A Gift from the Past (Private) [Concluded]

[Ashti Sandburst]

Looking to A'bek, Ashti preferred to let the goat investigate first. After-all as the Ibex was the suspect, it was logical he would be the most motivated individual around to clear his name. Plus after the little trick he did with the frost, from all the group A'bek would be the one to have fitting skills.

And in this purpose the Sandlander remains at a good distance from the goat, if he was trying to use cold spell again. However the issue was that neither Ashti nor Arabesque get what A'bek was doing and were confused when he used magic. The curator for his part glanced at the goat intensely and suspiciously, checking that he break nothing valuable.

Still gazing to A'bek, Ashti moved closer of Arabesque and spoke to her with a casual and low voice… and a smile in face.

Hey, fortunately that I have lightproof gear ^^

Arabesque laughed slightly and delicately, immediately getting what her husband was joking about. She admitted that, without his eyepatch, all of these flashes would have murdered his left eye. It could seems a silly disease but one day she been witness of what happen when Ashti's eye is exposed to light : the wind blew hard and the band of the Ambassador, poorly fastened, granted a dance with the wind. In surprise the Ambassador managed to catch his band and received sun's light right to his eye: His body didn't take it well…

The scream of pain and agony resounded in her ears for days. As the image of Ashti body rolling up in agony. From the medecinedeers, Ashti been close to definitively lost his sight so much his eye been damaged, somewhat burned. Fortunately efficient ointment + eye's rest healed the Sandlander.

The only time she can see him without his eyepatch is during the night, where they are together in dark bedroom (Ashti always remove his band before sleeping). And it was a shame because she admitted he was prettier and cute without it. But on a second thought, she was the only one to have the privilege to see Ashti's nice blue eyes without his band.

Anyway, still watching at the Ibex, Arabesque's glance was fulfilled with curiosity and was looking very interested to the goat's deed.

…"sawdust"…?

The sandlanders listened to the Ibex, whilst Ashti was thinking about his statement. Actually, the Ambassador was here only as a guard, the safety of the place was the job of the museum which prepared this some hours before the artefact be brought and therefore Ashti's arrival.

Ashti was not an expert in safety devices and protocol, but he indeed find weird that the floor was not enchanted. Some deeran edifices, like the prisons, have enchanted floors and bars made of very hard matters and draining any magic energy if the prisoner tries a spell. The Circle also has safety devices for the rooms where artefacts are placed.

The Curator apparently doesn't really liked A'bek's statement: The actual system they used always worked since it installation a century ago and they never had such incidents. Sure some people tried to thief them, but they all failed due to the magic safety devices… so, he felt like insulted, like if A'bek was treating him of incapable. But… he kept his composer, more or less, just grinding his teeth.

So they all watched, and when the hole happened the Curator gone mad and ran to his it. Followed by Ashti and Arabesque which were more intrigued by the hole and there is beneath than the fact there is a hole in the museum.

What have you done ??!!!
Cool down, sir. Mister Thorns have probably found the key of this case. Well done, Mister Thorns
And we have a deal, huh? ^^

Arabesque looked A'bek and blushed a bit, smiling back to the Ibex. The curator then looked to the trio and sighed, before stepping back and walks to the visitor, mumbling.

All right, Mares and Gentlecolts… The highlight of this exhibition been stolen. I apologise to those which came her for the mysterious box, and to those which want to visit the gallery. Until the relic is found, this part of the gallery is closed. Then main museum, the Noble Heritages will remain open however.

The small group, shocked and complaining, tried to question the curator, as the reporters did, creating a hubbub of discontentment and disappointment. Arabesque, her, looked to the two males, not hiding her excitation.

So, let's go ?

[CableZ]

Looking at the ponies for a moment, A'bek was a little too caught up in the thrill of it all to care what the curator was saying or really what was going on anywhere other than this hole in the floor. Contrary to what the curator thought, A'bek was not the one who had created this hole, he had merely uncovered it. Some pony went to a great effort to hide the fact that this hole had been made, its possible they were considering to use it again to steal more things from the museum but that was purely speculation.

As soon as Arabesque said/asked for them to get going, A'bek did a little jump forward and went down into the hole. For a second there was a silence before an almighty thud could be heard echoing from below as his cloven hooves landed on the wooden floor piece that had dropped through moments ago, the room was a mimic of the one above in terms of size so it was quite a drop. The reason A'bek didn't hurt himself was that he was much larger than the ponies so it wasn't much of a drop for him, not only that but being an Ibex goat he was designed for mountain climbing so this sort of thing was nothing to him.

"You may want to find a rope!" He called up to them, his voice lost slightly in the echo of the empty room.

The basement was pitch black, in fact the only light was from above and even that faded quickly in the oppressive darkness in the room. Ashti and Arabesque would only give be able to make the goat out, the drop was a good 25ft so it was no wondering he was hard to make out. A'bek wasn't able to produce enough light with his horns to pierce the veil of the darkness, the magical aura of his horns came from the corn so only slight slithers of light creeped out of the slight cracks in his horns.

Looking up at the sandlandic couple above, A'bek waited for them to come down so that he could see what was going on and so they could get moving. All this crime and secret hidden basement nonsense was getting A'bek quite excited, this was the sort of stuff he'd dreamed about doing when he was growing up training to be a druid. He always wanted to be a Druid investigator or something of the sort, he never thought that it would be 7 thousand years later that he'd finally be able to do so.

[Ashti Sandburst]

When the Ibex jumped in the hole the mare was excited by this incoming adventure, and at her turn she was ready to jump… when the Ambassador nonchalantly used his foreleg as a barrier to prevent his spouse to join A'bek.

The Archivist was a bit surprised but thought to understand this act when the strong thud resounded. Immediately, she bowed, dove her head inside of the hole, checking if the Ibex was fine.

Are you okay Sáyyid Thorns ?

Regarding the thug, the sandlanders thought that the Ibex have fell badly… but he seemed ok and it reassured the mare. Ashti, him, tried to evaluate the distance. It was a dark room, and due to his experiences with traps and room exploration, Ashti evaluated the high around "more than 5 meters", maybe 6 meters. If Arabesque has jumped…

Arabesque gulped, noticing now how careless such jump would have been. She was even surprised that A'bek didn't harm himself. But maybe his toughness have helped him ?

Anyway the curator, not standing far for them, seemed quite bothered to have been wrong… not only due to his ego, but also he was feeling shameful to not know this secret on the museum… it was even more humiliating that a stranger knew this place "better" than him.

But they had a deal and reluctantly he asked one of the assistant to bring him a rope. A long one, from the warehouse, and used occasionally to transport the boxes. Rope in hoof he stretched it to the Ambassador.

It's the only rope we have : it have been used, but it is a sturdy one.
Merci, Mister Preserve.

The mare bowed the head as thanking, but while Ashti was fastening the rope, she looked to the curator, smiling politely to him.

If I may… you are a good pony, Sáyyid Preserve. Don't let negative feelings get and lead you… for example you don't lost a bet, instead you have won a new room for exhibitions and maybe treasures, who know ^^ ?. Also… we'll find your artefact, at least Salamalec wills. So, huh… "smile" ^^
…

The curator didn't know what to think about this speech… yet he admitted his behaviour was not the best to have. Maybe he should relax a bit, but if they don't find the artefact before the end of the day, he will have a lot of boring administrative stuff to sign.

Ashti finished to check the rope's safety before took the rope's bottom in hoof and tie the mare with it by telekinesis.

Ind Srimati-e ehtram. (Ladies first*)

Nodding Arabesque gripped the rope, ready to down… but instead the rope moved by itself, like as snake and gently towed the mare in the dark room. Ashti was using of his ethereal magic, not to move Arabesque's body, but the rope which was easier, and like into an elevator the mare moved until that she was too far and for Ashti's magic.

She never done climb, scaling before, but she mostly know how it does. Then when the magic stopped at a couple of meters over ground, she finished the descent by herself, reached the bottom and detached the tie from her body.

You turn, darling !

Nodding mentally, at his turn in gripped the rope and climbed down in a more daring way, reaching the bottom easily and quickly. Immediately when he arrived, Ashti noticed how dark this place was and made his horn to shine, note enough to entirely light up the place, but combined with A'bek's , it created a quite acceptable lighting.

--------------
*"Ind Srimati-e ehtram, " (Literally : "In Milady's honour."). "Say waħed min bayanim" (At the first –honour- of the ladies.) When there is at least two females.

[CableZ]

Looking up at the two ponies with a little wave, A'bek didn't feel like shouting back up once again as he didn't want to give himself a headache from the echo. He watched with a curiosity as Arabesque was lowered down into the long lost basement, moving out of the way so that she didn't land on him. There was a slight awkward silence as she arrived as the two had only just met, as such all he could do was smile and look up at Ashti has he climb down the rope.

As the room was finally illuminated properly, it revealed the architecture of the basement. It was a stone made room, with large evenly cut blocks of stone. It would be a pretty place if it weren't for the thick layer of dust and cobwebs and covered the entire area. On the walls were century old banners that seemed in relatively good condition for their age. All in all the room was quite nice, if not quite empty in terms of items. There was one sole doorway out of the room, the light from Ashti's horn not enough to penetrate the darkness beyond.

A'bek took a step forward off the wooden flooring from above and immediately felt his hoof tap something metallic, looking down at his hoof he saw something quite fortuitous. On the ground was an old lantern, very old in fact. From the various hooks on the wall it was safe to assume that this was how they used to light the room, luckily it still seemed to be intact. Reaching down and picking the lantern in his teeth, he looked inside to see if there was still any oil inside. Seemed his luck was running high as there was still quite a significant amount of oil in it, seemed it kept for a long time which meant that it would burn for a long time.

However the issue was needing something to light it with, as much as fire was a part of nature, Druids could not create it. The only thing he could do was manipulate fire, as such he would need a spark. Looking around provided no ideas or opportunities for A'bek, which was slightly annoying. Well that was strictly true, he had one idea but it was something he hated doing. Walking over to the wall, he looked for a more worn part of the large stone bricks and pressed on of his horns to the stonework. With a quick flick, he scratched his horn along the wall which created a few sparks. His horns immediately glowing, one of the sparks didn't disappear like the others, instead it flowing around speedily before flying into the lantern and lighting the oil in a sudden flash.

The light from the lantern was quire bright but not enough to fill every corner of the room with the light but it was sufficient to provide them with enough illumination to see well enough. Floating the lantern up to his horn, he hooked it onto his horn so the lantern was hanging from his horn in a amusing looking way. Turning to smile at the couple, he chuckled at the idea of how he must look.

"Shall we get moving?" He smiled.

[Ashti Sandburst]

At the metallic sound resounding in the whole place, Ashti immediately used of his clairvoyance to detect any mechanisms, fearing that the Ibex have triggered a trap… even if there were no really reasons of such display in this place. It was the years of relic-tracking which made the Sandlander to be a bit too suspicious. A kind of professional tic.

Looking around, he didn't saw any change or heard noises like for a secret passage opening or mechanisms. Ashti then bowed the head and saw it was just a lantern. Rubbing his neck in embarrassed, he disabled the clairvoyance but still looked around a last time.

Arabesque didn't notice her husband using the clairvoyance –due to the fact that, when the clairvoyance is used, Ashti's iris glow slightly but it's almost unnoticeable without staring at Ashti's eyes and in a pitch-black room.(like this)- Plus there was Ashti's horn emitting light too, so…- But she however noticed the embarrassment of her husband. With all these years together, she learned to decrypt Ashti's body language.

She giggled to her husband's reaction but as he did second before, Arabesque looked to the place : The room was quite big, or she assumed it. Thanks to Ashti and A'bek's lights, the room was somewhat lighted up, a part at least. From here, she could see the banners lying against the closest wall, due to the team's position. Dusty yet quite preserved, the Archivist was unable to reconise the crests drawn on them and how old they are. But she have to admit they were nice looking... and it was a shame they were not exhibited in the museum.

Turning back to the banners, she noticed that the oposite wall was still in the pitch-black, and it made her to wonder how far it was. The Archivist took a stone near of her and threw it in the hidden wall's direction.  She threw it with strong, but it hit the ground instead of the wall, and in the same way making Ashti to react to this suspicious noise.

What was that ?
Sorry, 'was me. I tested something…

From what she heard, either she didn't threw it with enough force, or that the room was big enough to make her unable to hit the wall. To be sure, she looked for another stone and was ready to threw it into the dark when she was interrupted, busted by the ambassador.

Kya… hast tu yok sath eme k'ark? (What… are thou doing with this stone?)
Take a guess ^^
… hmm…

The Ambassador cocked an eyebrow to the mare's playful tone, and paused to get what his spouse was doing. However, before he could figure it out,  he been interrupted by the light from A'bek's lantern. He turned back to the Ibex and looked to him, goodly surprised. Too focused (or distracted) on the darkness and Arabesque, the Sandlander have momentary forgot about the Ibex and of course didn't saw him trying to use the lantern… unlike Arabesque which saw the ibex using his horn to light up the lamp, amused.

Deers try to not use their antlers for this kind of stuff, mostly because there is 50% that they end up in a Ghost Rider-like appearance. Although, some deer like Ashti's former teammate, Saiyad, soak the antlers with incombustible cream to made it non-flammable or fireproof whose using the tip of the antler as torch with tissue and oil. When done properly, it always looked impressive. The Cervidae's answer to unicorn's magic.

The Mare giggled to the Ibex's "antics" : Deerkind to the same, carrying lamp and lantern with their antlers, but when if this was normal Arabesque always found this funny. Ashti him smiled to A'bek, a little and short laugh coming from him. But they had a better view of the room thanks to the lantern, and he have to admit that he didn't imagined this lantern could still be used and was working so well. So he complimented genuinely.

Well done, Mister Thorns.
Hihi… you look handsome with it, Sayyid Thorns.

About the question : Ashti glanced to his mate, which was more than willing to go further… the doorway was intriguing her, but inwardly there was still something intimidating from the situation. However her adventure's taste was stronger than her apprehensions.

While we are at it.

[CableZ]

A'bek smirked at the interactions of the couple, they certainly came across as married if nothing else. He decided to take another look around the room they were in while the couple talked, there wasn't much to the room frankly and soon A'bek was bored and eager to move onto the next room. He was about to head forward when he heard the mare call him 'handsome' which through him for a bit of a loop, looking at her with a curious glance for a moment before he shook it off.

Heading forward into the darkened archway that lead to the next room, the lantern upon his horn swung from side to side slightly from the motion of his steps. As he entered through the archway, the light crept forward with them and left the previous room in the dark. The room they had entered into was a little different from the last, it immediately showed the different layout of the building in its original state. In this room there seemed to be a storage sort of area that contained many of the old pieces of glass and wood that were used to house artifacts. The room was actually quite full of quite old stuff from the old museum. It seemed that the basement was used to store old equipment, which got A'bek thinking if not rather distracted.

"It would appear this basement is for storage, you know this is a curious thought...in universities and other museums, they often store artifacts in archives and storage facilities. Maybe what was assumed to be lost in the blaze could be left intact down in this basement somewhere, it seems rather large after all." A'bek thought aloud.

Moving forward into the room, A'bek noticed that upon the walls there were more lanterns. Deciding that more light would do some good, He magically opened the little door of the lantern upon his horn as pulled out a piece of the flame with his magic. The little ball of flame stayed still in the air for a moment as it flickered before shooting over toward one of the lanterns and slamming into it. Immediately the oil within the lantern burst into flame, setting off an unseen mechanism. It seems that behind the wall was some kind of vein of oil that was used to light all the lanterns when one was lit. One by one each of the wall hanging lanterns lit up in flame with a little puff, lighting up the room more and more. Soon enough the stone walls were covered in a warm light from the lanterns, all in all it was now quite easy to see. With visibility high, they could take a proper look around the room. The room was very large in terms of width and depth but it was not as high as the previous room. However being full of large crates and stacked up pieces of wood, there was not as much free space.

Walking forward with a raised eyebrow, A'bek seemed to forget they were investigating a crime and got immersed in the fact that nobody had been in here for more than a hundred years.

[Ashti Sandburst]

Arabesque and Ashti followed the Ibex through the doorway, wondering and chatting about what they could find there: Arabesque thought they would maybe find evidences and/or an empty room like the previous one. Ashti, him, was expecting a dusty room fulfilled with webs but nothing exceptional… and looked at the room : except from the layout which remembered him the museum's warehouse, it was the glasses and piece of wood which intrigued him and saw first.

It was a similar yet different room from the main warehouse that he have visited when escorting the box. Arabesque listened to the Ibex and nodded. It was the same thing in Deerham, as for the academy, library or the Observatory which had a museum inside too.

For the ambassador, this place due to its similarity with the museum's main warehouse, it made him think that they were indeed in a storage room, but the former one. He heard that some rooms been sealed because no more useful or can't be used especially after the blaze of late 1810's. Maybe this room was one of them; sincerely his grandfather's map could have helped them.

The sandlandic couple saw the unused lanterns, but neither of them had a way to light them: Ashti didn't have any fire spell although Secular Arcanum have one- When learning the spells, he had to choose some and anyway didn't had the time and desire to learn the 19 Deerhai spells.

So, Sáyyid Horns. Willing to use your horn again ^^

The mare giggled gently, not taunting the Ibex or anything. She found this way to light lamp "entertaining". For his part, the Ambassador rubbed his chin while looking to A'bek's lantern.

I do not think so, darling.

His still remembered the lesson gave by the Ibex an hour ago. He can't create tool, however he can use them. And with the fire of his lantern he has a tool. If Ashti have understood well, A'bek was able to manipulate the lantern's fire and use it to fire the empty one. And when he did it so, Ashti smirked to the questioning gaze of Arabesque towards her husband.

Oooh… I see, I get it ^^

She figured out that A'bek manipulated the fire, maybe with telekinesis. After-all, after the display he have done to reveal the hole, it would not be so surprising. Then Ashti added on a joking tone:

Good, only dozen…

Despite have already saw such mechanisms during his explorations, the way that all the fire be set ablaze surprised him : He didn't expected such thing in a museum… but at least the room was now very well lighted up. It seemed a less sized one, and also the pieces around indicated it really was a kind of warehouse or basement. However no trace of people coming there recently. It was like centuries spent in oblivion, and the same feeling for Ashti than when he enters into abandoned ancient places.

... left...

As usual he, the clairvoyance enabled, he scanned the place, walking here and there… No traps, what he hoped to find was residual presence, magic particles mostly, indicating that some used magic in the room. But nothing at all.

There was other way, though . Other passages that someone could use. There were no hoofprints in the dust, actually there was few dust leading toward those ways: like if someone have swept them or flew over. Either this or they were not dust gatherer. The mare joined her husband while looking around and then the ways.

To, tum socna yemra var-ja eme taryiqim? (So, you think they could have used these ways?)
Muhtemil (Probably)… I noticed this room looked like one of the museum, in the layout and the form… if other rooms are the same; we will no need of a map.

They returned to the Ibex, maybe he could use a spell to show the pat like for the steps up there. Or not… sincerely if he can prevent a cold…

So, Sáyyid Horns, any suggestions?

[CableZ]

A'bek was lost in thought when Arabesque asked if he had any thoughts on the current situation so he jumped ever so slightly and turned to face her with a curious looking before he figured out in his head what she asked, he responded by turning to face her properly and rubbing the scruff of fur under his chin in thought. Looking around showed that this place was obviously used by the thieves, however it was also clear that they had been very careful to not disturb this place. As such he came to a conclusion that he thought best made sense, although he was no professional.

"It seems as though this place is as untouched as it was hundreds of years ago, which means the thieves didn't want the artifacts within the basement. In fact I would that they only used this place as a means of getting to the museum above, not as some sort of staging area, I believe we should be looking for some kind of tunnel or...sewer entrance." A'bek's face went slightly pale as he thought about the idea of going into a sewer.

Turning to face down the long room, A'bek noticed the various exits that Ashti had also seen. A'bek was thankful to have someone familiar with the layout of the place as without him they would be more than a little lost in this basement that felt more like a labyrinth. A'bek felt that now the lead should be taken by Ashti as he didn't want to get the group lost, not that he though Ashti would have the best idea of where the thieves may have entered the basement from.

"How about you Mr Sandburst, where would you have us head next?" He asked with a smile and raised eyebrow.

[Ashti Sandburst]

Ashti listened to the Ibex, stroking his chin, wondering. He glanced to Arabesque which nodded: they know each other since a long time that they didn't needed to use words to communicate. Due to their complicity but also because Deerham's culture is quite into gestures, body language. Or some sort.

The Ambassador was looking to the mare to have her opinion about, and she nodded in agreement because to her too A'bek's statement was not wrong. Also, it even seemed logical that the thief/ves will not remain there after what they do: running as far as possible would be the best option because more they remained in this place, bigger the opportunity to be busted was.

But neither Ashti nor Arabesque were robbers, so they didn't know how this kind of people think or their modus operandi. On a second thought, they didn't know A'bek very well… he was still a suspect despite that the Sandlanders were not really convinced about the Ibex's role in this case.

Ashti should not forget the hypothesis that the Ibex could lure them. Although he doubted of it… but with Arabesque around, he preferred to be prudent (and a little distrustful) to avoid that the mare been trapped or harmed in a way or another.

Ponding about this, the Ambassador didn't noticed the reaction of A'bek about a sewer, but Arabesque yes… she thought to notice or spot a hint of worry from the Druid… but she was not sure about it, especially that she didn't know Ibex's body language.

Arabesque joined her husband which looked to other ways, wondering where to go. Ashti normally have an artefact, an enchanted compass, which indict to the user the way to find what they desire. It was useful for maze or to find the artefacts during his tracking… but all of his stuff were in his saddlebag in the mansion. But he didn't plan to go home and anyway he was sure to be able to solve this case without artefact.

"How about you Mr Sandburst, where would you have us head next?"
… I beg your pardon?

The Ambassador has to admit, he didn't saw it coming. He had no problem with the leader role, to be honest, it was even quite flattering to have people have confidence in him, but he didn't know if he was the good pony right now. He was afraid to not be able to keep under surveillance the Ibex…

…on a second thought, he somewhat know the museum, not perfectly but he have a good sense of orientation and memories about the layout. Plus he's accustomed to explore unknown places and detect traps.

Ashti then stayed a half-minute to weigh the pros and cons : He knew that he was maybe overthinking about the situation and thought to let his instinct leads him instead. Decided, the Ambassador smiled politely to A'bek and nodded

Alright, Mister Thorns. Arabesque… hmm… this way.

Due to the system of connected lanterns, every or at least most of the rooms where lighted up. Some places were not totally lit up due to the lack of enough lanterns or missing ones. Also some lanterns no more have any oil. But except of it, it was well illuminated.

The ambassador decided to take the left way because, if he remembered right, there was "backdoors" in this direction…. At least regarding the upper level.

Every "rooms" were somewhat empty, or just had some old stuff like abandoned tools, and old crates, planks. The basement was surely built before the fire, and Ashti noticed that there was no traces of any blaze. This place probably be spared by the flames which consumed the museum... it was not so surprising regarding the hight separating the floor and the ceiling, also the basement was tough enough, fortunately. Otherwise with all of these burning lanterns, this place could have been set ablaze with the actual museum too.

Standing next to A'bek, the mare looked around wondering.

Darling, do you know if it's a good way?
… I sincerely do not know, aziz. But I assume there should be an escape route left by the labourer, which have built this… basement?
Ah, earth ponies, makes sense ^^… or, or it was pegasi which built it?
… euh. That's… that is a quite clever point… let us hope it is not the case. Ehehh… ^^''

The "escape route" Ashti was thinking of was for the earth pony labourers to enter in the building site (basement). after-all they were around 6 metters underground, to him it was logical that most of the workers where heart ponies and used this way to bring the materials to build the place. Also it could be a way to escape if the ceiling collapse.

The walk lasted 5 minutes and the group finally arrived in the front of a sealed passageway. The ambassador was right about this, but it was improbable the thief used it.

Oh… ? umphf…

Both Sandlanders examined the sealed exit but spotted nothing which indicated that the thief went there… except if it can walk through walls.

(O-RP : I used this "ending" for that you can imagine a way where the thief went.)

[CableZ]

A'bek walked in silence beside the couple, his presence always felt thanks to his stature looming over them. Because the lantern mechanism had lit up the entire basement, there was no need for A'bek to continue carrying his own lantern so he levitated off from his horn and gently placed it on the ground, after all it was an antique. As they passed through the relatively empty rooms, A'bek had to wonder what these rooms may have been used for before this basement was forgotten about. With some rooms being used for storage, the empty rooms must have been used for something but the question was what. A'bek found it quite ironic that some of the items that were new when this museum was built would now be antiques in themselves, such was the nature of time he supposed.

This place was old, oppressively so. The thick layer of dust and the sense that life may have once passed through here was daunting to say the least, at least this place wouldn't have any traps, after all it was just a museum basement and only a few hundred years old. A'bek had heard tales of ancient tombs and dungeons being booby trapped and what not, it made him wonder what was going through the minds of whoever built it. If you are building places that you know you won't be around to protect, why be so stingy about your treasures? It made him wonder if the Ibex ever did anything like that, truth be told he wasn't very up to date on the inner workings of the palace or the intimidating Ibex Empress. Shaking his head, he brought his mind back to the situation at hand. Just in time it seemed as he and his comrades were now faced with what looked like a wall, looking at the seemingly dead end, A'bek raised an eyebrow. Chances were the thieves had simply entered from a different area, however A'bek was under the impression that this was simply what they were intended to think, spend hours searching for an alternate escape route while the thief got away.

Taking a few steps toward the wall, A'bek was dubious of its innocence in all of this. Tapping on the wall and pressing his ear to it, he noted something a little odd. Taking a step back he knocked on the wall a little harder, there was an audible echo from behind the wall, indicating that it was not solid earth behind said wall.

"It would appear..." A'bek slammed his huge cloven hoof into the wall, knocked some of the bricks through into what appeared to be a tunnel dug out into the earth behind it. It was narrow, and small, only just taller than the average pony. It seemed as though the tunnel one might dig to escape from prison, tight and compact for efficiency. "..We have found where the thieves came from."

Looking at the hole, A'bek knew he wouldn't ever fit through there in its current state. Sighing, he turned back to face the couple. He was waiting to see what they wanted to do, he had to admit the fact that he had immediately found the tunnel was a little suspect. He stepped back to let them inspect it to see what they thought, although it was hard to see much as the light barely pierced the long dark tunnel.

[Ashti Sandburst]

Back to the sealed exit, Ashti was scanning the room, ready to walk to find another way. When he heard a loud noise of stone behind him and which made him to start. He immediately turned back and saw the so sealed doorway lying in piece on the ground.

"..We have found where the thieves came from."
… it seems, indeed. Well done.

Arabesque walked to the doorway and looked to it, surprised by the way it have collapsed. She didn't notice it –like Ashti- but apparently there were no cement to keep together the collapsed bricks, unlike some others. It was improbable that the cement vanished with time.

Ashti, for his part, looked to the exit, then A'bek, then the exit before walking inside. Well, the Ibex would have some difficulty to fit.

Well, it seems you will have to- Hé! What was that ?!
Salah… ?

The Ambassador was sure to have heard a noise coming from the tunnel, and with focus he indeed hear steps, but not coming to them : they resounded but seemed to be less and less audible, like if they move away, moved away quickly.

He didn't realise immediately, but somepony was running, and there were high probabilities that it was the thief. And that this one has heard Ashti's gang too, especially when the doorway collapsed.
Wasting no time, Ashti used his quick move spell and ran in the tunnel.

Salamalekh!

The tunnel was so dark that Ashti's silhouette vanished in couple of second. Arabesque could not run as fast, and don't planned to : she would more of a burden than a real help. Also she was sure her husband would be fine, so she waited there and kept company to the Ibex.

Erm… okeeeey...eheh. ... So, can I ask if you have family, or are you married, Sáyyid Thorns ? ^^…

Even if it was maybe not the good moment to chat, the archivist thought that it could occupy her during Ashti's return. Plus the Ibex doesn't seem to be someone associable. Of course Arabesque didn't expect to have a long chat or speaking of too private topics.

[CableZ]

A'bek was a little shocked when Ashti disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel, he stepped forward to follow him but quickly remembered that he had no way of fitting through the tunnel. With a a slightly frustrated exhale he took a step back and decided to wait his hoof and see what would unfold, not that he had ever enjoyed doing so. He was a little surprised when Arabesque asked him a question, he hadn't realized she was there to be honest as he figured she'd run off with Ashti. Looking at her for a moment with a raised eyebrow, sighing tiredly he lowered his body down and sat himself down (sorta in this pose)

Stroking his chin scruff for a moment he picked his words carefully, he was in no mood to explain his lineage or his species origins for a second time that day so he decided to be vague.

"Married? No I'm afraid not, and my family...well lets just say they're long gone." He smiled at her.

A'bek didn't like just sitting there, he had considered simply using his druidic powers to shift the earth so that he could walk through the tunnel, however with them being under the museum and Manehatten itself, he didn't want to risk causing any sort of structural damage above by moving too much earth below. He would have to wait for a word from Ashti, although he was getting nervous as the seconds ticked by. It wasn't until 5 minutes had passed that finally A'bek stood up and looked to Arabesque with a concerned and stern expression upon his face.

"I don't like this, we need to do something." he sighed, wondering just what, if anything they could do.

[Ashti Sandburst]

Moving as fast he could, the Ambassador was using his glowing to light the road and his clairvoyance to see the aura. It would be very exhausted after it, but he had no choice: this was too dark to move without stumble, even if only using the clairvoyance he could see as well than with his ethereal magic.

Fortunately, the tunnel was spacious enough and in a straight line, at least for now.  This made the chase easier, However an issue was that this tunnel was not built by the workers which founded the basement, it was more recent and makeshift. A chaotic way full of impediments like stone on the ground. This makeshift way was probably done by the thief(ves) themselves, and if the pony he's chasisng is the thief, then this one would know the way better than Ashti and makes de chase harder. Despite these issues,  the Ambassador managed with this and his spell to catch up with the pony.

He have to admit that this pony was running fast, at least enough to lengthen the hunt. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or some enchanted relic, but it was the first time somepony managed to outdistance Ashti's speed spell.

The chase was lasting 3-4 minutes now, and Ashti even had to cast the Swift Steps again... and decided to innovate. The running in pony in sight, Ashti used all of his force, hind muscle and jumped on the pony, like a predator on his prey.

Get you!

Hearing the voice of Ashti, made the pony to look back… and it been his mistake : Surprised, the running pony lost focus and Immediately felt his body hitting the ground several time, in a roll with Ashti, like a ball made of their two bodies. Once Ashti's back, then the second pony's one, Ashti's back again. Due to the effect of Ashti's spell they bounced on several meters in the dust, and were about to be stopped only by a wall, a dead-end.

But before they crash against the wall, both pony vanished in flash of light. At the confusion of the Sandlander.

During this time, the Mare waited silent for a reply of the Ibex. Her attentions were pure and totally for sociable purpose. Yet, she felt like the A'bek was somewhat annoyed: She didn't know if it was her question, or the whole situation which provoked this reaction from the Ibex, however.

Finally, he replied and she had a genuine smile… until that he said that his family was gone. Even if it can be interpreted in some ways, she guessed that by this he meant "dead", and she felt sorry for the Ibex.

…My, my apologises.

She has been not willing to recall painful memories, sure with such question/subject there 50% chance that the reply is not a happy one, but she hoped it would not be this one. The Archivist respected the fact he doesn't want to detail or speak about it, and doesn't asked for precisions. Instead she shut down and looked to the entrance.

When A'bek rose up, Arabesque following with her glance. The Mare could not hide that her worry grown up with the minute passing. She trusted her husband, but agreed to the fact that something could have happens.

Ok, Let's-

Suddenly a flash appeared over A'bek and Arabesque's heads, like a spell casted and ready to struck them like lighting… but instead it was a ball made of ponies which fell, crashed on the ground in a loud noise, and cartoon way.

HuMPh!!!

When Ashti hit the ground he lost his grip, let go the other pony and be ejected like a couple of meters away under the gasp of Arabesque and her confused and chocked glance. …What did just happened ?

She immediately ran to Ashti, while the fugitive was laying on his back, crazed eyes, not moving like shell-shocked, don't even trying or daring to move. Catching his breath…

… y-you… c-crazy… brain-fa…thers…

… Before passing out. The "guest" was a unicorn, maybe around late 20's. He didn't had special body features and looked very banal, common. His cutie mark was a sliced purse dropping bits and a gems, only his domino mask and the simple saddlebag full of some tools and thief's stuff could indicate the kind of activity he's performing.

[CableZ]

A'bek stood a little bewildered at the sight that fell before him, quite literally in fact. Seeing Ashti tossed a few meters off in some direction and Arabesque quickly rushing to his side, leaving this stranger laying before the mountainous goat. A'bek looked over at Ashti with a raised eyebrow for a moment before looking down at the unicorn, quickly figuring out that Ashti had seen this pony in the tunnel and had chased him caused A'bek to take an intimidating step forward as he leaned down to look the shocked pony in the eye. chuckling softly as he stood back up straight, A'bek's horns began glowing from the core signaling he was about to use magic. With no warning or restraint the unicorn floated up from the ground, his eyes coming up to meet A'bek's glare.

"Nice to meet you, I believe we have some questions for you."

A'bek floated the stallion over to the wall, with a quick magic spell several roots burst from behind the stone and wrapped around the legs and chest of the pony, firmly holding him again the wall. This left A'bek to go and see how Ashti was doing, slowly and casually walking over to the sandlander and his spouse. Chuckling slightly at the sight of the the pony on the floor, it was probably inappropriate but he still found it funny. Looking over his shoulder at the unconscious pony tied to the wall, double checking he wasn't trying to escape. A'bek couldn't help but feel slightly smug at the idea of how exhausted Ashti seemed from running and using magic, being significantly larger lended the Ibex more stamina but this was not the time to feel smug.

"Are you alright down there my friend? You took a good tumble there." A'bek laughed. "You seem to have apprehended...someone, although he is a little indisposed at present but we should question him soon before the other thieves distance themselves from us even further."

[Ashti Sandburst]

Standing in the opposite way, Ashti was lying on the cold and dusty flour, mumbling in discomfort and a bit of pain, and his mind somewhat confused. Hurling oneself against a spell was rarely a good thing, and it was the same for teleporting spell.

This kind of spell, which plays with space and time, is relatively easy to use, but way more intricate to works. So, teleporting oneself with an unwilling guest was a rather bad idea, this and the lack of concentration. Sincerely they could have been teleported everywhere else… Ashti been quite lucky this time. Although the emergency teleportation had effect on his bad as the thief's mind.

Ashti's muscles were partially numbed and felt pins and needles all over his body. Watching Arabesque standing next to him, he smiled to the mare comfort her before trying to rise up… unsuccessfully.

A-aziz… a hoof, please…
Huh…?

She was a bit confused by what he wanted to mean… but she guessed he wanted some assistance to rise up. Nodding, she helped her husband to stand on his legs with her shoulders : Ashti was very light, so it was not really hard. And it was funny how she always had the feeling to carry a colt.

Ugh! Sukriya… (Sukriya)

His body quivering a bit, Ashti was clearly not up for any fight but it was the same for his opponent too. Arabesque was amazed by the spell A'bek used, the way he summoned the root. For Ashti, his mind was a bit hazy right now, so he didn't really mind. He however looked to the Ibex, and noticed the smug(ness) he was displaying… but Ashti didn't understood the reason of it. And raised an eyebrow to A'bek's laugh.

I… huh… I am… accustom-med to… this kind of… situation… I am fi-

But suddenly his body tensed under the exhaustion and the display of abilities he used during the hunt. Holding his heart, the Ambassador started to cough, firmly. Even if his hemoptysis be cured a year ago and thus expended Ashti's life expectancy, when subject to strong tiredness or stress some remains of the illness happened, as he showed it right now. Taking a handkerchief that he placed in the front of his mouth it didn't lasted long for that it became partially strained and coloured with drops and marks.

With his handkerchief, he cleaned his muzzle, huffing. While trying to clear his throat as well.

…My, apologises. Phew! I… need a break.

Sitting, Ashti coughed a couple of times, but it was a normal cough, although pressing a bit his heart and chest in an uncomfortable way. From there he looked to the Ibex then the thief, nodding and laughing a bit.

Yaqeh'nan (indeed), It seems…

Waiting a couple of minute to get better, the Sandlander finally rose up and walked to the thief, his saddlebag notably. He was too week to use his ethereal magic, so he check it in the normal way. He quickly noticed that there was no sign of the box there, so either this thief have hidden it, or that another thief has it. Maybe a henchman or partner.

Question... him, hm? Well…

Looking to the thief, Ashti raised a hoof and slapped the cheek of the "prey". I didn't slap with force but enough to wake up someone… normally. But if it didn't really work… at least, it been releasing.

Should I… hit harder ?
Hihi. If you let me…

Looking to his spouse, Ashti nodded to her although he didn't really know what she was playing : he knew what she can do, but what she will do…

Smiling, the mare faced the unconscious unicorn and started to touch his chest with her hooves, to caress it under the unfazed glance of her husband.

Hm… darling?
There!

Then. With a quick and precise hoof she hit a spot in the unicorn's chest and immediately after this one woke up with a start. Under the sufficient smile of the Archivist. The mare was used to see her husband come back from his relic-hunts and krav-maga training with soreness in muscles. So, she spend time to learn massage in the purpose to health and relax Ashti and his muscle.

… Oh right, Zilf'el-jabar (shiatsu).

Literal "hooves pressure", it was a massage technique originally from Zàngyánqū, the Tibleatan empire. Deerham didn't have its own massage technique, so they used other nations' or be inspired by.

Although adapted with Sandlandic believes: one was that the body have spots called "chakra", kind of inner road (naḍî) allowing the vital flux and magic energy to travel through the body. The health's issues, notably muscle sores, are due to a perturbation of the vital flux. Pressing the right spots at the right time, made it able to relax body, muscle and to "wake up" someone, like she did.

This technique can also stabilise someone breathing, but she hesitated to do it to Ashti right now. Afraid to worsen his body's situation.

The now awaken unicorn was looking to the trio, before noticing he was himself maintained against the wall.

What the… hey! What do you do ?! Release me! I'm the "Formidable Larceny", I have connections!!

Totally unfazed, Ashti glanced casually to his teammate, before starting with generic questions.

… never heard of you. And to be honest, the only thing which interests me is your replies. So, let us start… are you the one which have stolen the box in the Elysian Gallery ?
Eheh.

A smug in face, the thief was proud that they connected him to this break-in. He was not a really successful thief, but will became famous with this case: So, he had no reason to deny it.

… I am Steal Intent! The Formidable Larceny, Of course I did it! Retain my name, son. 'cause I'll be famous in the newspapers. Haha!
… Oookay, so where the box is, Mister Intent?
"Formidable Larceny"! And for the box… Bah, I… huh… teleported it? That's it, I teleported it to my fence. You'll get me, but I will be rich and famous! Ha-ha!

Rubbing a hoof on his neck, the Ambassador was not really in the mood for such antics. He felt like it can spent a long time and they will not have much informations. Ot if they do, it would probably be too late. This steal intent was clearly lying about what he did do the box. Ashti turned back to the thief and looked to A'bek, wondering.

Mister Thorns... do you have any tricks which could help us right now?

Next he looked to arabesque, not forgetting about her.

...Or any ideas of what to do, aziz?