Treasured Trinket Part 2: The Map of Royals [Closed - PM for invite]

[RoyalDice]

''Wh- hey!'' he whined at Martini, as a book was shoved into his face. The young colt merely shook his head and rolled his eyes as he levitated the book away from his face, opened the book and did what she had asked him to do - read, obviously. However, after a page or two, he looked up again, seeing that the mare had slightly cooled down and was apparently blushing because of something the other filly, who seemingly was named Paradise and was standing on the back of her apparent father. To be honest, the colt wasn't at all surprised he had a daughter. He was mostly just surprised it was only one!

''Good to see that you are all getting along just fine.. after all.'' he muttered, as he went back to reading. The book itself was about various ancient artifacts, ranging from crowns to small gemstones to dusty scrolls with dangerous spells. Though he was mostly interested in the latter, as he is still searching for that one scroll that will give his weak unicorn magic a slight ''boost''.

He was interupted by the sudden clopping of Martini's hooves. ''Wait, wait, h-hey! W-Wait!'' he called after her before turning to the others. ''Hey, uhm, Brazil, shouldn't you.. kinda..'' he pointed after her. ''..save her?'' he chuckled. ''.. And take care of your daughter too.. it's like take your daughter to work day, no?'' he joked, before rolling his eyes again. ''.. We should probably just go before guards show up.'' he noted, as he placed the book back into his bag. ''.. If you want to fight them, feel free to do so, though..'' he chuckled, as he slowly trotted after Martini. He had to locate her and give her the small pendant he still had on him.. atleast, if he could find her.

[SunsetSombra]

Brazil found himself feeling vaguely flustered at the situation - he hadn't accounted for his daughters wanderlust, nor her keen apparent ability to find him at the most awkward moments...she just seemed to have one heck of a talent for that, and this was one of those times he'd wished she didn't.

Still, no matter - she was here now and it seemed as though Martini was satisfied with his statement about her identity, and for now the focus was shifting back onto the task at hoof: Finding their way through this most curious maze and uncovering the secrets that lay within - the adventuring pony was almost certain that something of vast importance was down here, but he had no real idea what it was, nor what to expect up ahead generally.

Martini had gone on ahead - this wasn't a good thing, since if she got lost there was no telling what would happen to her - Brazil cleared his throat and quietly resolved to make sure they caught up to her before doing anything else - she was here because of him afterall, and he didn't want anyhing to happen to her as a result...so long as he was around, he wanted to make sure that Martini was safe, no matter what.

After that moment of internal reflection, Brazil then glances quickly back at his young assistant, who was catching up to them after momentarily searching apparently for things of importance himself...the young colt floating a book into the bag, prompting a raised a look from Brazil curiously - this wasn't a time to be taking a library loan.

" Survey - what were you doing with that book there anyway? " he asks, curious. " This isn't the time to be thinking about borrowing reference materials...you haven't forgotten why we're here have you? If you need something, I'm almost positive we can find it on another visit - right now, we MUST find Martini and the baron! "

he gestures for the green unicorn to hurry up and follow...not really knowing what it was Survey was even looking for right now, but not paying it any mind for the time being. He was certain that anything Survey might have needed would easily be locatable elsewhere, and with distinctly less trouble involved.

And so, deeper into the maze they went - following Brazil as he did his best to follow Martini - a sense of unbridled curiosity and uncertainty seeming to permeate the air around them as the mystery to the library only ever seemed to grow the deeper they got lost.

What WAS lying in wait for them up ahead, and why did the Baron want it so much? they'd soon find out in due time!

[Dio]

Fletcher mentally facehoofed at the exchange. Instead of going in as a group or exercising any semblance of caution, they had all blundered into the labyrinth at once, becoming strung out and lost in the process. The guards weren’t stupid enough to leave their posts and come looking for the rest; they might have even sounded the alarm by now given the racket the civvies were making and how tough it was for them to find their way in.

He had to make his way forward and take out the guards quickly before things got out of hoof. Recalling a mental map of the clear spots in the labyrinth, Fletcher took a deep breath and focused. The air around him thrummed with aether. With a blast of exhaled breath, Fletcher leaped forward. Only instead of floating through air, the captain floated through the aether, reappearing in real space near Martini’s position with nary more than a faint clip-clop as his hooves touched stone.

Fletcher moved again, working his way through the labyrinth with a combination of leaps between stones and short teleport hops to work his way through shelves. The hops took him behind and around Martini, perhaps even ruffling her tail as he passed. However, as he was the only one with the benefit of a darkvision spell, Fletcher was sure to go unseen and unaccosted, though his presence was likely to be made known if only by ears and touch.

Completing his last teleport jump, Fletcher caught his breath in one last alcove near the exit of the maze, taking deep, quiet breaths to control his pulse. He collected several small hoof fulls of aether, each ball of magic orbiting around his head perceptible only as a quiet hum at the edge of hearing. The bolts were ready, his mental trigger was set.

“Time to clean house...”

[Bramble Rose]

The scrawny white unicorn on the left could barely be considered a stallion - his face was still marked with acne, his orange mane still wouldn't always sit right no matter how he tried, and his voice still had a tendancy to squeak embarassingly. He'd been working his way into the Librarians for years, like his father and his father before him, but this was his first real post actually *at* the library. He'd held down small jobs at the palace, around Canterlot, and out around Equestria, gathering up experience that would come in handy when sorting reports from their agents. Or maybe, he pondered, even becoming an agent himself! Hunting down old scrolls of lost wonder, to be preserved for the Order, in the name of the Princess!

But still, it'd really seemed like just a bunch of minimum wage part-time jobs. But he'd perservered, and here he was, posted in the library! How exciting! And they'd told him that it would be boring, he was guarding a passage behind a secret door. But here were actual intruders! Golly!

Under his breath, he practiced his line, trying to ignore how his voice kept cracking. "You're not supposed to be here!" no, no ... "You're not supposed to be here!" hrmmm... "You're not supposed to be here!" Maybe combine them. "You're not supposed to be here!" Yes, that worked! "Here, let me escort you back to the library proper, and we can help you find your books! ... Let me escort you ... escort you ..."

Beside him, the older and more experienced red mare sighed resignedly and just stood on solidly, her face impassive.

[Dusky Wing]

Who...what...where!? Suddenly the other mare took off down the isles while ignoring her friendly greeting! Paradise's feathers fluffed up slightly as she huffed once the mare dissappeared, ears tilting back as Brazil spouted some sort of nonsense about books and other such things. She did catch a name though...Martini....hmmm...it must be that other mare's name. Brazil and Martini, it had a pretty good ring to it. She grinned despite herself before giving a brisk shake, settling her feathers back down. There was no need to be mad at the other mare. Soon however, Brazil blazed down into the library isles as well, signaling for all of them to follow. Paradise scrambled after the brown pony, missing him as he ran onwards, turning down one of the other isles in an attempt to find him.

On the mare galloped, soon losing herself among stacks of books and empty walkways, turning left and right in the maze of literature. Panting softly the mare stopped her galloping, planting her rump on the floor and looking around at her surroundings. Nopony to her left....nopony to her right. Slowly but surely small seeds of panic began to set in. All these stacks of books reaching up high towards the ceiling with no way to fly up over them, the candle lights that illuminated some of the other isles were now shedding guttering flickers of light in her position. Paradise gave a small nervous chuckle as she set off back down the isle, eyes flicking towards the shadows as her imagination conjured up all kinds of baddies hiding in the dark. A few tense foot steps later along with a few mysterious noises and the mare was up in the air, speeding through whatever path she could find as fast as her wings would carry her. Brazil was going to be in SO much trouble for this.

[brianblackberry]

Martini Paradise was starting to get really frustrated - not only were they finding the Baron, now she seemed to actually be lost - lost in a library! Only young foals or the very elderly should be lost in a library, but here she was, and her pride wouldn't let her call for help. C'mon Martini, this is just a library, not some giant hedge maze, I am sure there is an order to this.

The hairs of her coat stood on end and her eyes widened. There was something there with her. The glow of Martini's horn brightened, bathing the corridor in a warm green glow as she tried to see what it was. The pink mare looked back and forth down each end of the aisle, but could see only walls of books and the dim lights of candles on the square stone pillars between shelves. The shivery feeling didn't go away, though. What had that been?

As she strained her senses, she realized she could hear a voice ahead, somepony repeating, "you're not supposed to be here!" The librarians? Guards? Was Brazil up there? She was determined to find out, and more importantly, find that Baron!

The unicorn mare turned the corner and found herself upon two other unicorns she didn't recognized, dressed in librarian's robes. Probably who had snuck past her moments ago! "You! Where is the Baron!! He came though here and I need you to tell me where he is!" In her anger Martini pulled out a thick book with her magic and brandished it! "You better let me know or I'll bonk you with ... The Guide to Passionate Romance from the Perspective of the Ancient Pony World, forward by Dr. Brazil Nut?!?" Martini blushed, smiled faintly, and put it back. gotta read that later. She pulled another book, one on biology, "now tell me where he is or I'll have to get ... serious!"

[SunsetSombra]

[Post under moderate editing - shall repost once done.]

[SunsetSombra]

This was going to start getting messy, the intrepid adventurer knew it deep within - the idea that martini was up ahead, lost thanks to him, was bad enough, but there was no telling just what kind of trouble she'd get into, let alone the kind of trouble they all might encounter. No - he wouldn't just let things fall down now...they were too far in to simply quit!

It wasn't long before his desire to act was rewarded, as Up ahead he could hear the angered voice of Martini - he slows his pace down, knowing that Paradise wasn't too far behind...and that Survey was no doubt following also. Looking around, he tried to get his bearings as to where he could hear her voice, as he stepped around another bend where he figured her voice was the most strongest-sounding...careful to not overstep or charge in too directly. He could hear the female up ahead, but it sounded like somepony else was there, as he could hear her threats to take action - and whilst he could barge in and take charge of the sitation, he didn't exactly like the idea of Martini being put at any risk.

Charging in would normally have been his first instinct for something like this, but truth be told the Earth Pony was uncertain of what to expect - Martini wasn't a shrinking wallflower and could handle herself, he knew that much, but at the same time this was one place that most normal ponies shouldn't even be aware of, let alone presently be lost in. He was mostly guessing that anyone on guard down here would probably not be all that welcoming of anyone not on the proverbial guest list...and whilst it didn't SOUND like there was a huge amount of 'expert' guard ponies ahead of them now, this was only the outer layers that would serve to be a last attempt to turn those who were not meant to be in these chambers away and back to the library itself...although the general chances of 'innocent intruders' finding this place were most unlikely.

The noises behind him served to remind him that he wasn't strictly alone - Paradise and Survey had just about managed to catch up to his locale, and this gave Brazil a small glimmer of an idea...afterall, there was strength in numbers. There may indeed be a way yet to take charge of this situation, and the brown earth stallions casual smirk returns to his features as he looked over in their direction, hoofwaving them over quickly with a hushed whisper.

" You two, perfect timing - stay here and listen out for trouble! " he says with a quick grin. " I'm going to have a few words with Martini's 'new friends'. "

And without another word, the adventurer would grab a book from a nearby shelf, and toss it around the corner into plain sight - letting it fall open with some pages exposed, before pouncing into sight of the 3 ponies around the corner...looking directly at the 2 librarians, raising an eyebrow before speaking.

" Take ONE movement to do anything at all... " Brazil says with a grin, lowering himself down against the book...flicking a couple of pages with a hoof menacingly.

" And this particular volume of "Ancient Hexes, Spells and Curses for dummies Volume 9' meets a particularly unfortunate end! "

Sure It was a gamble of an idea, but one thing Brazil felt he knew about Librarians, especially those assigned to reference sections, was that they'd rather do anything else than see a book come to harm...and this was what he was kinda counting on being the case right now, because he didn't dare think about the alternative scenario being the case.

[RoyalDice]

Scurrying in between rows the many shelves, the colt started feeling very lost. Which was .. unexpected for him. Having played her so many times, all by himself when he was younger. It felt odd being here again, and with so many other ponies. So many ponies he didn't expect to come with, after all that has happened. It almost felt like Brazil organized some sort of family trip for his daughter and his girlfriend!

The longer he had to walk, the more boring those books started to get. Childish books, all quite lame. Nothing much special. Some of the shelves didn't even have any real books. Blank books with titles that were quite obviously made up. I guess librarians had to do something in their free time, no?

Trotting further, a call came from somewhere near him. Oh boy, it sounded so similar. From as far as he could hear, he just had to stay put. That seemed a simple enough task. ''Go get 'em.. tiger..?'' he said, and smiled awkwardly, which was quickly removed from his face. ''I'll just.. settle down here.'' he said, as he looked back at the floor, and sat down. ''.. Now, i just wish we had some popcorn..'' he muttered, as he yawned quietly. He'll take care of them, no doubt.

[Bramble Rose]

The scrawny and awkward unicorn reeled back as Martini got up in his face, his eyes wide in surprise. [colour=#ff8c00] "Uh, m-ma'am, you're n-not supposed t'be here,"[/colour] he stammered out, leaning back on his hooves as she threatened him with a book. The older mare sighed and covered her eyes with her hoof. [colour=#ff8c00] "Uhhh,"[/colour] continued the young unicorn, [colour=#ff8c00]"there's n-no need to resort to, uh, violence, ma'am! We can go up to the front desk and look up the information you need! Please be-"[/colour]

He was interrupted by Brazil's brazen entrance, and his eyes widened further. [colour=#ff8c00] "Oh, uh, n-no, no sir, please d-don't do that! P-please, we can just go up front and find you this 'baron' book that you're looking for! We, uh, we also have several copies of Fifty Colors of Unicorns or My Twilight Immortal if you're looking for the popular must-read books!"[/colour]

[brianblackberry]

Martini Paradise followed the retreating guard, keeping in his face as he stumbled backwards, a mischievous smile on her face. She hooked the book over her head as if ready to use it as a club. She wouldn't really hit him with it ... she just wanted him to think that - now that she had a chance to look, she could see it was just a colt, not really a guard. more an intern or ... well ... a librarian. A librarian intern. [colour=#cc6699]This ought to be easy.[/colour] Martini got her face in real close to his and gave a look of sassy determination. [colour=#cc6699]"Look, you are going to tell me exactly what I want to know, understand? Now I - "[/colour]

Brazil's dashing and dramatic entrance startled her. He was *such* a stallion of action, all dashing and strong! She doubted he'd actually hurt a book in the library, but he was probably thinking the same thing she was - a bluff. He was just willing to go one step further - which was rather hot ... Martini was about to add to Brazil's dialog, but ... [colour=#cc6699]"Wait? Book? Did you say book?! Nonononono!"[/colour] Was he just confused, or stalling? [colour=#cc6699]"The Bar- Wait, Fifty Colors of Unicorns? Seriously?!"[/colour] Martini looked incredulous,[colour=#cc6699] "do I look like some bored housewife with foals? Well, okay, I have a foal, but I am not some spiritless, blasé mare living vicariously through cheap dime-store romance novels! Why I have a good mind to -”[/colour] Martini held the book menacingly over the colt’s head before she relented, catching herself before she did something stupid they'd both regret. Though his aching noggin would probably be regretting it more. She sighed,[colour=#cc6699] “look ... We are looking for the Baron, a pegasus who came through here with a bunch of goons; he was dark green and wore some bird's nest of a hat, could you pleeeease tell me which way he went?”[/colour]

[Bramble Rose]

The barely adult white unicorn cowered before Martini's wrath, looking terribly nervous and scared of how violent she was getting. [colour=#ff8c00]"I ... I ... We ... get lots of barons and dukes and the like in the library! None that I can think of with bad hats! Tell you what, why don't we go up front, you can ask one of the head librarians about this Baron von Greene, I'm sure they'll be able to help you!"[/colour]