Discovering the Past

by Astral Star and Company

Chapter 11: The Night of Angels

The Mansion came into view in an off, purplish haze. The twins studied the blue prints quickly, but carefully, memorising every detail. Upon arrival, the concealment spell around the mansion dissolved before them in purple vapour. The devastation from a night ago was still fresh, casting eerie shadows and shapes in the moonlight. The grand home, now looked like a haunted mansion, surrounded by a cemetery, strife with death and decay.

Frolicsome and Sunshine took it all in quickly. They saw it as a sign of the danger they now had to face. Bone white trees, twisted in the wind, creaked in the strength of the wind. Grass crumbled to dust at the slightest touch, and the earth was like baked clay. The landscape was the least of their worries for now.

“What do you think?” asked Frolic “Looks like something you’d see on Nightmare Night,”

“If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought it was Nightmare Night,” Sunshine agreed

The Mansion came into view, a looming façade, bordered in moonlight. No lights seemed to be on, lending the building a foreboding aura, keeping with the haunted theme. Shadows danced across its surface, creeping slowly across its face, as the moon was blocked by cloud. This, did not encourage the two guards at all.

The door was a simple affair, nothing a couple of lock picks couldn’t handle. In minutes, the heavy wooden doors parted for their entry. Once inside, they were greeted by the wide expanse of the foyer, void of any light. The moon light was insufficient for lighting anything other than the floor, but keen bat pony night vision won out. Down to the left was a corridor, with several doors leading into rooms across the wall. Stone statues guarded the doors in pairs. Granite statues of robed pegasi mares, faces blank of any expression. The hall to their right was a similar story. There were also a staircase, leading forward and up, into a set of heavy double doors. Two more sets of stairs branched from either side, leading to other wings of the building.

“Yeesh, It’s gonna take forever to map this place,” whistled Frolicsome

“We don’t need to map everything, only things of importance. Things such as their bedrooms…”

“That’s a little creepy, don’t you think?”

“Their equipment…”

“What’s a bunch of immortals need equipment for?”

“Their assets…”

“I’m surprised they didn’t try to take over Equestria or something,”

“Who says they didn’t? And their military capability,”

“Hold on. Military?”

“Ponies this important need protection and power after all. I’m surprised we haven’t stumbled into anything,”

“Who says we didn’t?” Frolic smiled, imitating his brother “Besides, the only abnormal things we’ve noticed are the statues,”

“Intriguing things, the statues…”

They trotted silently down the left corridor, checking each door as they passed. Most rooms contained bookshelves, beds, tables, chairs or a combination. The occasional room was lined with a menagerie of ancient artefacts and museum pieces. Some could prove noteworthy, so a quick sketch and name was added to their notebooks. Oddly enough, every bedroom was impeccably clean and unoccupied. The mansion proved to be an unlikely labyrinth as further corridors branched from the one they are now following. These too, had statues lined across the walls. These ones had their faces in their hooves, silently weeping in the darkness. Shadows flickered across the walls, but each was dismissed as a trick on the eye.

Frolicsome was very wary of his surroundings, but maintained his confidence. Sunshine however, did not even try to hide his growing suspicion. Something nagged on the very edge of his mind, like something was itching to get noticed, but remained hidden. As time wore on, the growling of thunder and the steady patter of rain could be heard outside. The corridor eventually levelled out, revealing a right turn to another corridor, identical to the original. Oddly, this one seemed completely free of statues. Sunshine frowned, something wasn’t right here.

“Hey Sunshine?”

Sunshine turned to his brother, annoyed at the disruption of his thoughts.

“What is it?” he grumbled

“Did you ever notice that?” he whispered, raising a trembling hoof.

Sunshine turned around to see a completely unfamiliar sight. The hallway behind them was free of statues as well, all but one. It was standing in the middle of the hallway. It was definitely not there before, otherwise they would’ve had to walk around it. It was life-size and depicted a very pretty mare, swathed in a stone robe. It stood sullenly, regarding them with a slightly turned head and a blank expression.

“Well that’s odd,” Sunshine commented “Where’ve all the others gone?”

Frolicsome brought a trembling hoof to the windows. He clearly wasn’t hiding his fear anymore, as feeble stutters formed instead of words. Outside, a storm was in full swing, lightning and rain arching across the sky, painting shadows across the walls. Sunshine barely suppressed a gasp. Right outside the windows, in the now pouring rain, were the statues.

Hundreds gathered around the windows, staring at the two of them with all their expressionless faces. Lightning played across their features, painting them in an eerie light. They were all identical, and despite giving no intentions of harm, the brothers were well, and truly afraid.

“What are they?” Sunshine breathed. No creature was that fast, and none he’s ever seen even resemble this statues.

“I don’t know, but I’ve got a bad feeling about…”

He was cut off from his speech as a blur of movement slammed into him.

“Gaah! Get it off of me!”

Sunshine whipped his head to the left, where a now captured Frolicsome gasp for air. He was painfully pinned to the wall by a stone hoof, a decent distance from the ground. The biggest surprise was the ability to move at all, and with such unparalleled speed and strength. Its wings were spread, and where a blank face used to be, now bore a heavy scowl. Frolicsome thrashed and kicked with all his might, but nothing fazed the stone mare. If anything, she only seemed to get angrier. Sunshine ran up to help, prying at the statue, trying fruitlessly to loosen its grip on his brother.

“How?” he demanded “The damned thing’s got a grip like a vice!”

“I don’t care! Get it off!”

Sunshine considered his options, and decided for the direct approach. He reached for his scabbard, drawing the short sword out with his teeth. With a firm grip on the handle, he carved a vicious arch in the air, aiming right for the statue’s neck.

To his dismay, not only did the sword prove to be ineffective, but completely useless. All that remained of his trusty blade was metal shards, and the cloth bound handle, still in his mouth. Casting the handle away, he considered his options. Bat ponies had no significant magical power, relying instead on evolution for their skills. His pondering was cut short by a sickening…

*CRACK*

Frolicsome, still pinned his stone captor. Eyes stared sightlessly at his brother, conveying a now futile plea for help. Blood trickled freely from where its hoof met his chest. The mare now had her indifferent eyes set upon the remaining intruder. Lightning flashed across her face, elevating her expressionless visage to the most terrifying thing he’s ever seen.

Losing his senses, he dropped everything he carried, weapons, equipment and materials. All he had left was the box Luna had given him. Through desperation, he pried open the small wooden casket, tearing off its hinge in the process. In fear, he looked up, only to meet the eyes of the stone mare, inches from his own. Her hoof, curled and poised to strike was equally as close. Had he not looked up at that moment, he would’ve been knocked unconscious, or worse. There was something haunting about her face, like it didn’t care what it did, or what was done to it, nothing could harm it.

Not taking his eyes off of the statue, Sunshine fumbled for its contents. He heard rustles of paper, some metallic jingling, and something long and with a handle. He grasped it with a trembling hoof and swung it at the creature’s face with all his might. His make-shift weapon thudded against the mare’s cheek, dealing no visible damage. His momentum turned against him as the failed swing caused him to stumble.

Shaking away his daze, he looked down at his hoof to see a small, green lantern, made out of what seemed to be petrified bones. The middle was occupied by a dull green crystal; it emanated a sickly green light. He made no further observation as a huge force slammed into him, sending him tumbling head-over-hooves down the length of the corridor, lantern in tow. The angel approached rapidly, closing distance metre by metre as Sunshine blinked away the dizziness from the impact.

Wait, blinked?

Finally looking at the creature, he held its eyes for a moment. Summoning courage, he blinked, once. The angel advanced two metres before stopping, and remaining that way as Sunshine kept it in sight.

His observations were correct, the Pegasus only moved when he closed his eyes. Considering this fact, he fixed his eyes into an unblinking stare. As he predicted, the statue ceased to move, now locked in a walking stance, as if petrified on a morning stroll. Keeping his eyes fixed on the creature, he retrieved the lantern, which now glowed a little brighter, and walked backwards on trembling hooves. As he got farther and farther from the statue, he allowed his usual confidence to re-establish itself.

He thought he finally saw his escape. The fates had other ideas.

A sharp, powerful blow came from his right side, knocking all the breath from him as he impacted against the farthest wall. A second statue, completely identical to the first stood with its flank to him.

“She kicked me,” he muttered “The damned statue kicked me,”

The ‘damned statue’ wasn’t done with him. As soon as he stood, the angel was upon him again. A stone hoof jabbed at his back legs, effectively crippling him. His screams were muffled as a second hoof wrapped round his mouth. He was then pulled painfully upright, forced to stand before his offenders. Several more statues appeared around corners, and fixed him with their blank, expressionless faces. More hooves pinned his crumpled form to the wall behind him. He could only moan pitifully, as the hoof on his mouth deprived him of oxygen.

His armour was stripped from him, flung before his eyes as their brilliant design was reduced to scrap. His lantern was snatched from his weak grip, taken to even Celestia doesn’t know where.

The statues gathered around to face him, while one continued to choke him into submission. It must’ve been oxygen deprivation, but he could hear them whispering. Unearthly sounds, like a winter breeze through icicles. They spoke of time, space and endless torment. Their visages burned themselves into his mind, as he tried in vain to keep his eyes open. Soon, a deep drowsiness descended upon him, melting all resistance he had left.

The last thing he saw were a dozen, stone faces. Their beauty marred by lightning and rain, lending him only dread as darkness ate at the edges of his vision. Shapes became indistinguishable as green light swam across the forefront of his awareness. He barely even registered a familiar shape move among them as unconsciousness took hold.

He passed into a deep and nightmarish slumber.