Tau moved into the room slowly, ears standing straight up, straining his senses for the slightest hint of danger. He took a step, paused, took another tentative step. His disheveled mane whipped back and forth as he tried to look everywhere at once. Hoofsteps echoed on the hard stone floor. Tau paused, shuddered, took another hesitant step toward the center of the room. His head tracked back and forth, but his gaze always returned to an empty point directly ahead.
May 13th
The journal of Tau. Or should that be the Tau of journaling?
Ok, bad joke. I guess I should
So, here we are, helping a construction crew with some minor renovations to the east wing of the royal palace. We’re supposed to make sure the murals and frescoes in this wing are preserved as much as possible, and patch up any damage done during the renovations in period correct style. Dream come true, right? Easy job, indoors, and we get to see the princesses almost every day! They’re both impressive and regal, of course. But wow, seeing Celestia up close? Any stallion would kill for the chance, believe me. She stopped by to compliment our work the second day we were there. We were all a bit starstruck - even Mayfield’s usual shitty attitude disappears when the princesses show up.
Then some jac donkey puts his hoof through a section of wall. Completely ruins a mural that’s probably older than the princesses themselves. We start gearing up to fix it, hoping we can cover up the damage. I mean, can you imagine letting down the Princesses of Equestria? But then we look a little closer. That section of wall was covering a stairway, and that stairway leads below the palace. Nopony knew the stairs were there, not even the princesses. Who, it turns out, weren’t that upset. Weird, but I guess they do have plenty of murals.
They want us to go in, take a look around, see what we can find. We’re equipped to do it – Mayfield and Braun are both qualified archaeologists, and Clover and I can hold our own. Not to mention our practical experience preserving artwork. The construction crew is going ahead of us tonight, to check for any structural damage and shore up any weak walls or ceilings. This place is deep, really deep. I heard somepony telling Princess Luna it extended further into the mountainside than any other part of the palace. Oddly, she didn’t seem surprised. I guess when you’re over a thousand years old it’s hard to be surprised anymore.
Given the scale of this discovery, I’m going to keep a personal journal separate from my field notes. This has the potential to be huge!
Tau’s hooves made tiny scuffing noises as he crept forward. The weak light cast by the recording gem seemed to fluctuate in time with the sound of the stallion’s hesitant tread. Except for Tau’s nervous breathing and the furtive sounds of hooves on stone, the room was silent. The noises echoed around the room for far longer than seemed reasonable, given the size of the space.
The room itself was unremarkable. Light grey stone walls, stone floors of a slightly darker color. Rough-hewn blocks joined together with mortar which had begun to crumble with age. The floor was coated with thick layers of dust. This itself wasn’t unusual, but the distribution of the dust was. It lay thickest in the corners to either side of the door, almost like somepony had swept it there. The dust grew thinner closer to the center of the room. At the epicenter, there was no dust. Just a circular section of perfectly clear floor, rough dark stone revealing nothing. Where there was dust, it lay light and fluffy, except for three sets of hoof prints. One set of hoofprints belonged to Tau. The other two sets led to the center of the room, where they disappeared.
Aside from the dust, the room was completely empty. The other rooms had tables, desks, shelves. Some of the rooms were filled with less savory things. But this room was empty. Except for the dust.
Tau, paused for a moment, then shook himself. He took another small step towards the center of the room. The sounds of his hoofsteps echoed around the room again. The echoes were constant now, writhing and winding around one another, bouncing off the flat surfaces of the room.
May 15th
This place is a treasure trove! The staircase we found is actually the main access to a sealed, previously unknown wing of the royal palace! Judging from the mural that was damaged, this wing has been sealed for several hundred years at least. Maybe longer. Imagine the things we’ll find down here! It’s a shame to lose that mural, of course. But we may have stumbled across something much greater.
Clover and Braun are optimistic, but Mayfield is his usual grouchy self. “Just wait,” he says. “Nothing good is going to come of this.” Oh, and “I didn’t spend six years studying in Canterlot to muck around in dusty ruins.” Well, let him complain. Braun and Clover agree with me – there’s enough here to publish at least a couple papers. We’re working with the princesses directly (well, Luna anyway - Celestia has been oddly absent). We’re exploring unknown ruins below Canterlot castle, probably hundreds of years old. We’ve got the full backing of the Equestrian government. And Luna has assured us we’ll retain full rights to publish. No academian could ask for more.
Our job starts tomorrow. The construction crews have been down there for two days straight, working in shifts. They’ve managed to shore up the main stairwell and most of the outlying corridors. We’ve got a tentative map of the area now. It’s nothing elaborate – the stairwell comes down in the center of the wing, with corridors running north and south. The weird thing is the sheer number of rooms down there. Apparently each corridor has nearly a hundred doors, evenly spaced. That suggests rooms of a uniform size. Maybe storage? In any case, I’m excited to check. The construction workers weren’t allowed in the rooms themselves, of course. I’m sure they’d try their best to be careful, but they just aren’t trained for this kind of thing.
Just ahead of Tau was the crumpled shape of a saddlebag. They had belonged to either Clover or Mayfield. A second saddlebag lay on the other side of the empty circle. Both bags barely touched the outer edge of the circle. The dust surrounding the bags had been stirred up and settled back down, forming odd swirls and eddies.
A few steps closer, and Tau would be able to touch the saddlebags with a forehoof.
May 16th
What a day!
Took us hours to make it down the stairs. I was surprised, but this really is the deepest part of the palace (well, now anyway). You wouldn’t think it would be possible for ancient ponies to build a staircase like this. We always seem to forget they were just as smart as us, even if their magic and technology were less sophisticated. This is a true marvel of Equestrian engineering! Over 7,700 stairs, each carved directly into the stone by the looks of it. There’s some original shoring along the walls of the stairwell, but it’s in pretty bad repair. The construction ponies had to do a lot of work - and of course, it took forever, since they had to haul the material down those same steps. Even after the work, I wouldn’t trust this place to hold up much longer. It’s gonna need some serious repairs before it’s really safe.
We spent the rest of the day setting up a base camp of sorts. We’ve got plenty of everything, so we shouldn’t be climbing back up those stairs anytime soon. We barely got a start on the rooms themselves. Mayfield has pulled a total 180 – he’s really eager to start exploring now. But instead of rushing off to the nearest room he decided to let each of us pick one, then give it a cursory examination. We won’t start our work in earnest until tomorrow. Smart move - the rest will do us good. This is a great opportunity, and we don’t want to make any mistakes.
Despite his attitude, he’s a pretty decent team leader. I just
Clover picked the best one, of course. His room had tables, benches, and, on the back wall, hundreds of assorted scrolls and tablets. They could be anything! Even something like census records would be illuminating. And if we actually discovered a lost spell down here, the bounty would mean we never had to work a day in our lives again!
Braun’s pick was pretty good too. Assorted pieces of statuary, some in pieces, some partially repaired, some intact. What looks like a dozen distinct pieces at first glance. They’re all ponies or equiform. None of us recognize the sculptor’s style, but it’s very well done and realistic work. They actually look like they might have been alive at some point. Very evocative (and unnerving).
My room was a bust. On a whim, I picked the room nearest the staircase. Totally empty, just dust. Hardly a noteworthy discovery. I didn’t even bother exploring it thoroughly. I was disappointed, but it makes sense. With all these rooms, at least a few have to be empty.
Mayfield decided to trot a ways down the corridor before picking his room. Just came back, much quieter than usual. Said he got an empty room too. He’s probably disappointed, although he looked awfully pale. Maybe he’s worn out from the climb down?
I could go on about this for pages, but I should sleep now. We’re getting our hooves dirty tomorrow!
Tau prodded the saddlebags. Nothing happened. He nudged them harder. Still nothing. With a sigh, he reached forward and looped his hoof through a strap. Pulled the bags towards him. Froze as the items in the bags settled into a new position, clattering against one another. The clattering noise echoed up and down the subterranean corridors. The overlapping layers of sound built, reinforcing one another. For a moment, the echoes sounded like voices, raised in wordless song. Tau frowned, shook his head. The echoes faded again.
May 18th
Something creepy happened today. I mean really creepy. Raised-hackles levels of creepiness here.
We worked through the first couple dozen rooms with no problem. A few false starts, but we were making great progress identifying and cataloging the artifacts buried down here. There are some truly amazing examples of period crafting in some of these rooms. Not to mention some of the documents we found.
But I won’t get into details about that, since it’s all in my field notes. And because after the first couple dozen rooms, which were what you would expect for an untouched ruin, we starting finding other stuff. Shackles, chains, muzzles. Things that look like surgical beds, but with straps and tie downs. Instruments… well, I don’t want to describe those. It didn’t take a Canterlot education to figure out what those were for. Strange containers, and those stumped all of us. They look like they’re supposed to hold two liquids apart from one another, but I don’t understand their purpose. There were also
I don’t think the princesses are going to like this at all.
I think Mayfield saw one of these rooms yesterday. That’s why he’s been so quiet. Clover tried to draw him into a conversation earlier, tried to bait him regarding his thoughts on elemental etching processes as performed by unicorns in the third century (something they will debate endlessly). Couldn’t even get a rise out of him. I’ve never seen Mayfield so quiet.
We’ve searched 45 rooms. We have about a hundred to go. So far, we’ve found:
1 empty room
20 rooms filled with “normal” artifacts (books, scrolls, knick knacks like that)
24 rooms filled with what looks like surgical or testing equipment
I’m trying to stay as impartial as possible in my field notes, of course. I'm spending so much time reviewing those and trying to avoid bias that my personal journal is starting to look like a filly wrote it. But I can’t wait to get out of here. We have supplies for another few days, and there are some more ponies coming from an archeological site to the east of Canterlot. For now though, we’re it. And we’re not going to go running with our tails between our legs.
Still. I don’t think the princesses are going to like this. At all.
Tau had moved a third of the way around the circle. The first set of bags had belonged to Mayfield. They contained nothing unusual. A flask of apple liquor. Some notebooks and loose paper. Several types of pencils – Mayfield had been an aspiring artist. Now, Tau was trying to get the second set of saddlebags, the ones belonging to Clover.
Tau reached forward, hoof nearly crossing the circle. Paused. Backed away, flanks quivering, teeth chattering. He edged sideways around the circle, staying a few steps away from it. Although the second set of saddlebags were slightly closer to the circle, he managed to loop a forehoof around them. Slowly, he pulled the bag towards him. Even the muffled sounds of fabric scraping against the stone floor caused a resurgence of sound as the strange echoes started to reverberate from the walls of the room once again.
May 19th
We didn’t know. The rest of us just assumed Mayfield was taking some time to himself. Maybe sneaking a drink or two – we all needed it after some of the things we’d seen in this place. And, well, that pony did like to drink. But he had disappeared at some point after entering the room. I mean the first room that I looked at. The empty room.
Clover saw Mayfield walk in. He was sitting near our little base camp working on his notes. Probably not accomplishing much, none of us are accomplishing much anymore. None of us are sleeping well either, and most of us weren’t able to keep down much in the way of food. Anyway, Clover saw
Clover told me he saw Mayfield walk in, heard his hooves on the floor of the room even after he passed out of sight. Clover swears he would have seen Mayfield walk out. But all he heard was Mayfield’s hoofsteps, then nothing.
Mayfield’s saddlebag is sitting near the middle of the room.
I’m scared. I want to go home.
The singing was back. Tau had Clover’s saddlebag, but the singing was back. It reverberated around the room, it permeated the corridors. The voices rose and fell in discordant harmony. Tau was standing completely still, saddlebag apparently forgotten. His jaw was slack, mouth hanging slightly open.
May 20th
Clover had been the one to go into the room to check for Mayfield. Probably a pointless gesture, since we could see the room was empty from the doorway. But Clover sort of blamed himself, wanted to check one last time. He also refused to leave Mayfield’s saddle bags behind. Said Mayfield’s folks would want his things.
We thought it was a good idea. So it’s really all of our faults.
Braun and I were watching. We watched Clover step into the room. Watched him walk forward, reach for Mayfield’s bag. His left forehoof crossed into the that perfectly clear circle on the floor.
The next instant he was gone. We were both watching. Braun saw it, I saw it. We compared notes. Later, I mean. When we saw him disappear, Braun had to stop me from leaping into the room after him. Clearly he’s a bit smarter in a crisis situation. In any case there was no time to react, it was already seconds too late by the time I started moving. Clover’s saddlebags hit the ground a few feet away from Mayfield’s. I can still see that little puff of dust when I close my eyes.
All we could do was process what had happened. Braun’s sleeping now. He finished off most of the alcohol left at the camp, drank himself into a stupor. Even that wasn’t enough. I can hear him muttering in his sleep, crying out.
We’re leaving tomorrow.
Tau rammed a hoof into his face. He was a single step away from the edge of the circle, having moved there without registering it. He rammed a hoof into his face again. Unheeded, blood trickled from a cut above his eye. The blood seeped into the eye itself, but Tau didn’t seem to notice. He leaned away from the circle, pulling against Clover’s saddlebag. Tried to drag it away from the circle. Tried to drag himself away from the circle. With an audible pop, a tooth shattered.
Note from Braun
Tau, I’m sorry. I can’t stay here another minute. I
Something’s wrong with this place. There’s a reason it was sealed off. Nopony should have come down here. Maybe soldiers would be OK. Or one of the princesses even. But we shoudln’t shouldn’t have come down here. We’ve already lost Mayfield and Clover. I’m not going to be next. Do yourself a favor, and get out of here as soon as you can.
Do you hear it? Do you hear the singing?
May 21st
That bastard. He could have at least woken me up.
Braun’s gone, and now I’m stuck down here. He’s GONE gone. Dead. It looks like he tried to start up the stairscase without me. Stupid, it took HORUS to walk down that thing and it would have taken even longer going back up. He should have slept. That was the whole point of sleeping, to get our energy up.
I can’t shift this rubble myself. Mayfield might have been able to do it, with his unicorn magic and that fancy Canterlot education. But I’m a flyer, trapped underground. Ironic.
Why didn’t he wake me up? Why didn’t I wake up myself?
Well, I guess I did wake up when the staircase caved in. I can see bits of Braun in the rubble.
Bastard.
Tau swayed at the edge of the circle, eyes glazed. His forehoof was just outside the outer edge of the circle of clear stone. Blood streamed from the cut above his eye, from his nostril. It dripped into the circle. As the drops fell, the singing increased in volume for a moment, swelling, cresting over Tau in a wave of sound. Wave after wave struck the stallion, and he swayed further towards the circle with each wave.
May 23rd
The singing is getting louder. More insistent. I swear I can hear my name sometimes. It gets louder the closer I get to the room.
The room where Mayfield and Clover disappeared.
I’ve hunted through both corridors. Opened every door. It took me two days. Some of those rooms
What were they doing here? There are pony skeletons. Some are still strapped to those tables. Some of the skeletons don’t aren’t complete. A few of the rooms were cages, the floors were covered with pony bones. Some of them had tooth marks on them. There are black stains everywhere, I think they’re blood. Lots of the skeletons were incomplete.
What was going on here?
With a sigh, Tau gazed back toward the door of the room. His glazed eyes focused for a moment on the crystal set in the doorway, slowly spinning. Blood pattered to the floor around him. With a tired smile, he turned back toward the glowing circle in the center of the room. He leaned forward, and the echoes carried him away.
May 24th
For whoever reads this, I think I’m going to die here.
My name is Tau. I have parents in Canterlot, and one grandparent still in Ponyville. Bright Bell is my mother, Rock Candy is my father. My grandmother is named Honeydew Breeze, although she goes by Honey. Tell them I thought about them.
Stupid. I don’t know what else to say.
I was sent down here with three other ponies to catalog and itemize any artifacts we found in this old section of the royal palace. Their names were Mayfield, Clover, and Braun. Mayfield and Clover are probably dead. I haven’t seen their bodies, but I have a feeling. Braun’s dead, for sure. I can see what’s left of him crushed in the stairwell to the surface. He died trying to run away from whatever we found down here.
I’m still not sure what that even is.
This place was built to be hidden. There’s no secondary exit, just the main stairwell. It wouldn’t take much to seal this place off forth ever. As Braun found out. Did the princesses know about this place? Did they try to forget it? Luna didn’t seem to know anything about this place. Celestia, maybe?
I don’t know. I don’t think I want to know.
I have a theory. One thing I can try. But I’m leaving this journal behind in case it turns out I’m wrong. I also set up one of the recording crystals we brought along with us. We were supposed to use them in case we came across anything interesting. Take pictures of artifacts in situ. Capture images of our bold discoveries. I’m going to use it for something else. My last experiment, I suppose.
The singing is everywhere now. I
From the Office of Her Royal Highness
Princess Celestia
Dusk Star,
As requested, here are the materials we found beneath the palace. The itemized inventory is attached. You’ll need to take special caution with everything classified “Starswirl” or higher. Refer to the included handling instructions, and for the love of Celestia don’t break any of those statues!
Two items you may enjoy, both related to one of the researchers lost under the palace. One is a journal, nothing too special but easy enough to read. The other is a short video loop, captured by an antique recording crystal. It shows the researcher himself. Pop it in a viewer (we should still have one that will work with the old crystals down in Archives). Poor fool had no idea what he found. Make sure to liquidate those items per SOP.
We’ll be sending down a few more sweep teams over the next few days. As I’m sure you are aware, the recent banishment of Princess Luna has left a number of unresolved loose ends in various corners of the kingdom. Keep those teams on track, make sure they clean up in a hurry, and then get them debriefed and out on their next assignment.
We’ve got a lot of work to do.
-MBb
Author's Note
Wrote this on the drive from Denver to Las Vegas for HRPC. My first attempt at epistolary-style writing, which I found challenging but fun. It feels weird to insert spelling and grammar mistakes into a character's writing!
This is actually the intro for a much longer story that I have planned, if folks find the premise interesting.