The Dark City

by awf

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Their midday meal saw them in the middle of a landscape so white that it was almost impossible to tell where the steep mountains ended and the sky began. There was a patch of deep cerulean directly above them, but other than that the horizon was blurred. Already Winter Shine was lying on her side, panting, and Rusty Bones had to remind the mare again.

"Winter Shine! Up on your hooves. You'll catch a cold that way!"

Her other academic friends already knew and remained standing, even though the Professor had his head bent low and Ember Clover was staring into the distance as his chest heaved.

"Don't worry, the worst is behind us. We actually have to descend a little before we get to the entrance. This is probably the highest point in our journey." Rusty looked at Gustaf, who shrugged, but didn't contradict her. She was most likely right, at least approximately. Her memory for maps was pretty good, after all. She had already unpacked her stove and her pot, and was collecting some clean snow to boil so she could replace what they had drunk. "Eat your oat bars, those who still have them. I'll pour some oatmeal, but I think we can make it to the entrance before dark, we'll cook more one we're there." With luck they would find a way inside, which would make them a lot warmer and more comfortable.

Unfortunately her proclamation made the unicorn mare whine in dismay: "I don't have any oat bars left!"

"I told you not to eat them all yesterday."

"But I was hungry!"

Rusty felt her ears flatten of their own accord as she prepared for an argument, but luckily Professor Curio stepped in: "Now, now, Winter Shine. I'll let you have half of my oat bar. You'll know to pack more the next time, and to ration them better."

That soothed the mare and she smiled once again. "Thanks, Professor!"

Rusty crunched her own treat while the ice was heating up. She was about to ask Gustaf to fly up and scout out their way, but Ember Clover was already standing beside the griffin and murmuring something too low for her to hear. She left them alone and instead took out her book of maps from her bags. It was organized well and it took her no time at all to find the correct page. She inspected the peaks marked on the paper, then looked around. The tallest one was just behind them and to the left, hard to spot even with her experienced eyes. The mare fished out a compass from her pack and noted the direction, more out of curiosity than as an actual measurement. Then she looked for mountains ahead of them and matched them up to the ones in the map. It wasn't as precise as a griffon or a pegasus could do from above, but it gave her a pretty good idea of their position. She could do really precise if she used the compass headings and a ruler, but she didn't need it at the moment. Assuming it was correct. The weather was clear, so it should be fine.

"Okay, if we're here, the entrance is there. That's about..." She measured the path approximately with the notched chain from the compass which she then laid next to the scale line. "Twenty, twenty-five miles. Four or five hours if the way is straight. Good."

Nopony was listening to her, but Rusty Bones was used to talking with herself. It was either that or go insane on her many, lonely journeys. Beside her the pot had melted completely and she could see the tiny bubbles forming in the water. A few more minutes for it to boil. Gustaf and Ember were still conversing, though the bird looked a little uncomfortable at whatever the topic was. On the other side Winter and Curio were poring over one of his books. Everything was in order and Rusty went back to watching the water boil. A couple more hours and they'd be at the ruin. Then- adventure! Her heart began to beat faster as she imagined walking slowly down dark corridors, abandoned for millennia. Who knew what kind of forgotten treasures they would find in that place!

The mare grinned to herself and rubbed her hooves together. Soon!

---

"There! I see something!" Ember Clover called out.

Rusty peered into the distance, but she couldn't make out anything in the white horizon. "What is it?"

"Dunno, looks like stone."

Gustaf lifted himself up on his hind paws and spread his wings to keep his balance. Rusty could see his pupils shrink as he focused on the distance. "I see it too," he confirmed. "Looks like a cave or something."

Ember pranced in place at having his observation validated. "Exactly! Cave entrance with gray stone! Come on, we're almost there!"

It was a relief for Rusty Bones. She had led them mostly through guesswork and had been debating internally whether to stop and estimate their position more precisely on the map, but now she didn't have to do any of that. There was only one significant feature for miles and miles around them and that was the entrance to her ancient ruin. It was marked on her maps in ink, but only because she had put it there herself based on the coordinates on her precious parchment.

"Okay, we'll take it slow. Ground can be treacherous this far north and we don't want to slide into a crack because we were rushing blindly ahead." She glanced over at the griffin, who was still standing up and staring at the thing. "How far, Gustaf?"

"About two miles, maybe two and a half."

"Good. That's thirty minutes, we can afford to take it slow. Since the ruin is entirely underground, it should be warmer once we get past the ice. We'll camp in there tonight."

Curio, Winter and Ember bent their heads together and began conversing excitedly. Rusty thought she heard 'door' and 'open', as well as something about 'runes' from the Professor, but she paid it no mind. One problem at a time. Despite her warning, she had a feeling they would rush and stare at the entrance, and forget to look where they placed their hooves.

"Alright, behind me, everypony. Gustaf, walk with me." She could rely on the tough old bird to keep his mind on the job, Rusty had no doubt of that. The ponies formed a line and she began walking once more, careful to keep to that distance-eating, measured pace she had practiced all her life. Her hooves itched to go faster as she imagined she saw the dark patch of the opening, but she exercised her discipline and kept both her speed and her eye on the ground in front of her.

No sense breaking a leg in the last couple of miles.

---

As promised they were at the cave entrance before long. The opening was completely black, even in the fading light, and Rusty was looking for torches in her backpack. She didn't technically need those, not with two unicorns around, but she liked to be prepared for anything.

"It looks like a natural cave, are we sure this is the entrance?" Curio asked.

"It's exactly where it was supposed to be."

He went on: "It's just that the bits of ancient legend I was able to find mention some kind of a door."

"Legend? Why didn't you tell me about it?"

The unicorn shrugged and gave her a half-embarrassed, half-apologetic smile. "I think it just slipped my mind in excitement. Anyway, it didn't matter until now."

Rusty shook her head, but accepted the explanation. She grabbed a torch and her box of matches and soon had a nice, friendly flame going. There was a holder sewn into her coat and she slid the bit of wood in with practiced ease. Curio looked at it, then shrugged to himself and concentrated. A spark from his horn leapt into the air and stopped above him. It emitted pure white light and shone into the entrance to reveal worked stone.

"Steps!" Winter Shine exclaimed first. "This is the place! Come on, everypony!"

She would have run inside if Rusty Bones hadn't stepped in her way and held out a hoof. "Easy! Me and Gustaf first, you three follow."

"Why?" the mare whined.

"We've done this sort of thing before. There may be traps, or some steps may be broken off. Or maybe there are patches of ice."

The academics seemed to agree, even if a little reluctantly, and they filed behind Rusty once more. She went ahead and Gustaf followed right on her hooves. The stairs were only wide enough for a single pony or griffin. A few dozen steps later they were surrounded by darkness, the entrance hidden behind a bend in the cave. Some natural light still filtered from above, but gradually the torch and Curio's spell were becoming their only means of penetrating the darkness. Rusty Bones kept her eyes wide open and her ears focused forward. She wasn't expecting to hear anything, but she could never know. A quick glance behind her revealed that Gustaf was also watching the darkness in front closely. His pupils had grown until they nearly filled his eyes, the yellow leaving nothing more than a thin, gold rim around the black. The sight made the mare chuckle a little.

"What?" he asked.

"You look as if you're on some hard drugs," she explained with a grin.

Gustaf barked a laugh of his own, but didn't comment. He probably knew how he looked in this dim light. They went on and Rusty saw where the staircase ended. It had been mostly complete, with only a few steps chipped off. The architecture had held up pretty well, considering its age, which boded well for the rest of the ruins.

"Flat bit up ahead. Eyes forward!"

They were already past the ice layer, as best Rusty could gauge. Her rough estimate was about fifty to eighty yards under the starting point. The air was noticeably warmer and she was considering shedding her topmost coat. The thought vanished when she reached the bottom of the stairs and her torchlight illuminated the way ahead.

Curio beat her to it and said: "The door..."

He and his two students rushed ahead despite her warning to wait. They were simply too excited and Rusty hung her head in dismay. "There might have been traps or holes or something," she muttered.

Gustaf just grunted and followed the trio, but he kept his eyes on the path, Rusty noted with approval. There was nothing else to do, so she hurried after them. The door was massive. It was easily nine yards tall and three wide. The frame, itself a yard thick, was smooth, dark stone, carved with intricate detail. The door itself was just two giant slabs of stone, apparently impenetrable.

"Okay, we can camp here while we figure this out."

"I'm on it," Curio announced. He had already shed his bags and was rummaging for books. "There was some cryptic puzzle in that old legend. At the time it didn't make sense, but I think once we examine these carvings we'll know what it means."

Winter Shine was already running a hoof on the stone frame, while Ember Clover had dug out a notepad and was jotting down observations. They seemed to have everything well in hoof, so Rusty Bones shrugged off her baggage, then removed her coat as well. It was still chilly, but not too bad. They could live there quite comfortably in nothing more than their fur, she gauged.

She set up her stove and looked at Gustaf, who was also unpacking nearby. "Tea? This bit is up to them and all we do is wait." If she had to, Rusty had no doubt she could figure out the door herself, but she had dragged the university ponies along so she might as well let them try first.

"Sounds good. I'd offer you jerky, but I don't think you want any. Salt pebble?"

"Thanks."

They settled down and Rusty poured what was left of her canteen in the pot. There was plenty of fresh ice up above, but she didn't want to leave the three ponies alone in that place. They could replenish later.

"Do you want to set up tents?"

She glanced around, then shook her head. "No need. It's warm enough for just sleeping bags, and I don't expect rain or wind here." They both shared a chuckle at that. "Oh, I'll snuff out the torch. Between the Professor's light and the stove it should be plenty."

Gustaf gave a nod and she did so. The cave became slightly darker, but her eyes soon adapted. She sat on her haunches beside the pot while she waited for the water to boil, and the griffin came to sit with her.

"How long do you think they'll need?" he asked.

"Well, I could probably get in there in, let's say two or three hours. There's three of them and they're a lot smarter than I am, so maybe an hour? Curio said he has some old legend which mentions the door, so maybe even sooner than that."

Gustaf gave a nod, then went back to looking at what the academics were doing. "What happens if we can't get in there?"

Rusty shrugged. "We take these back and I find some better scholar ponies."

Both of them grinned at that, but then Curio called out: "I heard that!"

"Sorry!"

"You won't find anypony better, by the way. We're it. Now let's see here."

Luckily he was soon lost in his book and the mystery of the gate, and quickly forgot Rusty's hasty remark, much to the mare's relief. She dropped a tea bag into the boiling water and turned the stove off. They were left only with Curio's light, but that was still enough. "Give it five minutes to steep," she instructed.

"Sure."

---

Ember Clover was the first of the university ponies to give up on the ancient door. He came over to Rusty Bones and Gustaf and sat on his haunches near the griffin. "Looks like it might take a bit," he reported. "The Professor has this, like, ancient riddle for the door, but we can't make heads nor tails about it."

"What is it?" Rusty asked, intrigued.

The stallion looked at the dark cavern ceiling and scrunched up his muzzle in thought. "Let me see how it goes," he said and recited: "Light and Dark, Day and Night; In the heart of the Sun there is the Moon; place yourself in the middle and reach out your hoof in greeting. The Darkness will part for you and the way to its inner Light will be revealed." His careful inflection made the capital letters plainly apparent and the three considered the puzzle.

"Sounds straightforward enough. Are there any symbols for day or night, or darkness or such?"

Ember shook his head. "We looked. That was the first thing Professor Curio said. We figured they were markers to tell us where to stand, which would presumably show us where to press with a hoof. That 'darkness will part' is obviously the door opening."

"Obviously."

Gustaf looked particularly interested and gripped his beak with a claw in thought. "How about sun and moon? Those sometimes mean day and night, no?"

"You mean like Celestia and Luna?" Rusty pointed out.

"Now that you mention it, yes," the bird agreed. "Well?"

Once again Ember Clover shook his head. "No, at least none that I've seen."

Their tea was all but gone anyway, so Rusty drained the last few drops, put the pewter mug down and stood. "Let's go and see about this, then."

All three of them walked over to where Winter Shine and Curio Trinket were examining the door frame in minute detail. Several books lay scattered around them, all of them showing pages of old symbols. The pair hardly even glanced up when they noticed the newcomers, so engrossed were they in their study.

Rusty examined the door and something immediately stood out to her. "Why is there a torch stand only on one side?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at where she was pointing. There was indeed a metal bracket for a torch, but only on the left side of the door frame.

"Hold on, let me check something." She hurried back to where she had left her bags and dug out the parchment with the map. There was very little light now that her torch and stove were extinguished, so Rusty hurried back to examine the paper under Curio's magical glow. "See? There's a picture of a torch here at the entrance. I thought it was just a reminder that the ruins are dark and we'll need light, but now that I'm thinking about it, that's dumb. It's obvious we'd need torches."

The other ponies looked at one another in surprise, but Gustaf shrugged. "If it's just a lever, then-" he began and grabbed the metal hook with a claw. They all watched in silence as he pulled, but nothing happened.

"Light a torch and put it in, it could be magical," Curio said.

Rusty was doing exactly that and ran back to the bags to grab the torch she had dropped on the ground there. She reached in her bag to get matches, but then thought better of it. They had a couple of unicorns, after all. Indeed, as soon as she was near enough, the torch in her mouth burst into flames and the glow around Winter Shine's horn showed who had done it. She held it out to Gustaf, who smoothly took it and slid it into the metal frame. All five of them waited with bated breath. Rusty was just about to shrug and turn away when there came a deep, dull thud. The academics hurried away from the door and even Gustaf took a cautious step back. This was the exciting bit, Rusty thought to herself as she felt her heart speed up. The heavy slabs of stone were moving with a very faint grinding noise. The mechanism had to be particularly clever, or magically enchanted to still work after all these years. Soon both stones had swiveled away and revealed a black opening. Curio's light penetrated a short way inside and revealed a tall, straight corridor. Just as Rusty's map predicted!

Motes of light flew against the incredible darkness of the passage beyond, bits of dust disturbed by the intrusion of new air and reflecting the magical light. They stood in silence and listened, but of course there came no sound out of the cavern. This was the only opening and it had been closed for centuries, if not longer. Nothing was down there.

Nothing could be down there.

"Well," Curio said and cleared his throat. "We should pack up our things and go down."

"No," Rusty interjected. "First I go in and see if I can close the door. Then I try to open it from the other side. We don't want to lock ourselves in."

Gustaf nodded approvingly. "Good, yes. The door may close by itself after some time and we want to be sure we can open it from that side."

The academic ponies looked at one another, but the professor nodded. "Agreed. I'll go in with you. Winter Shine, create a light for outside. Give us fifteen minutes, then open the door if we hadn't done it ourselves by then."

It was agreed and Rusty and Curio walked into the dark opening. The light revealed more of the antechamber as they entered, but the walls were bare. Here and there Rusty could see metal hooks in the stone and guessed they must have been used, once, to hold tapestries or paintings. She looked back at her party in the natural cave outside the door. It felt a little like shutting herself into a tomb, but Rusty reminded herself they would open the door if she couldn't do it herself.

"Okay, let's see here," she murmured. "Professor, move the light over there."

As she had predicted, there was what looked like a stone plate in the floor a few paces to one side. Rusty went there and examined it. It looked like a button, but she didn't step on it yet. The first thing was to check the walls for holes, out of which poisonous darts might fly, or the ceiling for stone blocks which might fall. Her map didn't mention any traps at the entrance, but a mare could never be too careful.

"Okay, I'll press it down now." She stood off to one side and reached with a hoof, just in case. The stone plate was hard to move, but Rusty Bones was an earth pony and she applied more force. It suddenly sank down until it was flush with the floor and the grinding noise was back. The doors were closing! "See you in fifteen minutes if we can't open it from this side!"

She and Curio waited until the stone slabs were back in their original place, then they looked around.

"There. Lever. That was easy." Rusty Bones was pointing at a metal fixture on the wall near the pressure plate. It looked like a wooden rod was sticking out of the mechanism on the wall. She walked over and put her hoof on it. The ancient wood crumbled under the lightest of touches. "Whoops."

"Let me see," the Professor said and came to inspect it. There wasn't enough left to grip, but the stallion moved his light until it was shining in the hole and he hummed to himself. "Ah, the rest of it is metal, looks like. It's just the handle that's rotten. Let me try and move it." His horn glowed brightly and Curio poked his tongue out in concentration. After a few seconds there was a click and the now-familiar grinding noise.

"Good work. Can we put a new bit of wood in there? I want any of us to be able to open it."

Curio stared into the hole again, then shrugged. "Possibly one of our tent poles. We can grab it when we're done and heading out. It looks like one of the thicker ones might fit."

"Good." She waited until the door had opened enough to reveal the smiling faces of the rest of their party. "Everypony, pack up. We're going in. We have a way out if we need it!"