A searing, dry desert wind whipped the Kessa Forelock’s mane into a frenzy, though it didn’t move her an inch. Her eyes were focused on the head of a large statue half buried in the sand.
The statue was definitely a mare. Her mane wound around an ornate crown that framed the long, sharp horn on her forehead. The statue’s eyes were fixed downwards, as if it held the ponies beneath her in absolute contempt. It almost bore a resemblance to the depiction she’d seen in books about Nightmare Moon.
Kessa dug deeper around the statue, ensuring the sand was placed so it didn’t fill the area back in. After a short time she’d exposed what she really wanted to see: the statue’s chest.
“Cander,” she called from the small hole she sat in, not wanting to disturb the sand around the statue. “Cander?” she called again, peeking over the top of the hole. She saw their wagon sitting nearby, but the stallion that was usually by her side was nowhere to be seen.
She climbed out of the hole, doing her best not to bury the statue, and trotted over to the wagon. Sand had piled up around the wheels and edges, though they’d only been at this one spot for a few hours.
“Cander!” she yelled as she walked over to the back of the wagon. A few seconds later, a yellow pegasus stumbled out of the back of the wagon. His forelegs tripped over the edge and sent him face first into the sand. A book landed nearby.
“Sorry about that,” Kessa said. “What were you reading?”
“Oh...nothing,” Cander said. He got to his feet quickly and picked up the book, placing it back into the wagon.
“It was Daring Do, wasn’t it?” Kessa said.
“Maybe...” Cander said, kicking a hoof in the sand.
“I can’t figure out what you see in those books.”
“They’re fun,” Cander said. “You’ve never even given them a chance. Look-”
“Never mind,” Kessa sighed. “Can you just grab the bag?”
“The bag? Oh, right,” Cander said. He climbed back into the wagon and emerged carrying a brown saddlebag. “I take it we found-” he began, but Kessa didn’t wait for him to finish. She dug into the bag and pulled out a battered brown journal bearing a faded seal from the Manehattan Museum of Natural History.
“Is that a yes?” Cander asked as he looked over her shoulder at the notebook. Kessa flipped through half the book before she came to a page with a sketch she had done about a year prior. It was of a small ivory carving found in one of the displays at the museum.
Kessa carried the book over to the statue and jumped back into the pit. She looked from the sketch to the statue and back again. There was no doubt in her mind anymore, they were the same. Her attention turned to the phrase she’d scrawled below the sketch.
“At the temple of earth, the shine of the center jewel will light the way,” she read. That phrase had been buried beneath scrolls and stacks of books, all trying to point in different directions and most put forward incorrect theories.
“Look, I’m sure you’re all excited about this, but maybe we ought to just take a step back and remember last time that you just kind of went ahead without thinking,” Cander said. Kessa showed no sign of listening to him and dug into the sand until the statue’s chest was fully exposed.
Exactly as she had hoped, there was a missing space in the statue’s chest. She went back to the bag and pulled out a long cylindrical jewel. It had taken a lot of begging, pleading and bribing to get the jewel out of the museum, but she knew it’d be worth it.
“Hello?” Cander said. “Last time? Remember the spiders? I certainly remember the spiders...” Kessa lifted the jewel and carefully slid it into the space on the statue. It locked into place with a soft click. “And then, as if the spiders weren’t enough, there were the rats...all those rats...”
“Are you finished yet?” Kessa asked.
“Not in the slightest until you decide to drop this and-” he looked into the hole and saw the jewel. “Oh, never mind, not like I could have stopped you anyway.” He kicked at the sand. “So what’s supposed to happen now?”
“I don’t know,” she said. The statue was motionless and there was no way for light to hit the jewel enough to actually shine in any direction. She reached for her journal again. “There has to be something I’m missing.”
Then the statue started to shake. Slowly at first until the vibrations reached a point that the sand remaining on it returned to the desert. The statue rose out of the sand until it’s head elevated past the lip of the hole, then above it.
Kessa climbed as quickly as she could out of the hole and turned to look at the statue. As it rose, another object buried in the sand a few steps behind it began to emerge too. It was vaguely pyramidal in shape with a large, rectangular door in the front. Two statues similar to the one Kessa had exposed guarded the door.
They could now make out the statue in its entirety and it was better than she’d imagined. The statue’s legs were evenly spaced out and positioned in an aggressive stance. The wings were fully spread out behind her.
The whole building stopped shaking after a few minutes and revealed a temple that had been buried under the sand for centuries.
“All right, let’s go,” Kessa said, putting the bag onto her back.
“You can’t be serious,” Cander said.
“You expect us to let a brand new temple just sit there?”
“I expect you to show a little restraint for once,” Cander said. “Look, let’s mark the site, head back to town-”
“And wait for someone else to steal our find? Not a chance,” she said as she walked towards the temple. “This is three years of research right here. I’m not letting it go.”
The doorway was massive. Kessa saw something spark as she approached and one by one the torches lit around and past the door.
The temple itself covered a stairway leading underground. The walls on either side of the stairs were covered with carvings depicting various events of the ancient world.
She heard the sound of another pair of hooves on stone and turned to see Cander trotting behind her.
“What happened to restraint?” Kessa asked.
“Someone needs to be there to say ‘I told you so,’” he said. Kessa turned her attention back to the hieroglyphs on the walls.
“How old would you guess these are?” she asked.
“I’d say late Bridlering-era,” Cander said. “It’s far more ornate than anything I’ve seen before. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was carved with modern tools.”
“That era was known for its progress,” Kessa said.
“Not to the point of power tools,” Cander said. “At least, it’s not supposed to be.”
They continued down the stairs for a few minutes. Cander stopped every once in awhile to get a rubbing of some writing or a particular glyph.
“I really hate these kinds of enclosed spaces,” he muttered.
“You chose the wrong field then,” Kessa said.
“No, my field was language,” he said. “You were the one who said, ‘Hey Cander! I’ve got a fun idea! Just three words: rats and spiders.”
“You’re always complaining.”
“I can’t possibly imagine why,” Cander said.
“You’re such a foal,” Kessa said.
“Yeah, I’ll remember that next time we need several dozen request forms from the museum filled out in triplicate and you-” he walked right into her rear end. “Hey, what’s...oh...”
The stairs had opened up into a long hallway. The torches lit the way down to a massive stone door. There were small waterfalls on either side of the door. The water formed a small stream on either side of the walkway.
They slowly moved down the hallway, keeping watch for any surprises. The door ahead had a massive dial containing several rings with strange mismatched symbols on them.
“I think I’ve seen this before,” Kessa said as she grabbed her journal again. She flipped through the pages, keeping close to the torchlight. Cander moved towards the door, studying something written above it. Kessa turned to the page with a large sketch of the wheel.
“Only those bearing the true seal of earth shall enter,” they read at the same time.
“So we just have to make sure we use the right seal to open the door,” Kessa said. “Not a problem.”
“And what is the right seal?” Cander asked.
“I’ve got to have it somewhere,” Kessa said. She flipped through the journal, but couldn’t find any sort of reference to a seal. “Wait, read the inscription again.”
“Only those bearing the true seal of earth shall enter,” Cander said.
“True seal of earth...what’s the element of earth?” Kessa asked.
“Earth isn’t an element, it’s a mixture of various-”
“No, in the ancient times, it was considered an element, what was its symbol?” Kessa asked.
“I don’t know,” Cander said. Kessa turned her attention to the wheel.
“The wheel’s divided into sections, each one matching up with another,” Kessa said. “We just have to ensure that the picture in the center is the true seal.”
“So what is the true seal?” Cander asked.
“Let’s see...” Kess said as she leaned towards the door. She pressed her hoof against the wheel and began to spin them around, carefully aligning the segments until they lined up into three different pictures: three horizontal lines, an arch and a rugged sphere.
“Which one is it?” Cander asked. Kessa studied the pictures. After a moment she burst into laughter. The sound echoed through the dark corridor.
“Seal of earth, this is an earth temple,” she said. “Earth is an ancient element, but also a type of pony.” She reached for the wheel and started to turn it. “That’s not an arch, it’s a hoof. Can’t believe I didn’t see it-”
“Wait-” Cander said. “Are you sure? The horizontal lines seem far more likely...”
“If you were setting a puzzle-based trap, wouldn’t you be sure to make the wrong solution the obvious one?” Kessa asked.
“That would depend on if I wanted someone to actually solve it.”
“Exactly,” Kessa said as she spun the wheel until the hoof clicked into place. A harsh grinding noise rang out from the other side of the door until it quickly slid open. “See, I told you it was-”
“FOOLS!” said a voice from the other side of the door. Both ponies stumbled backwards. “The buried secrets here are not for mortal eyes. Know that if you disturb the tablet, you will meet a watery grave...” the voice slowly faded into the darkness.
“Hello?” Kessa called into the door.
“What are you doing?!” Cander said, his voice a panicked hush. “That voice just threatened to drown us.”
“Probably just a magical ward, no big deal,” Kessa said. She looked into the next chamber. The entire room was pitch black. She walked over to one of the torches and slid it off the wall with her mouth.
“No big deal?” Cander said. “I don’t know about you, but for me, drowning would be a pretty big deal.”
When she entered the next chamber, the light from the torch filled the area. The walls had been carved from a type of very reflective stone. Kessa could dimly see her own reflection in the wall.
She took a step forward and felt her right hoof slip into nothing. The torch fell out of her mouth as she started to fall. At the last minute she felt something grab hold of her hind legs.
“What happened to watching our footing?” Cander said as he slowly pulled her back up.
“Hey Cander, grab a torch and stay back here with it,” Kessa said as she got back to her feet.
“Why?” Cander asked. Kessa pointed towards the pit. There was a very narrow walkway leading to a short pedestal. With the exception of the walkway and the ledge they were standing on, everything led down into the pit.
A sharp hissing and clicking rose up from the pit itself. Cander started to lean over the ledge to look but Kessa reached out with a hoof to hold him back.
“Don’t look down there,” she said. “Just get the torch.”
“You looked,” Cander said. “I don’t think there would be a problem with me doing it.” He pushed past her and looked down into the pit.
Hundreds of large black and orange scorpions were crawling around the pit. Their claws and tails clicked against each other's exoskeletons while their multiple eyes stared up at what they hoped was a meal. Cander stumbled backwards and slammed his back against the wall, his eyes wide.
“Those aren’t spiders...at least the spiders...didn’t have claws...stingers...poison...well, they did have poison, but-” Kessa put a hoof over his mouth.
“Just stay here,” she said.
“You’re not-”
“Someone has too,” Kessa said as she turned towards the walkway. Cander grabbed her by the tail and forcefully pulled her back.
“I’m not letting you do this,” he yelled. “This is crazy, even for you.”
“Don’t be such a foal,” Kessa said.
“M-maybe I could fly and-” Kessa shook her head. She pointed up towards the ceiling. Hundreds of jagged spikes pointed down towards them. They were most concentrated over and around the walkway.
“Not to mention, one glance down and you’ll be flying about as fast as a boulder,” she said. “No, this is an Earth temple, I think you’re supposed to walk it.”
Kessa turned towards the walkway and took a deep breath. The floor was made out of the same reflective stone as the rest of the room. It made for an eerie sight as she put one hoof in front of the other.
“Nothing to it,” she muttered as she made it closer to the pedestal with each step. The scorpions below continued to watch her with glowing red eyes. The pedestal was just large enough for her stand on. As she placed her last hoof on it, the pedestal shook slightly and a portion of it rose to meet her face.
A slot appeared at the top of the new object and ejected a flat piece of sandstone. Kessa picked it up and placed it so she could read what was on it. The first lines grabbed her immediately:
“The catastrophe destroyed not only our home, but our future. We don’t know if the surge cost us our magic forever, but if it did so, it would be a blessing, we-”
The stone was clearly designed so another piece would fit into it, continuing the tale inscribed on it.
“Kessa...” Cander said.
“One second,” she said.
“-islands remain. Each is marked with an inscription directing the placement of the stones. The stones-”
“Kessa, you might want to-”
“Not now.”
“-pray to the heavens, the land remains washed away forever. A testament to our arrogance-”
“No, I think now is a very good time,” Cander said.
“-sank beneath the ocean. Result of vengeance or sabotage. But whatever the cause, the city...our city is gone until such a time that we can safely wield-”
“KESSA!”
“What?!” Kessa said. It was at that moment she felt the pedestal shake. “Oh buck me over a barrel...”
“FOOLS!” the magical voice screamed. “EMBRACE YOUR DOOM!”
A great rushing sound merged with the sound of the eager scorpions. Portions of the walls opened and water rushed into the chamber, knocking piles of scorpions aside.
Kessa grabbed the tablet with her teeth and started down the walkway, but the shaking made every step treacherous. A wave of water slammed into the walkway. Some of the spikes above became loose and fell towards the ground.
One spike slammed into the walkway directly in front of her, breaking away the stone. Kessa leaped over the debris, but her hooves slipped as she landed, sending her towards the scorpions for the second time in less than ten minutes.
Kessa reached down and grabbed the rope attached to her bag as she fell. She threw it towards Cander seconds before she hit the ground. Cander grabbed it in his teeth and backed towards the door, trying to keep his footing. He pulled the rope around the door, using the frame as leverage. Cander used every ounce of strength to pull Kessa up and just out of the reach of the scorpions.
He lifted her onto the ledge just as water exploded from the walls around the pit. The resulting wave knocked the two of them further down the hallway. They scrambled to their feet as the water pooled around them. The clicking of their hooves was drowned out by the rushing water.
They reached the stairs and started to climb, the water roaring through the hallway behind them. The force of the water rushed through and slammed into both ponies, surrounding them in a torrent.
Kessa held onto the tablet as tightly as she could while the water carried them up into the bright daylight.
They landed with a soft thud on the sand outside the temple. The water continued to flow out of the door for a few more minutes, soaking the sand around them.
“‘No big deal,’ you said,” Cander said as he sat panting on the sand. “‘Just a magical ward,’ you said. Those were SCORPIONS.” He rose to his feet and stretched his wings, grimacing. “I think I sprained something.”
“Thanks for that back there,” Kessa said as she tucked the tablet into her bag. "I guess you did tell me so."
“Yeah, well, I told-,” Cander began, but stopped mid sentence and glared at her.
“At least we got out of there,” Kessa said.
“So did they,” Cander said, pointing to the crowd of Scorpions approaching them.
“Just back up slowly...” Kessa said.
The largest scorpion leaped towards them but a blur from the sky slammed into it mid-air. Then two more slammed into the remaining scorpions.
“What now?” Cander said.
“Kessa Forelock and her sidekick backed into a corner,” said a smooth, regal voice from the dune above them. “Why is this situation not surprising?” The owner of the voice slid down the sand towards them. He was a fuchsia unicorn bearing a very smug smile.
“About as surprising as you following me and trying to steal my find, Coifur,” Kessa said.
“Oh, so ungrateful,” Coifur said. “And after I saved your precious lives too.” The three blurs that had attacked the scorpions rose to their full height, revealing them to be large griffins. The largest griffin was heavily scarred and one of his back paws was replaced by a wooden peg.
“I see you still have an impeccable taste in friends,” Kessa said.
“They may appear somewhat course, but they’re effective,” Coifur said. “Unlike some Pegasi I could mention.” Cander snorted.
“What are you doing here?” Kessa asked.
“Why, exploring my dig site of course,” Coifur said. “The local town signed the paperwork this morning. You can check.” His horn flashed and sent the remaining scorpions flying in different directions away from the temple. “So nice to have magic, isn’t it?” he said, glancing sideways towards Kessa.
She felt rage boil within her and she took a step towards him, but Cander held her back.
“Now, since this is my find, you would, of course, share with me any discoveries you made while exploring it, correct?” Coifur said. “I would hate to have to report you to the proper authorities for grave robbery.”
“I’ll bet you would,” Kessa said.
“If not, then please vacate my site before you do any more damage,” Coifur said. They locked eyes for a moment until Cander nudged her.
“Let’s go,” he whispered as he turned towards the sand dune.
“See you in Manehattan,” Coifur said. Kessa snorted at him before walking away from the temple.
Coifur watched as they disappeared over the dune back towards their sad little wagon. He turned and walked towards the temple. The large griffin landed next to him.
“Tear this place apart,” Coifur said. “I want to know what they found.”
“It’ll be done,” the griffin said. “Anything else?” Coifur stopped as his hoof landed on something. He looked down to see a battered and wet leather bound book.
“Make sure the ship is ready for immediate departure as soon as possible,” he said, lifting the book into the air and opening it. “We’re going to the museum.”
-To Be Continued-
The Manehattan Museum of Natural History was was an imposing building that rested on one of the longer sides of Manehattan’s central park. It was an older building and well respected by the inhabitants of the city as one of the main centers of learning in Manehattan, if not all of Equestria.
Six immense marble pillars supported the overhanging gilded roof, the top of which was plated in copper turned green with age. A difference scene from Equestrian history was carved at the base of each pillar. Beneath each scene was a single word. Together the pillars read, ‘From History, Knowledge; From Knowledge, Wisdom.’
Kessa Forelock ran up the stairs past the pillars and pushed open the large wooden door. She entered the grand foyer of the museum. The tablet was safely stored in her backpack. The pack smacked against her sides as she passed beneath the skeleton of a massive dragon-like creature hung from the ceiling above. The sound echoed through the empty hallways. It was still a little less than a half hour before the museum opened to the public.
A week had passed since she and Cander had left the temple to Coifur in the grand southern desert. She’d spent most of that time trying to write down everything she could remember from her journal, regularly cursing herself for losing it in the first place.
She dashed past the custodian and ran up the large staircase to the upper level of the museum. A wooden door marked “Employees Only” was pushed aside. The room was a small office with several unoccupied desks.
Cander sat at one of them, his head buried in a large dusty ledger. He looked up as she ran past and started to greet her but she ran past him and into the large wooden door at the end of the office.
The office was filled with artifacts and paintings from all over Equestria and many others from outside the country.
Kessa stopped in front of a large wooden desk in front of a picture window that overlooked the museum's main entrance.
“You wanted to see me, sir?” she said, half out of breath. A large Earth pony stood up from behind the desk. He was a light dusty color, but his mane was aged a dark gray. Curator Dusthoof had been a fixture in Kessa’s life for as long as she could remember.
“Yes, I did,” he said as he came around the desk and sat down in front of her. “I’d be lying if I said your letters didn’t intrigue me,” he said. Kessa smiled at the praise.
“But they also worried me,” he continued. Kessa's shoulders drooped. She knew what he was going to say. Dusthoof placed both fore hooves on the desk and frowned at her. “That was supposed to be a simple fact-finding mission. The next thing I know, Cander’s hurt and I’m hearing stories about spikes, floods, scorpions...” He shook his head. “You can’t keep doing this.”
“Look, it’s real this time,” Kessa said as she reached for her bag.
“You always say that,” Dusthoof said.
“Yeah, but I actually mean it this time,” she said before she pulled out the tablet portion and placed it on his desk. “This is the first half of the Stallion’s Record. I know it is.” she gestured towards the markings on the tablet. “The written account of the survivors from Alanticorn after the city was destroyed.” Dusthoof leaned over to look at the tablet.
“This is indeed interesting,” he said. “But incomplete. You need the other half.”
“I know that, I was hoping to-”
“No,” Dusthoof said. “No more. Let the actual archaeologists handle this.”
“I-”
“You’re a museum guide, Kessa,” he said. “And I expect you to remember that.” He placed his hoof on the tablet and slid it to the other side of his desk so she couldn’t get to it. “I’ll take care of this. You have a tour starting in fifteen minutes.”
Kessa stared at him for a moment, fighting back the angry tears that threatened to fall. She stood near the door for another moment, hoping he'd change his mind. Dusthoof turned away to look out of the window. Kessa turned and pushed open the door, slamming it shut behind her. Cander gave her a smile, but it melted when he saw the expression on her face.
“Is there anything-”
“No,” Kessa said, cutting him off. “I’m fine.” She stomped out of the office, slamming that door shut as well.
She trotted through the museum for a few minutes before she found herself on the third floor balcony overlooking Central Park. She leaned on the railing and looked out over the other ponies walking through the park. Some were talking, others relaxed on benches. It would have been a nice day if it wasn’t for the fact she’d been torn down by the only pony she respected.
Kessa had grown up around the museum. Her parents died while returning from a dig site. Dusthoof took her in afterwards. He gave her a place at the museum. She spent all number of hours either in the library, learning from the scientists on staff or exploring the exhibits.
The idea of exploring places nopony had been for centuries and discovering facts long forgotten was always her drive. Dusthoof told her that her parents were of the same mindset, that they’d been lost doing the very thing they enjoyed.
Now he was taking that connection away from her.
Kessa stomped on the carved blocks of the balcony. She felt her anger flow into the stone of the old building. She wouldn’t stand for it. Celestia as her witness, she wouldn’t let this stop her.
The large doors to the balcony slammed open, startling her. Cander poked his head out.
“The tour group’s here and they’re getting antsy,” he said. “Most of them are fillies and colts, so watch yourself.”
“No problem,” she said, her voice low and grouchy. “I just-”
+++
“-love showing people around the museum,” Kessa said, her voice light and cheery, to the crowd of fourteen young ponies and their teacher. “We’re now in the museum’s grand foyer! Do you know what that is above us?”
“A lizard?”
“A monster?”
“A dragon?”
“You’re very close,” Kessa said, pointing towards the massive skeleton hanging from the ceiling. “This is one of the only known skeletons of a Ladon Serpentia, considered the ancient precursor to modern dragons.”
“That’s lame,” said a colt in the back of the group. “It looks like a giant snake.”
“It sort of was,” Kessa said as she moved towards the colt. “Only he had four little legs, each ending in a set of razor sharp claws capable of digging into the most solid stone.” She leaped behind one of the rocks on display below the skeleton.
“He’d lie very still,” she said. “As his prey got closer, he’d wait for just when the prey was nearly upon him...” She suddenly jumped into the air, landing in front of the colt. “He’d rise up, spread his massive wings and let loose a deafening roar. Then, if the prey tried to run, he’d spit searing hot acid in its path, preventing any further escape.” Kessa smiled at the ponies as they stared at her.
“But you won’t have to worry about them,” she said. “We believe they’re all extinct.”
“B-believe?” the colt said.
“There’s a lot of places still unexplored in this world of ours,” she said. “Who knows? There could be one of these fellows just sitting on a rock. Waiting.” She smiled again. “On our left is the Shankheight Hall of Ocean Life, if you’ll follow me.”
+++
“Are you ever going to lead a tour where you don’t try to scare the kids?” Cander asked. He usually came down to talk to her while the kids were busy. This time they were distracted by the various rocks and crystals on display.
“It gives them a healthy respect for history when they can picture it actually happening,” Kessa said. Cander smiled. Then his eyes drifted to the old worn tiles of floor. He gently kicked at it for a moment.
“Did you want to talk about this morning?” he asked, his voice low. Kessa flattened her ears against her head.
“No,” she said.
“Look, I’m sure whatever he said in there was for the best-”
“He still treats me like some filly in need of constant attention.”
“Well, to be fair, you have lied to him a few times about what you’re actually doing,” Cander said. She shot him a dirty look. “We cut it pretty close in that temple, Kessa. If we were just a bit slower we’d have both been a lot worse off than wet and banged up.”
“I know,” she said. Kessa let out a long heavy sigh. “But this find...it could do so much. There were so many things lost in that city.”
“And according to the legend you like to quote, they were lost for a reason,” Cander said. “There’s some things in this world ponies just aren’t meant to know.” The words hung in the air for a moment. Kessa looked away from him, unable to admit that her friend did have a point.
They sat together in silence for a few moments while the kids all gathered around a large display that showed what the different levels of Equestria’s soil looked like.
“I never did thank you for saving my haunches back there,” Kessa said.
“Oh,” Cander said, startled by the thanks. “No problem. You know me, when danger rears its ugly head-”
“You’ll usually find Cander under his bed,” Kessa said as she playfully jabbed him with her elbow.
“Well, that’s not quite what I meant,” but their conversation was interrupted by a filly’s earsplitting scream. “What the hay was that?”
They ran over to a small group of young ponies who all seemed to be crowding around another pony. The filly at the center of attention was trying with all of her might to keep a book away from the others.
“What’s going on here?” their teacher asked as she approached the group.
“Lilyheart won’t share her book with us,” said one of the other ponies.
“We just wanted to look at the pictures.”
“What book?” Kessa asked.
“It’s the latest Daring Do story!” one of the colts said. “It came out last week.”
“You mean Daring Do and the Partly-Related Regent?” Cander said.
“Yeah!” the colt said.
“I’ve been waiting months for that,” Cander said. Kessa glared at him.
“You kids know you shouldn’t be fighting,” the teacher said.
“I want to be an archaeologist like Daring Do,” one of the fillies said. “Imagine, taking on the likes of Barron Lowblast!”
“Or Ahuizotl!”
“Oh, archaeology’s nothing like it is in those silly books,” Kessa said. “It takes long hours of studying in libraries, diving through mountains of scrolls and books before you can even start to think about going out into the field. And even once you get out there, you have to-”
Before she’d finished, the children tuned her out and resumed fighting over the book. The teacher tried to herd them towards the gift shop.
“Thank you so much for the tour Miss Forelock,” the teacher said. Kessa waved at the departing kids.
“What kind of issue do you have with Daring Do stories?” Cander asked.
“They’re insulting,” Kessa said. “They give ponies like that the wrong idea.”
“We managed to escape from a temple that tried to drown us in the middle of the desert,” Cander said as they walked back towards the grand foyer. “I think you can cut Daring Do a little slack.”
“I can’t imagine what you see in that series,” she asked.
“It’s good fun,” Cander said. “Daring’s strong, fast and a better flier than I’ll ever hope to be. Plus, she always beats the bad guys.”
“Yeah, reality’s harsh,” Kessa said as she turned from him and started down another hallway.
“Wait, I didn’t mean-” Cander said.
“I’ve got something I’ve gotta take care of,” Kessa said. “I’ll see you in the office.”
“Oh, okay, see you there,” Cander said. He watched her leave for another moment before he moved towards the stairs.
Kessa usually shared everything with him, but she couldn’t this time. He’d already stuck his neck out for her in the desert. If he did it again, she didn’t want to risk something worse happening to him.
She walked down the hallway towards a dusty wooden door. Kessa nudged it open and walked down the stairwell to the museum’s massive basement.
The basement stored all of the exhibits that the museum wasn’t presently showing. It also had a library. A very large library. The museum’s public library was by no means empty, but the one in the basement was nearly three times its size.
“Libro?” she called as she passed through some of the ancient sculptures of long-gone ponies. Libro Shelver was the chief archivist of the museum. He wasn’t the most social of ponies, but he did his job well. There was never a display piece missing or a book on the wrong shelf.
“Oh, Miss Forelock, you startled me,” he said, peeking his head around the corner. “I was just logging in the Highnetter’s Western Beetle Collection. They just displaced it for the ancient predators display.”
“So I saw,” Kessa said.
“Can I help you?”
“No thanks, I just need to visit the library.”
“Okay, you know where it- wait!” Libro said before leaping directly in front of her. “I’m afraid I can’t let you in there. Orders from the curator!”
“Look, I only need to check a few things, you can let me do that, can’t you?” Kessa asked.
“I can’t, I’m sorry,” Libro said.
“I understand,” Kessa said. “Can I look around in here?” Libro eyed her carefully. One of the things she did admire about him was his devotion to the museum, but right now that very devotion was her main obstacle.
“I don’t see why not,” Libro said. “But please just stay away from the library.” She turned away from him, feeling his eyes watching her as she turned around a large shelf.
She slowly moved towards the entrance to the library, casting a look towards Libro. After a moment, he seemed to become engrossed in cataloging the beetle exhibit and ignoring her. She rounded another bookshelf and was fully out of sight, ducking into the library. Kessa shut the door behind her as quietly as she could.
The room was huge and took up at least a third of the entire basement. The magical lights ignited as she entered, illuminating the towering shelves. It would take years just to search through every shelf, let alone read the books on them. The only place in Equestria with more books was probably the Canterlot library and Kessa thought even that was a close call. It made her even more thankful for Libro’s impeccable attention to detail.
Kessa went to the far back corner of the library. The books she’d stacked before were still there, neatly arranged in alphabetical order. She trotted past those books towards the shelf containing books analyzing old pony tales.
More dust than usual covered this set of shelves. Kessa usually went to this section when she was stumped for information. She blew most of the dust away before grabbing the book entitled Grimtail’s Legends and Lore and turned to the chapter about Alanticorn.
“One of the oldest legends of Equestria, many have spoken of the ancient city of Alanticorn and its fall into the great Eastern Ocean. We have little knowledge of the very early history of the world, well before the founding of Equestria.”
“This tale in particular has somehow survived the millennia.”
“The legend goes that a grand empire of Alicorns once ruled the entire world. All roads led to the grand city of Alanticorn, a massive, beautiful city built on a magically summoned island in the middle of the ocean.”
“The reason the city vanished differs depending on who you ask. Some say it fell from a massive uprising of dragons. Other claim there was a massive uprising by the ponies enslaved by the empire. The most far fetched idea involves debris from space containing creatures we’ve never seen before taking the city’s occupants into the heavens.”
“I, however, have my own theory. If one looks at the supposed placement of the city, you can see that-”
Something slammed into her from the side, sending her flying into one of the bookshelves. Books went flying in every direction. As she got to her feet, trying to shake away the stars circling her head, she was pulled through the air and slammed into the opposite bookcase.
She rose again from the pile of dust and books to lock eyes with a pony wearing a dark red robe. He was a unicorn, his horn glowing a slight green.
“Who are you?” Kessa tried to ask, but it just came out as a deep gasp as she tried to draw breath.
“Do not seek the city,” the unicorn said, his voice deep and foreboding.
“The city...” Kessa panted.
“Consider this a warning,” he said. “Nothing but darkness comes from there.”
“A warning? What about the city, is it-” Kessa said, but the unicorn surrounded himself with smoke and pushed her back again. Kessa flew backwards into another shelf. She struggled to her feet, her legs shaking. She looked around but the unicorn was gone.
Libro ran into the library, his eyes wide and panicked.
“What have you done?!” he asked.
“It wasn’t me,” Kessa said.
“You shouldn’t even be in here,” Libro said. “If the curator finds out...” his voice slowly trailed off as he looked past her towards the last shelf she’d slammed into.
“What?” Kessa said, turning to follow his gaze. A single book entitled Lost Secrets of the Past remained on the shelf perfectly upright. Kessa stared at the book for a moment before she slowly trotted over. The shelves on either side had been knocked askew, but not this one. It remained perfectly upright.
Kessa gently nudged the book but it didn’t move. She looked back at Libro but he just shrugged. She carefully grabbed it with her mouth and pulled on it.
The book didn’t move at all.
Kessa sat back for a moment, staring at the one object that seemed to be out of place, despite the chaos around them. She leaned forward to try one more thing. She raised a hoof and gently pressed on the spine of the book.
The book budged just a bit before it slid fully into the shel. The shelf itself began to shake before it slid just a bit to the side, revealing a new stone shelf built into the wall itself. A metal case sat in the shelf. It looked somewhat old, only a small layer of dust covered the top.
“Did you know about this?” Kessa asked.
“Not at all,” Libro said. “I’ve memorized every blueprint of the museum and this wasn’t in any of them, not even the original construction plans.” Kessa grabbed the case by the handle and dragged it over to the table. “What are you doing?”
“Don’t you want to see what’s inside it?” Kessa asked.
“What I want is to find out what happened here,” Libro said. “You don’t even know who put that there.”
“Only one way to find out,” Kessa said as she nudged the box open. Inside it was a long square object wrapped in dark blue linen. The object glowed with a golden light that pierced through the linen. Kessa reached down and pulled the linen off of it and averted her eyes for a moment as a bright golden light beamed out from inside the box.
Resting in the bottom of metal wrapped box, was the other piece of the stone tablet. The golden glow was slightly warm and felt almost familiar to her.
She looked closer at the tablet piece. She could see the grooves where this tablet would connect to the other one.
“What is it?” Libro asked as he looked into the box. She slammed the box shut without answering him, almost taking his nose off. She ran towards the door, balancing the box carefully on her back.
“Thanks for everything,” she said as she pushed open the door.
“Don’t...mention it?” Libro said as he looked around the destroyed library.
+++
Kessa pushed open the door to the main office, causing Cander to lift his head off his desk.
“Where have you been?” he asked. “We had a tour come in and couldn’t find you. I had to give the tour. Did you happen to know that I know absolutely nothing about ancient crystal formations?” She ran past him towards the curator’s office. “What is it?” She still didn’t answer him as she threw open the curator’s door and slammed it shut behind her.
“What is the meaning of this?” Dusthoof said as she walked forward and placed the box on his desk. “Oh no...” he said, his voice low. She opened the box and turned it on its side, letting the tablet half slide onto the desk.
“It was here the entire time,” she said, pacing back and forth, a happy skip in her step. “I don’t know how or why but-”
“I do,” Dusthoof said. “It was because I put it there.” Kessa stopped mid-stride and nearly fell over. She turned to look at him.
“What? When?”
“Years ago, when you were a foal,” he said. His eyes met hers. It was the most serious she’d ever seen the old stallion. “The search for this place has destroyed too many, including your parents. I’m not going to let it take you too.” He placed a hoof on the tablet and slid it to his side of the desk.
“You knew this was here? And the whole time you just watched as I followed false leads and sat in the library for weeks?”
“I was hoping you’d lose your drive,” Dusthoof said. “That you would think it was all the myth it’s supposed to be.”
“But if we found it, we could learn-”
“There is nothing to learn from that foul place!” Dusthoof said, slamming his hooves onto the desk. “It was burned by its own ego and sank from the weight of its own arrogance.”
“Then maybe we can learn to never make the same mistakes again,” Kessa said. “If there’s one thing I’ve always heard you grumbling about, its that if ponies learned more from the mistakes of the past, it’d make everypony’s future a bit brighter.”
Their eyes met again. Dusthoof could see the fire in her eyes. The same fire he’d seen in her mother’s eyes when she first came into the museum. Her jaw was set like her father’s had always been when looking at a new excavation. Usually just before he said something about it being perfectly safe. Forelocks were a stubborn lot and she seemed to have inherited the bulk of it.
Dusthoof let out a sigh and sat down behind the desk.
“You’re right,” he said, his voice low. He looked at her again, his face filled with a sadness she’d never seen before. “But if you do this, promise me that you’ll go into it with all four hooves on the ground.”
“Promise,” she said, sitting back on her haunches and crossing her chest. Then she ran up to him and gave the old stallion a huge hug.
Now let’s see if this tablet was worth putting Cander through scorpion infested waters,” he said before he drew the curtains over the windows and pulled out the first piece of the tablet from one of his desk drawers.
He also pulled out a weather-beaten leather bound book and small silver box. Dusthoof gently pushed the tablet towards Kessa. “It’s your find.” She stared at him for a moment then slowly nodded.
Kessa slid the two halves of the tablet together. The slab from the desert was above the glowing slab from the museum’s library. Suddenly the two pieces slammed together, creating a loud click that echoed inside the office.
The complete tablet began to glow. It became brighter and brighter until it filled the entire room. She felt the same odd warmth from the tablet as she had before, only this time it felt even closer and more familiar.
The light came together above the tablet and formed the shape of an alicorn. He seemed haggard and tired, a short white beard was growing from his chin. He opened his mouth after a few moments, his voice low and sad.
“This is the last record of the city of Alanticorn,” he said. Kessa’s eyes stared at him, transfixed by the familiar golden glow. “We wanted to give so much back to the world that had already given us much. We created the city as a beacon of hope, but it became our downfall. Our desire to help gave way to darkness and greed.”
“The tablet you have before you contains the last vestiges of our power, knowledge and memories,” he said. “We wanted to allow some way to reclaim what we lost, hoping that there would come a day that the world would be ready for what we were not. Our trusted friends inscribed upon this tablet the locations of the icons needed to return the city to its former glory. Once the icons are returned to the tablet, it will guide you to the city’s final resting place.”
Then his white, empty eyes turned towards Kessa and she felt as is if he was searching her very soul.
“Only those of pure intentions can grasp the power we unleashed,” he said. Then the floating figure flashed and vanished, returning the room to its original dim lighting.
“Well, that was certainly interesting,” Dusthoof said. He looked down at the tablet and watched as more writing appeared. He leaned forward, trying to read the lettering. “By Celestia, that thing was right,” he said. “This tablet holds the record for the entire journey of the city’s survivors.”
“Does it say where they went?” Kessa asked.
“Give me a moment,” Dusthoof said. “Eyes aren’t what they used to be. The first place was somewhere...in mountains...near a desert on the southern continent. The second was taken somewhere to the far north, it’s not clear, and they kept the third to be guarded by...it seems like the future inheritance.” Kessa walked over to the large map he kept on the wall.
“So we go to Austailia first,” she said. “But where do we go from there?”
“This doesn’t say,” Dusthoof said. “We’ll just have to figure it out when we arrive.” He pulled an old bag from beneath his desk and slid the tablet into it. “I have two things to give you. To be honest, I should have given them to you awhile ago.” He pointed first to the book.
“This was your father’s journal, he gave it to me before we parted, for the last time,” Dusthoof said. He placed the book carefully in the bag. Then he picked up the silver box and slid it towards her. She nudged the top off the box to reveal a series of polished stones on a dark chain.
“It was your mother’s,” Dusthoof said. “Your father gave it to her as a gift a few years before you were born. It was very special to her.” Kessa knelt down and lifted the necklace with her nose, flipping it past her head and onto her neck. Dusthoof passed her the bag. “When you get to Marebourne, ask for DuClaw, he’s an old friend of your parents and myself. He’ll help you.”
“You’re not coming?” she asked.
“I have to set things in order here, then I’ll meet you there,” Dusthoof said. “Promise me you’ll be safe.”
“I will,” Kessa said before hugging the old stallion again. She turned and opened the door. As she ran out she slammed right into Cander, who had been kneeling beside the door listening in.
“You’re not doing what I think you’re doing,” Cander said.
“I am,” Kessa said.
“Well you can count me out. I’ve heard nothing but bad things about Austailia,” he said. “Killer insects, wild fires-”
“Interesting wildlife, the Sydneigh Opera House,” Kessa said.
“Tiny animals with huge teeth, bears that attack you from trees-”
“All the eligible mares,” she said.
“What?”
“Oh, I’ve just heard rumors,” she continued as she walked out of the office. “Lots of mares looking for a good, strong stallion down there. Austailia’s mostly earthponies, don’t know how long it’s been since they’ve seen a dashing pegasus.”
“Okay, look, if I go, promise me something,” Cander said.
“I’m doing that a lot tonight,” she said.
“No spiders or scorpions,” Cander said.
“Prom-”
“No running headlong into some sort of dark cavern.”
“Promi-”
“No jumping into pits just to see where they-”
“Cander,” she said. “It’s a temple in some mountains, what could possibly be in there?” She started down the stairs towards the main entrance.
“This is the same pony who claimed you couldn’t drown in a desert,” Cander said.
+++
Dusthoof shut his office door as the voices of the two arguing ponies disappeared into the museum. He was glad Cander was going along. He walked over to the window and watched the two of them board a taxi and start down the street
A bright flash and muffled bang filled the room, causing Dusthoof to turn back into the office. When his eyes readjusted to the dim light, he saw a unicorn standing in front of the window. It took him a moment, but he remembered who this pony was.
“I wondered how long it would take for you to pay me a visit,” Dusthoof said.
“Where is the tablet?” asked the smooth voice of Coifur.
“You’re too late,” Dusthoof said. “It’s already on the move.”
“You sent it with her, didn’t you?” Coifur said. Dusthoof said nothing. “You always were soft,” Coifur said with a laugh. “You’ve all but delivered it into my hooves.”
“You will not harm a hair on her mane,” Dusthoof said.
“As if you could do anything to me,” Coifur said. “The Forelocks couldn’t stop me. What makes you think a rockhorned simpleton like-
Dusthoof turned quickly before Coifur could react and bucked the unicorn with all of his might. Coifur flew over Dusthoof’s desk, sending papers and artifacts flying. Dusthoof pressed the button on his buzzer, signalling Libro in the library. “Libro, I need you to-”
A sudden force knocked him backwards into the door. The hinges gave way and he slid along the floor of the main office, splinters from the door flying through the air around him. Dusthoof shook his head, trying to clear the daze he felt, another force slammed into him, sending him flying again, this time onto the landing outside of the office.
There was another flash and bang as Coifur appeared right next to him.
“I’ve waited far too long to remove you from the picture,” Coifur said. Dusthoof struggled to get to his hooves, but his old knees gave way and he fell back to the floor.
“You’ll...never...” Dusthoof tried to say, but it was then that he noticed the odd necklace Coifur was wearing.
“Do you recognize this?” Coifur asked. “Here, let me brighten it up a bit for you.” The dark violet of Coifur’s magic surrounded the necklace.
“By Celestia...the mark of the Gorgon,” Dusthoof said. “Coifur, that’s-”
“Why don’t you have a closer look,” Coifur snarled.
+++
The sound of rapid hoofbeats filled the empty halls of the museum. At this time of day there were no tours or even patrons, just the janitors making their rounds. Libro pushed past one such janitor as he raced towards the foyer.
Dusthoof never called Libro directly, he preferred to deal with most display matters on his own, leaving Libro to keep the archives organized. But the desperate call and subsequent crash told him something was very wrong.
“Mister Curator?” Libro said as he pushed open the grand door to the foyer. Just as he stepped into the room, something fell from the second floor and smashed on the tiles below. Pieces from it skittered in every direction. It looked like it had been a statue, but as Libro carefully approached it, he could make out the familiar head and torso of Dusthoof, his stony face locked in a horrified expression.
Libro staggered backwards, his eyes looking up at the balcony. He saw another pony there for a brief moment, its eyes matching those of an object around its neck before it vanished in a bright flash.
