Moonlight felt a slight pang in her heart as she turned around to begin heading back to town. Something simply felt wrong about turning around and just leaving. Not getting to thank that strange blue creature just felt… wrong somehow. However, despite her misgivings, she knew that going back into the Deadwoods was a terrible idea. She would just have to accept what had happened and move on.
As she started her walk back to the town, she couldn't help but walk as slowly as she could, savoring every moment. After inhaling the stagnant, musty, rot-filled air that filled the Deadwoods, the cool evening air, filled with the scents of grasses and the indescribable smell of coldness that the night brings.
Walking, the feeling of grass brushing against her hooves and the solid dirt crunching as she walked forward was ecstasy inducing after having to trudge through the muddy, leaf-strewn soil of the woods. Even the minuscule amount of warmth she was feeling from the setting sun was almost enough to get her to start jumping for joy. She never realized just how much she took her senses for granted, just how incredible every little sensation was.
As Moonlight made her way into town, several ponies kept giving her strange looks, as well as looks of utter horror. Thinking about it, the last time she was here she hadn’t been too subtle in her goal to enter the forest and find out what was in there. Moonlight could hardly blame their anxiety at seeing her walking through town. As far as they knew, she should have been dead, or at the very least lost in the woods for the rest of time.
Moonlight made her way to the large, two-story inn near the center of the town. The sun was already setting, and although she was still riding the high of her escape and subsequent exhilaration at experiencing every little sensation, she would rather spend tonight in her bed than out in the cold.
She eventually reached the inn and pushed open the door, feeling a warm gust of air pass over her as she did so. It was a comforting warmth, one she remembered from her times sitting in front of a fireplace on a rainy day. She happily walked in and began to make her way to the front desk before, out of nowhere, a chout broke the quiet of the lobby.
“Oh Celestia, Moonlight!”
Before she even had a chance to look at who had called out to her, someone had slammed into her side, nearly causing her to fall over. The individual then proceeded to pull her into a hug, nearly choking her as whoever it was was doing their best to hold her as tight as possible
When she finally recovered, Moonlight looked down and recognized the unmistakable shape of one of her closest friends, Rain Catcher. Looking back to where Rain had likely come from, Moonlight noticed several more of her friends, five to be specific, all with either their mouths agape or looking at her as if she had come back from the dead.
“Hey, Rain. I appreciate the affection, but it’s kind of hurting. And why are you guys out here?”
“Why are we here?” Rain Catcher pulled away from her and looked her in the face as if she had asked why the sky was pink. “Moon, you’ve been gone for two months. When I didn’t hear from you last month I got worried. I reached out to everyone you’ve told me about but none of them knew anything. It took us almost a month to find out that you came here last. We were just planning what we were going to do next to try and find you.”
No. That couldn't be right. If that was true, then…
“Who went looking for me!” Moonlight suddenly grabbed Rain in her hooves and practically yelled at her.
“Timber and Astute Vision headed in two days ago.” Rain Catcher was in obvious pain as she said this but Moonlight didn’t care right now.
“What about Starcatcher? Did he go in?”
Everyone's eyes widened as she said that. “How did you know he was with us? Did you see him in the woods?” It was an old friend of hers, Sturdy Framing, who said this before continuing with a mumble. “That would explain why we havent seen him all day.”
Moonlight practically threw Rain Catcher off of herself before bolting for the front door, almost tearing it off its hinges as she dashed outside.
“Oh no, it was you, you were there.” Moonlight was pushing every muscle to its limit to get back to the entrance of the Deadwoods. She jumped slightly to throw her saddlebags off of her back, lowering her weight in order to run faster. She arrived at the entrance and was about to dash in when a bright flash of light exploded in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. When her vision finally cleared, she noticed that the blue mist that had helped her out of the woods.
“Get out of the way you stupid light! I need to save my friends!” Moonlight tried as hard as she could to move past the glowing mist, but each attempt found her blinded by a flash of blue light and loud chirping, after which her vision would clear and she would see that she had been turned around.
The blue mist stopped it's bright glowing, becoming a barely visible cloud of almost blue smoke. As Moonlight was about to try at running past the entity one last time, the strange creature exploded in a bright flash of light, forcing her to close her eyes and bring a foreleg in front of her face to block the intense radiance. When Moonlight felt that the light might have died down, she lowered her foreleg and opened her eyes, only to be met with a sight that froze her blood.
Standing in front of her was the blue mist that she had just been fighting with, only, it had changed its shape to that of a pony. The pony in front of her was a pegasus with uncertain eyes and a timid posture. Everything about this pony gave off the impression of someone meek and unsure of themselves. There was no doubt in Moonlight's mind as to who the blue mist had taken the shape of.
It was Starcatcher, only, he looked far older than when she had last seen him.
This fact was solidified when the mist Starcatcher gave her that awkward wave he always tended to do around her. Moonlight was speechless as she saw this. There just weren’t any words for what she was seeing.
“I-is that really you?” Moonlight’s voice was incredibly shaky and hesitant, as if the slightest mistake would cause him to disappear.
The mist Starcatcher closed his eyes and started to scratch the back of his mane before giving her a goofy smile and nodding his head.
“Why are you made of mist? What happened?”
The smile disappeared from Starcatcher's muzzle, replaced by a frown as he stopped scratching his mane and almost turned away from her.
“Starcatcher, please, just tell me what’s going on.” Moonlight felt tears begin to tug at the edges of her vision as a slight waver began to introduce itself into her voice. “Why can't you just tell me…” It was only then that she realized that he hadn’t made a sound since he appeared. He always greeted her is his awkward and sweet attempts to somehow woo her, but he hadn't said a word. “Ca-can you even talk?”
The mist Starcatcher slightly shook his head before opening his muzzle and releasing a series of chirps that varied in both their length and pitch. Watching him, Moonlight could tell that he was talking normally, only, the actual words weren’t coming out. If only she could read lips, then she would be able to know what he was saying.
Moonlight could barely handle this revelation, falling back into her haunches. “So, that really was you back in the forest.”
Starcatcher nodded, still keeping his head turned away from her.
“What… what about the others? Are they still in there?”
Again, a nod. Only this time, the mist Starcatcher turned even farther away. Moonlight didn't need to ask the next question, judging by how he responded, she already knew the answer.
There was a long moment of silence as Moonlight did her best to try to come to terms with what she was hearing.
“I… I did this to you, to everyone.” By now, tears had begun to fall from her eyes again, wetting her face and practically blinding her. Moonlight forced her eyes closed as she dropped her head down and tried unsuccessfully to stop the tears. “I’m so sorry.”
In the middle of this, she could feel a soft touch underneath her chin. It was indescribable, the closest thing she could think to compare it to would be if an inflatable were made of silk. She sipped the tears from her eyes and opened them, finding the misty hoof of Starcatcher under her muzzle.
She lifted her head up to look him in the face, feeling and watching as he kept his hoof under her chin. When she was finally looking him in the eyes, he began to say something, only, he didn't make any of the chirps, only moving his lips. And way he did this emphasized every motion of his mouth, making the works he was trying to do easier to discern.
I forgive you.
He then leaned forward and began to hug her. Just like his hoof, his touch only barely registered to her, but it was there. Moonlight hugged him back, uncertainly wrapping her forelegs around his form. When she finally did, she did everything that she could to barely touch him, afraid that even the slightest pressure would poof him out of existence. But, she eventually embraced the feeling, hugging him just a little harder as she closed her eyes and layed her head against his shoulder. And the two of them stayed like this for what felt like several minutes.
This, however, was not meant to last. As Moonlight was finally calming down, as her emotions were finally stabilizing, as she was beginning to feel the same thing that had felt the last time she had hugged Starcatcher, his misty form ceased to be. Moonlight felt her head lose its support, and the feeling of being held vanish.
When she opened her eyes, Moonlight saw the last vestiges of the glowing blue mist evaporating into nothing before her. The last proof of her meeting with Starcatcher was gone in a matter of seconds.
Moonlight sat there for what felt like the better part of an hour whimpering to herself, mourning what was guaranteed to be her last encounter with him. The pain of what she had done was like a crushing weight upon her back. It was in this position that her friends found her in. The heavy and cacophonous sound of hooves marking their arrival.
“Oh, thank Celestia. We were worried you had gone back into the forest. We tried to keep up with you but you got away from us once you dropped your bags,” Rain Catcher said between heavy breaths. She eventually noticed Moonlight's state and became very concerned “Hey, are you alright?”
Moonlight opened her mouth to talk, but her lungs refused to cooperate with her. After a second of this, she just closed her mouth and shook her head.
Moonlight then felt the unmistakable sensation of a pony hugging her from the side. “I know you feel bad about them, but we can't risk losing you again, not so soon after you came back. Tomorrow we’ll gather as many townsponies as we can and figure out how to find them. I’m sure they’ll be willing to help once they see that you can get out of there.”
Those words sent a shiver down Moonlight's spine. She had to stop them, no one should ever go into that forest, not ever. It was difficult, and her body would not easily obey her, but she was able to eventually push out a response.
“D… don’t. Don't bother.”
“What are you saying? Those are our friends. We need to get them out of there as soon as possible.”
“That’s not what I meant. I… I saw them yesterday. They… they… they were dead.”
A collective gasp was released by her friends as she said this. None of them wanting to believe it.
“The Deadwoods, they… they mess with your head. I thought that it was just another trick, I couldn't believe it. They… they were torn apart.”
All of Moonlight's friends came over to join Rain Catcher in embraced her in a hug. They could all empathize with what she was likely going through. To see her friends not only dead but torn to pieces was something none of them wished to go through. They stayed like this for some time before Moonlight moved to get up, causing everyone to move away and give her some space. When she got up, Moonlight began slowly walking back to the town with her head hanging.
And with that, the group of friends followed, heavily making their way back to the inn. Each of them wearing the posture of a pony who had lost themselves to the abyss.