Of the Past and its Mysteries

by Sb129

10.) Uncovering

Author's Note:

Well I guess I may have fallen off the edge of the world while discovering the joys of moving and family medical emergencies but I think I may have found my way back up the world at large. I Never forgot about this but I haven't had the time 'til recently.

Chapter 10 (Uncovering)

~The Valley of the Sun in the Irate Lands~

It had happened nearly an hour ago, but the exhilaration was barely wearing off. |Never was I the best at solving riddles, but I do believe I know what the first thing talked about is.| The frosted glass with coal black script showed two stanzas of separate four lined poems. Above the stanzas was something else printed in a human language |The way the first speaks of lightning and no ties to magic,| She looked at her prize again, the top in human script was something she had been studying in her off time, but hadn’t gotten anywhere appreciable yet. Lyra wished she could actually read what the top section said.

Almost the instant the thought had formed in her mind, the human script faded away and was replaced with modern Equestrian. “To fully unlock the knowledge of both sides, you must solve the two riddles below.” Lyra stopped in her tracks, |Did this object read my mind?| She focussed on the glass tablet trying to feel for magic, but felt nothing at all. She looked at it again, the previously human script was still in modern Equestrian as was the middle poem and the final poem was in ancient Equestrian like it always had been. She thought of what the middle would look like in the human script. No sooner had the thought formed, a symbol appeared next to the middle stanza, it was an X.

She started walking again with her face staring at a modern yet ancient piece of human technology. After a few combinations and tries, she found that the top human script could change into any three languages, the middle only two and the bottom was stuck in ancient. Lyra’s ancient was a bit rusty since she had started chasing after forbidden history; but she knew enough to read most formal ancient texts. She took a long hard look at the ancient words in between looking at the ground and in front of her. There was something slightly comforting in those ancient runes.

Lyra needed some peace to think of some of the words. She put the tablet in her saddlebags and continued to the distant forest. The silence of the desert gave Lyra plenty of opportunity to just think on things. |Why is this second poem using obsolete words? I really can only recognize Mezect as the obsolete form of magnusel, it predates one of the first language reformations.| Some of the words were unrecognizable at all to Lyra. She was a little proud she even knew some ancient, but this was far beyond her. |Most unicorns know magnusel is the ancient form of the word magic, fewer still would know its root,| Lyra sighed heavily, she knew what had to happen. |So not only is this in a very ancient form, it also deals with ancient magical theory.|

She took the tablet out and looked at it again, she scanned the last poem riddle. The last line of it used unrecognizable words, but next to the last line of text a word in modern Equestrian appeared. “Hint” it said, then it faded and two pictograms appeared. One showed a speech bubble with some runes in it, the other showed a very complex star inside a circle. |No getting around it at all now,| She pushed the tablet back in her bags. |I need to speak to Twilight about this.|

Even under the hot sun and on top of the scorched earth, Lyra felt a slight chill thinking about the encounter. It had been a few years since both Lyra and Twilight met. And even though Lyra never felt a direct form of animosity from Twilight, she was still a student to the one who destroyed a much more advanced race. Lyra pushed the thought of inevitability away and tried to concentrate on what she was doing at that moment, going back from whence she came.

The distant forest was at least a few days away, it was at times like this that Lyra really wished she knew more general magic like Sparkle. Teleporting looked easy whenever Lyra saw Twilight performing it in town seemingly at every opportunity. Lyra’s mind began to drift, she imagined what the encounter might be like. She had thought of a few contradictions with history and a few with anomalous ancient artifacts but Lyra knew better than that. Lyra knew Twilight might not listen to a word of it if her Princess told her otherwise.

Lyra sighed heavily, she knows what lies ahead will be the most difficult thing she’s ever tried (and considering that she was currently in a cursed desert that was saying a lot). But there was something else that Lyra was aware of, Twilight was a very curious pony; and that fact could just take her over the edge. Lyra kept a steady pace, occasionally looking at potential stumbling blocks in her path, but mostly contemplating. Scenario after scenario played out in her head.

They never played out like she hoped though, usually Twilight almost comes to her side, but quickly devolves into calling Her over. It also bugged Lyra that she didn’t know what was on that tablet to begin with. One side was frosted white glass, the other was a slightly sunken in black ‘glass’ with some buttons underneath. The dark side never came on, it was just there (perhaps for decoration). While Lyra asked herself these questions of the tablet in her mind, the tablet came on in her bags.

Even though Lyra was unaware, the tablets frosted surface faded into a picture of the darkside of itself. Next to that image was a small description in modern Equestrian talking about its age and purpose. It also again said to unlock the device to know more before promptly fading back into the original screen containing the two riddles.

Lyra was still thinking about the coming confrontation but the sun was starting to go down, so she decided to settle down for the night. She made herself a little something to eat as the sky and her surroundings got darker and darker. Lyra knew she needed to find out what was on the tablet before going directly to Twilight about it. She knew there was a simple way to do that but for now sleep was calling to her. Lyra looked down at the descending valley, it was glowing in the moonlight. Then she layed down on her small cot and fell fast asleep.

---

She dreamt of being in Canterlot. Lyra took a slow look around, walking slowly forward with each step making an audible yet soft crunch. Everything was jet black. The buildings, the sky, the moon was all black. The only light there was to be found were the night sky itself, the stars and the celestial river were still giving off light. She kept a steady pace and walked forward on the crunchy ground. There was no other sounds aside from her steps and breathing.

Unconsciously she tried to get a torch from her bags and quickly discovered that they were absent. For a few frantic seconds she looked around her person to find her belongings but her things were simply nonexistent now. She did not realize she was dreaming and wandered about the blacked middle ward of Canterlot. There was a faint smell of smoke that was inescapable. More than once she absent mindedly leaned against something that seemed sturdy like a wall or fence or a door but it crumbled into more of the crunchy dust.

It seemed like she had walked for hours, aimlessly wandering a dark version of where she grew up. There was a slight feeling of unease that Lyra could not shake. |Something isn’t right here| She thought to herself. She walked to an old wooden gate and tapped it with her hoof. It disintegrated to a pile of dark black dust. She unknowingly looked above the dust of the gate and read the sign that was over it. ‘Starswirl Academy’ “Oh that’s right!” She said to herself. |This is where I went to school as a filly.|

She walked into the dark schoolyard and looked around. It looked just like her memories told her it would only it was black a derelict. She let out a sigh. |What am I doing here?| She thought. |How did I even get here? What time is it?| She got out her magic pocket watch and read the time ‘7:03’ she lowered the watch. |That can’t be right| She said as she looked at it again ‘4:55’ |What? How can this be?| She looked once more to her watch ‘12:18’ “Oh!” Shouted Lyra as a realization hit her.

“I must be dreaming.” She whispered to herself and ran inside the schoolhouse to look in the mirror. The mirror reflected nothing but a jumbled mess of geometric shapes. “This is Awesome!” She shouted. “I sure wish i could see better though.” She said out loud again. As soon as the thought was formed the world itself brightened up. There was still no light source besides the stars but now she could see everything much clearer.

She lightly touched the mirror and it shattered and turned to dust. |Why is everything so fragile and dark?| She thought as she went out to the balcony overlooking Equestria. It was still pitch black. Out of nowhere an intense fear overtook Lyra and she collapsed on the dark ground in her dream. |W-WHAT?! WHO’S THERE?!| Lyra shouted in her mind as she got up again. The moon ceased being a darkened disk and became as big and bright as any full moon. “Ash” said a voice from nowhere.

Lyra tensed up |Who’s there? Are you listening to my thoughts?| Lyra thought in her mind, waiting for a reply. “Yes I am, for it is my job to monitor this realm” Lyra got to her hooves and looked around. The scenery lightened slightly, enough for shadows to form. She looked up and saw the moon was full and bright. |This realm? Of what!? Of Equestria? Of the planet?| She was still staring at the moon as she thought of these questions, looking for the trail. “The realm of dreams, dreams created by all ponykind,” Lyra was only slightly confused and asked “So this is a dream then”, “Yes it is.” Replied the voice.

“Who are you and why are you in my dream now? Are you always poking in my dreams?” Asked Lyra with some defiance and defensiveness. “You need not know who I am, only that I protect ponys from dreams that may harm them.” The voice said dutifully. Lyra looked around at the blackened landscape and the pile of ash beside her and then to the sky again searching the the trail. “How can a dream harm anypony? None of this is real.” Said Lyra matter of factly. The voice replied loud and rumbling “This most assuredly IS real, you know nothing of this but hear what I say, dreams take place in another plane of reality. I would have thought a unicorn as yourself would know this.” Lyra sat down by a tree which disintegrated into another pile of ash |Sheesh, I studied history not magical theory. Now where did that object fall to.|

The voice replied to her thoughts, “That object is meaningless to you, as meaningless as your studies into history! You should better this empire by thinking of the future and not by skulking in the past!” Lyra was visibly angry in her dream and replied “Forget that, you don’t rule over me! Else you would have stopped this dream or brought me someplace else! Right? This is my dream and that fallen object is mine to discover!” Just then a golden light caught Lyra’s eye. A nearby building was pouring out golden light from a smashed hole in its roof. Knowing it was dream Lyra simply floated over to it and went inside with a smug expression on her face. Before her was an eight pointed star made of pure gold.

It had words set in it, ‘The rocks will be made unto ash, the sand will be made unto glass and the magic shall be dissolved’ Lyra asked herself “What could this mean?” And one last time the voice came back to her and quietly said “You may want to rethink your statement that I do not rule you.” Lyra got cold after hear that and woke up with a start. She was in a cold sweat. The sky was still very dark, she quickly scribbled down the words from her dream on some paper. Then she laid back down and drifted off into a long deep dreamless sleep.

Comments

[JohnIsOffline]

I like your style, it looks just as good if not better than the actual No-Logic , I regret nothing, And thanks a lot for that!

[Von Voctavia]

This story is great! Glad you're continuing it. :)

[Dipti]

cool finally a new chapter!!!