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Lyra paced about on the edge of the Everfree, looking for a good trail. She had everything she needed, and it was just shy of mid-day. According to her maps and knowledge of the area, plus some questions that Twilight Sparkle had answered, giving her a good picture of how best to go about this.

With a gasp of excitement, she noticed the path she was looking for, overgrown somewhat from the lack of passage, but still serviceable. Taking off at a brisk trot, she began down the path, expecting a few hours of walking before she reached the canyon and river that lay just beyond it. The air was cool for the season, she expected because the Everfree wasn’t manipulated by the Ponies, and therefore didn’t much “care” for what the season of choice was at the time.

“So far so good,” she murmured, the first hour evaporating easily with nothing appearing nor impeding her progress. The Canyon wasn’t far off now, when she felt a strange feeling down her spine. Looking about, she only saw trees and ferns, but she couldn’t shake a strange feeling of being watched. She was still close, comparatively, to Ponyville, so she doubted that anything exceptionally dangerous was close. But there was talk, sometimes, that Chimera’s and Cockatrice would encroach in the woods just outside of Ponyville, where if you walked even a mile in, you might be attacked.

The clacking of her knees pulled Lyra out of her fearful internal monologue, and with a gulp she picked up her pace, eager to make camp in the ruins and be removed from the stifling trees. It was only a few more feet till she entered the expected clearing, host to a pair of cliffs that created a natural choke point, where even a single creature could shut down the entire trip.

To the exploring Ponies luck, there was no such monster, and she could proceed safely. She still couldn’t shake that itch down her spine, growing more and more irate. Finally, frustrated, she spun around in a rapid flash, eyes darting. Still no sign that anyone was following her…

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a shovel clattered from her saddlebag onto the ground, obviously having come loose during her fiasco. Taking deep breaths to calm her pounding heart, she used her magic to return the small shovel to her saddlebags. As she secured the bag, she found something amiss, and leaned in to the rock wall. It was with a gasp she realized something, but she wasn’t sold, not just yet. Conjuring a brush from her pack, she gingerly moved dirt and detritus from the rock face, waiting for it to show up.

Giving the wall a rough punch with the flat of her hoof, specs of dirt flew from the section and with a few more brush strokes, she could see it.

“Celestia…” she gasped, “These are mortar marks! There were bricks here!”

It was true; She did a little more investigation, and found the signes of carefully laid bricks and their overlapping lines that sealed them together. At some point in the past, this could have been a gate house. It seemed most likely, given where she was headed, and how close she was. Wouldn’t a palace naturally be home to a small population, requiring protection? It certainly made sense.

“I suppose I’ll find some records of this in the Palace,” she remarked to herself, putting back her brush and making with renewed zeal due north. There was a lot to be answered by this expedition, such as possibly the layout of the palace and the people who lived here.

Fording the river and crossing the shoddy, poorly maintained bridge that crossed the chasm between the hazardous pitfall went without incident, at least nothing like what she felt in the Canyon. The sense of being watched never vanished, but it never got that strong again.

The sun in the distance was beginning to fall as she finally made her way into the open, barren courtyard, the roofless palace and destroyed stained glass windows telling of the age this place was host to. The sheer volume of knowledge she stood to gain was staggering, nevermind the priceless relics that stood to be reclaimed. With a bubbling feeling of joy, she pranced into the Orrery of Harmony, the site where the original Elements had been housed. This was a critical part of her expedition, more important in fact that most other sites she would be investigating. She couldn’t wait to dive into the details that lay here, but that would have to wait until tomorrow.

Leaving the Orrery and heading up to the ruins of the Great Hall, she prepared to pitch her tent and have dinner, calling it a successful day. She already hit pay dirt, learning that at one point the river which fed directly into Ponyville and provided fresh water was once a part of the now-abandoned community.

So focused was she, that she nearly missed a small fragment of a pot, nearly trampling it to shards. She stopped in the nick of time, and bent close to investigate it. It was fired earth, for sure, but there were some weird figures drawn in black lines, tall beasts, wielding circles close to them. She had no idea what it meant, but she was sure she’d find more. Fruitful already, it seemed. Using her magic, she carefully checked the piece to insure it would come freely from the floor, and picked it up, examining it. With more details exposed, she saw it was part of a larger scene, though what it was depicting was beyond her.

Heading into her tent, she put the fragment into her saddlebag, and set it aside, relaxing from the long day of hiking. Tomorrow, she’d begin the excavation in earnest, and find out just what caused this place to be abandoned.