Beginnings
A chill ran down my spine as I looked into the ruins of the night. It felt great! The stars were amazing and the temperature was mildly cold. The trees took much of the light away and made it look more scary, but there was just enough light to see where you were stepping. It also makes me think about when the next time I will be going on one of our adventures as Freezing Vitals, my partner, calls them. As I proposed the thought to my mind, I looked over to my partner who wore an enthusiastic look like my own. She had a bright pink coat and a curled back light blue mane in the best way to look good while still being practical. Her green eyes only complimented her. Her appearance made me smile as I looked forward on the path that only we were making in the darkness. To my surprise, something of interest was in the shrubbery.
As we neared closer and closer to the object, I constructed a summary of my thoughts. I thought about what had compelled me to take the occupation of ruin exploring. It was a variety of things of course. It always was. I can't really pinpoint what led me to the joy of exploring ruins, but I would be lying if I said it was safe. However, the discovery of the treasures we have found is amazing, but it is not the riches that I want. Oh no, riches are only a plus to the job. Ancient scrolls are what interest me the most and the adventure is the thrill. The lore of what dwells in the past is endless! Once, I found a scroll that contained a spell great for utilizing strength, stamina, and pain resistance if you were in a tight situation. It's a part of every combat unicorns prerequisite in the Equestrian Military now and is my personal favorite spell. Being productive makes ponies feel good indeed I thought as I smiled.
Maybe one day I will pursue my other dreams but for now this one is my priority and I'm not even mad about that. Enough of day dreaming and reflection and time for the task at hoof. Looking at the entrance up close, it appeared as a stone like pyramid with half of it destroyed. It was gigantic yet didn't pierce the tree line. “Spooky” I say as I look over the damp stone floors of the opening. I jokingly jab at Freezing and say “Here goes to another adventure!”
Freezing chuckles and adds “Here's to hoping we don't almost die like we did our last time ehh Cryptic?”
I chuckled with her and lightly pushed against her. “Those times were funny alright but I have faith in us surprisingly.”
Activating a light spell, I start to trot into the ruins with Freezing behind me ever so quietly with swords at hoof or in levitation as it was given I was a unicorn. Already having checked for traps at the beginning of the ruins, we gear lightly to escape one if needed. Grapple hooks check, swords, check, food, check, water, check, breaching materials, check. I added the explosives after being trapped in a cave once. In summary, much could be avoided with explosions I thought to myself chuckling silently at my joke.. Breathing in, I calm my self of the thoughts and look to Freezing comfortingly which she does not notice.
All the talk of us during every close death scenario kept me thinking about the time I almost died from a deep chest wound that startled the very bones in my body and shook me towards the ground ever so slowly. It was as if the ground its self was claiming me. She was there for me when I needed her and patched the wounds up as soon as I came close to her. She is the best medic I could have! I didn't doubt her capabilities either. Someone with a cutie mark of a Red Cross, even if frozen within an ice-cube, ought to know how to soothe wounds. My assumption proved correct and we actually became partners during that time only drawn closer by the deaths of our friends. We were no strangers to death for sure, yet every time it startled me as it should. I really hope she doesn't die. While that is jinxing it, I think of this every other time we explore yet she survives and she has for the last four years. Maybe it is my special talent I thought as I looked to my cutie mark which was a simple key buried into the grey fur of my flank.
Narrowing a corner careful not to lose my situational awareness, I realize there are not many traps and it is very damp in here compared to the outside. No traps make it easier for me I thought as I smiled. My mind strayed and I thought even more about my occupation. I'm glad we are not as popular as the Daring Do writer. It would seriously be a hassle to move around in cities. I understand she has a disguise but that's just too much work to upkeep just to stay in a peaceful state of mind. I know her personally and that is enough evidence for me to validate her experiences. Since our profession won't exist forever and we won't stay in our prime forever, we have back up careers once we finish satiating the thirst for adventure. The amount of mystery just me and Freezing have uncovered could create entire history books back home and it has. I recall that it had made at least one history book. I don't really pay attention to the unorganized information as I bring it to others for them to organize. On the list of ruin explorers I would think we are top ten. Though, I'm not sure how many ruin explorers there are, I'm sure that we are good.
Laughing at my mind antics, I notice that there are carvings of an unknown language on the stone ceilings starting from this point. “Do you know what this means Freezing?” I asked her as if she had one ounce of knowledge on the subject as I took a note pad out to copy the letters for later deciphering.
If any one of us knew about it, it would be her. “No, not really” she replied.
“Cryptic, did you hear that?” Freezing asked me in a concerned voice.
“No, why? What did you hear?” I said as I turned to her with a worried look to which she gave me a confused one.
“I swear I, never mind. I think my mind is playing tricks on me again. Whenever we go for long periods of time in mundane environments it does” Freezing then brushed the look off as exactly what she thought it was and proceeded. I soon brushed it off as something weird as well and continued but I remembered.
Who ever built this didn't take the time to protect it and definitely didn’t decorate it. Maybe there's nothing here or it has already been explored. It seems there are an endless amount of just straight hallways with the writing mundanely appearing as a repetition it had appearing for the last ten minutes. There is not a single difference for every few hundred meters and it's starting to worry me. How deep do these tunnel like hallways go? After another hundred meters or so, dungeon like cells started appearing on both sides of the walls becoming the walls themselves. They were empty and the bars had rust on them damaged by years of damp summers. “Hmm, cells huh? I wonder what this means.” I stated for no direct reason other than to narrate. Nothing, I'm beginning to think this adventure is just a dud and there's nothing here. Though, the prison cells do interest me into venturing further to the end of the endless hallway.
A room was at the end of this massive hallway with a sign that was next to an iron door Implanted into the wall. Indecipherable mess that I will copy again I though as I wrote it. “It's about time don't ya think?” I whispered to Freezing who didn't reply back. Slowly opening the door, a desk appeared in the back of the small room, but with two statues that wore black metal armor of some kind that were symmetrically behind the office desk on each side. They held ornament like swords that were ancient yet there was no rust present portraying time moving. The door must have protected from the humidity. I'm not looking forward to this if this is a trap.
Looking back to Freezing, I trotted up to the office desk with anticipation pulsing in each step. The desk was a dull grey metal of some type and the walls were cold damp stone mimicking every other wall in this ancient mystery. Freezing did not come into the room but instead chose to watch me from the door. It was smart because of the old close the door behind you trap is very common.
Nearing the desk, I opened the middle part half expecting a trap to go off in my face but I readied myself for such a situation to occur. As soon as I opened it, a muffled voice came from the hallway so I looked back. Confused, I asked Freezing about it “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” She replied. Really? Again, I brushed it off as my mind playing tricks on the dull surroundings just like it did to her in the past.
In the desk, there were scrolls in some weird language somehow unaffected by time. I put them in my satchel and turned to see the statues. They were still metal statues. Turning to leave, a loud clank behind me alerted me something had just started moving. The door soon tries to close behind me and Freezing catches it as I make a dash for the exit. Fortunately, I escaped the room with the door closing behind me. Instead of some giant trap going off right after that one, nothing happened. The hallway was as still and quiet as before we had barged in.
Staying still for a few more moments, nothing happens. “I suppose this is the part where we walk out now, right?” She said in a comical manner.
“That would make sense.” I replied remembering how similar we were in the fact that we can state some pretty useless information at times.
Stepping away from the door did not set off anything, but as we were almost out of sight from the door, it slammed open which made is turn to see. The two statues walked out of the room in an almost threatening manner. Knowing that this did not make sense, I looked to Freezing who also looked to me for an answer that was not there. As we faced them again, they ran towards us as if to stop us from leaving. With the fight or flight decision, we both decided flight would be our best option and ran for the exit that was not even in sight. The loud beat of our hoof-steps were clear as we scurried along.
After a few minutes of running, the prison cells were now replaced with stone walls and the statues were no where in sight as they were very slow. Knowing they could catch up, we hurried through the hallway back to the entrance and hopefully out of here. The run made me think that this was too easy. However, the unrecognizable language also compelled me to escape further to find someone who can translate it just like I thought earlier.
After what seemed like the amount of time it would take to run out of this place, we meet with the same monotonous prison cells from before as opposed to the cold stone walls. The suits of armor emerged into sight from behind and I looked behind me to make sure Freezing wasn't in any trouble. Noticing Freezing was fine, I turned my head back towards the threat to see them. They don't show any change in speed from before or what they were doing, but the law of averages would make us clash if we couldn't leave soon. No sources of mana are detectable and it seems we are gonna have to think of something. I spoke too soon. As we narrowed the same corner we have been for the last twenty minutes, we see the office like room again. I realize the statues are dangerously close to us which also cornered us. My intuition tells me we have changing hallways present. I guess we mind as well clash now and not when burned from fatigue huh? Mentally preparing myself and hoping that maybe something we have can actually hurt the statues, I look to Freezing who had the same look I wore. “Oh buck.” We said in unison.
They go for the first strike with their antique swords silencing us from any further conversation. As I blocked hits thrown by the statues with my sword, I looked to Freezing making sure she was alright. Activating every combat spell I know, only the ones that give me benefits worked while the enemy seemed unaffected by any negative effects. Trying to block another blow only resulted in me forced to divert the enemy blade’s force into the ground. They were too strong for me to duel efficiently and it seemed they would not die by sword anyway. Damn it! Freezing had her own problem with the other statue and neared closer and closer to our fight. Reaching in my bag for the dynamite we owned for the required occasion I failed to block another blow resulting in a slash that did not penetrate my bone but certainly did half of my face, eye, chest and hoof. The resulting blood that sprayed out blinded my left eye which would probably be blind for life now. The adrenaline, which if some of it wasn't there was definitely all present now, helped me in confronting the hopeless situation.
Grabbing the dynamite with bloody hooves, Freezing bumps into me pushing me to the side knocking the dynamite out of my hoof and subjecting her to two enemies. She then cursed herself for awareness and blocked another hit by her first enemy. Terrifyingly, my opponent now targeted Freezing and she didn't expect it. Getting to my hoofs, there was nothing I could do to stop the swing from entering her neck. Gasping, I stumble a bit not sure what to do now. As the blade went through effortlessly and smashed into the ground. Freezing’s head soon followed it to the ground sliding off at an angle cartoonishly. Her body fell towards me splashing me with some of her blood creating a duo combined withy blood on my coat. I almost stopped right there and forgot about the two statues when one took the dynamite on the floor and passed it in one of the cells where I couldn't reach it. Almost shaken to the ground from the sight, I wiped off more of the blood that my eye had accumulated along with the sweat and tears.
Parrying move after move again and again, I try every combat spell I know repeatedly in some blind hope it will work somehow. Anger coursed through me but I knew it would not help me so I quickly abandoned it and used my adrenaline as fuel. I threw spell after spell at them. Not even the highest tier explosion spell I knew did anything to slow them. Wiping blood, sweat, and tears again from my face, the bleeding had stopped even though it should still be bleeding profusely. Eventually, I opened my eyes widening them more so once I realized I could see out of my left eye. You could even say the damned eye was numb. The sense confused me for a second and the statues took advantage of this.
I blocked but they knocked me to the floor with the sheer amount of force they possessed. Being pressed against the floor by their blades, my blade became closer and closer to my neck delaying the inevitable. In some fruitless attempt I kicked them with the strength I could muster but they were immovable. The hint of red was in my left eye and the blur of tears was in the other. My hooves were bruising from the failed attempts to kick them off. To get out of their hold, I slipped out from under them sacrificing the blade and the bag because it couldn't fit through the small space required to escape.
Immediately after slipping through I realized I'm on the side opposite of the room and that they were in front of my items. After making distance with my items in levitation, many ponies that had a ghost blue aurora were in the cells that were before unoccupied. After rubbing my eyes, I figured out that my miracle eye, as much as I did not view it that way, was the only eye that could see them. All of their faces bore pain and not many looked capable of even speech. Looking to every one of them, I could now hear their cries of pain and understood why this place messed with our minds. Looking behind me which was opposite of the room and where the statue like guards were, instead of one straight hallway, two hallways split confusing me greatly.
Looking down to my scars, they glowed a dark red as if the blood was tainted, bioluminescent, or even healing with some sort of magic but I highly doubted that. Turning around to see how far the guards had catched up, they were only twenty meters away. Quickly back pedaling, I turned around again to sprint full speed and listened to the ghosts as they screamed. Oh Celestia forbid the horrid screaming! Blinking both eyes to see which one of the paths is different, I see the path that only appears in my left eye and observed it. It led to a stone wall using my right eye. Slowing down to tap it, my hoof goes right through it. With this new-found fact, I galloped through it and follow the paths repeatedly blinking my right eye to cover it and make sure which path was the right one as they intercepted every once in a while.
After what seemed like an endless amount of reflection and partly breaking down, the entrance emerges into view and a heavy weight lifts off my shoulders. Looking back I realized exactly how the statues could get to us so much faster than they moved and that this was the worst maze I've ever experienced. Exiting the memory that would be hell for me to remember later, I wiped a few more tears off and started finding a place that was safer than here. When the entrance was barely visible, I looked back to it to get a last good look. I had to pay respects in the least way I could by facing it. It hurt to look at and remember what had just happened so fast. Blinking repeatedly to fruitlessly clear my vision and panting with a burning chest, nothing was there. Knowing this, I started walking to the closest settlement rustling the leaves and shaking every time I stepped.
As my body realized it was no longer in fight or flight, I calmed down and the fatigue began to set in. Expecting the pain to set in, I braced for it but it never came. The most pain I experienced was the fatigue and the occasional tripping over roots which wasn't really that bad. Not even the hoof that had a flesh wound hurt. The burning sensation related with it was not present as I continued to stare at it. I looked to my grey coat covered in the blood of two forcing me to tear up every few minutes just remembering who the blood belonged to.
Nearing the clearest pond after another hour in this wretched place, I sat at the edge of the shore and looked into the water. My reflection stared back at me as if to remind me how messy and sad I was. My dark blue mane was a complete mess with blood in it. My left eye no longer held the pigmentation of the Sapphire blue it used to have. Now it was lifeless as if belonging to a blind person tainted with a dull grey yet I could still see with it. How?
I'm thirsty. After cleaning the water in the pond with a fire, I drank it valuing the necessity yet still feelt like shit. Wiping off more sweat and tears, I observed my wounds again. While still covered in blood, they were numb and nothing bled from them even though there was no scab present to stop the bleeding. The same result occurred last time I eyed the freaky wounds. Very confused, emotionally disturbed, and tired, I gave up on traveling for the night and sat next to a tree nearby. Looking towards the stars, the crickets chirped one of their lullabies to soothe me as I dreadfully went to sleep.