//------------------------------// // Lost history // Story: Lyra's Discovery // by Thunder Brony //------------------------------// The next day during lunch a knock came on the door Bon-Bon went to answer it she saw the mailmare standing there “hi Derpy.” Derpy smiled “hi Bon-Bon here’s your mail” as she reached into her mailbag and pulled out some letters as Bon-Bon took them in her teeth Derpy said “see you around.” Bon-Bon smiled and nodded as Derpy took off to finish her deliveries she placed the mail on a table and spread the letters out when she noticed one from Twilight. She opened it read Dear Lyra and Bon-Bon, I have spoken with Princess Celestia and she wishes to meet with us regarding the disappearance of the artifacts in 2 days. I procured 3 train tickets see you in 2 ou in 2 days if you unable to make it let me know see Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle. She found a second letter in the stack addressed to her she opened it a party horn sounded and confetti popped out she wondered how anypony could put confetti in a letter. The letter it read Dear Bon-Bon, I found some employees for you candy store. Meet me at Sugar cube Corner at your convenience Sincerely, Pinkie Pie. Bon-Bon thought now the confetti makes sense as she put on her saddlebags turned to Lyra and said “I’m going into town Pinkie found some potential employees.” Lyra said “ok see you later.” Bon-Bon smiled and kissed Lyra goodbye and went into town later that day she home and said “Lyra I’m home.” Lyra came into the living room carrying her lyre in a golden aura as she sat on the sofa “hi Bon-Bon did you find what you were looking for?” Bon-Bon climbed onto the sofa laid down and said “sort of I had no idea Pinkie was so well connected there were ponies lined up outside.” She smiled gently “most were phillies and colts that were either looking to make extra bits or finding their talents.” Lyra placed her lyre on the table and sat down next to Bon-Bon “any luck?” Bon-Bon shook her head “not yet I never thought there would be so many ponies.” Lyra asked “how many were there?” Bon-Bon said “45.” Lyra smiled “would you expect anything less from Pinkie?” Bon-Bon smiled “you have a point I narrowed it down to 15 but I only need 5” she smiled “two to run the front counter, two to help with inventory and one to help prepare the confections. I should have what I need by tomorrow.” Lyra smiled and said “that’s good.” The next day Bon-Bon went into town and met with the remaining 15 candidates after she returned home she said “Lyra I’m h-o-o-me.” Lyra said “welcome home she came up and kissed Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon said “I found the five I was looking for, 3 fillies and 2 colts.” Lyra smiled “that’s wonderful news.” The next day a knock on the door Lyra and Bon-Bon both knew who it was Lyra answered the door “hi Twilight.” Bon-Bon said “hi Twilight.” Twilight said “hi Lyra, hi Bon-Bon you two ready?” Lyra said “were ready who’s mining the library?” Twilight said “Spike” she smiled “he was so excited to be given such a responsibility I told him if he had any problems he could ask Rarity she agreed to help him out if he needs it.” The two nodded as they as they made their way to the train station on the train Lyra asked Twilight “are there any non-pony references to a giant fireball stealing the sun.” Twilight thought for a moment and said “yes the dragons have legends so do the griffins, Zebras and Minotaur’s when we get back I have some books and go into greater detail.” Once they arrived in Canterlot they met with Celestia as they entered the royal chambers they saw her sitting on her throne they entered and bowed respectively. Celestia smiled stood up and came down from the throne. Twilight said “thank you for this meeting your majesty what did you find out regarding the missing artifacts?” Celestia said as she lead them into a small room with several small cushions “please make yourself comfortable” as the 3 laid down on the cushions.” She smiled as she lay down on a cushion facing then “I’m always happy to see my subjects. We have a few leads on the missing artifacts.” Twilight, Lyra and Bon-Bon listened as Celestia continued “I have information about the society for the preservation of historical accuracy they sent a letter. Analysis has determined it to be written on a typewriter so the author could not be verified by writing analysis. However, the next time they send a letter we should be able to track them. Bon-Bon asked “how are you going to do that?” Celestia said “we have 2 letters so far if they send one more we can use a scribe spell and track them even if they are send it from multiple locations we can triangulate there location.” Lyra said “it does not matter let them threaten us, soon we will have enough evidence to prove the theory and they will be exposed and will have no choice but to acknowledge our findings.” Celestia asked “what did you find inside the pyramid?” Lyra and Bon-Bon told her what they found Celestia nodded then said “I remember something I heard in my youth after the loss of Ianantica Equestria fell into a dark age. Not just technology was lost but harmony too as rifts began to form among pony races and the pyramid began to fall into disuse. Twilight asked “what was it used for?” Celestia said “I’m not sure but I think it had something to do with the sun and moon.” Twilight said “that explains the crystals we saw.” Lyra nodded in agreement and said “we also found a scroll in the Badlands that Twilight translated it was a last will and testament from Columar Harnark. The last human and he said something similar.” Twilight nodded in acknowledgment. Bon-Bon suddenly had an epiphany “wait if legends of humans are true then does that means the hearts warming story is also true” she paused “right?” Celestia said softly “yes legends are based on some degree of truth the hearts warming play is close to what really happened what it did not say was.” Looking at Lyra she said “the last human said a fireball stole the sun right?” Lyra nodded “we now know it was a giant asteroid impact that that threw a large amount of dust into the atmosphere that blocked out the sun.” Celestia nodded “yes based on what I heard the darkness lasted for 6.5 months but the Dark Age that followed lasted for about 1,500 years. After the skies cleared the unicorns raised the sun but it took the combined effort of at least 20 to move the sun any less and the sun would not move. It also taxed their magic so they rotated by region. Each day a different region would raise the sun giving the previous region time to relax and recover.” Bon-Bon asked “who moved the moon? Celestia said “the unicorns but since the moon is smaller it took only 7-10 depending on their magical aptitude they also alternated regions but not as often.” Lyra, Bon-Bon and Twilight listened intently as Celestia continued. Celestia paused for a moment as she levitated over a challis and took a sip of water and continued “I was born 500 years after the great cataclysm and Luna 1,300 years later. I was 1000 years old and Luna was 200 years old when the pony races united. My parents decided to give us a place to call home so they began to build us a castle.” She smiled nostalgically “Luna and I helped move some of the stones into place. Once the basic construction was complete my father placed a glowing magic orb high above the castle. It was to serve as a beacon to draw in other alicorns but after several decades none came. We began to suspect we were the last of our kind” she sighed “centuries passed the castle was completed but still no alicorns came.” Twilight was slightly confused I don’t understand why you don’t procreate?” Celestia said “we can’t at least with not with the three pony races, during the time of Ianantica many tried and failed it was discovered that alicorn DNA is not compatible with pony DNA.” Her eyes took on a slightly sad look “alicorns are a different genus of pony. However, when we pass ourselves onto others using magic we infuse a portion of our DNA into a chosen pony. Such as Cadence this process gives them greater magical reserves and abilities. But they retain their fundamental DNA and therefore can procreate. So their offspring will be part alicorn” she smiled softly “I guess in some way alicorns will carry on.” Twilight Lyra and Bon-Bon sat there in amazement as Celestia continued “several hundred years after the pony races united they had several small governing bodies all over Equestria. My parents were elderly but despite their ages they met with the various governing leaders. They told the leaders if they had any problems they could be found in the castle in the forest south of the spire mountain look for the large evergreen orb in the sky. Word spread quickly and the various governing bodies they were surprised to learn alicorns still lived. They heard the legends of Ianantica Luna and I helped in unification of the various governing bodies. Which lead to the founding of Equestria.” Twilight, Lyra and Bon-Bon looked at each other and then at Celestia in amazement after a brief pause Lyra said “wow that’s quite a tale your majesty, but what does that have to do with the lost pyramid?” Celestia smiled softly and said “everything remember those crystals I found inside?” Twilight, Lyra and Bon-Bon all nodded unison. Celestia continued “this happened before I received my cutie mark I heard stories about the pyramid of power but its location was lost to history. So I went in search of the legend my parents said it was located somewhere to the southeast of the castle we lived it at the time. I flew in that direction and soon found it the area was still grassland. There were not very many trees so the pyramid was easy to find. I landed and saw something above the entrance but I could not read what the text said.” Twilight told her what the translation said. Celestia nodded “so that’s what it said I haven’t thought about that in a long time” she smiled “as I was saying I went inside wondered what those crystals were for. I could not read the text and translation spells had not been discovered yet the pyramid had fallen into disrepair. I entered the pyramid and saw the crystals. I was not sure what they were for so I focused my magic on one of them suddenly the sky went dark. I wondered what happened and went outside I looked up and what I saw shocked me. I saw the sun and moon in the sky at the same time the moon covered the sun causing darkness in the afternoon.” Bon-Bon said “wait what? You saw the sun and moon in the sky at the same time how is that possible?” Celestia said “I suspect the crystals in the pyramid were used to amplify magic and when I focused on the one I accidentally moved the moon the across the sky and covered the sun. I’m not sure what happened and not wanting to cause any more damage than I already did. So I reached out with my magic and found I could move the sun. So I moved it out of the way of the moon and restored the daylight. When I returned home Luna told me I had a mark on my flank pointing to it I turned my head and noticed I got my cutie mark. I was excited to get it I wondered if Luna could do something similar. Looking up into the sky I noticed the moon was still in the sky so I asked her to see if she could set it. She was unsure but tried and was successful and got her cutie mark.” She was so excited she smiled softly “we celebrated all night long several months later we got visits from emissaries from all over the land. The magic beacon my parents placed over the castle still lingered. They heard the stories about alicorns and the caste they all told spoke about the sun going dark. They thought it was the end of the world I assured them it would not happen again. They also told me there was a virus that was spreading among unicorns it was not fatal but it did limit their magical abilities. As a result they were not able to raise the sun over time we learned it afflicted over 1/3 of the unicorn population. They asked if I could help so I offered to raise the sun in their place. The next morning I raised the sun soon word spread the legends of the alicorns were true over time they asked me to govern them. Not long after Luna came to rule alongside me. Over time our governing evolved into a diarchy. All was well for a time then when Luna was 500 years old our parents died. She took it pretty hard” then 50 years later she started to rebel and the rest every pony knows.” She smiled softly “I hope this aids you in your reaserch.” Twilight Lyra and Bon-Bon nodded Lyra smiled and said “yes.it does thank you your majesty.” Celestia nodded her head. Bon-Bon asked “why is this not in the history books?” Celestia said “most of the history of pre Equestria was lost in the cataclysm and subsequent dark age.” Lyra said “were going back to the pyramid soon there may be some of the lost history there.” Twilight said “the enchanting of the gemstones to repel the Korpoterite’s is almost finished.” Celestia nodded “I look forward to any artifacts or information you find.” Twilight, Lyra and Bon-Bon bowed their heads Lyra said “of course your majesty we will be coming back soon and would like to use the dirigible.” Celestia nodded “it will be ready for you it seems no pony uses it.” Lyra grinned sheepishly “well that is because no pony knows about it.” Bon-Bon giggled. Twilight smiled softly. Celestia just grinned and said with a sheepish tone “oh yeah.” After they concluded their business with Celestia they returned to Ponyville and stopped by the Golden Oaks library. Twilight said “come in and sit down.” Both Lyra and Bon-Bon entered and sat down. Twilight said “Spike I need you to get the book on mythologies section 7 row 4.” He pulled the book from the shelf and Twilight took it in her magic and levitated it over the cover read Ancient Equestrian Myths and Legends. Turning a few pages she said “this is what the non-pony races have to say about the cataclysm. The dragon religion says their God was displeased with them for their lack of nobility. So in order to punish them their God stole the sun for a period of time.” She paused for a moment “the Griffins were also punished by their God for not keeping enough gold in their kingdom. The Minotaur’s were also punished not being motivated enough and the Zebras for not using alchemy to benefit others.” Lyra said “that’s fascinating” she thought for a moment and asked “does the book say anything about Ianantica?” Twilight said “Spike get the book on lost cities and civilizations section 7 row 3” he pulled the book from the shelf she took the book in her magic floated it over and flipped to a page. After finding the page she said “yes the philosopher Paltimino wrote a dialogue in the year 4,000 BCL 1000 years after the great cataclysm. He said there was an advanced civilization of alicorns located south east of Spire Mountain known as Equinetis also known as Ianantica.” Bon-Bon asked “does he say what happened to it?” Twilight said “no he says it disappeared and was swallowed by the sea” looking at the page again she paused. “This is interesting it also says after the city sank the were so distraught they hide the sun. Both Lyra and Bon-Bon looked at each other and then at Twilight neither of them said anything. Twilight broke the silence as she closed the book “it seems that in this case the legends are true.” After Lyra and Bon-Bon finished at Twilights house they went home sat on the sofa and Lyra levitated her lyre and looked at it quizzically. Bon-Bon asked “is everything alright?” Lyra looked at Bon-Bon and nodded “I’m fine I was just wondering if this instrument was a part of the shared technology the princess mentioned.” Levitating the lyre closer she continued “it looks like something that is best played with apposable appendages.” She smiled “kinds like the cello Octavia Melody plays or a piano.” Bon-Bon smiled and climbed onto the sofa and placed her head on Lyra’s lap and rolled over on her back and said with a smile “that is an interesting thought. I can’t imagine a world without such things.” Lyra smiled and replied “me neither” as she plucked the strings with her magic and began playing a softy melody as she rubbed a hoof over Bon-Bon’s chest and stomach. Bon-Bon smiled and closed her eyes and purred “m-m-m-m that feels nice.” Lyra smiled as Bon-Bon closed her eyes after a few minutes Lyra looked down and noticed her mare friend had fallen asleep. She smiled as her horn glowed and she placed her lyre on the table then enveloped Bon-Bon in a golden aura and carried her into the bedroom. She gently placed her on the bed then turned out the lights and climbed into bed and went to sleep. The next day Bon-Bon woke up and saw Lyra lying in the bed she smiled and gently kissed her on the head and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. Lyra awoke to the smell off cooking she went to the kitchen and saw Bon-Bon cooking eggs and hay bacon. Bon-Bon looked over said “good morning Lyra.” Lyra smiled and said with a yawn “morning” as she went to the refrigeration box and levitated a pitcher of orange juice and 2 glasses from the cabinet. As she placed the glasses on the table and filled them with the juice as Bon-Bon sat breakfast on the table. As they ate breakfast Bon-Bon asked “what’s next step in your research?” Lyra arched an eyebrow “don’t you mean our research?” Bon-Bon smiled “this is your quest I’m here for support” she grinned “among other things.” Lyra smiled and said “so far we have a rock, crater and vitrified rock next we need to find hard evidence of for lack of a better term.” Bon-Bon arched an eyebrow “what do you mean?” Lyra said “I’ll show you after were finished eating.” After they finished eating Bon-Bon took her and Lyra’s plates into the kitchen when she returned Lyra smiled and levitated over a map unfueled it and said “based on what Celestia told us the area around what is now Charger Bay was part of Ianantica.” She placed a hoof on the river that flowed into the sea and surrounding area. She traced around the area of the Horseshoe Sea “Notice how there is no forest around the area from the Badlands to Baltimare?” Bon-Bon looked at the map then up at Lyra and nodded “why is that?” Lyra said “I believe it’s because that area is the part of the blast radius from the asteroid impact.” Bon-Bon said “that explains that large piece of quartz I found in the river.” Lyra nodded “if the impact theory is true then there should be evidence in the rock layers.” Bon-Bon asked “where would we find such evidence?” Lyra looked at the map and pointed to 2 locations “here Ghastly and Galloping Gorge.” Bon-Bon asked “Ghastly Gorge what about the quaray eels? Lyra said “we are going here” pointing to a location south of a forest “I want to search here” she placed a hoof over a location on the map. Then to a location further south “the quaray eels are here past the railroad bridge so we should be safe.” Bon-Bon looked at the forest location and said “isn’t that near Froggy Bottom Bog?” Lyra nodded “we will have to borrow the dirigible so we can avoid the hydras.” Bon-Bon agreed “when do you want to do that?” Lyra said “in a couple of days it’s nice to be home and taking a few days to relax would be nice.” Bon-Bon smiled and nodded “I need to talk to Pinkie I hope she found some ponies who would like to work in the candy store.” Lyra nodded and said “if you’re going to Sugar cube corner bring me a lemon cookie” Bon-Bon nodded put on her saddlebags kissed Lyra and left to visit Pinkie. A short time later she retuned “Lyra I’m home.” Lyra emerged from the music room levitating her lyre behind her as she placed it on the table and said “welcome back how did it go?” Bon-Bon sat down removed her saddlebags and reached inside and removed a small bag Lyra took it in her magic and removed 2 lemon cookies. Bon-Bon did the same as she took a bite of cookie and said “I have some leads.” Lyra took a bite of a cookie and said “that’s good news.” Bon-Bon looked up nodded then and said “I think Pinkie got too many.” Lyra arched an eyebrow “what do you mean?” Bon-Bon said “I needed 3 maybe 4 you know how many she got? Over 40 they came from all over Canerlot, Apple Loosa, Ponyville and even Dodge City.” Lyra smiled and said “would you expect anything less from Pinkie?” Bn-Bon shook her head and smiled “no I guess not I’m not complaining but that’s a lot of ponies but I guess that means I will find the best of the best.” Lyra nodded and said “makes sense, while you were out I went into town and reserved a hot air balloon so we can use it to visit Ghastly Gorge and avoid encountering any quaray eels.” The next day they Lyra placed some small containers, bags and a garden spade and camera in her saddlebags and placed them on her back. They went into town and met with the balloon vendor paid the rental fee and boarded it. As the balloon lifted into the air they could see the ground moving away as they began floating south soon they passed over the Everfree forest and soon came to Ghastly Gorge. Lyra’s horn began to glow as the balloon descended as it landed she placed a large stone into the basket and smiled “just in case.” Bon-Bon smiled they walked to the edge of the gorge they could see the railroad bridge in the distance. Lyra said “there should be a evidence of the cataclysm in the sedimentary layers of these rocks. Bon-Bon asked “how far down is the layer you’re looking for?” Lyra said “not far the cataclysm was over 5,000 years ago so it should be near the surface” she looked around and in the direction of the forest where the river flowed out of a cave. Looking down she noticed it flowed down in steps. The river was lower than usual exposing several sandbars. Lyra looked down and thought if I go down there I might not be able to get back up looking over at the balloon she had an idea. Turning to Bon-Bon she explained the situation Bon-Bon nodded as they climbed into the balloon. Lyra removed the stone and used her magic to descend into the gorge. Bon-Bon asked “are there any eels this close?” Lyra said “no they are past the rail bridge we should be safe here.” Bon-Bon looked around nervously “I hope so.” Lyra smiled and nuzzled Bon-Bon gently then smiled and said with a chuckle “if we encounter any we can give them an invitation to Little House of Bon’s.” Bon-Bon chuckled and said “I can see one of them coming to the store and wanting some stripped taffy.” They both laughed as the location came into view the balloon lowered to the desired height. Landing on a sandbar Lyra said pointing a hoof to a dark band in the cliff face “see that dark band there?” Bon-Bon nodded and took out their camera out of her saddlebags Lyra took it in her magic and snapped a photo of the band in the cliff face. She took a small container from her saddlebags and the garden spade and scrapped the contents from above the dark stripe into a container. Passed it to Bon-Bon who labeled Ghastly Gorge sample #1above the band Lyra levitated second container. She scraped a sample from the band and passed it Bon-Bon who labeled it Ghastly Gorge sample #2 from the band. Lyra levitated out third container and took a sample from below the band. Again she passed it to Bon-Bon who labeled it Ghastly Gorge sample #3 below the band and placed the sample in her saddlebags. Bon-Bon asked “Galloping Gorge next?” Lyra nodded as the balloon ascended and began traveling to the northwest as the everfree forest passed by Lyra said “this is so much better than walking.” Bon-Bon nodded “yes and the view is great.” Soon they passed the outskirts of Ponyville then the unicorn range Canterlot could be seen in the distance Bon-Bon saw something that looked like clouds in the distance and asked “what’s that?” Lyra looked over and said “I think that’s Cloudsdayle.” Galloping Gorge could be seen in the distance as they approached they noticed the chasm did not have progressive steps like Ghastly Gorge this Gorge was a vertical cliff face. Lyra used her magic to lower the balloon to the desired height and Bon-Bon noticed the same strange layer as before. As the moved closer Lyra levitated her camera and took a photo and levitated out the same tools as before. Taking samples in the same order as before Bon-Bon labeled them and placed the items into their saddlebags. After gathering the samples Lyra said “we should take these to the Canterlot University Pedology department.” Bon-Bon arched an eye brow “Pedowhatigy department?” Lyra said “Pedology the study of soil” she grinned sheepishly “I guess you could say it’s a dirty job.” Bon-Bon just face hoofed and groaned “and I thought my jokes were bad.” Lyra smiled and said “looks like you’re rubbing off on me.” Bon-Bon smiled and said with a cynical tone “Celestia help us all.” They both laughed and watched the scenery pass below them enjoying the view. After returning to Ponyville they returned the balloon to its vendor went home placed the strange rock fron Chrger Bay in their saddlebags with the samples then took a train to Canterlot. Once they arrived they went to the University archeology department and met with Anton. Lyra explained the samples and said “I would like to have these analyzed by the Pedology department” as she levitated the samples from her saddlebags. Anton asked “what are you looking for?” Lyra said “these samples were taken from Ghastly and Galloping Gorge 152 cm below the surface there is a thin band in the strata. I would like to have the samples marked middle analyzed for anything unusual and compare them to the other 2.” Anton nodded “come with me.” Lyra and Bon-Bon followed Anton to the Pedology department where they met a unicorn stallion with a jade coat and a light green mane and a shovel in the ground for a cutie mark. Anton said “Lyra Bon-Bon meet Vedecke Наука head of the Pedology department.” Bothe Lyra and Bon-Bon said “hello and they shook hooves. Lyra’s horned glowed and she levitated the samples from Ghastly and Galloping Gorge out of her saddlebags to Vedecke who in turn took samples in his magic. He said “let’s begin with the Galloping Gorge samples” he placed the layer marked top into a mass spectrometer. Several moments later the results appeared on a screen. He then did the same procedures to the samples marked middle then the sample marked lower. Vedecke said “this is interesting” pointing a hoof to the 2 graphs starting with the top graph there were 3 lines with varying spikes. “The top graph is from Galloping Gorge the lines are from above middle and below notice how they are exactly the same.” He then pointed to the center graph said “notice how the samples marked center have 3 spikes in them.” Pointing to graph “notice the elements silicon iron and iridium. “They are in trace amounts in the top and bottom samples but the sample marked center is over 400% above normal.” He performed the same procedures for Ghastly Gorge and received the same results then asked what depth were these samples taken?” Lyra said “about 152 cm below the surface layer.” Vedecke said “interesting, that would place the event at about 5,000 years ago.” Anton asked “what could cause that?” Vedecke said “many things but iridium is rare to this planet the only thing that can place that much iridium would be a meteor impact.” Lyra levitated out the rock and said “this was found in Charger Bay we believe it to be made of pure iron.” Vedecke asked “are you sure?” Bon-Bon said “we had it inspected by a geologist and it also holds a magnet.” Vedecke took some fillings from the rock and performed the same mass spectrometer analysis and said “yes this rock is rich in silicon iron and iridium. I would like to send this to other universities to verify our findings.” Anton nodded “agreed” he then smiled softly turned to Lyra and said “your theory is taking shape now if we only had more evidence. So far we know there was a cataclysm and that an asteroid was most likely the cause.” Lyra said “were working on that in a few days were going to secure a ride to the forbidden jungle by then we will have something to repel the monsters.” Anton nodded “I await your findings.”