“Yes, Your Highness, if there is something beneath the surface, we should have a map showing it.” Climber pushed the door to the library open. “The copy we had with us was the most accurate and up to date one, but if there is some abandoned place, it should be noted on an older map.”
The smell of paper, dust and time wafted around Twilight’s nose when she stepped over the threshold. No matter how long her time as a full time student was over, this smell still brought a smile to her lips. She let her gaze wander around, the room was not as big as she would like it to be, but still bigger than the main room of the Golden Oak Library was.
Along three of the walls, including the one the door was in, were bookshelves. Each was filled with scrolls and books up to the ceiling. In the middle of the room were several smaller bookcases, together with one or two armchairs and a table here and there. Only the wall to her right missed any bookshelves, instead, there was a fireplace in the middle, far enough away from the books to not harm them. Left and right of it were a door on both sides, leading to another area of the library, Twilight thought, at least.
While she let the room affect her, Climber moved on and entered one of the shelf rows near the middle. Twilight trotted after him, but then her attention was pulled by something else. She sniffed the air and her nose picked up a hint of another smell. It was freshly used ink, drifting over from a book rest to her left.
“It should be… here.” Climber crouched in front of a bookshelf and pulled out a stack of well wrapped scrolls. “One of these should…” He turned his head back to Twilight. “Your Highness?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Twilight removed her gaze from the open book on the book rest. “What did you say?”
“One of these,” Climber lay the scrolls on the nearest table and waved Twilight to follow,” should hold what we are looking for.” He removed the string and moved his hoof over the labels. His mouth formed the words while he read till he stopped and lifted one of the scrolls. “Foundations and cellar, also good hundred and thirty years old. A copy of course.” He blew away a bit of dust from it and then removed the little blue cord wrapped around the paper.
He weighed down the beginning of the map with two heavy books and then unrolled it completely, revealing many fine drawn lines and little numbers besides them. Moving his hoof slowly over the map, he quickly found the northern wall. “Over here, Your Highness, is the spot we are looking for.”
Twilight lowered her head to the map. “There is nothing noted at this place.”
“At least not at the level of the foundation,” Climber said with a hoof stroking over his chin. He returned his hoof on the map and moved over to the drawing of the cellar, which was on the same scroll, a bit more to the right. “Maybe a floor deeper.”
Both nobles lowered their heads even closer to the map to see what could be there. To their disappointment, the plan didn’t show anything at the spot in question.
“You are sure this plan is accurate?” Twilight faced the baron. “Shouldn’t there be anything, like the pipes of the castle water supply for example?”
“No, Your Highness.” He shook his head. “The pipes and also the newer electrical wiring are noted on an extra scroll. But any room that is big enough a pony could stand in is on the maps that are like this one before us.” He shrugged. “I don’t expect you think the source is just pushed into an empty pipe or cable, buried deep underground?”
Twilight scratched her head. “That indeed sounds a bit implausible, but we should keep that possibility in mind. We don’t know what caused the effect and how big it actually is, sometimes small objects have a very strong influence on things around them, just think about the Elements of Harmony for example.”
Climber nodded. “In that case I better fetch the other scrolls from the archive, as well as the older original plans of the castle underground tunnels and pipelines,” he wrinkled his nose, “including the sewage system as well.” He checked through the keys on his key ring till he stopped by a little yellow one. “Ah, there it is.” He looked back up. “I will be back in a few minutes, feel free to browse through the plans in the meantime, Your Highness, but please be careful with them.”
“Don’t worry, baron, I’ll handle these plans with care.”
Climber gave her a nod, then moved over to a door right to the fireplace. With a quick turn of his hoof he unlocked it and then entered the room behind.
“Alright,” Twilight said to herself while she looked through the other scrolls, “time to see if I can find something.”
***
Adding another scroll to the stack on Book Cover’s hooves, Twilight sighed. Not a single one had brought any enlightment to this mystery. Not nowadays nor hundreds of years in the past was anything built on the spot in question, according to the maps.
The librarian wasn’t much of a help either, not that it was her fault, the library of Castle Dragonbite was simply not big enough to have a full time librarian. Her job was mainly collecting the books the inhabitants of the castle had borrowed and dropped somewhere in the halls.
“Thank you.” Twilight gave her a smile. At least since she showed up, Book Cover did all the trotting work.
“You are welcome.” Book Cover nodded, then turned around and sorted the scrolls back.
“We should consider the possibility that there could be nothing,” Climber said with an apologetic smile.
Twilight wrinkled her lips. “I guess so, but my measures were correct. There should be something.”
“How exactly can you determine the spot on the surface above the center?” Climber made a circle with his hoof on the map. “How large is the area we are talking about exactly?”
Placing both hooves on the map, Twilight quickly compared the size of the drawn rooms with her calculations. “Approximately, this large,” she said and moved her hooves to mark the area, “twenty-four standard double steps radius.”
Climber shook his head. “That's too wide, Your Highness.”
The princess tilted her head to the side. “Too wide for what?”
“To dig out whatever it is, twenty-four standard double steps radius and a possible depth of eighteen or more hoofsteps.” He shook his head again. “Without magic and considering, whatever the source is, it could be just the size of my hoof... no.”
Twilight slowly nodded. “Sadly, I agree. More so, it is the center but still, that doesn’t meant that there is something for sure.”
“Maybe you can find a way to increase…” Climber started when the door to the library opened and Cave Light trotted in.
By the entrance of his daughter, Climber’s head moved up and he stopped speaking, waiting for her to explain her appearance.
“Princess.” Cave Light made a slight bow, then looked to her father. “Mom says it is time for tea.”
“And mom thought I would simply dismiss any servant that would come to gather us, didn’t she?” Climber asked with a smile.
Cave Light smiled too. “I think so, you did that often enough in the past when you were studying something, but you wouldn’t dismiss your own daughter, or?” She made her best puppy eyes.
He laughed. “Why do I get the feeling you are on her side now because she is the keeper of two royal feathers at the moment?”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” she said with a bright innocent smile, after she moved closer and looked up to him with crossed forelegs.
Twilight giggled. “I think you are confronted with unbeatable cuteness, Lord Snowflake.”
Ruffling through his daughter’s mane, Climber agreed, “Well, it seems I am hopelessly outnumbered, this little one comes after her mother. There is just so much cuteness a stallion can stand and not more.”
Cave Light blushed. “Dad!”
“Alright, alright.” He turned his head to Twilight. “Would you like some tea, Your Highness?”
“Tea would be nice, but I would prefer to think about this,” she pointed to the map, “for a few more minutes if you don’t mind.”
Now Cave Light gave the map a curious look. “What are you searching for? Has it to do with the phenomenon?”
“Yes,” her father said, “Princess Twilight was able to come up with a possible location of the source, sadly none of our maps can support her theory.”
“Where is it?” the filly asked. “Is it inside the Castle?” Her eyes darted over the plan. “No, then it would be on the map.” She rubbed the back of her head. “Maybe on the southern hills?”
“No,” Twilight showed her the possible spot with a hoof, “right over here. The thing is, however, that according to the maps, there is nothing.”
Putting a hoof to the spot herself, Cave Light seemed to think about it for a moment, till she started to measure distances herself, beginning from the nearest noted room.
“The possible center is twenty-four double steps wide, but still there is nothing inside that area.” Twilight explained while she watched what Cave Light was doing. The face of the younger mare was highly concentrated and she had put her other hoof on the map too.
“What sort of tea would you prefer, Your Highness?” Climber asked and drew Twilight's attention back to him. “If you don’t mind, I’ll go ahead and arrange everything to your pleasure.”
“Oh.” Twilight thought about it. “Strawberry would be fine.”
“Then strawberry it will be.” He bowed. “And you, little miss,” he addressed his daughter again. “Be a good filly and take care of our guest while I am gone. Don’t let mom send me to gather you up,” he added with a wink.
Cave Light looked up for a second. “Yes dad.” She turned back down and continued her measures.
With a smile, Climber left the library.
Returning to her thoughts, Twilight didn’t pay much attention to Cave Light in the following minutes, till she spoke in a shy tone, “Princess?” After Twilight didn’t react, she spoke again, a bit louder, “Princess Twilight?”
“Huh?” Twilight blinked and turned to Cave Light. “Yes?”
Cave Light took a look at the door, then over to Book Cover who was still sorting back the scrolls. With nopony near, she leaned in closer and whispered, “Can you keep a secret?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “A secret?”
“Psst.” Cave Light made a shushing gesture with her hoof. “Yes, a secret.”
“Well, yes I can.”
Cave Light pointed on the map near the area Twilight had showed her. “I think I know what's there.”
“You do?” Twilight asked, excited.
“Shhh!” Cave Light repeated and quickly threw a look over to Book Cover, luckily only her tail was to be seen above one of the smaller bookshelves.
“I am sorry,” Twilight now whispered to her. “What is there?”
The younger mare opened her mouth to respond but then hesitated, it took her a few more attempts till she finally spoke, “I should correct, I know how to get there but I can’t describe what ‘there’ is actually.”
She blushed a bit under Twilight's look. “It is nothing more than a tiny tunnel that leads there, but I never was at its end.”
“A tunnel?” Twilight leaned in closer. “Where? And where does it lead to?”
“It is a secret, I shouldn’t know.” Cave Light avoided a clear answer and looked down on the map again.
“And you would be so nice to tell me?” Twilight implied with a begging smile.
“I am not sure, Your Highness.” She rubbed her foreleg. “It is a big secret.”
“You can tell me.” Twilight intensified her smile. “I am a trustworthy pony.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Cave Light now looked her in the eyes again, “it’s just... “
“Yes?”
“One should not give away a secret so easily, my mom always said. At least one should think carefully about the advantages and disadvantages of telling somepony.”
“And what is your opinion in this case?” Twilight asked, curious.
“I- I think we should make a trade,” Cave Light said and pushed a “Your Highness” behind. “If you could do something for me, I could tell you the secret in exchange.” Her gaze had gone sheepish by this words, knowing how her parents would think about bargain with a princess.
Giving a look over to Book Cover, who was still diligently working, Twilight peaked up her ears, “What is it that you want?”
Unsure, the baron's daughter looked around again, then she placed a hoof on the table to keep her balance while she leaned in closer till her mouth was next to Twilight's ear. Twilight's eyes widened in surprise while Cave Light told her what she wanted.
When Cave Light pulled back, Twilight gave the young mare a long look, obviously very unpleasant for her as she started to shift under Twilight's gaze. “Your first two wishes are okay, I can arrange that, but your last one, isn’t that for your parents to decide?”
Giving Twilight her best innocent smile, like she did with her father before, Cave Light answered, “They wouldn’t say no, if it is a princess who asks for me.”
“Hmm,” Twilight leaned back again and thought it over once more, “I can get you the permission but it is still up to your parents if they let you.”
“If you tell them you support it, they will say yes. I am sure.”
“Well, then I’ll arrange the part I can, in exchange for your secret and tell your parents I approve your idea. Is that a deal?”
“Deal.” Cave Light happily raised a hoof to bump it against Twilight’s to seal the deal. “Just don’t tell my parents from whom you know about it.”
“Okay.” And with a hoof bump it was settled.
***
“Excuse me, Twilight,” Pleasant Smell lowered her teacup, “but how did you come to the idea that our family crypt is the solution for this?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Climber added with narrowed eyebrows, “that is a really good question and I have to say it is really rude to ask for permission to enter it. There are limits, even for a princess.”
“I know,” Twilight said with her hooves raised in front of her, “I don’t want to disturb your ancestors, I just think the entrance to the effect’s source is in the northern end of your crypt.”
“Even if that is so,” Climber said, displeased, “It is our ancestors’ last resting place. We don’t do scientific research there.”
“I don’t want to research there,” Twilight explained. “I just think from there we could enter the rooms or whatever else is down there.”
“And that brings us back to my question.” Pleasant Smell placed her cup back on the table. “Why are you thinking that?”
“Because, “Twilight pulled out a small brown book, “the court architect of your ancestor Brisk Snowflake wrote it down.” She moved her hoof in a circle. “Well, kind of.”
Both the baron and the baroness reached out for the book, it was Climber, however, who grabbed it after his wife stopped her attempt to take it. “What do you mean, ‘kind of’?” he asked while he opened it and browsed through the first pages.
“He is mentioning that the expansion of your family’s crypt discovered a system of caves below it.” Twilight poked the ground with a hoof. “Right under the crypt are small caves, mostly empty, very tiny and branched. They used some of them as alcoves, plastered with white marmor, he described them as very beautiful and appropriate.”
“Indeed, they are.” Climber nodded. “I confess I never read this book,” he weighed it in his hoof, “and I was always wondering why they are placed so randomly when I was younger. Still, I don’t see what these caves have to do with the possible origin of the phenomenon.”
“In his reports about repairs, further back in the book, he mentioned two times that water had infiltrated the walls of one of the alcoves. After the second time your ancestor have ordered the wall to be broken up and the source of the water had to be searched. Turning out it was from the river, the architect had explored the cave behind the wall and then sealed it.” Twilight waved with her hoof. “Probably, high water caused by heavy rain had pressed the water into the caves so it was easy to fix. Anyway, if you draw a line from your family’s crypt on the cemetery to the nearest point of the river, you come very close to my calculated coordinates.”
Of course Twilight couldn’t mention that she knew that one of the tunnels between the caves exactly passed the spot. Climber and Pleasant Smell wouldn’t be amused that their foals had found an entrance to the caves through the crypt and more so had started to explore them.
Sinking back into his chair, Climber gave the book to his wife and asked with fresh annoyance, “And you want to break up a wall again to enter these caves?”
“Oh no.” Twilight flinched and repulsed that idea by shaking her hooves. “I hoped there would be a forgotten entrance to them, maybe an old trapdoor or some maintenance stairs behind a door that hasn’t opened for ages.” She surely knew there was such thing, but again couldn’t tell without betraying Cave Light.
The baron crossed his forelegs and moved one hoof up to thoughtfully rest his head on it. His hind hoof was impatiently tapping on the ground while he did so.
With a quick look, Twilight snatched for support from Pleasant Smell, but to her surprise, the baroness had taken a neutral position and returned Twilight's look without revealing any emotion. Whatever she may of thought about this, she wasn’t willing to interfere this time.
After a while without saying anything, Climber rose from his chair and slowly trotted back and forth in the room. Twilight wanted to speak but rather stayed silent in the end. Following her husband with her eyes, Pleasant Smell too decided to say nothing. Now it was clear to Twilight that this decision only lay in Climber’s hooves. Finally after another few minutes Climber made a decision, he stopped, raised his head and faced Twilight.
“Alright, princess, I will allow it.” He completely turned to her and trotted closer till he stood right in front of her. “But I expect respect for my ancestors and appropriate behaviour. Be aware, I don’t tolerate any disrespectful behaviour,” he lowered his head to look her deep in the eyes, “not even from a princess.” Then he left the room.
Twilight released a heavy breath, she hadn’t even realised that she had held her breath. “Puh, for a moment I thought he would get angry again,” she said to Pleasant Smell.
Still keeping her gaze on the door, Pleasant Smell reached out for her teacup. “It is his family, he has all rights to be sensible.” She took a sip from her tea. “I don’t know if I would allow you to visit the crypt, if it were my ancestors who rest there.”
“You don’t consider his family as your family?” Twilight wondered.
“Remember that I am just married in.” She looked back to Twilight. “My family’s crypt is at the castle of my grandparents.” She took another sip. “Of course I will be buried here when the time comes and so will be my children one day, hopefully many ages far away.” She licked a tea drop from her lips. “At least Cave Light will as the head of the Snowflake family one day.”
“Are you annoyed, Pleasant Smell?” Twilight asked. “You sound a bit different than usual.”
Pleasant Smell took her time with the answer and played with the handle of her teacup. “No, Twilight, I am not, I just hadn’t expected that your search would lead you to the crypt. It is a very sensible thing and only makes my advice even more important.”
“Which one?”
The baroness looked up from her cup. “That you have to be careful, don’t get carried away by your curiosity down there. Be silent and calm, my husband… he may throw you out of the castle if you seem to overstep the line of what he thinks is appropriate behaviour.” She shook her head. "But that's not the problem. The problem is that, if the mare you are looking for, finds what you are doing disrespectful...“ Pleasant Smell moved one hoof to her temple and massaged it. “Just be careful.”
“I will, but I wonder why you bring that up again, you were okay with me searching for her,” Twilight said. “ Now you are worried about me entering the crypt. I understand that this is a sensible matter, but I thought the most critical point would be the moment I found her.”
Removing her hoof from her temple, Pleasant Smell slightly shook her head. “If you find her, the worst case scenario is that she finds you annoying, as long as you are careful she may not do much.” She made a gesture with her hoof as if chasing away a fly, “Forcing you out of the Castle at worst. Now however, you are not dealing with her personally. You might unintentionally interfere with her dead grandchildren. She always was very protective towards them.”
“Thank you for your advice, I will keep that in mind,” Twilight said, serious.
“I hope so,” Pleasant Smell placed her teacup on the table and rose from her chair, “for you, Twilight.” She moved to the door and stopped on the threshold, turning her head back to Twilight. “I don’t think you have a proper dress for visiting a crypt with you?”
After Twilight shook her head, Pleasant Smell nodded. “I will look for one for you, give me a few minutes.”
***
When Climber came back, he had changed his appearance. Now he was wearing a red bow tie, a black tuxedo and silver shoes. Twilight first wondered about his new dress, it didn’t look like anything she would have thought would be good for visiting a crypt or showing respect. It took her a moment till she remembered that it was colored in the Snowflake’s family colors.
In the meantime Pleasant Smell had brought some clothes Twilight was now wearing. She earned a short approving nod from the baron for them. Her dress was, in difference to his, only black, with a hint of silver from the jewelry around her hood. As shoes, Pleasant Smell had decided to give her black and flat ones. Good enough for showing respect but nothing too fancy. The only problem Twilight had with her wardrobe was that it was designed for an earth-pony, meaning no wing holes. They stretched a bit above her wings uncomfortably.
“That will do it,” was everything Climber said before he made a gesture to invite Twilight to go along with him.
Following the invitation, Twilight closed up and together they left the room, leaving Pleasant Smell behind. This time, while they trotted through the corridors of Castle Dragonbite, Twilight got the unpleasant feeling that it didn’t matter at the moment that she was a princess. Had Climber always at least tried, even when he was angry, to show her respect and to be courteous towards her, now he was strictly trotting forward and did not attempt to start a conversation or anything. At best, Twilight felt like a tolerated but not so welcomed visitor.
It seemed to her she had made a mistake in her expectation that the baron would gladly show her the crypt. Considering how proud he had been at the ancestor gallery, she had thought he would come up sooner or later himself with the idea to visit the crypt. Twilight was surely aware that her request was a bit rude, but she had expected that, after she explained the reasons, Climber’s own curiosity would kick in and his desire to impress others with his family history would do the rest.
“I am sorry, Lord Snowflake,” Twilight said, “I wasn’t intending to annoy you.”
The baron gave her a quick look and made a grumbling noise, one of the kind a stallion does when he is not really interested in what a mare said, but is forced to show a response somehow.
“Really, I didn’t,” Twilight went on, “I just want to traverse the crypt and see if we can enter the tunnels below.”
Another grumbling noise.
“Wait.” Twilight stepped ahead and moved a hoof in his way to force him to stop. He did, but gave her a vexed stare.
“Listen,” Twilight made an apologetic face, “I wasn’t aware how important this is for you, if it really is such a big thing for you to show others the crypt, we don’t have to go.”
The baron snorted. “It isn’t about showing someone the crypt, it is a question of time and place. You don’t request to go there, you get invited and if you go there, either by intention or by request, you do it to show respect to those who are gone, not because of curiosity.”
“But I don’t want to visit the crypt and your ancestors, I just want too… “ Twilight felt silent, when she realised the problem. “Oh.”
Climber narrowed his eyebrows and looked down at Twilight.
“Ohhh,” she repeated, “now I understand.” Rubbing the back of her head, she tried again, “Again I am sorry, Lord Snowflake, may I make a suggestion?”
He sat down and crossed his forelegs. “I am listening.”
Doing her best to look regal, she lifted her head, straightening herself and also clearing her throat, she spoke in a serious and polite tone, “Lord Snowflake,” she moved a hoof to her chest, “I know it is a bit impolite to ask you for this, but it would be an honour, if you allow me to visit your ancestors’ crypt.” She lowered her hoof and looked him into the eyes. “To show them my greatest respect, hear about their glory and their feats. Truly, it comes to my… “ she hesitated for a second, then changed it to, “...Our ear that the ancestors of your family have done well in the history of Equestria, so as a princess, the last thing We can do is to honour their remembrance.”
Lowering his forelegs, Climber was a bit astonished at first, so he didn’t respond instantly. Twilight used the silence to increase the weight of her regal background by using her royal-voice when she spoke, “The Princess of Friendship is requesting to visit your ancestors’ crypt, to show them respect and honour their remembrance. What is your answer, Lord Snowflake?”
The echo of Twilight's voice lingered far through the corridors and halls of Castle Dragonbite, shaking the nearby walls a bit and causing small showers of dust to crumble and fall down.
Still perplexed, Climber didn’t realize he moved his hooves to smooth his mane back again. He shook his head and got back to his senses in the moment a few of his servants and other inhabitants of the castle started looking around the corners of the connected corridors.
Twilight could only hope she did the right thing by pulling her rank to the extent and directing as much attention as possible to the fact she honours the Snowflake ancestors. A few seconds passed without a reaction from the baron, Twilight's confidence getting the first cracks, another few seconds, now sweat showed up on her forehead. Had she overdid it and will be kicked out now? Will he explode in anger?
Finally Climber stood up again, giving the surroundings a side look without moving his head much, noticing the attention and reactions of the other ponies. To Twilight's relief, a tiny smile formed around the corner of his mouth before he lowered his head in a bow and spoke, “Again, the House of Snowflake is pleased by the attention of a Princess of Equestria.” He raised his head back up and spoke even louder, so the audience could hear him clearly, “It would be honour to show Your Highness the last resting place of my family.”
Twilight almost had said, “Then go ahead.” but then remembered the show she put on in the last moment and instead started, “So lead the way, Lord Snowflake, We shall follow you guidance.”
The baron’s noble manners were, however, still a bit better than hers, so he closed up next to her and extended his hoof for her to hook in. “Your Highness, if I may?”
With a graceful nod, Twilight lay her hoof in the bend of his foreleg and in a slow and dainty way, both nobles trotted on towards the cemetery. It was a blast to Climber’s family ego, that all the other presents had seen this scene, so he was far more cooperative and his courteous behaviour was back in place.
They didn’t speak, not till they left the walls of Castle Dragonbite, but at least the aura of ‘You’re not longer welcome’ as Twilight would name it, was gone.
***
When they reached the entrance of the cemetery, Twilight stopped and took a fascinated look at the two statues of earth-pony stallions, guarding the iron gate. Not only to stay in her role as a princess, but also because they were interesting. Both of them made out of bronze, kept in good condition, also holding a spear and surprisingly, a shield, attached to their right foreleg. The pose they took was defensive, they stood on their hind legs, holding the shield in front of them while the spear lay above it, pointing on some unknown enemy. By giving them a closer look, Twilight noticed the family crest of the Snowflakes on the center of the shields. Their heavy armour of chestplate, leg-protection, saddle and the typical antic helmet model with the circular brass bosses and crest rounded up the view.
“Really impressive.” Twilight moved her head between the statues to gave them both a good look.“I wonder why they stand on their hind legs, isn’t that a bit uncommon for warriors? Shouldn’t they stay with hooves solidly planted to the ground?”
Climber, who had stopped a few steps before her nodded. “Yes, Your Highness, it is just a pose. As far as I know, this stance is taken either right before a charge or an impact of a flying enemy on the line.” He gave the statues a look himself. “It also is a good stance to look impressive.”
Unsure if this was a joke or just a proud comment from him, Twilight didn’t reply. Instead she closed up while he pulled the handle of the gate, followed by him pushing it open with both hooves. Unexpectedly swift and silent, the two parts of the gate swung back and allowed them to enter.
In the light of the early evening sun, the cemetery looked beautiful. Besides the main pathway, made of white cobblestones, flanked by hedges, there was a lot of sideways, with colorful flowers all along the edges. This place was not for despair and grief, it was to remember the good times.
A little bit wondering, Twilight looked back at the statues, then again at the cemetery and back again at the statues. The heavy contrast bugged her, but she, again, stayed silent, the breakable good will of the baron should not be tested, she thought.
A bit down the main way in front of them stood another statue, blocking a lot of the view. Behind it, Twilight saw the white walls of what she guessed must have been the crypt.
In opposite to his usual behaviour, Climber just waited long enough for Twilight to get a good look and then trotted on. No storytelling, no explanation of family history, just moving on.
On their way, they passed by some other statues, which were placed cleverly in between the hedges. It was only to Twilight’s guess if they were showing old members of the Snowflake family or just mere decorations. Whatever they were, they all sported a smile or other up-cheering terms.
While she followed the baron, a lot of other things grabbed her attention as well. Be it the gravel ways, leading away, curling deeper into the cemetery or the grave slabs nearer by, some of them extraordinary well made and with a lot of text on them. If there wasn’t such a tragic background to them, Twilight would have taken a closer look. She tried to stay focused on following Climber, holding her head high and also keeping her moving according to her royal status, just in case he suddenly looked back.
It didn’t take them long however to reach the statue at the center. From there Twilight finally had a good view of the crypt. Behind a long area of just green grass, kept neatly short and watered, there was a circle-shaped area of white shingles and in the middle of it, a one level building, made of marble. It was somehow formed like a podest, a very flat roof and aslant walls on the side. On top of the roof, right above the entrance, stood another two statues. One of them colored in blue, with a black mane, the other was ivory, with a mane colored in a mix of very light cyan and light emerald greenish gray. They both were in a romantic hugging pose with each other.
“Are these?” Twilight now dared to speak, pointing at them.
Climber, who had taken a hold, nodded. “Yes, Your Highness, these are my ancestors, Compassion Snowflake and his wife, Heartwarming Smile Snowflake, formerly known as Heartwarming Smile Pillow.” It was clear to see that it itched him in the hooves to tell more, but he suppressed the urge and trotted on, towards the entrance. Twilight hesitated for a moment, then followed. Once he was there, he unlocked the wooden door and opened it wide, so the sunlight was able to fall onto the stairs behind and also illuminated the room below.
A cold breeze escaped the crypt’s depths, in it was a hint of the smell of time again, this time however, it was not the smell of history, it was the smell of ages of silence. Twilight shook, a shiver running down her spine. Even it was a crypt, there was nothing to fear.
Near the door was a holder for torches. Climber took one of them and set it on fire with a match he pulled out of his pocket. Holding it up, he walked down the stairs.
His hooves made a loud echo, lingering through the deeper parts of the crypt while he took step by step further down.