# Ponyfinder: Roots of Stone

## by David Silver

### 24 - Hints of the Past

With the party fully armed, they began down a new hallway with faded murals to either side. Fast snorted gently. "Would that the other Seekers were here. They were better at deciphering these things than I ever was." She pointed at one of the murals. "They are clearly ponies, but did they come before Iliana's time or after? During perhaps?"

Tree looked between left and right walls. "Whenever they came, they left behind truly radical artworks. Look at this one." She turned to the right. "The ponies are bowing before the sun. Haven't you said that before?"

Fast nodded quickly. "I have. The Sun Queen is the ruler of the gods, and quite kind to boot. She urges us, her children, to shine with our own light, even in the darkest of places, and to comport ourselves with dignity and grace in adversity."

Paul rubbed behind his head. "Not so different from ours, if you get down to it."

Fast raised a brow. "I would like to hear of that, when we're not in a dangerous situation."

Tree tilted her head slowly. "The aura on this painting really captures me. Can we wait a moment?"

Flint hiked a thumb onwards. "It's not really the time to gawk at art. 'Sides, it ain't going nowhere."

Tree nodded. "True... but." She lowered her head towards the mural. "It feels nice. Oh great and righteous Sun Queen, thank you for being a totally radical mare."

The ground shook faintly as the wall drew back, then slid to the side, revealing a hidden room to their surprised eyes, though Tree Hugger greeted it with her placid smile. "Righteous..."

Fast shook her head. "The luck of fools and geniuses run very similarly." She glanced left and right. "Let's see what's inside. It could very well be what we're here for." She moved to walk past Tree, but not without giving her a slap on the back. "Good job."

Maud followed after Fast as they entered a small room with an altar at the back, adorned with the Sun Queen's holy symbol of a pony with her wings unfurled, the curve of which went around a dull-yellow sun. On the altar were what appeared to be sticks of incense. Rotting books adorned the bookshelf on the left, likely contributing to the musty scent of the old and abandoned.

Tree moved in after them and her eyes fixed on the sticks. "Far out." She moved across the room without fear despite Fast's motion to slow down and reached for them. Half of them fell to ash on contact, but half did not. Those had her interest and she picked them up carefully, though using her hooves was proving more difficult in her new Everglow body. She eventually settled for tipping them over and grabbing them at the wooden end with her mouth before slipping them right into her backpack. "I'm going to use these next time I meditate. I wonder what scent they used to praise the sun?"

Fast inclined her ears forward. "Before you do that, you may want to examine them. Have you learned how to do that?"

Tree pulled one stick free and set it down to peer at a moment, then shrugged. "It looks like incense, dude."

Flint chuckled at that. "Good way to curse yourself. Guess we're not going to find out what we're goin' on about."

Fast grunted in annoyance. "No, we're not. Don't light them, for now. Let's search the room more thoroughly for something more significant than incense, no offense, Tree."

Paul edged by his equine companions and looked over the altar intensely. "Ya opened that there door by sayin' nice things about the horse sun god, why not do it again?"

Fast perked up. "That's actually very solid thinking. Tree, you seem to have some affinity, shall we try together?"

Tree looked across at Fast. "Like, you dig her too?"

"Before I even met you." Fast smiled gently. "She is our mother, urging us to shine. Do you know any traditional prayers?" Tree shook her head, and Fast moved to sit a little before the altar. "I remember a simple one my mother used to sing for me when I was upset."

"Bright circle in the sky, banish clouds and night. Darkness means you'll return, never dies the fight. You watch over our plans. You smile on our goals. So long as we push with our all, we'll never really fail." She let out a breath, then nodded to Tree. They sang the little prayer together, and the dull yellow sun on the altar brightened, becoming a brilliant gold, but little else seemed to happen.

Tree reached for it, resting a hoof on the restored metal. "It's warm. I think she's happy with us."

Fast gave a sincere smile. "I'll accept a blessing from her even more than hidden treasure. The crown's not here though. Let's press on. She turned to the door they came in through and nodded. "We could close it from this side. This shrine will be our shelter, if we need to rest and recover. I doubt most creatures in this place are likely to pray to the Sun Queen and bother us while we're in here."

Maud sniffed the air softly. "The stone's secure." She stepped free of the secret room and turned slowly before she continued in exploration of the crypt. "Sun worshiping ponies lived here? When did that start?"

Paul shrugged his shoulders. "I think the sun's one of those things everyone gets in their head to worship, 'sides dwarves and stuff, you know, underground?"

Fast nodded as she followed after Maud. "Ponies have called to the sun for as long as we've written it down, at least. She is an ancient goddess, full of wisdom."

Tree walked alongside Fast, looking at her sideways. "Do you think I could meet her? She sounds like a really radical mare. Her aura must be so out of this world..."

"Literally." Fast snorted. "It's very rare she steps down to the mortal plane, and only for the most important of missives. It's unlikely either of us will get to see her, just know her warmth."

Maud asked with her eyes still forward, "Are there any stone gods? You know, rocks."

Flint looked around cautiously, sword in hand. "That'd be a curious one to pay heed to."

Paul seemed to know of it, smiling at Maud. "Oh, yeah. The dwarves I mentioned love rocks and metals."

"What's a dwarf?" She looked over her shoulder a moment before returning her gaze to the hallway.

"Like a human." He lowered his hand to about chest height. "A little shorter, a lot wider. Tough, uh... I never really met one before. Flint?"

Fast raised a hoof. "I've had the pleasure. They prefer to keep their secrets, but they are tough, as Paul said, and having a god of stone makes sense for them. Their forges are world-renowned."

"Their forges run on lies." The trap-maker appeared from the darkness, peering at them. "They thrive on deceit and live on a throne of their enemies' broken bodies."

Tree gave a gentle smile at the short figure. "Could you explain that to me, man? I'd like to hear more."

This confused him with eyes that opened wide for just a moment before returning to their habitual squint. "Are you trying to get my guard down?"

Maud softly shrugged. "She doesn't usually lie. If she says she wants to hear, she does."

He raised a crooked dagger at the others. "They'll jump me as soon as I get closer."

Tree trotted forward with her placid little smile. "Then I'll come closer. Lay it on me, little dude."

"Really?" He moved his dagger in a sudden swipe, directing it at Tree. "No! You're going to attack me!"

Tree held up a hoof and stopped her approach. "Like, I promise. I just want to understand your song, little dude. We don't have to be all angry at each other.

Fast cleared her throat softly. "Tree Hugger is a kind soul. If she wishes to offer a hoof in friendship, she is genuine, and if amends are made, I am willing to let bygones be let go as well."

Flint leaned closer to Paul. "So long as that includes not being caught in a trap, S'fine by me."

Though the blue humanoid edged back with fear, Tree's placid expression, lack of weapons and the little smile she offered gave precious little to truly fear. The desire to speak won out. "You promise to listen first, talk later?" She nodded. And he lowered the dagger, though didn't put it away. "Fine, then listen. Once we had a big tribe, then under dwarves, dark dwarves, they came and took slaves. The strongest, they took to work their forges. The weaker, they killed." He tapped his bulbous head. "I was smarter, not stronger. I got away from them, and here I am. You see why I hate dwarves? Not first time, only last time."

Fast nodded lightly. "Your trap did not speak of a weak mind."

Tree raised a hoof. "You learn from your mistakes, and you build radical machines. Did you teach yourself how to do that? I couldn't make things like that."

"If it's so good, why are you still here?" challenged the blue figure. "Strange creatures, horses, complimenting on failed attack."

Paul slid forward a little. "Oh, uh, my friends are really good at surviving, but that doesn't stop them from seeing a good trap or nothin'."

Flint threw up his hands. "Better than my snares, I'll admit that."

The blue figure clapped his hands. "Snares? Little snares? Ha! Traps much better. Why just hold when you can kill and hold? Best you can do is snares? No wonder you're amazed." He looked quite proud, almost relaxed. "Why are you here, anyway? You must want something really bad. I told you something, you tell me."

Fast nodded before she nuzzled her lance upwards, no longer at the ready. "We are seeking a single pony artifact, one that may be of great use to our empire, but of very little worth to most others. Have you seen a crown?"

He somehow managed to squint more than he already was. "What kind of crown?"

Fast sighed. "I wish I knew exactly what it would look like, but I imagine it would have either sun icons on it, or pony, or both. Does thi--"

"Yes!" He clapped his hands. "Yes! Now you can get revenge on the dwarves."

Tree tilted her head. "I don't understand, little dude. Could you explain that?"

He grinned with crooked teeth. "Deep dwarves take many of our treasures. One is crown with sun. They wear it, one in charge of our slaves. They think it makes them look strong. You'll make them look dead! This is perfect."