//------------------------------// // Exploration // Story: Forgotten // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// As a law enforcement officer, Hitch was absolutely used to being up at the crack of dawn, and alert thirty minutes later with a cup of coffee. Though there was that one morning where he had gotten to the precinct and Sprout had eaten all the donuts... But out here was far, far more silent than a city like Maretime Bay. There was always the ambient noise of CanterLogic's night shift, and any longtime city resident was long used to it. But out here... Out here it was silent, save for the crickets and occasional scurrying critter. So he almost didn't hear his phone's alarm. With a stretch, he crawled out of his sleeping bag, and unzipped the entrance to his tent, stepping out into the misty, foggy morning. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Zipp greeted. Hitch noticed that there was already a pot of coffee heating up over the campfire, and the scent of the roasting beans woke him up a little. He glanced over to the tent that Izzy shared with Sunny, and saw his friend's sleeping bag neatly folded and undisturbed. "Say, did Sunny ever come out last night?" He asked. Izzy glanced over at her sleeping bag. "Hm. I don't think so. Think she fell asleep in there?" "I'll go check on her, looking forward to that coffee." Hitch said, unplugging his fully charged phone and electric lantern from one of Pipp's battery packs. He switched on his lantern and headed inside. Once you were in here, there really was no telling what time of day it was. He quickly trotted up the stairs and retraced last night's steps to the throne room. Sure enough, just as he was worried about, he entered through the doors, and found it pitch black, along with snoring echoing off of the walls. Sure enough, when his lantern light reached the table, there was Sunny in the six-star throne, hunched over the table, sound asleep. He stepped up to the throne, and placed his right hoof on her shoulder, and gently roused her. "Hm?" She asked, her eyes fluttering open, letting out a yawn. "Oh no, what time is it?" She asked. "7:30... AM." Hitch said, softly tapping on the LED headband on her head, which didn't turn on. "Yep, that was what I was afraid of. Sunny, it's pitch black in here without lights. That would have been a real problem." "Sorry, Hitch, really. But some of these gems are tantalizing. These two have creatures I've never even heard of before." Sunny said, turning her friend's attention to the two gems in front of her. He turned to look, moving his lantern closer as she got them angled correctly. The first gem was taken in front of a very similar-looking building. It was a set of bleachers out front, looking like a class photo. There were three rows. Front and center were the six guardians of harmony, plus another heliotrope unicorn that had been in a few more memories so far. The top row was also ponies, and in the middle, were a dragon, and four creatures that she was completely unfamiliar with. The second gem was even more perplexing. It was a group of... Bipedal creatures. They seemed to resemble the guardians of harmony, save for the one in the middle, who had brilliant red and yellow hair. Even more odd, they seemed to have what looked like equine ears on their heads. "This is what's so exciting... And frustrating, about archaeology. Every answer you get frequently brings along five more questions along with it." Sunny admitted. "That's all well and good, but the point is that it's pitch black in here no matter what time of day it is, so we either need to stop coming in here alone, or making sure we always have an emergency light source ready. So, let's go get some breakfast." Sunny grabbed her phone, dropped it into her saddlebag, got up, and followed Hitch back out front, where coffee and hash browns were being prepared on the fire, getting their lights and phones plugged in to recharge while they ate. Zipp knew that for as long as she could remember, it had been continually debated as to whether or not exploration was a science, but she had to admit, this was some of the most fun she had had in weeks. While Sunny was continuing to catalogue gems in the throne room until lunch, Pipp took the second floor, and Hitch took the first floor, so here she was, in the basement, which she was sort of amazed wasn't flooded or made impassable with tree roots. The hallways down here were cobblestone, which made the pegasus a tad bit nervous; she was guessing that was a tad less stable and long-lasting than the crystal walls and pillars up above. She also dabbled in a bit of science, was also trying to figure out several things about this structure. From one of the memories in the gems Sunny had gone through, the entire exterior of this place used to be crystal, with enough windows to let natural light in from almost all angles. So did it change to a wooden exterior to blend in with the forest, blocking out all the windows, or had the forest flora merely grown around it when it had been abandoned? The first room on the right had been open, no door to speak of, and on the floor she found a rusty set of chest armor. It looked strikingly similar to the royal guard armor that the Zephyr Heights guards wore. Seeing how this was a castle, it stood to reason that they likely had ponies to guard it. The next room down had two bunk bed frames, but no mattresses or pillows to speak of; likely long gone. The passageway then began to gradually curve much like the second floor hallway did around the throne room, and she wondered if she was coming to an equally large room. Sure enough, after making a left at the gradual curve, she came to a set of double doors. Taking hold of the handle, she pushed, hard. The door gave way with a shrill creaking sound, and the pegasus stepped forward, and saw she had stepped into another crystal room, just a little smaller than the throne room above. The shelves, which encompassed the entire length of the walls around the room, were bare. It didn't really surprise her; if this place had been abandoned, ponies likely took what they could. But then why leave the gems? Were they considered so meaningful or sacred to be untouchable? Or had this place simply been moved out of before whatever calamity caused Equestrians to lose their magic? Zipp didn't dwell on it for long, because against the very back wall, reflecting the light across the room back at her, was a oval full length mirror, but it wasn't like any mirror she'd ever seen before. The frame was an elongated horseshoe, and it was atop a pedestal, patterned with upside down horseshoes. There were bolts, and rivets, and all manner of metallic parts scattered around it, and it made her wonder if it was part of a greater contraption. She stepped up to it, and set the lantern down, taking in the details of what was left. The reflection staring back at her was faded and dull, and even the best polish in the world wouldn't bring it back to it's former glory. The pegasus let her hoof fall away from the reflective glass, got the lantern better positioned, then snapped a picture with her phone to show Sunny, then picked up the lantern again. As she turned to leave the room, she continued to wonder what it could have possibly been like back then.