in all directions. The shelves, however, weren't as pretty as the floors or the ornate ceiling that appeared to be showing stories of Celestial Sisters. No, the shelves that held the books of hundreds of lives were all strangely random in make, colour and size. Hundreds of designs just stacked on top of each other all the way to the ceiling. It was a chaotic look with all the shapes and sizes stacked like the largest game of Tetris you've ever seen with furniture. If you were quiet and listened, you could hear these books, all scribbling and scratching actions away. Tyro slid behind a bookcase as a guard wonders past, paying him no attention. He motions to everypony behind him to follow.
Ria floats softly behind Tyro. The bright light blinds her, and she flaps quickly, almost losing her balance, but straightening up.
Steel followed Ria almost crashing into a shelf but luckily only a single book fell out it was pink with lace around the side and it fell open on the middle pages.
The floor creaked slightly as Fair Capriccio took a few steps to the doorway and stopped. Looking around the door, she concluded that the guard had already passed. Bringing herself to the very tips of her hooves, she slowly tip-trotted across the opening. Ending next to Tyro, she lowered herself back to normal and looked at the book that had fallen. "What's this read?" Fair whispered. She bent her head into the book and began reading what page it had landed on.
Cyanside followed Fair, attempting to be as quiet as possible, taking agonizingly careful steps to avoid making a noise. As the pony she was following stopped and gazed into the book, Cyanside felt a shiver run up her spine. "Are you sure we should be reading that?" Cyanside whispered, her voice barely audible, but not daring to raise it.
Kitten Soft so wanted to be a dancer. Ballet was the only thing that seemed to lift her soul and driver her towards doing anything these days. Work was a chore and her friends didn't share that love of hers. But maybe with a few more lessons, she'd be the best the world had ever seen. The book continues from there, slowly scribbling itself before Cappriccio's eyes. The auto-filling page made nothing but the quietest of quill scratches. In fact, the room had that timed by millions as background sound, scratching away at every page. Tyro turns back to see what all the noise was about. He spots Cappriccio reading a book. He starts making sharp cutting movements across his neck while shaking his head.
Fair Capriccio frowned at the book. "I hope you get what you want, Kitten Soft," she whispered to the book. Snatching a look up at Tyro, she saw him making the 'do not' gesture. Shrugging, she nudged the book closed and propped it up against the side of the shelf it had fallen from. "Where do we go from here?"
Cyanside was beginning to get really creeped out by this place, the constant scratching away of the books, the knowledge that her own story was somewhere there, writing away what they were doing even now. The thought suddenly made her feel very vulnerable, and brought up two nagging questions in her mind that refused to let up until they were voiced. "Umm...Tyro..." Cyanside whispered as quietly as she could "What if that guy Cydonia is reading through one of our books even know? They'll know what we're doing, where we are...Everything" Cyanside paused for a moment to check her voice, making sure she hadn't raised it in panic, she continued. "And...what happens if our book is destroyed?"
"I really don't know." Tyro said in heavily hushed tones. "The stories I heard suggested that even the old pony that built this place didn't know what exactly would happen. And anyway, we'd be dead by now if she was reading our books. We should be safe for now." Tyro slinks around a bookshelf, looking around for more guards. "I'd just put it back and leave it be. Come on." He lightly treads forwards, keeping as many senses keenly tuned as possible to approaching guards.
Ria did a weird flip twirl with her wings. Her eyebrows furrowed, but they loosened once the book rose up and went back on the shelf.
"you know tyro this is getting a bit repetitive". Steel said with a smile. eyeing three guards obviously searching for something on a shelf. "it doesnt look like they see us we should just walk around and find our way out. just sneak past the guards".
"We can't let this place fall into Cydonia's hooves." Tyro whispers as he slinks by the preoccupied guard as he scans the shelves muttering. "Cyanside, Cyanside, Cyanside...." Tyro continues to advance. Suddenly, a voice screams over the noise disturbing the dust from the shelves. "I DON'T CARE! FIND THEM NOW!" A stampede of hooves irrupts from all directions, some heading towards the group. Tyro dives out of sight as guards round a corner.
"BUCK! guys lets get moving. he sarted sprinting sliding under a shelf to get to where tyro was. he grabbed his steson, then got up. managing to avoid being spotted by the gaurds who were just about to turn the corner where the rest of the group apart from himself and tyro were. he turned and whispered to Tyro. "why, do they need Cyansides book. you have any ideas"
Capriccio pulled her head in, her pupils shrinking to the size of marbles. In her fritzy movement, the gun slipped off her back and she dove to catch it. Just barely managing, she stood in the most awkward of positions attempting to balance the gun in her forearms and avoid collapsing to the ground. Tyro dove away in front of her, throwing her off balance. To keep from falling, she dropped the gun and stabilized herself, speeding around the corner after him and leaving the weapon laying where it was.
Ria floated to Tyro. "I can float up, I think without being noticed. Do you want me to locate an exit?"
The guard passes by the hiding spot, vanishing around another bookshelf while a murmuring rumble of Cydonia's voice and hooves dies away. While Steel and Capriccio had managed barely to avoid the guards' sight. The rest of the group were already hidden, thankfully. Tyro's brain attempted to get into the cruel mindset of a villain. What would a criminal want with this information? What could you actually gain with all this stuff? It stuck him. "Blackmail. With these things, you could just flick through and find all the dirt you could ever need. With this, you could bully your way into anything...Money, land, favours, royalty. I bet that's why she's here in full force." Tyro pokes his head out briefly, looking around at the guard, still looking for the book and muttering to himself. Tyro points a paw at Ria. "Get up high and find Cydonia then lead us to her." He hisses. "Quickly, go!" The guard searching for Cyanside's book looks up and down the corridor. Certain that came from one direction, he begins to trot towards the group and their hiding place.
Ria saluted, and twirled. She was brought up into the air with a small whoosh. Higher, Higher she flew, managing to be completely silent. She stuck to the shadows. She looked around and flew back down. "Guard coming, guard coming!" she said frantically. Her face lit up suddenly. Breathing in deeply, her wings moved quickly. It was tough, because it was complicated, and she had to remain hidden. But, suddenly, a big crash came from many aisles down. She whispered into the wind quickly and blew. The sound waves flew over to the noise of the crash. "Shhh!"
