Fwish! Clink! Clank!

“It had to be a mountain.” A unicorn said as he gripped the rope and pulled himself up. “It couldn’t be in a forest or hidden in the hills like normal buildings.” He griped, “‘Don’t worry Dusty, they’re just large hills.’ Yeah, if these are hills, then Canterlot’s a village.” He paused slightly as he reached the top of his rope to pull it out of the rock and launch it farther up with his magic. “No. Hills are no more than five hundred hooves tall and covered in grass and flowers. This? This is a bucking mountain. I hate climbing mountains. This lead better be bucking worth it or I’ll…do something mean-ish.” He finished lamely.

He kept grumbling and complaining as he scaled the steep slope. It didn’t help him in the slightest, but he didn’t care about that. He just wanted to get up the accursed mountain, find the stupid artifact, and go home. It was only the fact that this was a possibly undiscovered tomb that kept him going. Completely untouched by hooves since it’s sealing. The museum was lucky that the pony who stumbled across it was kind enough to give them the information instead of some money grubbing “collector”. If he was lucky, it might be the first of many achievements of his career. Maybe he could use it to help earn his doctorate.

He gave a grunt as he pulled himself over the final ledge and rolled onto his back, mindful of his saddlebags, and panting as if he ran a mile at a dead sprint. “Woo.” He said, feebly throwing his forelegs up in victory, “Dusty, you’ve done the impossible. Ha Hah… Sweet Celestia, I’m out of shape.” The stallion basked in the sun as he rested from his exercise. He was an average sized unicorn stallion with a slightly chubby build, indicating he lifted books instead of weights and ran once in a while when he was late to class or work. His coat was almond brown and his short mane and tail were a dark chocolate. His tired, mint green eyes fluttered as if he couldn’t decide to keep them open or closed. The mark on his flank was an old book opened up over a pile of other books and scrolls.

“Who picks the location for these places?” Dusty muttered as his breathing slowed down, “Is there some sort of council that chooses obscure, out of the way locations to build hidden tombs? I bet they decide it with a coin toss.” He gave a loud sigh. After resting for a few more minutes, Dusty rolled up onto his hooves and looked around the area. “Alright, now the pony said it was somewhere around here, but where?”

Dusty trotted around, following his historian instincts. Such instincts he had honed with his fellow classmates back in college. Teachings passed down from generations to generations, pounded out until it was flawless. “Now if I were an ancient tomb, where would I be?” For about an hour, Dusty overturned rocks and peeked around corners in his attempt to find the entrance. From what he was told, it was a cracked slab of stone that looked like a crescent moon.

As he gave a section of the large, rocky ledge another scan, Dusty’s stomach grumbled loudly. “Lunchtime it is then.” He said with a grin. Reaching into his saddlebag, he pulled out his lunchbox and used his magic to lift his daisy sandwich out and took a bite of it. Dusty also grabbed a map of the area and a pencil, keeping his sandwich in the air as he worked. “Okay, I’ve covered this area. Nothing but grass and pebbles there.” Crunch. Omnomnom. “Nuffin’ fere neithuh.” He kept crossing out areas, frustration growing with each mark on the paper. With a groan, he tore his gaze away from the map and settled on his surroundings.

Dusty’s eyes trailed along the rock slope, picking out funny shapes from the position of the stones. A couple bunnies, a hat, and even a laughing face. His favorite was the circular rock that looked like a giant cookie with a bite taken out of it. Maybe that was just him being hungry and forgetting to bring a dessert. Shaking his head, he returned his focus back on the map. It was vital that he found that crescent moon slab.

He blinked. “Wait a minute…” Dusty’s head snapped back to the ‘cookie’ rock. The crescent shape was definitely cracked and worn down from the elements, but trotting closer, Dusty could tell that the rock wasn’t naturally made. Considering its size being twice as large as the average pony, it’d be a miracle if it was naturally formed. Upon reaching the slab, he could see there were traces of old chisel marks from the original crafters. Magic may have been around for as long as the Alicorn sisters, but even unicorns needed tools to carve rocks.

“Well, looks like this is it, or a really good imitation. I hope I didn’t get sent out here on a wild goose chase.” Dusty muttered, “Now where did that pony say the hole was?” Dusty examined the ground around the rock. Nature and time had definitely taken its toll on the slab as it had sunken into the ground a few inches, marking that likely nopony had tried to move it in the last several centuries. However, because of that shift, Dusty was able to spot a small gap at the top near the tip of the crescent. It was about a hoof and a half wide, not quite big enough for a foal to squeeze through it, but enough to be noticeable.

“Oh, there it is. Let’s see if I can widen that hole, eh?” Finishing off his lunch, Dusty levitated out a small cloth sack and a water skin. He opened up the sack and blasted the rock with a miniature whirlwind of coarse grains and diamond dust, slowly carving away at the present cracks in the granite. Once he was satisfied with the widened cracks, Dusty poured water into them, using his magic to make sure they stayed in before casting a flash freeze spell, instantly turning the water to ice, thus expanding within the cracks. For about two hours he repeated this process until the granite split apart into several manageable chunks with a satisfying crack.

“Whew.” Dusty panted slightly, “Been a while since I had to use that method that much. I’m getting rusty. Note to self, practice magic when possible.” Lighting up his horn, Dusty pushed the now much smaller rocks apart until the hole behind it was wide enough to squeeze through. Inside, the air was musty and stale, not surprising considering there had been almost no circulation for Celestia knows how long. The walls of the tunnel were lit by Dusty’s horn, showing images of Luna’s night with its constellations and the occasional pristine white moon. “Fascinating, these images must be at least a millennium old judging by the art style.”

It wasn’t long until the tunnel opened up into the atrium of the tomb. No, more like temple than a tomb, as the place had no cloying stench of death and rot, and the current path lead to a strange pedestal. “Hmm.” Dusty swung his horn around to light up the rest of the room. It wasn’t terribly large, but it wasn’t small either, just that balance of a cozy yet spacious room. There were a few fire stands and torches, meaning there was ventilation, but it probably plugged up long since. On the walls were some extremely dusty banners of a dark lavender and ebony that were surprisingly still intact, though not that these were ideal conditions for horrible history destroying mold and bacteria. What was more surprising was the small alcoves behind the pedestal filled with scrolls or small stone chests.

“Huh, wonder what those are for? Probably ancient rites or records or something.” Seeing nothing else, Dusty approached the strange pedestal. Now, contrary to most ponies belief, ancient tombs and temples don’t have booby traps. If someone wanted to keep somepony away from the place, they would usually have a unicorn cast wards, have guards, or enchant a golem or two. The only ones that had booby traps were those who were exceptionally paranoid and had way too much time on their hands. Plus, the traps take forever to reset and were often easily detected, golems and wards were much more cost effective. The fact that the last known pony to use booby traps in their secret place had accidentally killed his son might have had something to do with it.

Seeing nor sensing such traps, Dusty strode confidently up to the pedestal to find a crescent moon amulet fitted with polished pearl and twilight sapphires. “Hmm, the design seems to at least be from the Pre-banishment era. Might be a tribute for Luna or something.” Carefully picking it up in his magic, he used a small brush to clean it off, making it shine quite nicely. “Definitely a main piece for the museum. I need to document this stuff.” Placing it back on the pedestal, Dusty took off his saddle bags and started to rummage through them for his writing materials. With his head halfway into his bag, he didn’t notice the amulet start to glow and slowly pour out smoke.

Dusty yanked out the fresh sheets of paper but for some reason, he couldn’t find his lucky quill. It was a good quill he found in high school that lasted him past college. “Aw nuts, I wish I could find that darn quill.”

The moment he said it, a hoof proffered a quill. Not just any quill, but his lucky one! “Is this what you’re looking for?” A feminine voice purred.

Dusty grabbed the quill with a smile, “Yeah, thanks!” With a smile, he began to write down his current findings…only to stop five seconds later with a frown as his mind caught up. ‘I’m alone in a dark, old temple cave and a mare just handed me my lucky quill.’ He blinked and started to sweat slightly as he slowly turned his head to face the mysterious mare.

Only it wasn’t some mysterious mare. It was Nightmare Moon in her battle armor grinning wickedly down at him with her sharpened teeth.

“Oh.” It was all he said before he passed out on the spot.

Author's Notes:

Special Thanks to Thardoc

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