//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 : A New Arrangement // Story: Of Things Amiss // by Nightwatcher //------------------------------// Lyra stared at the tablet, rereading the artifact another time. She looked at the tablet, then back to Duster a number of times. She placed the tablet back on top of the wrappings that Duster that had brought it in. She looked up at him, finding a rather smug look in his face. “I do admit, this relic is rather… interesting.” She said. “Interesting? That’s all you have to say?” He said incredulously. “Yes. It is an interesting piece. This is a scientific, historical, and cultural curiosity. However this does not vindicate your outlandish thoughts or believes.” She said. “You yourself said that this is uses more advanced diction and concepts that the time of writing would suggest, I’ve dated it to be at least five hundred years older than the city of Corinth. Why would that be?” He said. Lyra sighed, “Any number of reasons, Duster. The ponies of Corinth had a very vocal history, stories passed down between ponies. It would not be too far fetched for a particularly intelligent individual to write this down, make it up. To be honest, by the words and how they are used, this looks more like a story of fiction or a religious text. Your dating could be wrong. Anything.” “Or I could be right.” Duster said with a smile. “Duster, just think of what you’re saying for a second here. I’ve read your paper. What you said was… insane, to say the least. You are attempting to refute what has been the accepted lay for generations.” Lyra began. The paper she was referring to was something that Duster had written about a week before his expulsion from Canterlot University. It was a revamped thesis on what caused what was known as the ‘Volcanic Layer’. The ‘V-Layer’ is a layer of lechatelierite and obsidian around a foot deep covering nearly sixty-three percent of the planet’s land mass. The most widely accepted reasoning behind this layer was a high amount of volcanic activity thousands of years ago, hence the name. This was supported by atmospheric tests of air pockets inside ice core samples taken from the polar ice sheets that showed an increased amount of related gasses such as carbon dioxide that would come from a large scale volcanic eruption. He on the other hoof had a different idea. He proposed that this near world wide layer of lechatelierite was caused our ancient ancestors thousands of years ago in a world wide conflict that had blown our collective flanks back to the Stone Age. He proposed that we were once more advanced than we are now, and that we had destroyed our civilization in the conflict from which we are just now recovering from after thousands of years. He cited the fact of the consistency of the V-Layer’s thickness wherever it was, arguing that if it was caused by volcanoes the layer would be much more inconsistent in its thickness. It would have pooled in areas such as the plains and have been thinner in others. Also he noted that the amount of volcanic activity required to produce the amount of lechatelierite would have rendered the planet uninhabitable for hundreds-of-thousands of years and that the atmospheric gas levels shown in the ice cores were much too low to be related to the lechatelierite layer if it was caused by volcanic activity as the mainstream suggested. After a while of pondering he connected the layers of lechatelierite to what is known as an ‘Anti-magic annihilation bomb.’. This is a deceptively simple device that is used in the small scale in modern conflicts, and on the large scale it can level cities. It operated on an inherent property of magic, it permeates everything from the soil to the air we breath, and when magic enters an area unoccupied by it’s field (known as ‘anti-magic field’), the result can be… explosive, as the magical field rushes in to fill the gap. If one can make a ‘vacuum’ of magic, all it would take would the destruction of the thing keeping the magic out for the reaction to occur. This happens naturally whenever magic is used, and normally resembles static. If a field of ‘anti-magic’, say a ball with the diameter of a foot came into contact with a magic field, it could level a large building with the reaction. The main byproduct of this is heat and a blast wave, along with magical ‘fallout’. World wide destruction with these devices is possible, as is the creation of lechatelierite in large scale reactions; in fact what he was proposing had nearly happened a short time ago during a cold war with the neighboring ‘Crystal Empire’ before it’s dissolvent and absorption into Equestria. Thankfully both sides were kept at bay due to the fact that both side held large stockpiles of the devices and both knew that if one attacked, so would the other, resulting in the destruction of both. His claims could be refuted by the fact that the areas covered by the lechatelierite did not have the magical residue that would be associated with blasts of the size needed to do the damage he claimed happened. Also, the blasts would at least leave something behind after the fact, some destroyed superstructure of buildings, underground networks such as sewers would still be identifiable even after the city on top was destroyed. Even after all this time. Though she doubted anything would last that long. Both side’s evidence was admittedly full of holes, with unsupported claims for both sides. Both were also theoretically possible. It was really just a matter of believability, and what was more believable; that high level volcanic activity thousands of years ago deposited large amounts of lechatelierite and obsidian over large swaths of land, the resulting aftereffects slowing our development and population growth; or that we were once an advanced race that simply blew ourselves back to the stone age using weapons of mass destruction and the survivors turned that into some type of story that we were simply misinterpreting as the deranged writings of an ancient madpony? “Let me prove it to you. I know it sounds crazy, but I know I’m close to something big!” Duster said. “Duster… I’d like to help you, but we both know I could lose my job if anypony finds out I worked with you.” Lyra said. “Come on. It’s the end of the year and the school doesn’t need you for anything so it’s not like they’ll be looking for you. Besides, you wouldn’t be working with me.” He said. “What do you mean?” Lyra asked. “Not everypony thinks I’m a madpony, some think I’m right. I’m working for a good group of ponies, ones who want us to be great again. I’ve got good funding, smart ponies to work with, but I… We, could use you. We’re on the cusp of something… amazing! I know it. My… employer can assure complete anonymity from me, your job will not be at risk.” Duster said. Despite her personal grievances against Duster, she knew he was right. The school wouldn’t need her this summer, leaving her with nothing to do, Thus, she would just be sitting here twiddling her hoofs until school started again. Also, if he was right, if he really was on the cusp of a great discovery, she wanted a piece of it. “You can assure my job will not be at risk?” She asked, to which Duster nodded. She got out of her chair and moved over to Duster who also got up. She held out a hoof and he took it. “It’ll be nice working with you again, Mr. Duster.” Lyra said with a smile. -=-=-=- “Papers please.” The stallion in the booth said. Lyra nodded and rifled through her saddlebags, quickly finding her train ticket and identification. “Here you are.” Lyra said. The stallion scrutinized her papers for a time, before nodding and giving her papers back. “Everything appears to be in order, you may pass. You’re heading to train pad 2B, keep to the right, fourth door on the right, then first on the left.” He said. “Thank you.” Lyra said. “Have a pleasant day.” He said as she walked passed. It had been a week since she had taken Duster up on his offer. She had to make sure everything was in order before she could go off with Duster and his group. Some little loose ends to tie up here and there, making sure she was not needed anywhere for the next few weeks. Though Duster said it may be longer than that. She was currently on her way to meet another of Duster’s team, one ‘Light Tone’, a specialist in ancient architecture. She was pulled from her musings by somepony calling to her. Amidst the sparsely populated platform, a cream coated Pegasus was waving her over. “Excuse me? Are you Lyra Heartstrings?” She asked. “Yes I am. Are you Light Tone?” Lyra said. Tone nodded, “I’ve heard a lot about you from Duster, he holds you in high regard. It’s an honor to meet you.” “Thank you. I’ve seen some of your work before as well, very astute.” Lyra said with a smile. “So, can you tell me where we’re going? Duster was very… vague in recent letters.” “We’re returning to Corinth actually, our employer has… purchased the right to continue with the excavation. To see if we can uncover any new leads.” Tone said. Lyra looked at the mare, surprised, “Purchased?” “Oh... it was all legal; she’s very well versed in politics and is well connected in Canterlot. She gets us all the funding and supplies we could want, along with permits to do whatever we need. Though she likes to keep a respectable distance from what we are doing, ‘plausible deniability’ I guess. I don’t think anypony has even seen her face, her real one anyway. Whenever anypony has seen her she has a chameleon spell on.” Tone said. “That’s a little… odd. But, if she gets us what we need and doesn’t ask many questions I guess I shouldn’t complain.” Lyra said. “She actually wants to meet you before we get started. She’s already on the train, come on, she doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” Tone said beckoning Lyra to follow. Lyra nodded and followed. The train was empty not taking into account the operators that worked on it. It was a very simple set up, little in the way of tapestry and the like. A communal configuration, with most of the space being occupied by beds and chairs. They approached a room near the end of the train. “Here she is.” Tome said, opening the door. Lyra walked in and heard the door close behind her. The room was as drab as the rest of the train, no windows and aside from a small carpet and a desk with two chairs; one on each side, the room was empty. She got her first look at her employer. The mare, a unicorn, was sitting at the desk; looking her up and down, sizing her up. Her employer had a ash-gray coat with a long white washed mane. Oddly, the mare had pink colored eyes, an odd accent to her fur. She was also smoking, that threw her off as much as anything, only a very small number of ponies smoked as most couldn’t stand it. She took a long drag of the cigarette and placed it in the ashtray on the desk. She exhaled, blowing the smoke off to the side. She moved her hoof to the chair across from her, meaning for her to sit. “Ms. Heartstrings. It’s nice to finally see you face-to-face.” She chuckled, “Well… you understand what I mean. I’ve read your work, very impressive. I think you’re just what our little group needed.” Lyra found herself put off by her voice, it was just too… normal. Every word that came out of her mouth moved across her like a snake. The mare offered her a cigarette, at the same time picking the one in the ashtray up with her magic and placing in her mouth. Lyra shook her head at the offered item, “Smoking kills, you know.” The mare took a long drag once more, finishing off the cigarette. “You sound like somepony I know.” She said as she blew the smoke out. “She’s always such a worrywart about my habits.” Silence reigned in the room for a time before Lyra spoke up. “You know me, obviously from both my work and from Duster, but I know nothing about you. Care to give a fellow mare a little to go on?” Lyra said. The ash colored mare simply looked at her for a time, as if she did not hear her before she had herself a small laugh. “Very bold of you Ms. Heartstrings. Very well, I suppose I can give you a crumb of information. I am simply a mare who wants the best for her fellow ponies. I hide behind this,” She lazily waved a hoof across her ‘body’, “because I would rather not have to deal with the fallout should this little… expedition go to the dogs. Very damaging to the reputations of all involved, though I’ll put a stop to the naysayers should that happen so you’ve got nothing to worry about; but I’m on thin ice as it is with my... supporters. The only reason I even contacted Duster after his… expulsion from CU was that his theory offered something for our race. Either we find something that confirms his suspicions, and we have the possibility of making a great gain to our race; or he is wrong and this is all a waste of time.” “If you don’t think that this will bear fruit, then why bother?” Lyra asked. “‘Better safe than sorry’, are words I live by. If he’s wrong, then no harm done, but if he’s right… just imagine what we could find. Guess you can say I’ve got a feeling.” The mare said. “If you want my opinion on all this, I doubt we’ll find very much, even if he’s right. If he is, that would mean that we blew our collective asses back to the Stone Age well over ten thousand years ago. Not much would survive the event, or the intervening time. If he’s wrong, then he’s wrong, and we’re back to square one. Tell the truth, both theories don’t hold much water.” Lyra said. “Is that so?” The mare said. “It all keeps coming back to the lechatelierite/obsidian layer. The timeline and the geology just don’t match up for either one. The geology suggests that the event happened hundreds of thousands, even millions, of years ago. But the historical timeline and paleontology puts it in the tens of thousands of years. If that was the case, local plant and animal life in would still be recovering, as would the atmosphere.” Lyra said. “So what do you think?” The mare said. “This is the greatest mystery of our civilization, we’ll never find all the answers, it just doesn't happen with things like this. I know we’re grabbing for straws that probably aren't there. The more I think about it the more and more I know we’re missing a big part of all this.” Lyra said. “Well, Ms. Heartstrings, that’s why you’re here, get out there and find it.” The mare said with a smile, “Oh… and you can call me Ash.” With that, she vanished in a puff a cigarette smoke.