The small town was surrounded on all sides by snow and mud. How far must North must they have come, Twilight wondered? Too far for comfort, that was for sure. Even Rainbow, with her thick pegasus coat designed for the cold of high altitude, was looking a bit chilly. Her cheeks had gone red and every time she breathed out, she exhaled a thick cloud of fog.
The air smelled salty. The ocean wasn’t far.
“This is where the dig is?” Applejack asked. “It don’t look like much.”
“No,” Zerephonzidas said. “The dig itself is a great deal away, but we must make it there on foot. The train doesn’t stop there.”
Rarity rubbed her sides, and pulled out a long, fashionable scarf from her bag. “Well, perhaps we should get going before we all catch our deaths of cold,” she said. A nearby cart kicked mud up from the soggy roads. “Or get covered in dirt.”
“We need to meet the rest of the team first,” Twilight said. “Do you know who it is we’ll be working with?”
“Locals, I imagine. As well as some more experienced diggers,” Zerephonzidas said. “We’re to meet them at the local hotel. They should be all ready to head out as soon as we’re ready.”
Rainbow pawed the ground. “Well, let’s get going. I can’t wait to actually do something instead of sit around in a train for four hours.”
Twilight noticed that even Zerephonzidas seemed to be eager to move. His wings, which were large enough to cover all four ponies, would flex in and out ever so slightly, working out the aches of travel.
Twilight wondered if the weather would improve at the dig site. As it stood, the sky was covered with unseemly clouds. Rainbow snorted.
“Some weather team they have here,” she said. “This place looks like a mess.”
Rarity didn’t say anything, but Twilight could see her scowl at the dirt and ugly sleet. Rarity was polite enough to not voice her displeasure at the rather ugly town, though she didn't have the discipline to hide it.
“Well, let’s get movin’. You know where this hotel is, Zereph’?”
Zerephonzidas bristled at his shortened name, but didn’t say anything about it. “Yes. I have the address.”
“Then lead the way,” Twilight said.
Twilight noticed the ponies in this dreary northern town step around the group, undoubtedly to avoid bumping into Zerephonzidas. Even if they didn’t know what he was, they could tell a predator when they saw it.
“Um, Mr. Zerephonzidas?”
“Just Zerephonzidas will do.”
“You don’t… um… eat ponies, do you?”
Zerephonzidas allowed Twilight to catch up with him, and lowered his voice.
“Not any more,” he said.
Twilight’s eyes widened in shock. Zerephonzidas caught the look and was quick to elaborate.
“Recall that a million years prior, your kind could neither talk nor speak. The context was quite different.” He sniffed. “I dislike eating smart creatures.”
Of course, Twilight thought. That must be where that frightful instinct kept surfacing from.
“Well, um, thanks for cutting us out of your diet.”
“You’re welcome.”
The hotel was large, considering the size and state of the village. It was also remarkably clean, which Rarity was very glad for. She brushed her hooves and moved close to a large fireplace to warm herself up.
Zerephonzidas moved up to the mare at the desk. The little pony was very clearly fighting the desire to back away. The sphinx sighed, for the first time showing discomfort at the caution ponies held towards him.
Twilight trotted up next to him. “It’s fine,” she said, flashing the mare a smile as genuine as she could make it. “We’re looking for… what’s the pony’s name, Zerephonzidas?”
“Digger Douglas,” the sphinx said. “We’re to meet him here for an expedition.”
The mare calmed down. “Ah, yes. I’ll give him a call.”
Zerephonzidas turned towards Twilight. “Perhaps I should let you handle the interactions with the other ponies.” He strode away towards the fireplace. “I shall stand in the corner and look intimidating.”
Twilight nodded. “Ah, yes, all right,” she said. “I’ll call you if I need you.”
Rainbow trotted up next to Twilight.
“Think he’ll scare off all the diggers?” she asked. “I mean, I don’t care, but that mare looked like she had seen a ghost. Not a friendly one, either.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I shouldn’t think so.” She looked over at Zerephonzidas. “Not all of them, at least.”
It didn’t take long for a small pony to trot into the large room. He was a dusty looking stallion, and had stubble you could have used for sandpaper. His eyes, quite unlike Zerephonzidas’s, were big and friendly.
“Hello. You, uh, what’s the name? Zere…”
“No, I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said. “Zerephonzidas is over there.”
The stallion looked over Twilight’s shoulder and blanched.
“Big fellow, isn’t he?”
“Are you Digger Douglas?”
“That’s me. You can call me Doug, though.”
“Nice to meet you,” Twilight said. She gestured to her friends. “These are Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack.”
“Hey there.”
“Hello.”
“Howdy.”
Digger Douglas waved. “Evenin’.” He turned back to Twilight. “The boys will be ready to head out with a caravan headin’ out to the nearby towns,” he said. “We can’t leave right now, ‘cause it’s dark, and these parts ain’t safe at night.”
Twilight nodded. “When does the caravan leave?”
“Tomorrow morning. Thing is, it only goes once every two weeks. You guys picked a real bad time to go to a dig site.”
Twilight frowned. “Only once every two weeks?”
“Yeah. You can try’n get around without followin’ the ponies here, but I wouldn’t recommend it.” He cheered up. “Good news is we have food for months, and the caravan will keep us well stocked, so there isn’t anything to worry about.”
Twilight smiled. “Well, that’s a relief.”
“It’ll take us a good long while to get there, though,” Douglas said. “Here, you want I should show you a map?”
Rainbow looked excited at the mention of ‘map’. “Ooh, yeah. That’d be great.”
Douglas moved over to a small table in the center of the room surrounded with large, comfortable armchairs. He unfolded a large map of the area onto the table.
“You don’t mind if Zerephonzidas takes a look?”
Douglas looked up at the huge sphinx. He breathed out.
“Nope, not at all. He’s in charge, isn’t he?”
Zerephonzidas strode over to the table.
“Actually, I believe Celestia put Twilight in charge,” he said.
Twilight did not recall any such decision from Celestia’s part. Regardless, Zerephonzidas leaned over the map.
Digger Douglas pointed towards a small point on the map, trapped between two large rock faces. “This here is where we’re headin’. I don’t know how Princess Celestia was able to find the place, but that’s it. Popped out of a large pile of snow after Tirek went and nicked all the pegasus magic. Really messed up the weather here.”
“Ironic,” Zerephonzidas said. “Once, that site was hidden not under snow, but sand.”
“Sand?” Twilight asked. “Also, how could Celestia recognise this as the dig site we want?”
“I described the features to her,” Zerephonzidas said. “Given the proper description, somepony of Celestia’s intellect would have wanted to investigate further.”
Douglas shrugged. “I don’t know about all that, but there’s a small camp outside left behind by some earlier explorers. They ain’t there any more… left to go someplace warmer… but we can stay there until we carve us a better camp inside the caverns.”
“In the caverns?” Rarity asked, her face falling.
“Yup. We can make ‘em nice and warm. Better than tents outside, at least.”
Rarity scowled.
“I don’t like caverns.”
“Hey, don’t be like that. It’s just like camping,” Rainbow said. “It’ll be awesome.”
Zerephonzidas smiled, a faraway look on his face.
“It’s been too long since I’ve started looking for this place,” he said. “I almost can’t believe we’re this close.” He breathed in. “It’s overwhelming.”
“It’s exciting,” Rainbow added.
“Well,” Applejack butted in, “We’d better get some rest. Long day tomorrow, right?”
Twilight nodded. “I agree. But first, I could really use a meal.”
“Same here!” Rainbow exclaimed.
The journey the next day was long and tiring. The snow made it hard to see and the wind shoved the ponies to and fro. Only Zerephonzidas’s large frame could withstand the gale properly, but not even the sphinx could completely ignore the cold.
They travelled uphill for the most part, with a team of over twenty ponies, and a dozen more making up the caravan.
Applejack and Rainbow were having an animated discussion about the merits of adventure. Rainbow would say ‘Daring Do’ at least once every three sentences or so. She had a very particular vision of what constituted an adventure, and she was adamant that they were on one. Applejack, on the other hand, said that there was nothing exciting about walking in the cold.
Rarity had decided to shiver in silence.
Twilight tried to canter up to Zerephonzidas, leaving the three to their own devices. She wanted to know more about this magic he was investigating.
“Excuse me?” she asked, having to shout to be heard over the wind. “I wanted to ask about this thing you’re looking for!”
Zerephonzidas looked back, and slowly extended a huge wing to shield the little alicorn from the wind. Twilight found she didn’t have to shout any more.
“What did you want to know?”
“Well, for starters, how long have you been searching for it?”
Zerephonzidas sighed, exhaling enough fog to partially obscure his features. “A long, long time,” he said. “Five thousand years, if I remember rightly.”
Twilight breathed in. “That’s from before the founding of Equestria,” she said.
“Quite.”
“Why spend so much time searching for it?” she asked. “It seems excessive.”
Zerephonzidas shrugged. “What else am I going to do with my time?”
Twilight didn’t have an answer to that. “Anything?” she asked. “You live forever, don’t you?”
The sphinx chuckled. “From your point of view, perhaps!” he said. “You like learning, don’t you?”
Twilight nodded.
“Well, there you go.”
“I can’t imagine spending five thousand years looking for one piece of information, though,” Twilight said.
“Neither did I, until I did it.” He grinned. “But now, it seems, my waiting is at an end.”
The caravan began to slow down. Shouts erupted across the crowd of ponies as they organised themselves. Twilight couldn’t see anything through the falling snow. Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity all caught up with her.
“Have we arrived?” Rarity asked, uttering her first words in over a half hour.
Digger Douglas found the group amongst the bustle. “Nearly there. Going to set up a watch here for when the caravan comes back.” He turned to one of the ponies. “Oy! Scraper, Picker! Grab a tent and start setting it up. Make sure it’s out of the wind.”
“Why us, boss?”
“It’s freezin’ out ‘ere!”
Douglas groaned. “We’ll rotate! Now get to work!”
Zerephonzidas looked up, seemingly able to see through the blinding snow. “Ah, this brings me back,” he muttered.
Douglas moved to the leader of the caravan. “Thanks for gettin’ us here,” he said. “See you in two weeks, yeah?”
The other pony nodded. “Sure thing. Stay safe, eh?”
Twilight was led through the snow, and the wind died down. She looked around. The snow was thinner here, and she quickly realised why. They were in-between two large outcrops of ice-covered rock. Not far away, she could see the shapes of small tents near the face of a large, granite cliff.
“I guess we made it,” she said.
Zerephonzidas nodded. “Yes, we have,” he said, and flapped his wings. The wind he caused made Twilight’s mane whip across her face, but she was too absorbed by the sight of Zerephonzidas flying around the dig site. He was laughing. “Five thousand years!” he exclaimed. “Ha! Oh, it’s been too long, even for me!”
Rainbow pulled up behind Twilight.
“Wow. He’s nuts.”
“Oh, he’s just excited is all,” Rarity said. “After all, wouldn’t you be if you waited five, um, thousand years?”
“I suppose,” Rainbow said. “Still, he’d better calm down and help out. We still need to set up camp.”
“Already on it,” Digger Douglas said. “Come on, lads, let’s get to work.”
Above them, Zerephonzidas was still cackling, his eyes filled with juvenile excitement.
“It’s been so long since I’ve learned something new,” he said. He smiled, and flew back down to earth. “Pass me the heavy stuff. Let’s move as quickly as we can!”