Pony Veracity (Return to Mount Aris)

A cold wind blows across the snow field of the old Crystal Empire as the Silverlight Antiquities and Heritage research team Delta research team continues excavating a possible ancient city from ancient Equestria. So far, the archaeological evidence doesn't support the conclusion that this site was an ancient city of any kind. However, the evidence does show that this site was temporarily occupied since the fall of the Crystal Empire during the loss of magic across the entire globe, known as the five centuries of darkness.

'It has been about six months since the beginning of the excavation of this site…from my conclusions, this site was some kind of temporary campsite most likely used to survive from Crystal Empire…the crystal ponies, the inhabitants of the Crystal Empire…But the question comes up, where did they go?' Imperial Princess Celestia Silverlight thought, resting her white with a hint of a pink slender gloved hand on top of a three-and-one-half inch by five and one half inch square foot book recording her entry in her Epoch, the history book of an Imperial Alicorn timekeeper administrator.

“Your Imperial Highness!!! I found something!!!” A Delta Research team member calls as Celestia finishes recording the entry, lifting her hand off the book cover of Epoch.

Quickly, Imperial Princess Celestia Silverlight exits her all-weather imperial Alicorn crystal-powered environmental dome, the temporary housing unit for this excavation in the snowfields of the old Crystal Empire. The fresh white snow crunched under Celestia's reasonably large, long, and narrow white with a hint of pink luxurious Egyptian-shaped bare feet in insulated arctic winter boots, making her way to the outer edges of the temporary campsite to see what the Delta research team member found.

She soon arrived at the site to document the archeological find with a mini-still camera and holographic video camera. It was a gorgeous light blue half-Alicorn/unicorn mare with a crimson red mane and tail. Her 5ft 6in exquisite equine figure was attired in cream-colored arctic weather gear. On her, perfectly shaped and sized light blue ten-inch long Egyptian shaped bare feet were insulated arctic winter boots. This half Alicorn/unicorn mare was Princess/medical Supervisor Blueberry Swirl Silverlight, the youngest daughter of Princess Celestia Silverlight and Prince Justice Silverlight.

“What did the team member find, Blueberry?" Celestia asked her daughter as Blueberry gestured to the team member using the holographic video camera to document the find into a better position to film it.

"It looks like a frozen mud boot prints, Mother." Blueberry answers as she removes the ruler used to measure the print size in the frozen mud for documentation purposes.

“A boot print?” Celestia exclaims, looking at the frozen mud boot print in front of her leaving the site.

"You know, Blueberry, that looks like a royal palace guard unit member boot print, " Celestia said as she rubbed the lower half of her snout with her gloved hand.

"That's what it looks like, mother…but you are mistaken. This boot print belongs to Papa Solar Guard unit member." Blueberry commented, as her mother blinked with surprise, and then her daughter said it belonged to the Solar Guard unit.

"How in Equestria do you know it belongs to a Solar Guard unit member, Blueberry?" Celestia inquires as Blueberry chuckles into the back of her hand with her mother's surprise reaction to her comment.

"I know, Mother because I am currently wearing those types of boots upon my perfectly shaped and sized light blue ten-inch-long Egyptian shaped bare feet.” Blueberry comments as she steps in a pile of snow, leaving behind identical boot prints to the frozen mud boot prints in front of her.

"(Looking at frozen boot print in the mud and her daughter's boot print) I see my dear daughter! But now a new question comes up? By royal proclamation, the solar guard unit may not leave Canterlot during emergency…They remain till the evacuation of the population of Canterlot is safe." Celestia said with a hint of authority in her royal voice as Blueberry politely laughed.

"That very true, mother…But Queen Twilight Sparkle told father that she was amending that royal proclamation for the good of Equestria…It now reads Solar Guard members may deploy to any trouble spot in the land to assist with evacuations of the population as long as there are sufficient Solar Guard members to assist with Canterlot evacuation." Blueberry explains as the breath catches in Celestia's throat.

"If that is so, Blueberry (Blueberry nods her head). Then, who do these frozen boot prints belong to, and why are they in a Crystal Pony survivor campsite this far away from the heart of the Crystal Empire?…Granted, the constant snow storms blowing out of the snow field would force the survivor to head toward Crystal Mountains and the interior of Equestria…But these seem to be going in the opposite direction of civilization." Celestia explains that a Delta Research team member discovers more frozen bootprints about one foot under the snow.

“Aha! So now it starting to make sense they were heading toward Yaket Range and the kingdom of Yakyakistan on Equestria’s northern border.” Celestia exclaims as the boot prints are heading toward range.

"If we follow these prints, maybe we will find another temporary campsite out there," Celestia said as she ordered their temporary dig site to be packed up.

An hour later, Celestia and the delta research team from Silverlight Antiquities and Heritage Research team climb into 'the Shire,' a powered tracked vehicle followed by Exploration medical personnel carrier (EMPC) driven by Blueberry. Using a unique miniature scanning sensor system installed in the ‘the Shire’, the team can follow the frozen boot prints under the snow without digging them up again. The team follows the bootprints about half a mile deeper into Yaket range until they come upon solid rock, making the bootprints disappear beside an ice wall.

"Hey, Blueberry, it looks like we lost the boot prints on the solid rock of the Yaket Range," Celestia reports over the onboard radio to EMPC.

"It was not unexpected, mother. We can assume that the survivors met up with the Yaks of Yakyakistan and were led to the city…but after that, we have no idea what happened to them." Blueberry reported back over the onboard radio to 'the sire.'

Before Celestia could reply to her daughter on the radio, a huge snowstorm kicked up, throwing the whole area into white-out conditions. It was impossible to safely navigate back to the crystal mountains and interior of Equestria until the storm subsided. Quickly, one of the Delta Research team members working the sensor was alert to a large cavern big enough to shelter the team and the two vehicles behind an ice wall.

Without a second thought, Celestia orders 'the sire’ to ram the ice wall. To the surprise of the dig team, the wall was thin, easily shattering it. Quickly, both vehicles drive into the large cavern and dismount. As the snowstorm continues to rage outside the cavern, the team unpacks the temporary campsite equipment and begins to assemble it while checking over the vehicles and equipment.

"Mother! My EMPC is in perfect working order…I will look around this cavern to see if there is another way out just in case the main is blocked." Blueberry explains as she quickly gathers some equipment to explore the cavern.

"All right, Blueberry…don't take unnecessary chance why you are looking around this cavern. All right, daughter." Celestia comments as Blueberry waves her hand before exploring the cavern.

'I have explored this whole cavern for about one hour already…so it looks like there is no other way out of this cavern…save the main entrance…Better head back to Mother and the team.’ Blueberry thought as she looked at the completed holographic map of this vast cavern on her mini-computer vambrace on her forearm.

The squish and crunch of the snow and ice under Blueberry's booted foot echo in this enormous hollow, empty space of this natural ice cave as she returns to her mother and Delta research team.

“Huh!?” Blueberry exclaimed as the beam of her flashlight reflected off a metallic object sticking out the back of a massive boulder in a small alcove.

"No way!!" Blueberry exclaims as she gawks in disbelief, finding two ice mummies huddled together behind the boulder.

"This monumental archaeological find, dear!" Celestia exclaims as she gawks in disbelief, looking at the two ice mummies before her.

"You might have found Equestria's last crystal ponies' bodies since her fall. (pointing at the first mummy with a horn) This looks like a crystal pony unicorn…(pointing at the second mummy with wings) This one looks like a crystal pony Pegasus." Celestia comments as Blueberry blinks with surprise, looking at the tread pattern on the underside of the ice mummy’s boots.

"Mother, these are not Crystal ponies!…They are Solar Guard unit members…these are the two that left behind the boot prints we were following from the campsite!" Blueberry exclaimed, shining the light on the underside of the boots the unicorn pony was wearing.

"They are!?" Celestia exclaimed, surprised, as she ordered the team to begin documenting the site and the ice mummies.

So they may begin investigating the two ice mummies so they may identify them. Over the next few hours, the team took still photos of the site's ice mummies and holo film. With that done, the team carefully searched through the pockets and backpacks of these two solar guard members.

Before long, they identified that the two ice mummies were mares, which is not unusual as there are many mares in Equestria at any given time. What surprised the whole team was how well-preserved the two mares looked. They look like they died maybe a few days ago, not during the century of darkness when the unity crystal shattered during the reign of Queen Twilight Sparkle.

"Your imperial highness…These mares are so well preserved that we can resurrect them. We could learn invaluable information from a military point of view of the days leading up to the crystal shattering of unity. But only an imperial royal family member can give the ok to resurrect them." An imperial Alicorn Field scientist suggests to Imperial Princess Celestia Silverlight, whose stomach contracts to a tight ball with the thought.

"Let's hold off on that idea, field scientist…till we know if these two mares are important…I know for a fact that there were a number of low-level soldiers in the Equestria military that were doing their job during that period, I hope." Celestia said, her voice edged with tension, and her stomach knotted as she was in hibernation during that period.

"Of course, Your Imperial Highness…I was not suggest anything." The imperial Alicorn Field scientist comments as the team goes back to investigate two ice mummies for more clues about who they are.

"Mother!!" Blueberry calls carefully, going through the pockets of the two mares.

"What is it, Blueberry!?" Celestia answers as she joins her daughter with several objects from each mare's pockets in front of her.

"I found a picture in the pocket of the unicorn mare, " Blueberry says as she and her mother look at the badly faded picture she had.

"Hmm…that photo is badly faded…but I can make out a dark blue unicorn stallion with a red mane…It can be." Celestia said, puzzled, examining the photo with the optics band she was wearing on her head, switching between the different optics, and trying to get a clear image.

“It can’t be what, mother?” Blueberry inquiry as her mother Celestia continues switching between the different optics on the band.

"This photo looks like your father…"Celestia said in a huff, finding a picture of her husband in the possession of another unicorn mare.

"Papa?! Mmm, if this is a solar guard member…They would all have photos of Papa in their possession…He was the most popular among his mares in the Solar Guard unit…Plus, you allowed it, mother." Blueberry comments as Celestia's light magenta eyes widen innocently, remembering that she allows it.

"Well, I don't remember it that way, Miss Silverlight…But I am going to have a long talk with your father when we get back to New Ponyville, that I promise." Celestia said, faking anger, as Blueberry softly giggled, knowing her mother was a bit embarrassed about allowing other mares to have photos of her husband.

"Oh, my stars!!! Mother!!!... I know who these two ice mummies are!?" Blueberry exclaims as she discovers the two Military IDs with pictures of two ice mummies.

“Who? Blueberry?” Celestia asked

"The unicorn mare is Colonel Emerald Luster, and the Pegasus mare is Captain Anita Stormchaser…both of Papa's high command in the solar guard!" Blueberry answers as the breath catches in Celestia's throat.