Pony Adventures: Quest for the Lost Relic

It started when I was six, on a completely normal night in a completely normal town--- when my father came home early from the library. I trotted to him like I did whenever he came home, and he picked me up into his aura and wrapped me in a hug. We went to the kitchen, where Mom had three cups of coco already made for us and was levitating them to our usual seats. The three of us sat down to talk about the day. Everything was as it always had been, that is, till my father opened his saddle bag.

Inside the old bag was an even older-looking book with a leather cover and parchment pages. I still remember the sparkle in Father's eyes as he opened it up to show us the ancient drawings and texts--- as if he had stumbled across a buried treasure. Little did I know, at that moment, it was something remarkably close. He had been leafing through the book's pages when my eyes caught a glimpse of a sketch that drew me in and held my attention. Noticing my interest, Father stopped at the page and slid it closer to me.

"Would you like me to read this part to you?" he asked.

I nodded excitedly, which made him smile, and scooted my chair closer to get a better look. My father cleared his throat and read aloud...

"Once upon a time, long before the naming of the lands, there lived a kingdom of Alicorns. This kingdom had many a powerful pony but none as powerful as the sisters of the royal family. Celestia, the eldest sister, controlled the moon, stars, and skies. Neptuna, the second sister, controlled the seas and ruled over all that lived within them. And Luna, the youngest sister, controlled the dream realm. The three sisters used their gifts to maintain balance and harmony for their fellow Alicorns, but as time passed, the youngest sister grew resentful of her elder siblings."

Until that point, I had barely been listening to my father's words--- more focused on the pretty sketches of Alicorns. Then he turned the page, and I was greeted with the image of a more frightening version of one of them. It had scared me so much that I almost fell out of my chair in shock. Father caught my seat before it went too far back and put a hoof over my shoulder to calm me down. Once he was sure I was fine to continue, he kept reading.

"The ponies and other creatures revered Celestia and Neptuna for all their work but disregarded Luna and all she did for others. The bitterness that grew in the youngest heart transformed her into a mare of darkness, and instead of bringing sweet dreams to those who visited her realm, she gave them nightmares. Reluctantly, with the assistance of neighboring creatures, the elder sisters stripped their sibling of her magic and trapped her inside the dream realm for eternity."

I took a large sip of my coco, which had begun to go cold, and placed my mug back on the table near the edge. The story had gotten good, and I was hooked. I didn't even notice when my mom saved my mug from falling to the floor. All I heard was my father's voice.

"Despite this, Luna's power did not vanish, for magic can not be destroyed. With their younger sibling unable to reclaim her power and no one else willing or able to take control, Celestia and Neptuna sealed the dream magic into an amulet to keep it contained. Centuries passed, and at some point, the Alicorns left the lands for worlds beyond ours. Many say that when the Alicorns left, they brought the amulet with them, but others believe a different ending for the relic. Legends tell us that just beyond the boundaries of Equestria, hidden in the many caverns of the Dragon Lands, surrounded by an underground lake, is where the amulet remains to this day."

"That's it!?" I yelled.

"What do you mean, that's it?" Father asked back with an amused expression.
"What about Luna? Did she really stay in the dream realm forever? And what about the amulet? Is it really in the Dragon Lands? Has anyone tried to get it out? Why did the sisters leave it there? Why didn't they ---?"
Mom levitated me onto her back and began walking to my room. She had always done this when I asked too many questions at once, putting me on her back, a subtle way of saying that was enough. As we went down the hall, Father followed behind casually. I stayed quiet as the two tucked me into bed, pouting since I never got the answers I wanted. My lights were turned off, and my parents headed to their room. Afterward, I lay there for 30 minutes running the story over in my head.
"I wonder if it was real," I said to myself.

"It most certainly is," whispered a voice from the door that startled me. It was my father; he had come back.

"Sorry for scaring you, Nixy. I wanted to get back to you with your questions, but Mom said we had to let you sleep. Had to wait for her to conk out before coming in."

He kept his voice at a whisper as he walked to the edge of my bed, being extra careful not to step on a squeaky floorboard.

"It really is---" I almost shouted before Father put a hoof to his lips and shushed me. When I spoke quieter after that.
"It really is real? Everything?"

"Every word," my father said while smiling.

"Then why did the sisters leave the amulet behind, and why has nobody else gone to get it?"

"Well, I'm not sure why they left it behind. Maybe having it reminded them too much of the sister they lost. As for the rest, numerous have tried to find the amulet. The problem is that all the exact location is a bit... tricky to find."

"Tricky, how?"
"Firstly, they would need to travel all the way to the borders of Equestria. It is a long trip on its own, but then you also have to make it halfway through the Dragon Lands, and there isn't much known about it. Not to mention dragons themselves aren't the most hospitable of creatures. Lastly, you have to find the caverns that lead directly to the underground lake--- what makes that hard is that there are literally thousands of them to go through. All in all, the whole thing is next to impossible to achieve."

"Oh," I said sadly. My head drooped a little. It was disappointing to think that the amulet would be lost forever.

"Hey, chin up," Father said, putting a hoof under my chin.
"I said it was NEXT to impossible to achieve. What do I always say? Just because something is hard doesn't mean you shouldn't go after it..."

"...You just have to work even harder to get it," I completed the phrase.

"That's my girl!"

"Parchment Script, you better not be keeping our filly up with your stories," Mom yelled from down the hall.

"No, my love," Father yelled back. I mouthed the word lier at him, which almost made him giggle.

"Parchment!?"

"Coming, coming. I'm getting a cup of water."

"You better be!"

My father gave me a wink and turned to leave my room. He was halfway out the door when I yell-whispered one final question for him.

"Do you...Do you think? If I want it and work hard enough, maybe I could find the amulet someday?"

Father didn't turn around, but I could hear a light chuckle escape him. The sentence that came from his mouth was said with so much confidence that there was no doubt in my mind it wasn't 100% true.

"I don't think you'll find the amulet--- I know you will find it."

With that, he shut the door. I slept very little that night as my head filled with hopes and plans. When sleep finally did take me, my dreams were more or less the same as my plans. From that day onward, my life changed in a big way. My mission, my purpose, became finding the lost amulet of the Alicorns. That was the night I started my quest.