Chapter 1
"Careful now, those relics are very fragile." Daring Do chirped from above, hanging precariously over the edge of the well. Rainbow Dash snorted as she scooped another hoof-full of ancient, copper coins.
"How fragile can coins be? I mean, look at them!" Rainbow gestured with her free hoof. "Basically fragment-sized already, how much smaller can they get? Plus," She brushed a wing over the nearby coin piles. "So what if we break one? There's plenty down here."
It was Daring's turn to snort. "You're lucky I broke my wing. Just get out of there once you've got enough."
"Enough?"
She rolled her eyes. "As much as you can carry."
Rainbow Dash sighed, scooping up more copper coins and dumping them into the nearby bucket. They were small, about five of them could be held casually in a hoof, and Faust-knows how many down in this well. The more Dash dug, the deeper she found the pile and the well went.
"Remind me again, why did ancient ponies toss their hard-earned loot into wells?"
Daring Do frowned, humming with thought. She fidgeted with her helm, the uniform of any Junior Archaeologist. "Nobody really knows why. The Grandflight Master thinks it was for some sort of ancient ritual, like a good luck ceremony or a sacrifice."
Rainbow Dash smiled and looked up at Daring Do. "Am I going to find any other 'sacrifices' down here?"
Daring snorted. "Just keep digging."
Rainbow Dash shoveled another hoof full of coins into the bucket at her side. This far down, each coin had been marred by mud and age. Supposedly, that meant that soon she'd hit water, though Daring Do had warned her about the effects of Copper Water Poisoning, which she'd read from a book. 'What an egghead' Rainbow Dash thought with a smile.
The pile was deep, and while the sound of coins rattling as she scooped more up would make any regular Pegasi excited, Rainbow Dash knew these coins would only be going to the smelter to be melted down, as with any other relic coins the Excavation teams dug up. She sighed. The coins would probably fetch a good price, but no. She'd made that mistake on her first day. Checks were made regularly to check for stolen goods, including entering and exiting dig sites.
"So," Daring Do started. "I heard that they're picking a new Weather Watcher."
Rainbow Dash frowned at that. "What happened to Zephyr Breeze? He was a pretty good Weather Watcher." He wasn't just 'pretty good', he'd been the youngest Weather Watcher in Mount Horn's history.
"Well, he hadn't been the same since Fluttershy went missing." She sighed. "Gone right over the edge, fell through the clouds and everything." She paused for a moment. "I'm sorry Rainbow, I know you two were close."
"But how'd he get so close?" There were fences near the edge, every Pegasi knew that. It was to prevent accidents, though 'accidents' had been happening more lately. Not only that, but there had been guards posted near the edge! "Someone should've been watching him."
"He's a Weather Watcher, remember? They can get as close to the edge as they want. He probably told them it was for a weather reading."
Silence. Awful, dreadful silence. Zephyr Breeze was gone. Rainbow Dash couldn't imagine it. They never really saw eye-to-eye, but now?
"I'm sorry Dash."
"... It's okay. It wasn't your fault." Rainbow Dash sighed. "So, I'm guessing no news on Fluttershy then?"
"No, they think she went over the edge too." Daring Do replied softly. "We can stop for today, if you want."
Rainbow Dash nodded limply, and carefully flew out of the well. Eight buckets in total, more than what was required of them. More than enough for whatever the Grandflight Master had planned. The coins glinted tauntingly, and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but spare a glance back down the well.
"Wish they'd pay us more."
"I know." Daring Do replied, inspecting each bucket of coins carefully. "I like the Library and all, but it just gets so cramped sometimes."
"That's probably because of all the books you keep bringing home." Rainbow Dash snorted. "Place is a fire hazard."
"Is not!"
"Is too! Daring, our walls are lined. I don't even think we have walls at this point, I haven't seen them in so long."
"You're just exaggerating." Daring Do replied with a smile. "Probably seems like a lot considering you've never touched a book in your life."
"That's because they haven't taught me to read!"
Daring Do glanced over her shoulder. "Would you read them if you could?"
"...No." Rainbow Dash replied after a moment.
"Exactly." She answered, going back to scanning over the coins. "I think we got a few silver coins in here too. Thank Luna we don't have to sort them out. Should earn us a bit more on our check though."
Rainbow Dash blinked. "How often do we even find silver? There could be more down there!" She smiled. The Grandflight Master paid top-dollar for silver, no matter how small the piece was.
Daring Do frowned. "Yeah, but you said the coins were starting to get muddy? We're probably near the bottom, I doubt there's much left..." She trailed off.
"Yeah, but think about how much those coins could net us!"
Silence.
"Daring?"
"Dash..." She started, awe-struck. In her hoof, she held a small, glimmering coin. It was no larger - or smaller, for that matter - than any of the other coins, but it was tinted brighter than copper. It shone like and afternoon's sun, it was the boon of a Junior Archaeologist's trove.
"It's... gold." Rainbow Dash whispered, creeping closer. She'd never seen gold before. Nobody had, save for the Head Archaeologists.
"Not only that, look." Daring Do pointed her hoof to the engraving on the coin. A face, unrecognizable despite it's good condition. A horn atop the figure's head, with two wings sprouting behind them. At the bottom, old Equuish. "Celestia." Daring Do read.
"Who?" Rainbow asked, flitting her head curiously.
"I don't know. She seems..." Daring trailed off again.
"Important?"
"Regal." Daring Do spoke slowly. "Very important. Have you ever seen a Pegasi with a horn?" She asked, brushing her hoof against the coin as though the horn were naught but a smudge that could be wiped off.
"Have you ever seen anyone with a horn?" Rainbow Dash pointed out.
"No... but look." She pointed to a section she'd wiped clean. "More Equuish. A date, maybe? I can't read the words, they're too tarnished." She stared intently. " 'Three' something. I don't know what though."
"Hold on." Rainbow Dash replied before fluttering away. In the corner of the room lie equipment. A lantern, a helm, empty bags and a few chipped pickaxes. The only thing that mattered to her though was the lantern. A quick oil change later, and it was lit.
Rainbow Dash carefully brought the lamp up beside her friend. "Here." She whispered. "Can you see it now?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"What does it say?"
"...Equestria, 340 A.N.M."