Morning Meir Mysteries: Case 3: A Mayan Island Mishap

by XombieSlayr

Chapter 16: "Clover Hunt."

Chapter 16: "Clover Hunt."

I awoke to the sound of macaws crying out in the distance, as sunlight poured in from outside, letting me know the storm had passed. I sat up in the chair, letting the blanket I was wrapped up in fall to the floor as I stretched my arms. A new day. Time to make use of it.

Getting up out the chair, my body ached. Comfortable as it had been, I was pretty sure Benny had some rather large textbooks hidden under the cushions. For what reason, I'm sure I'd never know. Moving to the kitchen, I saw that Daring and Benny were already up, a bounty of delicious looking breakfast prepared in front of them. As I took a seat, Daring looked up at me, her mouth bulging with pancakes, and muttered something I couldn't understand through all that cake and syrup. She took a minute and swallowed before she repeated herself.

"Morning, Morning!" she said cheerfully. I could tell she was very happy to be eating breakfast. I doubt she had much food while she was locked up.

I smiled back at her. "Heh. Morning, Daring. I see we have quite a spread here." I commented looking at just how much food was laid out on the table. it was enough for at least five more of us, and perhaps five more after that. There were pancakes stacked in towers that seemed to sway with every step I took. Plates of eggs, hard boiled, fried, scrambled, sunny side up, Celestia style, you name it. Everything you could ever want for breakfast...it was on this table.

Looking over at Benny, I saw where all this food originated from. From a little pad on top of the counter, Benny was plucking all manner of breakfast food from thin air. Another one of his inventions hard at work. My stomach rumbling told me it was my turn to sit and help myself to the food.

I took a seat next to Daring as Benny brought over a plate of my favorite breakfast (Chocolate Chip Pancakes with mango iced tea and a grapefruit) and set it down in front of me. I helped myself, and found that the pancakes were very good.

But nothing compared to the way Heartland made them.

After we all had our fill, it was time to get down to business. Daring explained how Clover was being kept in a sea cave beneath the village. And she was able to pinpoint the location of the village on that map Soothy had drawn up. It wasn't too far from the tree house, but it was high up in the mountains, and was almost certainly guarded (Even more now that Daring had escaped).

We needed to come up with a plan to sneak in undetected. But we would need a layout of the whole village to do that.

Daring scratched her head. "Well, I mean it was pretty dark last night, and with that storm I couldn't really see anything around me. All I know is they have a huge temple behind the village, and a set of cages above it, where they probably keep tourists or something." she explained.

Wait....a set of cages above the temple? Was Daring saying that she was locked in the very same cages used to offer sacrifices to Tezcatlipoca? No. That was impossible, they would be hundreds of centuries old, and I highly doubt they would be able to hold up well after so long. They probably just built up there in the same place as the previous ones.

But....that only raised another question. Why did they even need cages? If they were a peaceful village of tribal ponies living in the mountains, why on earth did they have sets of cages big enough to keep ponies in them??

I was beginning to think there was more to this village then we knew. Luckily, I would be getting the chance to finally investigate this place myself, and hopefully we would find a way to free Clover as well.

As we packed up our satchels for the trip, Daring explained what she had learned before she was locked up. She explained how the shaman had taken her into the temple of Tezcatlipoca, and they had used some strange magic to transport themselves into the sea caves where Clover was being kept. And that she had the Heart Of Oceana with her, which according to Daring, the villagers believed they could use to destroy Tezcatlipoca.

But reaching her wouldn't be easy. We both had ideas for how we could get to the caves.

"If its a sea cave, would we be able to swim there?" I asked.

"Nope." Daring said "The whole thing is sealed off. You can only get there with that weird magic the shaman used in the temple." she added, stuffing a bundle of maps into her satchel.

I thought for a moment. And then my eyes drifted to my cutie mark, which was still forever changed by my last adventure. Bright purple stars glowed dimly around it on my flank. Would I be able to use my magic to get us to the caves? I had yet to really see anything it couldn't do, and I suppose anything was worth a try at this point.

Daring followed my eyes and raised an eyebrow. "You getting an idea in that smart head of yours?" she asked slyly.

I looked at her with a sly grin. "I think I am."

---

After we were all packed, Benny gave us both a once over to see if we had everything we needed. "It'll do" he finally concluded after checking the contents of my canteen for a third time. Before he let us out the door, he gave us both a warning. "Be careful when you go into that temple, y'hear? That Celestia forsaken place destroyed my son's mind. It.....showed him such horrible things, please..."

He trailed off, but I put a hoof on his shoulder and smiled. "It's okay, Benny. We'll be fine."

"Yeah!" Daring assured him. "I go diving headlong into dangerous temples all the time. This'll be no different."

Benny seemed reassured by that. As we went out the door, Benny had once last thing to say to me. He took me aside and looked me in the eyes, a powerful feeling of determination behind them. "Stop him, Morning. Stop Simon, no matter what you have to do."

I looked at him. "But what if I can't save him?" I asked softly. "What if....you lose him for good this time?" Tears began to strain in my eyes, as I remembered that once upon a time, Simon really had been a good guy. Was there even any hope of saving him anymore?

A tear rolled down the old stallion's face. But he smiled. "It's alright. I lost my son the day we decided to go into that temple. Stop this madness. End it, any way you can. Promise me."

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and nodded. "I promise."

After one last hug, Benny let me join Daring outside, as he shut the door behind us.

The Voiceless Jungle, 8:14 am

The trip through the jungle wasn't as bad as I had originally thought. We had been walking for an hour, and had plenty of water, and even with the humidity there was a cool breeze from time to time. Following the map, we arrived at a large clearing surrounded by thick trees and tangled vines. We would need to head straight on then go up a slight incline to reach the mountainside. After that, well Daring could fly up, and I could find my own way up there. There had to be some way into the village after all.

"Hey Morning?" Daring asked as we made our way along the path, thick flat leaves blotted out patches of sun above us.

"Yes?"

"I've been meaning to ask you.....what kind of cutie mark is that?"

The question made me stop and turn to look at my flank. A cross of hearts, but with a cluster of glowing purple stars around it. They glowed dimly in the sun. Even now I had no real idea of what my cutie mark meant. Only that it symbolized I was meant for something more then just medicine, apparently. My mind flashed back to that night in Nawlans, when Nair appeared at my door and showed me her cutie mark. A cross of hearts, just like mine. But hers was more extravagant and regal looking.

What had it meant? How could somepony else have the same cutie mark as me? I never did find out. I would have to ask Nair directly, when I saw her again. And I knew that I would.

But the pink and purple stars around it? They were special. The Goddess had given them to me, which allowed me to perform magic. Not like that of unicorns though. It was stronger, seemed to do whatever I needed it to, when I needed it. All I had to do was think of the spell and it would happen. The Goddess had said many would see it as cheating.

I could clearly see why.

"Morning! Hey, you still in there?" Daring exclaimed bringing me back to earth. She was looking at me, wondering why I had spaced out on her.

"Oh! Sorry, I....was lost in thought for a moment." I apologized.

"When are you not?" Daring joked. "So? Tell me, already! What does that cutie mark mean?"

I didn't have time to explain the full story to her, so I simply told her the basic fact of it. "It lets me use magic. Much stronger magic then that of unicorns."

Daring's eyes went wide. "What!? You can do magic, and you're only now telling me this?"

"You only now just asked!" I explained.

"Good point. But still, how does a cutie mark let you use magic?"

"Long story."

"Okay, then how did you get it?"

"Longer story."

"....Is there anything you can tell me, that isn't a long story?" Daring asked, frustrated.

"If what you said about the temple is true, I might be able to use my magic to get us to those sea caves."

"Great! So nothing to worry about then?"

"Not for now at least." I said, thinking it wouldn't be nearly that simple. (Because it never is.)

The sun shined down through the tree tops, as we continued down the path. The sand beneath our hooves became rocky and more soil like as the mountain side loomed in front of us. We stopped and looked up, the top of the mountain was too high to see, but I could clearly make out the fume of smoke coming from a cliff below it. That was the village. And that was where we needed to go.

"Alright." Daring said, taking a look up at the cliff. "How are we gonna do this?"

"Well, you have wings so this should be easy for you. As for me, I don't have time to go marching around this whole mountain looking for a rope bridge or some other way into the village. But, I have an idea." I pulled out a grappling hook and showed it to Daring. "All you have to do, is fly up and hook this around a sturdy rock formation, or a subtle indentation in the cliff side. Once it's secured, then I can just climb up." I explained.

Daring took the grappling hook and examined it, then looked at me, then the cliff side then back at me. I waited for her response, but she just laughed and shook her head. "Yeeah, we could do it that way. Or..."

Then, at much faster speeds then I had thought, Daring stuffed the hook into her satchel, flew over, picked me up by the hooves and we soared at breakneck speeds up the mountainside till we landed on the cliff above, just outside the large wooden log fence to the village. As we touched down, I took a minute to catch my breath, and wait for my legs to stop shaking.

When they finally did, Daring came over and slapped me on the back. "You're smart Morning. But there is such a thing as thinking things through too much" She joked.

I wasn't mad at her. But I doubt I would ever have my guard down around her again. Of course, she did have a point as well. I do have a tendency to overthink things sometimes. But I suppose with Daring Do, she just loves the thrill of the unexpected. (Still, a warning next time wouldv'e been great. Just saying.)

The Oloya Village, 9:25 am

Together we made our way to the entrance of the village. There was one pony standing guard, but he had apparently gotten up rather early today, as he was clearly very tired. This made it easy to sneak past him as he let out a big yawn.

Now inside, I could see the village for myself. It was a quaint, peaceful place, with several huts and tribal looking totems set up that added to the overall tranquil, rural culture of the place. But the serenity of the scene was knocked aside by the huge, foreboding temple that could be seen carved into the mountainside behind the village. It was out of place in such a peaceful village, almost like it appeared of it's own accord. I couldn't imagine why these villagers would build such an ugly, evil looking eye-sore behind their village.

Hopefully that was one more thing I would find out soon. Because if what Daring said was true, then that temple was our only way to get to Clover's sea cave. And luckily, we wouldn't need to go to far into the place itself.

We quickly ducked behind some tall weeds, as a passing patrol of ponies clad in yellow robes marched passed us, spears drawn. At first I wondered if they knew there were intruders, but it seemed more likely they were still on high alert after Daring's escape last night.

When the patrol had passed we made our way quickly through the reeds and followed a rocky path behind a nearby hut. The temple entrance wasn't too far now. We peeked around the corner and saw two fillies playing some game with two sticks and a strange stone ball. They laughed as one kicked it hard across the village, where the two fillies then gave chase, and allowed us to make our move for the temple stairs.

"Daring?" a voice behind us made us freeze in our tracks. Turning around I saw it was a young mare with a white coat and pink mane, draped in bright yellow robes. From the look on her face, she seemed happy to see Daring. "You're alright!" she exclaimed, moving for a hug, but Daring took a step back.

"Whoa there! I don't know how stupid you think I am, but after that little stunt you're chief pulled, I'm never letting another one of you guys within neck-stabbing distance of me again!" she said angrily narrowing her eyes at the mare.

The mare looked crestfallen. "I'm sorry about what happened, Daring. Truly I am. Our chief was just trying to protect the village!"

"Protect the village!? He stabbed me in the neck with a poison dart! Plus, I'm pretty sure he also told me he would rather see the world burn then let Clover go free!" Daring spat back.

"You don't understand. Clover's magic is the lifeblood of this village!" The mare held up a chunk of blue, ice like crystal dangling from her neck on a necklace. It glowed brightly in the sun. "It's her magic that allows us to stay young for decades at a time. Her magic that lets us, transport ourselves in and out of the village at will. And it is her magic that protects our home from those who would do us harm. You have to see why our chief couldn't let you just take her." the mare explained sincerely.

Daring wasn't convinced, as she just narrowed her eyes further. I had no idea what had transpired between these two, but there was no time to be arguing like this. If Daring knew this mare, then maybe she could help us. We didn't have anything to lose at this point.

I stepped forward and gave the mare a polite smile. "Sorry to interrupt, but we could actually use your help." I said politely. "My name is Morning Meir, and despite what your village may think it needs, I have faith that you guys will be just fine without Clover." The mare looked down at her hooves, unsure of what to say. "Besides, the world needs her a lot more then any of us right now. If we don't get her out of that crystal, then it won't matter if your village is protected. The world would be doomed anyways." I explained seriously. From the mares eyes, I could tell she knew I was right.

I offered my hoof to her. "So? Will you help us, miss...?"

The mare thought for a moment. Then looked up at Daring, who just nodded, then back at me. Finally she smiled as she grasped my hoof. "Oracle." she said calmly. "My name is Oracle. It's an honor to meet you Miss Meir, I've heard so many stories about you!"

I chuckled to myself "We can go over the validity of those stories later. For now, we need to get to that temple." I explained pointing to the temple entrance.

Oracle nodded and asked us to follow her, and stay as close as we could to avoid suspicion. With Oracle as our guide, we managed to reach the temple and slip inside without anyone seeing us.

The Temple Of Tezcatlipoca, 9:45 am

We entered and I immediately felt a chill up my spine, as seemingly all warmth from the outside was pulled back in an instant. The only room we saw was a tall rotunda with a gigantic stone door that lead deeper into the the temple. On both sides of the door, two massive torches burned in their sconces on the wall. It seemed that the temple itself was sealed off with strong magic, and couldn't be opened by force due to the many chains that bound the stone door to the floor. Nopony was getting in there anytime soon.

At the center of the room, was a large stone circle in the floor and many odd runes were carved into the floors and walls. Light pulsed out from all of them, illuminating the dimly lit rotunda with a faint blue glow. Oracle led us to the large stone circle then turned to me. "This is the only way of reaching the sea caves. It uses very old, but very strong ancient magic that nopony is capable of doing on their own." She held up her necklace. "These crystals are the only way one can use this magic." she explained. Then she suddenly looked downtrodden. "Unfortunately, mine is nowhere near strong enough to activate the circle. Only our chief has the means of activating it." she said sadly.

"Pfft. So what? Morning can just use her magic to activate it!" Daring said confidently.

I, on the other hand, wasn't so confident. "Um, I'm not so sure my magic can actually do that, Daring. I mean this is ancient magic that's probably been lost for thousands of years. We have no idea how it works, or what we would even need to do to use it!"

"I do! I was there remember?" Daring scoffed. "All we have to do is stand on the circle, you use your cutie mark, and we're there. Easy!"

I knew it wouldn't be anywhere near easy. But I suppose we had come this far. I'd feel awfully stupid if we had to turn around now, just cause I didn't try. "All right. I'll see what I can do." I took a minute to calm myself then entered the circle, and closed my eyes, hearing Daring and Oracle's hoofsteps enter the circle with me.

I emptied my mind of all distractions. I focused on the circle we were standing it. Felt the magic pulsing within it, the heartbeat of Clover that gave life to this village. I pictured that magic meeting with mine, swirling and churning around us, sparking the electricity in the air. I felt my cutie mark suddenly go hot, as I could hear the circle activating beneath our hooves.

I opened my eyes at the last second, just as we vanished from the spot.

The circle was still inactive. Not even a spark. And yet we were still being transported.

Because of me. Because my magic made it happen. Not the circle. "Not bad for a first try." I thought, as the very next instant we were gone. The temple walls all washed away and the next thing we knew we were standing in the most brilliant sea caves I'd ever seen.

The Chamber Of Oceana

I could smell salt and hear rushing waves; a light chilly breeze ruffled my mane, as I looked out at a moonlit sea and a star-lit sky. Or at least a very good impression of it. The vast sea caves we found ourselves in were lit up by a massive blue crystal that stood in the center glowing brightly, bathing everything in blue light, and making the already blue sea, that rushed through the caves, even bluer. Small blue lights glowed on the black cave ceiling making up their own version of a night sky.

We were all taken in by the splendor and unspoken serenity of the place, but it did not stop us from noticing that there didn't seem to be any visible path to the small outcrop of rocks that the Clover resided on. The sea was the floor of the cave, with no footholds seen anywhere along the cave walls.

Daring let out a sigh. "I really don't want to have to this again. "She complained. "That water is so cold!"

I blinked. "Then...why don't you just fly?"

Daring look like she had suddenly been struck on the head. "I....wow. The first time I was here, I was just following that crazy shaman's path to the crystal. I hadn't even bothered to try to fly, cause I thought he knew the best way." Daring explained.

She unfurled her wings. "Now that I know he's a total nutjob-" she looked back at Oracle. "No offense, Oracle."

"None taken?" Oracle said, unsure if she should feel offended or not.

"This'll be a lot easier." With that Daring soared from the spot and landed next the huge blue crystal that was Clover. She waved to us from the cluster of rocks she stood upon. I waved back, though now I had to find a way over there myself.

Looking around the area, I searched for any sign of a hidden path to reach Clover. But after looking around the whole area, I saw that there was nothing save for a large pointed rock on the ground. And yet, something about it intrigued me. The placement of it was too precise. Too normal. Too....convenient.

On a whim, I decided to go over to the rock and examine it further. Upon closer inspection I saw that this rock was not a rock.

But a button.

I smiled to myself as I pressed it. At once, the cave began to shake as water began to churn and bubble. Something was rising up from the depths to the surface. A few moments later, a large stone bridge had broken through the surface and cleared the large gap between Clover and us.

Daring facehooofed. "Ah, What? There was a bridge here the whole time!?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

Me and Oracle crossed the bridge and joined Daring who seemed quite miffed about the bridge. But, she knew about it now at least. So that was something.

And now that we were here, I wasted no time in examining the huge blue crystal our friend Clover currently resided. It was a large pillar of blue, ice-like crystal with strange ripples of energy circulating through invisible veins along it's surface. From several books I had read on the subject, I recognized the crystal as Arcanichalcum; a very powerful magical element.

Within it, was the figure of Clover, unseen save for her silhouette, and holding a large odd looking sapphire. It was as if somepony had taken three diamond shaped sapphires and fused them together at the bottom, resulting in a shape like a three pronged, jagged blue diamond. Both it and Clover were frozen in the crystal, untouched by the outside world. As I looked at it more closely, I noticed a faint blue glow, pulsing slowly from within. Like a heartbeat. No....not like a heartbeat.

It was too distant between repetitions. It was more like.....Morse code. Was Clover trying to tell us something? I walked around the crystal and took a closer look. Each time the glow pulsed, it illuminated a specific part of the ground in front of the crystal. But upon looking at the ground, I didn't see anything there. So why was the light pointing to this particular spot?

Daring came over and looked at me looking at the spot and smiled. "Oh, I can see those wheels in your head turning!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Do you know what a phototennagram is?" I asked her, smiling back.

"Uhhh, I mean yeah! Totally! Absolutely." I waited for her to finish. "But why don't you tell us anyway so Oracle can understand." She said with a nervous chuckle.

I looked back at the crystal and began my explanation. "Simply put, it is a light based puzzle that involves a room that contains a light source and a number of mirrors, and requires the player to position the mirrors in a way so that the light will bounce off them in succession and hit a target." I said gesturing to the light on the ground, and to the smooth reflective surface of the water.

"Right, course!" Daring exclaimed. But then she looked around the room for a brief second. "But, Iv'e solved hundreds of puzzles like that before." Daring looked back at the crystal then to me. "How can you tell it's a puzzle? There aren't any mirrors." She asked, scratching her head.

Then it hit her. And she smiled. "Ohhh. I get it now."

"Umm....I don't?" Oracle said, just looking confused.

I went over to her and politely asked to borrow her necklace. She obliged, and I held it up to the light coming off the crystal. At once the whole thing lit up in my hoof and shined a narrow beam of light onto the water around us, causing the whole thing to glow so brightly we had to cover our eyes from it's intensity.

When we looked again, I saw that the light had bounced back from the water and now headed straight up to the set of crystalline stalactites that protruded from the ceiling. Bouncing around wildly for a moment, the light finally split off into several different beams that shined down onto the floor in front of us. With each pulse from the crystal, letters began to appear in the light. But they were scrambled up.

"Who I tert lal ebgnae? What the heck does that mean? That can't be right." Daring elaborated. "Try turning the crystal around, maybe."

I turned the crystal in my hoof, and suddenly the letters changed positions. The message was now clear for all to see:

To Where It All Began.

"To where it all began....." I repeated to myself, trying ascertain the meaning of Clover's secret message. What did she mean by where it all began? Was she talking about this whole case? No. Not even Clover The Clever was that clever....I think. No, this was referring to this insanity with Tezcatlipoca. If that was the case, she had to be talking about....

My eyes widened as it hit me. "The temple." I said out loud.

"The temple? Why there?" Daring asked.

"Because that's where this all started." I said softly. "Thousands of years ago, when Tezcatlipoca was first unleashed and now here, when Simon went in there with his father. Heard Tezcatlipoca speak to him. Drove him to all of this."

Oracle nodded. "It's true, that Tezcatlipoca did indeed have his origins in that temple. It's been sealed off for so many generations, ever since he was defeated by our ancestors. But, I don't understand. Why would Clover be asking you to go into that horrible place?" she asked, clearly concerned.

But I understood it perfectly. "Because,' I said simply. "That temple is where she hid the secret to releasing her."

The Temple Of Tezcatlipoca, Outer Chamber, 10:24 am

We stood there for a moment, gazing up at that massive stone door that been sealed up for thousands of years by chains, that surprisingly looked completely untarnished. Looking closer, I saw ancient runes carved into the sterling metal chains. Magic. Very strong binding magic, as well.

"So,' Daring said not looking away from the door, "Whose going in?"

I narrowed my eyes at the door. Even from here, I knew what awaited inside. "I am." I said simply.

"Whoa, Morning. I was just joking, obviously we're all going in together." Daring said looking over at me.

"No. It has to be me." I said, turning to her. "You guys have to stay back at the caves and guard Clover. Make sure nopony else gets to her. Understand?"

"I'm not letting you go headfirst into an evil temple without help! I'm coming with you." Daring demanded.

"It's fine, Daring." I assured her. "I've been in places like this before, and come out unscathed. I doubt Tezcatlipoca has anything on The Dark Ones." I said with a smile. "I can do this."

Daring looked at me for a moment, unsure of what to think. Finally she sighed and smiled confidently at me. "Ah, what I am worried about. You're the smartest pony in the world! If anypony can get through this place, no problem, it's you."

I nodded, ignoring the redness in my cheeks. "I'll be fine. Promise."

"Pfft. Course you will!" Daring gave me a hug and breaking the embrace said "If you get into trouble in there though, you do as much damage as you have to to get out. Knock down some walls or something."

"Will do." I assured her.

After another hug from Oracle, both her and Daring stepped aside as I closed my eyes and focused my magic on the door, picturing the ancient chains bound into the floor. Pictured it snaking up each chain, going to work on the runes. I felt my cutie mark grow hot as I focused harder.

I felt the ground beneath me rumble, heard Daring and Oracle take a step back in caution, along with the subtle sound of bending of metal. Then a loud snap, as the runes on the chains grew to be hot as fire, melting clean through the metal and causing them to snap apart. Then another, and another, till finally the entire room shook as the great stone door lifted up, letting out a rush of cold air as the torches were blown out and the room plunged into darkness, save for the sunlight coming in from the outside.

Peeking in, I saw a huge set of steps leading down into total darkness.

I looked back at Daring and Oracle and smiled. They smiled back and waved.

Taking another moment to calm myself, I took a breath and let it out as I walked forward through the huge stone doorway.

I looked back once more, but the great stone door slammed down behind me, leaving me alone in the darkness.