Equiterian Ruins

[Red Charge]

Hind Sight was scanning through the Bog, eyes squinting every now and then for any landmark he could find. He looked to his map, which he transcribed from directions he had located in the Northern Barrens, as his pet research project was to find out as much as possible about the fate of the Equiterian Empire.

The Equiterian Empire mysteriously vanished around the time Equestria was formed without an explanation. Hind Sight knew that finding out why would make him more than just famous. Besides earning his doctorate he would also become the chief authority on Equiterian Excavations. This would of course, mean lengthy expeditions all over the world, a dream he always sought to fulfill. With finding out that there was an outpost here, in Equestria, unknown to all but him and the small team he drafted up, was a streak of unimaginable luck.

The directions had pointed him to Froggy Bottom Bog, it was not listed as such in the Equiterian directions, but as it is in the same geographical position of the marsh the directions mention, it is only a logical conclusion. Especially since all the landmarks mentioned were present in the bog.

Hind Sight had gathered quite the team for this excavation, two unicorns he was not familiar with, really, a pegasus he was told is a member of the elite 'Stars' unit, and another unicorn who seemed to have some familiarity with the Bog. Of course, Hind Sight could not forget his newly acquired pegasus assistant, Stardust.

They were now in the thick part of the bog, little light came in through the thick vegetation around them, a perfect place to hide a secret base of operations. Ironically enough had they straight off course to the east, they'd eventually reach the magical barriers protecting the secrecy of the Cult of Eclipse's Headquarters. But their path took them to the far west of it. And wouldn't you know it, they haven't even encountered any monsters.

If the expedition continued as it was, it would be a great success!

[tunnelnexus]

The gray unicorn mare called Nexus trotted along with the other ponies through the dark, damp bog. Despite the low level of light beneath the canopy, she kept her sunglasses on; the little extra difficulty in making out fine details was acceptable. Tunnel made sure that she was at the leftmost wing of the group, keeping a watch out for suspicious or dangerous signs. After all, calm early on in an expedition was never a good sign. Or it could be, you never know.

Being prepared never hurt anypony, though, so Tunnel had packed appropriately; in her compacted saddlebags she carried her crowbar, several climbing pitons, three lengths of rope, emergency rations, and some other equipment that was distributed between her and the other partners in their new exploration group.

"How are you guys holding up?" asked Nexus. The quiet around her was starting to get annoying. It was eased, though, by the sense of optimism that she couldn't help but feel as part of a team. Maybe this wouldn't go so badly after all.

[Selenia]

Selenia's horn flashed a bright orange for a split second, crushing a fly that had been buzzing around her face for the better part of the hour. She originally wanted to watch the fly even try to land and take a bite of her, but the confounding thing refused to do anything but annoy her. After a while, she snapped inside and just ended up crushing the thing. She sighed, trudging her way through the bog with the rest of her team. The only pony she knew was Tunnel Nexus, they had met in Whitetail Wood, where a massive column of light had shot into the sky. The rest of the ponies, however, she had never met until this expedition, even their self-proclaimed leader, who called himself Hind Sight.

Selenia sighed. She had been specifically chosen for this 'mission' of sorts due to her experience, not with exploring ancient ruins or being a pony historian, though, she was smart enough to know that there were many ponies that were more accessible and better than her in those fields, which meant that this also was more complicated than a little bog exploration for some Equiterian ruins.

Selenia's ears perked up as she heard Nexus' voice pierce the stagnant air of the bog. It was a welcome distraction from Selenia's thoughts, and she could feel that everypony was getting tense as the traveled deeper into the bog. "I'm good. You?" She replied simply, without even turning to face Tunnel, only speaking as much as was necessary.

[clouddreamer]

Cloudy was so excited for this. She was exploring! Her, Cloud Dreamer, exploring! Oh, she had wanted to do this all life and now she was getting the chance. The great thing was she had been in the bog for more than a week now and had learned the area around the cult and the path from the entrance of the bog from Ponyville to the cult like her hoof. Also, she had swore to protect the cult and, if needed, make as many illusions from keeping them within ten feet of the magical barrier as possible.

A chameleon peaked out of Cloudy's bags. Yes, she had brought supplies. Four apples, a blanket, a rope, a knife, and a special pearl Watermark had given her. If crushed it would become a water shield. Tricky had come as well, the unicorn couldn't leave her little chameleon! She would get lonely. Cloudy hoped she had brought what she would need, she really didn't know the first thing about exploring. Yet the sucess at the ritual and the training she had been given gave her courage, courage she had never felt. Was this what it was to believe in yourself fully?

A farmiliar voice spoke. The blue unicorn turned her head towards another unicorn. Cloudy knew she was the one who she had tricked with the spike illusion at the ritual, she knew by the voice. Cloudy smiled to herself recalling that short victory of her own. "I'm good, quite excited for this expedition. I've always been interested by the lore of Equestria, you have no idea how happy I was when I found out I might be able to find some of it." She knew nopony, even those who were there at the ritual, would reconize her. None of the other side had seen or heard her. For now she was just a Ponyville citizen to them.

[Mortar Retort]

Mortar Retort was absolutely thrilled about this expedition into the Bog, and even more titillated by this rare opportunity to both snatch up local fauna, but perchance and discovering something quite unique and fascinating to bring back home. He absolutely adored curiosities, and when Hind Sight had spoken of these Ruins, he knew they were right up his alley. This bog itself was a treasure trove of supplies for the alchemist as well, without a team like this, he would never have had the opportunity to go in this deep and he was taking advantage of it.

As the party traversed, Retort kept a pair of plant shears at the ready to quickly snip a flower bud or an exotic leaf from its stem. He’d float it over to the plant, only taking a moment to identify it (he mostly was guessing in the low light, but if it looked promising, he kept it), then snapped it up and stuffed it quickly into little sacks inside a compartment in his three compartment saddlebags – two on the sides, one on the back nestled against the bedroll. Somehow, despite all these delightful foliage based distractions, he was keeping pace with the group. Falling back a yard, trotting on ahead another, and through this it kept an odd but steady pace.

But, why, a pony may ask would this distracted stallion be chosen for such an expedition? For science, of course! Ancient civilizations discovered the root origins of Alchemy and other sciences, which became lost or diluted by the passage of time. And Retort was one of the few alchemists in Canterlot willing to get his hooves dirty to discover alchemical truths. His heart danced with the thoughts of what they could find. He also packed a large and strange assortment of potions, to which he insisted would be beneficial to the expedition, as well as a few small bombs. Somehow they didn’t make too loud a noise as they sloshed and tapped against one another as he travelled. He also brought with him rations (including his brand name cider, for drinking and making potions on the fly), bedroll, charcoal and parchment to make rubbings, a journal and writing tools, hammer and chisel, compass, several books on alchemical lore and ancient civilizations, and of course his portable alchemical tools. Oh and his fez, no gentlepony would leave without one.

Retort snatched up another herb with his shears, floating the two back over to him along the make-shift path. ”This is exciting, isn’t it?” Retort mentioned off-hoof after Cloudy spoke and as he inspected this new herb. ”If anypony sees some more of this-“ Speaking about the herb encased in his horn’s telekinesis, ”Don’t eat it, terrible idea.” With that odd statement, he stuffs the stem and leaves into his saddlebag.

[Red Charge]

Horizon yawned, just his luck to get stuck with a bunch of butter brained unicorns. Though he couldn't help but sneak a glance at the Pegasus mare escorting Hind Sight occasionally. The suspended Star was certain this was bound to be a boring assignment. Investigating some old structure and finding out what was probably going to end up being a recipe for cooked swamp-weed.

Horizon didn't take any armor with him, considering his was still broken and he was definitely not going to be seen with training armor. Instead he took to wearing a leather tonic with some metal padding between layers. Basic, but effective in the long run. He was also wearing heavy leather boots on his hooves, reaching knee high, in case he had to walk in the muck. The pegasus also carried a small satchel with some healing lotions and another pack with some food. This expedition wasn't going to take more than a single day, so he did not see the need to bring any sleep over equipment.

"When are we getting there?" He asked boredly, sneaking another glance at Stardust.

"We should come across it any minute now..." Hind Sight said absent mindedly, as he suddenly pulled into a halt, looking transfixed as a what appeared to be a stone structure jutted right out from the swamp in a shrouded area ahead. He was not, however, looking at the ancient architecture, he was staring intently at two skeletal horses, covered in brass equiterian armor.

The skeletons remained completely stationary, as though statues. They were not likely to be animated, or they would have attacked already. Hind Sight felt relieved, "Just scare-aways, everypony." The unicorn reassured, "The Equiterians often left them around to make deserted outposts appear active. Don't worry, they will not harm you." He said confidently, approaching the skeleton duo.

The atmosphere was suddenly very apprehensive, and Horizon was not sure if the unicorn was about to be cut down in front of them. Just in case, he prepared to lunge forwards.

[clouddreamer]

Cloudy looked strangely at the pony who seemed obsessed with the plant. Why would she eat it in the first place? With four juicy apples in her pack she didn't need to eat mysterious plants. Who cares, just ignore that. As long as the pony seemed happy with the plant. Maybe he'd be useful.

That's when she saw it, what must have been the ruins. Unfortunatly, her excitement dissapeared when she saw the skeletons. Hind Sight immediatly addressed it, sounded sure of what he spoke, but the blue unicorn didn't know. Luckily she did have a weapon if needed, though it was a simple kitchen knife.

"Um, so do we just go in?" Cloudy asked unsure. "Should we arm ourselves for caution?" Tricky crawled out of the pack and rested on Cloudy's head. She saw the skeletons and immediatly burrowed into the mane she was on top of. Cloudy didn't notice. The blue unicorn didn't move from her spot behind the head of the expedition, just in case.

[Selenia]

Selenia's face contorted slightly in distaste and suspicion as the navy and purple pony spoke. She didn't like that Cloud Dreamer, not one bit. The way she looked, talked, her mannerisms even, subtle hints that she was hiding something. Normally Selenia would ignore that type of thing, but given what she had realized from her employer's more than curious choice of her for this mission, Selenia was intent on keeping her eyes open.

Selenia's nostrils flared, snorting out a small puff of glowing magic smoke. She was on edge, had been since they entered the forest.

She froze along with the rest of the group when they reached the clearing with the ruins and skeletal statues. They had been searching for a good while, but the large outcropping of this structure was less than hidden. It was a wonder that previous attemps to find anything Equiterian had failed to stumble upon this. The skeletons were also rather unnerving, for obvious reasons.

Selenia took a minute to get a closer look at one. No adhesive or metal bars to hold it together, which hinted that they were either amazingly balanced or something else was keeping them solid. She tapped her hoof on the armor, through all the scratches and carbonized scoring, it was still solid and would offer a good deal of protection. She used her magic to unclasp the bracers and levitated them in front of her face, examining their condition. The leather was fresh recently replaced, only the metal plates showed signs of wear.

Selenia fully undid the bracers and strapped them on her own legs. They fit and had a satisfying weight to them. She lifted one of her forehooves up to examine the armor again, and it made the characteristically solid noise of metal on metal plates. The skeleton still wore its matching bodyplates, tailplate, and helmet. She finished strapping on the bracers and turned to face The rest of the group. "Hey, you think anypony's gonna mind if I make good use of this armor?" She looked back at the motionless skeleton. "I know they won't."

[Mortar Retort]

”How delightful!” Muttered Retort as they came upon the two skeleton ponies standing vigilant guard against time before the Equiterian ruins they had sought within the confines of this near impenetrable bog. He trotted up to the one Selenia hadn’t taken a fancy too and begun to inspect it. The armor was quite fascinating, it’s craftsmanship and how it stood the test of time against the elements, he could almost claim that it perhaps was alchemy that kept the leather fresh and the brass clean. He was intrigued by these stalwart guards. ”Such craftsmanship. Hind Sight, you say this was routine of the Equiterians? Fascinating, just fascinating.” He drew forth his journal and pencil from his saddle bags and begun taking notes from his horn magic – sketching the guardians and making notes about their composition and design. ”I won’t fault you for it… Selenia, was it?” He replied back, though paying little attention otherwise, wrapped up in recording this find. And why should he fault another pony for the desecration of a corpse. It was his policy at his store to keep pony bodies in cold storage should they die due to accidents that may or may not have been a direct result of his potions and experiments. He had no right to morally object.

Once he finished scribbling his sketch, he turned to Hind Sight with inquisitive eyes. ”Before we enter though, perhaps you could enlighten us to anything we may expect inside. You’re most familiar with this culture. There’s no common traps or surprises we may face?” He asked, eying on the side of caution. ”Well aside from a nasty case of tetanus! Which reminds me!” He floated his journal and pencil back into his bags, then withdrew a small vial of some foul looking liquid. He uncorked it and drank it in earnest. The taste forced him to nicker and shake his head in disgust, then let out a satisfying sigh. ”Well one foreseeable problem solved. Alright, I’m not going to be the first, but let’s see what this tomb has to offer.”

[stardust]

Stardust remained ever silent at the back of the group. Since traveling from Cantorlot she had been very quiet once the knowledge of other ponies was brought up. Though she was comfortable with Hind Sight, it never really came to mind that she'd have to get used to anypony else but that didn't mean she was going to be completely anti-social. A slight scowl had over come her silver eyes as the group made their way through the bog, obviously not appreciating the fact that there was mud everywhere. The dark mare put up with it though, since she was very curious about the ruins.

She trotted with grace, careful not to splash mud on her blue satchels that were across her back. They carried a few sandwiches she had made in case somepony had gotten hungry during their trek. She also had a small dagger with her, one she kept during her travels in case anything happened. She was not very skilled with it, and she wouldn't dare harm any other pony, but she figured it'd be good to keep at least something. Keeping her head high she listened to the excited chatter of the other ponies, a smile forming to hear that they were just as excited as she was.

There was definitely many flowers and plants she had yet to see within the bog, which made her even more excited. Her ears pulled back slightly at the unicorn who preceded snipping the plants, but nodded anyway as he spoke. She knew that there was still more she didn't know about the plants here so she didn't mind a little sampling of them. Distracted by all the flora, she nearly bumped into the back of the group as they came to a stop at the ruins.

"Wow.." She quietly mouthed, eyes exploring the crumbling architecture. Her body flinched slightly in fright at the skeletons of the ponies, a bit entranced with them. Soundless she made her way around to get a better view of them, smiling a bit the pony who had retrieved the armor fitted around the statues for herself. It seemed like a good idea, considering how dangerous this whole thing might be.

[tunnelnexus]

"I'm not doing too badly. It's really quiet, though, almost boring," grouched the gray mare. She listened with only partial interest at Cloudy's prolonged reply.

Trudging along through the murky, clingy mud, Nexus listened to the others for want of anything interesting. The fez-wearing pony collecting the plants was a veritable fountain of entertainment, always cutting off little flowers here and there. It was rather distracting, but Tunnel's gaze did manage to wander about some more.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously when she thought she saw Horizon peeking at that pegasus mare that was Hind Sight's assistant. It wasn't like she'd never taken a few glances at stallions here and there, but Tunnel still couldn't help but be slightly annoyed by it.

Then the skeletons came into view. The gray mare's interest was immediately piqued; after all, skeleton ponies meant something was going to happen, right? Some excitement must be on the horizon. Nexus was about to get a closer look at the dead ponies when Selenia started to remove the armor from one of the sentinels. The gray unicorn frowned, a knot tying itself in her stomach.

"Eh... Are you sure it's a good idea to be taking stuff from these guys? I mean, that seems like the most obvious trap possible, or at least some kind of bad luck curse thing. I don't like it," said Tunnel, her voice betraying the unease she felt. "I guess we'll see, won't we? Anypony want the other set? If nopony else does, I guess I'll take it."

[Red Charge]

"Oh I wouldn't... too late." Hind Sight said with an awkward smile, as Selenia clasped the braces around her ankles. Immediately she felt the effects, extreme discomfort, stinging pain, an queasiness as boils began spreading on her from the bracers, to her hooves and her chest. In fact, discomfort was a huge understatement. It felt like the stings of many bees suddenly ran all across her.

"Yeah, these are not supposed to be worn by ponies, just skeletons. They make them especially for their skeleton armies..." The male unicorn chortled, quickly removing the bracers with his magic and tossing them aside. "They probably have an armory around with some armor for you. I made the same mistake when I first started researching too..." The unicorn laughed, using his horn magic to pull out a flask of lotion. "Here, put some of this down, it'll clear that up in no time."

Horizon observed this with a snicker, "Nice work Selenia, real professional." He mocked her lightly, "If you wanted armor you only had to ask. I'd have gotten you some guard armor, Smithy still owes me one anyway." At that, he followed Hind Sight into the impressive structure. More skeleton ponies were at the entrance hall, but also large suits of armor, interestingly enough, these suits were of ponies, but were bipedal, like Diamond Dogs. Probably for a greater height effect.

The floor was a mosaic portraying a golden, sharp sun, each ray of which resembled a blade. The symbol of the Equiterian Empire. There was only one hallway ahead of them, but it split up in a T junction up ahead. Hind Sight seemed un-intimidated in the least, having already scoured such ruins before. He urged Stardust to take note of the positioning of the skeletons and armor suits, sketch the mosaic and take note of Selenia's hexing blunder.

[Mortar Retort]

Retort immediately drew his attention to Selenia as the effects of the cursed armor took effect within her body. He trotted immediately over, not to assist, but to observe. He quickly begun taking more notes as he watched her blight became his learning opportunity. He jotted quick notes on the effect and the time it took to spread. He then drew out a sharp little tool from his bags with his teeth. ”Wouldinsh mindst if ah took’a shample?” He used his magic to slam his journal shut, with the pencil inside, then removed the tool from his mouth. It float in a rather unsettling close to Selenia and her new boils. ”Or, even better. If you’re rather done with those bracers I may be able to find something useful from them later – they’d also make a great party gag!” Retort inquired, his eyes bright with amusement and a sense of foal-like wonderment as they shifted between Selenia, the tossed aside bracers, and the tool wrapped in his magic. He so loved odd things like that armor and had full intention to not leave here without them.

Once that little ordeal was done and they moved inside, Retort continued taking notes despite Stardust’s call to do the same. He wished to keep his own records of this. He walked around the foyer, musing to himself over the architecture and especially the bipedal armor. The structure of which caught his attention. ”So, the Equiterian rearranged the bones to create abnormal monstrosities like this for their military? All ethics aside, that’s rather ‘neat’.” He finished the sketch and continued on, observing the intricate mosaic, before moving towards the hallway with the junction. He glanced to Hind Sight, ”You are most familiar with the Equiterian. Do you know if there was a standard Equiterian layout for these places? What may we expect from either going-"He pointed a hoof towards each path, "left or right?”

[clouddreamer]

Everypony ignored her. When she asked questions nopony did as much as bat an eye at her. It was as if she was invisible, not there at all. Cloudy felt a mixture of anger, embarrasment, and sadness. Anger for being ignored, embarrasment because maybe they ignored her for the reason that her questions were that stupid, and sadness because her excited spirit felt like it had been crushed. Just because she had never explored a place before didn't mean she wasn't willing to learn and help in anyway she could. This was her dream after all!

All these feelings dissapeared when one of the unicorns of the group was suddenly covered with boils. "Oh my!" Like another team member, she rushed over to the now boil-covered unicorn. Sure, the look of them made Cloudy feel sick, but she cared about everypony in her expedition group. Quickly she sorted through her pack with her magic, searching for some sort of a medical kit. Of course she had forgotten a medical kit. Stupid, stupid! The dark blue unicorn mentally face-hoofed.

Luckily, the leader of the expedition had something to help. Cloudy sighed in relief, knowing that her fellow team member would be alright. "I've never seen a spell like that before," Cloudy commented. "That being said, I don't see much magic on a daily basis other than telekenises." She giggled to herself. "These Equiterians didn't fool around. Um," The dark blue pony paused for a second, thinking. "Hind Sight was it? Did the Equiterians leave any other things to fool outsiders?" A pony could never be too safe, and after that Cloudy didn't want to fall into any traps.

The other skeletons didn't creep Cloudy out as much as first seeing them, as she wasn't shocked this time. It was the floor that impressed her. "Woah..." she said quietly, taking it all in. No something based off this ruins would be a great story. Cloudy paused to take the colors and shapes into memory then kept walking. The pony who had seemed obsessed with plants and more worried about preserving hexed armor than the pony who got stuck in it asked some questions and after he finished Cloudy asked a few more. "Do you know of any artifacts or objects that we should be looking for? Any room that you've been trying to find here?" Now was when the adventure truely began, and Cloudy was more than ready in her heart. Physically, she had no idea.

[Selenia]

Selenia's vision swam for a moment and she felt dizzy. She cinched her eyes shut and raised a hoof to her head in an attempt to clear it. "W-Well, if they're tailored to the bones of skeletons, why did they fit me perfectly?" She opened her eyes and shook her head before taking a look over herself with a discontented sigh. "Magical acne. It's always magical acne, isn't it?" She said in the most deadpan tone she could manage. She glared at Horizon, finding cheap amusement at her expense, but she decided not to hold a grudge. A split team would leave them in the wors possible situation should anything happen. "And I'll look into that later, Thanks Horizon." She offered what words she could at his mention of some special-made armor. Not like she would ever need it, but it would be quite the conversation piece sitting in the library when she got back.

Selenia gratefully accepted the small bottle from Hind Sight, and gave a friendly nod in return. Before she unstoppered it, the blue colt wearing a fez was holding a small and uncomfortably sharp instrument rather close to her flank. Selenia sidestepped a few inches away at his query for a 'sample'. "Ah, hehe.. I don't think that's a very good idea there... What was your name again?" Selenia felt stupid not knowing the names of all the ponies in the group, but better to ask late than never.

Now given ample space, she unstoppered the small flask with her magic and took out a blob of the lotion, spreading it over the affected areas and rubbing it in. Almost instantly, the boils disappeared. The lotion, however, remained. Selenia used her magic to take it off quickly and cleanly. "That's some good stuff there, Hind Sight." She levitated the bottle back over to him and dropped it in his saddlebags. Now that that was over, she could focus on the task at hand. She followed the rest of the group into the ruins, the sharp clicking sounds of all their hooves on the tile floor echoed through the main hall. Coupled with the other skeletons and pretty much everything else in there, plus how quiet it was, the atmosphere felt a bit heavy. Selenia looked up and around the ceiling, it was angled in such a way the the walls seemed like they were pressing down on her and the rest of the group. She caught herself clenching her teeth.

Selenia wasn't claustrophobic in the slightest, and this massive, vaulted-ceiling hall was the opposite of close quarters, but the ominous feeling was still there. As the rest of the group continued their banter, Selenia merely looked around quietly. Visually memorizing the defining features of the hall and the locations of the skeletons. She kept her mouth shut and her eyes open, things usually went well if she stayed that way.