The Royal Estate

(https://youtu.be/mK_PJsiNYkI?si=uu8BiM_nuEauwny3) Amy cannot recall how long she has been traveling. Nar was the one with a phone, and wrist watch to help keep the time, and he fell into some sort of trap a while ago. Though, she has had a lot of time to think. In between checking her surroundings for the royal guard, that is. The city she finds herself in is almost certainly some version of Canterlot. The castle sits high atop the city, and looks exactly as she remembers it looking back before she got lost in the AHS. Most of the notable, historic buildings are here too, but the city itself is… Odd. Amy guesses she’s been traveling for a few days now, with a few stops for rest here and there. She thought she would have made it to the royal estate by now, but no. Instead, it feels more like she’s been walking through the same few streets for the past few days. She started to notice it when she passed by the same bakery for the third time. Then she started paying closer attention to the buildings around her. Sure enough, the entire street just seems to repeat after a long while. It was beginning to make Amy question whether or not she’d be stuck walking this street forever. Occasionally, she hears the sound of heavy bootsteps, and clanging armor. She’s gotten pretty good at finding places to hide when the royal guard, Pisces, comes around. She can’t help but wonder if the royal guard might be stuck in the same ‘loop’ she is. Though, the royal guard has wings, so maybe she could just fly out if she wanted to. Regardless, she seems to be aware that Amy is in the area. She’ll have to stay vigilant if she wants to avoid being captured, or killed. Amy shudders to think what ‘The King’ would do to her if she was caught. In the distance, Amy can see the street open up, and beyond it, a large, sprawling estate rests. It features a large fence, and lush, well maintained vegetation on an immaculately kept, spacious lawn. Atop the hill in the middle of the estate rests a large, ornately designed manor. One half appears to be painted black, with purple roofing. While the other half is white, with orange roofing. Despite the contrasting colors, the manor itself looks beautiful. In fact, the colors only seem to add to the beauty. Amy finds herself entranced by the sight, only to be broken out of it when she finally exits out of the street, and meets the grand gate barring her entrance to the estate. As Amy approaches the massive, golden gate, a voice calls out to her. “You there! State your business!” Amy jumps at the sudden noise. Her head swivels to her right, where she finds a stone, security booth. Inside, a mechanical version of what looks to be a Solar, stands upright. Amy opens her mouth to speak, but the Solar cuts her off. “By order of the Royal Jester, only authorized persons may enter the estate!” Royal Jester? Oh great. Another thing trying to capture, or kill her. Or maybe… “I was sent here by the machinist. He told me to come here to look for something.” The Solar’s posture relaxes. He reaches over to his side, and pulls a lever, causing the gate to slowly swing open. Surprisingly, the gate is silent as it opens. Amy is allowed to slip past, at which point, the gate closes behind her. From behind her, Amy hears the Solar utter one last message. “Look to the courtyard, in front of the manor. There, you will find the way forward.” With the message in mind, Amy begins her walk along the path, up to the manor. Halfway up the path, Amy believes she hears a voice. She quickly ducks behind one of the bushes along the path, and peers through it to look towards the gate. She can just barely make out the bat wings, and unicorn horn on the figure standing before the booth. The Royal Guard, Pisces. “Solar!” Pisces’ shout is so loud, that Amy can hear it from so far away. “Report!” Amy is just barely able to make out the Solar’s response. “Sir! Nothing to report! Sir!” The royal Guard’s wings flash out in anger. “Is your machinery damaged?! Surely you must have seen the intruder around here somewhere!” “Sir! I have not seen the intruder, Sir! I shall not allow any unauthorized persons within the grounds of the estate, Sir!” The Royal Guard’s wing retract. “Then keep those sensors of yours focused! We cannot allow the intruder to escape!” The Royal guard then pivots, and begins her march back down the street. Amy only exits from cover, and continues up the path once the Royal Guard is fully out of sight. (https://youtu.be/8deqkse1obI?si=nr-hrT3szKbsMnNF) When Amy reaches the top of the path, she is greeted by the sight of a truly majestic courtyard in front of the manor. The courtyard itself is surrounded by trees, and shrubbery in a circle. The path opens into a circular shape, where a strange jumble of statues stands in the middle. Around the path, a small ring of grass separates it from the trees, and shrubbery. At the other end of the circle, the path leads to a set of grand, white marble stairs that lead to the manor’s large, wooden doors. The left door is painted a brilliant orange, while the right is painted a royal purple. Amy approaches the statues in the middle of the courtyard. As she does so, she notices that the area below the statues is rectangular in shape, and features some sort of tracks, as if to allow for the statues to be easily rearranged. The statues themselves sit atop stone bases, which slot perfectly along the tracks, and alongside each other. She then begins to inspect each statue closely, finding each has a very unique pose, and has engravings carved into the bases. The first statue Amy approaches is one similar to one she saw at the fountain. It takes the form of an Alicorn. It features the long, flowing hair that shifts upwards near its end, an elegant, gothic style suit, and a crown with a brilliant amethyst within. It appears to assume a pose indicating some sort of grief, guilt, or madness. His hands are opened wide, and clasped along the sides of his face. His eyes peek through the area between his pinky, and ring fingers. His eyes appear wide, and jaw agape. The Engraving below him reads “King Borealis. Brother, Scholar, Madman.” Behind King Borealis sits a statue of a young unicorn woman. She appears to feature a similar style of hair to that of King Borealis, but sports no crown. She wears a long, flowing dress, and a simple circlet atop her head. She is posed on her knees, with her arms out, as if holding another person. Her face shows shock, and disbelief. Below, her engraving reads “Princess Andromeda. Daughter, Mage, Beloved Niece.” To her left, the next figure appears to be quite distinct. The figure is a unicorn, which  sports the outfit of a medieval jester. Though, strangely, the mask he wears upon his face only covers half of it. He is posed with his hands held up, beside his head. Looking closer, Amy spots what looks to be a dagger at his feet. His expression is one of fear, and regret. Below his statue, the name has been carved out, but the description is still legible. “Advisor, Friend, Deceived.” Beside the Jester figure stands another. This one is also similar to one of the ones from the fountain. This one is also an alicorn. His hair resembles that of flame, and sports a crown with a shining opal inside it. He wears a long cape over what looks to be a fine toga. He is posed, leaning back, with one arm laid atop his forehead, and the other hanging limp by his side. His eyes are closed, but mouth agape. He appears to be in anguish. The engraving on his base reads “King Corona. Beloved King, Fiery Orator, Betrayed Brother.” The final statue stands in front of King Corona. It appears to be a young, male unicorn with short, well kept hair. He sports a short cloak over a set of ornate armor. He is posed, reaching for the sword at his side. His face is that of rage, and despair. His engraving reads “Crown Prince Andromedus. Son, Heir, Avenging Nephew.” After taking some time to think, Amy believes she understands what she is here to do. She begins to push the statues along the tracks, in an attempt to re-arrange them. It takes tremendous physical, and mental effort. As she pushes the statues along, she can feel the Astral Highway System beginning to push its way into her mind. She has to take a break part way through to eat, drink, and rest, but once she’s done so, she’s right back to rearranging the statues. It takes her many attempts, but after what must have been hours of rearranging, Amy slides the Prince into the middle of the other 4 statues. The order of the statues is now King Borealis on the left, screaming as the Jester stands to his right, hands aloft. Prince Andromedus stands to the right of the Jester, reaching for his sword to strike him. Behind him, King Corona falls into the arms of Princess Andromeda, who weeps for her fallen uncle. As Prince Andromedus is slotted into place, a loud, mechanical “TCHUNK” reverberates through the estate. Two beams of light cut through the courtyard from opposite ends. One passes through the amethyst of King Borealis’ crown, and the other passes through the opal of King Corona. The two colored lights meet atop the prince’s horn, and appear to combine. Amy is forced to cover her eyes as a bright flash emits from the prince’s horn. When her vision returns, Amy finds that the beams of light have meshed into one, and are being redirected. Her eyes follow the beam as it travels out of the estate, and into the city. The beam of light appears to end at the top of a church tower, near the plaza she had first entered the city in. That must be the path the Solar was talking about. Now, she just needed to get there without being spotted by the Royal Guard.