Shining Armor kissed his wife goodbye as he entered the train that would take him to Canterlot. The couple had woken up relatively early to catch the first ride, neither his sister nor her friends having woken up yet.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked. “I mean, I should really get back here as soon as I can. Picking the brains of a couple romance novelists doesn’t exactly sound extremely important when the empire is in peril.”
“I know,” Cadence replied with a sigh. “But they’re the closest thing we have to a lead to this whole thing.”
Cadence gave her Shining a reassuring smile.
Shining smiled back, a look of concern still showing on his face. “If all goes well, Princess Celestia should come back before me. I’ll try to make this as quick as I can.”
“Just ask them about the symbol and the name in the book. You do have it with you, right?”
“Yes,” Shining sighed as he pulled the harlequin romance out of his saddle bag. “You only told me like five times.”
“Well,” Cadence turned her head away in mock disdain. “Then you should remember five times better.”
She turned playful eyes at her husband and the two broke into laughter. They hugged once more and Shining boarded the train.
“Have a fun trip!” Cadence called as the whistle blew and the train began to move.
“I don’t know what’s going to be so fun about a two day trip to plead for help,” Shining called back.
“You’ll see.” Cadence whispered to herself as she waved goodbye.
Shining went to his seat. Due to his status and the fact that not many ponies were in the mood to travel from the Crystal Kingdom recently, he had the back car to himself. Shining rested his face in his hoof and leaned on the window, staring at the passing scenery.
A whole day to get to Canterlot. Not a very pleasant commute for someone without wings.
Shining tried to occupy himself with drawing on the condensation of the window but after five minutes found it a fruitless endeavor. The condensation always reappearing over his drawings. He sighed and began to look through his right saddle bag. Inside he had a spare uniform, rations (which any proper soldier made sure to carry anywhere on a long journey), and the book Cadence had made sure he bring.
Shining lifted the book and stared at the cover. “Romance of the Amazon Island.” He flipped briefly through its pages and caught various dirty words, blushing slightly in response to them.
I can’t believe Cadence and Twily read this stuff. What’s so special about it?
He set the book down next to him on the seat and returned to the window. After several long boring moments his eyes darted to the book again.
Maybe just the first chapter. I mean, if I’m going to ask the writers about it I might as well know something about the book.
Shining let out a brief sigh and resignedly opened the book to the first page.
Two hours later…
Shining turned the final page and saw the blankness of the end. He lifted the book sideways and shook it slightly to see if there was maybe another chapter in there that was just stuck between the pages. Nope. Shining let out a small growl of frustration.
Okay, so that was pretty good. And it did eat up…
He looked at the clock hanging at the front of the car.
Two hours!? I read that whole thing in only two hours!?
He smacked his hooves into his face and dragged them slowly down pulling at his cheeks and eyes.
Gaaaah! What am I going to do now? I’ve got another twenty hours on this Celestia forsaken train!
He finally lifted the saddle bags from his back, deciding to check his rations. Maybe he’d just eat something and take a nap. However, when he lifted his saddle bag, he noticed that the left one was particularly heavy.
That’s weird. I don’t remember packing anything but toiletries in here.
He unzipped the left bag and began grinning ear to ear. Hundreds of paperbacks, all the works of Quill and Wit. On top of them all was a note that read: “Thought you’d be wanting these too seeing as you didn’t bring anything else to pass the time. XO” In the bottom right corner Cadence had made a little doodle of herself giving a tiny wink. Shining couldn’t hold back his happy grin.
I love that mare.
Twenty hours later…
“Sir, sir,” A young pale green colt in a conductor’s uniform tried to get his attention as Shining Armor sat hunched over a book. The seat and floor surrounding him littered with the tiny paperbacks. “It’s your stop I believe.”
The conductor finally was forced to lower the book from Shining’s vision as he suddenly snapped back to reality.
“Who? What? Where did- Are we-“ he sputtered.
“Your stop, sir,” the conductor pony said unemotionally.
“Oh, right!” Shining tried to move his legs but they had fallen asleep and he simply tumbled out of his seat landing face first into his pile of books on the floor. “Ow!”
“Do you need help with that, sir,” the conductor said completely straight faced.
Shining rubbed his head and quickly shot up, gathering all the books into the air with magic.
“Uh, no! No! Please, think nothing of it!” He continued to sputter as he gathered his smutty books into his saddle bag with a blush.
The conductor merely shrugged and walked away. Shining soon followed out of the car and the station. He checked the sky. It was still night, early morning perhaps. Luna hadn’t yet lowered the moon. More than likely Celestia was still asleep. But perhaps he could talk to Luna.
Shining gathered his things and trotted towards Canterlot Castle. The guards greeted him with a salute as he entered the large doors to the atrium. The usually lavish setting for the Grand Galloping Gala was now, at this time of night, a mere hollow shell of its splendor. Torches lit the open area with ghostly luminescence that made the shadows of the grand staircase shift and dance. A member of staff came to greet him.
“Prince Armor,” the tan pony mare said as she bowed her head in respect. “A surprise to see you so early in the morning. I’m afraid the Princess is still indisposed. If you’d care to wait-“
“Actually I was wondering if I may speak with Princess Luna,” Shining cut her off.
“Oh, well, of course. Princess Luna usually stays in the observatory during the night. I can take you there if you wish?”
“That would be wonderful, thank you.”
He followed the mare as far as the door to the tower staircase that led to the observatory. When he had said his thanks and she turned to leave he caught her once more.
“One more thing,” he asked. “Could you make sure to tell Princess Celestia to meet with me as soon as she wakes up?”
“Yes, your grace.”
The two nodded curtly to one another and split apart. Shining followed the dark spiral staircase up into the tower and came to a second set of doors, smaller versions of the front gate’s doors. He knocked.
“Come in,” came a melodic voice.
Shining opened the door wearily and saw the inside. Luna was standing in the center of the circular room staring into a large and impressive looking telescope. Shining could not tell what she was studying with it but the rest of the room was adorned with maps of constellations and stars. Several desks hugged the round corners of the room and had many papers filled with mathematic equations bursting from the drawers and overflowing onto the floor.
Luna sat in the middle of this catastrophe of a room, her perfect mane and complexion not looking any worse for wear. Shining was suddenly grossly aware of how unkempt he must appear. After all he hadn’t slept in close to two days. He straightened his mane in a feeble attempt at looking slightly more proper.
Luna finally pulled her attention away from the telescope to notice who had entered. Her eyes lit up.
“Shining Armor,” she said courteously. “What a pleasant surprise. What pray tell brings you to my humble workspace at this hour?”
“Princess,” Shining gave a bow. “I’ve come to Canterlot with grave news about the state of affairs in the Crystal Empire.”
“Hmm,” Luna merely frowned and looked back at her notes on the boards. “I was afraid of this.”
“Pardon,” Shining felt his ears perk up.
“I just noticed this a week ago.” Luna turned motioned for Shining Armor to come closer to her. He did. “Look in the telescope.”
Shining did so and at first saw nothing. Nothing but stars.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand, Princess.”
“What you are looking at is the 43rd parallel of Orion’s belt,” Luna stated simply. “It’s a system of stars that’s in special alignment with the Equestrian coordinates of the 43rd parallel.”
Shining said nothing, still confused.
“The 43rd parallel is where the Crystal Empire is located.”
Shining still said nothing.
“There’s a bad omen star in the system, see!” Luna motioned him to look through the telescope one more time. He still didn’t see anything that caught his eye.
“Ummm,” Shining attempted to fiddle with the knobs on the sides of the massive lens, perhaps they’d be able to let him see something.
Luna sighed and pushed him away from the telescope. She silently reset the knobs that he had fiddled with and took one more look through the lens. A few seconds later she shot her head back up and stare at him in confusion.
“You really can’t see it?” she asked exasperated.
“To be honest, princess,” Shining rubbed the back of his head. “I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to be looking for.”
“Ugh,” Luna let out a defeated sigh and trudged over to a black board covered in star charts. She used her magic to sweep the charts clear and then lifted a piece of chalk to the board. “The stars in the heavens reflect the earth of Equestria.”
Luna demonstrated this by drawing two spheres. One small which she marked inside of it “Equestria,” the other large and encompassing the first sphere which she marked outside of it “Cosmos.” She tapped the chalk against the board to see if he was paying attention. Shining nodded.
“I found a set of stars here,” she pointed to a section of the larger sphere and circled it then drew a corresponding circle on the inner sphere. “Had changed about a week ago.”
“Alright,” Shining nodded his head.
“A new star had slipped into this system. A star of ill omen.”
Shining nodded his head once more.
“Now usually when this happens it is seen as an ill omen because the original Romane calendar-“
She was cut off by the sound of snoring. Luna turned to see Shining had fallen asleep standing up. She furrowed her brow once more and picked up a glass of water from a desk with her magic. She dropped it on his head.
“Who? Wha? OW!” Shining shouted startled.
“I had a prophetic dream that the Crystal Empire would be in danger,” Luna said in monotone with a blank expression.
“That’s right,” Shining replied. “The Crystal Empire is in peril.”
Luna sighed again and looked out the bay windows. The sun was starting to rise.
---
“I see,” Celestia stated solemnly as she looked out the window.
Shining Armor and Luna had brought her the news as soon as she woke up. Now all three stood alone in the throne room, Luna and Shining standing off to the side awaiting Celestia’s response.
“This does sound dire,” Celestia said. “Without the Crystal Empire’s joy, Equestria may fall into despair.”
“To be fair, sister,” Luna spoke up. “There may be more at stake here than that.”
Luna now held the room’s attention.
“It’s possible,” Luna began. “That this petrification may be the first symptom of a larger disease.”
“So,” Shining interrupted. “You’re saying the empire is sick?”
“I’m not saying anything right now,” Luna stated. “There is still much we do not know about the empire. Sombra kept and hid many secrets.”
“You are right,” Celestia broke in. “However, we still must act quickly.”
“Agreed,” Shining stated.
“Agreed,” Luna stated as well. “Which is why I propose that I go.”
The other two occupants of the room stared at Luna in alarm.
“Luna, we can both go. I’m sure that-“
“Sister, you agreed that I was right about this being more dangerous than thought before. If something were to happen to you then Equestria would be without its rightful ruler. Send me and if I fail not much will be lost.”
“I’d still have lost a sister,” Celestia turned away again toward the window and brushed a hoof under her eyes. “I do not want to go through that again, Luna.”
Luna lowered her head in apology and furrowed her brow. “Then,” she began. “Maybe it’s time to believe in me?” She stood up straight once more.
Celestia cocked her ears.
“Believe that I will come back.” She stomped a hoof in an expression that got the point across.
Celestia turned her head slightly to look her sister in the eyes. They showed a fierce determination. Celestia let out a small sigh and smiled. “You win.”
Luna’s expression switched immediately from stalwart to sisterly as she rushed forward and hugged her sister. Celestia smiled warmly as she hugged her back.
Shining breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m just glad that were getting some help with this,” he said. “Twily has been running herself ragged trying to find a solution.”
Luna let go of Celestia as she turned to the Shining. “Do not worry, your sister will have much smarter company to keep soon enough.” With that Luna left the room.
Shining continued to express relief for a few moments until he furrowed his brow in realization. “HEY!”
Celestia chuckled as Shining turned back to her. “Luna should be at the Empire by this afternoon. You should head back too as soon as you can.”
“Actually, princess,” Shining shifted slightly on his hooves. “There is one more stop I need to make before that.”
---
Shining knocked on the door three times in quick succession. He was jumping from hoof to hoof excitedly like a little school filly.
Calm down. Calm down. You just read their books yesterday. It’s not like you’re a fan or anything.
The door opened and a tall, but still shorter than him, gray unicorn with a black and white streaked mane came into view. He wore a white dress shirt and tan vest, the lapel sporting a paper flower. He wore reading glasses that made him look older. In fact he might have been Shining’s age or maybe a year older. Shining immediately knew who this pony was.
“Mr. Qu-“
“Sorry,” the pony said as he raised his hoof to Shining’s mouth before he could speak. “But I don’t do autographs. Especially to those who stalk me home.” He shut the door in his face.
Well that was rude. But he is a celebrity, it’s easy to assume I’m a stalker.
Shining took another look at himself. He was still wearing his royal uniform.
Hey, wait a minute.
Shining knocked again. The same pony answering again.
“My name is Shining Armor of the Cry-“
“Look I understand your fervor I really do,” this time the pony leaned his side on the doorway nonchalantly and checking his hooves absent mindedly. “It’s just that I get so many people searching me out that I can’t just spend my entire day doing nothing but writing autographs. That is unless I’m on a press tour.”
Shining let out a groan. “Would you just listen to what I have to sa-“
“Of course, then I’m just doing the same motion over and over and over again. Eventually the signature just loses its specialness, its individuality, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I need you to-“
“Is there a problem here?”
The voice came from beside him. Shining jumped as he noticed the shorter stallion carrying groceries that had snuck up between them.
This unicorn was tan with a white and brown streaked mane. Despite his clear height difference to a regularly sized stallion he still cut his hooflocks around his hooves displaying the ivory white beneath giving him the appearance of larger stallion like Shining himself. On his head he wore a brown derby hat with a green ribbon. He too was wearing a vest, black, no dress shirt. The shorter stallion stood still giving no expression as he held his groceries under one hoof.
“I was trying to explain to him tha-“
“Wit! So glad your back! Did you get those strawberry chocolate cream puffs?” The gray unicorn greeted the shorter one happily.
Wit simply stared at his brother, a half lidded expression on his face. “Quill, are you stepping over this colt’s lines in order to get him to give up and leave.”
“That’s exactly what he’s-“
“Whatever gave you that idea?” Quill replied with a look of fake shock.
Wit sighed. “Pay no attention to him,” he said to Shining Armor. “It’s just a coping mechanism he acquired after the first several stalkers started hounding him.”
“I am not a stalker!” Shining shouted, surprised he was finally able to get a full sentence out.
“Yes, well, of course you’re not,” Quill said pointing out Shining’s uniform. “I recognize a Canterlot Royal Captain’s emblem. I also know the face of the pony whose wedding nearly got the entire city enslaved by changelings.”
Shining frowned. “If you knew who I was then why did you make this so difficult?”
“Because I have a problem with authority.” And with that statement, Quill walked back into the house leaving the door open for his brother.
Wit followed and motioned for Shining to come in as well. Shining entered through the door way and stepped onto a slight rise with wooden stairs that led down to the house proper.
The house was small, both the kitchen and living room almost on top of each other. The floor was made of wooden planks and covered by a large red hoof stitched rug. Old green sofas were arranged in a circle in the center of the room with a mahogany tea table center piece. In the back right was a small alcove with doors on either side. No doubt leading to the bedrooms. All this, however, was not what caught Shining’s attention.
The walls, if that was a proper way to describe them, were entirely lined with books. Not a single bit of wall space had been wasted, every nook and cranny stuffed with some book or another. Despite the house’s size, Shining could swear that the collection here might even rival the Ponyville library.
Quill walked over to the kitchen area pulled out a couple of tea cups from the cupboard. Shining noticed that the cupboards’ extra space was reserved for books as well. Quill proceeded to fill the cups with tea that had been sitting on the stove. Wit followed his brother’s example and began to take out some treats from the grocery bag and place them on the mahogany table. Shining came to the circle of couches as the two brothers converged there as well, Quill handing out the cups. They all took sips, except Shining Armor, who was forsaken one cup.
“Quill!” Wit shouted.
“What?” Quill replied. “I wasn’t the one who let him in.”
Wit sighed once more and headed to the cupboard.
Shining simply groaned and put his hoof to his head. “Look, can I please just talk to you about what I came for?”
“Sure, sure,” Quill replied. “What does the royal guard want with me this time? Did that old fart, Senilex, at the academy finally lodge a complaint about the salt I’ve been sprinkling his garden with?”
“You’ve been doing what?!” Wit shouted back angrily from the kitchen two feet away.
“I tried simply ruining his flowers but he just kept planting them again,” Quill seemed completely unperturbed by his brother’s reaction. “Salting the earth was a mercy for that poor little garden.”
Suddenly Wit lunged at his brother, clearing the couch as he did so. The two began to wrestle on the ground kick at each others’ bodies. Shining simply watched this as he floated over his newly prepared tea from the kitchen.
After five minutes of struggling, Wit was able to put the taller Quill into a head lock.
“How are you so strong?” Quill wheezed out.
“Say you’re going to apologize to Senilex!” Wit shouted as he struggled to keep a hold on his brother.
“Fine! Fine! I’ll apologize to the old diamond dog faced codger.”
Wit sighed. “That’s as good as I’m going to get isn’t it?”
Quill moved his head like a nod but a hoof was in the way. Wit released his brother and they both sank to the ground in exhaustion. They both crawled to the couches and sat on different ones still eyeing each other wearily.
“You done?” Shining asked with a half lidded expression.
“Sorry about that,” Wit replied. “My brother has to learn to sometimes keep his mouth shut.”
Quill simply sipped his tea and rolled his eyes.
“We’ll pay for any of the damages,” Wit assured Shining.
“I’m not here for that,” Shining pulled out the paperback from his saddle bag. “I’m here for this.”
“See,” Quill waved his hoof. “He is a fan. You want an autograph, is that it?”
“He’s not a fan.”
“I am not a fan!” Shining raised his voice a tad higher than appropriate as he heard the plates and cups shake.
“Well, if you’re not a fan, what do you want with that book?” Quill asked eyebrow raised.
“I need to know where you got the name Sun Tide,” Shining sighed with relief as he finally got to the point.
The two brother’s exchanged a worried look. Quill’s expression soon morphing from cool and collected to angry warpath. His brow now furrowed and his eyes shooting daggers. “You have some nerve-“
“What he means to say,” Wit interrupted to diffuse a potential situation. “Is why do you want to know?”
“My sister discovered a book in the Crystal Empire that makes mention of it,” Shining paused for a brief moment to let the impact of his words sink in, to himself and the others present. “And saying it out loud makes me realize just how ludicrous it all is. I mean, it’s got to be a coincidence with the name, right?”
The sound of a tea cup crashing to the ground and shattering pulled Shining away from his musings. Wit had removed his hat and was pulling his hoof through his hair, staring into space with an awed expression. Quill was grinning ear to ear.
“Did you hear that!?” he shouted as he sprang to his hooves and galloped over to his brother. He gripped him by the shoulders and shook him hard. “This is it! This the break we’ve been waiting for!”
Wit seemed to come out of his fugue. “You don’t know that!” he spat out quickly. “It could be nothing! It could just be another dead end!”
“It’s the Crystal Empire, Wit!” Quill now seemed to dance around the room as he began pulling books from the shelves. “The place is thousands of years old. If we can find proof anywhere, it’d be there. In fact, I’m not sure why we haven’t gone there already.”
“Maybe because we don’t have money?” Wit suggested. “And we still don’t have money!”
“Purely circumstantial,” Quill replied. “I can always just write another book. Or Prince Shining Armor here can just take us.”
“We can’t just go to the empire.”
“You’re not going to the empire!” Shining spoke up.
Quill stopped in his dance around the room, a pile of books in his hooves.
“I just need information. There is absolutely no way I am taking either of you to the Crystal Empire!”
Shining felt a vein in his forehead ready to burst as he looked at the two now despondent brothers. He actually felt kind of bad about hurting Wit, Quill was an acceptable loss. Shining let out a sigh.
“Look,” he said. “I don’t know what kind of problems you two have going on, but I can’t just bring civilians into this. It’s a very dangerous situation. I can pay you for any information you might have, but that’s about it.”
Wit did not raise his head, continuing to look despondent. Quill, however, was smiling once more. Shining felt the vein in his forehead throb again.
“So if I understand you right,” Quill began. “This is a matter of national emergency. And not only that but you probably need to return as quickly as possible, seeing as you brought your luggage with you to this meeting.” He pointed to Shining’s saddlebags. “So here’s what we’re going to do.” He set the pile of books he was carrying down. “My brother and I are going to pack our bags, wasting your time until the train arrives. Then you’re going to pay us for the information by buying our tickets. After that we’ll have the entire train ride to the Crystal Empire to talk.” Quill sat back smugly on his couch.
Shining rubbed his head with his hooves and let out an exasperated groan. “Graaaaaaaaaaaah!”
---
Shining gave the bits to the ticket clerk and sighed heavily as he handed the tickets to Quill and Wit.
“You two promise to behave?” he asked as if disciplining a couple of foals.
“Scout’s honor.” Quill made a crossing motion on his heart and gave Shining a roguish smile. Wit carried two suitcases on his back and looked like a foal in a candy store as he rushed past the two into the train car.
“I’m going to regret this aren’t I?” Shining asked himself.
“Probably,” Quill replied for him.
----------
“You’ll see,” Cadence whispered to herself as she waved goodbye.
She stayed at the station until she could not see the train anymore. Cadence lowered her hoof and turned back to the carriage that awaited her.
I wonder how many he’s going to get through. She thought to herself.
The coachpony opened the door for her as she stepped inside. Just as she was about to close the door a scream broke the air. “You did what?!?!” could be heard all the way from the castle. Cadence could swear she even felt the carriage shake for a brief moment.
Looks like Twilight’s up. Better get back quickly and see what happened.
---
A brief carriage ride later, Cadence was in the castle dining room. Six mares encircled something from her view as she entered.
“Hey,” Cadence called over to them. “Did I miss anything?”
The six, slightly taken aback by Cadence’s entrance, parted a little and she could see what they were looking at. A small blue flame floated in midair between them. Cadence’s expression changed as she furrowed her brow in anger and leaned down to begin an attack.
“Stop!” Fluttershy was the one to shout, which surprised more than just Cadence.
“Cadence, it’s okay,” Twilight assured her sister-in-law as she rushed to her friend’s side. “We’ve been talking to it and I think it’s harmless.”
Cadence let up on her stance a little and raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been talking to it?”
“Well, maybe talking is a stretch,” Twilight shrugged. “It seems to communicate nonverbally, perhaps even on a telepathic level.”
Cadence stood up straight once more. “And how did you figure this out?”
“Well,” Applejack was the one to speak up. “We kinda sorta found it yesterday but didn’t tell you.”
Cadence looked at Twilight. “And you were okay with this?”
“Actually I was pretty darn angry,” Twilight chewed her cheek in frustration. “But once they explained the situation, I was a little less likely to fly off the handle.”
“Please,” Cadence said sarcastically as she started walking toward the group. “Indulge me as to what the situation is. Because right now I just see the thing that made me scared out of my saddle and caused this whole mess.”
“It wasn’t Capper,” Fluttershy insisted.
Cadence threw a confused glance her way and Rainbow Dash clarified. “It’s its name.”
“Ah,” Cadence said simply, still eyeing the flame with caution. “Then did you get any other information out of it?”
“Yes and no,” Twilight pulled the journal out of her saddle bag and began to flip through it. Capper hovered over and began to dance excitedly around it. “I think whatever this thing is it belonged to Bedim Haze. At first I thought it was a familiar, but something like that would have disappeared after the caster’s death. But that’s when it occurred to me.”
Twilight laid the book on the ground and looked back up at her circle of friends. “There was no body.”
“What?” Cadence asked.
“I mean, that secret room was supposed to be where he died.” Twilight pointed out a few lines in the journal. “He constantly makes mention of the fact that he made the decision to never leave. ‘I will make this place my tomb.’ ‘Here I can sleep forever.’ He wanted to be down there.”
“Why would someone want to lock themselves up?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m still not sure about that,” Twilight replied. “But I do know that there was no body down there. Just a bed, a chest and a desk.”
Cadence pondered this for a minute. “You’re right.”
“We need to go back and investigate.”
“Maybe if we take Capper back there he’ll have something to add,” Fluttershy spoke up.
All the ponies present turned to her with an agreeable expression.
“That’s a great idea,” Twilight added. “Think he’d be okay with that?”
Fluttershy turned to the blue flame. “Well?”
Capper did a flip in midair and let out a small purring noise.
“I think that’s a yes.”
---
Later in the library, Twilight began to list off teams. “Team one will go down into the tunnels. Team two will stay here and make sure the locking pillar doesn’t trap us in again. Cadence, Fluttershy, Capper and I will be on Team one. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Rarity will stay here.”
“Aw, come on, Twilight,” Rainbow sighed. “I want to see the creepy room!”
“You three are the strongest and can probably stop the pillar if it falls,” she pointed out Rainbow, Applejack and Pinkie. “Rarity has magic that could be of some use too. Cadence and I have already been down there so we know where to look and I’d feel more at ease with Capper if Fluttershy was with us.”
“Um, Twilight,” Fluttershy gulped. “Do I really have to be on Team one?”
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy. We’ll be right beside you.”
“Well, okay.”
The three mares and spectral figure entered the cavernous hole. As darkness set around them, Capper’s ghostly figure of a faceless pony carrying a lantern came into dim view. Twilight watched this change with an expression of interest.
After nearly ten minutes of walking down a dark hallway lit only by the alicorns’ horns they finally reached the doorway. Dim light glowed from inside.
Twilight opened the door to find everything was exactly how she had found it. The candle still burned on the desk, not having lost and inch of wick. The chest and bed hadn’t moved either, though the sheets on the bed were slightly crumpled now. Twilight noted this.
“Spike curled up on the bed when we entered,” Cadence said. “He must have moved some of it.”
Twilight examined the chest, making sure not to touch it directly. A good archaeologist never initially disturbs a site.
Suddenly Capper flew past her and jumped into the chest. The lid opened slightly to show a curious blue flame pop its ethereal head out like a lost puppy. Fluttershy giggled.
“So I take it it’s okay to check the box?” Twilight asked Capper.
Capper simply confirmed her question by pushing the lid of the box open from the inside and jumping out to hover at its side. Cadence went over to take a look in as well. Inside the chest were rocks. Hundreds of them in all shapes and sizes. They even looked to be different kinds as well, not just the stone that the surrounding wall was made from.
“Well,” Cadence said. “That’s a little anticlimactic.”
Capper proceeded to jump into the pile of rocks. They all watched as his ethereal form swirled and shaped around the stones as if he was swimming through them. Twilight picked up a rock to inspect it. It was smooth, but more than that, it looked as if it had been worn down. She looked at Capper’s swimming form through the rocks. And noticed that every time his blue flame touched a rock it would pick up slight bits of sediment.
“Are you sanding these down?” Twilight asked.
Capper let out a playful mew.
Cadence took a step back from the chest. “Huh, maybe he eats sediment or something?”
Cadence sat back on the bed behind her and felt the feather stuffed mattress fall flat beneath. A huge cloud of dust billowed out from the sheets and wafted around the three mares. They began to cough as the dust attempted to fill the room. When it finally settled Cadence’s eyes were watering. She looked at the head of the bed where the pillow sat and pulled the sheet down to reveal what lay between the bed and sheets. A massive pile of dust and what appeared to be ash lay beneath the covers.
Capper slowly floated over to the bed as everyone else did. He let out a sad sigh.
Cadence gave a concerned look to Twilight who returned it. “I think we just found Bedim Haze.”