The Millennial Vault
The summons had been brief, and altogether, not forthcoming in solid information.
Every news agency from the capital to the shoreline had been notified. “To whom it may concern. Please send a representative to the Whitetail Woods a week from today, to cover what promises to be a very special and historic event. Thank you.”
Any suspicions of a random hoax were quickly alleviated by both the assertions of the delivering mailponies, and the rather official looking Royal stamp printed on the covers. The accompanying purple star design found at every letter’s bottom-right corner indicated at least some kind of stratagem on the part of Equestria’s newest Princess. An individual, of course, of a very great deal of recent media interest.
So it was that Breaker Fold - a new but fairly eager reporter for his local newspaper - found himself standing in a crowded clearing somewhere in the middle of the Whitetail Woods, at least ten miles from any hint of civilisation. If the throng of ponies from far and wide around him were any indication, it seemed most other agencies had taken the announcement equally seriously.
“Guess this is a bigger deal than I thought.”
Breaker turned slightly, sizing up the owner of the voice to his right, looking at him with a pained grin. Dull green fur, waist-jacket and adorning the head - one slightly worn trilby. Almost certainly a unicorn, but Breaker wasn’t going to knock his hat off to check. What he was certain of was the pony’s profession - a journalist, just like himself. A straightened posture, keen, hawkish eyes still evident behind a pair of ritzy glasses, clipboard poking up from his saddlebag, and as if that wasn’t enough, the camera strapped around his neck.
“It better be,” Breaker replied, trying to put off the impending sensation of claustrophobia. “My boss is gonna kill me if I don’t get at least three hundred words out of this thing.”
The journalist smiled. Breaker knew if he was any good at his job, he would’ve already made exactly the same impressions about him.
“Ink Stroke, The Canterlot Chronicle,” his counterpart said, introducing himself with a raised hoof.
“Breaker Fold, Hayward Gazette.” Breaker completed the hoofbump after a microsecond of surprise. Perhaps all those rumours of everypony in Canterlot being a stuck-up busybody were unfounded after all.
“Knew for sure you couldn’t be one of those archaeologists. Also, Hayward-on-Sea? Isn’t that that small town on the coast to the west? What are you doing out here?” Ink half-raised an eyebrow.
Breaker held back a surprised look. Hayward was small enough to not warrant much serious attention on the map; certainly not compared to other places. “Well, Princess Twilight’s opening with the pre-speech, and I’ve never done a piece on royalty before. You wouldn’t believe how much people clamour for that kind of news when you’re as out in the sticks as we are. My boss practically begged me to make the trip.”
“Mm...makes sense I guess. In Canterlot, we have a whole division dedicated to the royal stuff.”
The murmurs from the crowd around them hushed, grabbing Breaker’s attention. A movement on the makeshift stage ahead absorbed the scrutiny of everypony around, before deflating into a ripple of disappointed sighs. Just a runner, supplying the podium with what looked like a sheetload of notes.
“False alarm,” Breaker sighed. Growing up miles away from the nearest city hadn’t exactly prepared him well for the rigours of the present claustrophobic situation, and he shuffled awkwardly, trying to avoid bumping into the ponies around him.
“So uhm...you guys know anything about this thing that the common pony doesn’t?” Ink asked, straining to make himself heard above the general racket.
Breaker hesitated briefly. Sharing information between rival reporters was a particularly grey area in their industry. It might net you some more valuable gossip in return, but of course the opposing scenario was equally possible. Luckily in this case, he had an easy answer to make.
“Diddly squat,” he replied, scratching the silver fur on his side. “Heard the term ‘Time Capsule’ floating about but that’s just one of many rumours supposedly.”
“That’s my bet on what it is. This cave’s supposedly been shut off for over a hundred years. Some of my colleagues back home have different ideas, but why would they send Twilight out of the Princesses down here if that wasn’t the case? Everypony knows that schtick is right up her alley.”
Breaker coughed, unsure if he had heard the words right. “A hundred years? That can’t be right. Somepony would’ve found it before now, if not sensed it at least. I thought Canterlot had a team of unicorns dedicated to searching out old sites. ”
“Only if they know what they’re looking for. Maybe this one’s completely different. Would explain all this excitement over it, don’t you think?”
About to answer, Breaker caught sight of a flash of purple up ahead, beyond the sea of pony heads. And then there she was - Princess Twilight Sparkle on stage in the flesh, having emerged from the woodlands completely dominating the landscape. Only the large stone structure to the right of the stage provided a break from nature’s dominion, what with it’s clear artificial origins. Breaker had tried to avoid looking at it; it didn’t look at all right in the present environment.
Ink immediately brought up his camera and got a first flash away, while the crowd was still half-distracted. It took a very decent salary to be able to afford a luxury item as that, which said much about the unicorn’s capabilities. For Breaker, his edited notes would have to be enough.
Twilight approached the podium, gleaming at the crowd all the way. Breaker had almost expected her to be lacking on the confidence side, having not been a princess for terribly long, but she looked remarkably suited to the role. As she brought up the notes left for her, he started planning out the start of the article in his head.
‘Princess Twilight Sparkle, on her first solo outing, squashed all qualms about her royal spirit with a lively and engaging opening speech on the surprise unveiling of the mysterious “Time Capsule discovered-”’...hmm...better not get ahead of myself.
A few more flashes erupted as other journalists managed to get shots away. The whole crowd had almost silenced, and suddenly Breaker noticed he could hear the wind again, blowing through the trees. In the entire clearing, the tension was quite palpable.
“Good day to you, everypony, and welcome to the Whitetail Woods!” Twilight’s voice lit up the area like a match. Breaker felt the hairs on his neck prick up. “I understand many of you are still somewhat confused as to why you’ve been asked to travel out here, but rest assured I hope to answer most of your questions in the next few minutes.”
Breaker watched on, already impressed, as the Princess left the podium and headed right, towards the edge of the stage. Cut into the mountain just beyond lay the obvious object of attention. “This - if the few records we have of this place are to be believed - is the Millennial Vault.” Twilight motioned with an outstretched hoof towards the fifteen foot-high set of stone doors, cut directly into the hillside. “To be rather brief about what we know, some unicorns living near here on this day a thousand years ago decided to bury something here with the intention of ponies like us in this time to re-discover it. Many historians - myself included - think the timing with Princess Luna’s...incident is too much of a coincidence, and so the likely theory is that much of what we’ll find will be mementoes to her isolation, along with general tokens and artifacts.”
“Pah, unlikely,” Ink whispered. “Don’t think Miss Night Princess was popular with anyone back then.”
“Hmm? Oh..sure.” Breaker only half-listened, already enraptured by Princess Twilight’s words. “Wait...did she say a thousand?”
“Eeeyup. Now it makes sense why we’re here. Looks like she’s making a real statement of intent.”
“...and on a personal note, I just want to say how excited I am to be here to see the vault’s unveiling,” Twilight continued. “Memories of this time period are understandably sensitive for my fellow Princesses, so they felt it was an ideal opportunity for me to handle this event on my own. So I thank you for your consideration, and hope you all will learn as much as I hope to from this discovery. If we understand the ancient texts right, the vault will open by itself, allowing us inside. So...are there any questions?”
One hoof immediately raised towards the sky.
“Yes...miss…?”
“Noteworthy. Manehatten Times. I think I speak for most of us in saying that we’ve never heard of this...vault before. Could you elaborate on the existing information at all? As in, do you have any idea what’s inside, or are you just guessing? Can you guarantee it’s safe at least?”
Breaker swore he saw a few feathers ruffling on the Princess’ wings. No doubt she’d been briefed on the rather direct attitude the press could take sometimes.
“Archaeological sites are hardly the most perilous places in Equestria miss Noteworthy. We should look towards my fellow Ponyville for that,” she replied, inciting a few low snorts of laughter around. “But the Royal Guard will be among us should anything...bad happen. As for your first question, to be honest, there isn’t much else to say. A local pony only re-discovered this location a month ago, so our limited research time has only brought up so much. But there’s really no reason to suspect it’s anything other than what I described. Prevalent theories are usually right for a reason.”
Noteworthy’s head shrunk back down, but Breaker couldn’t tell if she’d been fully satisfied or not. Another hoof rose, right from the front of the audience.
“Aha, no introductions needed here Mr Whisp,” Twilight beamed.
“Indeed not Princess, though please, call me Willow,” croaked the elderly reply. “Perhaps you could explain how you knew to gather us on this particular day.”
“Of course! If there is one thing the few texts are consistent about, it is the date of the vault’s sealing: only one day after Nightmare Moon was defeated for the first time. So you can imagine my confidence in knowing the calculations are correct. We actually should see a sign of the opening as soon as sunset finishes.”
As the princess concluded, Breaker immediately became aware of how dark it had become. The sky had lost all traces of azure blue and the first starlight dots had already appeared faintly. The surrounding trees didn’t look nearly as beautiful now as they had on arrival.
“Can you imagine if the math is wrong? We could be stuck standing here like lemons in front of this thing for hours. Thank Celestia it isn’t winter,” Ink said, taking a final photo of Twilight’s face as she turned to face the stone doors.
“Princess Twilight’s a genius, so I’ve heard. You don’t honestly think she could mess up on something like this?” Breaker replied.
“Oh well...sure, but I’m just saying. Don’t wanna be stuck out here for lo-”
A dim, almost buzzing like sensation suddenly throbbed all around, permeating the landscape. Through his hooves, Breaker could feel the earth beneath writhing and contorting. Ink could no doubt feel something similar in the surrounding magical field, judging by the look on his face.
“You feel that?” he yelled, above the immediate shills of the crowd.
“Yeah!” Breaker responded. A pair of royal guards from nowhere had leapt to the Princess’ side, but the mare herself hadn't moved.
“It’s moving! Collating towards the doors there!”
Breaker felt it, a pull of tension in the earth towards the vault. And then the stone carving glowed, fizzing with energy - the outline of the doors lit up like white neon. More than one pony in the crowd looked on the verge of panic, but most stared forward enraptured by the sight. Ink furiously snapped up more pictures in excitement.
“This is gold! Gold! Never seen anything like this in my career before!”
“Are you serious!? I’ve got a bad feeling about this!” Breaker shouted above the enclosing din.
“No...way!” Ink gasped, eye glued to the lens of his camera. Breaker looked again at the Vault, where the bright outlines had faded away, but the central vertical line has split right down the middle. Squinting in the lack of light, he could just make out a dark edge now separating each equal half. And with a low rumble, the set of doors started to move, the outer edges acting like hinges as the black edge became a wider and wider abyss. The crackling of magic ceased, as did all voice from the crowd. Only the growl of stone on stone tore through the air like thunder.
“Okay everypony, this is it!” Princess Twilight said loudly, addressing the throng of ponies once more. “Nothing to worry about. This was a clearly timed spell designed to engage the door mechanism at precisely the right time. I will illuminate the path ahead and enter first with my guards. The archeologists present shall follow first, and if we then give the all clear, the rest of you can enter as well.”
With a loud boom, the stone doors finally collided with the walls, revealing a cave-like entrance of total blackness. Immediately, The Princess’s horn shimmered, and a resulting orb of lavender light burst into existence, floating over the threshold. Before Breaker could get any kind of view inside, the royal and her escorts followed suit, blocking his line of sight. Somewhat reluctantly, eight rather stiff and aging ponies approached the entrance - Willow Whisp along with two others hesitating to take closer looks at the doors - before finally entering the blackness. By the time the last had disappeared from the light, no trace of Twilight’s light spell remained.
Thirty minutes passed, and the gentle breeze outside had died down to a serene stillness.
“How long do you think they’ll be?” Breaker asked his companion. Every remaining pony had converged with associates, dotting the clearing with groups of three to six individuals. As every minute ticked by, more concerned looks went over towards the Vault.
“Who knows?” Ink replied, having passed the time scratching down scribbles and phrases on a notepad. “Could be anyone’s guess how long those old stuffers want to examine everything before they let us common folk down there.”
An unease clawed away at Breaker. Maybe Ink couldn’t feel it, but keen earth ponies could sense if something underground nearby was amiss, and there was definitely something not right going by the sensations underneath his hooves.
“We can’t just sit here,” Breaker said, surprising himself somewhat, knowing he didn’t want to be the next one to step inside any more than anypony else.
“You what? It’s only been a short while. Don’t panic over nothing.”
“But that’s it! We’ve heard nothing! Surely one of them would’ve come back up by now?”
Ink sighed. “You wait, in about five minutes you’ll see em come back and-”
“There’s a Princess in there!” Breaker shouted, far too loudly to not be heard by the entire clearing. Every head unsubtley turned towards him; some disturbed but most quietly nodding. Ink took one look around, and clambered onto his feet hesitantly.
“Okay, okay, I’m in. Celestia help me, I’m in. But uhh...you first, if that’s okay with you.”
Nodding, Breaker immediately trotted over towards the gaping opening, determined not to look back. The fading light outside made it a little easier to see inside the cave, but not by much. He could only make out the furthest limits of the inside walls before they disappeared in the gloom.
“Come right back if you see anything suspicious, okay?” the nearby Noteworthy said, lines of worry etched into her face.
“You got it.” Ink replied. “Here, I can do a basic light spell. Got nothing on the Princess, but it’ll do.” And a similar lambent orb arose out of his horn, only distinctively smaller and green in tone.
Breaker watched as it floated past his head and preceded them past the stone doors. Just one step before walking inside, he stopped, and sniffed the air. He couldn’t place the smell, but whatever it was, it didn’t smell fresh.
“My camera’s got a flash too. Not sure how useful it’ll be, but it’s something,” Ink said, moving alongside him.
“Mm,” Breaker murmured, and taking a deep breath, stepped beyond the doors...into the gloom.
What began as a short corridor soon gave way to a flight of expertly crafted stone steps. Relying heavily on the aura of pale light emanating from Ink’s spell, Breaker gingerly took his time with each step, counting a total of thirty on the way down.
“What the heck drove a bunch of ponies to dig all this out anyway?” Ink questioned, joining Breaker at the bottom.
“Guess that’s partly why the Princess is so fascinated by this place. Hey, bring your light over here for a second.” Breaker pointed at the wall, having noticed a break in the smooth surface.
Ink stepped forward to gain a better look as the orb floated ahead, and stopped dead in his tracks. Dozens upon dozens of carvings lit up in the dark, and continued onwards down the tunnel. Whether the incisions had been made by physical or magical means, Breaker couldn’t tell.
“Oh my...are those...constellations?”
“Are they? I don’t recognise any of them.” Breaker squinted closer at the wall, trying to recollect his astrological knowledge.
“Trust me. Any Canterlotian would tell you the same. But you’re right, none of them match the existing ones.” Ink curiously peered at the opposing wall. “That’s so strange. Hey look, there’s ponies over here!”
Breaker swivelled round half expecting to see another living pony, only to find Ink lining up his camera at the wall. Sure enough, familiar equine shapes stood out like a sore hoof compared to the stars a few metres away.
Then his world went white.
“AH! For...warn me next time!”
“Sorry! Didn’t think how bright that would be in here.” Ink clinked the in-set bulb as Breaker rubbed his eyes. “I have to take a few pictures though. This is unprecedented stuff here.”
“Forget that!” Breaker hissed. “If they’re in trouble, we can’t help them if we’re taking bloody pictures!”
“Well...no...hey wait! Wait for me!”
Breaker continued on through the edgeless darkness as Ink scampered to keep up behind. With every step, the wall carvings continued. More ponies - mostly unicorns - in line after line, all to some degree looking upwards at the unbroken chain of constellations. An endless stone sea of stars.
Finally the two walls broke away at tight angles, and Ink’s orb rushed forward into a large room. Square in shape, around the size an average house and apparently secured by four rising stone columns opposing each corner. These too, covered in in chiseled markings of stars, and what looked suspiciously like runes ascending in diagonal patterns to the flat ceiling above. As he stepped into the room proper, Breaker saw two exits, to his right and opposite. Turning his head, he noticed the left-side doorway had caved in completely under a two-metre high pile of debris.
“They were here, look at the ground.” Ink lowered his neck and encouraged Breaker to do the same. “See the hoofprints in the dust?”
“Yeah, might’ve missed that.”
“Right, so we just have to follow...ah...crap…”
Ink stomped a hoof in enmity as Breaker followed the short trail of prints, collating into a thin group as they exited through the left door.
“Hello?! Princess Twilight! Are you trapped?!” Breaker shouted through the pile of rocks, dread overtaking his system.
“Shhh! They can’t be on the other side or we would’ve heard them by now!”
“At least I’m trying something! Can’t you blast through this?”
“Do I look like a soldier to you?” Ink said, affronted. “You’re the earther. You buck through them.”
“There’s no way I can do that!”
“That’s what I mean! You’re panicking Breaker! If we stay quiet we might be able to hear them at least!”
Ink’s eyes flickered in the dingy light, and Breaker could see the sense he was making. Holding his tongue, he and Ink both listened intensely in silence, swivelling ears to focus down each doorway. But no sound returned to them. The vault was utterly silent.
“Right,” Ink said suddenly, scaring Breaker briefly. “I say we continue on down the straight path and take it from there. Last thing we want is to get lost...Breaker?”
Breaker had stopped listening. Looking around the room one last time, his blood ran cold as he caught sight of the corner opposite. Where once had been nothing but dust, now lay a large and familiar shape - unmoving and silent.
Ink turned round to look, and almost stopped breathing. “Is….is that…”
Breaker didn’t answer. He had to be sure. Forcing his legs to move forward, he approached slowly. Ink’s orb followed overhead, illuminating more and more of the small area. Despite the green aura, after a certain point, there was no mistaking the purple fur, or the limp wings hanging uselessly down towards the ground.
“Princess…?” was the only word that Breaker could choke out, as he knelt down before the inanimate body of Twilight Sparkle.
A dream. Breaker knew it had to be a dream.
Nothing could take out a Princess. They were the strongest and wisest of them all, invulnerable to any threat. So there was absolutely no way that what he was looking at right now was true. It couldn’t be real. A dream...
Or maybe she was the one dreaming, looking so peaceful like that. So lifeless and still...not even breathing.
His hoof hovered only inches away from the fur on her back.
“Princess Twili-”
The body suddenly burst in a salvo of hissing, making Breaker instantly recoil in pure terror. As he scrambled backwards, Twilight’s body melted, draining of colour and form into a black, pulpy mess, that rose from the ground in a grotesque display of metamorphosis. Breaker gripped and slid on the hard surface, unable to keep his eyes away from the growing abomination. It rose and rose, with no eyes to speak of, but he knew it could see him. He knew it was facing him. And he definitely knew it could hurt him.
“Hey! You!”
Breaker turned his head, daring to look away for but a second. Behind him, Ink stood dead centre of the room, raising his camera.
“Say ‘Cheese’!”
“No stop- GAHHHH!”
The chamber filled instantly with light, and screams. The flash burned Breaker’s eyes, and his first instinct was to panic, but the overwhelming noise countermanded everything else. His left hoof buckled under his own body weight, and his shoulder slammed into the ground. Ignoring the burst of pain, he rose and scrambled backwards further, still blinded but desperate to get away from the multitude of shrieks somewhere in the room. It didn’t sound like one voice, but a collection - a chorus of pain and terror in the nebulous caverns.
And then as if at once, the wails and blinding echo of the camera flash receded. Breaker pressed down hard onto the floor with his front hooves, and blinked, still seeing the ghost of the glow in the darkness, obstructing his vision.
“Holy...damn. You okay?”
Ink’s hoof gradually came into focus, which he gladly took, not trusting his bruised shoulder to fully support the effort to rise to all four hooves. Suddenly, he turned around in fear.
“Where? Where is it!?” The entire corner was empty, with nothing remaining to even hint of an occupying presence just moments before.
“I didn’t see.” Breaker noticed Ink’s glasses had come off after the flash, as he recovered them from underneath his hooves, returning them to his face. “She…was there...I saw her about to lunge for you, so I just...hoped to distract it. But I blinded myself too...maybe it ran off down one of the tunnels.”
“That…” Breaker realised he was out of breath, and panted. “That was not the Princess.”
“You don’t say? We could use somepony of your insight back at the Times.”
Breaker ignored the snark, and tentatively glanced down one of the dank exits, opposing the one they had entered from. “How did it know what she looked like?”
“That’s what you’re asking?” Ink said incredulously. “How about what the heck that thing even is? Or what it’s doing down here? Or even, when are we gonna stop trying to get ourselves killed?!”
“When we find the rest!” Breaker said, rounding on Ink. “I get that we’re out of our league here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t-”
“Shhh!” One of Ink’s ears suddenly twitched. “I sensed something just now. Somepony’s casting magic nearby.”
Breaker stepped back, turning in a circle, listening too for any sign, until a thought came to him. “I don’t hear anything. Say, was that a uhm...a changeling? I heard they mimic bodies.”
“No. No no no...I was there at the Battle of the Wedding. And no changelings I saw ever looked like what that thing was turning into. This is different,” Ink replied, rushing his light orb between each exit, scanning each one with pale light. “Damn...I know I felt someth-”
“Run!”
“What was that?” Breaker whirled around, praying he had heard right.
“Back! Back this way!”
“It’s blocked, remember!?”
“We’ll force our way through somehow!”
“Hey! Hey hey, you guys! We’re here!” Ink yelled, through the obstructed doorway where the voices had originated, increasing in volume but still muffled through solid rock.
“Somepony’s through there! Hello?!”
“We’re here!” Breaker yelled in reply, already thinking desperately how it could be possible to clear the way. “We’ll get you out, somehow! Is the Princess there?”
“She’s fighting some...thing down here! We don’t know what it is but it ambushed us! Please hurry! I don’t think we can do anything on this end!”
“Quick, you move rocks that side, I’ll do my best here,” Breaker said to Ink, wasting no time in trying to pull the first hoofball-sized rock from the pile. “Give us a moment!”
Ink’s magic enveloped a larger boulder on the right side, but he visibly struggled to even move it a few inches. “Grrahh! This is gonna take too long,” he gasped. “There’s no chance we’ll move all of this in time. We need more magic...or something!”
“There isn’t any,” Breaker replied, panting as the first rock eventually came free, crashing down to the ground. “It’s down to us, we can’t-”
For the second time, the whole room glowed with light, and Breaker thought in the heat of the moment that the camera had gone off. But the shine was too colourful, Ink’s expression too shocked; and they both turned away, as the noise of magic reverberated through their eardrums. The centre of the room crackled with sparks, and faded amid a glow of lavender as the battered but alive form of Princess Twilight Sparkle emerged from the ether, horn radiant with light, banishing the darkness to the shadows.
She noticed them immediately. “Oh no...please! It’s not safe here, you must get out and stop anypony else from coming in!”
“Fine timing Princess, but maybe you could help us out here in letting everypony else out?” Ink yelled, a dull boom from within the earth somewhere below their feet filling the chamber with a deafening roar.
“There’s too many to teleport.” Twilight cast a worried look down the open hallways, and focused on the rubble. “Stand back, get well away from there, all of you!”
Breaker spared no hesitation in back away into the adjacent corner, and just about heard the muffled acknowledgments of the trapped archaeologists as another boom shifted a layer of dust from the ceiling, scattering it into the air. If anything, the sensation was equivalent to a full-on earthquake.
His attention swiftly turned back to Twilight when he heard the familiar whirr of magic winding up, and watched in awe as the alicorn spread her hooves out for balance, and launched a sequence of successive blasts from her horn, directly at the blocked doorway. He counted four before the impacts became too loud and explosive for him to concentrate, and he quickly shielded his eyes for fear of flying debris.
Finally the detonations stopped, and as Breaker dared to peek out, he saw a wheezing Princess looking relieved at the results of her handiwork. The entire top half of rocks had been utterly blasted into smithereens.
“Incredible! That’s...oh blast! I didn’t get a shot…” Ink said, emerging from the opposite corner, a fine layer of dust covering his mane. “Hey! Come through!”
One of the guards was the first to emerge, making a beeline for Twilight as the trail of elderly ponies scampered through and onwards through the exit hallway. “Are you insane Princess?!” he bellowed, startling Breaker and Twilight both. “Teleporting away to fight that thing alone? It is our duty to keep you safe-”
“”Hey, hey! The heck are you doing?” Breaker yelled at the armoured unicorn. “It sounds like she saved your life!”
“GUYS!” Ink didn’t look like the sort of pony who could out-shout a crowd, but in that second, he could. “Time and a place, yeah?”
“Yes, indeed,” Twilight said, half-concentrating as she again scanned the other doorways, listening intently while the last few ponies made it out, the second guard bringing up the rear. “Is that everyone Oak Shield?”
“Yes Princess,” he nodded, a light orb of his own floating alongside. “Please, teleport straight to the surface and warn the others to evacuate. We’ll be right behind you.”
“But I know I can repel it while-”
About to butt in with a motion for them all to simply leg it, Breaker felt something sickening course through the earth underneath. It was nothing like the feeling from when the vault has first opened. This was a magic his body wanted to get a million miles away from, as if actively repulsed by. His stomach lurched, sending a pang of sickness to his senses.
And then from what sounded like all three doorways deeper into the earth, came the unmistakable tone of whispers.
He snapped to attention, in disbelief that the three authoritative ponies in front of him were still debating who would leave first. “Whatever it is is coming! We all have to leave right now!”
Twilight and the guards both stopped, and listened for the briefest of moments. Everyone’s face fell in dread, and Twilight pointed at the exit. “All of you out now! I’ll cover-”
All three orbs of light suddenly died in an instant, plunging the group in total darkness. The whispers grew in a haunting chorus.
“Oh no.”
“What happened?!”
“I can’t see! Where’s the door?!”
“It’s alright, it’s alright! I’ll just re-cast it…”
A purple point in the blackness shone like a beacon, before another orb gradually rose up, slowly illuminating the chamber once more. Twilight hadn’t moved but Ink and the guards had made somewhat for the exit doorway, and were standing right by it.
“There, now we can-”
Breaker’s heart almost stopped as a black movement caught the corner of his vision. The closest pillar to his left had started to - what he could only describe as - bleed. Every rune upon it’s surface began leaking a dark gunky liquid that didn’t appear to be blood, but still made Breaker instantly recoil. He looked away, abhorred, only to see not just the other pillars but every rune on every wall ooze the same substance.
“І...ᏕᎵᎥᎠᎬᎡ”
There was no mistaking it. A voice had broken through the whispering, sending Breaker’s brain into overdrive. It sounded malevolent, and ravenous.
“ᎩՕՄ...ᏞᎥᎢᎢᏞᎬ ᎰᏞᎥᎬᏚ!”
By the time he and the guards noticed, it was too late. A long, black tendril descended from the ceiling, which Breaker looked at for just a second to realise it had been covered with a pulsating solid form, extending entirely to the four walls. He surged forward, towards Twilight, a few seconds too late to prevent the tendril sticking to the back of her neck.
The effects were instantaneous. Twilight’s orb spluttered and died to sound of her screaming in agony, blanking Breaker’s vision once more. The screams rebuffed him; his legs refused to move in case one of those things managed to grab him too. A part of his brain told him to run, to escape whatever the darkness held for him.
The sound of hooves brushed past him, soon followed by a dull thud, silencing the Princess’ tormented howls. But that just made the sounds from above that much more potent.
“I’ve got her! Run run run!”
Flight finally won out over fight, and Breaker stumbled in complete obscurity backwards to where he imagined the door to be. More hooves clattered on the ground ahead, but the sheer terror of what lay above made it impossible to concentrate. Lurching forward once more, his shoulder collided with the flat surface of a wall.
“Oh...crap! Where’s the do-”
He stopped, feeling a nearby presence come closer to his left. And in that one second, Breaker considered what it would feel like to die.
“Got ya! Let’s go!”
Ink’s hoof grabbed his front leg, and pulled him towards the doorway, where wasting no time in thinking how he could thank the unicorn at a later date, urgently followed him in hurtling down the cavern passage. not quite managing to block out the tortuous screams of the creature behind him.
The two journalists practically threw themselves back over the threshold, to a crowd of extremely worried ponies gathered in a huge huddle in the clearing’s centre. Breaker just about caught the purple shape of the Princess being gradually lowered to the floor off the back of Oak Shield.
“Oh...thank Celestia...is she okay!?” Ink yelled, still breathing heavily from exertion.
“She’s unconscious, but still breathing. There’s a seared mark where it grazed her but it doesn’t look permanent,” Oak said, sweating protrously from his armour. “Please tell me you weren't followed.”
“Just what the heck is going on? What’s down there?” Noteworthy stepped up, clearly concerned.
A chorus cry of howls emanated from the darkness behind, and everyone swiveled round in shock.
“You’re a unicorn! Close those doors!” Breaker bellowed at the other guard instinctively. “It’s gotta be the only way to stop it getting out, if it was still down there!”
“I can’t handle both! Look how heavy they are! It’s possible I could close one by myself but-”.
“My time to shine,” Ink interrupted, lighting up his horn. Breaker hadn’t even noticed he’d lost his hat somewhere behind.
Another much louder piercing scream erupted from the gloom, heard by all in the clearing. A few ponies were already scrambling away down the woodland trail back to civilization. Not hesitating, the two unicorns projected their magic onto each door.
“Gah! Hnnng!” Ink visibly strained as the weight of the task hit him. The guard didn’t fare much better, scrunching up his eyes as his magical field enveloped the left-side stone slab. And then, very slowly, the doors heaved away from the walls.
Far too slowly. Breaker could feel the vibrations in the earth drumming louder, and he couldn’t tell if the whispers has returned of if his imagination was creating them out of fear.
“I need time! Give me your camera!” Breaker yelled to Ink.
“Fine! Take it! Lil busy here!” Ink’s eyes clenched shut as his dug his hooves right into the ground, sweat pouring off his head.
Rushing, Breaker gripped the strap with his teeth, and pulled the device completely off Ink. Clutching it with a hoof, he moved toward the entrance, right to the edge of darkness. Something rotten was flowing outwards into the world with the wind; the air stunk of age and sulphur.
“What are you doing!? Get back from there!” the guard shouted.
“Buying you time!” Breaker replied, not knowing if his sudden idea would work, or if the fluke from before had been just that: a fluke. But something was better than nothing, and this situation looked like it could turn deadly if the latter happened. Maybe even world-threatening.
Breaker stared into the abyss, a darkness he hadn’t seen in even the blackest of night skies. Through the screams, the unholy scratches clawing the walls inside, he waited, not daring to look away. Even when a small scrap of moonlight pierced the inside of the Vault, partially revealing a black form, limbs that seemed to rise and fall within the body in equal measure, and two utterly obsessed radiant eyes desperately seeking the light outside, he stood his ground. Teeth - more teeth than should have been possible for one being - glistened, drawing closer and closer eager to tear apart anything that got near.
Every single noise and sight ploughed into him like a freight train, inciting every sense to urge him to run in fear and never look back. But somehow, he forced his feet to remain firm, even when a multitude of tendrils slapped against the inside of the doors, breaching the metre-wide gap still to close.
Either this would work, or the creature would be free.
He could look no longer at the nightmarish being. Closing his eyes, not even bothering to aim, Breaker raised the camera with a hoof, and smashed his chin down on the activation button.
Even through lidded eyes, his world went white. His legs gave way as the grinding sound of rock upon rock became muffled by an overwhelming howl from just ahead. And at the very last moment before stress and terror claimed the last of his consciousness, he heard a last dull thud from the earth...as stone crunched into stone...at last.
Underneath the grandiose archways and lofted ceilings of the Royal Palace, Breaker felt very small. Maybe he wouldn’t have noticed, but he had been made to wait outside of the chamber-room for almost half an hour, under the ever-watchful glances of the two royal guards-ponies standing to attention outside of the door.
Finally, he got the nod to enter.
Sitting at the opposite end of one of the largest tables Breaker had ever seen, Princess Luna watched on as he approached slowly. Quite understandably, Celestia was not present; she had taken vigil along with the other Bearers of Harmony at Twilight’s hospital bedside.
“Welcome to Canterlot, Mr Fold, regretfully not under more cordial circumstances,” Luna said, as she shuffled forth a piece of paper from the pile in front of her. “My sister sends her most heartfelt thanks for your actions, as do I.”
“Oh...well I uhh…” The sheer presence of his host, compounded by her sudden appreciation, left Breaker choking on the words he had originally planned in his head. “I did what anypony what have done I’m sure…”
Luna shook her head slightly. “I do not wish to discuss hypotheticals. Princess Twilight is alive, and her doctors are confident it will not be long before she regains consciousness. The fact she made it out at all is almost certainly down to you, and believe me when I say, Equestria is grateful. So grateful.”
Suddenly finding himself unable to look the Royal in the eye, Breaker stared instead at the wooden surface between them, trying hard to ignore the rising heat in his ears.
“If...sorry...when she wakes up, do you think she’ll remember what she saw?”
Luna hesitated for the briefest of moments.
“I would hope that she doesn’t. After such an event, she’ll need her friends’ best efforts to help her return to her usual duties. As for you, it is only right that you are to be rewarded for your quick thinking and bravery.” Luna levitated a small and previously inconspicuous wooden box off the table, and swung open it’s lid. Breaker had to narrow his eyes, but he could just about make out multiple glints of gold and precious gemstones.
“This is the Equestrian Medal of Heroism, our highest civilian honour - bestowed to those to have gone to the greatest lengths to protect and secure Equestria’s future. Only fourteen have ever been awarded, and now you and Mr Stroke are among them. Please take it, and wear it with pride.”
Breaker watched as Luna telekinetically floated the silk-lined box across to him, gently settling it down at the table edge. He made no move to take it.
“I’d uh….to be honest Your Majesty, I’d feel a lot better about accepting this knowing that we’d stopped whatever was down there for good.”
“The vault is closed, correct?”
“Yes...but-”
“Then you have nothing more to fear my little pony. If you were not attacked at the site after closing the doors then we can at least guess the vault’s true purpose. I shall take steps to ensure the vault is never encountered again, and you shall keep your silence along with everypony else.”
Breaker bristled. Swearing an oath under pressure from the Royal Guard to keep all mention and knowledge of the vault secret had been bad enough, but knowing the order had come directly from the top put him on a serious edge. A similar feeling to being back in the dark tunnels crept back into his system.
“No offence your Majesty,” he said, remembering what little he could of royal protocol. “But that...those...it’s still alive. It has to be if it’s lived this long, and if it can do that to Princess Twilight then-”
“SILENCE DAYWALKER!” Luna yelled with the force of a thunderbolt, rattling the hairs on Breaker’s neck. “Do not delve into matters that are beyond your station! Our decree is known, and let that be the end of it!”
Shocked, Breaker grasped for words as the remaining sheets of paper propelled by the blast settled around the table. After a few moments, not one response even remotely surfaced.
“If that is all, you are dismissed Mr Fold.” Luna snorted a deep breathe of composure. “I would advise you take only the memories of your heroics away with you today, and bury the rest as deep as you can. For if you don’t, I will know. Consciously or otherwise.”
He couldn’t look away that time. Luna’s narrowed eyes tore through him, and he was as if back in the vault once more. The dread and the darkness, feeling them as though they physical sensations, driving every synapse to run cold.
It wasn’t a similar feeling. It was exactly the same.
Breaker gripped his medal with quivering teeth, and didn’t look back once on his way out, leaving behind a stilled alicorn. After a few moment of silence, she rose and walked over to the bay windows, overlooking the rest of Canterlot.
Luna stopped at the edge and gazed not at the bright city, but onwards to the dark horizon. To a place far beyond view.
To the Whitetail Woods.
Author's Note
And it's over at last! Phew!
What started as a comedy quickly devolved into this devious tale while writing at 2am, heavily, heavily influenced by my great liking for both The Writing on the Wall and Into the Depths. Spot the obvious reference to the latter.
Part of the critique I got for the original short was to flesh out the "monster" so to speak, and I do have a concrete idea for it in my head. If you'd like to guess what that was, please, go ahead. It's in the subtext (somewhere).
Cheers for reading! Please drop comments if any typos / errors still remains.
