Princess Luna walked down the steps quietly, her resting face just as serious and unimpressed as it always was. She was carrying a different text with her magic, one that appeared to be even older than the one Celestia had been reading from. When the alicorn reached the bottom of the staircase she sat down gracefully on one of the cushions and gave a curt nod to Twilight. When her eyes fell on Applejack, she shared a smile with the earth pony, and then continued.
“The Source is not some lump of coal nor enchanted idol. It is magic incarnate, an entity of omnipotence. It is not correct to call it sentient, though I do not believe there is a word that could adequately describe the form of consciousness it would have. Certainly it’s nothing that any of us could understand.
“The sages did well to hide it for so long, but neutral as it may be, the Source affects all. It cast out its call to the world, telling every creature upon it that it has returned, and whereupon it may be found if needed or desired.”
She finished, and her words hung in the air for a moment between the four of them.
“So then this thing wants to be found, then?” Applejack asked, shifting in her spot to grab a cushion and finally sitting down.
“It would appear to be so, though yet again, it’s not particularly a mind that we can anticipate nor interpret with ease.” She smiled again. “I did indeed receive your latest letter, Applejack. My apologies for not responding any sooner. When we are finished here I would love to discuss the matter in person with you, if you wished.”
Applejack’s ears flicked up subconsciously and she straightened her posture. “Aw, shucks, that’d be mighty fine!” she said, while a light rush of warmth filled her cheeks. She turned and caught both Celestia and Twilight looking at her. Twilight was squinting with a question on her tongue, but as her mouth opened to ask it Celestia spoke up.
“Whatever the reason for the message going out to the world, it has gone out all the same, and as such it is all but guaranteed that other groups and individuals will start their pursuits of the Source. Some of them may be physically closer than us, as well, and so it is vital that we organize an expedition as soon as possible.”
Twilight tore her gaze from Applejack and looked to Celestia with concern. “I’m ready to leave whenever, as I’m sure any of my friends are as well, but how do we even know where we’re going?”
A blue glow tinted the room while Luna’s magic flared to life, lifting the tome she had brought with her up above the four of them. It spun in place and flashed once, before blue hoofwriting appeared in the air, large and bright for all of them to see.
“The last recovered notes of the final living sage,” Luna started reading, “are long crumbled to ash. Yet recollection and stories survive to this day, passed along from mother to child, teacher to student, town drunk to traveller. Multitudes of theories abound about the Source and its fabled location, though none share anything in common that could lead anyone to even the beginning of a trail. All searches have been in vain except to find more lore, more myth, more guesses and suspicions. There is, however, one commonality.
“Within the hundred different versions of the Source’s return that we have heard throughout our research, all of them shared two very distinct concepts. The first was that the reappearance would ring throughout the world, and the second was that all would awake the next morning with its call still echoing within. More than half of the stories went on to say that it was not so much a call that would echo but a song, some verse or poem, and a single line would be recalled by each creature. Some of the oldest recorded tales which mention this state that the song would be directions to its resting place.”
She cut the spell and closed the book, setting it down on a nearby desk.
“So the phrases we all heard right before we woke up…” Twilight started, her eyes widening and excitement washing over her face.
“Are likely part of a poem, a riddle of sorts, yes,” Luna nodded.
Twilight leapt up and practically danced about the room, her wings fluttering in excitement. “Oh this is wonderful! We get to solve a riddle to take us to the magical artefact! It’s just like in some of my favorite books! All we need are all the lines.” She paused in her pacing, and swung quickly back around to face Celestia with shock.
“Yes, Twilight?”
“But we don’t know them all! Or even how many there’s supposed to be! Or what order they go in once we do get them all. We’d have to go interview most the country if we wanted to be reasonably certain we hadn’t missed some line that showed up more infrequently than the others! And hope that by the time we get to the ponies who dreamed it they still remember exactly what the phrase was, and… And then we might be too late, maybe other creatures would figure it out before us? What—”
Celestia stood from her cushion and placed a hoof on Twilights shoulder, stopping her rambling and gently—yet firmly—pressing down until Twilight sat, her eyes wide and awkward.
“You are correct we don’t know what order they go in, though I think you and I should do well in figuring it out. But as for your other concerns, dear Twilight,” Celestia paused, turning to look at her sister with a devious grin, who replied with one very much the same.
It was Applejack’s turn to jump out of her seat. “We’ve got ourselves our very own Princess who walks through dreams like I do trees!” She kicked in celebration, earning a giggle from the alicorn across from her.
“Correct! Last night while the kingdom slept I was performing my duties, when even I was wrenched aside into the Source’s dream. Obviously this brought me a great deal of concern, and I slipped immediately back into the dream realm to investigate what had occurred. I was shocked to suddenly find everypony dreaming, even those who were not prior, and each of them the same.
“In my course to find the culprit I visited as many dreams as I could, observing them. When it became clear to me that these visions were not harmful, I turned my attention to the phrases that were announced by the temple before the bubbles were collapsed and I was ejected.”
“How many dreams were you able to observe, Princess?” Twilight asked, still obviously concerned about the sample size. Luna rolled her eyes playfully in recognition of this.
“Suffice to say it was enough, and I can tell you with confidence that I know every verse of the poem. All of them rhyme with at least 3 others, though I could not ordain the order from my hasty surveillance. I have written them down here for you and Celestia to ponder over,” she added, and with a puff of blue magic a tightly wound scroll materialized and floated over to Twilight, who grabbed it eagerly and quickly unwound it.
“Twilight and I will begin immediately,” Celestia said, finally raising her hoof off of her student. “I believe you said you had something you wished to discuss with Applejack, sister?”
“It is more that she had something she wished to discuss with me,” Luna replied, standing up and walking next to Applejack. She offered a hoof and Applejack accepted it, letting herself be pulled to her hooves while failing to hide a blush.