Courage Fire woke to an aching pain in her back, a lungful of dust and a dim light far above her.

“Okay, first of all, ow. What in Tartarus was—” She blinked as somepony coughed behind her. “Who’s there?”

“Who do you think?” groaned a very annoyed Starlight Twist. “Didn’t the Professor tell you to pay attention to your hooves?”

“Hey!” Courage shot back. “For the record, there was—”

“Miss Fire! Miss Twist!” echoed the voice of Professor Forgotten Garden from that distant point of light above them. “Oh dear, please do be well!”

Courage turned over and forced herself to her hooves, waving away the dust and coughing up a few lungfuls of the stuff. Then, she glared up the slanted shaft toward a few shapes she hoped was the rest of the archeological team. The shaft itself had strange ivy-like plants growing out of slots in the rock. Those were probably the only reason they hadn’t broken their necks when they’d landed.

“We’re… intact, more or less!” Twist called up. She’d already gotten to her hooves. She glanced around, flapped her wings a few times and frowned.

“Oh, thank Celestia and Luna, both!” shouted the mad old professor. “I do pride myself on keeping the causality rates for pyramid excavation at a minimum!”

Courage rolled her eyes as Twist stepped up beside her, both of them peering up through dust-speckled sunlight coming from the open trapdoor they’d inadvertently triggered. Okay fine, Courage had triggered.

“Yeah we’re just peachy down here, Professor!” Courage shouted back. “Thank you so much!”

“Anything broken? Can you see where you are? Miss Vault is eager to come to your aid!”

“Don’t let her, Professor!” Twist called out as she tried one more flap, her white and blue tail snapping in the familiar sign of her being very pissed. “That curse is about ten times worse down here. A single flap of my wings barely disturbs the dust!”

“Fascinating! I shall be sure to note that in our expedition log! It may mean you are nearing the source of the foul witchery! Mayhap you can disable the infernal device and regain your power of flight?”

“Seriously, who uses the word ‘mayhap’ there days?” Courage muttered, her own tails flicking in annoyance.

“Shush, dear,” Twist chuckled.

“I’m being serious! That old bat is nuts!”

“What about rope? Or something like that?” Twist called, her indigo coat barely visible in the darkness. “I’m here for the artifacting and Courage is here to deal with enchantment! We’re not really used to this!”

“Alas, I could combine every length we have and it would only reach the midpoint of the shaft!” The professor sounded truly despondent, but that only made Courage roll her eyes again. “No, I fear you have a little recourse to either remain where you are until we can recover you, or seek egress through another avenue! I shall send a messenger to the main encampment for the supplies needed to extract you, but that is a full day’s round trip!”

“Yeah, I just ran those numbers myself,” Twist muttered, pressing her forehead against the cool stone. She coughed a few more times and shivered before glancing at Courage. “Any bright ideas? I’m coming up empty. I mean… they could throw down some more food and water and hope it gets to us intact…”

“Great way to get that all smashed,” Courage tried to rub the dust and grime out of her short dark brown mane. It didn’t do much good. “Anyway, I’m the lockpick, not the guide.”

“Well, you’re all kinds of help today,” Twist sighed, then looked back up. Just visibile at the edge of the light, a half dozen figures stared down into what was probably complete darkness from their perspective. “We’re going to try to find a way out from down here, Professor! If we fail, we’ll meet you here in about a day!”

“I concur!” Professor Garden called. “I shall endeavor to locate a map of the pyramid’s internal structure! I suggest you do the same! However, confirmation of the curse’s strength is worrisome! Conduct yourself with the utmost care, the both of you! And Miss Fire, do watch your step!”

“I’ll do my best!” Courage snarked up at crazy old mare. “Step on one trap and nopony lets you hear the end of it. And stop giggling, Twist!”

Twist tried to compose herself. More or less. “We’ll will find a way to signal you once we’ve found a way up! Good luck, Professor!”

“And to you, young ladies! Be safe!”

The figures above disappeared.

“So, this is great,” Courage growled, glaring at the gloom around them. “Now we’re stuck hundreds of feet below a pyramid discovered less than two weeks ago, one at least three days flight out of Sonambula and rumored to be the home of the ancient sphinx who once challenged one of the Pillars of Equestria!”

“Thank you,” Twist said sweetly as she fiddled around with a saddlebag. “Thank you ever so much for that wonderful recap. What, you plan on making this a story or something?”

“No, just want to make sure it’s noted just how screwed we are.”

“Well, if you’re done with that,” Twist finally pulled something out of her pack. “We have some exploring to do. Unless you want to sit here monologuing.”

Courage blew a raspberry at her.

Twist laughed, flicked her head and a bright beam of white light erupted from the small wooden wand she now carried in her teeth. After making sure the spell would hold, she nestled the wand under her wing.

Courage took the hint and ignited her own horn. A soft green light filled the room, a stark contrast to Twist’s blinding spotlight. It was the first time either of them had a chance to take stock of their surroundings.

The chamber itself wasn’t much larger than their home in Ponyville. In fact, there were only four walls with a strangely angular doorway set into each. Courage wandered forward to inspect a wall. Ancient writing she couldn’t make out filled every inch of the chiseled gray stone. She focused and made her light a little brighter, revealing a large prominent symbol to the right of the door. It was the symbol of… a fountain?

“Hey, Starry, honey?” Courage asked as she turned, only to see Twist investigating another wall. Courage joined her and peered at the symbol illuminated by her wand.

“Well, this is subtle,” Twist chuckled.

“A sign pointing to the treasure room?” Courage laughed, staring at the shapes of dozens of coins and gems. “Okay, if that doesn’t scream trap, I don’t know what does.”

“No argument here,” Twist nodded toward Courage’s door. “What did yours show?”

“A fountain. Maybe a water source?” She glanced around and licked her lips. “There’s a lot of dust, but if nopony’s been down her in thousands of years… shouldn’t it be drier?”

Twist nodded. “That could be useful, assuming it’s not cursed.”

“Not everything in this place is going to be cursed.”

She lightly whapped Courage’s horn. “You’re not the one who suddenly lost her innate talent.”

Courage winced. She’d been so caught up in everything, she hadn’t given one thought as to how Twist might be feeling. She put a hoof on her girlfriend’s shoulder. “Dammit, I’m sorry. Starlight… you okay? That was a nasty fall and you can’t fly your way out this time.”

“Why do you only use my first name when you’re worried or mad?” Twist asked with a little smirk, her eyes sparkling in Courage’s green light.

“Uh…” Courage suddenly found her mouth even more dry.

Twist rolled her eyes and kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I think it’s cute. I’m fine, Courage. But thanks for asking. Shook me up for a minute, but we’ve been in worse spots before. Now… let’s check out the last wall.”

After a nod from Courage, the two of them investigated the final wall. This symbol appeared a little anticlimactic. It was a picture of a resting sphinx in profile.

“That’s… unhelpful,” Courage muttered. “Any ideas?”

Twist stared at the symbol and glanced around at the writing on the wall. “If Professor Garden or Emerald Scrolls were here, they could tell us in an instant. But it’s just us. And we’re supposedly in the home of a sphinx. All of this might be one immense riddle.”

“A riddle for what, though?” Courage asked. “Money? Wealth? Power? If the ancient sphinx lived here, she’s long dead or long gone.”

“Do I look like a sphinx to you?” Twist snorted and turned toward the Fountain Door. “Maybe the reward is just getting out. But at least we know our options.”

“You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“If there’s a water source, it has to be coming from somewhere…” Twist began with a faint smile.

“And that means there might be a way out,” Courage finished with another shake of her mane. She could feel the dust in sand in there and it was starting to itch. “Shall we?”

“I do believe we shall,” Twist replied.

Courage felt a hint of hope light up inside of her as she trotted through the Fountain Door with Twist.

Author's Note

My very first commission! SQUEEEEE!!!! :3 :3 :3

It was fun working with other people's OCs while still giving my fun little spin on things! I wonder what's next. I mean... three paths... gonna have to hope one leads to a way out, right? :3 :3 :3