The Music of the Spheres

Twilight always loved the train. It reminded her of a vast nervous system that connected the body of greater Equestria together. Flying along the tracks felt like the race of an electric pulse, propelling her toward the unknown.

She could always hear the train pull in from her home in Ponyville, the thundering tracks and whistling horn always reminded her that, even though she was out in rural Ponyvile, she was still connected to everywhere else. It wasn’t that she terribly missed her old life in Canterlot, she loved her new friends in Ponyville more than anything. Still, it was nice to get out into the greater world every now and then. Rainbow seemed to have a different idea.

“Ughhh this is taking forever!” Rainbow Dash moaned as she hovered near the roof of the small train car she was sharing with Twilight. “It would have been faster to just fly there Twilight, even for you.” Rainbow said as she landed near the window and gazed longingly out at the sky.

Twilight looked up from her transcription of Starswirl’s journal before replying, “Hey, I’m a decent flier, I just prefer to ride in style when I can,” she continued “ Plus, we would have been exhausted by the time we arrived at the border.”

“This is just like Daring Do and the Gryphons Goblet!” Rainbow exclaimed as she walked over to her seat and started digging around in her saddlebags. “ I wouldn’t get ahead of yourself Rainbow, this is real life and we have to be prepared for whatever we find.” Cautioned Twilight.

Rainbow Dash plopped next to Twilight and shoved an open book into her line of sight, on the page was a simplistically stylized map, much like the kind foals draw on at family restaurants.

“See?” Inquired Rainbow “We are on the same route Daring Do took on her journey to the lost Aramaspi temple of Arous the vile!” Twilight gently lowered the book with a hoof before allowing a slight smirk to draw on her face as she turned to Rainbow, “We won’t be trudging through the Aramaspi lands, the potential radius ends well before we have to worry about ancient goat monsters.”

Twilight’s nose creased as she scrunched her face up when a thought struck her, “I’ve been trying to figure out why Starswirl would build his tower, if that’s even what we will find, so close to as dangerous location a location as the Aramaspi Empire.”

“I actually saw a skeleton of one when the map called me and Fluttershy to Griffinstone, it was totally huge.” Rainbow said lazily as her gaze once again drifted to the window and beckoning sky. Twilight nodded as she pulled up a large stack of notes from her saddlebags, “ I actually have a hypotheses regarding his decision,” Twilight’s speaking toned quickened as she entered full on lecture mode.

“In the pre-classical era the Aramaspi had a large jungle empire that stretched over a vast swath of land past the Macintosh Hills. Although they were a warlike race, there is evidence of limited trade with the southernmost earth pony settlements.” Twilight motioned to several diagrams depicting the individual components of an ornate orrery.

“ I believe that Starswirl chose this location because of both the distance from Equestria proper and the access to rare material that close trade with the Aramaspi could furnish him.” “In fact it stands to reason tha…………”, Rainbow Dash never made it to the end, she lost focus somewhere between the 12th dynasty and the breakdown of the reagents required for Starswirl’s  anamorphic spell.

Rainbow’s daydreaming only held up for a short while. The pegasi’s reverie was broken by the sharp whistle of the train and the conductor shouting “End of line everypony.” Finally, she thought, the real adventure could begin.

As the pair trotted off the platform they took a moment to truly appreciate the expanse around them. A vast forest spread out before them, sparse near the bottom, but a thick tangle obscured the canopy at the top, allowing only slight tendrils of sunlight to escape to the forest floor.

“Huh, it’s like the good twin of the Everfree.” Dash commented as she followed Twilight towards the center of the town. More of a trading post than an actual settled community; a large semi-circle of space was carved out from the dense foliage. It was populated with numerous vendors, merchant shacks and impromptu structures of various kinds. “We are still pretty far from Starswirl’s approximate location,” she gestured towards a two-story building with an outstretched hoof “We may want to call it a day and start fresh in the morning.”

“Sounds good to me,” replied Rainbow with a yawn as they set out towards the inn, “I’m always down for a good nap.”