The Lost Room

by Parakalo

Train Tickets

Autumn poured herself into large, bound books in her private study. Anything she could find, any trace of information on the Order, or the Objects, or her grandfather. She never had noticed before how many books and books of newspaper clippings and random articles her grandfather kept in his study until now. As she scrupulously scanned each one, she looked for any clues her grandfather left her.
Burgundy felt you would be the one to take up his stead in collecting, and destroying all of the objects.
Leo's words echoed in her mind. If she really was in danger, if she was now wrapped up in this morbid Event and the Objects orbiting around it, she was going to do what she was known for: study. Hour after hour, tome after tome, Autumn hunted for some form of pattern, some form of formula that matched articles to anything else in the study. To her dismay, none of the articles had any coherence to each other at all. There was a large article about an agricultural foundation on one page, and a collection of clips from an obituary on the very next page, with none of the ponies even related or similar in either. Burgundy was not a disorganized man; Autumn knew there was a cipher or code to crack in here that she would find. She felt, that with each article she removed from the book, or each document she found amongst an article, she moved a step closer to who her grandfather really was. In all the years she lived with him, she came to find that she knew very little about him beyond the conversations they had and the anecdotes he told her.
At the ruffling of paper behind her, Autumn turned to find Greed sitting on top of a collection of books she had pulled from the shelves. If memory served, she had left the green hard-cover book with the dean, Twilight Sparkle. She opened it to find a neatly folded note in the carved recesses of the book.

We need to talk. I believe I have some information that may be relevant to your interests.
--- Twilight Sparkle

Autumn was surprised the book got to her so quickly. Given that the last note in it was most likely for her grandfather, which must have been years and years old, this one must be no more than a few days old, given that the last time Autumn spoke to the Dean was only a few days earlier. Packing up the tomes and clippings she had collected, Autumn moved for the door. When she opened it, Starshine stood in the doorway.
"Um... Hi," Autumn had difficulty speaking to her after the Leo incident.
"Listen...." Starshine tried to speak, but Autumn interrupted her.
"I... have to go." Autumn moved past her and away for the deans office, leaving her foster-sister sad and confused in the hallway.
Given all the new information she had about what she was apparently knee-deep in, Autumn wasn't sure how to approach Starshine anymore. If she was, in fact, a target for this Order of the Reunification, Autumn wasn't sure affiliating with anypony was a good idea. The last thing she wanted was for other people to be hurt because of her. Opening the door to the waiting room to the dean's office, the secretary looked up from a book and waved her in.
"Mrs. Sparkle's been expecting you, Miss Fairbreeze."
"Um... thanks..." Autumn moved directly for the door, knocking lightly. When she was ushered inside, Twilight acted almost surprised to see her.
"Autumn! I'm glad you are here."
"I.... uh.... got your note." Autumn put Greed on her desk.
"Good! Good." Twilight, instead of taking Greed scribbled some notes in an open manilla folder on her desk.
"So, what's the news?"
"The note took approximately thirty-seven hours to reach you. Fascinating."
"Is that the news?" Autumn wasn't really in the mood for being part of a science experiment.
"Not quite. I've been accumulating as much information about the Objects after you told me what happened with Leo. Aside from the fact that information about the Objects is incredibly difficult to come by, I have found that Objects, or at least Greed is completely indestructible." Autumn fiddled with a salad she had packed for lunch during studies. "I've never seen anything like this before... I've spent two whole days trying to find out anything about Greed, and all I've found is that you can't damage an Object. You can't burn it, or tear it, or even stain it. My theory is that the objects can only stay in the state they were in during the Event."
"I've been having difficulty finding out more information as well."
"We can conclude, or at least that it is most likely that Objects don't change hands very often, or when they are, the dealings done are kept very secret to prevent news from going public." This didn't help Autumn much at all. Now Autumn knew she had her work cut out for her, which didn't especially surprise her. It was after a pause that Twilight spoke again, "The Event itself appears to be at the center of this."
"We don't even know what the Event is." Autumn added, "It could have been anything..."
"And it's believed that there are over a hundred Objects? Your grandfather's work was absolutely mind-boggling, Autumn."
"I don't know..." Leo's words had hung on her with every moment she spent researching. The Room was still vivid in her mind, as if it had only happened a few hours ago. "This seems... really dangerous." Twilight nodded in understanding. The more she thought about it, the more that Autumn was afraid that her grandfather's death was, in some way, related to the Order of the Reunification.
"Unfortunately, it appears you are involved, Autumn." She didn't like Autumn's uncomfortable position in this as much as Autumn didn't, "I fear that, even if you relinquished the Ink Pot to me, this Order will still come after you."
"Because of Grandpa..." Autumn's voice trailed off.
"Right..." Twilight wanted to change the subject, but this was Autumn's safety they were talking about. In the few days that they had spent together, Twilight had come to like the small earth-pony. "Is there anything you can remember from Burgundy's research? Anything at all that might give us a leg up in finding the Room?" Autumn shook her head.
"Grandpa did his best to make sure I didn't get involved in his research. There were times when I wanted to help him, but he always said no. I realize now that I suppose this was for... my safety."
"Autumn," Twilight leaned on her desk. "If you ever don't feel safe, if you ever need someplace to be, I will personally make sure that you are safe. You and I are a team now. You are involved, and, in turn, have gotten me involved, and I will see this through with you." Autumn revealed a rare smile at this, and Twilight knew that she had reached her.

It was only after Autumn stopped speaking to her that Starshine realized the repercussions of her actions. Autumn only came home to go to sleep. Nopony saw her in class (except when she would drop off due work), and nopony saw her eating. Her bag, now overflowing with papers and newspaper clippings, inclined Starshine to believe that Autumn was as busy as ever, but not including anypony but herself in her little projects. Starshine cornered her multiple times at home, and was unable to get even a word out of her. Not even Leo, who had taken Autumn's empty seat at lunches, would relinquish any details.
"We just... talked." Is all Leo would say. "We talked and then she left. She wasn't interested." This was much to Prissy's displeasure, because gossip was one of her favorite topics.
"We need to know what she's doing." Prissy couldn't contain herself one lunch. "Star, you have to go through her bag and find out what she's working on." This made Starshine spray juice all over the table.
"Autumn is mad enough at me as it is. I'm not going to go through her things."
"If we knew," Cream set down a sundae glass, "We could help her and reconnect."
"It would be a clever insight," Leo added.
"You all are horrible!" Starshine couldn't believe what she was hearing. "If she found out, she would hate all of us!"
"Star," Prissy grabbed her hoof from across the table. "We need to know what's on her mind. What if she is thinking... dangerous thoughts?" The table became very quiet at this.
"You don't mean..." Cream put down a chocolate strawberry, attention now on the task at hand.
"She is showing the signs." Prissy was confident in her psychology education.
Starshine was silent. She refused to imagine the scenario playing out in her mind. Although she was curious, she didn't want to betray the trust of someone she considered close enough to be her sister. Prissy did have a point though. It would be for her own safety, a necessity as an older sister to take care of this.
They needed to know, and Starshine would be the pony to find out for them.

Even though the night physically was unlike any other Starshine could remember, the thickness of the air choked and gagged her. Starshine prided herself on being something similar to a pure soul, and now that record would be tarnished forever. It was long after Autumn had returned to bed and retired for the evening. Starshine rolled over, watching the bed across the room as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The lump under the covers was motionless. If there would be a time to do this, now would be it. Careful to not stir Autumn, Starshine rolled out of bed and tip-hoofed out the door. Moving slowly down the stairs, she could picture in her mind the exact spot Autumn's bag would be in. The small corner table by the door, as old as the house, was where Autumn dropped off all of her things when she got home. Starshine eased down the stairs, flinching at every little sound she could hear in her increased awareness of the night. Once the ground floor came into view, Starshine was surprised to find the kitchen light was on. Starshine knew her parents, and knew that unless something was wrong they should both be in bed. This new complication worried Starshine. If her parents were awake, she would have to be extra quiet getting down the stairs to the entrance way. Moving as quickly as she could without making any noise, Starshine bee-lined for the entrance table, stopping to find the bag was missing. She could picture it, the same spot it was always in, and there was no bag there. Where could it be?
Autumn froze at a noise in the kitchen. It sounded almost as if someone was rifling through her fridge. This made Starshine's skin crawl. Not a single word could be heard from the kitchen or living room, so who, pray tell, was in the kitchen? Starshine inched to the corner, heart racing. She peeked cautiously around the corner to find the tail end of Autumn sticking out of the fridge, a small pile of food in a suitcase next to her book bag on the table.

"Autumn?" The figure froze. Autumn rose from the fridge, jelly jar in hoof, as if she was being stuck-up by robbers.
"Starshine..."
"You... you're leaving?" Starshine was hurt, and above all, confused. "Where will you go?"
"I need to go home."
"Why? ...I'm sorry I forced you to talk to that Leo colt. That was wrong. I don't want you to leave. I've been so worried about you. I never see you anymore." Autumn looked away.
"its... hard to explain."
"I don't want you to leave, Autumn."
"I have to."
"Why? Is it me? Is it my friends? I can find a way to make it work between us."
"It's... it's not safe."
"Not safe? Autumn, you're scaring me. I don't want you to go anywhere." Starshine began to tear up. "I'm afraid, Autumn. I don't want you to do this."
"I have to, Starshine. This... this is what my grandpa died for." Starshine stopped.
"What?"
"This... this is something he needed me to do. The more I've been working on his studies, the more I feel that this is what I'm meant to do. It's hard to explain." Starshine was having difficulty piecing her thoughts together.
"So... you... aren't... going to kill... yourself?" Autumn sat at the table, putting a hoof to her face.
"No... where in the hay did you get that idea?"
"I was afraid! You've been so distant, and not eating, and not talking to anypony, and I've just been so afraid..." Out of nowhere, Starshine ran to her, holding Autumn close.
"Starshine..." Autumn sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry. This is important to me."
"Well," Starshine relinquished Autumn's cracking collar bone, "If it's important to you, it's important to me." Starshine closed the suitcase full of food and stood to leave, wiping the tears from her face. "I'm coming with you."
"What?" Autumn put the suitcase on the table. "You are not. It's too dangerous."
"That's exactly why I'm going with you." Starshine held the suitcase in the air, primed to throw it at Autumn.
"Okay! Okay... we have to go then, I guess. Like right now. The bus is leaving in less than an hour."

Starshine knew close to nothing about Burgundy, making the bus ride out of town in the wee hours of the morning awkward to say the least. As they moved out of town, Starshine felt she really had no idea what she was getting herself into. Where was Burgundy's estate? What would they do when they got there? And what, pray tell, were they looking for, if they were looking for anything at all?
"Look, it's like this..." Autumn could see the confusion on Starshine's face. "We are looking for an indestructible Object that is possibly a piece of God and need it to find the room where all the Objects came from."
"Ah." Starshine nodded, looking out the window, "As long as you... uh... know what we're doing, then I'm good."

It was about three in the morning when they reached the Burgundy estate.
"You lived here? You could fit five or six of my house in here."
"Meh. When you only stay in one or two rooms, it doesn't seem that big."
Autumn was glad to find that her key for the gate still worked, and that the gate was still locked.
After coming up the drive, Autumn was disconcerted to find that the front door was literally missing. She poked her head inside the foyer to find that the manor was thrashed. Every single piece of furniture was broken or cracked or beaten in some way.
"What happened here?" The sight made Starshine's skin crawl.
"Most likely the Order."
"The Order?"
"A cult looking for the Objects. Objects are indestructible remember? An Object could be anything. So..." Autumn stopped at a painting of her grandfather and herself, "They had to break everything to find them."
"Anything could be an object?"
"Anything."
Careful to avoid the massive splinters of painting frames and destroyed furniture, they made their way to the library and Burgundy's study. The study was worse in particular than what they saw of the house. It looked as if every page was torn from every book and strewn about the floor. Autumn moved over to Burgundy's desk and stood where his favorite chair should have been. She looked around, rifling through the piles of papers on the desk. Each paper on the desk had a different sized circle and collection of lines.
"This is a map. All these pages are all one giant Object Map."
"Aut---"
"Why would they leave these here, though?"
"An elementary trap, perhaps?" Autumn spun on her hooves to find pegasus in a black suit and bowler hat, Starshine clutched around the neck by his slender hooves. A gray aura hung a quill to her temple, poised.
"Let her go."
"Not likely, Autumn Fairbreeze. Not while you are on the wrong side." Autumn watched him as he dragged Starshine by the neck about the room, the quill unmoving from its position on her temple. "I'd sit tight, if I were you, miss. The Quill will turn her to steak in a matter of seconds."
"Who are you?"
"Henry J. Fate, high priest of The Order of the Reunification," He nodded, the gray aura tipping his hat to her, "I have a proposition that you would be keen to listen in on." He paused, waiting for a response, and went on.
"You see, we want the same thing, Miss Fairbreeze. You want the Objects and this Room nonsense out of your life, and I want all the Objects."
"What for?"
"To be God. What else? I could recreate Equestria as I see fit. I could bring back the dead from the grave, I could bring the Allicorns to their knees."
"That's sick."
"I figured you'd say that. Let me make this simple, then. Give me the Ink Pot and Greed, Vol.2 and I'll spare your friend's life. It's either that, or I cook your pretty sister here."
"I don't have Greed. I left it with... a reliable source." Henry rolled his eyes.
"Well, that makes things complicated, doesn't it?" The Quill began to scratch across the side of Starshine's face, and she howled with pain.
"Stop! Please, stop!" Autumn didn't know what to do. "Is there something I can do for you instead?"
"Hmmm..." Henry pretended to think while Starshine turned pink in the face. "Do you have something in mind?"
Autumn didn't have a response to this. She literally had nothing to offer Henry for the safety of her sister.
Before she could offer a response, Henry disappeared. Starshine collapsed to the floor, gasping for air. Just behind where he stood was Leo, a string of Train Tickets in hoof.
"Sorry to get you off track, Mr. Fate."
"Maybe you should save the train pun for before you disintegrate him." Autumn said flatly.
"Oh, he's fine. I just sent him to a train station about four or five days from here."
"Why there?"
"Train Tickets don't send anypony anywhere else."
"I'm fine guys... don't help me up..." Starshine rolled onto her stomach, catching her breath. Autumn helped her up, and they sat at the remains of a table in the dining room.
"Thanks for the save..." Starshine was finally able to compose herself. Leo nodded.
"We're a team." He patted her on the back, looking over at Autumn. "You can't do this yourself. You need our help."
"We're a team." Autumn agreed. If it wasn't for Leo's save... she didn't want to think about it.
"So what do we do now?" Starshine, happy to have her sister back, asked her.
"Well, we have this." She dumped the Object Map on the table. "I imagine we start with this."

Comments

[Captain-Wild-Spirit]

"Autumn?" The figure froze. Autumn rose from the fridge, jelly jar in hand,
Autumn rose from the fridge, jelly jar in hand,
jelly jar in hand,
HAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lyra will be pised at you for hiding this pony in the future.

[Parakalo]

1042821 Deeeeerrrrrrp
Fixed.
"We've been inspecting you, Miss Fairbreeze."
Deeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrp
Also Fixed.

We're good! No anthro here, I promise >.<;