The Legend of Cozy Glow

by kleia

There It Is! I'll Head That Way! [ DC 10 Success ]

With a careful eye and careful aim, Sprout recalibrates the telescope and focuses in on the mountain range. Wait! What was that? Something shiny on the horizon caught Sprout's eye. He shifted back to the shiny glints on and could make out a large, looming castle. From what he could see below it, an entire city, as ancient as the one he was in, stood beneath it. That castle he could see in the distance matched what was on his sketched copy of the map. That had to have been it.

In quiet reverence, he nods to the castle he stands in, as a form of thanks for having a telescope remain. Sprout retreats down the stairwell, and out of the castle, finding his way to a train station, and what remains of the tracks. Canterlot was due north of here. He'd just follow the tracks. Easy right?

---

More days passed and finally, Sprout found himself at the gate of the walled city of Canterlot. He suspected this is where the royal guard would guard the city from, at least, this was one spot. The gate itself was long corroded and fallen down. Sprout carefully stepped over what remained of the gate and ventured into the city. A renegade donut shop, a boutique that had similar fashion to the shop in ancient Ponyville. So much to explore, it was overwhelming.

But then he saw it. In all of it's majesty, their stood a royal palace, it's shadow long cast over the rest of the city. Sprout carefully made his way past the second rotting gate, and through the courtyard where wooden doors had long been collapsed. Hesitantly, Sprout stepped inside, his hoofstep echoing off the stone walls and tile. Before him was a throne, atop it was a 6 pointed star. Curious.

Sprout continued his journey into the castle, where he finally found the palace library, after much searching. This place was huge! But he wasn't here to explore. He was here to learn chess and gosh darnit he'd learn it!!

The library was dustier than the one section back home, Sprout being careful where he stepped so as not to trigger a dust storm. Sprout explored and explored when finally, he spotted a small statue of a rook. He knew this part. Sprout carefully twisted it in place, a locking apparatus clicking behind it. A single tile on the wall slid out of place, revealing a piece of parchment older than Sprout.

He very carefully picked it up ad unraveled it, reading it's contents.

"Golly! You've made it this far! I'm so proud of you! Now go to the castle gardens and find my statue. I'll be with two others, creatures you may or may not recognize. Bring the Rook. It will set me free."

Sprout carefully bagged the parchment and, with a bit of a struggle, pulled the rook from it's stand, placing it in his bag too. Quitely, he stepped out of the library and explored more until he found a severely overgrown royal garden. There were many statues, most of which were overgrown. Many were non pony creatures he didn't recognize.

Wait... the original line from the book was "stone prison". We're these all creatures that once lived? Something in Sprout's mind whirled about. Were these prisoners? But how? Was it magic? Were they turned to stone against their will? So many were in poses of peril. Just what kind of garden was this?!

Sprout shook the thoughts from his mind. He had to learn chess. He wanted to crush his enemies! Sprout continued on through the garden, spotting a statue that was less overgrown. On it was a tiny pegasus, a skinny dreadful creature, and another creature in an attack position. Cozy Glow was the only one that was recognizable.

Sprout re-read the ancient parchment and took out the small rook statue, being careful with both items. The rook would set her free? Sprout investigated the statue.

[INVESTIGATION CHECK - Now Where Does This Rook Go?]
DC: 12
Bonuses: +0

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