//------------------------------// // Down The Rabbit Hole // Story: Mare Anguis // by StSebastian //------------------------------// A cacophony of noises echoed throughout the Ever-free Forest, bouncing off of trees and penetrating the dense woods. The noises originated from the old castle, where an Archaeologist, Professor Shalestone, has staked her claim. A team of excavation ponies had started to drill into the floor in the room where the Elements of Harmony had previously been kept. Rumors told that beneath the chamber was an ancient vault used to hold a massive treasure, a gift to the Royal Sisters from the Dragon King. Professor Shalestone sat in her tent, dubiously studying the layouts of the Old castle and reading ancient scrolls telling of a hidden chamber beneath the castle. Descriptions were vague and written in an obscure dialect of old Equestrian. Oddly enough, none of the documents mentioned anything about gems and gold, only referring to a "Vault." Outside she could hear her ponies drilling away at the floor; she felt somewhat guilty, while her team was out breaking their backs, she sat on her rump going through old texts. Shalestone had previously dedicated her entire life to the understanding of the past, as a filly she spent most of her time studying books about old Equestria. After so long she earned her cutiemark: a scroll wrapped with black cloth. Over time, Shalestone dabbled more and more in field work, working as a contractor at construction sites and, when the opportunity presented itself, with dig sites. Unfortunately for her, the historians and paleontologists she worked under looked down upon her. Even in today's world it was hard for a mare to gain any recognition as an Archaeologist, since it was still seen as a Stallion's work. It wouldn't be until her discovery of a massive dragon skeleton in ManeHattan that she gained any notice. This was her second official expedition, and she had high hopes. She remembered in her school-filly years that she came across an old nursery-rhyme that contained a very obscure mentioning of a vault in a castle. After pouring herself into researching old maps and documents at the Ponysonian, and a long year of hunting, she finally thinks she's located the "treasure" mentioned in the nursery rhyme. "Professor! We've been digging away at the same spot for half an hour now and we've barely even scratched the surface." "Keep working at it, I'm going to head to Ponyville and talk to somepony about these documents, maybe I can get some help translating... I should be back in an hour or so, if you don't get a break by then We'll go ahead and change our approach." "Yes Mam!" Professor Shalestone packed up all relevant documents into a satchel and started a smooth paced gallop to Ponyville. "I wonder what Twilight Sparkle will make of all this..." Twilight fussed about in the library, it was time for work and she was hell bent on doing it. Books needed arranging, inventory needed taking, and long dead plants needed loving. Spike came down the stairs to find Twilight running to and fro as she rearranged the books. "Jeese Twilight, don't you think It's a little early to be working so hard?" Twilight pointed out that the sun was still just breaking the horizon. "Working? I would hardly call it that" "That's right, I forgot how much you enjoyed playing with the library..." "Spike, while I'm getting the main floor all cleaned up could you go and check the basement and see what needs done down there?" "And I suppose you want me to go ahead and make a checklist for you?" "Actually, No. I think you're big enough to handle this bit on you're own now. Give it a try, and if you need any help feel free to come and ask." "Well alright then." Spike grabbed a candle on his way to the basement steps, and gave it a quick light with a slight breath of fire. As he opened the doors he lit the now oxygen starved torches to help light his way down, and proceeded down the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Spike couldn't help but notice a dusty old painting on the wall, portraying princess Luna. It looked like it had been gathering dust for centuries. Well, Twilight said to go ahead and start cleaning... Might as well start from here and work my way in, Spike thought to himself. He Picked up the painting and tried to lower it to set it on the floor, but underestimated its weight and promptly fell to the floor, taking the painting with him. The wooden frame cracked on impact and ,thankfully for Spike, without a glass pane to cover it, the canvas fell to the floor. Great, Only a few minutes into cleaning and I've already broken something, probably a priceless painting no less! Twilight's going to kill me! Spike scampered to try and repair the damage. When he picked up the canvas off of it's face and turned it over he was shocked to find the Image had changed. It was now baring the image of Nightmare moon staring out of the picture at Spike, who shouted as he dropped the painting on its back. "How in Equestria-!?" Spike stopped to hear a stir of disembodied whispers behind him, and turned back at the wall where the picture had been hanging to spot a depression in the wall which housed a wooden lever. He couldn't tell where the noises had come from, but he had the urge to pull the lever. Before he could Succumb to curiosity, Twilight called him back up into the Library "Spiiike! I need you back up here!" "Coming Twilight!" Spike replied and quickly bolted up the stairs. Crossing the thresh-hold back into the library brought Spike a surprise, he had nearly run straight into somepony's foreleg. "Oh, Pardon me..." "It's quite fine, no harm done." "Spike, this is Professor Shalestone. She is leading an archaeological dig at the old castle," Twilight interjected, "She's come here to.... what was it you were here for Professor?" "We've run into some problems. There hasn't been any actual digging, our tools haven't had any effect whatsoever. We've been trying to dig into the floor around the pedestal that held the Elements of Harmony, but it's like we might as well be stamping the ground with our hooves, the tools simply wont break through the stone!" "Wait, the ancient castle of the royal Pony Sisters? The one in the Ever-Free forest?" Spike inserted himself. "Yes, that very one," Shalestone turned to Twilight, "I was hoping you could help me translate some of these old Texts. They're written in an obscure and ancient Equestrian dialect like I've never seen before." "Maybe, let's bring them upstairs and have a look." Twilight led Shalestone up the stairs. Spike followed, turning his head to look at the basement door. Curiosity beckoned him back into the basement. "Twilight, what did you need me for Exactly?" Twilight stopped momentarily and looked back at the baby Dragon, "Come to think of it, I guess I really don't need you up here..." "So I guess I should get back to work in the basement?" "That would seem best. Again, don't hesitate to come and ask me for help." By the time Twilight had finished her sentence Spike was already halfway through the basement door. Twilight looked on with a tinge of her own curiosity, but shrugged it off. When Twilight and Shalestone reached the desk, Shalestone set down her bag and took out all of the papers she deemed pertinent. Twilight immediately got to work sifting through them and reading. "This is definitely ancient, and this is definitely obscure." "So I see we understand that we are dealing with something less than forthcoming?" "Yep. It's written in a code, or a riddle... Depends on how you look at it." "If it's a code let's crack it, if it's a riddle let's solve it." "Easier said then done. Here, read this," Twilight pointed to a specific line of Text. "Her Majesty's grace hath brought us life, and her Majesty's presence shall give us guidance," recited Shalestone ,"So we need the help of Princess Celestia. Perfect, we need the most busy pony in all of Equestria to help with the dig." "I'm not sure. It say's 'shall give us guidance'... maybe there's an entrance to the chamber you're looking for. I would venture a bet that the stone your ponies are digging into is protected by some magical spell." "That would sure explain a lot. So if we're looking for an entrance, where would it be?" questioned a now dumbfounded Shalestone, "None of the maps indicate any such thing." Twilight brought a map to the top of the stack and examined it closely "If this is a vault you're looking for it makes sense that it's not on any of the maps." "Right, but then how are we going to find it? Maybe there are some more clues in the papers?" "Maybe," Twilight continued sifting through the papers, stopping when a particular phrase caught her eye, "This paper here mentions something about a key..." "Yes, supposedly you need a key to open the door to the vault, but what good is a key without a door to open?" "You've got a good point..." The conversation was interrupted when a tremor gave the Library a slight but very Noticeable shake. "What was that?" Twilight cocked her head around to inspect the library for damage. "I haven't a clue, Your library doesn't normally do this I suppose?" "Hardly. I'm guessing Spike has something to do with this. I'm going down into the basement to check on him, stay here and see if you can find anything else." "No thanks, I'll accompany you down. Besides, It's been a while since I got to do any real field work underground." "Alright, suit yourself." At the bottom of the stairs Twilight spotted the broken picture frame on the floor, and gasped when she saw the portrait of Nightmare Moon. "What is this doing here?!" Inquired a now startled Twilight "A good question, a better question is 'Where's Spike'?" followed Shalestone. The ponies turned to another downward spiraling staircase with a cobweb curtain. "That wasn't there before... And this painting was supposed to be a portrait of Luna." Spike could be heard screaming down the staircase. "Sounds like your friend needs some help, let's go!" Shalestone called as she was already on her way down the staircase. Twilight had no choice but to follow. Traveling down the stairs seemed to take years, even at a full gallop it must have taken Twilight a whole 2 minutes to finally reach the bottom. By the time they had gotten to the end of the staircase both of them felt exhausted, Twilight nearly collapsed to her knees. "Spike! What's going on down here!?" "I don't know! There was this painting of Luna and- it was Nightmare moon! Then I pulled some lever on the wall and-" "Slow down! Take your time." "-and then THAT!" Spike motioned towards the newly discovered room. The three stood in a large vacuous circular chamber, almost entirely built out of black marble. Along the circumference stood a line of blue wax, brass mounted on brass candelabra. A Statue of Princess Luna stood in the middle of the room, decorated with a plethora of Gemstones, with iolite shards in place of eyes, and an assortment of sapphires encrusted on the majority of the statue. The body of the statue composed of a unique blue granite. "What were you screaming about?" inquired Twilight. "I could've sworn that I heard it talking!" Spike started up the stairs when a massive stone slab separated him from the exit. "We're trapped!" "Spike, what's that you have in your hand?" asked Shalestone with a curious eye. "Uhm... I can explain," Spike fiddled around with his hands before revealing a rather large Amethyst. "Spike... Did you take that from the statue?" Shalestone noticed a bare spot on the Statue's chest. "No! I swear! When I came down here to clean, there was this picture of Luna hanging on the wall. When I tried to take it down I fell over, and there was this lever on the wall. When I pulled it that huge staircase opened up, and I found this gem on the stairs on the way down, a few steps from the top." "So then why is there a bare spot on the Statue over there?" Twilight pointed a hoof to the Statue. "I don't know, I had just walked in here when I heard the statue start to talk." "Well what did it say?" Shalestone was beginning to get anxious. "I couldn't tell, whatever it said it wasn't in English." "Whatever it said, I think we're supposed to put the Amethyst in it's proper place," Twilight motioned to the gemstone, "What other options do we have?" "Well then you take it! That thing gives me the creeps" Twilight outstretched his hand to Twilight, the Amethyst in his palm. "Oh fine, don't be such a filly," Twilight joked, and struggled to pick up the stone with her unicorn powers, "Hey... What's going on here?" "What's wrong Twi?" "I can't use my magic in here! This place must be under some sort of spell..." "Then allow me to place the gem?" inquired a now eager Professor Shalestone. "That's okay," Mumbled Twilight, taking the Amethyst in her mouth "I've got it" Twilight walked shakily over to the Statue, she hid her feelings, but she was just as scared as Spike. As she slowly approached the Statue, she could feel a slight breeze, as she neared the Statue the breeze grew stronger. It reached a strong, howling tempest as she stood directly in front of the statue. Reluctantly, Twilight placed the Gemstone in it's proper place. "There, you've got your amethyst, now let us out!" Twilight shouted at the Allicorn's stony face, slowly backing away, stopping when the Earth began to shake. The candles that lined the circumference, previously unlit, started to flicker into persistent blue flames, keeping their flame despite the relentless torrent of wind from the small hurricane contained in the room. On top of all the chaos, the Statue's eyes and newly placed Amethyst started to glow. "Twilight! Get away from there!" Spike was hollering at the top of his voice, but his cries couldn't penetrate the screech of the wind. Even if she could hear him, Twilight couldn't seem to move her legs. She panicked, looking back at Spike and the Professor, and turned back to face her foe. Upon making eye contact with the Statue she started to lose herself in the Azure blue gaze. In her last moments conscious, she saw the chamber start collapsing around her.