//------------------------------//
// Personal thoughts and A Discovery. 
// Story: Hunters of the forest. 
// by Sylif Daring Doo 
//------------------------------//


*Four days later.*


'Personal log, entry seven.

The search for the Core in the Everfree Forest was fruitless, not only did we not find the Core, we also lost a lot of precious time to find it.

The longer we are here, the harder it will be to leave when we obtain the Core, Shanda tries to hide it from me, but I can see that she is falling in love with this land, and I know that when the time comes for us to go home, she will be heartbroken.

Shanda has been spending most of her free time in the nearby settlement of Ponyville, I warned her to not grow too attached but I doubt she is listening as is usual... her new friend Twilight was here two days ago along with the local shaman Zecora, who also resides in this forest, and while I am wary of strangers, I was inwardly delighted to meet another potion master.

On a lighter note, Shanda claims to have a possible lead on the Core...she may have left against my orders, but if she is successful I believe we may be able to leave without many problems, I was also happy to hear that Shanda wants to give alchemy another chance, her years of study into flora and fauna as a Druid gives me reason to believe that she will be excellent with patience and training.

... I find my mind turning to the crescent seal more and more these days, Shanda does not know of it or the necklace, but their existence torments me, knowing what their purpose is and what they represent, it may be selfish of me, but I pray that she never sees either of them, though I will not dispose of them.

Fluttershy came by yesterday, she seems to be at ease around me but not around Shanda, I am not sure why that is but it is none of my business so long as it is mere wariness, I can understand that perfectly, she came by because she simply wanted to return the token I left her, I refused to take it back though I did say what the writing on the back says.

The two of us talked for an hour, she seemed particularly interested in the creatures of Azeroth and when the subject came up, Outland, or as it used to be known, Draenor, I told her about creatures such as the Core Hounds, Kobalds and Gnolls, she seemed nervous when I told her about chimeras or the scytheclaws of Outland, she was excited and later amused when I mentioned murlocs... now here's the thing about murlocs, when you first see a murloc you are amused by its appearance and battle cry, and then you see another, and another, and another, and you lose any bravery or amuse met you had.

I will admit, while murlocs can be terrifying, it was incredibly amusing when Shanda made the mistake of transforming into one by accident, she ended up chasing poor old master Gadrin around the village for what must have been an hour, I am honestly still amazed that the old troll can still move like that when he sees a murloc.

Perhaps it would be best if I stop writing for now, I do not want to depress myself with thoughts of home.'


*Elsewhere.*


Scootaloo yawned as she followed miss Cheerilee and the tour guide she didn't care to remember the name of, she was struggling to keep her eyes open but thankfully she had Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with her.

Fluttershy decided that Scootaloo needed to get away from Ponyville for a bit to clear her head, so the mare signed off on a permission form so that the filly could go on a field trip with the rest of the class to some old ruined city.

"This everypony, Is the Obelisk of the Blue Sun." The tour guide explained, referring to a large stone obelisk made out of a grayish blue rock, In stark contrast to the sandy brown rock of the rest of the city.

Scootaloo looked up to the top of the obelisk and saw that the tip of the surprisingly intact structure was made of some reflective deep blue crystal material. "It is theorized that two thousand years ago, this Obelisk was used by the ancient Catenai to protect their city from facing the heatwaves that barrage this land regularly, it is believed that this Obelisk would project a dome of sorts that kept the city at a manageable temperature." The tour guide explained calmly. 

"Excuse me, but why is it called the Obelisk of the Blue Sun?" Asked Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo considered glaring at her friend but decided against it, since she was actually a little curious about that herself, instead she looked at the tour guide who had a smile on his face, ignoring the groans of the rest of the class. "Back then, Princess Celestia was not around to raise the sun, and this was before unicorns learned to control it, so this Obelisk was one of the very few tools that could affect the sun, ancient hieroglyphs depict that the Obelisk was capable of altering the Sun, and from what little was uncovered leads researchers to believe that the Obelisk could change the Sun to be blue, hence the name." He explained.

The tour guide then gestured for the class to follow him and Scootaloo did so wordlessly, she looked around the ruined city as she walked, her gaze landed on what she guessed to be a house and paused when she saw a shimmer.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow and stared for a few moments and she soon saw the shimmer again, it was white and while the filly didn't know much about architecture, she did know enough to know that shimmering lights in a ruined stone house wasn't normal, she walked towards it with curiosity and a perplexed expression.

The house must have been a two story home at some point, as there were stone posts inside the ruin that still stood where stairs would be, Scootaloo looked around in the rubble and soon spotted a shimmering object a few seconds later, she walked towards it and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the strange object.

The item looked like a beating heart, but it was made out of a strange gold and white material that was neither stone nor metal, she carefully picked it up and looked it over, it was weirdly light and wasn't hot or cold, it felt strange that it was beating but she only let out a quiet chuckle. "Cool." She said before opening her saddlebag and putting the heart inside.

Scootaloo closed her bag and watched it, making sure it wouldn't be visible, to her surprise however, after a single beat there was no movement, as though her bag did not have anything inside it, she quickly opened the bag to check for it, to her relief the heart was still there. "Not the strangest thing I've seen." She whispered to herself before hearing her friends calling out for her. 

"Scootaloo!" The voice sounded like Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo stood up and walked out of the house, she started to walk in the direction the class was going and after a short time, she found her friends who ran up to her with visible concern on their faces. "Are you alright?" Sweetie Belle immediately asked.

"Where did ya go?" Apple Bloom asked, both of their voices were filled with concern.

Scootaloo looked back and forth between her friends as they waited for her to answer. 'Maybe I should show them what I found?... They are my best friends after all and I think they would be interested in it.' She reasoned and opened her mouth to speak, though what followed was an unconscious shift of her body so that her left side was facing her friends just a little more than her right. "I thought I saw something interesting in one of the ruined buildings, it turned out to just be my mind playing tricks on me." She lied, feeling guilty instantly due to how natural it sounded, even though her voice was just s little nervous sounding.

Apple Bloom nodded. "That's fine, it happens to me when ah'm tired too, and you didn't get any sleep last night after all." She replies with understanding.

"Yea, you should see Rarity when she goes a few days without sleep, she'll make a few dresses and then go to sleep, and when she wakes up she scraps them after fainting." Sweetie Belle adds, making the three giggle at the mental image.

Scootaloo then started to follow her friends as they led her back to the class so they could continue the tour, though for the rest of the day, she had a single question going through her mind, even as she tried to focus entirely on what she was learning.

'Why can't I bring myself to tell them the truth?'