I turned away from my telescope to jot down more notes on what I had just seen. After recording the position and intensity of the stars I moved my telescope to the next position and repeated the process. Astronomy was fascinating, even more so since Princess Luna's return several years prior.
When I was growing up as a filly, and for almost a thousand years prior, the night sky had remained fairly static. While Princess Celestia had changed the phases of the moon in her sister's absence she did not alter the stars. Many modern scholars had assumed that Princess Celestia only had the ability to affect the sun and moon. I asked her once if she could.
The Princess didn't usually take time to answer questions that weren't presently relevant from nobles or scholars. While the Princess could theoretically end most historical debates by simply telling archaeologists, by virtue of being there thousands of years ago, she simply chose not to. And nearly all had given up asking such questions. So I was surprised that this time she did.
"Twilight, I was never meant to rule the night sky. I don't share the same connection with the moon that I do with the sun and it is much more taxing to do so. I cannot squander what energy I have left, which I may need to use to protect my little ponies from danger at any moment, by manipulating other celestial bodies. I did try though. When I first began to govern the night, I attempted to paint a new masterpiece in the sky ever night just as my... Just as had been done before my rule. But my skill was that of a foal compared to the majesty of a master artisan. So after many nights of attempts, I returned the stars to the way they had been and there they have remained since."
Since Princess Luna's return the stars had begun to change in fantastic ways. The heavens really were beautiful to behold at night. Recently though, the astronomers had had enough with this new development saying that the stars were moving about in unpredictable ways and as such were impossible to study. The Princess had literally laughed them out of Night court, with the Canterlot voice proclaiming, "THOU SHOULD LOOK WITH GREATER SCRUTINY IF THOU WISH TO UNCOVER THE SECRETS OF OUR NIGHT."
Needless to say, upon reading of this incident my curiosity was aroused. After careful observation and recording of data, Princess Luna's meaning became clear. Princess Luna did not actually move the stars. She changed their luminosity, changing their brightness as to paint her sky with them. Dimming them when needed as to obscure them from all but the most observant. She did not alter the North Star at all and always left it as the most brilliant star to help those that traveled by night. It did make it impossible to judge distances by measuring a stars brightness since it was being magnified or diminished. Maybe Princess Luna would agree to removing all alterations every once in a while so that astronomers could take accurate measurements for their calculations. Assuming those theories still held true.
I had just finished repositioning my telescope for my next observation. And it was then that I saw something out of place through my telescope. A shooting star. I looked up in time to see it over on the horizon. It came streaking across the sky towards Ponyville. Before I could do more than stare in awe at the sight, the star shot over Ponyville with a roar that rattled windows. My eyes followed it's progress as it crashed into the Everfree Forest with a force that knocked books from shelves and me off my hooves. My precious telescope fell over with a clatter. I hoped it wasn't damaged but I had more important things to worry about as Ponyville was awakened by the disturbance. Already the panicked shouts of confused and scared ponies could be heard from my balcony.
---
"Spike? SPIKE!"
I teleported into my bed and spun about looking around for my number one assistant. There he was! The baby dragon was still asleep in his basket. It seemed not even an earthquake could rouse him. Of course I had something better than the distributed kinetic force of a minor earthquake. With my next thought and a touch of magic Spike's basket was upended and he was dropped onto the floor.
He flailed for a moment as he attempted to right himself. "I'm up! I'm UP!" This declaration was followed by a decidedly grumpy look. "What is it Twilight? You don't need my help to use the bathroom, do you?"
I did not appreciate his snark, even if I was prancing on the spot in my hurry to get going. "NO Spike! I need you to send a letter to the Princesses immediately. A large meteorite just crashed into Everfree, ponies are starting to panic, and I'm sure the royal guard will be helpful if the impact spooked anything dangerous out of the forest. The guard's presence should also help calm and reassure the populace that everything is under control."
Before I had even finished speaking, Spike was already scribbling way. I began to concentrate on my teleportation spell when another thought occurred to me. "If any pony comes looking for me, tell them I've already gone to investigate." I received a nod of confirmation from him over the top of the scroll before winking away.
---
Several ponies had ventured outside of their homes and were running about adding to the commotion as I teleported before Carousel Boutique. Rarity being the closest of the other elements to the library it was the logical destination. Three hurried, but precise, knocks later with no immediate response and I let myself in. This was an emergency after all and ponies rarely locked their doors in Ponyville anyway.
Rarity had been making her way hurriedly down the stairs from her living space above the boutique. Her magic was a glow as she hurriedly made herself presentable. "Twilight darling, what on Earth is the matter?"
I told her as quickly as I could what I told Spike while she applied eye shadow. Working several bushes through her mane, coat, and tail all at once. "I need you to inform Mayor Mare what has happened and then to assist with trying to calm and reassure the town. Get Pinkie to help. Calm might not be in her vocabulary but she definitely knows how to make every pony smile."
"Very well Twilight, I'll be off then." And with that so was I in a flash of magic.
---
I reappeared near the edge of Ponyville and about as high up as I felt comfortable going. I could see Rainbow's cloud house up ahead on my level. It was tilted at a noticeable angle but any further thought was lost as I began to plummet. I snapped my wings open so I wouldn't crash back to earth like a unicorn normally would. I was still getting used to this whole wings business so gliding was the only thing solidly in my ability for the time being. But from my perspective I could see the glow of fire within the depths of the Everfree Forest. I tilted my wings down a few degrees more to increase my acceleration. Pulling myself through the air using telekinesis was incredibly inefficient. If I "flew" like I had during my coronation I would have been drained by the time I reached the site. Planning ahead I needed to conserve my magic so that I wouldn't be too tired to take on an Ursa Minor again if the need arose.
My unsteady flight was almost made disastrous as Rainbow Dash flew by me. Her fly by disturbing the otherwise calm air around me. She then came to a stop right before me as I was struggling not to loose control. "Twilight what's going on? I was asleep and then next think I know I've been knocked out of my bed by a gust so strong it nearly rolled my cloud house."
"Rainbow! I'm glad a bumped into you. I was just on my way to see you. I need you to go get Flutteryshy. I'll fly to Sweet Apple Acres to get Applejack and then head towards Fluttershy's cottage to meet up with you both."
"Okay, but why..."
"We are probably going to need both of their expertise to keep Ponyville safe."
"Applebucking? Really?"
"No Rainbow. Just... just go get Fluttershy. Applejack and I will meet you both by the edge of the forest." She shrugged but nodded and took off like a bolt. The Rainbow contrail streaking over in the direction of Fluttershy's while I continued to glide down towards the Apple residence.
It wasn't much longer till I was over Sweet Apple Acres and the galloping of hooves below drew my attention. There she was! Applejack was already heading towards the disturbance. I called her name to get her attention as I spilled air from my wings so I could land beside her.
She looked up and waved but continued to run down the dirt road. I was only a few meters above her when I realized I was coming in a little fast and had to back flap hard to keep myself from crashing horribly. It was far from my best landing but I still landed on my hooves so I was ready to call it a victory before my front left hoof caught on something and I went face first into the dirt making it another failed landing. Thankfully Applejack was quick reach where I had crashed and to help me up.
"Lan sakes girl, ya almost had that one." She grabbed my foreleg and pulled me to my hooves. I could see she had her lasso with her too. Good we might need that later. "Glad ta see lessons with Rainbow have been doin' somethin' for ya. Still Ah get the feelin' landings weren't ever RD's specialty neither. Now mind tellin' me what in tar nation is causing all this ruckus?"
My chin stung from where I had scraped it on a rock but it was easy enough to ignore. "In a minute Applejack. We need to meet up with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash as well." Without further warning whisked us away.
---
We reappeared by the edge of the forest, about halfway between Sweet Apple Acres and Fluttery's home. But after a quick glance around I was able to confirms the absence of our friends. And with that I teleported the pair of us straight to Fluttershy's cottage.
---
The moment we materialized, Applejack put a hoof to her mouth like she might be sick. I looked on in mild concern until she put her hoof down. "First time teleporting?"
A nod, "Good gravy, warn a pony afore ya do that. My innards feel all like a pit of snakes. Ya sure ya didn't put anythin' in the wrong place?"
I was more than happy to explain the basics of teleportation to a curious party. "I'm not breaking down your body or anything. That's transmutation. What I am actually doing is telekinetically exciting the particles within your body to the point that they move at near light speed. This is what allows the almost instant transportation and the ability to pass through objects as if they aren't even there, known as quantum tunneling. It would of course be impossible for all but the strongest unicorns if it were done for any significant length of time which is why it is much easier to do as a series of small jumps instead of a single long one. The drain on the user's magic increases by a factor of..."
My lesson on advanced telekinesis was interrupted when the window burst open and Rainbow Dash flew out with a pink, checkered bundle over her shoulder. "Hey! Glad you could make it. So Twilight now will you please tell me what's up?" She was now close enough that I could make out the butterflies on the fabric. Which would make it likely to be Fluttershy's bedspread. This thought was confirmed when I saw the bundle move of it's own accord.
With a sign I put my hoof to my face and rubbed the base of my horn. "Yes Rainbow I'll tell you now that we are together but how about you let Fluttershy out to participate. I wanted you to fetch her not kidnap her."
Rainbow was quick to defend herself. "WHAT! This was the only way! I tried to coax her out but she refused to come out from hiding under her blanket so I figured I would let her hold onto it while I 'escorted' her as rapidly as possible." With her defense concluded she gently set Fluttershy and the blanket on the ground.
I bent down as I addressed the shivering lump, "Fluttershy, I know your scared but we need your help and so do the animals."
The tremors didn't stop but a yellow snout stuck out of the blanket and I could see those large blue eyes staring back at me. *Sniff* "what about the animals," came the teary reply.
"A meteorite fell in Everfree. It woke all of Ponyville and now ponies are running around in a panic. Imagine just how scared the creatures in Everfree must be. I'm worried they might stampede through town which is why I went to get Applejack. But while Applejack is good at herding animals, it's really important that you be there to help calm them down like how you took care of that manticore when we first became friends. Do you think you can do that for us Fluttershy? For them?" It was only a little nod but it was a nod.
Rainbow was already doing a victory dance above our heads. "OH YEAH, we got this! What about the rest of us Twilight? Are we going to go on a badflank adventure and stomp out a new villan while AJ and Flutters are foiling the first part of their evil plan?"
"NO Rainbow! Rarity and Pinkie are seeing to the town right now. Your going to help Applejack and Fluttershy with controlling the animals. Most ponies run from danger but just in case I also want you to keep them back. We don't need the Crusaders to show up and try to get cutie marks in monster taming."
The blue pegasus visually slumped and dropped a few centimeters in the air. "Fine. what about you, Twilight?"
"I'm going to fly out to the impact site and put out those fires. With those out I'm hoping anything really dangerous won't leave the forest. If anything big is headed towards Ponyville I should be able to see it headed towards us and can hopefully turn it away before it even leaves Everfree."
Rainbow was spluttering over her next words even before I had finished. "Th-That's just crazy talk Twilight! I could totally fly out there and put out those flames. Bringing the rain is what us pegasi do.
"She's right sugercube," added Applejack. "A might faster than you too. Your also a princess now, and the Everfree forest is a mighty dangerous place."
"Exactly," I protested. "I was the most powerful unicorn of this and the last generation, at least. Now that I'm an alicorn I'm even stronger. I have earth pony as well as pegasi magic now too. If any one of us should go into the forest alone it should be me. I'll be back as soon as I've taken care of the fires and inspected the meteorite. Meteorites rarely make it to Equis' surface. I at least need to get a sample and to scan it to ensure it doesn't have any dangerous magical properties. Unless I'm mistaken, no pony else knows how to do that."
The orange earth pony gave me a long look before turning towards the forest. "Come on girls. Let's go keep them critters from causin' a ruckus in town. Ah recon Twi knows what she's doin'." Fluttershy followed behind the her.
I turned my gaze away from them to find Rainbow hovering in front of me, nearly nose to nose. I received several prods to my chest before she delivered her ultimatum."If you're not back once the forest has settled down I'm coming in after you. Rainbow Dash does NOT leave her friends hanging." Message sent, she shot like an arrow after Applejack and Fluttershy.
Now with my friends hurrying towards the forest, I decided I would do the same. And once again I teleported away.
---
If Rainbow Dash could see my flight pattern she might have revoked any implication that I was ever cool. Once I teleported to my maximum altitude, I would glide back down to the tree tops of the forest before teleporting back up and beginning my decent. I wouldn't have called it flying, falling and never hitting the ground would be more accurate. Still it was much less taxing on my magic than a single teleportation, or even many short but rapid jumps. Of course I new every theoretical facet on flight from my studies. Unfortunately that theory didn't translate well to operating two new appendages or channeling magic through them, like all pegasi did to fly.
Eventually the impact site came into view. The pillar of smoke and the glow of several fires made it rather easy to spot. As I drew closer and could see the crater, which until now had been obscured by the tree cover, something didn't seem right. Such a large meteor must have been going slower than it had been when it passed over Ponyville to leave such a small crater. That or the meteorite was much smaller than it appeared in the sky. How low had it flown to appear so large and cause such a disturbance.
The object itself was obscured by the huge quantities of smoke so it's size would have to wait till after I took care of the fires. After a quick glance around, I failed to see any clouds nearby. They were probably dispersed by the impact. Just as well, seeing as Rainbow had yet to teach me about weather manipulation. Upon landing, thankfully better than my last attempt, my horn began to glow as I gathered the magic needed. At first I gathered water from the air around me but there was so little of it in the air I was only able to put out one of the smaller fires. I tried again, this time transmuting the air around me into water. That only resulted in a trickle. Of course there wasn't nearly enough hydrogen present to make that feasible. In the end I resorted to smothering the fire with dirt, lots of dirt. Not especially elegant but it got the job done.
That still left the main source of smoke in the center of the depression. I didn't want to risk contaminating or possibly damaging the meteorite further by burying it in dirt. Meteor strikes might be incredibly rare but they weren't unheard of. Any that were recovered were among the most prized center pieces of a museum's geological display. Knowing that a fire could be put out if deprived of oxygen, I erected a shield the size of a boulder around the base of the smoke. I could feel that something other than the ground was passing through my shield even though it was air tight. I tried again making this shield large enough to surround an entire house. Still I could feel the pressure that told me the shield wasn't large enough. Fed up, I covered the entire crater with a one way shield and began to slowly contract it. As the shield grew smaller and smaller, I flapped my wings to blow the smoke away. Upon seeing the first glimpse of the obscured object I almost allowed my shield to fizzle out.
A large metal structure was revealed as more of the smoke was dissipated. Large didn't do it justice. It was massive. Like looking at an apartment complex on it's side instead of upright like in the cities. Easily several times larger than any single structure in Ponyville. Even blacked by scorch marks the grey metal was beautiful with it's sharp lines and precise angles. When all the smoke was gone all I could do was stare open mouthed at the sight before me.
I began to circle the structure, making observations and committing them to memory. Unfortunately I had not been expecting such a discovery and had neglected to bring any writing utensils with me. The structure didn't look like a building so much as a humongous airship without the suspension balloon. The side closest to me appeared to be a series of large holes in varying sizes arranged in a symmetrical pattern. It had a proportionately stubby wing-like protrusion on either side with more of these holes. I quickly discovered that these holes were all over the ship in what was obviously a pattern of some kind, the purpose of which eluded me at the moment. There were windows at regular intervals along the sides. I teleported up to one but was unable to see inside because it was covered by a plate of metal. It was also narrower at one end which was pointing west, towards town. There were two thick blue stripes running down its length. It had obviously suffered some sever damage judging by the cracks and melted holes I could see. Coming up to the narrower end I was unable to contain my excitement any longer at what I was saw.
"YES! YES! YES!"
Having calmed down enough to stop prancing about like a filly who just got her cutie mark, my eyes were once again focused exclusively on the blocky runes before me. <Shooting Star> They where completely different from anything I was familiar with from my studies. It was obvious this object must have been made but here was proof that it was made by an unknown civilization which had it's own previously unknown writing system, culture, and knowledge. I was so excited! There was so much to learn before me. And I was going to learn it all!
"Spike make a note," and that was when I remembered that I had left Spike at the library and that, unlike him, I did not always have writing utensils on my self. I could of course transmute myself the supplies but I didn't want them to change back and loose all the notes I had taken. I let out a sigh at the thought that recording any findings would have to wait till later.
I teleported atop the front of the construct. I could see a large window that was also covered by an equally large metal plate. This protrusion looked similar to an enclosed balcony so that one could look out over the rest of the structure, assuming it was right way up of course. I also noticed that the structure had come to rest with a noticable tilt of the 'snout' downward. There was also a few domed structures on either side of me as I trotted up towards the 'tail' end. I had noticed something similar on what little of the underside I could see. I wondered what they could be for and how much of this had been buried in the crash.
Another interesting observation I made was while the right side was in fairly good condition the left was easily the more damaged of the two. The melted holes and warped metal was much more abundant. The most noticeable of which was a large hole that went straight through from top to bottom. It was wide enough that my bedroom could have easily fit inside it. What could have possibly caused such a thing?
Upon further examination from the edge of the hole, I could see that it had clipped a corridor of some kind. The opening was too small for a pony to get through. A filly or colt perhaps but not a mare such as myself. But the hole was large enough that I could see enough to teleport safely, with the help of a little magic for lighting. Teleportation to unseen locations was a bit risky but with enough information about your surroundings you wouldn't appear in something. With that thought, I teleported into the breach.
---
I found myself in a dim, metal hallway that smelled of smoke. I had expected the hall to be completely dark but there was a very faint glow of light along the base of the walls. This made it easy to see where I was putting my hooves, if not much else. Every couple of meters the hall would be illuminated in a red glow from the ceiling . The remains of the smoke swirled near the ceiling, looking like grey mist in the low lighting.
It was a little ominous but not overly scary. Examining my surroundings in greater detail, I noticed a tall metal door in the wall. It was right across from the gaping hole and I preceded to attempt to open it. The door refused to swing inwards or be pulled outwards. There was a window set in the door, much higher up than a pony could normally see. So I reared up, placing my front hooves on the door for balance and peered inside. The room was dark. Until a spot light flickered on inside for a moment. Providing a glimpse of what was inside.
There was blood everywhere.
I screamed and flung myself away from the window, wings spread wide in terror. I had no time to devote further thought to this prime example of fight or flight instinct as I scrambled back to my hooves.
Once upright and ready to run a thought occurred to me, nothing had happened. I was still standing alone in a somewhat creepy alien construct and had been startled. But aside from that nothing had happened. The door hadn't burst open, there was no noise but for me and the occasional spark, and nothing had appeared to take advantage of my momentary weakness.
As I calmed, my wings retracted back to my sides. Even though I understood that one of the reasons a pegusi might involuntarily flair their wings was to appear larger to predators or in perpetration to flee, it was still an odd experience. Taking a deep breath to calm myself further, I looked through the window again. Another flicker of light. There was plenty of blood but it was mostly on a table, surrounded by odd tools also covered in blood. It was decidedly creepy and a better look at all that blood made me want to vomit but I persevered. Without more information I could not draw any solid conclusions of what that room was for. Celestia had once allowed me to sit in on a surgery to better understand pony anatomy. The setup appeared to be similar but without more information it was mostly just speculation. There hadn't been nearly that much blood though. Either that wasn't a room for healing or somepony had been hurt really really bad. Besides there was the chance it wasn't even blood at all. Hopefully.
I examined the door for a means to open it. There was no knob or handle. Nor did it swing inward when pressed on. I tried moving it with my magic but it wouldn't move. Using my magic I could feel the mechanisms in and around the door. I could also sense it was meant to slide into the wall but I couldn't figure out how to undo the lock. Or rather I couldn't undo it without ripping the door clean out of the wall. Not wanting to cause any more damage to this revolutionary scientific find, I left the door where it was. Still I continued examining the door and surrounding wall for a less destructive means of entry.
To the side of the door, about on level with the window, I came across more of the unknown writing. <Medical> And about a third of the way to the floor beneath that a raised button that was flashing labeled Open along with several other labeled buttons that were not. Once again I cursed my lack of parchment and quill to record these findings with. I couldn't wait to learn this new language and learn everything else I could from here. Unfortunately a proper cataloging would have to wait till I had the proper supplies.
My eyes were drawn back to the flashing button. This one was flashing a bright blue light insistently at me. Curious, as I was sure that light had not been there before I looked through the window, I tried to touch it with my magic. Nothing. I redoubled my efforts but all I cloud sense was metal and mechanisms in the wall. Straining myself, I could just make out the faintest tickle of electricity. I had never encountered lights like these. Sure ponies had light bulbs which were powered by electricity but not like this, or even this small. Even one of similar brightness would have needed to be many times larger. With a more intense look at the dim lighting around me, it seemed that all the lighting were similar to this.
Within minutes of entering this place, I had discovered an advanced lighting system decades, possibly centuries, ahead of what Equestria already knew. With that in mind I reached out with my hoof to see what I could determine with a tactile approach. Before my hoof even touched the light, it vanished. Quickly, I looking about. I saw it again. Now it was flashing one door down on my right. I proceeded to follow the light. Before I even reached for the light this time it moved on to the next door. The blue light. The way it seemed to be leading me. It felt familiar. Like I should know what this meant.
Still the thirst to know drove me to follow. I retained the presence of mind to continue to take in every detail I could. So before following to the third door, I checked the second. It seemed to be the same bloody room as before. While it wasn't nearly as startling without the surprise, the creepy atmosphere was definitely putting me on edge. The writing appeared to be the same as before so I concluded if not just another entrance than the rooms most likely had a similar purpose.
I moved on, continuing to follow the light. Wasting no time, I attempted to touch the light.There was a click and a faint hiss as the third door opened with the press of the button marked Open.
I jumped back in alarm. My horn lit with magic, wings out. And waited, alert for anything else to happen for several heart throbbing seconds.Something was definitely going on. I had the distinctive feeling that I was being led somewhere. But the thought of all the knowledge locked away in this place was not something I could just turn away from. So with increased care I stepped through the open doorway marked Escape Capsule. Not that I could read it or anything.
Before passing over the threshold, I took a moment to take a good look around the room before I preceded. The room inside was small and circular, with five glass doors around the edge. Four of the doors were open with an orange light overhead. but one was closed with a green light above it. This room was noticeably colder than the rest of the ship which in itself was odd. What was beyond the glass door was obscured by the condensation that had formed over it. The little blue light I had been following was flashing away just to the right of this door. I continued, an ominous feeling settling in my stomach as the sense of familiarity increased yet I still couldn't place it.
The light hadn't moved. It just continued to blink. I cast about the room looking for what I was expected to do next. The opened doors didn't go anywhere. They looked like tall closets lined with padding. I turned back to the door before me and wiped a circle of condensation away. The surface was cold to the touch but all that I could see beyond the glass was darkness and what appeared to be ice. Was that it? Had I reached a dead end? No. It was pretty obvious I had been led here. I looked up at the light again and took a deep breath. There was nothing else for it. There was something here for me to find and I wasn't going to pass it up just because I felt uneasy. I let the breath I had been holding go and touched the blue light with my hoof again.
The green light began to flash orange. A very loud hiss filled the room and steam shot out from around the edge of the glass door. I backed away quickly, my open wings causing me to stumble slightly. With mounting horror, I finally remembered why this seemed familiar, and I was in so much trouble.
'Will-o-wisp': a spirit which appeared as a flickering light that would lead others into danger.
The door before me slide open even while my instincts were screaming at me to run! All I could do was look up at the figure amide the dim light and swirling vapors. Way up into the featureless face of the monster before me.