Chapter 1
It was in the sky for but a second, a twinkling beacon of the brightest blue. Then, as quickly as it appeared, it left. Blinked out of existence. And the skies were still once again. This... anomaly's time spent illuminating the night sky was brief but it did not go unnoticed. A purple unicorn by the name of Twilight Sparkle was stargazing that very night when she saw it, she stood, perplexed and intrigued
"This has never been seen before..." She muttered under her breath. " I must document this, it could be a new star or planet or-" She never never finished her sentence as it had returned. It did not this time stay put in the sky nor did it vanish suddenly.
This time it glowed even brighter, a glow to rival Princess Celestia's itself. And... fell would not be the right word to use, for that suggests it dropped clumsily from above. No, it blazed across the moonlit sky, burning a hole through the heavens themselves.
"Oh my, it's headed for the mountains!" Exclaimed Twilight still awe struck at the magnificent sight before her eyes. She was correct, it was indeed on a path for the mountains, it illuminated the area with harsh bright blue light before crashing without a sound.
"No." Twilight thought. "Not crashing. Landing?" It's descent ended. Silently.
Twilight stood for a few seconds rooted to the spot. Wondering what that mysterious object could have been. The it hit her, she could find out! She had to find out! This was a new discovery. She rushed to wake Spike, who was hapy about this, to send a letter to the princesses telling them of what she had seen. She wrote,
Dearest princesses,
I am writing to inform you of a magnificent, well I don't know what it is, don't put that Spike, but I was stargazing and then out of nowhere came this beautiful, bright blue light, which disappeared shortly after. As I was wondering what it could be it came back again, but this time it was even brighter and shot across the sky, landing somewhere in the mountains. Did you see it too? I'm going to get my friends and go see what it is, this is so exciting!
Twilight Sparkle.
The hurried letter was sent on it's way by a very tired, and grumpy, Spike. Once it was gone he sent a glare which would have scared a manticor Twilight's way, then stormed off to bed. Twilight was far too busy running around gathering supplies to notice however. Her excitement powered her. Not five seconds later, aloud belch was heard from Spike's room followed by a cry of
"Come on! I just wanna sleep!" Twilight walked into Spike's room and in his hand was a letter, from princess Luna! She eagerly levitated it, nearly dropping it in her excitement, closer to her face. It read,
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I did happen to notice this glorious spectacle you described in your letter. I am as intrigued as you are. I am especially curious as to why it made sound on impact, I will not stop you from going to see it, but I urge you to be careful. You never know it could be dangerous. I know you girls have proven yourselves to be quite tough but still. Go forth, find the site and report your findings back to me, it isn't everyday something like this happens! Good luck!
Princess Luna
P.S. Let Spike get some sleep will you? Poor thing.
This new arrival, this mystery object though unbeknownst to Twilight could mean only one thing, one of them, more specifically, he of dreams had arrived...
The small group of six ponies, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy,Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Twilight Sparkle stood in the library, half a sleep save Twilight.
"Remind me again why exactly ya dragged me outta bed at this hour Twilight." Applejack half yawned half mumbled.
"Yeah, I mean I was having, like, the best dream ever!" Exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "There was me and the wonderbolts and everypony was cheering and I..." She trailed off when she realised everyone was staring at her.
"Come on girls, this is exciting news, a mysterious shining object shot across the sky into the mountains!"
"Why exactly is this important sugarcube?" Asked Applejack.
"Because this has never been seen before!" Exclaimed a frustrated Twilight, annoyed that her friends did not mirror her enthusiasm.
"It could be a new star, a meteor, that's a space rock to you Rainbow."
"Hey!"
"Or something completely different!"
"Shining you say?" Asked a thoughtful Rarity. "How shiny exactly?"
"It lit up the whole sky! Come to think of it, why didn't any of you see it?"
"Because some ponies lie to sleep when it gets late" Smirked Rainbow Dash.
Rarity said," If this is a beautiful as you say it is Twilight then I could use whatever it's made from on my clothes. Yes, that would be magnificent! I would be the first in all of Equestria to use materials fro space!"
"Yes" Said Twilight, "You would all be famous for being the ones to discover it think Rainbow, the wonderbolts are sure to notice you!"
"Yeah, yeah! Let's go! No time to lose!" Shouted a very excited rainbow maned pegasus. She would have gotten through the door had an orange mare not caught her tail in her mouth.
"Hold yer horses there Rainbow!" Said Applejack after releasing her tail."So ya got Rainbow here convinced Twi, but I'm not that easy."
"We'd be the first to discover this. Your story would sell to the papers for lots of money."
"Hmm...we could use a few bits. Fixin' things and what have you. Oh okay, I'l come with ya."
"Fluttershy, you never know, it could be some new kind of animal!"
"Um... I'm not sure this is a good ide-"
"Yippee! We're going on an adventure! And when we get back we can throw a welcome back party! For us! But we'll have to be real sneaky to make sure it's a surprise. Can't have us finding out!" I think you can all guess who that came from.
"That's the spirit Pinkie!" Cried Twilight.
"Twilight, I'm not sure we should go..." Murmered Fluttershy.
"Oh come on what's the worst that could happen?"
"Well-" Twilight stopped her before she could list all the possible dangers.
"We'll be fine if we stick together and I mean, it's just the mountains, it's not like it's the Everfree forest." Reasoned Twilight.
"Okay. I'll come, but I still don't like it though." Whispered Fluttershy.
"Excellent now come on everypony, let's find this space thingy!" Cried Rainbow.
"Not so fast, remember we stick together Twilight told Rainbow."
"Fine." Raibow huffed.
And so they set off in search of knowledge as to what exactly this mystery object could be.Not knowing that it would have a huge impact on their lives in the days to come. But, for now the six adventurous ponies were walking to their destination, talking laughing and bubbling with excitement . Oblivious to the coming days and what they would bring.
OXOXOXOXO
They walked and walked and walked some more. Their determined minds not allowing their weary hooves a second's rest. They had to carry on. This journey was taking ages it was not a matter of not knowing where to go, more how to get there. It was a treacherous region, with sheer drops and the ever present threat of avalanches never leaving their minds entirely.Rainbow Dash was saying how how the wonderbolts were sure to notice her now for what seemed to be the millionth time,earning her a,
"Shut up will ya?" From Applejack for what seemed to be the millionth time. Twilight, though still cautious, one has to be in locations as dangerous as these, was buzzing with excitement. Thoughts of what it could be and all the information she would gain drove her limbs past exhaustion. Pinkie Pie was being Pinkie Pie, bouncing along away from the edges.Drawing from her seemingly endless sugar fueled pool of energy. Chatting to no pony in particular. Rarity talked with Twilight about what the phenomenon could be. Fluttershy trailed behind.
"Aw shoot. We can't go this way girls." Came Applejack's voice from round the corner. The girls inched painfully slowly round as the only path there was a thin ledge. They hugged the wall and eventually got to where Applejack had called from. What they saw was heart braking, there was a bridge here, a natural bridge. Now there was just a huge gap in between the two mountains. They needed to get to the other mountain! On the far side of it was the site which they had dubbed the area in which the object lay.
"But there is no other way!" Cried Twilight. "We can't go back down down and climb the other mountain, it’s too steep!” A pause then, “Wait, Rainbow Dash? Fluttershy? Could you lift us one by one over to the other side?”
"No way, too tired, don't wanna drop you!"
"Then whatever shall we do!?" Wailed Rarity. Twilight answered
"We're going to have to rest for aa hour or so, let Rainbow and Fluttershy get their strength back, then they can fly us over."
OXOXOXOXOXOXO
The wait was agonising. The site was there, right there! Over the gap and round the mountain. Yet they were stuck. Grounded for a while. An hour is not a long wait you might say, but it is for those so close to what they seek. The minutes felt lie hours in themselves and the gentle breeze which would have been comforting and calm was instead harsh and cruel, it seemed to mock them. To taunt them. As if saying,
"Your prize is so close now yet you cannot have it." This was torture. A torture which lasted but a hour yet seemed to last days. So it was a huge relief to everypony when Rainbow Dash announced,
"Okay, I feel better now."
"Yes, me too." Fluttershy agreed.
"Well what are we waiting for!?" Yelled Twilight. "Oh sorry." She said sheepishly. Applejack first, next over was Rarity, Pinkie Pie was third, getting her to stay still enough to be lifted was an achievement in itself. Then,came Twilight's turn. She had just been picked up when she hear Rarity yell
"You three! Look out above!" They looked to see a huge, grey boulder whose position atop the mountain had weakened over the years and finally, it fell. It was going to it them. The two pegasi shot off away from the boulder in opposite directions. Twilight's forelegs stretched painfully and instinctively let go.
Down she fell, picking up speed heading towards a small outcropping of jagged rocks. She let out a loud cry and shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Fortunately for Twilight the inevitable never came she stoppedsuddenly mere inches from the outcropping which would have been her demise.
"We'd never leave you hanging!" Rainbow exclaimed as she and Fluttershy held her up."Well, falling."
"Come on, before something else happens." Urged a panicked Fluttershy. Twilight was dropped lightly onto the other side,grateful for the feel of rock under hoof. Then it hit her she was on the other side. Round this mountain was the site. What they had come all this way for.
"Come on girls!" She cried. "No time to waste!" They set off at a brisk trot round the mountainside. It too only ten minutes to get there, ten quite minutes punctured by Rainbow occasionally saying things like
"I totally saved your flank there Twilight!" Or, "Did you see me? So fast like a bullet!" Twilight pushed a branch out of the way and then she saw it.
"My word." She whispered, gasps followed suit. It was no star, no meteor. There in a small crater was a pool of crystal clear water with weird wisps of blue steam rising and twirling in the breeze coming from it's surface. Lying there inn the pool as if asleep was a stallion.
"What in Celestia's name." Muttered Twilight. There were whispers in the wind, they sounded like hurried voices, then,he opened his eyes.