Princess Twilight Sparkle looked up when the bell above the library door opened to see Lyra Heartstrings, who called out to her.
“Hi Twilight. Do you have any maps of Appleloosa? Or the lands surrounding it?”
“Hi Lyra. Um, maps are over here. Dewey says 905 is Serial Publications. Appleloosa may be in the table of contents.”
She lead Lyra over to the 900’s and checked random books on the shelf. “Why Appleloosa? I think asking buffalo tribes would give you a better idea of what’s out there than pegasi drawn maps.”
“I just need to double check something. Also, could you cast a few EverSpring Spells for me?”
Twilight dropped an encyclopedia of maps on her head. Shaking away the stars in front of her eyes she sputtered. “An-An EVERSPRING Spell?! Lyra, that’s serious magic. What are you doing?”
“I’m going on an archaeological dig. Next week if I can manage.”
“Lyra,” Twilight patiently explained. “Appleloosa was founded less than four years ago. And only as a farm for a silver mine three kilometers away. The buffalo never built anything more than tents that far out, Lyra. What could you possibly be looking for?”
“If I told you, you would stop me. It’s crazy, but I’m not going to be stopped. So the less you know the better.” Lyra turned away and hung her head.
“Wait, are you in danger?” Twilight leaped to her side and drifted a wing across Lyra’s body. “Is somepony after you? You can tell me. I can keep a secret Lyra.”
“Could you keep a secret from Celestia?” She turned back and looked Twilight in the eye without a hint of irony.
The statement took Twilight by surprise. “Uh-wai-Huh?”
“Yeah. I don’t want anypony, least of all Princess Celestia, to know what I’m doing. No, I’m not in danger. But what I’m doing might be. And I have to do it Twilight. I just have to.” Lyra grabbed the encyclopedia with her mouth, walked away, sat at one of the tables and started flipping through pages by hoof.
Seeing it was nearly closing time, Twilight locked up early and sent Spike to bring Rarity the hooficure set she borrowed. When they were alone Twilight sat opposite of Lyra and began slowly.
“Lyra, you can tell me anything. I know we’re not the best of friends but you can trust me. I promise not to tell anypony what you’re doing. Unless keeping this secret hurts someone. Okay?”
She was met with a set of yellow/gold eyes. “Especially Celestia?”
“I Pinkie Promise not to tell anypony your secret, especially Princess Celestia. Unless somepony's getting hurt.” She went through the motions and smiled peacefully. Her curiosity would not be satisfied until Lyra spilled the beans.
She sighed, pushed the book aside and sighed. “About three or four nights before the Summer Sun Celebration three years ago, I started having these weird dreams. I was walking on the beach or the desert, and the sun was eclipsed. Every time I try walking from the moon’s shadow the sun burns me. It is hot, hot, hot Twilight. I thought it was a desert because the sun burned everything away, but that comes up later.
“So I’m going through the desert and the moon is the only thing keeping me alive. I’m cool, calm, and I’m walking east. Just walking. It was vivid but nothing to really mention. But I had this dream about every night. Walking under the moon and the sun burns me if I go too far away.
“Then I’m…in a mountain. I don’t know how to describe it. I’m literally walking through a mountain. I should be scared, but I’m not. I know I’m safe and, yeah.
“Then I’m walking through this field and there is this hill of stone nearby. I don’t have any idea what it is but I scoff at it. Why Twilight? I see it in my mind and it’s a small hill of stone, but at the same time it’s pathetic. I don’t get it. Then I cross this river and I see a castle. It’s big, it’s old, and I feel safe there. Something makes me happy just to be here and…that’s all there is.”
“Soo, what do your dreams have to do with a dig?” Twilight asked, trying to connect the dots.
Lyra continued. “I normally walked through only one place a night; the desert, the mountain or the grassland to the castle. But then I had them all at once and that kept going for months. I’ve never been bothered by this dream but it was annoying.
“Then I went to Appleloosa to see a cousin of mine last week and things clicked. I saw this rock standing fifty meters tall. The buffalo called it Salt Rock, not that there’s any salt in it. Hehe, Ajax and I got drunk and went out to lick the rock. Nasty stuff.” Lyra finished sheepishly.
“I know. I tried it, tastes like sand.” Twilight remembered her first time in Appleloosa. After they diffused the situation with the buffalo Braeburn showed them the rock.
“Yeah. So I had the same dream that night and I realized Salt Rock is in it. I walk right past Salt Rock almost every time I sleep. How did I not recognize at once? I stayed awake the whole time on the train ride trying to figure out what to do.
“I walked for hours, maybe days or even weeks through the desert, then the mountain, and finally the grasslands. I know exactly where I start and which direction to go. I think there’s something out there Twilight. I think there is a castle east of Appleloosa, maybe beyond the mountain range. I want to see if it’s there. If it is I’m going to excavate and take it apart piece by piece.”
Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath and levitated a paper and quill in between the two of them. “Lyra, you are being crazy and I will stop you if you’re serious. Mainly, there’s nothing east of Appleloosa. Nothing but sand and rock. There’s no rivers, no water at all so there’s no plants. They sent surveyors out to look and pegasi got two days out before they ran through half their water. They found nothing but sand and rocks. No mountains, no grassland, no castle. That was a two day flight, a little more than a three day walk.
“I think they’re wrong Twilight. Also, there’s another dream I had. Just once but…” Lyra countered.
“What? Go on.”
Lyra sighed again. “I had a dream about walking through the grassland again, only this time the moon and sun moved around. Every time the sun touched me, it hurt. Not just a burn but-I got really scared. Like, it consciously wanted to hurt ME. Why would it to that Twilight? The sun wanted to just…burn away all the grassland and…and the Moon was the only thing stopping it. Then the sun turned into Princess Celestia and the moon into Princess Luna. Only it wasn't Luna, it was Nightmare Moon.
"She landed right next to me and told me to stay close, she would protect me. I felt safe Twilight. I know everypony else was scared of Nightmare Moon when she came to Ponyville, but in this dream, I felt safe. I know no-one would ever hurt me if I was next to her because she…she loved me. My mother gave me that exact same look whenever I cried about being picked on for my magic.
“Princess Celestia was trying to hurt me and Nightmare Moon was keeping me safe. I don’t know everything it means but I don’t trust Celestia knowing what I want to do. It doesn't seem right to me.”
“Lyra, that is absolutely ridiculous. Nightmare Moon keeping you safe? It. Was. A. Dream. All you had were dreams. You can’t go out looking for a castle you've only seen in a dream. Besides, where would you go? Appleloosa is a small town on the edge of nowhere.” Twilight explained.
“I have a plan Twilight. I will head east, just like in my dream. I will bring canned food, the water they sit in will keep me hydrated, and that’s why I was hoping you could cast an EverSpring Spell for me. If my canteen never runs out of water I will have to carry only one. A first aid kit, flares, rope, I got this Twilight.”
“Lyra, where would you go? Just walk east?”
“I’ll find my way. I have flags to put in the ground so I can find my way back too.”
“It’s just not that easy. You can’t do this! It’s insane-“
“Twilight Sparkle, you and I could argue this all night, but I am going to do this. If you don’t want me to go alone, join me. I could use the company. You’ll have to bring your own food, water-
“Lyra, why would I come with you on this ridiculously dangerous trip?”
“So I won’t go alone. Now you’ll need you own food and water, sleeping bag, once we get to the dig site you would help me document the place. I got plenty of blank notebooks, shovels; I have an extra camera if you need one.”
Twilight rubbed her eyes in frustration. You’re serious aren't you? You are actually going to go through with all this and short of breaking your legs I can’t stop you?”
“No. Twilight, I need to do this. Something is calling me and I have to answer it. This is personal to me. Haven’t you ever been the only one who can do something and stop at nothing until it’s done?”
Closing her eyes, Twilight thought back to just three months ago, the day she earned her wings. Her five best friends trapped in each other’s lives, certain that they were where they were supposed to be…
“I-I think I know what you mean. It’s just…it seems like a bad idea.”
“Then come with me. Either we find something or we don’t.”
“Well, next week? What day?”
“The next train runs to Appleloosa Monday night and will get there in the morning. We will buy a little more food and set out at sunset to avoid the worst of the heat. Then again it may be a bit nippy but I can live with that.”
“Traveling at night has nothing to do with Nightmare Moon does it?”
“No it does not. Will you join me Twilight Sparkle?” Lyra held out her hoof and Twilight took it after a moment’s hesitation. Twilight did trust Lyra, they knew each other when they went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and both moved to Ponyville, though for different reasons. While Twilight attended to learn magic, Lyra was crippled when it came to magic, never conjuring more than sparks from her horn.
Lyra worked day and night digging up the castle Twilight and her new friends rediscovered in the Everfree forest. As an archaeology student it was too good an opportunity to pass up, and she had little problem working alone after her classmates went back to school a semester later. Her room-mate Bon Bon never really cared for Twilight and her friends, but Lyra got along fine when their paths crossed.
“Well that settles that. So, if I bring a few by canteens tomorrow can you do an EverSpring Spell on them?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m not climbing any mountains though. If we can’t walk through a mountain we’re turning back. Got it?”
“Got it Twi. Thank you again.” She left her book, hitched up her saddle pack and left for home while Twilight finished closing up the library and went to bed.
She sighed, relaxed her wings and figured she should write to Celestia tomorrow about her journey, or at least what she was allowed to say. (stupid impulsive promises)