Gleaming branches of crystal stretched to the sky, radiant in the majesty of the morning sun, only slightly dulled by the centuries of thick vines and ivy that had climbed up the glittering walls and spires of the Castle of Friendship, patterning it with the unmistakable camouflage of that which was lost. Only the great amethyst star at the top was spared, catching the sun and diffusing its rays in a spectacular multicolour light show that defied description in its beauty.
Standing on the ground before it, mind reeling in shock at her discovery, Sunny Starscout felt her jaw fall slack.
"Uh... Sunny? You... you doing okay, there?"
Hitch Trailblazer approached his friend cautiously, before daring to reach out and give her the lightest of prods, causing her to jump slightly. Shaking her head in wonder, she cleared her throat and grinned stupidly before responding.
"Okay? Never better! Do you know what this place is?"
"Uh... nope." Hitch smiled back sheepishly, scratching the back of his mane with a hoof. "Mind filling me in, there?"
Sunny scoffed and jabbed a hoof in the direction of the castle in front of them, voice dripping with ridicule as if astounded by Hitch's ignorance.
"That's the Castle of Friendship! It's where Princess Twilight Sparkle used to live before... before she became princess of alllllll of Equestria! Didn't you pay attention in history class?"
"You know, now you mention it... no. No, I did not. Oh, come on!" Hitch protested as Sunny rolled her eyes. "I paid extra attention in civics, don't I get some credit there?"
"Sure, Hitch. I'm sure your knowledge of Maritime Bay's legal codex will come in real handy here." Shoving Hitch teasingly, she strutted forwards. "Next time, remind me to ask Zipp instead."
"What? You'd rather have Miss Daredevil than your old buddy Hitch?"
"I'd rather have someone who could reach the high-shelf."
"Are you calling me short?"
"No. I'd say you're about... average height..."
The interior of the castle was untouched, still as pristine as the day it had been abandoned, save for the dust and cobwebs that had collected in every corner, nook and crevice. Striding forwards, Hitch reared before a large door and burst it open, reeling backwards seconds later in a cacophony of splutters and coughs as centuries-old dust flew into the air.
"Hitch!" Sunny yelled, reeling at the explosion of soot and blinking rapidly in a desperate attempt to clear her vision.
"Sorry!" Hitch waved his hoof in the air in a desperate attempt to remedy his mistake. "Look, it's settling. Come on, let's see what - woah."
"What?" Sunny grumbled, following his gaze. "You'd better have found..." She trailed off. "Oh, yeah, that's... that's a woah."
The room was enormous, ceiling stretching up to the heights of the castle spire. The walls were flanked by bookshelves that scaled the walls to the top of the ceiling above, yet they were completely empty. Either they had never seen much use, or their previous owner had been a serious fan of books.
But the room's most striking attraction lay at its centre, where seven thrones, one noticeably smaller than the other six, lined the edge of a great marble disc upon which shimmered a holographic representation of what could only be Equestria.
Hitch cleared his voice before speaking. "Is... is that what I think it is?"
"The map!" Sunny exploded, charging forwards and slamming her hooves down on the hologram, causing Hitch to choke and splutter on the cloud of dust she kicked up in her wake. "Sorry!"
"It's... fine..." Hitch gasped, eyes watering as he pushed forwards, joining her side and staring down at he map in bleary-eyed wonder. "I... I never thought I'd see it in person. I didn't know it even still existed."
"Me neither." Sunny gazed down with shining eyes at the map in wonder. "Just think, this, right here, this is where Princess Twilight and the Elements of Harmony sat, all those years ago."
"Yeah..." Hitch cleared his throat sheepishly. "You... you mind reminding me how all this works, again?"
"Really?" Sunny groaned. "Princess Twilight and her friends used this map to track down friendship problems all over Equestria. Whenever the map detected a friendship problem, it would select the ponies best suited to resolve it, and then... well, then they'd go and solve it!" Sunny studied the hologram intently, as if expecting her own cutie mark to suddenly pop up somewhere. "We're probably the first ponies to see it in centuries."
"Well that is... fascinating." Hitch muttered. "I'm not sure if it's what we're looking for, though. We're trying to find why the Pegasai, Earth Ponies and Unicorns turned against each other. I think we can file this pretty firmly under the 'historical friendship artefacts' list... through those are usually a little more portable."
"Yeah..." Sunny murmured, still gazing down at the table in wonder. "I... I guess you're right. Come on, let's see what else - hey!"
"What?" Hitch spun around. "You know the rules, no heys without a good reason!"
"Good reason! Look!" Sunny pointed at the throne opposite her, one with three crimson apples laid into it. In the seat of the throne was a scroll with a broken seal and filled with tiny, cramped hoofwriting. Leaping over the table, Sunny seized the letter and slammed it against the table, squinting in frustration through the hologram in an attempt to read the contents.
"Oh, for... this was so much easier with a horn."
Dragging the letter off the table and pinning it to the floor, she leaned in and started to mumble, eyes straining to comprehend the thick, clumsy, barely legible script.
"Dear... Proncess? Aw, how am I supposed to read this?"
Hitch slowly approached and cleared his throat.
"Sunny?"
"What?"
"You mind?"
Sunny reluctantly backed away. As Hitch focused intently on the letter in front of him, she strode around the table, eyes widening as she realized the letter wasn't alone; each throne had a letter just like it, torn seal and all.
"There's more. Hey, you don't think - "
"Got it."
Sunny span around. "Really?"
"Please. Have you ever seen Sprout's hoofwriting? I could decipher a letter written by an angry manticore with a thorn in its paw." He cleared his throat. "You want me to read it to you?"
Sunny nodded enthusiastically, falling onto her hind legs and leaning in.
"Go ahead!"