Twilight soon found Lyanna in the dining room sitting down and playing on her phone.
"Oh, hey." Lyanna greeted when she noticed Twilight enter the room. "So, quick question."
"Yes?"
"Why exactly did you come here? On today of all days? You've probably got your own family to deal with, so why visit ours?"
Twilight hesitated again, remembering Cloud's earlier outburst and Elinor's dismissal, but a few reassuring looks from Spike and Ursa prompted her to go on. "Ok...I know this is going to sound crazy..."
"Yes?" Lyanna raised an eyebrow.
"....But I can see ghosts and your mother's ghosts asked me to help you guys out so if you please give me your half of the amulet that would be a great help!" Twilight said that so quick she was out of breath by the time she finished.
For a moment Lyanna just sat there and blinked.
"Did...did you just say you can see ghosts?"
Twilight nodded nervously.
"And my mother's ghosts asked you to come and help us?"
"...She's here right now..."
For another long minute Lyanna sat in silence while processing it.
Pleasedon'tfreakout. Pleasedon'tfreakout!
"That...is..."Lyanna suddenly burst into a grin. "....AMAZING!"
"Huh?" Now it was Twilight's turn to don a look of disbelief.
"That is so cool!" Lyanna suddenly jumped up and looked around excitedly. "Hi mom! It's me! How's it going?!"
"Oh! I probably should have mentioned this before...but Lyanna loves the idea of ghosts and how some people are able to see them. Even when she was little, she's loved those kinds of stories and watching those ghost finding shows." Ursa explained.
"So...you're okay with this?" Twilight asked.
"Totally!" Lyanna exclaimed. "I've met a few people who say they've seen ghosts and it's so cool! So, what does my mom want you to help us with?"
"Well....this is kind of hard to explain, but I need the amulet half your mother gave you when you were thirteen."
"Why?"
"I need it to access something your mother left behind. I promise to show you later, but I really need that amulet piece. I promise I'll give it back later."
After a moment of though, Lyanna nodded, reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece exactly like the one Twilight got earlier.
"If my mom says you need it, here you go."
"Thank you!" Twilight quickly took the amulet.
Lyanna looked away for a moment before asking, "So...I'm guessing she told you what happened?"
Twilight looked down. "No...but I saw an article about it. I'm so sorry you had to go through that."
For a moment, there was just silence and Twilight took that note to leave when..
"Twilight?"
"Yes?"
Lyanna looked nervous and her next words came out slowly. "...Mom know I don't hate this place, right?"
"She does." Twilight said with a comforting smile.
"Good. I don't hate this place...but I just don't want to be stuck here my whole life, you know? I want to meet people. I want to see places and do things you can't do here. But whenever I do visit, Grandma's always on my case about tradition and 'doing my duty', Cloud is too quiet to speak up against her and....I end up feeling trapped here. And after mom died..." She took a deep breath. "...there's just...too many memories to stay here long. Do you understand?"
Twilight gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Believe me, I do."
"Oh my poor baby...I'm so sorry." Ursa apologized.
"Your mother understands too."
"Thank you." Lyanna said, relieved. "If there's anything I can do to help..."
"Well..." Twilight pulled out the map. "Can you tell me where this leads? You know the place better than I do. And I don't know if anything has changed since Ursa died."
Lyanna nodded and a quick look over the map before her face paled.
"Lyanna?"
"This map...leads to the underground pool. Tha-that's where.."
"I'm sorry." Twilight reached for the map. "I shouldn't-"
"No no, it's okay. There was the old family safe near there but..."
"But?"
"We had to seal it up after...the accident."
Twilight shoulders dropped, along with Ursa's. "Well that's just great. How am I supposed to get there now?"
"You're a super-powerful mage right? Can't you just teleport there?"
Twilight shook her head. "Teleporting's risky business for those with little experience with it; and teleporting blindly is incredibly dangerous." Twilight sighed and took the map back. "Thanks for your help anyway..."
"Wait!" Lyanna stopped her. "I know I shouldn't be telling you this but...there is a secret passage that's still open....I think."
"Really?"
Lyanna nodded. "Lots of old building have secret passages and compartments....apparently they're a pretty popular feature. I can show you where it is. Hopefully Grandma hasn't gotten around to closing it up yet."
"That's fantastic! Thank you!"
With that, Lyanna led them out of the dining room.
Lyanna led them up the stairs and down a few hallways before stopping at a bare wall.
"Um...what are looking at?" Twilight asked.
"Hang on, there should be..." Lyanna felt along the wall before coming to a loose board. "Ah ha!" She pressed down and the wall opened up like a door!
"Cloud and I used to sneak down here for a midnight swim whenever I could convince her to break the rules."
"Thank you so much, again!" Twilight said.
"No problem." Lyanna said, turning to them before leaving. "I'd like to come with you, but..."
"Like I said; I understand. I can imagine how painful it would be."
"Yeah....and you promise to show me what you find?"
"I Pinkie Promise to show you whatever I find. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my-OW!" Twilight rubbed her sore eye.
"Uhh....."
"Trust me. I keep my word. It's something I picked up from my friend. Once you make a Pinkie Promise you have to keep it-"
"-FOREVER!"
Startles, Everyone turned to the window to see Pinkie looking in before slowly sliding out of view.
"...Who, or what, was that?"
"Trust me, it's better not to question it."
With that, Twilight, Spike and Ursa descended down a darkened staircase.