//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Everfree // Story: The Royal Thief // by LTBroski //------------------------------// Chapter 12 – Everfree The expedition disembarked from the train with a bit of trepidation as there were still civilians milling about the town’s streets. So much for getting here when nopony’s around Az thought. Celestia’s sun had sunk behind the rooftops, bathing the streets in deep blue shadows. Looking up, the sky revealed a veritable rainbow of color, with a deep blue, already showing the signs of night by way of stars in the east to an orange-yellow where the sun had begun its final descent over the horizon in the west, with an array of red-gold and purple light in between. The residents of the town seemed to be wrapping up the day’s business, chatting with neighbors and friends, or simply walking about the streets. As the three teams made their way into the town, with Heavy Squad dragging their carts in the rear, the town’s residents began to show signs that they had noticed the cloaked new arrivals. The fifteen Guard members continued through the town’s streets, drawing sideways glances from the civilian crowds. Az put a hoof to his mask to ensure that it was still up as he began to identify individuals within the crowd that he remembered from his time before joining the Guard. Past clients recognizing him would be more than a dangerous tell that could put the mission at risk, much less expose the existence of the Guard; his training at the base over the previous week had effectively cut his ties with his contacts and clientele. This sudden severance with the outside world would surely generate questions. So far so good. Luckily we haven’t run into any of the Elements yet. They’d probably recognize that something’s up. He looked around at the buildings, suddenly expecting an ambush of rainbow-colored elephants to come charging down the boulevard. As this failed to occur, Az resigned himself to taking in the scenery. The houses were simple one and two-level structures, largely whitewashed, with thatch roofs. The distinguishing factor between each house was the shutters and doors, each sporting a different pastel color with varying patterns carved or etched into them. The road seemed to continue on to the edge of town, which would hopefully deposit the teams close to the edge of the Everfree forest. The Guard members continued through the town without any incident and exited it to find themselves confronted with a row of trees that rivaled the parapet of the secret base. A small path led from the outskirts of Ponyville to the base of the tree line, and continued into the forest. Flow led the way as they continued along the dirt road, paused at the entrance to the forest, and then pushed on. “Looks like this is our ticket in, folks” Flow stated. “Once we get into the forest, everypony can take their cloaks off. Fair enough?” There was a muted grumbling affirmation from the fourteen others following him as the looming shadows of the forest enveloped them. “Now, Longshot, take rear security, and get some light on the back of our group. Wise Guy, get in the middle, and I’ll take the lead. This forest can get pretty dark pretty fast.” He gave a quick chuckle “and we all had to be wearing black didn’t we?” This drew some nervous laughter from the group. Az shared in the chuckle but continued his watch around the group. The last time he ventured into the Everfree forest, he was attacked by a small pride of manticores. With any luck, they would avoid any undue excitement on this trip, especially given the size of the group. The Old City lay at the heart of the forest, so they had a bit of walking ahead of them, close to ten miles, if Az remembered correctly. The path was still largely intact from the last time anypony ventured into the city itself, namely being the time the Elements of Harmony defeated Nightmare Moon and brought Princess Luna back to the world. The next two and a half hours passed without incident as the Guard members passed through the Everfree Forest undisturbed. A sharp cliff posed a slight problem for Heavy Squad, as they needed to slow the carts enough so as to not allow them to go tumbling to the bottom of the hill in a jumbled heap. The forest showed little signs of habitation, even by the fauna that resided within its borders. While this seemed disconcerting to Az at first, he eventually attributed it to the size of this group, as well as their appearance. With their cloaks removed, they looked not dissimilar to shadows roving the forest, with spots of light interspersed throughout the ethereal party. Shadow Wing in particular was difficult to spot as their leathern armor did not have the same reflective properties of the larger part of the group. They appeared as sets of eyes flitting back and forth along the line, their impatience at the speed of progress causing them to take to wing. The Old City slowly became visible among the trees and bouts of fog, first as low, decrepit walls of dark stone, covered in verdant moss and occasionally engulfed entirely by the shadowy branches of trees which looked similar to swamp mangroves. Before long another cliff was visible, with a wooden bridge spanning a gulley, with a large set of buildings adorning the opposite hills alongside stands of trees on the other side. The bridge was narrow enough that members of the party confined to the ground were required to proceed single-file. Shadow Wing, along with Az and Lightning Shift, took to the air to proceed to the other side. Aside from the steady flap of his own wings, the only sounds he could hear were the steady clunking of the carts along the boards of the rickety bridge. Az could see the ropes of the bridge beginning to strain under the load of eight armored ponies. We may need to proceed one at a time on the return trip. Those carts may be full of armor, and that’s a nasty fall. He looked at the floor of the gully directly beneath the bridge to see it lined with a row of small stalagmites, likely formed over the centuries by water dripping off of the bridge, combined with the mineral rich properties of streams and lakes typically found in Everfree. He made a mental note to mention it to Flow before they made to return. He continued to hover around the middle of the bridge while the party finished their crossing. Once Longshot had reached the far side of the bridge, Az descended to meet the group. He cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the combined teams. “So has anypony besides me been over here?” He looked around a faces which stared back at him blankly. “Bueller? Anypony? Show of hooves?” More blank stares. Great. “Alright, so we need to get to the old Hall of the Elements, it should be easy enough to find. Big mosaics, lots of statues. Follow me, I’ll get us to the main street, and we can proceed from there.” He trotted to the front of the group and began walking into the city. Free of the tree cover, Luna’s moon bathed the ruins in an eerie light, the once dark grey stone turned to marble by the glowing orb hanging in the sky. Moss hung off of many of the ruined buildings, their domed roofs showing signs of decay and fatigue from the passing years. The Guard teams passed through many side streets before Az led them onto a cobblestone road wide enough for a full-grown dragon to pass without disturbing any of the surrounding buildings. The sight of the abandoned main road, known as the Grand Way before the Nightmare if Az recalled correctly, drew a few gasps from his compatriots. He allowed a small grin to form on his lips as he looked around for the Hall of the Elements. Like schoolfoals awed at the sight of an ice cream cone he thought. Now where is it, I know it’s around here somewhere… He spotted the building relatively quickly, as it was clearly identified by its proximity to the palace building, which stood at the far end of the road. It was a cylindrical building, with a heavy wooden door at its base, and it roof beginning to collapse into the upper level. Surprisingly, some of the windows remained intact, while others showed broken panes with moss growing around their bases. “There’s the Hall we’re looking for” Az said, pointing at it. There were quiet groans from Heavy Squad, upon seeing the number of floors the building contained. He rolled his eyes and addressed them “I doubt the room we’re looking for is above ground though, so we can leave the carts on the ground floor.” The large Earth Ponies’ countenances visibly brightened. “Chances are there’s going to be a few surprises hidden for us once we find where this room is, though, so everypony needs to be on their guard.” “And who the hay are you to be giving orders to anypony?” The commander of Shadow Wing, Lieutenant Iron Feather, spoke up, looking very cross that a new recruit had even spoken at all. Flow rounded on him and spoke up before Az could retort. “A seasoned adventurer, archaeologist, and master thief with close to a decade of real world experience. He isn’t some overgrown rooster who’s never set foot outside of Equestria’s borders like you. I’d take his advice, hay, even orders if I were you, Feather. The only reason he’s here and not out robbing Princess Celestia again is because the Elements of Harmony managed to track him down with the help of the most skilled magician on the planet.” Iron Feather had opened his mouth to retort, which switched to a look of anger, followed by a look of awed disbelief, complete with open mouth and wide eyes as Flow finished his rant. Flow turned back to Az with a satisfied, smug look on his face. Az, for his part was trying his best not to laugh at Iron Feather’s progression of facial expressions. He turned around and continued on towards the building at a brisk trot. Upon reaching the Hall of the Elements, Az pushed open to doors to find a crumbled ruin, with bits of vegetation growing around the room. In the center of the room, a large pedestal with five extended arms sat bathed in moonlight that came in through a design of the building that allowed sun- and moonlight to enter uninhibited. The party spread out across the room and began searching for any trace of something that could lead them to the room. Five solid thuds announced that Heavy Squad dropped the harness attaching them to their carts. With relieved sighs, they stretched and joined the search. Flow sidled up next to where Az and Longshot were poring over the ground. “Any idea what we’re looking for in here? Markings, scratches, off-colored bricks? Anything like that?” Az shrugged “I honestly don’t know. In all likelihood there’s going to be something to do with the Guard. I found out about the location by finding markings that represented the tenets, but outside of that, we could be looking for anything.” He looked at Flow apologetically. Flow let out an annoyed sigh and looked around at the rest of the Guard members spread out across the room. “This may take a while then.” No sooner had he spoken than Wise Guy called across the room that he had found something. “Oh yeah, I remember why we keep him around now,” Longshot quipped. “He’s good at spotting stuff. Still mostly eats and sleeps, but there are redeeming qualities in everypony I guess.” She gave a small chuckle and Az cracked a grin. They reached Wise Guy to see what he had found. “I have pretty good hearing too” Wise Guy said as they walked up. Longshot chuckled again. “In any event,” Flow interjected, giving Longshot and Az an annoyed look, “what have you got?” “Five marks, too small to see what they are, but they’re there. The thing is, I have no idea what to do with them.” He looked to Az, who was rubbing his chin, puzzling over what could cause the markings to react. The rest of the fifteen pony team had arrived to see what the find was, and were looking intently over each other’s shoulders to get a better glimpse. Az placed his hoof on the block and gave a slight push. Nothing happened. “Well that rules out lever. Anypony have an idea?” Az looked back over the group most of whom looked lost in thought. One member of Heavy Squad was looking in the opposite direction entirely. All brawn, no brain? No, that can’t be it, something’s off about him. Az looked closer at the rear-facing stallion. Is he…shaking? Az walked over to him, looking at his face. The stallion, Granite Hoof, stood as if transfixed by an object in front of him, and as Az thought, he was shaking like a leaf in a gale-force wind. Az followed his gaze only to see a ghostly Pegasus staring back at him. They continued staring at each other for a few moments before Az broke the ice. “Uh, hi there?” The rest of the Guard members turned around to see who Az was talking to. Upon spotting the ghost, they froze as stock-still as Granite Hoof. I hope this one is as interactive as the last one Az thought. “Can you hear me?” he asked the phantom, perhaps a bit too loudly, taking care to enunciate his words. The phantom spoke. “Indeed I can, and thou dost not need to speak quite so loudly, I can hear just fine. What is it that thou would require of me?” It looked at Az, then around at the group of Guard members arrayed behind him. “Dost thou and these behind you represent the Order?” Flow spoke up, and stood next to Az, drawing the phantom’s gaze. “We are here at the request of Captain Shade, in an effort to find what is familiarly called “the room”. As to your second question, if by the “Order” you are referring to the Guard, then yes, we are members your Order, albeit we are now residents of the seventh EAD, where you lived in the fifth.” If it were possible for a ghost to look shocked at a sudden reveal of information, the phantom standing before the group looked shocked. This expression faded as quickly as it appeared, however, as he shifted his gaze to each individual standing behind Az and Flow. “Dost that mean that Princess Luna…?” “Has been restored, yes.” A look of genuine relief spread over the ghost’s face as he allowed a small smile to form on his lips. “Verily, this is good news. However, I must express mine concern at the dearth of experience I see before me. Hast thine age not seen combat? How have each of thee proven thyselves worthy of the Order?” He looked at Az, then Longshot before continuing “I do see exceptions, however. Thief, assassin, explain thine colleagues.” Longshot looked at Az. “How did it-“ she began. “Don’t ask, I don’t know” he interjected. “The one from the books knew that about me too.” He turned to address the ghost “to what are you referring when you ask us to explain for them?” “Their lack of experience, as well as the fact that very few of thee have seen real combat, much less participated in such.” “Ah” Az looked to Flow for instruction, who simply shrugged in response. He glanced at Longshot before continuing “Equestria has remained in a state of perpetual peace, minus a few events since the banishment of Nightmare Moon. As a result, the Guard has not been needed for many operations. Missions taking it outside of our nation have been few and far between, and the Guard has gained a bit of a reputation within the international community. To my understanding, those who would have initially wished to do ill to Equestria were discouraged swiftly and violently.” Longshot spoke up “that explains why not many of us have seen actual combat, as well as why many have comparatively little experience in the type of work that the Guard participates in. With Equestria at peace, there is very little crime within her borders. Corporal Wind and I were simply caught, and summarily recruited into the Guard. Luckily the princesses know that talent can be used instead of thrown in a dungeon.” The ghost nodded and she continued “as to the rest of our company here, they were recruited because they showed potential to quickly pick up the tools of the trade. Does that answer your questions?” The phantom of the Guard member appeared thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. “It does indeed, I thank thee both for thine candid explanations.” It looked back to Flow “so thou wish to enter the room? Very well, I shall open the way, but be warned, the path is harrowing and may only be traversed by the Order. The hall will know if thou art false.” The phantom vanished, leaving a smoking residue on the stone floor, which almost immediately rumbled down and then shifted left, revealing a set of stairs descending underground. Flow turned to the rest of group to address them “alright, so here’s the plan: Az and Longshot are the only ones here with any adventuring experience. That being said, they’ll be leading the way down the passage until we reach the room. Heavy Squad, you guys proceed last as the carts will probably be an encumbrance anywhere else. Feather, do with your team what you see fit.” He looked down the tunnel, swallowed hard then took a deep breath. He turned to Az and Longshot “if you two are ready to lead us down, let’s get started.” Az and Longshot looked at each other, nodded and began walking down the stairs, which were wide enough to fit two ponies abreast. The stairs led down for a considerable distance, and the chamber grew colder as the team proceeded deeper. Az lamented his lack of sleeves as he was soon able to see he breath by the light of Longshot’s lighted horn. He could feel gooseflesh creep up his forelegs and spread to his shoulders, wings, and spine from there. This progression resulted in him feeling a shiver roll down his back. Longshot noticed and chuckled at his discomfort. “I told you sleeveless was a bad idea, but noooooo. Nopony listens to the pretty assassin mare with years of field experience.” “Shaddup” Az retorted. He snorted and shivered again. “You forget that when I bought this armor we were doing jobs almost exclusively in Tigra. Heavy, black leather sleeves would have caused heatstroke to set in even faster and you know it!” “Excuses, excuses” Longshot teased. “You just hate being wrong.” She finished off the statement by sticking out her tongue at Az and trotting ahead. Lightning Shift walked up next to Az and fixed him with a puzzled look. “What?” Az asked suddenly, causing Lightning Shift to flinch slightly. “Sorry, but you guys were the only noise in the tunnel, besides those carts in the back, and I couldn’t help but here you say that heatstroke would set in faster? Does that imply that it was inevitable?” Az, glad he wasn’t being teased any more, sighed at the prospect of talking to somepony about something other than past mistakes, or present purple royalty. “More or less, yeah. Heatstroke was inevitable during the day, everypony got it, regardless of how much you drank or stayed in the shade. It seriously couldn’t be much hotter in Tartarus than it was in Tigra. It was cooler at night, but only marginally. Since Longshot and I typically operated at night, I figured I’d probably need something lighter if I didn’t want to die from the heat.” “Then how do all those big cats get along with all of that fur? I mean if ponies get heatstroke how do they even survive?” Lightning Shift asked, thoroughly confused. “I honestly have no idea. I actually asked this cheetah I know, and he just kind of shrugged the question off. I came to the conclusion that it must be some kind of magic that the big cats have that’s genetically inherent, like dragons and fire. What’s going on up here?” He stopped his story to see why Longshot had stopped dead in the middle of the passageway. Az walked up beside her to see what she was looking at. Before him lay apparently open tunnel, which ended abruptly at a turn which sported a small, wooden target. To the untrained eye, the hallway appeared deserted, but Az knew better. Upon closer inspection, the hallway was crisscrossed with hundreds of small bits of wire, each coated with a thin layer or dust. “We have a problem” Longshot stated. “Yes, I can see that, looks like a razorwire trap?” Longshot nodded. “Good thing you stopped, I might have walked right into it since I was talking. Your eyes are better than I remember.” He chuckled as Longshot shot him a glare. “That target down there is probably the release trigger. Can you hit it?” Flow, Iron Feather, and Light Note, the leader of Heavy Squad, had walked up to where the two were talking. Longshot scoffed at Az’s question. “You wound me, Azure,” she held a hoof to her chest, sounding as mockingly offended as possible, “you’ve known me how long and you don’t think I can hit it?” “What’s the hold up over here?” Light Note asked. “My guys in the back are getting impatient.” “Razorwire trap, they’re crisscrossed all over the hallway” Az explained. “I don’t know how good your eyes are, but you can make them out because of the dust that’s settled over the years. Our best guess is that the target on the end of the hallway down there activates the release mechanism.” “And if it isn’t?” Iron Feather asked indignantly. “We’ll figure something out” Flow growled, obviously in an attempt to once again cow Iron Feather for doubting his team. His efforts paid off, as Iron Feather shrank back, muttered something about needing to check on his team, and walked off. Flow waited for him to disappear into the crowd of ponies before cracking a small smile. “That’ll never get old” he said with a chuckle. “So, Longshot, you got this target?” “Shouldn’t be a problem” she replied. Her horn flared a vibrant green, and a heavy mechanical crossbow appeared in front of her. It was composed of a type of yew native to Draconia that, for some reason made a better bow than any other wood. The ends of the bow section sported a set of gears that allowed for greater draw on the string, which stretched back to a heavy steel latch. The crossbow stretched nearly the entire width of the tunnel, and was twice as long. Longshot reached into her saddlebag and retrieved an eyepiece which she affixed over her left eye. The eyepiece consisted of a large brass ring with a pane of glass fitted into it surrounded by a leathern housing. The glass had a range-finding crosshair on it, which allowed the assassin to make wind judgments if need be, as well as corrections for distance. Her horn flared again, and a magical ring appeared in front of the crossbow. An identical ring appeared in front of her eyepiece, allowing her to see directly in front of the crossbow. She magically pulled the string back to its notch and fitted a bolt which she produced from her saddlebag. She leveled the heavy weapon, took aim at the target, and fired. The bolt missed its target, insomuch as it fell to the ground in three separate pieces, sliced along the length of the shaft. “That’s, uh, a lot more wires than I thought there would be” Longshot said, shocked. Her uncovered eye widened as big as a dinner plate as it stared at the bolt pieces on the ground. “Any suggestions?” She looked around at the ponies surrounding her, each of who stood in a state of either shock or concentration. Az, who had spent the time looking around the chamber, noted some indentations on the floor. “Hey Longshot, try standing here. It may also help to try and lob the bolt if you can.” He moved to the side of the passage so that Longshot could stand in the spot in the middle of the hall he had indicated. “I’m not sure if I can lob a sniping bolt. Why would I want to anyways?” “Keep in mind how old this tunnel is” Az responded. “It’s likely the last ponies to use this mechanism had nothing other than simple longbows, not assassination-specific crossbows. Try just slowing the bolt down, use that time dilation spell you showed me in Draconia.” She looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding, nocking another bolt, and taking aim. As she pulled the trigger mechanism with her magic, her horn flared even brighter, and the arrow was enveloped in a magical aura. It flew at a speed akin to a regular bow, and fell directly into the target. As the thunk of the arrow echoed down the hallway, the Guard members held their breath, waiting for something else to happen. For a moment nothing did, but with sudden hiss and a shower of dust, the wires retracted from their positions along the hall. Az could hear a subtle clicking noise, denoting that the retracted wires were on a timer. He turned to the rest of the group. “We need to move, these are on a timer, get through as fast as you can.” The others began galloping to the end of the tunnel and around the corner, which led into a large atrium with three tunnels leading off into different directions. Upon seeing it, Az cursed under his breath. He looked over his shoulder to ensure that everypony had made it through the razorwire-laden section of tunnel. Once the last member of Heavy Squad had proceeded into the room, he began to take in his surroundings. The stonework was identical to that of the tunnel had been, except there was a shaft of moonlight entering through what appeared to be an abandoned well at its domed peak. The three exit hallways were each situated at the top of a set of stairs, with heavy wooden doors set within each frame. Above each door stood a small symbol, each different. Above the first, a knife was depicted, above the second an axe, and above the third a bow. “So where to from here?” Flow walked up beside Az and looked around at the three doors. “It seems we have a bit of a puzzle to figure out, don’t we?” “Not particularly” Az replied. “It’s pretty simple actually. A door for each of the pony races. Pegasi use knives, so that’s our door, Earth Ponies use heavier weapons, such as axes, so that’s their door. All that’s left is the ranged attackers, the unicorns. We each need to go in through our own door. I can only assume they link up again on the other side. I guess if you go through the wrong door you’ll have a pretty bad day.” Flow nodded and went to tell the other Lieutenants what the plan was. Az walked up to the Pegasus door and pushed it open. Sure enough, the opposite side of the door led him to another set of stairs leading down into another atrium, with a single exit on the opposite end. Once down the stairs, he was better able to inspect the hall on the other side. There was a faint light shining on the far end of the tunnel, likely more moonlight. He looked behind him to see that the rest of the Guard members were entering the room through their respective doors. He placed a tentative hoof in front of him only to find the stone move slightly. Dammit, there’s a trap here. Probably some sort of pattern to how we need to walk. Longshot walked up, bathing the hall in the light from her horn. “Floor’s rigged?” she asked. He nodded, still looking down at the hallway. The stones stared back up at Az, bare as when they were quarried from the earth. He cursed again under his breath, and looked back to see Heavy Squad finally making their way through the doorway. His eyes dropped into the room to see a small glowing ball illuminating the center of the room. I guess I wrote that off as a spell, but it may be our ticket in. Az approached the ball and poked at it with a hoof. It expanded suddenly causing Az to give a small yelp and jump back a ways, flaring his wings and assuming a defensive posture. Flow, Longshot, Lightning Dust and Wise Guy lined up abreast of him and prepared to attack whatever had caused their team member alarm. The ball quickly turned into another ghostly apparition, this time an Earth Pony, who looked across the room at the now relaxing Guard members. As he straightened up, Az took in how the new phantom appeared. Its armor was built significantly heavier than its two ghostly counterparts, to the point where there was not a single area of exposed coat beneath the armor. Even its eyelets were covered over with a sort of see-through, yet blackened, glass. The configuration and stylization of the armor matched what Captain Shade had shown Az the previous morning, as the armor appeared to be naturally black, and even looked sturdier than steel. Az was about to speak when the behemoth barked out a quick laugh. “Shoulda seen the look on your faces. Pleasure ta meet ya. Name’s Marble Chip, or at least what’s left of ‘im.” The phantom spoke with a strong accent Az couldn’t quite place, and although his face was obscured by his helmet, Az could almost be certain that the ghost was grinning. “So who’s in charge ‘ere?” The phantom looked around at the Guard members staring flabbergasted at the suddenly chipper ghost. Flow walked in front of the group and cleared his throat to get the ghost’s attention. “Formally, I am. Lieutenant Rapid Flow, it’s good to meet you, Marble Chip.” The ghost barked out another laugh. “Unicorn, eh? O’ course you’re a bleedin’ unicorn. Folks in charge usually are.” He looked around at the group again. “Lotta fresh meat ya brought with ya, Lieutenant. Can’t believe the Order started usin’ rank, unbelievable. But ya got fourteen with ya, makin’ four teams?” Flow nodded. “Right, so who’re the others then?” Iron Feather and Light Note walked forward to stand alongside Flow. Marble Chip looked them up and down before speaking again. “Ah, good. Representatives from the other races. Not a lick of experience with either o’ you either. Celestia’s fat arse, what has the Order been doin’ these days?” He looked past the three Lieutenants to see Az and Longshot staring at him. “Wait, don’t answer that, I found somepony I like.” He walked straight at the three officers lined up and before they could move out of his way, simply walked directly through them causing each individual to flinch in their own right. “A seasoned thief and assassin. Looks like ya two know each other pretty well too. I guess the Order hasn’t shit the bed entirely then. Maybe one o’ ya can tell me what yer business is here then.” Az looked to see Flow’s agitation that another ghost had snubbed him growing. He suppressed a snigger before looking to Longshot to start the process of explaining why they had ventured into the Everfree. She looked back at him expectantly, as if telling him this was his job, since he got them the job in the first place. Az sighed and rolled his eyes, turning to address the ghost, who now stood no more than two paces from the two of them. “Azure Wind, and this here is Longshot. We came here looking for the room. Apparently it’s been lost to the Guard for the last millennia or so. Any chance you know how to get past this final trap?” Az dropped his hood and mask to look the ghost directly in the eyes, or at least where its eyes should have been. He could almost see his reflection in the glass slits, until the ghost looked to Longshot. “Might be I do, thief. And a mare, eh? I guess a millennia’ll do that. Progress is progress I s’pose. Now, ya want to get into the room? Ya need to prove yerselves ta me in order to do that. I’m one of Celestia’s wards, placed on it after we fled the capital. So I need ta verify that you’re actually members o’ the Order. And I do mean all o’ ya.” The ghost glanced over the rest of the party before looking back to Az. Az nodded stiffly before giving his response. “Well then, what do you need us to do?” “Answer a bit o’ a riddle. This shoulda been passed down as a sort o’ tradition within the Order over the years.” Az looked pleadingly at Flow and the other senior members of the Guard. Riddles he could do, tradition would be a little trickier due to his greenness within the organization. The ghost seemed to grin behind its helmet at Az’s newfound trepidation. “Churned, baked, boiled.” What? A collective groan sounded from behind the ghost, causing him to chuckle. The other Guard members looked at each other before answering in chorus. “Roasted, stirred, consumed.” Az looked back and forth at the now facehoofing Guard members around him in confusion. Longshot stepped up beside Az and addressed the ghost. “You’ll need to give him a pass on this one, he’s only just joined up with us.” The ghost looked between Longshot and Az for a moment before nodding. It then looked towards the tunnel, which became illuminated with a softly glowing blue light which covered the walls, floor, and ceiling. “There’s yer passage through, chaps. Should keep ya from steppin’ on some of the nastier traps my ilk came up with.” He turned to walk back towards the center of the room, but paused and turned around before reaching the spot his ball form had previously stood at. “One more thing, if ya don’t mind. The Nightmare, is it…?” “Gone. Princess Luna has been restored and is well, up to her old hijinks if I’m not mistaken” Flow answered. The ghost barked out another laugh before nodding and continuing on his path to the center of the room. Once he reached the spot, he vanished. With the ethereal light given off by the ghost suddenly gone, the room grew significantly darker, with only the soft bluish glow of the hallway’s barriers holding the looming dark at bay. Flow turned to address the group. “Right, off we go then, hopefully there’s no more traps lying around for us and this will be our last stop.” The party began walking down the hallway, which continually grew wider as they progressed further down it. The stones shifted from the dark granite that dominated the landscape prior to finely polished marble, visible under the now growing moonlight from the next room. As they entered the room, many of the group were taken aback by what greeted their sight. The room was stocked not dissimilar to the Guard’s armory, with full sets of armor adorning ponnequins of various sizes throughout the room. Racks of swords, daggers, axes, and polearms filled any empty wall space. Each piece of armor and weapon were made of the same midnight black metal as the helmet in Captain Shade’s office. On the far side of the room, a rack of midnight-black bows sat by themselves, with full quivers of arrows draped over the corners of each rack. Under the moonlight, the room seemed to glitter in an ethereal sense, as the bright moonlight contrasted with the darkness of the metal. What caught Az’s attention was in the center of the room however, and not amongst the vast armory that lay before he and his colleagues. The middle rotunda of the room descended down an extra fifty feet, creating a pit. A pit with walls lined with hundreds of books. A spiral staircase ran down the perimeter of the circle, allowing for those inside the room to peruse any of the books with little difficulty. Much like the passageway leading into the room, the floor, walls, and ceiling of the room itself were comprised of polished marble, which glimmered in the moonlight. “This may take a while…” Az muttered.