Something Lost

      Deep within the dense forests of Roanoak there is a clearing that is situated far from any settlement or path, unknown to all. Within this secluded clearing sits the fluted marble columns and domed roof of a small marble temple.

   The temple is immaculate; the stone is polished to a fine shine and the delicate runes and symbols that decorate it are inset with gold. Otherwise though, the building is quite unassuming - a mere five meters across at most and perhaps seven meters tall. At its center, a modest fountain that bubbles quietly with cool, clear water.

   Above, the noonday sun shines down from a brilliant blue sky and strikes a glow from the marble of the temple. Wild birds twitter and sing in the trees all around the clearing and a light breeze whispers quietly as it plays through the branches and tall grass... There is a powerful sense of peace and harmony here.

   A bright flash of magic nearby shatters the serenity of this scene as a runic circle appears amidst the grass in a blaze of spellfire. And just as quickly Aurora, the Alicorn Empress of Roanoak, appears in the center of the spell...

   She settles her wings and steps purposely towards the temple, leaving her teleportation spell to dissipate and fade from view without a second glance. At her approach the runes carved into the temple begin to glow, and as she steps from the grass and onto polished marble a shimmering curtain of blue and purple light springs up around the structure.

   The Alicorn closes her eyes for a moment...

   And opens them again in the cool darkness of a stone cavern.

   Her horn ignites with a pale lavender glow and illuminates the darkness around her for some ten meters. She looks around for a moment in the thin light, taking stock of the smooth stone before uttering a quiet "Exactly as I left it..." She then nods to herself, satisfied, and then proceeds down a nearby tunnel that descends into darkness.

   It has been many hundreds of years since she last walked these stone paths that led the way down to the heart of Roanoak. The last time was shortly after Roanoak was founded in fact, and that was to seal the way and ensure peace for that which sleeps below...

   Aurora's power still guards these dark tunnels, and she can feel the spells woven in protection brushing past her like cobwebs. Nothing she knows of is able to teleport here, and no scrying spell she is familiar with can penetrate these halls - she has tried them all over her long years.

   Here, far below her forest she is truly alone, and as she carefully threads her way through the darkness she has only the sound of her hooves on stone for company. In the silence her thoughts wander to her reasons for returning here: So much time has passed, even for her, and so many things have changed...

   Roanoak had not only survived a cataclysm that had befallen it, but the ponies that count Roanoak as hearth and home had succeeded beyond her wildest dreams... Families have blossomed and businesses have prospered - Trotsdale was no longer the quaint little farming town founded on the shores of the Nisean River oh so many years ago...

   Truly, Roanoak was enjoying a time of peace and prosperity unlike any other in its history. But with prosperity comes visibility, and with visibility - desire. And as the world around them began to take notice, there would be those who would seek to do them harm.

   Aurora shakes her head at the thought...

   She is the ruler of these lands; it is her responsibility to provide stability and safety for those who chose to live within her borders... As much as she didn't like the idea, the time was coming when Roanoak would need to be seen as an empire once more. And as the monarch of Roanoak the crown was hers to bear, regardless of her desire to avoid it...

   Unfortunately crowns come with thrones and castles, and those come with sycophants and dignitaries.

   She sighs lightly...

   Truth be told it was her wanderlust that made her so dissatisfied with being chained to a throne - and she knew this. The inability to come and go without escort and to have her travels defined to events of state was akin to being under house arrest - and she chaffed at it.

   But, if she were truly honest with herself she also knew her wanderlust had been well sated with her latest adventure… The prospect of being exiled from her home forever was quite the sobering thought... Indeed, it was only by way of a chance encounter with Michi was she able to return to her lands at all – and she thought on this often.

   Perhaps it was time for her to settle into the routine of courtly life and enjoy her days amongst her trees…

   She smiles to herself, and as she contemplates her past and her future the tunnel ahead brightens a bit. She follows the smooth stone tunnel downward and within moments she finds herself standing before a blank wall that caps the end of the tunnel; light streams down the wall from some unknown source to pool in a small well-lit area containing three stone spheres of various sizes.

   The entrance to the cavern she seeks is beyond this door…

   Aurora had always thought this puzzle was clever; the three stone spheres are granite and bear no unique markings other than the whorls and ripples of the natural rock. Each varies in size from the size of an apple to the largest which weighs as much as a full grown pony, and there is no indication, anywhere, as to what these stones are for… A lifetime could be spent pondering this puzzle – or so she hoped.

   The Alicorn concentrates for a few moments, and then the smoky glow of her magic surrounds the stones, lifting them gently into the air…

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