//------------------------------//
// Wishing Upon A Star 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

Eight years ago...

Sparks rose through the cool mountain air.

The moon hung far overhead, a mare-shaped shadow stenciled permanently on its face. Snow-capped mountains crunched the skyline to the north, yet couldn't scrape the moon's path, reaching and never coming close. Below the snowline, forests stretched down, and below the forest, a lake filled half of the valley.

"Nnngh...!" A well-fed mare with a fish for a cutie mark sat on packed ground at the edge of the lake, straining with her telekinesis at a fishing rod. Her back was lit by an orange glow, a bonfire flickering behind her as three friends stomped their hooves in encouragement.

With a splash, a fish burst from the pond, the mare toppling over backwards from the effort. One of her friends caught the catch in her aura, saving it from hitting the ground, and all four laughed. A stallion stepped forward and nuzzled the upside-down mare's cheek. "Let it never be said my very special somepony doesn't live up to her name."

"Short Grass, you tease..." The fisher mare rolled to her hooves. "So how does it look?"

The remaining stallion was poking at the fire, tongue out in concentration, and the mare who held the fish was reclining lazily against his side. She flipped it several times in her aura. "Looks delish, Fishy! Might need about... one more of these to have enough for all of us. Better stuffed than sorry!"

"Aye!" Fishy rewound the line on her pole, turning back to the lake and casting again.

"Might be a few more minutes before this is ready," the fire stallion remarked, concentrating on the flames. "Catch one quick, and we can cook them together."

Fishy patiently watched the water, and the other mare leaned back, the caught fish doing loopty-loops in her aura. "Or, you could start it now. See if the rest of the town can't follow their noses and join the fun."

Short Grass settled down by the other two, warming his hooves by the flame. "Meadow Rose, we did just do this last night." He pointed to the well-used fire pit the bonfire crackled inside, then to the rows of houses visible along the road leading back through town. "And the night before, as well. I would wager no one is wanting for opportunity."

Rose closed her eyes. "You say that, but I'll bet you first dibs on the biggest portion we'll be hearing hoofsteps within five minutes after Timber starts cooking."

Timber, the fire stallion, merely nodded, still focusing on the flames.

"I got a bite!" Fishy called from the shore, horn glowing excitedly.

Her friends instantly looked up, but several seconds later she deflated and sighed. "Drat. I lost the slippery thing..."

"Still at your fish-eating customs, I see?"

Everyone turned to see a young stallion with chin stubble and a dark coat strolling down the path, wearing a shirt against the cold. Fishy waved, looking away from her hovering pole. "Well, if it isn't the good archaeologist! Here to join us?"

Rose punched Short Grass's shoulder. "Biggest portion's mine, Shorty! I win."

Short Grass chuckled. "You said within five minutes after Timber started cooking."

"Gambling, are we?" The archaeologist seated himself a safe distance from the fire, making some scratches on a notepad he held in his hoof before sliding it into a pith helmet and slapping the helmet on his head. "Well, do not grow too attached to my presence. I am merely taking a little advantage of civilization when I find it to rest up on my travels of Equestria." He grinned. "But who says relaxation should not be done in good company, eh?"

"Company for company, mister," Rose replied. "Tell us a banger of a story while we wait for the fish to cook."

Short Grass nodded eagerly. "Trading caravans are well and good, but I get the impression you've been a lot further than a few towns over."

"Oh, I have been here and there..." The archaeologist shrugged.

"What did you say your name was, again?" Timber asked, fixated on the fire and only paying half attention.

The archaeologist held a hoof to his chest. "They call me Caballeron. Adventurer, treasure hunter, collector of ancient-"

"Look!" Fishy yelled, raising her voice and dropping her pole. She leapt to her hooves, pointing at the sky. "A shooting star!"

Everyone looked, even Timber. A trail of light was making its way across the stars, drifting slowly through the heavens. Rose oohed. Short Grass whistled.

"That does look like a shooting star," Caballeron agreed, eyes sparkling at the natural phenomenon. "This may be a story you have heard before, but in certain parts of the world, they say if you make a wish while one is in the sky, it will come true."

Fishy stared at the star, a bite catching and dragging her pole into the water as she left it unattended. "I wish..."

Short Grass slid quickly over, cupping a hoof around her muzzle. "Shh," he entreated. "It only works if you don't tell anyone what you wish for."

"So you have heard that one," Caballeron muttered, still fixated on the star.

"I made my wish!" Rose shouted.

Timber nodded, and opened his mouth... and Caballeron held out a hoof. "Shh!"

Everyone glanced at him inquisitively.

"It appears to be speeding up..." He fidgeted for a spyglass, but didn't have one and huffed. "That means it must be far closer than the usual for these things. Look!"

At first, the change in the star's speed was imperceptible, but it swiftly grew until in a matter of seconds it was blazing through the sky. The five ponies' jaws were already agape, but then there was a flash of light... and the shooting star exploded, tiny fragments soaring all across the night sky. They crossed the whole nightscape faster than anyone could blink, disappearing over the horizon in every direction imaginable, some fracturing further with smaller bursts and sparkles... all except one. One fragment stayed, hanging above the town before slowly growing bigger until it was more than just a pinprick, finally flying and soaring into the mountains just on the far side of the nearest peak.

"A meteor..." Caballeron whispered.

Fishy shaded her eyes. "Did part of that just fall to the ground?"

"Nearby. I am sure of it." Caballeron stood, rubbing his cutie mark. "Let us say I have an intuition for the location of things of value."

"Do you mean to say you're going to find where it landed?" Timber looked up, brow furrowing in concern.

Caballeron chuckled. "But of course! Surely this town can't have been the only one nearby to have seen that. If I don't get the treasure first, some other hunter will, and a fallen meteorite will make some fine treasure indeed." He turned back towards town. "I will just get my saddlebags and be off. If I do not see you again, eat a fish in my honor."

Timber got up, following him. "You mean you're going into those mountains? They aren't the kind of place ponies come back from."

Meadow Rose scoffed. "That's because it's not the kind of place ponies go to in the first place. There's nothing there!"

"I've always thought the view might be pretty," Fishy volunteered. "That's a sketchpad, right? Draw the town from above for me while you're there!"

Short Grass bit his lip. "There is a trailhead going into the mountains, but it's not well-used. I think it just goes halfway up the first peak, for ponies who do want the view. I can show you where it is, if it will help."

"Much appreciated, friend." Caballeron nodded. "And I have heard this about many places I myself have come back from. Fear not. I would not live this life if I did not know what I was doing."





The rest of the night passed, and all of the day after that. The next night passed too, but around noon of the following day, Caballeron returned.

"Afternoon, miss Fillet," a market stall pony said as Fishy filled her saddlebags with vegetables and rice. "Grocery day?"

"Sure is," Fishy replied, having to reach a little with her short legs to properly survey the stall table. "Just getting some quick chores done so I can-"

Her eyes, always trained to watch the area around her so she could pay attention to fishing floats while doing something else, locked onto a familiar stallion entering town with bulging saddlebags. "Keep the change," she said, floating several bits onto the table. "Gotta run!"

She didn't look back, dashing up to Caballeron as he stepped along the packed earth. "Hey! Archaeologist, you're back! How was the view!?"

The stallion smiled gruffly. "The name is Caballeron, friend. And I have some good news, but I also have some bad news."

"Oh?" Fishy drew up curiously, her own saddlebags loaded as well.

"The good news..." Caballeron turned his side to her, flipping the top on one of the bags open. "The meteor is mine!"

Inside was a collection of black, glassy rocks, freshly fractured and looking like they had recently been whole. The bag bulged with their weight, and Fishy drew closer, seeing if she could see her reflection. There were a few pieces where the breaks were smooth enough to permit it, though the rocks were so dark the only color they reflected was gray.

"It is a bit of a shame that it broke on landing," Caballeron admitted. "But, that just means I can sell it for large sums to many ponies instead of an exorbitant sum to just one. So now that I have found my fortune... time to head back to the proper edges of civilization and see about turning it into money."

"You're taking it?" Fishy bit her lip. "It's kind of cool. There's a stallion in town who builds machines that record pictures. Would you at least let us save a picture of it? If it landed so close, it suddenly feels like it should be the town's rock."

"Well..." Caballeron averted his gaze, clearly hesitant. "You may not be so fond of it when I show you the bad news." He turned and popped open his other saddlebag.

A tiny lilac filly stared out, her eyes confused and frightened.

"What...?" Fishy took a surprised breath.

"I found her up in the mountains, near where the meteor landed." Caballeron shrugged. "Two ponies with her were dead. It looked like they were too busy staring at their prize and didn't notice a falling boulder."

Fishy lifted the filly in her milky aura, breathing tight. She was a unicorn, about two or three, with a purple mane with bits of teal. "Oh, honey... And she was with them? Her parents?"

"Who can say?" Caballeron shrugged again. "No responsible parent would take a filly into the mountains, but no responsible not-parent would do it either, so, somepony was feeling stupid and this filly paid the price. A pity."

Fishy hoisted the filly, examining her for cuts or bruises. "Are you old enough to talk?" she asked, ignoring Caballeron.

"Sta'ite Gimme," the filly replied, halfway between words and scared babble.

"Now, I cannot say I felt too bad, because it did mean I got the treasure and they missed out," Caballeron continued apologetically, "but I could not just leave her there. I also cannot care for her on the road, so, there. I have done my duty. You will take care of her?"

"Uh... yes." Fishy's ears were flat. "I'll put up an adoption notice. Someone here will want her, or know who her folks are, unless they're from the next town over..." She sighed. "Poor thing. I thought that shooting star was really pretty, and now it went and orphaned you."

Caballeron winced. "Well, I may not have paid the closest attention to what the dead ponies looked like, being distracted by the meteor and crying filly and chance of danger and all, so I cannot exactly help, but I wish you luck with that." He patted the top on his filled saddlebag closed. "As for her, she will probably never mind if I take this far away and she never has to think about this meteor again."

"You do that," Fishy said, kicking into a trot and leaving Caballeron behind. "Hold in there, honey," she urged, holding the filly against her chest. "I'll do what I can do..."