A Place for Everything and Everyoneby LCranstonChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2 - In the real worldChapter 4 - Waiting until morningChapter 5 - Light staves off shadowChapter 3 - Trouble always brews quietlyChapter 1Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro and associations and are used without permission for the sole purpose of entertainment for no financial gain of any kind. Stratum, Steele, Sawdust, Upper Crust, Heavy Hoof, the athletic coach, Mister Tongs, Paper Cut, Vellum, and Cherry Anvil are my intellectual property, but Lauren Faust can make me an offer if she wishes. Background and setup: I’m more of a Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers fanfic author than My Little Pony, but after watches the Friendship is Magic series, I have to say I approve of the writing style. It’s very entertaining without being exclusive to any one type of audience. Besides, any show that can successfully introduce intensity to its characters is good in my view. This story assumes a map that fans have created. It also assumes that the general landscape of Equestria has not significantly changed in at least two hundred years. I think that’s a fair assumption. A Place for Everything and Everyone by Charles Johnson (Approximately nineteen years before Princess Luna’s return) A pleasant little house sat on the edge of Ponyville. Everyone knew who lived here. This was the home of Sawdust the carpenter and Upper Crust, his refined wife, with their two sons Stratum and Steele. Sawdust was a well-respected carpenter renowned for his exceptional skill at woodworking. He was a fussy master craftsman, always taking extra time to do the job right and using only the best materials available. His work was pricey, but worth every coin. The front door to his house opened as Sawdust entered after a day at the lumberyard. He called out with a smile, “I’m starved!” The stallion was short for a full-grown adult, but his muscles were visibly toned from his normal daily labors. His orange coat and red mane were full of wood shavings and sawdust from his day’s work. Even his cutie mark, a hammer crossed with a saw, was difficult to see clearly. This constant appearance had given him his knick name, ‘Dusty’, which suited him just fine. He hated being called ‘Sawdust’ properly. It never seemed to sit right with him. From the kitchen, a middle-aged mare stuck her head out to view her husband with glee in her smile. She mock-complained, “Don’t you ever greet me with undying professions of love anymore, you mad colt?” Her tall, slim figure was complimented by her yellow coat and blue mane. Her cutie mark was a tasty-looking slice of blueberry pie. Sawdust walked boldly up to his wife and stole a sweet kiss from her lips. His clear, red eyes gazed deeply into her wide, green eyes. He then whispered, “I profess my eternal…undying…love and affection…for your cooking, my sweet.” Laughing loudly, she pulled herself away from him and flicked her tail across his nose playfully. She walked back into the kitchen to attend to the meal that was cooking in the oven. She stated, “Get washed up and dinner will be ready when you’re done!” He turned to head to an adjoining room in the house to take a bath. However, his heart felt heavy. He stopped and blurted out something before he could think about it. “I lost that new project today.” Upper Crust trotted out of the kitchen to nuzzle her husband tenderly. She cooed, “Oooohh, I’m so sorry! I know you really had great plans for that house. What happened?” Sawdust gratefully nuzzled his wife back and explained, “That young couple went with the bid from that business in Hoofington. It was cheaper.” Upper Crust didn’t say anything. She knew how passionate her husband was about the quality of his work. He continued, “Don’t that young couple realize that a cheaper house will just fall apart in only a few decades? Don’t they want something that will last long enough to give to their own children?” She kissed his muzzle and said, “Well, don’t you worry about it. We’re doing just fine without that project. There are lots of ponies who are backlogged for your work from all over Equestria. Now wash up and we’ll have dinner. I made mushroom and potato pasties, your favorite.” His stomach rumbled, bringing a smile to his face. He trotted off to the bathroom to wash up. Unwisely, Upper Crust continued, “Even if this does cause a problem, we’ll be okay. There’s my family…” Sawdust spun around to face his wife sharply. Controlling himself with effort, he evenly stated, “We are NOT asking your…family for help. You may come from Canterlot, but my family are NOT parasites.” ========================= Upstairs, a young colt sat in the corner of the room he shared with his younger brother. He sat surrounded by strips and squares of leather. He had needle and thread ready to pierce the tough material. He also had created a kind of punch machine to push the needle through the leather to make stitches. It seemed as if he were making some kind of garment slowly. The colt was tall for his age, but thin like his mother. He had an orange coat, blue mane, and green eyes. The colt hummed a nameless tune that he had invented just to help him concentrate on working. He focused on the needle and thread, trying to convince the thick pieces of leather to cooperate. So far, they were not cooperating. The door to the bedroom opened. A smaller colt entered and went straight for the closet. He had a yellow coat, red mane, and red eyes. Neighbors often said that the two brothers were like two spitting images of the parents all mixed up. The statement was to be taken as a compliment, but the brothers weren’t flattered. It just seemed to suggest that they didn’t belong with other ‘normal’ ponies. The younger brother opened the closet and took out a shovel he had hidden amongst his good clothes. The older brother looked up and said, “Stratum, Dad’s home and he’s not happy.” The smaller pony took the shovel in his mouth and somehow managed to say, “Okay.” Steele also said to his brother, “You know if you keep digging around the house, Dad will be angry with you.” Stratum took the shovel in his hooves and said flippantly, “I know. That’s why I’m gonna dig across the street. It’s practically the open fields. There’s bound to be loads of buried treasure there!” The older brother sighed and said, “Dad’s started his bath. Be back here in a half-hour. You know he hates it when you’re late for dinner.” ========================= Forty-five minutes later, the family, minus Stratum, stared at their plates with hunger. Sawdust was furious. Neither Upper Crust nor Steele dared to provoke him further. Suddenly, the door to the house opened, admitting a dirty Stratum. He had a smile on his face and he carelessly trotted dirt on to the carpet. Sawdust roared, “Where do you think you’ve been, young colt?!?! We’ve been waiting for you so long, our food is cold! Now we’re all going to eat cold food because of you!” Stratum, taken off-guard by the tantrum, stammered, “B-b-ut, I f-found some neat wheel brackets in the fields. They must be…I don’t know…a hundred years old! There must have been some big carriages in Ponyville a hundred years...” Stratum’s explanation tapered off to silence upon seeing his father’s stern countenance not soften. Sawdust declared, “Well, don’t just stand there! Go wash up because nopony’s eating until you’re ready! Then, after dinner, you’re going to clean up your mother’s carpets! She works all day to keep them clean and then you track dirt in our house?!” The small yellow colt raced for the bathroom, equally eager to start washing as he was to get away from his father’s yelling. As he passed by his older brother, Steele politely asked, “Could you please hurry? I’m hungry.” After the bathroom door shut loudly, Sawdust turned to his oldest son and commented, “And you’re not much better, playing with those clothes of yours. What are you trying to make, anyway?” Shyly, Steele answered, “Well, it’s a leather jersey for playing ponyball. The others play rough and this will stop me from getting hurt.” Finally hearing something logical after he got home, Sawdust felt his anger crumble away to a lesser amount. He stated, “Getting hurt builds character. You don’t want to grow up to be a wimp, do you?” Upper Crust came to the defense of her son, “He’s not talking about bumps and bruises, Dusty. Remember last year that ruffian Heavy Hoof rammed poor Steele in the side? He broke a rib and had to sit out for nearly a whole season of ponyball at school! He’s not supposed to break bones to build character. Why, it’s against the rules.” Sawdust backed off somewhat, saying, “Well, why didn’t they kick him off the team?” The ladylike pony sniffed and said, “The coach said he’d ‘talk’ to his mother. It didn’t happen again, but still! It was no accident! Why, I don’t understand that family. It’s like they reveled in their son causing injuries just because he’s bigger and stronger than the other colts. Why, I’ve heard rumors about him bullying the fillies! Can you imagine?” Soon, Stratum came out of the bathroom squeaky clean. He silently sat down at the table. The family then began to eat their cold dinner in silence. ========================= A few days later, Stratum was digging in the fields across the street from his house. He was exhausted. The shovel bit into the earth again and again, but no gold, silver, or jewels ever presented themselves. He would constantly find things like rusty nails, pieces of old lumber, or partially-disintegrated saddles. He felt cheated. He felt duped. Why were his instincts constantly telling him to dig here? Why was his brain promising him vast rewards in this hole? He sobbed, shedding a few tears into the hole. The dirt didn’t care. It just started forming mud on his hooves. Now he was going to go home muddy and get yelled at by his father again. Blindly, his shovel stabbed one more time at the earth beneath his hooves. CLUNK! The shovel bounced off of something wooden and hard. Stratum’s eyes opened wide as he thought of the riches inside that he could bring home. His shovel dug and dug all around the object. Quickly, his sight settled upon his prize. He felt both elation and puzzlement at the object. It was a wooden box approximately six feet long, two feet wide, and one foot deep. On the top were stenciled words in a language he couldn’t quite read. The letters resembled his normal language, but they were arranged in a way that didn’t make much sense. He could make out the words ‘town’ and ‘official’, so he made his decision. He climbed out of the hole and then galloped towards city hall. ========================= Steele limped back home from school. It would be dinnertime in two hours. Just enough time to try to make some alterations to his protective suit. It kind of worked, but kind of didn’t work. Heavy Hoof and mocked him before the game even started. He even went so far as to call Steele a ‘sissy’ for wearing it. Heavy Hoof made it a point to slam into Steele often during the game just to cause him pain. Such a hit had broken Steele’s delicate ribs last year, but the leather jersey and helmet had reduced the injury to a bruise. Close to the end of the game, Heavy Hoof’s team realized it was going to lose. Their star player had spent too much time trying to hurt Steele that it had squandered time on the clock. Enraged at losing to a ‘sissy’, Heavy Hoof had intentionally violated the rules against leaping into the air to crash into Steele. Steele had fallen to the ground hard, knocking the breath out of him. Heavy Hoof sneaked a glance to make sure the ball was elsewhere, thus everypony’s attention was elsewhere. BAM! His hoof kicked Steele in the side. Breathless, Steele could only grimace in pain. Heavy Hoof just smiled cruelly at his act of supremacy. TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!! The sharp tone of the whistle blared across the entire field. The coach, a huge stallion with a dark blue coat, black mane, and intense yellow eyes, roared across the field, “HEAVY HOOF!!! If you think I didn’t watch you kicking a pony when they’re down, you’ve got another thing coming, mister!” The young colt yelped in panic and galloped away, with the coach hot on his hooves. The colt’s brown coat and black mane streamed with beads of sweat as he ran. His blue eyes betrayed genuine fear at perhaps the one pony in all of Ponyville that he truly feared. “You are going up in front of the school board for severe disciplinary measures, young colt! You are going to ask them very nicely not to expel you from this school. Won’t that be fun?” The other players gathered around Steele to try to help him up. To their surprise, Steele got up quickly all on his own. It was then that he decided that he needed something stronger than leather to stop the hard impacts given by players like Heavy Hoof. On the way home from school, he passed by the bakery. The delightful smells made his mouth water. Suddenly, the sting of the fresh hoof-shaped bruise killed his appetite. He idly wondered what could be stronger than leather yet flexible. As he passed by the blacksmith, he saw old Mister Tongs throwing out scrap metal in a small pile by the front door. The old stallion was so covered in charcoal dust that his coat and mane perpetually seemed as gray as his eyes. Steele’s eyes wandered to the pile of small metal plates that lay in overlapping patterns like a fish. When the next batch of plates fell on top of them, the underlying layer flexed and buckled, but did not scatter. Suddenly, his brain exploded with thoughts and ideas. The old stallion noticed the tall colt and greeted him. “Hello, Steele. My, you look beat up. Did ponyball go rough again today?” Steele responded politely, “Sure did, Mister Tongs. Heavy Hoof tried to injure me again, but my jersey protected me a little. Say, are you throwing those plates out?” The blacksmith kicked the pile of scrap metal and said, “Yup, they’re okay for little things like covering up rough woodwork or angle brackets, but not good enough for wheel braces or house reinforcements. I thought they were higher quality metal than they really are. Shame, though. I’m sure they could be used for something.” The colt asked earnestly, “Could I have them?” ========================= The next day, the town gathered in front of the library for a presentation. The mayor of Ponyville addressed the crowd from the front door. Next to her were Sawdust, Upper Crust, Stratum, and Steele. All of the family was looking proud. Next to the mayor was the box that Stratum had found. It was unlocked and ready to have its contents displayed. The mayor declared, “Citizens of Ponyville! We are gathered here to celebrate the return of our heritage! This box beside me is a time capsule created two hundred years ago. It was buried next to the old town hall, just across the street from where Sawdust’s house now stands. It was supposed to have been opened after a hundred years of waiting. Unfortunately, the old town hall burned only a generation after the box was buried.” The crowd ponies in the crowd murmured to each other in confusion. Clearly this was news to them. The mayor continued, “I know, I know. It was new information to me, too. Most of the records from then were destroyed in the fire. After the new town hall was built, two generations passed. By the time the hundred years were up, everypony had forgotten about the time capsule. It was only now that Stratum had dug up the site of the old town hall to restore our history to us!” The assembled crowd cheered loudly for the small pony. Stratum stood up tall and proud. Even Sawdust lost all of his anger and stomped loudly for his son. The mayor opened the box and began pulling out various objects. She explained, “Once we opened the box, we found the journal of the mayor back then. That journal told us of the time capsule’s story. A little cross-referencing with what few surviving documents we still have filled in the gaps.” She pulled out an antique lantern. “This old-style oil lamp is how ponies lit their homes and streets for travel at night.” She then pulled out what looked like a fresh, massive saddle that simply needed to be oiled. She revealed, “Believe it or not, this is an average saddle for a mare. They certainly didn’t have the choices of materials we have today for style and color. Ponies back then had to be practical for survival. See how there are places to attach saddlebags on each side? Very sturdy and useful for swapping out different bags rather than wasting time emptying them one at a time.” The crowd laughed at the old-fashioned saddle. Nopony would be caught dead wearing it now. Still, the sturdy construction was very practical. It gave the crowd an appreciation for how hard their ancestors had to work. The mayor then pulled out a familiar object. “Why, what’s this? It’s a ponyball! It seems that the game Equestria takes for granted today was invented right here in Ponyville two hundred years ago!” The crowd screamed and cheered for their proud heritage. Sawdust ruffled his small son’s mane and said, “Well, I guess digging in all that dirt was good for something.” Stratum had never felt so loved and respected. He bucked up onto his hind legs and neighed loudly. Suddenly, Stratum’s hips began to shine brightly. A picture of a shovel crossed with a magnifying glass appeared on his flank. The crowd stomped loudly in appreciation for Stratum’s new mark. Upper Crust began to cry with happiness. She declared, “Oh, my baby colt has his cutie mark!” Stratum complained, “Mom! It’s not a ‘cutie mark’! Fillies have cutie marks! Colts have flank symbols!” The crowd laughed out loud at the young one’s antics. Sawdust stepped up to support his son, “That’s right! We have masculine symbols, right fellas?” The stallions and colts in the crowd cheered and stomped in agreement. The mares and fillies just rolled their eyes in exasperation. The mayor announced, “Now, let’s celebrate our heritage by watching a game of ponyball at the school field!” ========================= The game of ponyball was hastily put together, but two teams were arranged and set into motion. During the game, Heavy Hoof had tried to convince the coach to let him play. The coach refused to even look at the brutish colt, much less give him permission. Furious at the brush-off, Heavy Hoof had called his friends over just before the start of the game. During the game, Steele had worn his new and improved leather jersey. It looked thinner and neater than before, with a helmet to match. It did not seem to restrict his movements. He caught the ball and began to carry the ball in his mouth closer to the opposing net. WHAM! One of the bully’s friends tackled Steele from the side hard, knocking him to the ground with all of his might. The ball dropped from Steele’s mouth. Everypony winced at the hit. It was legal, but it may have been hard enough to injure the slim colt. Steele immediately got up and ran off after the ball. The colt who performed the tackle slowly, shakily got up, but did not run afterwards. Steele kicked the ball to a teammate who was circling for an open position to score. WHAM! Another of Heavy Hoof’s friends slammed into Steele’s side with all his might. The pair of colts fell down. The coach felt his temper rise. He raised the whistle to his lips to stop the play and assign a penalty. He had seen older and healthier colts be carried to the hospital for broken bones from hits like that. They had no place in a young colts’ game. Steele immediately got back up and raced into position. The whistle just dropped from the coach’s surprised muzzle. The teammate was surrounded by opposing players. He spied Steele and kicked the ball over to him. The tall, slender pony spun around and received the ball with a powerful hind kick. The ball sailed past the net’s defender. The crowd erupted into cheers! The coach blew the whistle loudly, declaring, “That’s five! The game is over! The score is five to three!” The losing team caught their breath, but then they were congratulated by the winning team. The crowd moved in to fill the field with cheering. A little later, the coach was addressing the crowd. “Stallions and mares, your children really demonstrated good sportsmanship today! The game was played within the rules and the best team won today. Remember, there’s another game against the travel team from Hoofington next weekend. Come cheer on your Ponyville Pride at the school!” The field fairly vibrated from all of the stomping by the citizens and parents. After the stomping subsided, the coach announced, “Also, I have a special thanks for a certain colt who took the high road when someone dealt him an unfair blow. Steele? Come up here, young colt.” The crowd parted in wonder. The tall, thin colt trotted up to the coach. The coach announced, “Steele, that contraption you’re wearing protected you from solid tackles that should have broken your ribs. You should be gasping in the hospital an hour ago, but you got right up and had enough strength to score the winning goal.” The tell colt shyly pawed the ground and said, “Thank, coach. There’s overlapping metal scales under the leather to take the hit and spread it out.” The massive stallion tousled the young colt’s mane and declared, “That’s pure genius, Steele. If we had one of these for every player, then severe injuries would be practically non-existent. Would you consider making one for each player in Ponyville and donating them to the school?” The crowd smiled widely. Many of them had children who had broken bones because of ponyball in the past. In fact, many of them remembered themselves being taken to the hospital for the same things. The tall, slender colt smiled and said, “Sure, coach. I’ll need lots of leather and metal to get started. Each suit should take about three days to make.” The stallion declared, “Excellent! I’ll talk to the mayor about getting materials and tools for you to use.” The crowd cheered for Steele. The young colt let the well-wishes fill him up with happiness. Suddenly, Steele’s hips began to shine brightly. A picture of a hammer crossed with a full metal helmet appeared on his flank. The crowd stomped loudly in appreciation for Stratum’s new mark. Sawdust leaped up and down, cheering, “Both my colts got their flank symbols on the same day! I’ve never been so proud!” Upper Crust wiped more tears from her eyes and announced, “And I’ve never been so happy in all my life!” The proper mare turned to her husband and offered, “Dusty, now that we know their special talents, maybe my family in Canterlot could be useful now.” Sawdust arched an eyebrow, asking, “How’s that, my little blueberry pie?” Upper Crust offered, “My family have contacts at the palace. We could ask around and get apprenticeships for our sons using their special talents. I’m sure we could ensure their future if they work hard.” The carpenter pony considered the idea. It actually appealed to him. They could never afford the fancy schools they really wanted to send their sons to attend. That left the traditional practice of sending their children away for apprenticeships to existing experts. Knowing the right experts could be hard for a pony who spends his life in a single town. He said reluctantly, “Well, we’ll see. It wouldn’t hurt to ask them what’s available.” Upper Crust wiped more tears from her eyes and announced, “Everyone! I’m going to bake enough pies to feed the town! Picnic in three days in the field next to our house!” The assembled crowd cheered for the proud family. Several ponies offered to help by bringing their own food to the planned party. Stratum chirped, “You mean once I fill all of the holes in!” Everypony laughed outright. Things in Ponyville were harmonious and glad…for now. THE END? Chapter 2 - In the real world (Approximately one year after Princess Luna’s return) It was late afternoon in Canterlot. A now grown-up Stratum walked up to a tall bookshelf in the Royal Archives. The bookshelf was very dusty and the wheels on the rolling ladder squeaked when he moved it. This section of the library was fondly known as ‘the place where unimportant records go to die’. The librarian, a tall, reedy-looking stallion with a white coat, red mane, and orange eyes winced at the sound of the old wheels and casters rubbing against each other. With a huff, he got up out of his chair and stomped off towards the source of the sound. He knew right where it was. Several pairs of eyes turned away, trying not to meet his gaze. Everypony knew not to get in the way of Paper Cut the librarian. Even the nice flank symbol of an open book did nothing to soften the harsh way he would speak to those who made noise in his library. Paper Cut arrived at the bottom of the old, massive bookshelf that had become the unofficial central repository for scrolls, books, and other records that were not asked for in years. Looking up, he saw a short, yellow stallion pulling out scrolls at random, skimming them, and then putting them back. The librarian hissed, “Stratum, how many times have I told you not to make noise in the library?!” The short, yellow stallion gleefully replied, “Six. It’s your job to keep the rolling ladders oiled. I reminded you about them a month ago and you still haven’t done it.” Paper Cut rolled his eyes and replied, “I am far too busy to be performing such dirty, oily work. I’ll ask the janitor to do it. Now will you please stop climbing that bookshelf?” Stratum simply said, “No.” The librarian’s eyes went wide with shock. He tried to speak, but only sputtered in reply. The short, yellow stallion stated firmly, “This bookshelf contains a wealth of old knowledge that’s useful in my research.” Paper Cut curled his upper lip and dismissed, “This is the repository for useless papers. What could possibly be of any value here? I’ve a good mind to lock this collection up in the basement and get rid of that ladder.” He smiled wickedly at the thought of denying someone access to papers to show who’s boss around here. Stratum looked evenly at the librarian and stated carefully, “I’ve got evidence that there’s a lost pony village that dates back to the time before Princess Luna’s banishment. I intend to prove its existence and maybe even find it. The records on this particular shelf come from that era. If you deliberately restrict access to these critical documents, then I will have no choice but to visit the Minister of Education and inform him of your lackluster performance.” The red-maned stallion screwed up his expression into an aggressive snarl. However, Stratum noticed that he took a step back unconsciously. Paper Cut hotly replied, not caring if he was loud in his own library, “The Minister of Education? Why would such an important pony see the likes of you, you second-rate pest?” Stratum ignored the gasps just barely audible from the main reading room and explained, “Your job is to provide access to knowledge, not take it away. If the minister came here to find out you took away an entire bookshelf of useful papers just to hide the fact that you can’t even keep your ladder wheels oiled, he may decide you’re not the pony for the job.” The white-coated stallion’s snarl faded away. Stratum continued, “A classmate of mine came here for an important book on this very shelf. I happen to know for a fact you shooed her away and denied her the book. When she turned in her report for class, she didn’t get as good a grade as she should have gotten. Perhaps her professor should know the reason why she didn’t include that information. Perhaps if he knew why she didn’t get the book, maybe he’d be more lenient. What do you think, sir?” Paper Cut backed away, trying to keep his head up to save at least some of his dignity. He mumbled, “Just keep it down, okay?” The short, yellow stallion nodded and went back to reading his scrolls. After several minutes, he found what he was looking for. Excitedly, he went to the desk to check out his scroll and went home to copy it and examine the paper for more clues. ========================= Sounds of loud banging rang through the industrial area. This was common and the metal foundries were here. Scrap metal and ore was imported from all over Equestria to be hammered and smelted into working shape. This was all done by students under the watchful eyes of metal-working masters. Some were experts in smelting. Some were experts in making alloys. Others were masters of shaping. A very few became skilled in all aspects of metal working. These teachers were booked solid all year-round. Only those with special connections could arrange to have their children apprenticed to such ponies. Inside a foundry were the normal sights. A worktable for organizing tools, a pile of firewood, a pile of metallic ore, a second pile of different metallic ore, an anvil for pounding, a bucket of water, and a bucket of oil. The teacher, an old, nearly feeble mare by the name of Cherry Anvil, was directing her student in the final stages of craftsmanship. She had a coat that was once a dark, brilliant red and a mane that was so orange it looked like it was on fire. Now those colors have faded significantly. Only her eyes were the same. They were a sparkling dark gray, with little gold flecks in them. Now those eyes were focused on the hooves of her student. A tall, powerfully built orange stallion gritted his teeth in ultimate concentration. In his left hoof he gripped a pair of beaten-up tongs which in turn held a bowl-shaped piece of bronze which was hot enough to set fires. The right hoof powerfully gripped a hammer, scorched with past encounters with fire. The hammer pounded the bronze bowl over and over. The strikes were hard, but each one was carefully placed. Instead of bending the bronze out of shape, it was instead bending it into shape. The old mare mentioned, “Finish up and then final assembly.” The orange stallion mentioned, “Uh-huh.” He then turned the bowl over and over, looking for anything left undone. A couple of more light whacks on the back side of the bronze and then he carried it over to a bucket of water. Dipping the bowl in the bucket, the water instantly bubbled and let off a cloud of steam. The bronze came out of the bowl cooler and firm. He then carried it over to a nearby worktable that had other pieces on it. He put the other seemingly unrelated pieces together. The object snapped together with an audible click. Proudly, he presented his teacher with the finished object. It was a bronze plate helmet in the exact style the royal guards wore. Cherry Anvil looked the piece over, turning it this way and that. She imagined the original pattern and matched it with this object in her mind. Smiling, she said, “Well done, Steele. This is definitely within tolerances. Now send this over to the unicorns so they can fuse the metal together magically. That’ll make it stronger than normal bronze.” The tall, orange stallion chirped, “Yes, ma’am! Then I’ll clean up the shop and we can get started on what’s next.” She refuted, “Once you deliver that, you’re done. Do have some fun with your friends.” Steele lost his enthusiasm. He avoided commenting back. Cherry Anvil knew that look. She pressed, “Well, what’s wrong?” The orange stallion admitted, “I don’t have any friends. This isn’t Ponyville. Ponies just come here for school and then go home.” The teacher asked, “What about that brother of yours? Don’t the two of you get along?” Steele admitted, “Oh yeah. We have fun, but he doesn’t get home for a couple of hours yet.” She sighed and decided, “Okay, once you’re done sweep out the hearth and put the tools away. Then go do something with your brother. I’ve got a lot of planning to do about your future. You just passed your final exam.” Steele smiled and took off trotting towards the alchemy laboratories and the unicorns therein. ========================= About an hour later, Stratum trotted into the office of a middle-aged stallion. The stallion had a gray coat, yellow mane, and blue eyes. His flank symbol was a rolled-up scroll that had a nimbus of yellow light. The office was tiny and cramped. A large mahogany desk took up most of the room, piled high with stacks of papers, books, and scrolls of various ages. Several plaques lined the walls, proclaiming his accomplishments over the course of his career. The short stallion placed a three-page report upon the desk of his mentor with pride. The middle-aged stallion arched an eyebrow at the unceremonious entrance. He asked, “And what, pray tell, is this?” Confused, Stratum stated, “It’s my report on the lost village of Sable Weir, Mr. Vellum. I think I found the general area.” Vellum, the professor of Advanced Archaeology, sighed and pushed the report away, saying, “Sable Weir is just myth. Nopony cares about it.” The short, yellow stallion pushed the report back to his professor and insisted, “We’re archaeologists! We dig up old mare’s tales all the time! Who knows what’s there? We should go and do a basic search, maybe a surface excavation!” The professor sighed loudly, “If such a place existed, Princess Celestia would have told us. Drop it and get back to validating those records of birth rates in Canterlot for the last ten years.” Stratum stomped his hoof upon the floor of the office and asked roughly, “What the heck do I have to do to prove that Sable Weir exists?” Vellum said in a cavalier manner, “If you can even provide one single piece of hard evidence that it existed, then I’d say that it’s possible.” The short, yellow stallion smugly provided a scroll from his saddlebags. He opened it to the third page and pointed to a certain passage. The professor put on his reading spectacles and read the passage. After a moment, he asked in amazement, “What is this? Where did you get it?” Stratum proudly replied, “It’s an original set of pages from a mare’s diary over a thousand years ago. She explains right there that her sister got married and moved west to…wait for it…” He smirked in anticipation. Vellum rolled his eyes and admitted in defeat, “Sable Weir. That doesn’t mean it existed. This could be poetry or even a mistake.” The yellow stallion stood up as tall as he could and declared, “Then you admit it might be true and this is first-hoof evidence that puts it in reasonable doubt.” The professor slammed his hoof upon the desk, shaking the piles of papers. He declared, “All right, all right! It’s a reasonable possibility that there was some tiny settlement that called itself Sable Weir! There, are you happy?” Stratum declared, “Not yet. Since we don’t know where it is or who was there or how the ponies lived, we need to find out. I want an expedition out there. I’ve already outlined in my paper the approximate location, so it’s not like it’ll be a huge project. I think I’ll only need a dozen assistants.” Vellum snarled. He had been hoodwinked by someone half his age! He then got his selfish little brain cooking. He then pulled out some dusty papers that he had not used in a long time. Filling out the papers, he handed them to Stratum, saying, “Good work, young stallion. I think we should find out what’s out there. Sign here and I’ll approve of your expedition. Say, have the mares in your class noticed how successful you are? They’re sure to take notice once they find out you’re on an expedition of your own.” Stratum’s pride swelled to new heights. He finally felt respected…and of course the mares in his class would finally see his star quality for once. He signed the papers and handed them back. He boasted, “Imagine how famous you’ll be for funding the expedition that rediscovered Equestria’s lost heritage! Princess Celestria herself may even give you another award.” Vellum dismissed the compliment and reached for a tightly-wrapped bag in the bottom of his desk. Opening it, he withdraw funds and then closed the bag. He handed the coins to Stratum and then marked the withdrawal in his ledger. Stratum stared at the coins with disappointment and asked, “Is this it? I’ll be gone for weeks, possibly months! What about my assistants?” Vellum sneered at Stratum. He congratulated himself on turning the con around and winning against a younger stallion using trickery. He spoke, “It’s in the terms of the expedition request you signed. Fifty bits of currency and no assistants. Think about it, you’re only one stallion and the only one who was clever enough to think on his hooves to find such as obscure place. I’m sure nopony else in this school could ever assist the great Stratum in matters of mythology.” The professor waved off Stratum with the backside of his hoof and said in a bored voice, “Now go on and don’t come back until you find some evidence of this fabled Sable Weir place. Your passing grade depends on it.” Chapter 4 - Waiting until morningStratum ran as fast as his legs could carry him all the way to Ponyville. The sun had set an hour ago, and the streets were mostly dark. A few lamps at street intersections were lit to not have a completely dark town. He raced right up to the hollow tree and banged on the door. “Twilight Sparkle! Twilight, open the door! I need help!” The door opened, showing a slightly tired-looking purple unicorn. She looked over the short, yellow stallion and said, “Ah, Stratum. It’s a bit late, don’t you think? The library’s closed, come back tomorrow.” Stratum yelled, “No! I can’t wait for morning! I’ve got a problem and I need your help! I need you write to the princess and get every royal guard here now!!!” Twilight frowned and said, “The princess is not at my beck and call, nor are her guards. What’s so important that it can’t wait until morning!” The short, yellow stallion announced agitatedly, “Ponyville’s going to be under attack by giant beetles from the underworld!” The purple unicorn huffed, “Oh, that has got to be the lamest excuse for nighttime studying that I’ve ever heard! Where did you ever come up with that?” Stratum insisted, “I was digging in the Everfree Forest and something start attacking the door I had found!” As soon as Twilight heard the words ‘Everfree’ and ‘Forest’, her suspicions were replaced with fear. She opened the door wider and said, “Come in and tell me the whole story from the beginning.” ========================= The stone door suddenly jolted forward an inch, cracking across the middle. Another slam from behind widened the crack. A mysterious red light emitted from the crack, flickering weakly. The door exploded open, the pieces burning as they fell. A huge beetle, easily two stories tall, walked out of the cave in the side of the mountain. It had huge, clicking mandibles that dripped green ooze. It reared up on its hind legs and exhaled. A plume of green fire arced up into the air for a dozen feet. As it vacated the cave entrance, another came from deep underground. Then another. Then still more. The first began sniffing the ground, following the freshest track it could find. The other stretched their legs and then fell into place behind the first. They all started crawling eastward. ========================= Twilight had listened to Stratum with all the patience she could muster. At first she completely disbelieved him. However, stranger things exist in the Everfree Forest than giant insects. Besides, he also had sketches of the ruined village, shards of pottery, and the bit of strange metal. Something tugged on her brain when she saw the metal. It looked somehow familiar to her. Stratum insisted, “We gotta find more of this metal! According to the ancient history, it’s the only thing that can defeat them!” The purple unicorn frowned and stated, “Monster bugs than can only be defeated by mystical metal? I don’t believe it. Still, you don’t sound like you’re lying.” The stallion whined, “Why does nopony ever believe me about anything?! What, am I too short to tell the truth?” Twilight rebuked him sternly, “No, it’s because you keep saying things that sound nuts.” Spike chuckled at the joke. Stratum did not find it funny. He challenged, “Well, it sounds like you at least half believe me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be arguing with me. You’d just throw me out and turn your back like everyone else.” Twilight stared at the bit of metal. It was certainly unique. It almost weighed nothing in her hoof, but it still cut paper, made a cut mark in a hardwood table, and did not bend under pressure. She mentioned, “I remember Princess Celestia telling me about a huge boulder than fell from the sky a long time ago and smashed into the Everfree Forest. She said that she recovered it and put it in her private storage.” The short, yellow stallion insisted, “Well, that’s the answer! That must be the sky rock! Maybe it has more of that special metal. Let’s just ask her about it. You never know. She’s old enough that she might actually remember this event personally.” The purple unicorn argued, “I’m not going to write her at this hour! She might be asleep!” Stratum glared Twilight in the eye and declared, “If I am right, then you’ll be sleeping while monster bugs eat ponies alive. How would that look for your precious career? Tell you what. If Princess Celestia is not concerned about this, then I’ll leave and never bother you again.” Twilight looked down into the stallion’s eyes. He glared back proudly, sure of himself. Twilight stated, “Spike, take a letter.” The baby dragon recorded Twilight’s words in a clean scroll: “Dear Princess Celestia, I’m sorry to disturb you so late, but I have a young stallion named Stratum here who’s insisting that Ponyville is about to be eaten by giant beetles from the Everfree Forest. He claims they come from an old ruin called Sable Weir. There is a stone door in the mountain that had a painting about a rock from the sky containing special metal that can pierce the carapaces of the beetles. I am enclosing a bit of this special metal. I’ve never seen this kind of metal before. I’m not sure what to believe. However, I wanted to ask you if that boulder in your private collection contains any of this metal. If so, then maybe there’s something to his story. Should I be worried or should I throw him out? Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle” She gave the metal bit to Spike and he enclosed it in the rolled-up scroll. He breathed his magical fire on the scroll, sending the dust out of the window towards Canterlot. Twilight then looked at Stratum with sinister glee and said, “Well, we may have some time before she responds, so you should get comfortable.” Stratum responded with confidence, “I know I’m right. The princess will see it my way. When this is all over, I’ll finally get some respect.” The purple unicorn smiled at the small, yellow unicorn. She really appreciated confidence in one’s studies. She called out, “Spike, grab the extra blankets and pillow. Stratum’s going sleep down here tonight.” Spike brought down a rolled-up mat, bedsheet, blanket, and pillow. Stratum fixed up his bed and said cavalierly, “This will be a step up from my campsite for the last week or so.” Suddenly, he realized something. “Oh, horseapples! I left my campsite in the Everfree Forest!” Twilight and Spike laughed. She stated, “Well, look on the bright side. If there is no horrific giant beetle invasion, then your campsite will be waiting for you when you get back.” Suddenly, Spike belched out a magical flame. The flame coalesced into a scroll. Spike read the scroll and his face fell in surprise. He offered the scroll to Twilight, who read it aloud. “My Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle, I had forgotten about that stone door sealing off the underworld. I’m surprised that the enchantment sealing off the K’klattcha lasted these past two thousand years. Unfortunately, I cannot create another seal just anytime. I need to prepare. In the meantime, tell the pegasus ponies to make ready the most powerful storms to slow down the K’klattcha, what you call ‘giant beetles’. They won’t be able to defeat them, but the wind, rain, mud, and lightning will stave them off for a while. Excellent work in remembering that old meteorite of mine. It is indeed full of star metal ore, which is the only substance strong enough to pierce the carapaces of the K’klattcha without breaking or bending. In ancient times, this metal was called ‘mythryl’ and was a precious metal to own. Many wars were fought over possession of it in the past until only small amounts were left. I would evacuate all settlements west of Ponyville and make ready to stall the K’klattcha on the edges of the town if I were in your horseshoes. I will give the star metal to my master smiths to see if they can find a way to hammer it into something useful. Tell Stratum when this is all over, I will appoint him my Chief Field Archaeologist. He has a brother Steele, does he not? Apprenticed to Cherry Anvil? That would be a good start. Yours in haste, Princess Celestia” Twilight’s eyes went wide open, staring at Stratum. The short, yellow stallion looked smug as he observed, “Looks like you’ve got more letters to write.” The purple unicorn ran towards her downstairs writing stand, calling out, “Owlowiscious!!” The owl hooted and glided down towards Twilight. Spike yawned, but kept his eyes open. He said, “I’ll think I’ll make some coffee. It’ll be a long night.” Twilight hurriedly scribbled two scrolls. She rolled them up separately and turned to Owlowiscious. She handed him one scroll, then the other, saying, “Take this letter to Fluttershy first. Then take this other letter to Applejack. Hurry!” The owl hooted and flew off through the open window. ========================= Later, Fluttershy accepted the scroll from Owlowiscious with trepidation. Reading the letter, she trembled with fright at the description of the approaching enemy. She called out, “Wake up!” The droves of creatures that called her home their home startled awake and began looking for her. She flew around, calling out, “Everyone, gather your families and meet me on the path to Ponyville. Some very large and very nasty things are coming this way and I don’t want anyone getting killed. We’re going to stay with Auntie Twilight at her tree for a few days and then come back home. Now hurry!” An impressive collection of birds, rabbits, chickens, otters, and frogs all assembled in front of her front door within minutes. She led all of them down the road into Ponyville and right up to Twilight’s tree. As the creatures immediately began staking out claims for choice parts of Twilight’s library tree both inside and out, Fluttershy flew up to Cloudsdale to find Rainbow Dash. ========================= Applejack had been woken up rudely in what she called the middle of the night. The Apple family went to bed early and got up early in the morning normally. Reading over the scroll that Owlowiscious that brought her, she frowned deeply. “Does Twilight reckon that that the Apple family is too weak to fight off a few measly insects? We’ll show her that no bug can take over Sweet Apple Acres!” She went around the farmhouse, waking everypony up. “Granny, get up and start making coffee! Big Macintosh, break out the tools! Caramel, start making a barricade around the farmhouse! Apple Bloom, get up on top of the roof and keep yer eyes peeled fer big beetles!” In quick order, the Apple family had set up their farmhouse like a fort, ready to defend their home at all costs. A couple of hours later, Apple Bloom shouted, “There they are! Wow, they’re huge! They’re comin’ from the west towards the barn!” Applejack, Caramel, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith all grabbed their pitchforks, hoes, and spades, ready to some damage to some little insects. Staring into the darkness, they didn’t see the creatures right away. They felt the widespread thumping through the ground. Suddenly, the barn shuddered at if struck. The crunching of wood sounded from all over the western wall. Applejack arched an eyebrow. She idly wondered just how big those insects were. Big Macintosh grunted. He felt annoyed that he was going to have to fix the barn again. The entire barn cracked, shuddered again, and then collapsed as seventeen beetles, all seven feet tall at the shoulder and twelve feet long, ripped apart the structure with their bare legs. Everyone in the Apple family just gaped at the feat of size and strength. Caramel commented, “Well, as long as they all stay together, we can keep ‘em rounded up and pick ‘em off one by one, right?” The plan sounded like a good one. Big Macintosh grabbed a pitchfork and stood on his hind legs. Leaning his right foreleg back, he hurled the deadly missile with all the power he could muster. The pitchfork flew through the air almost faster than everypony could see. It struck its target squarely in the back. It then bounced off with a light tapping sound. He mentioned a little too calmly, “Now that’s unusual. Their hides are tougher than steel.” The beetle turned to view its attacker with disdain. Then it faced the wreckage of the barn and clicked its mandibles in a harsh series of sounds. The assembled beetles all reared back their heads and then thrust them forward. Jets of green fire emanated from the beetles, casting the remains of the barn ablaze. Applejack feared for her little sister and the rest of the family standing in front of the wooden farmhouse. She called out, “Retreat! Retreat back to Ponyville!” Apple Bloom slid off the roof of the farmhouse and jumped onto a bale of hay, then joined Applejack. The Apple family galloped along the road to Ponyville, meeting up at Twilight’s tree. Applejack startled at seeing all of the animals crawling all over Twilight’s tree. She mentioned, “I guess Fluttershy got here first.” The wind began to blow. Glancing overhead, she saw groups of pegasi pushing several dark clouds into rows over the western edge of Ponyville. Having nothing else to do, she led the family to the tree and opened the door. The Apple family filed into the library and tried to find places to lay down and just rest. Twilight looked up from a large map of Ponyville that she was drawing. She asked fretfully, “They’re at Sweet Apple Acres already?” Applejack spat back, “Yeah, some time ago. They burned the barn down.” Spike and Stratum gasped in shock. The orange farm pony added, “As long as they don’t find the apple cellar underground then we’ll survive. Now, how can we help? We’ve gotta drive them beetles back to where they came from.” She glared at Twilight straight in the eye and politely demanded, “Tell me y’all got a plan fer fightin’ back.” Twilight reported back with confidence, “Yes. We know everything we need. These beetles have to be attacked with a special metal called mythryl. Nothing else is hard enough to pierce their shells. Princess Celestia has a large amount of the ore in Canterlot. She’s having her smiths work up the metal as we speak. All we have to do is hold out until they arrive.” Applejack didn’t lose any of her frown as she politely pointed out, “You mean we’re jus’ waitin’ to get stomped while Canterlot gets its act together? Ain’t there anythin’ we can do here?” The purple unicorn defended the integrity of Canterlot, saying, “They haven’t dealt with these creatures for two thousand years and the metal is extraordinarily rare. They will not fail us. If you want to do something, then try making the western field tough to cross. In fact, try to see if you can set up something to corral the incoming beetles to where the pegasi are ready with the clouds.” Now a clear plan of action was something Applejack could get behind. She cheered, “Now yer talkin’, Twi! Apple family! We’re gonna build up a barrier to corral them beetles directly where we want ‘em to go. Search around fer scrap wood and build up a fence on the northwest and southwest corners of Ponyville. Make it look like the path of least resistance goes right down the middle.” The Apple family galloped out into Ponyville to salvage and build. Their enthusiasm was infectious. Many of the citizens of Ponyville joined them just to have something constructive to do instead of sitting around waiting for the enemy to come to them. Chapter 5 - Light staves off shadowMeanwhile, in Canterlot, things were not going as well as hoped. Princess Celestia had delivered the meteorite to the smiths, but none of them could find a way to smelt the ore. No fire was hot enough. No unicorn magic was strong enough. No pick was hard enough to even break it up. After hours and hours of effort, the master smiths all quit the foundry to look up every record they had to try to get ideas. Cherry Anvil did not leave the foundry, she was too dedicated. However, she worked herself until she dropped. Steele had dragged her to a corner of the workshop and placed a blanket over her. He looked upon her fondly, like a gruff grandmother. She looked like she was having a nightmare. She kicked and snorted in her sleep. Looking at the meteorite, he ticked off in his head what had already been done. White hot fire, hammers, chisels, rough files, unicorn heating, unicorn blasting, and even one smith screamed every last piece of foul language at it. That last part was merely venting frustration, but Steele had learned some very interesting things. Cherry Anvil moaned in her sleep, “Gotta crack that rock. Get back to work. Princess counting on me. Never fail, you dolt. Never fail. Never give up.” Steele smiled and hummed a tune his mother used to hum for him and his brother when they were little colts. The big, red mare calmed down and slept more soundly. The tall, powerful stallion felt at peace any time he could help somepony, no matter how. Now if he could just find a way to affect this rock. Looking back at the rock, he noticed something strange. Out of the top of the rock was a thin ribbon of shiny metal. He mumbled, “That wasn’t there before.” He examined the metal. It looked for all the world like the metal melted inside the rock and then flowed out. After a little bit of flowing, it stopped. Steele was confounded. The rock was heated to the hottest fire in Canterlot with no melting, but just now it melted a little while at room temperature. He felt even more frustrated. Like being showed a glimpse of what you want but then shut out again. The tall, strong stallion decided not to let it get to him. He closed his eyes and hummed his mother’s song. He felt the anger and frustration leave him. As he finished his song, he shook his head and rubbed his eyes. The thin ribbon of melted metal became a wide ribbon of melted metal. He blinked his eyes. What was going on? He shook his mentor awake. “Ma’am! Ma’am, wake up!” The old mare blinked her eyes open and groggily asked, “Wh-wha…” She yawned widely and then asked, “What happened?” Steele pointed at the rock and said, “Look! It kinda melted.” Upon seeing the rock with its frozen trail of melted shiny metal, Cherry Anvil instantly felt a rush of energy. She looked it all over, marveling at what had happened. Looking at her student, she asked, “What did you do?” Steele shrugged and said, “I was just thinking of a new way to affect the rock. I was thinking hard while humming to myself and it just happened.” She looked at the rock and then back to Steele. Back to the ribbon of metal and back to him. Cherry Anvil ordered, “Do it again.” Steele’s expression blossomed into surprise and he asked, “Do what again?” She said, “Do what you did before.” He replied, “I don’t know what I did before.” She said, “Hum again. Let’s see what that does.” He hesitated, “Hum? You can’t be serious.” Cherry anvil stomped her powerful hoof upon the floor and commanded her student, “Do it! Do it now!” Steele gave in and obeyed. He cleared his mind and took a deep breath. He hummed the song loudly, calmly, serenely. Suddenly, the stream of metal began flowing again. It shined brightly as if creating its own light. Cherry Anvil dipped her hoof into the metal. Suddenly, Steele stopped humming and said, “Don’t touch it! It’ll burn you!” Cherry Anvil smiled and tugged on her hoof. It didn’t budge. Turning to her student, she explained, “No, it’s not hot. It’s room temperature. Now we’ll need to gather the Royal Choir for a special command performance.” Steele looked confused and asked, “Command performance? Of what?” She calmly replied with a smile, “The musical scales. It appears as if musical notes affect the metal and nothing else. This substance is clearly unique and it’ll take a long time to figure it out. We need to discover what notes cause what behavior. By the way, could you hum a few bars? I need my hoof back, please.” ========================= Later, as the sun rose in Ponyville, the entire town had assembled at the western edge of the town. Most of the mares hid the fillies and colts behind them. It wasn’t easy as the fillies and colts kept trying to peek out and see the big, ugly monsters. The stallions put on a brave face, but inside they were quivering with fear. Was this the day that they would die? Suddenly, a black line appeared on the horizon. It approached at high speed, coming into focus. The monsters were even more hideous than described. They seemed to notice the fence and just naturally line up in long, narrow lines. From up in the sky, Rainbow Dash yelled, “NOW!!” The pegasi kicked their clouds, causing alternating rows of rain and wind to dump all over the beetles. The beetles shivered and shuddered, but marched forward and half-speed. Rainbow Dash picked her cloud, causing a lightning bolt to erupt and sail right for the lead beetle. The electricity struck the beetle right in the center of its back. The beetle shook and trembled. The citizens of Ponyville cheered. Maybe they could defeat the beetles by themselves after all! The lead beetle shook off the lightning and squeaked a loud, high-pitch yell. The beetles spread out, attacking the barriers with their fire breath. The ground was getting very muddy and the beetles clawed and scraped their way forward. The first two rows of beetles raised their heads to the sky and spat streams of green fire. The blasts of heat dispersed the clouds, scattering the pegasi. The citizens of Ponyville stopped cheering and gasped. They started backing off towards the other end of town. A forceful, echoing voice commanded, “Land on the streets!” Three dozen pegasi with bright white coats and shining metal plate armor landed upon the streets of Ponyville. Their helmets all had a curious, flat protrusion like an anvil upon it. Instead of the normal bronze plate armor, this set was a very shiny silverish metal nopony had ever seen before. However, Stratum and Twilight had seen it. Hovering above her royal guard, Princess Celestia used her alicorn magic to envelop the entire western field. When the bright light disappeared, the entire field was baked dry and solid. She then ordered, “Royal Guards! Ram those shells!” The Captain of the Royal Guard ordered, “Wedge formation! Three squads! C-squad sweep right and prevent flanking!” A third of the white pegasi arranged themselves into a wedge and charged upon the ground towards the right side, through the charred remains of the north fence. The Captain ordered, “A-squad, shuffle to the south and drive their southern force back into the field!” A third of the white pegasi moved themselves to the left and then charge forward at the beetle reserve force. The Captain smiled grimly and ordered, “B-squad, CHARGE!” The remaining white pegasi raced forward straight into the lead rows of giant beetles. All three squads struck their targets at the same time. The shiny silverish metal seemed not to slow them down at all like the bronze armor did. The Royal Guard were a blur as the ram on their helmets struck the heads and bellies of the beetles. There was a massive chorus of cracking shells and screaming of beetles. The front ranks of beetles collapsed and ceased moving. The white pegasi smelled victory in the air as they trampled the fallen beetles, eagerly seeking the remaining ones in the back rows. The rows of beetles saw the flashes of light against the metal which brought death to them. They shook with fear and fled. They fled back westward as fast as they could. Several of them fell beneath the hooves of the white pegasi who swooped in from above to crush their backs by airborne swoop. ========================= Later, after midday, Princess Celestia stood regally in front of the cave whence the beetles came to the surface. Her horn glowed with a brilliant red light. The pieces of the stone door levitated back up into the air, forming the broken door. The cracks filled with bright red light and stabilized. The white alicorn summoned even more energy, casting a golden sheen over the door. When she discharged her horn, the doorway stood still. The golden sheen continued to keep the fragments together. She turned around to address the crowd that followed her to the ruined village. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Stratum, the entire Royal Guard, and the mayor of Ponyville were in attendance. “Ponies of Equestria! We have been blessed with the dual talents of Stratum and his brother Steele! Between the two of them, we have learned of an imminent invasion to our land and staved it off all in a single day and night!” The assembled ponies cheered their gratitude. The white alicorn continued, “Unfortunately, this spell I have cast over the doorway cannot replace the powerful enchantment that was cast in antiquity. This spell of mine shall last for ten years. In that time, we must learn more of the subterranean world of the K’klattcha and their fear of the rare metal called mythryl.” The assemblage gaped in fear. Their Princess couldn’t just solve this situation right now? What would they do? Twilight asked fearfully, “Princess, what are you saying? Are we doomed?” Princess Celestia firmly replied, “Nay, Twilight Sparkle. In fact, we now have a chance. In the next ten years, we must learn all of the forgotten lore of ages past. I will send out my elite scouts, looking for more of the mystical metal. My smiths will refine the metal and make more weapons and armor. My scholars will discover the ancient secrets of the metal, learning how to make a sharp edge to it like the spearhead that Stratum found. Clearly, it can be done.” She then looked at Stratum and smiled. “Finally, we need somepony to guide us. Somepony to walk into the unknown and discover what was lost. Somepony to piece together the puzzle of the K’klattcha and why they invade us. Stratum, son of Sawdust, I hereby appoint you to the position of Chief Field Archaeologist. You will have funding and a staff of mares and stallions of your choosing. Now, find me more knowledge of the K’klattcha and how an ancient village of earth ponies used no magic to form refined weapons from mythryl.” Stratum bowed low humbly, replying with reverence, “Yes…yes, Princess! I won’t let you down! Wow, this is all I dreamed of! I gotta tell my brother!” The regal alicorn agreed, “Indeed, you both shall have something to tell each other. I have already spoken to your brother before leaving Canterlot. I’ll repeat it for you. Steele, son of Sawdust, has been appointed to the role of Chief Armorsmith. His specialty shall be the refining of mythryl, which apparently no other pony has been able to replicate without the help of a full twenty-four pony chorus.” She winked and added with mirth, “I understand that’s very cramped in the workshop.” Everypony briefly laughed with mirth and relief. Then, the enormity of it all finally sank in. Ten years may seem like a long time, but when you’re working a deadline for your lives it seems much smaller. Princess Celestia stated, “Twilight Sparkle, I need you to coordinate the multiple teams of archaeologists, track their progress, and report significant findings. I also may need you to teach some useful spells to unicorns who will join their expeditions.” Twilight suddenly got an idea. She asked, “Princess, I just thought of something. Do you still have that mythryl spearhead?” The princess arched an eyebrow inquisitively. She replied, “I do. It’s on my writing desk in my private chambers.” The purple unicorn requested, “May I please have it? My friend Rarity has a special talent for finding gemstones. I’ll bet that if she finds the mythryl pretty and rare, she’ll discover a spell to detect mythryl and seek it out. Then, I can copy the spell and write it down for you.” The white alicorn smiled brightly and said, “Brilliant, my faithful student! I will send you the spearhead and some of the refined mythryl for your research. This will provide an immediate breakthrough in our preparations. We shall keep the suits of mythryl already made for emergencies and seek out more entrances to the underworld wherever they may be.” Once again, disaster was averted in Equestria not with brawn, but with brains and teamwork. THE END? Chapter 3 - Trouble always brews quietlyLater, Stratum and Steele sat at an empty table in their Uncle Top Hat’s guest house. The guest house sat in the back lawn behind a tall hedge in the topiary garden. Stratum once snidely proposed that this accommodation was because Top Hat put ponies here that he didn’t want seen by the general public. Steele had reminded him that at least they had room and board for free instead of having to work jobs on the side just to pay for a cheap inn. Upon the table were the remains of dinner, an above-average fare consisting of fully-loaded gourmet salad and sweet lemon bread. Steele considered this his favorite part of the day. He rubbed his full belly and asked, “So, how’d it go with the professor? Stratum bit back a rude comment and instead just growled to himself. The tall, strong stallion smiled widely and replied, “That good, huh?” The short stallion griped, “That damned…!” Steele warned, “Stratum! Watch your language, please.” The small, yellow stallion blurted, “That darned old swindler tricked me into singing up for an expedition for only fifty bits and no assistants! Can you imagine how evil he is?” The tall, strong stallion stated happily, “Congratulations! This is what you’ve always wanted!” Stratum whined, “Do you know how long fifty bits will last me on a long expedition with no equipment or travel food?!” Steele guessed, “Um, a lot less if you had assistants to pay for?” The small, yellow stallion growled at the common sense his brother spouted. He could not deny it. He sighed, “I guess so, but still! I’ll be eating leaves out of trees at this rate!” The tall, strong stallion suggested, “So go out there fast, find something that even Professor Vellum can’t argue with, and then come back. I’ll pack you some travel food.” Stratum watched his big brother in amazement. The taller stallion seemed to have no troubles in the world. He just picked up Stratum’s saddlebags and went into the main house of his uncle to request some travel food. The small, yellow stallion couldn’t help it. He smiled and thanked his lucky stars for such a supportive brother. Maybe this expedition wouldn’t be so bad after all. ========================= A week later, Stratum found himself in the wilds of Equestria. He had taken a pegasus taxi to Ponyville where he visited the library for directions. He then struck out westward, following the main road. The library’s caretaker, Twilight Sparkle, had told him that was the road she normally took to visit Zecora. Once again checking his own set of clues, he followed the road past Sweet Apple Acres and even past somepony’s animal sanctuary. When the road took a bend to the south, Stratum looked all around himself. He saw forest all around him, and the tops of mountains to the west. He checked his notes once again and then made a decision. He left the road and kept going west towards the base of the nearest mountain. Several minutes later, he felt the air change. It got thicker and it even swirled on its own. Reflexively looking up, he saw no pegasus ponies above him. He shuddered and wondered if the sky would darken and storm all on its own. He was glad he packed his supplies. An hour later, he reached the base of a mountain. The sky started growing darker. Worried, he looked for a cave or some kind of outcropping. The wind picked up and he heard a rumbling sound. There were no outcroppings of rock to brace his tent against, so he simply pitched camp where he was. He quickly put up the tent and then carried himself inside. Tying off the tent flap, he heard raindrops start to fall on the tent roof. Stratum sighed, “This is gonna be a long expedition.” He decided to just call it a day. The next morning, Stratum awoke with the sun. He exited the tent and took a long look around. He mentally reviewed what little description of Sable Weir survived in the notes he found. He began by walking around the base of the mountain to get a lay of the land. He was looking for a small depression in the ground between two mountain bases. There should be a lake there. Just to the north of the lake should be a grove of black bark trees which should be the outer boundary of the city. For hours, he marched around the mountain, looking at the lay of the land. Several times he heard bushes rustle and tree branches creak. Every time he looked he saw nothing to cause such things. As the day went on, Stratum became very nervous. As he kept looking over his shoulder, his hoof splashed into something. Looking down, he saw a six-inch deep puddle. This puddle stretched out for dozens of feet in all directions. Excitedly, he glanced all around himself at the terrain. To the south was the mountain he had been circling around! To the northeast was another mountain! He exclaimed, “YES! This is it! This must be the lake of Sable Weir!” A low, dull roar shook the forest. Stratum immediately closed his mouth and shook timidly. A dragon swooped down from the sky. Its wings buffeted the forest with powerful winds. A second dragon arrived from the west, bearing its teeth and claws. Stratum yelped and raced back to his camp. Hiding himself in his tent, he prayed that the dragons would just leave him alone and fly away. He decided to save face by believing that he had done enough work for the day. ========================= The next morning, Stratum heard nothing. He went outside and followed the mountain back to where he had found the water. For hours, he kept following the base of the mountain with no luck. He grumbled, “This is ridiculous! I should have been there by now!” Suddenly, he saw something. Running up to it, he saw…his tent! He stammered, “Wh-what?! Huh? What the…?” Looking inside, he confirmed that it was indeed his tent. He had traveled all the way around the mountain back to where he started! Losing his temper, he screamed, “Where’s the lake?!” The forest shook as if growling back at him. He ducked into his tent and just decided to eat dinner and go over his notes again. ========================= The next morning, Stratum woke up grumpy. He sent out again, determined to find that lake. The sun shone brightly in the sky. The morning was already hot. The day promised to be even hotter. Stratum took a drink of water from his canteen and set out to find the lake or else die trying. Well, maybe not die trying. He almost took to counting his hoofsteps to try and remember where he was when he found the lake. Mentally, he rebuked himself for not taking a better look around when he had the chance. Maybe he could have noticed another detail to look for now. A couple of hours later, the sun blazed nearly overhead. Sweat dripped off his face as he took step after step. Suddenly, his hoof stepped on cracked ground. The short yellow stallion looked around and saw dried, cracked dirt for dozens of feet in all directions. Stratum wondered out loud, “What happened to the water? It’s the right size but…what’s going on?!” He looked around himself, trying to get his bearings. He realized that there was a mountain to the northeast! He jumped up and down, “Yes! Yes! This is it!” The short, yellow stallion started trotting north, eagerly looking for the grove of black bark trees. He idly wondered if they were walnut trees or if they were a new species not yet catalogued. He traveled over a slight hill and found himself in a flat plain with old, rotten stumps. To the east were the overgrown remains of primitive homes, as well as a large pile of finished blocks. Looking behind him, he stared at the stumps, kicking a couple of them. Swarms of insects scattered from the rotten wood. Inside, the wood was a very dark brown. “Hmm, I guess the description of black trees was a bit of an exaggeration.” He trotted over to look at the remains of the houses. All that was left were scattered pieces of dark brown planks and window frames. Stratum felt the old excitement build up. He wondered what treasures lay buried beneath the soil. He pulled out his excavation tools and began clearing the ground inside and around the ruined houses. Soon, he began to pull up pieces of broken urns and jars. His face smiled more and more each time he pulled up a piece. Some of them even had something painted on them! After a while, he realized that he was squinting and staring at pieces very closely. Looking around, he noticed that it was mostly dark. Yelping in surprise, he gathered up his tools and collected pieces in haste, running back out towards his campsite. His stomach growled in complaint over the lack of food. Arriving back at camp, he lit a lamp and marked the position of the village on his map. Quickly downing some food and water, he found himself drowsy enough to just lay down and sleep without getting into his sleeping bag. Morning arrived too early for Stratum. Normally excited to start digging, his stomach was aching from the gobbled meal of the previous night. He realized that he was going to have to break camp and carry it all to the village to avoid the hours of trek each day. He moaned, “Oh, am I gonna hafta carry everything over there?” The lack of response from assistants ensured that yes, he would have to carry it all by himself. The effort took a few hours, which was time Stratum considered wasted. He decided to spend the rest of the day surveying the area and coming up with a plan to dig for basic artifacts. He didn’t want to spend too long here. He only had enough food for a couple of more weeks. That didn’t even count the travel back to Canterlot. He sincerely hoped that he could hitch a ride in Ponyville when this was over. The short, yellow stallion marked off seven houses and the pile of stone blocks. That seemed to be a little small for a village. He walked around but didn’t see anything else. He gazed at the landscape, wondering what he was missing. His gaze settled on the edge of the mountain base. His eyes followed it as it wrapped around to the north. He thought he saw a faint change in the natural slope of the mountainside. He trotted over to the north side of the mountain and saw there was a massive stone door carved right into the north face of the mountain. It was surrounded by many piles of finished stone blocks. The door was carved with faded and worn symbols. The door itself looked like it had weathered too many weather storms without maintenance. A few still-standing walls were scattered around the area. Stratum tried counting the blocks, estimating that at least half of them had to have been used for vertical size. He stopped when he decided that it must have been at least a two story building with several rooms on each level. He picked up a block and tapped it against another block. Both blocks split down the middle, crumbling into shards. He mentioned excitedly, “Wow! This must be at least a thousand years old, maybe more! This might even be older than Princess Celestia! I gotta write this down!” He spent the remaining hours of the day scribbling sketches of the site in his notebook, making notations on the plan to dig for transportable items back to Canterlot. This would make him famous! The next day he woke up early just to start digging around ruins of the stone building in front of the stone door. Throughout the day, he dug down three inches all over the layout to get a cross-section of what might be just underhoof. He found several more pieces of broken pottery as well as spearheads made of stone. One of the spearheads was discolored with a dark, rusty color. Stratum blanched when he wondered what kind of living thing was made not-so-living in the Everfree Forest. The short, yellow stallion took some time examining the wall of the ruins, hoping for some kind of inscriptions as to pony life in that time. He was disappointed. The walls were bare except for signs of weathering…and claw marks…and burn marks? Stratum got a bad feeling about this place and how it met its end. Maybe the houses were burned down. What would have done this? Dragon? Enemy army? Something else? Feeling an urge to examine the stone door, he walked over and stared at it closely. In the waning light, he thought he saw faded inscriptions of a very complex nature. A stray breeze blew in, knocking dust off of the door. Stratum got an idea. Even though he might regret it later, he used the water from his canteen to wash the door of dust and grime. After an hour of labor, he was rewarded with a spectacular sight. Every inch of the door was painted in depictions of a great event. There were several scenes form top to bottom like a visual story. No words or even runes were painted in. In the first scene were a few dozen earth ponies living in a large village next to the mountain. There were no pegasi or unicorns painted. In the next scene was a hole opened in the mountain and a huge black beetle came forth. In the next scene was the beetle eating an earth pony while destroying the victim’s house. In the next scene was an army of earth ponies using many different types of weapons upon the beetle’s back. Swords, axes, and many spears. All weapons broke and did not hurt the beetle. In the next scene was an earth pony in robes and a laurel praying to the night sky. A kind of rock was falling to the ground while on fire. In the next scene several earth ponies were fighting off several huge beetles by using spears tipped with a shiny, silvery substance. In fact, there were actual bits of the shiny metal imbedded in the door. One of the spearheads was missing. In the last scene was the earth pony wearing robes and laurel carving the stone door and painting on it. Behind him the village was burned and destroyed. Many earth ponies were leaving the village. Stratum felt moved by the story. He stepped up for a closer look at the depiction of the earth pony in robe and laurel. The artwork bore resemblances to pony art styles over two thousand years in the past. His hoof stepped on something. He dug in the dust an inch before he found something. Picking it up, he saw it was the missing piece of the door. It was a triangular bit of very shiny metal. It was remarkably light. Suddenly, he thought he felt a low rumbling. He looked at the door. The door jumped as if something from behind it tried to ram it. Stratum jumped back, absently putting his canteen and bit of metal in his saddlebags. The door jumped again, this time cracking. There was a kind of clicking sound from behind the door and a howl. The door jumped once more, widening the crack. The short, yellow pony ran back to his campsite. He hurriedly grabbed all of his tools and notes. Stuffing them into his saddlebags, he ran back to Ponyville, fear plainly evident on his face. From behind the painted stone door there was silence. Then there was a clicking sound. Then there were many clicking sounds.
Chapter 1Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro and associations and are used without permission for the sole purpose of entertainment for no financial gain of any kind. Stratum, Steele, Sawdust, Upper Crust, Heavy Hoof, the athletic coach, Mister Tongs, Paper Cut, Vellum, and Cherry Anvil are my intellectual property, but Lauren Faust can make me an offer if she wishes. Background and setup: I’m more of a Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers fanfic author than My Little Pony, but after watches the Friendship is Magic series, I have to say I approve of the writing style. It’s very entertaining without being exclusive to any one type of audience. Besides, any show that can successfully introduce intensity to its characters is good in my view. This story assumes a map that fans have created. It also assumes that the general landscape of Equestria has not significantly changed in at least two hundred years. I think that’s a fair assumption. A Place for Everything and Everyone by Charles Johnson (Approximately nineteen years before Princess Luna’s return) A pleasant little house sat on the edge of Ponyville. Everyone knew who lived here. This was the home of Sawdust the carpenter and Upper Crust, his refined wife, with their two sons Stratum and Steele. Sawdust was a well-respected carpenter renowned for his exceptional skill at woodworking. He was a fussy master craftsman, always taking extra time to do the job right and using only the best materials available. His work was pricey, but worth every coin. The front door to his house opened as Sawdust entered after a day at the lumberyard. He called out with a smile, “I’m starved!” The stallion was short for a full-grown adult, but his muscles were visibly toned from his normal daily labors. His orange coat and red mane were full of wood shavings and sawdust from his day’s work. Even his cutie mark, a hammer crossed with a saw, was difficult to see clearly. This constant appearance had given him his knick name, ‘Dusty’, which suited him just fine. He hated being called ‘Sawdust’ properly. It never seemed to sit right with him. From the kitchen, a middle-aged mare stuck her head out to view her husband with glee in her smile. She mock-complained, “Don’t you ever greet me with undying professions of love anymore, you mad colt?” Her tall, slim figure was complimented by her yellow coat and blue mane. Her cutie mark was a tasty-looking slice of blueberry pie. Sawdust walked boldly up to his wife and stole a sweet kiss from her lips. His clear, red eyes gazed deeply into her wide, green eyes. He then whispered, “I profess my eternal…undying…love and affection…for your cooking, my sweet.” Laughing loudly, she pulled herself away from him and flicked her tail across his nose playfully. She walked back into the kitchen to attend to the meal that was cooking in the oven. She stated, “Get washed up and dinner will be ready when you’re done!” He turned to head to an adjoining room in the house to take a bath. However, his heart felt heavy. He stopped and blurted out something before he could think about it. “I lost that new project today.” Upper Crust trotted out of the kitchen to nuzzle her husband tenderly. She cooed, “Oooohh, I’m so sorry! I know you really had great plans for that house. What happened?” Sawdust gratefully nuzzled his wife back and explained, “That young couple went with the bid from that business in Hoofington. It was cheaper.” Upper Crust didn’t say anything. She knew how passionate her husband was about the quality of his work. He continued, “Don’t that young couple realize that a cheaper house will just fall apart in only a few decades? Don’t they want something that will last long enough to give to their own children?” She kissed his muzzle and said, “Well, don’t you worry about it. We’re doing just fine without that project. There are lots of ponies who are backlogged for your work from all over Equestria. Now wash up and we’ll have dinner. I made mushroom and potato pasties, your favorite.” His stomach rumbled, bringing a smile to his face. He trotted off to the bathroom to wash up. Unwisely, Upper Crust continued, “Even if this does cause a problem, we’ll be okay. There’s my family…” Sawdust spun around to face his wife sharply. Controlling himself with effort, he evenly stated, “We are NOT asking your…family for help. You may come from Canterlot, but my family are NOT parasites.” ========================= Upstairs, a young colt sat in the corner of the room he shared with his younger brother. He sat surrounded by strips and squares of leather. He had needle and thread ready to pierce the tough material. He also had created a kind of punch machine to push the needle through the leather to make stitches. It seemed as if he were making some kind of garment slowly. The colt was tall for his age, but thin like his mother. He had an orange coat, blue mane, and green eyes. The colt hummed a nameless tune that he had invented just to help him concentrate on working. He focused on the needle and thread, trying to convince the thick pieces of leather to cooperate. So far, they were not cooperating. The door to the bedroom opened. A smaller colt entered and went straight for the closet. He had a yellow coat, red mane, and red eyes. Neighbors often said that the two brothers were like two spitting images of the parents all mixed up. The statement was to be taken as a compliment, but the brothers weren’t flattered. It just seemed to suggest that they didn’t belong with other ‘normal’ ponies. The younger brother opened the closet and took out a shovel he had hidden amongst his good clothes. The older brother looked up and said, “Stratum, Dad’s home and he’s not happy.” The smaller pony took the shovel in his mouth and somehow managed to say, “Okay.” Steele also said to his brother, “You know if you keep digging around the house, Dad will be angry with you.” Stratum took the shovel in his hooves and said flippantly, “I know. That’s why I’m gonna dig across the street. It’s practically the open fields. There’s bound to be loads of buried treasure there!” The older brother sighed and said, “Dad’s started his bath. Be back here in a half-hour. You know he hates it when you’re late for dinner.” ========================= Forty-five minutes later, the family, minus Stratum, stared at their plates with hunger. Sawdust was furious. Neither Upper Crust nor Steele dared to provoke him further. Suddenly, the door to the house opened, admitting a dirty Stratum. He had a smile on his face and he carelessly trotted dirt on to the carpet. Sawdust roared, “Where do you think you’ve been, young colt?!?! We’ve been waiting for you so long, our food is cold! Now we’re all going to eat cold food because of you!” Stratum, taken off-guard by the tantrum, stammered, “B-b-ut, I f-found some neat wheel brackets in the fields. They must be…I don’t know…a hundred years old! There must have been some big carriages in Ponyville a hundred years...” Stratum’s explanation tapered off to silence upon seeing his father’s stern countenance not soften. Sawdust declared, “Well, don’t just stand there! Go wash up because nopony’s eating until you’re ready! Then, after dinner, you’re going to clean up your mother’s carpets! She works all day to keep them clean and then you track dirt in our house?!” The small yellow colt raced for the bathroom, equally eager to start washing as he was to get away from his father’s yelling. As he passed by his older brother, Steele politely asked, “Could you please hurry? I’m hungry.” After the bathroom door shut loudly, Sawdust turned to his oldest son and commented, “And you’re not much better, playing with those clothes of yours. What are you trying to make, anyway?” Shyly, Steele answered, “Well, it’s a leather jersey for playing ponyball. The others play rough and this will stop me from getting hurt.” Finally hearing something logical after he got home, Sawdust felt his anger crumble away to a lesser amount. He stated, “Getting hurt builds character. You don’t want to grow up to be a wimp, do you?” Upper Crust came to the defense of her son, “He’s not talking about bumps and bruises, Dusty. Remember last year that ruffian Heavy Hoof rammed poor Steele in the side? He broke a rib and had to sit out for nearly a whole season of ponyball at school! He’s not supposed to break bones to build character. Why, it’s against the rules.” Sawdust backed off somewhat, saying, “Well, why didn’t they kick him off the team?” The ladylike pony sniffed and said, “The coach said he’d ‘talk’ to his mother. It didn’t happen again, but still! It was no accident! Why, I don’t understand that family. It’s like they reveled in their son causing injuries just because he’s bigger and stronger than the other colts. Why, I’ve heard rumors about him bullying the fillies! Can you imagine?” Soon, Stratum came out of the bathroom squeaky clean. He silently sat down at the table. The family then began to eat their cold dinner in silence. ========================= A few days later, Stratum was digging in the fields across the street from his house. He was exhausted. The shovel bit into the earth again and again, but no gold, silver, or jewels ever presented themselves. He would constantly find things like rusty nails, pieces of old lumber, or partially-disintegrated saddles. He felt cheated. He felt duped. Why were his instincts constantly telling him to dig here? Why was his brain promising him vast rewards in this hole? He sobbed, shedding a few tears into the hole. The dirt didn’t care. It just started forming mud on his hooves. Now he was going to go home muddy and get yelled at by his father again. Blindly, his shovel stabbed one more time at the earth beneath his hooves. CLUNK! The shovel bounced off of something wooden and hard. Stratum’s eyes opened wide as he thought of the riches inside that he could bring home. His shovel dug and dug all around the object. Quickly, his sight settled upon his prize. He felt both elation and puzzlement at the object. It was a wooden box approximately six feet long, two feet wide, and one foot deep. On the top were stenciled words in a language he couldn’t quite read. The letters resembled his normal language, but they were arranged in a way that didn’t make much sense. He could make out the words ‘town’ and ‘official’, so he made his decision. He climbed out of the hole and then galloped towards city hall. ========================= Steele limped back home from school. It would be dinnertime in two hours. Just enough time to try to make some alterations to his protective suit. It kind of worked, but kind of didn’t work. Heavy Hoof and mocked him before the game even started. He even went so far as to call Steele a ‘sissy’ for wearing it. Heavy Hoof made it a point to slam into Steele often during the game just to cause him pain. Such a hit had broken Steele’s delicate ribs last year, but the leather jersey and helmet had reduced the injury to a bruise. Close to the end of the game, Heavy Hoof’s team realized it was going to lose. Their star player had spent too much time trying to hurt Steele that it had squandered time on the clock. Enraged at losing to a ‘sissy’, Heavy Hoof had intentionally violated the rules against leaping into the air to crash into Steele. Steele had fallen to the ground hard, knocking the breath out of him. Heavy Hoof sneaked a glance to make sure the ball was elsewhere, thus everypony’s attention was elsewhere. BAM! His hoof kicked Steele in the side. Breathless, Steele could only grimace in pain. Heavy Hoof just smiled cruelly at his act of supremacy. TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!! The sharp tone of the whistle blared across the entire field. The coach, a huge stallion with a dark blue coat, black mane, and intense yellow eyes, roared across the field, “HEAVY HOOF!!! If you think I didn’t watch you kicking a pony when they’re down, you’ve got another thing coming, mister!” The young colt yelped in panic and galloped away, with the coach hot on his hooves. The colt’s brown coat and black mane streamed with beads of sweat as he ran. His blue eyes betrayed genuine fear at perhaps the one pony in all of Ponyville that he truly feared. “You are going up in front of the school board for severe disciplinary measures, young colt! You are going to ask them very nicely not to expel you from this school. Won’t that be fun?” The other players gathered around Steele to try to help him up. To their surprise, Steele got up quickly all on his own. It was then that he decided that he needed something stronger than leather to stop the hard impacts given by players like Heavy Hoof. On the way home from school, he passed by the bakery. The delightful smells made his mouth water. Suddenly, the sting of the fresh hoof-shaped bruise killed his appetite. He idly wondered what could be stronger than leather yet flexible. As he passed by the blacksmith, he saw old Mister Tongs throwing out scrap metal in a small pile by the front door. The old stallion was so covered in charcoal dust that his coat and mane perpetually seemed as gray as his eyes. Steele’s eyes wandered to the pile of small metal plates that lay in overlapping patterns like a fish. When the next batch of plates fell on top of them, the underlying layer flexed and buckled, but did not scatter. Suddenly, his brain exploded with thoughts and ideas. The old stallion noticed the tall colt and greeted him. “Hello, Steele. My, you look beat up. Did ponyball go rough again today?” Steele responded politely, “Sure did, Mister Tongs. Heavy Hoof tried to injure me again, but my jersey protected me a little. Say, are you throwing those plates out?” The blacksmith kicked the pile of scrap metal and said, “Yup, they’re okay for little things like covering up rough woodwork or angle brackets, but not good enough for wheel braces or house reinforcements. I thought they were higher quality metal than they really are. Shame, though. I’m sure they could be used for something.” The colt asked earnestly, “Could I have them?” ========================= The next day, the town gathered in front of the library for a presentation. The mayor of Ponyville addressed the crowd from the front door. Next to her were Sawdust, Upper Crust, Stratum, and Steele. All of the family was looking proud. Next to the mayor was the box that Stratum had found. It was unlocked and ready to have its contents displayed. The mayor declared, “Citizens of Ponyville! We are gathered here to celebrate the return of our heritage! This box beside me is a time capsule created two hundred years ago. It was buried next to the old town hall, just across the street from where Sawdust’s house now stands. It was supposed to have been opened after a hundred years of waiting. Unfortunately, the old town hall burned only a generation after the box was buried.” The crowd ponies in the crowd murmured to each other in confusion. Clearly this was news to them. The mayor continued, “I know, I know. It was new information to me, too. Most of the records from then were destroyed in the fire. After the new town hall was built, two generations passed. By the time the hundred years were up, everypony had forgotten about the time capsule. It was only now that Stratum had dug up the site of the old town hall to restore our history to us!” The assembled crowd cheered loudly for the small pony. Stratum stood up tall and proud. Even Sawdust lost all of his anger and stomped loudly for his son. The mayor opened the box and began pulling out various objects. She explained, “Once we opened the box, we found the journal of the mayor back then. That journal told us of the time capsule’s story. A little cross-referencing with what few surviving documents we still have filled in the gaps.” She pulled out an antique lantern. “This old-style oil lamp is how ponies lit their homes and streets for travel at night.” She then pulled out what looked like a fresh, massive saddle that simply needed to be oiled. She revealed, “Believe it or not, this is an average saddle for a mare. They certainly didn’t have the choices of materials we have today for style and color. Ponies back then had to be practical for survival. See how there are places to attach saddlebags on each side? Very sturdy and useful for swapping out different bags rather than wasting time emptying them one at a time.” The crowd laughed at the old-fashioned saddle. Nopony would be caught dead wearing it now. Still, the sturdy construction was very practical. It gave the crowd an appreciation for how hard their ancestors had to work. The mayor then pulled out a familiar object. “Why, what’s this? It’s a ponyball! It seems that the game Equestria takes for granted today was invented right here in Ponyville two hundred years ago!” The crowd screamed and cheered for their proud heritage. Sawdust ruffled his small son’s mane and said, “Well, I guess digging in all that dirt was good for something.” Stratum had never felt so loved and respected. He bucked up onto his hind legs and neighed loudly. Suddenly, Stratum’s hips began to shine brightly. A picture of a shovel crossed with a magnifying glass appeared on his flank. The crowd stomped loudly in appreciation for Stratum’s new mark. Upper Crust began to cry with happiness. She declared, “Oh, my baby colt has his cutie mark!” Stratum complained, “Mom! It’s not a ‘cutie mark’! Fillies have cutie marks! Colts have flank symbols!” The crowd laughed out loud at the young one’s antics. Sawdust stepped up to support his son, “That’s right! We have masculine symbols, right fellas?” The stallions and colts in the crowd cheered and stomped in agreement. The mares and fillies just rolled their eyes in exasperation. The mayor announced, “Now, let’s celebrate our heritage by watching a game of ponyball at the school field!” ========================= The game of ponyball was hastily put together, but two teams were arranged and set into motion. During the game, Heavy Hoof had tried to convince the coach to let him play. The coach refused to even look at the brutish colt, much less give him permission. Furious at the brush-off, Heavy Hoof had called his friends over just before the start of the game. During the game, Steele had worn his new and improved leather jersey. It looked thinner and neater than before, with a helmet to match. It did not seem to restrict his movements. He caught the ball and began to carry the ball in his mouth closer to the opposing net. WHAM! One of the bully’s friends tackled Steele from the side hard, knocking him to the ground with all of his might. The ball dropped from Steele’s mouth. Everypony winced at the hit. It was legal, but it may have been hard enough to injure the slim colt. Steele immediately got up and ran off after the ball. The colt who performed the tackle slowly, shakily got up, but did not run afterwards. Steele kicked the ball to a teammate who was circling for an open position to score. WHAM! Another of Heavy Hoof’s friends slammed into Steele’s side with all his might. The pair of colts fell down. The coach felt his temper rise. He raised the whistle to his lips to stop the play and assign a penalty. He had seen older and healthier colts be carried to the hospital for broken bones from hits like that. They had no place in a young colts’ game. Steele immediately got back up and raced into position. The whistle just dropped from the coach’s surprised muzzle. The teammate was surrounded by opposing players. He spied Steele and kicked the ball over to him. The tall, slender pony spun around and received the ball with a powerful hind kick. The ball sailed past the net’s defender. The crowd erupted into cheers! The coach blew the whistle loudly, declaring, “That’s five! The game is over! The score is five to three!” The losing team caught their breath, but then they were congratulated by the winning team. The crowd moved in to fill the field with cheering. A little later, the coach was addressing the crowd. “Stallions and mares, your children really demonstrated good sportsmanship today! The game was played within the rules and the best team won today. Remember, there’s another game against the travel team from Hoofington next weekend. Come cheer on your Ponyville Pride at the school!” The field fairly vibrated from all of the stomping by the citizens and parents. After the stomping subsided, the coach announced, “Also, I have a special thanks for a certain colt who took the high road when someone dealt him an unfair blow. Steele? Come up here, young colt.” The crowd parted in wonder. The tall, thin colt trotted up to the coach. The coach announced, “Steele, that contraption you’re wearing protected you from solid tackles that should have broken your ribs. You should be gasping in the hospital an hour ago, but you got right up and had enough strength to score the winning goal.” The tell colt shyly pawed the ground and said, “Thank, coach. There’s overlapping metal scales under the leather to take the hit and spread it out.” The massive stallion tousled the young colt’s mane and declared, “That’s pure genius, Steele. If we had one of these for every player, then severe injuries would be practically non-existent. Would you consider making one for each player in Ponyville and donating them to the school?” The crowd smiled widely. Many of them had children who had broken bones because of ponyball in the past. In fact, many of them remembered themselves being taken to the hospital for the same things. The tall, slender colt smiled and said, “Sure, coach. I’ll need lots of leather and metal to get started. Each suit should take about three days to make.” The stallion declared, “Excellent! I’ll talk to the mayor about getting materials and tools for you to use.” The crowd cheered for Steele. The young colt let the well-wishes fill him up with happiness. Suddenly, Steele’s hips began to shine brightly. A picture of a hammer crossed with a full metal helmet appeared on his flank. The crowd stomped loudly in appreciation for Stratum’s new mark. Sawdust leaped up and down, cheering, “Both my colts got their flank symbols on the same day! I’ve never been so proud!” Upper Crust wiped more tears from her eyes and announced, “And I’ve never been so happy in all my life!” The proper mare turned to her husband and offered, “Dusty, now that we know their special talents, maybe my family in Canterlot could be useful now.” Sawdust arched an eyebrow, asking, “How’s that, my little blueberry pie?” Upper Crust offered, “My family have contacts at the palace. We could ask around and get apprenticeships for our sons using their special talents. I’m sure we could ensure their future if they work hard.” The carpenter pony considered the idea. It actually appealed to him. They could never afford the fancy schools they really wanted to send their sons to attend. That left the traditional practice of sending their children away for apprenticeships to existing experts. Knowing the right experts could be hard for a pony who spends his life in a single town. He said reluctantly, “Well, we’ll see. It wouldn’t hurt to ask them what’s available.” Upper Crust wiped more tears from her eyes and announced, “Everyone! I’m going to bake enough pies to feed the town! Picnic in three days in the field next to our house!” The assembled crowd cheered for the proud family. Several ponies offered to help by bringing their own food to the planned party. Stratum chirped, “You mean once I fill all of the holes in!” Everypony laughed outright. Things in Ponyville were harmonious and glad…for now. THE END?
Chapter 2 - In the real world (Approximately one year after Princess Luna’s return) It was late afternoon in Canterlot. A now grown-up Stratum walked up to a tall bookshelf in the Royal Archives. The bookshelf was very dusty and the wheels on the rolling ladder squeaked when he moved it. This section of the library was fondly known as ‘the place where unimportant records go to die’. The librarian, a tall, reedy-looking stallion with a white coat, red mane, and orange eyes winced at the sound of the old wheels and casters rubbing against each other. With a huff, he got up out of his chair and stomped off towards the source of the sound. He knew right where it was. Several pairs of eyes turned away, trying not to meet his gaze. Everypony knew not to get in the way of Paper Cut the librarian. Even the nice flank symbol of an open book did nothing to soften the harsh way he would speak to those who made noise in his library. Paper Cut arrived at the bottom of the old, massive bookshelf that had become the unofficial central repository for scrolls, books, and other records that were not asked for in years. Looking up, he saw a short, yellow stallion pulling out scrolls at random, skimming them, and then putting them back. The librarian hissed, “Stratum, how many times have I told you not to make noise in the library?!” The short, yellow stallion gleefully replied, “Six. It’s your job to keep the rolling ladders oiled. I reminded you about them a month ago and you still haven’t done it.” Paper Cut rolled his eyes and replied, “I am far too busy to be performing such dirty, oily work. I’ll ask the janitor to do it. Now will you please stop climbing that bookshelf?” Stratum simply said, “No.” The librarian’s eyes went wide with shock. He tried to speak, but only sputtered in reply. The short, yellow stallion stated firmly, “This bookshelf contains a wealth of old knowledge that’s useful in my research.” Paper Cut curled his upper lip and dismissed, “This is the repository for useless papers. What could possibly be of any value here? I’ve a good mind to lock this collection up in the basement and get rid of that ladder.” He smiled wickedly at the thought of denying someone access to papers to show who’s boss around here. Stratum looked evenly at the librarian and stated carefully, “I’ve got evidence that there’s a lost pony village that dates back to the time before Princess Luna’s banishment. I intend to prove its existence and maybe even find it. The records on this particular shelf come from that era. If you deliberately restrict access to these critical documents, then I will have no choice but to visit the Minister of Education and inform him of your lackluster performance.” The red-maned stallion screwed up his expression into an aggressive snarl. However, Stratum noticed that he took a step back unconsciously. Paper Cut hotly replied, not caring if he was loud in his own library, “The Minister of Education? Why would such an important pony see the likes of you, you second-rate pest?” Stratum ignored the gasps just barely audible from the main reading room and explained, “Your job is to provide access to knowledge, not take it away. If the minister came here to find out you took away an entire bookshelf of useful papers just to hide the fact that you can’t even keep your ladder wheels oiled, he may decide you’re not the pony for the job.” The white-coated stallion’s snarl faded away. Stratum continued, “A classmate of mine came here for an important book on this very shelf. I happen to know for a fact you shooed her away and denied her the book. When she turned in her report for class, she didn’t get as good a grade as she should have gotten. Perhaps her professor should know the reason why she didn’t include that information. Perhaps if he knew why she didn’t get the book, maybe he’d be more lenient. What do you think, sir?” Paper Cut backed away, trying to keep his head up to save at least some of his dignity. He mumbled, “Just keep it down, okay?” The short, yellow stallion nodded and went back to reading his scrolls. After several minutes, he found what he was looking for. Excitedly, he went to the desk to check out his scroll and went home to copy it and examine the paper for more clues. ========================= Sounds of loud banging rang through the industrial area. This was common and the metal foundries were here. Scrap metal and ore was imported from all over Equestria to be hammered and smelted into working shape. This was all done by students under the watchful eyes of metal-working masters. Some were experts in smelting. Some were experts in making alloys. Others were masters of shaping. A very few became skilled in all aspects of metal working. These teachers were booked solid all year-round. Only those with special connections could arrange to have their children apprenticed to such ponies. Inside a foundry were the normal sights. A worktable for organizing tools, a pile of firewood, a pile of metallic ore, a second pile of different metallic ore, an anvil for pounding, a bucket of water, and a bucket of oil. The teacher, an old, nearly feeble mare by the name of Cherry Anvil, was directing her student in the final stages of craftsmanship. She had a coat that was once a dark, brilliant red and a mane that was so orange it looked like it was on fire. Now those colors have faded significantly. Only her eyes were the same. They were a sparkling dark gray, with little gold flecks in them. Now those eyes were focused on the hooves of her student. A tall, powerfully built orange stallion gritted his teeth in ultimate concentration. In his left hoof he gripped a pair of beaten-up tongs which in turn held a bowl-shaped piece of bronze which was hot enough to set fires. The right hoof powerfully gripped a hammer, scorched with past encounters with fire. The hammer pounded the bronze bowl over and over. The strikes were hard, but each one was carefully placed. Instead of bending the bronze out of shape, it was instead bending it into shape. The old mare mentioned, “Finish up and then final assembly.” The orange stallion mentioned, “Uh-huh.” He then turned the bowl over and over, looking for anything left undone. A couple of more light whacks on the back side of the bronze and then he carried it over to a bucket of water. Dipping the bowl in the bucket, the water instantly bubbled and let off a cloud of steam. The bronze came out of the bowl cooler and firm. He then carried it over to a nearby worktable that had other pieces on it. He put the other seemingly unrelated pieces together. The object snapped together with an audible click. Proudly, he presented his teacher with the finished object. It was a bronze plate helmet in the exact style the royal guards wore. Cherry Anvil looked the piece over, turning it this way and that. She imagined the original pattern and matched it with this object in her mind. Smiling, she said, “Well done, Steele. This is definitely within tolerances. Now send this over to the unicorns so they can fuse the metal together magically. That’ll make it stronger than normal bronze.” The tall, orange stallion chirped, “Yes, ma’am! Then I’ll clean up the shop and we can get started on what’s next.” She refuted, “Once you deliver that, you’re done. Do have some fun with your friends.” Steele lost his enthusiasm. He avoided commenting back. Cherry Anvil knew that look. She pressed, “Well, what’s wrong?” The orange stallion admitted, “I don’t have any friends. This isn’t Ponyville. Ponies just come here for school and then go home.” The teacher asked, “What about that brother of yours? Don’t the two of you get along?” Steele admitted, “Oh yeah. We have fun, but he doesn’t get home for a couple of hours yet.” She sighed and decided, “Okay, once you’re done sweep out the hearth and put the tools away. Then go do something with your brother. I’ve got a lot of planning to do about your future. You just passed your final exam.” Steele smiled and took off trotting towards the alchemy laboratories and the unicorns therein. ========================= About an hour later, Stratum trotted into the office of a middle-aged stallion. The stallion had a gray coat, yellow mane, and blue eyes. His flank symbol was a rolled-up scroll that had a nimbus of yellow light. The office was tiny and cramped. A large mahogany desk took up most of the room, piled high with stacks of papers, books, and scrolls of various ages. Several plaques lined the walls, proclaiming his accomplishments over the course of his career. The short stallion placed a three-page report upon the desk of his mentor with pride. The middle-aged stallion arched an eyebrow at the unceremonious entrance. He asked, “And what, pray tell, is this?” Confused, Stratum stated, “It’s my report on the lost village of Sable Weir, Mr. Vellum. I think I found the general area.” Vellum, the professor of Advanced Archaeology, sighed and pushed the report away, saying, “Sable Weir is just myth. Nopony cares about it.” The short, yellow stallion pushed the report back to his professor and insisted, “We’re archaeologists! We dig up old mare’s tales all the time! Who knows what’s there? We should go and do a basic search, maybe a surface excavation!” The professor sighed loudly, “If such a place existed, Princess Celestia would have told us. Drop it and get back to validating those records of birth rates in Canterlot for the last ten years.” Stratum stomped his hoof upon the floor of the office and asked roughly, “What the heck do I have to do to prove that Sable Weir exists?” Vellum said in a cavalier manner, “If you can even provide one single piece of hard evidence that it existed, then I’d say that it’s possible.” The short, yellow stallion smugly provided a scroll from his saddlebags. He opened it to the third page and pointed to a certain passage. The professor put on his reading spectacles and read the passage. After a moment, he asked in amazement, “What is this? Where did you get it?” Stratum proudly replied, “It’s an original set of pages from a mare’s diary over a thousand years ago. She explains right there that her sister got married and moved west to…wait for it…” He smirked in anticipation. Vellum rolled his eyes and admitted in defeat, “Sable Weir. That doesn’t mean it existed. This could be poetry or even a mistake.” The yellow stallion stood up as tall as he could and declared, “Then you admit it might be true and this is first-hoof evidence that puts it in reasonable doubt.” The professor slammed his hoof upon the desk, shaking the piles of papers. He declared, “All right, all right! It’s a reasonable possibility that there was some tiny settlement that called itself Sable Weir! There, are you happy?” Stratum declared, “Not yet. Since we don’t know where it is or who was there or how the ponies lived, we need to find out. I want an expedition out there. I’ve already outlined in my paper the approximate location, so it’s not like it’ll be a huge project. I think I’ll only need a dozen assistants.” Vellum snarled. He had been hoodwinked by someone half his age! He then got his selfish little brain cooking. He then pulled out some dusty papers that he had not used in a long time. Filling out the papers, he handed them to Stratum, saying, “Good work, young stallion. I think we should find out what’s out there. Sign here and I’ll approve of your expedition. Say, have the mares in your class noticed how successful you are? They’re sure to take notice once they find out you’re on an expedition of your own.” Stratum’s pride swelled to new heights. He finally felt respected…and of course the mares in his class would finally see his star quality for once. He signed the papers and handed them back. He boasted, “Imagine how famous you’ll be for funding the expedition that rediscovered Equestria’s lost heritage! Princess Celestria herself may even give you another award.” Vellum dismissed the compliment and reached for a tightly-wrapped bag in the bottom of his desk. Opening it, he withdraw funds and then closed the bag. He handed the coins to Stratum and then marked the withdrawal in his ledger. Stratum stared at the coins with disappointment and asked, “Is this it? I’ll be gone for weeks, possibly months! What about my assistants?” Vellum sneered at Stratum. He congratulated himself on turning the con around and winning against a younger stallion using trickery. He spoke, “It’s in the terms of the expedition request you signed. Fifty bits of currency and no assistants. Think about it, you’re only one stallion and the only one who was clever enough to think on his hooves to find such as obscure place. I’m sure nopony else in this school could ever assist the great Stratum in matters of mythology.” The professor waved off Stratum with the backside of his hoof and said in a bored voice, “Now go on and don’t come back until you find some evidence of this fabled Sable Weir place. Your passing grade depends on it.”
Chapter 4 - Waiting until morningStratum ran as fast as his legs could carry him all the way to Ponyville. The sun had set an hour ago, and the streets were mostly dark. A few lamps at street intersections were lit to not have a completely dark town. He raced right up to the hollow tree and banged on the door. “Twilight Sparkle! Twilight, open the door! I need help!” The door opened, showing a slightly tired-looking purple unicorn. She looked over the short, yellow stallion and said, “Ah, Stratum. It’s a bit late, don’t you think? The library’s closed, come back tomorrow.” Stratum yelled, “No! I can’t wait for morning! I’ve got a problem and I need your help! I need you write to the princess and get every royal guard here now!!!” Twilight frowned and said, “The princess is not at my beck and call, nor are her guards. What’s so important that it can’t wait until morning!” The short, yellow stallion announced agitatedly, “Ponyville’s going to be under attack by giant beetles from the underworld!” The purple unicorn huffed, “Oh, that has got to be the lamest excuse for nighttime studying that I’ve ever heard! Where did you ever come up with that?” Stratum insisted, “I was digging in the Everfree Forest and something start attacking the door I had found!” As soon as Twilight heard the words ‘Everfree’ and ‘Forest’, her suspicions were replaced with fear. She opened the door wider and said, “Come in and tell me the whole story from the beginning.” ========================= The stone door suddenly jolted forward an inch, cracking across the middle. Another slam from behind widened the crack. A mysterious red light emitted from the crack, flickering weakly. The door exploded open, the pieces burning as they fell. A huge beetle, easily two stories tall, walked out of the cave in the side of the mountain. It had huge, clicking mandibles that dripped green ooze. It reared up on its hind legs and exhaled. A plume of green fire arced up into the air for a dozen feet. As it vacated the cave entrance, another came from deep underground. Then another. Then still more. The first began sniffing the ground, following the freshest track it could find. The other stretched their legs and then fell into place behind the first. They all started crawling eastward. ========================= Twilight had listened to Stratum with all the patience she could muster. At first she completely disbelieved him. However, stranger things exist in the Everfree Forest than giant insects. Besides, he also had sketches of the ruined village, shards of pottery, and the bit of strange metal. Something tugged on her brain when she saw the metal. It looked somehow familiar to her. Stratum insisted, “We gotta find more of this metal! According to the ancient history, it’s the only thing that can defeat them!” The purple unicorn frowned and stated, “Monster bugs than can only be defeated by mystical metal? I don’t believe it. Still, you don’t sound like you’re lying.” The stallion whined, “Why does nopony ever believe me about anything?! What, am I too short to tell the truth?” Twilight rebuked him sternly, “No, it’s because you keep saying things that sound nuts.” Spike chuckled at the joke. Stratum did not find it funny. He challenged, “Well, it sounds like you at least half believe me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be arguing with me. You’d just throw me out and turn your back like everyone else.” Twilight stared at the bit of metal. It was certainly unique. It almost weighed nothing in her hoof, but it still cut paper, made a cut mark in a hardwood table, and did not bend under pressure. She mentioned, “I remember Princess Celestia telling me about a huge boulder than fell from the sky a long time ago and smashed into the Everfree Forest. She said that she recovered it and put it in her private storage.” The short, yellow stallion insisted, “Well, that’s the answer! That must be the sky rock! Maybe it has more of that special metal. Let’s just ask her about it. You never know. She’s old enough that she might actually remember this event personally.” The purple unicorn argued, “I’m not going to write her at this hour! She might be asleep!” Stratum glared Twilight in the eye and declared, “If I am right, then you’ll be sleeping while monster bugs eat ponies alive. How would that look for your precious career? Tell you what. If Princess Celestia is not concerned about this, then I’ll leave and never bother you again.” Twilight looked down into the stallion’s eyes. He glared back proudly, sure of himself. Twilight stated, “Spike, take a letter.” The baby dragon recorded Twilight’s words in a clean scroll: “Dear Princess Celestia, I’m sorry to disturb you so late, but I have a young stallion named Stratum here who’s insisting that Ponyville is about to be eaten by giant beetles from the Everfree Forest. He claims they come from an old ruin called Sable Weir. There is a stone door in the mountain that had a painting about a rock from the sky containing special metal that can pierce the carapaces of the beetles. I am enclosing a bit of this special metal. I’ve never seen this kind of metal before. I’m not sure what to believe. However, I wanted to ask you if that boulder in your private collection contains any of this metal. If so, then maybe there’s something to his story. Should I be worried or should I throw him out? Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle” She gave the metal bit to Spike and he enclosed it in the rolled-up scroll. He breathed his magical fire on the scroll, sending the dust out of the window towards Canterlot. Twilight then looked at Stratum with sinister glee and said, “Well, we may have some time before she responds, so you should get comfortable.” Stratum responded with confidence, “I know I’m right. The princess will see it my way. When this is all over, I’ll finally get some respect.” The purple unicorn smiled at the small, yellow unicorn. She really appreciated confidence in one’s studies. She called out, “Spike, grab the extra blankets and pillow. Stratum’s going sleep down here tonight.” Spike brought down a rolled-up mat, bedsheet, blanket, and pillow. Stratum fixed up his bed and said cavalierly, “This will be a step up from my campsite for the last week or so.” Suddenly, he realized something. “Oh, horseapples! I left my campsite in the Everfree Forest!” Twilight and Spike laughed. She stated, “Well, look on the bright side. If there is no horrific giant beetle invasion, then your campsite will be waiting for you when you get back.” Suddenly, Spike belched out a magical flame. The flame coalesced into a scroll. Spike read the scroll and his face fell in surprise. He offered the scroll to Twilight, who read it aloud. “My Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle, I had forgotten about that stone door sealing off the underworld. I’m surprised that the enchantment sealing off the K’klattcha lasted these past two thousand years. Unfortunately, I cannot create another seal just anytime. I need to prepare. In the meantime, tell the pegasus ponies to make ready the most powerful storms to slow down the K’klattcha, what you call ‘giant beetles’. They won’t be able to defeat them, but the wind, rain, mud, and lightning will stave them off for a while. Excellent work in remembering that old meteorite of mine. It is indeed full of star metal ore, which is the only substance strong enough to pierce the carapaces of the K’klattcha without breaking or bending. In ancient times, this metal was called ‘mythryl’ and was a precious metal to own. Many wars were fought over possession of it in the past until only small amounts were left. I would evacuate all settlements west of Ponyville and make ready to stall the K’klattcha on the edges of the town if I were in your horseshoes. I will give the star metal to my master smiths to see if they can find a way to hammer it into something useful. Tell Stratum when this is all over, I will appoint him my Chief Field Archaeologist. He has a brother Steele, does he not? Apprenticed to Cherry Anvil? That would be a good start. Yours in haste, Princess Celestia” Twilight’s eyes went wide open, staring at Stratum. The short, yellow stallion looked smug as he observed, “Looks like you’ve got more letters to write.” The purple unicorn ran towards her downstairs writing stand, calling out, “Owlowiscious!!” The owl hooted and glided down towards Twilight. Spike yawned, but kept his eyes open. He said, “I’ll think I’ll make some coffee. It’ll be a long night.” Twilight hurriedly scribbled two scrolls. She rolled them up separately and turned to Owlowiscious. She handed him one scroll, then the other, saying, “Take this letter to Fluttershy first. Then take this other letter to Applejack. Hurry!” The owl hooted and flew off through the open window. ========================= Later, Fluttershy accepted the scroll from Owlowiscious with trepidation. Reading the letter, she trembled with fright at the description of the approaching enemy. She called out, “Wake up!” The droves of creatures that called her home their home startled awake and began looking for her. She flew around, calling out, “Everyone, gather your families and meet me on the path to Ponyville. Some very large and very nasty things are coming this way and I don’t want anyone getting killed. We’re going to stay with Auntie Twilight at her tree for a few days and then come back home. Now hurry!” An impressive collection of birds, rabbits, chickens, otters, and frogs all assembled in front of her front door within minutes. She led all of them down the road into Ponyville and right up to Twilight’s tree. As the creatures immediately began staking out claims for choice parts of Twilight’s library tree both inside and out, Fluttershy flew up to Cloudsdale to find Rainbow Dash. ========================= Applejack had been woken up rudely in what she called the middle of the night. The Apple family went to bed early and got up early in the morning normally. Reading over the scroll that Owlowiscious that brought her, she frowned deeply. “Does Twilight reckon that that the Apple family is too weak to fight off a few measly insects? We’ll show her that no bug can take over Sweet Apple Acres!” She went around the farmhouse, waking everypony up. “Granny, get up and start making coffee! Big Macintosh, break out the tools! Caramel, start making a barricade around the farmhouse! Apple Bloom, get up on top of the roof and keep yer eyes peeled fer big beetles!” In quick order, the Apple family had set up their farmhouse like a fort, ready to defend their home at all costs. A couple of hours later, Apple Bloom shouted, “There they are! Wow, they’re huge! They’re comin’ from the west towards the barn!” Applejack, Caramel, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith all grabbed their pitchforks, hoes, and spades, ready to some damage to some little insects. Staring into the darkness, they didn’t see the creatures right away. They felt the widespread thumping through the ground. Suddenly, the barn shuddered at if struck. The crunching of wood sounded from all over the western wall. Applejack arched an eyebrow. She idly wondered just how big those insects were. Big Macintosh grunted. He felt annoyed that he was going to have to fix the barn again. The entire barn cracked, shuddered again, and then collapsed as seventeen beetles, all seven feet tall at the shoulder and twelve feet long, ripped apart the structure with their bare legs. Everyone in the Apple family just gaped at the feat of size and strength. Caramel commented, “Well, as long as they all stay together, we can keep ‘em rounded up and pick ‘em off one by one, right?” The plan sounded like a good one. Big Macintosh grabbed a pitchfork and stood on his hind legs. Leaning his right foreleg back, he hurled the deadly missile with all the power he could muster. The pitchfork flew through the air almost faster than everypony could see. It struck its target squarely in the back. It then bounced off with a light tapping sound. He mentioned a little too calmly, “Now that’s unusual. Their hides are tougher than steel.” The beetle turned to view its attacker with disdain. Then it faced the wreckage of the barn and clicked its mandibles in a harsh series of sounds. The assembled beetles all reared back their heads and then thrust them forward. Jets of green fire emanated from the beetles, casting the remains of the barn ablaze. Applejack feared for her little sister and the rest of the family standing in front of the wooden farmhouse. She called out, “Retreat! Retreat back to Ponyville!” Apple Bloom slid off the roof of the farmhouse and jumped onto a bale of hay, then joined Applejack. The Apple family galloped along the road to Ponyville, meeting up at Twilight’s tree. Applejack startled at seeing all of the animals crawling all over Twilight’s tree. She mentioned, “I guess Fluttershy got here first.” The wind began to blow. Glancing overhead, she saw groups of pegasi pushing several dark clouds into rows over the western edge of Ponyville. Having nothing else to do, she led the family to the tree and opened the door. The Apple family filed into the library and tried to find places to lay down and just rest. Twilight looked up from a large map of Ponyville that she was drawing. She asked fretfully, “They’re at Sweet Apple Acres already?” Applejack spat back, “Yeah, some time ago. They burned the barn down.” Spike and Stratum gasped in shock. The orange farm pony added, “As long as they don’t find the apple cellar underground then we’ll survive. Now, how can we help? We’ve gotta drive them beetles back to where they came from.” She glared at Twilight straight in the eye and politely demanded, “Tell me y’all got a plan fer fightin’ back.” Twilight reported back with confidence, “Yes. We know everything we need. These beetles have to be attacked with a special metal called mythryl. Nothing else is hard enough to pierce their shells. Princess Celestia has a large amount of the ore in Canterlot. She’s having her smiths work up the metal as we speak. All we have to do is hold out until they arrive.” Applejack didn’t lose any of her frown as she politely pointed out, “You mean we’re jus’ waitin’ to get stomped while Canterlot gets its act together? Ain’t there anythin’ we can do here?” The purple unicorn defended the integrity of Canterlot, saying, “They haven’t dealt with these creatures for two thousand years and the metal is extraordinarily rare. They will not fail us. If you want to do something, then try making the western field tough to cross. In fact, try to see if you can set up something to corral the incoming beetles to where the pegasi are ready with the clouds.” Now a clear plan of action was something Applejack could get behind. She cheered, “Now yer talkin’, Twi! Apple family! We’re gonna build up a barrier to corral them beetles directly where we want ‘em to go. Search around fer scrap wood and build up a fence on the northwest and southwest corners of Ponyville. Make it look like the path of least resistance goes right down the middle.” The Apple family galloped out into Ponyville to salvage and build. Their enthusiasm was infectious. Many of the citizens of Ponyville joined them just to have something constructive to do instead of sitting around waiting for the enemy to come to them.
Chapter 5 - Light staves off shadowMeanwhile, in Canterlot, things were not going as well as hoped. Princess Celestia had delivered the meteorite to the smiths, but none of them could find a way to smelt the ore. No fire was hot enough. No unicorn magic was strong enough. No pick was hard enough to even break it up. After hours and hours of effort, the master smiths all quit the foundry to look up every record they had to try to get ideas. Cherry Anvil did not leave the foundry, she was too dedicated. However, she worked herself until she dropped. Steele had dragged her to a corner of the workshop and placed a blanket over her. He looked upon her fondly, like a gruff grandmother. She looked like she was having a nightmare. She kicked and snorted in her sleep. Looking at the meteorite, he ticked off in his head what had already been done. White hot fire, hammers, chisels, rough files, unicorn heating, unicorn blasting, and even one smith screamed every last piece of foul language at it. That last part was merely venting frustration, but Steele had learned some very interesting things. Cherry Anvil moaned in her sleep, “Gotta crack that rock. Get back to work. Princess counting on me. Never fail, you dolt. Never fail. Never give up.” Steele smiled and hummed a tune his mother used to hum for him and his brother when they were little colts. The big, red mare calmed down and slept more soundly. The tall, powerful stallion felt at peace any time he could help somepony, no matter how. Now if he could just find a way to affect this rock. Looking back at the rock, he noticed something strange. Out of the top of the rock was a thin ribbon of shiny metal. He mumbled, “That wasn’t there before.” He examined the metal. It looked for all the world like the metal melted inside the rock and then flowed out. After a little bit of flowing, it stopped. Steele was confounded. The rock was heated to the hottest fire in Canterlot with no melting, but just now it melted a little while at room temperature. He felt even more frustrated. Like being showed a glimpse of what you want but then shut out again. The tall, strong stallion decided not to let it get to him. He closed his eyes and hummed his mother’s song. He felt the anger and frustration leave him. As he finished his song, he shook his head and rubbed his eyes. The thin ribbon of melted metal became a wide ribbon of melted metal. He blinked his eyes. What was going on? He shook his mentor awake. “Ma’am! Ma’am, wake up!” The old mare blinked her eyes open and groggily asked, “Wh-wha…” She yawned widely and then asked, “What happened?” Steele pointed at the rock and said, “Look! It kinda melted.” Upon seeing the rock with its frozen trail of melted shiny metal, Cherry Anvil instantly felt a rush of energy. She looked it all over, marveling at what had happened. Looking at her student, she asked, “What did you do?” Steele shrugged and said, “I was just thinking of a new way to affect the rock. I was thinking hard while humming to myself and it just happened.” She looked at the rock and then back to Steele. Back to the ribbon of metal and back to him. Cherry Anvil ordered, “Do it again.” Steele’s expression blossomed into surprise and he asked, “Do what again?” She said, “Do what you did before.” He replied, “I don’t know what I did before.” She said, “Hum again. Let’s see what that does.” He hesitated, “Hum? You can’t be serious.” Cherry anvil stomped her powerful hoof upon the floor and commanded her student, “Do it! Do it now!” Steele gave in and obeyed. He cleared his mind and took a deep breath. He hummed the song loudly, calmly, serenely. Suddenly, the stream of metal began flowing again. It shined brightly as if creating its own light. Cherry Anvil dipped her hoof into the metal. Suddenly, Steele stopped humming and said, “Don’t touch it! It’ll burn you!” Cherry Anvil smiled and tugged on her hoof. It didn’t budge. Turning to her student, she explained, “No, it’s not hot. It’s room temperature. Now we’ll need to gather the Royal Choir for a special command performance.” Steele looked confused and asked, “Command performance? Of what?” She calmly replied with a smile, “The musical scales. It appears as if musical notes affect the metal and nothing else. This substance is clearly unique and it’ll take a long time to figure it out. We need to discover what notes cause what behavior. By the way, could you hum a few bars? I need my hoof back, please.” ========================= Later, as the sun rose in Ponyville, the entire town had assembled at the western edge of the town. Most of the mares hid the fillies and colts behind them. It wasn’t easy as the fillies and colts kept trying to peek out and see the big, ugly monsters. The stallions put on a brave face, but inside they were quivering with fear. Was this the day that they would die? Suddenly, a black line appeared on the horizon. It approached at high speed, coming into focus. The monsters were even more hideous than described. They seemed to notice the fence and just naturally line up in long, narrow lines. From up in the sky, Rainbow Dash yelled, “NOW!!” The pegasi kicked their clouds, causing alternating rows of rain and wind to dump all over the beetles. The beetles shivered and shuddered, but marched forward and half-speed. Rainbow Dash picked her cloud, causing a lightning bolt to erupt and sail right for the lead beetle. The electricity struck the beetle right in the center of its back. The beetle shook and trembled. The citizens of Ponyville cheered. Maybe they could defeat the beetles by themselves after all! The lead beetle shook off the lightning and squeaked a loud, high-pitch yell. The beetles spread out, attacking the barriers with their fire breath. The ground was getting very muddy and the beetles clawed and scraped their way forward. The first two rows of beetles raised their heads to the sky and spat streams of green fire. The blasts of heat dispersed the clouds, scattering the pegasi. The citizens of Ponyville stopped cheering and gasped. They started backing off towards the other end of town. A forceful, echoing voice commanded, “Land on the streets!” Three dozen pegasi with bright white coats and shining metal plate armor landed upon the streets of Ponyville. Their helmets all had a curious, flat protrusion like an anvil upon it. Instead of the normal bronze plate armor, this set was a very shiny silverish metal nopony had ever seen before. However, Stratum and Twilight had seen it. Hovering above her royal guard, Princess Celestia used her alicorn magic to envelop the entire western field. When the bright light disappeared, the entire field was baked dry and solid. She then ordered, “Royal Guards! Ram those shells!” The Captain of the Royal Guard ordered, “Wedge formation! Three squads! C-squad sweep right and prevent flanking!” A third of the white pegasi arranged themselves into a wedge and charged upon the ground towards the right side, through the charred remains of the north fence. The Captain ordered, “A-squad, shuffle to the south and drive their southern force back into the field!” A third of the white pegasi moved themselves to the left and then charge forward at the beetle reserve force. The Captain smiled grimly and ordered, “B-squad, CHARGE!” The remaining white pegasi raced forward straight into the lead rows of giant beetles. All three squads struck their targets at the same time. The shiny silverish metal seemed not to slow them down at all like the bronze armor did. The Royal Guard were a blur as the ram on their helmets struck the heads and bellies of the beetles. There was a massive chorus of cracking shells and screaming of beetles. The front ranks of beetles collapsed and ceased moving. The white pegasi smelled victory in the air as they trampled the fallen beetles, eagerly seeking the remaining ones in the back rows. The rows of beetles saw the flashes of light against the metal which brought death to them. They shook with fear and fled. They fled back westward as fast as they could. Several of them fell beneath the hooves of the white pegasi who swooped in from above to crush their backs by airborne swoop. ========================= Later, after midday, Princess Celestia stood regally in front of the cave whence the beetles came to the surface. Her horn glowed with a brilliant red light. The pieces of the stone door levitated back up into the air, forming the broken door. The cracks filled with bright red light and stabilized. The white alicorn summoned even more energy, casting a golden sheen over the door. When she discharged her horn, the doorway stood still. The golden sheen continued to keep the fragments together. She turned around to address the crowd that followed her to the ruined village. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Stratum, the entire Royal Guard, and the mayor of Ponyville were in attendance. “Ponies of Equestria! We have been blessed with the dual talents of Stratum and his brother Steele! Between the two of them, we have learned of an imminent invasion to our land and staved it off all in a single day and night!” The assembled ponies cheered their gratitude. The white alicorn continued, “Unfortunately, this spell I have cast over the doorway cannot replace the powerful enchantment that was cast in antiquity. This spell of mine shall last for ten years. In that time, we must learn more of the subterranean world of the K’klattcha and their fear of the rare metal called mythryl.” The assemblage gaped in fear. Their Princess couldn’t just solve this situation right now? What would they do? Twilight asked fearfully, “Princess, what are you saying? Are we doomed?” Princess Celestia firmly replied, “Nay, Twilight Sparkle. In fact, we now have a chance. In the next ten years, we must learn all of the forgotten lore of ages past. I will send out my elite scouts, looking for more of the mystical metal. My smiths will refine the metal and make more weapons and armor. My scholars will discover the ancient secrets of the metal, learning how to make a sharp edge to it like the spearhead that Stratum found. Clearly, it can be done.” She then looked at Stratum and smiled. “Finally, we need somepony to guide us. Somepony to walk into the unknown and discover what was lost. Somepony to piece together the puzzle of the K’klattcha and why they invade us. Stratum, son of Sawdust, I hereby appoint you to the position of Chief Field Archaeologist. You will have funding and a staff of mares and stallions of your choosing. Now, find me more knowledge of the K’klattcha and how an ancient village of earth ponies used no magic to form refined weapons from mythryl.” Stratum bowed low humbly, replying with reverence, “Yes…yes, Princess! I won’t let you down! Wow, this is all I dreamed of! I gotta tell my brother!” The regal alicorn agreed, “Indeed, you both shall have something to tell each other. I have already spoken to your brother before leaving Canterlot. I’ll repeat it for you. Steele, son of Sawdust, has been appointed to the role of Chief Armorsmith. His specialty shall be the refining of mythryl, which apparently no other pony has been able to replicate without the help of a full twenty-four pony chorus.” She winked and added with mirth, “I understand that’s very cramped in the workshop.” Everypony briefly laughed with mirth and relief. Then, the enormity of it all finally sank in. Ten years may seem like a long time, but when you’re working a deadline for your lives it seems much smaller. Princess Celestia stated, “Twilight Sparkle, I need you to coordinate the multiple teams of archaeologists, track their progress, and report significant findings. I also may need you to teach some useful spells to unicorns who will join their expeditions.” Twilight suddenly got an idea. She asked, “Princess, I just thought of something. Do you still have that mythryl spearhead?” The princess arched an eyebrow inquisitively. She replied, “I do. It’s on my writing desk in my private chambers.” The purple unicorn requested, “May I please have it? My friend Rarity has a special talent for finding gemstones. I’ll bet that if she finds the mythryl pretty and rare, she’ll discover a spell to detect mythryl and seek it out. Then, I can copy the spell and write it down for you.” The white alicorn smiled brightly and said, “Brilliant, my faithful student! I will send you the spearhead and some of the refined mythryl for your research. This will provide an immediate breakthrough in our preparations. We shall keep the suits of mythryl already made for emergencies and seek out more entrances to the underworld wherever they may be.” Once again, disaster was averted in Equestria not with brawn, but with brains and teamwork. THE END?
Chapter 3 - Trouble always brews quietlyLater, Stratum and Steele sat at an empty table in their Uncle Top Hat’s guest house. The guest house sat in the back lawn behind a tall hedge in the topiary garden. Stratum once snidely proposed that this accommodation was because Top Hat put ponies here that he didn’t want seen by the general public. Steele had reminded him that at least they had room and board for free instead of having to work jobs on the side just to pay for a cheap inn. Upon the table were the remains of dinner, an above-average fare consisting of fully-loaded gourmet salad and sweet lemon bread. Steele considered this his favorite part of the day. He rubbed his full belly and asked, “So, how’d it go with the professor? Stratum bit back a rude comment and instead just growled to himself. The tall, strong stallion smiled widely and replied, “That good, huh?” The short stallion griped, “That damned…!” Steele warned, “Stratum! Watch your language, please.” The small, yellow stallion blurted, “That darned old swindler tricked me into singing up for an expedition for only fifty bits and no assistants! Can you imagine how evil he is?” The tall, strong stallion stated happily, “Congratulations! This is what you’ve always wanted!” Stratum whined, “Do you know how long fifty bits will last me on a long expedition with no equipment or travel food?!” Steele guessed, “Um, a lot less if you had assistants to pay for?” The small, yellow stallion growled at the common sense his brother spouted. He could not deny it. He sighed, “I guess so, but still! I’ll be eating leaves out of trees at this rate!” The tall, strong stallion suggested, “So go out there fast, find something that even Professor Vellum can’t argue with, and then come back. I’ll pack you some travel food.” Stratum watched his big brother in amazement. The taller stallion seemed to have no troubles in the world. He just picked up Stratum’s saddlebags and went into the main house of his uncle to request some travel food. The small, yellow stallion couldn’t help it. He smiled and thanked his lucky stars for such a supportive brother. Maybe this expedition wouldn’t be so bad after all. ========================= A week later, Stratum found himself in the wilds of Equestria. He had taken a pegasus taxi to Ponyville where he visited the library for directions. He then struck out westward, following the main road. The library’s caretaker, Twilight Sparkle, had told him that was the road she normally took to visit Zecora. Once again checking his own set of clues, he followed the road past Sweet Apple Acres and even past somepony’s animal sanctuary. When the road took a bend to the south, Stratum looked all around himself. He saw forest all around him, and the tops of mountains to the west. He checked his notes once again and then made a decision. He left the road and kept going west towards the base of the nearest mountain. Several minutes later, he felt the air change. It got thicker and it even swirled on its own. Reflexively looking up, he saw no pegasus ponies above him. He shuddered and wondered if the sky would darken and storm all on its own. He was glad he packed his supplies. An hour later, he reached the base of a mountain. The sky started growing darker. Worried, he looked for a cave or some kind of outcropping. The wind picked up and he heard a rumbling sound. There were no outcroppings of rock to brace his tent against, so he simply pitched camp where he was. He quickly put up the tent and then carried himself inside. Tying off the tent flap, he heard raindrops start to fall on the tent roof. Stratum sighed, “This is gonna be a long expedition.” He decided to just call it a day. The next morning, Stratum awoke with the sun. He exited the tent and took a long look around. He mentally reviewed what little description of Sable Weir survived in the notes he found. He began by walking around the base of the mountain to get a lay of the land. He was looking for a small depression in the ground between two mountain bases. There should be a lake there. Just to the north of the lake should be a grove of black bark trees which should be the outer boundary of the city. For hours, he marched around the mountain, looking at the lay of the land. Several times he heard bushes rustle and tree branches creak. Every time he looked he saw nothing to cause such things. As the day went on, Stratum became very nervous. As he kept looking over his shoulder, his hoof splashed into something. Looking down, he saw a six-inch deep puddle. This puddle stretched out for dozens of feet in all directions. Excitedly, he glanced all around himself at the terrain. To the south was the mountain he had been circling around! To the northeast was another mountain! He exclaimed, “YES! This is it! This must be the lake of Sable Weir!” A low, dull roar shook the forest. Stratum immediately closed his mouth and shook timidly. A dragon swooped down from the sky. Its wings buffeted the forest with powerful winds. A second dragon arrived from the west, bearing its teeth and claws. Stratum yelped and raced back to his camp. Hiding himself in his tent, he prayed that the dragons would just leave him alone and fly away. He decided to save face by believing that he had done enough work for the day. ========================= The next morning, Stratum heard nothing. He went outside and followed the mountain back to where he had found the water. For hours, he kept following the base of the mountain with no luck. He grumbled, “This is ridiculous! I should have been there by now!” Suddenly, he saw something. Running up to it, he saw…his tent! He stammered, “Wh-what?! Huh? What the…?” Looking inside, he confirmed that it was indeed his tent. He had traveled all the way around the mountain back to where he started! Losing his temper, he screamed, “Where’s the lake?!” The forest shook as if growling back at him. He ducked into his tent and just decided to eat dinner and go over his notes again. ========================= The next morning, Stratum woke up grumpy. He sent out again, determined to find that lake. The sun shone brightly in the sky. The morning was already hot. The day promised to be even hotter. Stratum took a drink of water from his canteen and set out to find the lake or else die trying. Well, maybe not die trying. He almost took to counting his hoofsteps to try and remember where he was when he found the lake. Mentally, he rebuked himself for not taking a better look around when he had the chance. Maybe he could have noticed another detail to look for now. A couple of hours later, the sun blazed nearly overhead. Sweat dripped off his face as he took step after step. Suddenly, his hoof stepped on cracked ground. The short yellow stallion looked around and saw dried, cracked dirt for dozens of feet in all directions. Stratum wondered out loud, “What happened to the water? It’s the right size but…what’s going on?!” He looked around himself, trying to get his bearings. He realized that there was a mountain to the northeast! He jumped up and down, “Yes! Yes! This is it!” The short, yellow stallion started trotting north, eagerly looking for the grove of black bark trees. He idly wondered if they were walnut trees or if they were a new species not yet catalogued. He traveled over a slight hill and found himself in a flat plain with old, rotten stumps. To the east were the overgrown remains of primitive homes, as well as a large pile of finished blocks. Looking behind him, he stared at the stumps, kicking a couple of them. Swarms of insects scattered from the rotten wood. Inside, the wood was a very dark brown. “Hmm, I guess the description of black trees was a bit of an exaggeration.” He trotted over to look at the remains of the houses. All that was left were scattered pieces of dark brown planks and window frames. Stratum felt the old excitement build up. He wondered what treasures lay buried beneath the soil. He pulled out his excavation tools and began clearing the ground inside and around the ruined houses. Soon, he began to pull up pieces of broken urns and jars. His face smiled more and more each time he pulled up a piece. Some of them even had something painted on them! After a while, he realized that he was squinting and staring at pieces very closely. Looking around, he noticed that it was mostly dark. Yelping in surprise, he gathered up his tools and collected pieces in haste, running back out towards his campsite. His stomach growled in complaint over the lack of food. Arriving back at camp, he lit a lamp and marked the position of the village on his map. Quickly downing some food and water, he found himself drowsy enough to just lay down and sleep without getting into his sleeping bag. Morning arrived too early for Stratum. Normally excited to start digging, his stomach was aching from the gobbled meal of the previous night. He realized that he was going to have to break camp and carry it all to the village to avoid the hours of trek each day. He moaned, “Oh, am I gonna hafta carry everything over there?” The lack of response from assistants ensured that yes, he would have to carry it all by himself. The effort took a few hours, which was time Stratum considered wasted. He decided to spend the rest of the day surveying the area and coming up with a plan to dig for basic artifacts. He didn’t want to spend too long here. He only had enough food for a couple of more weeks. That didn’t even count the travel back to Canterlot. He sincerely hoped that he could hitch a ride in Ponyville when this was over. The short, yellow stallion marked off seven houses and the pile of stone blocks. That seemed to be a little small for a village. He walked around but didn’t see anything else. He gazed at the landscape, wondering what he was missing. His gaze settled on the edge of the mountain base. His eyes followed it as it wrapped around to the north. He thought he saw a faint change in the natural slope of the mountainside. He trotted over to the north side of the mountain and saw there was a massive stone door carved right into the north face of the mountain. It was surrounded by many piles of finished stone blocks. The door was carved with faded and worn symbols. The door itself looked like it had weathered too many weather storms without maintenance. A few still-standing walls were scattered around the area. Stratum tried counting the blocks, estimating that at least half of them had to have been used for vertical size. He stopped when he decided that it must have been at least a two story building with several rooms on each level. He picked up a block and tapped it against another block. Both blocks split down the middle, crumbling into shards. He mentioned excitedly, “Wow! This must be at least a thousand years old, maybe more! This might even be older than Princess Celestia! I gotta write this down!” He spent the remaining hours of the day scribbling sketches of the site in his notebook, making notations on the plan to dig for transportable items back to Canterlot. This would make him famous! The next day he woke up early just to start digging around ruins of the stone building in front of the stone door. Throughout the day, he dug down three inches all over the layout to get a cross-section of what might be just underhoof. He found several more pieces of broken pottery as well as spearheads made of stone. One of the spearheads was discolored with a dark, rusty color. Stratum blanched when he wondered what kind of living thing was made not-so-living in the Everfree Forest. The short, yellow stallion took some time examining the wall of the ruins, hoping for some kind of inscriptions as to pony life in that time. He was disappointed. The walls were bare except for signs of weathering…and claw marks…and burn marks? Stratum got a bad feeling about this place and how it met its end. Maybe the houses were burned down. What would have done this? Dragon? Enemy army? Something else? Feeling an urge to examine the stone door, he walked over and stared at it closely. In the waning light, he thought he saw faded inscriptions of a very complex nature. A stray breeze blew in, knocking dust off of the door. Stratum got an idea. Even though he might regret it later, he used the water from his canteen to wash the door of dust and grime. After an hour of labor, he was rewarded with a spectacular sight. Every inch of the door was painted in depictions of a great event. There were several scenes form top to bottom like a visual story. No words or even runes were painted in. In the first scene were a few dozen earth ponies living in a large village next to the mountain. There were no pegasi or unicorns painted. In the next scene was a hole opened in the mountain and a huge black beetle came forth. In the next scene was the beetle eating an earth pony while destroying the victim’s house. In the next scene was an army of earth ponies using many different types of weapons upon the beetle’s back. Swords, axes, and many spears. All weapons broke and did not hurt the beetle. In the next scene was an earth pony in robes and a laurel praying to the night sky. A kind of rock was falling to the ground while on fire. In the next scene several earth ponies were fighting off several huge beetles by using spears tipped with a shiny, silvery substance. In fact, there were actual bits of the shiny metal imbedded in the door. One of the spearheads was missing. In the last scene was the earth pony wearing robes and laurel carving the stone door and painting on it. Behind him the village was burned and destroyed. Many earth ponies were leaving the village. Stratum felt moved by the story. He stepped up for a closer look at the depiction of the earth pony in robe and laurel. The artwork bore resemblances to pony art styles over two thousand years in the past. His hoof stepped on something. He dug in the dust an inch before he found something. Picking it up, he saw it was the missing piece of the door. It was a triangular bit of very shiny metal. It was remarkably light. Suddenly, he thought he felt a low rumbling. He looked at the door. The door jumped as if something from behind it tried to ram it. Stratum jumped back, absently putting his canteen and bit of metal in his saddlebags. The door jumped again, this time cracking. There was a kind of clicking sound from behind the door and a howl. The door jumped once more, widening the crack. The short, yellow pony ran back to his campsite. He hurriedly grabbed all of his tools and notes. Stuffing them into his saddlebags, he ran back to Ponyville, fear plainly evident on his face. From behind the painted stone door there was silence. Then there was a clicking sound. Then there were many clicking sounds.
