Ace woke up to Nighthawk shaking him. As he looked around, he saw that he was the last to wake.
"We should probably get moving soon if we're going to save Princess Luna," Nighthawk said, backing away.
"You're right," Ace replied, getting out of bed. "Let's go out to the lobby and wait for Stella and Zephyr." He led the way out the door. They met a violet earth pony as they entered the lobby.
"Well, hey there," the mare greeted. "You look like some strong stallions. Would you mind helping me move stuff at the greenhouse down the street?"
"I'm sorry, but we don't have time for that, Lila. We..." Ace stopped as he realized she never introduced herself. She gave him a suspicious look. Stella and Zephyr came out in time to hear Ace. Stella stopped when she saw her.
"I don't recall seeing you before," Lila said. "How do you know my name?"
"I... uh..." Ace stammered, unable to think of an excuse.
"Summer told us about you," Stella said, walking up beside Ace. "She said you come here often, hoping some travelers will help you at your greenhouse." Lila's gaze softened. She nervously smiled and looked down.
"Wow, I didn't realize I'd made a name for myself here," she said.
"I don't--" Zephyr started, but she was stopped when Stella magically closed her mouth.
"Won't you please help me?" Lila asked again, trying her best to charm Ace.
"I'm sorry, but we really must be going," Ace said, going around Lila to leave. The others followed.
"You're going to the temple, aren't you?" Lila asked, her normal sweet voice sounding very chilling. Ace and Stella stopped immediately, causing Nighthawk and Zephyr to bump into them. They both turned around.
"What temple?" Stella asked.
"Don't play dumb with me. I saw your reactions, I know that's what you're going for."
"I didn't even know there was a temple around here," Ace said unconvincingly.
"You've been there already, haven't you?" Lila asked.
Ace sighed and said, "Yes. We've been there, but now we need to go back."
"Why would you want to go back to that hellhole?" Ace looked around to his motionless companions. He took a step towards Lila.
"Ace, what are you doing?" Stella asked.
"She figured it out on her own, Princess," Ace responded. "It must have just been a coincidence that Pepper died, since nothing has happened to Lila, or even Luna initially." He touched a hoof to Lila, which brought her to life in the timeless room. She yelped and jumped back a little.
"It's not a matter of going back by choice," Ace said. "We aren't supposed to tell anypony about it unless they figure it out. I couldn't lie to my friends, so I told them. We would all be dead if it weren't for Princess Luna stepping in. She gave her life to save us, and now we need to get her back."
"By the way, how did you know about the temple?" Stella added.
"Everypony in Whinniesburg knows about it, since it's so close by," Lila replied. "Are these the friends you tried to tell?"
"No, I made them stay back in Ponyville," Ace said.
"So why are you withholding the truth from them?" Lila asked, indicating the group behind Ace. Ace stepped back to where he was before stopping time.
"They have to figure it out on their own. They don't know the legend, so we can't help them."
"I could tell them," Lila offered.
"That'd be suicide," Ace said before returning time to normal.
"I'm coming with you," Lila said.
"Did I miss something?" Zephyr asked. "You just called it a hellhole, didn't you?"
"You're not coming," Ace said sternly. "I don't want anypony else to get hurt because of my mistakes."
"What about them? Or don't you care for their safety?"
"I know they can handle what's ahead. You, however, can't."
"What makes you so sure?"
"The fact that you need help moving stuff in your greenhouse!" Ace hadn't intended to yell, but his temper had been pushed to it's limit. Regretting doing so, he turned to leave. He walked out, leaving the rest behind at the inn.
"It's probably best if you stay here, Lila," Stella added. "Ace has had a short temper since the... incident at the temple." She walked halfway out the door. "The rest of you, let's go." They did as they were told, leaving Lila alone. Zephyr sped ahead of the rest, determined to get something out of Ace.
***
Ace, who had made it to the edge of Whinniesburg, sat down on the side of the road to wait for the others. He never expected to be tackled to the ground again.
"Ace!" Zephyr demanded, once again pinning him to the ground. "You've got a lot of explaining to do!"
"I promise, once this is all over with, I'll explain everything," Ace replied, trying hard in vain to remain calm.
"No, now!" She commanded.
"I told you, I can't!" At the last word, Ace bucked Zephyr off of him. She landed flat on her back across the road. He stood up and yelled, "If you're just going to question me nonstop, then you can just go home!"
"Not without some idea of what's going on!" Zephyr snapped back, picking herself up.
"Believe me, if I could, I would have by now."
"And why should I believe you? You haven't even told us what's going on!"
"Fine, you want to know what's going on? I'll tell you what's going on. The temple we're going to? It gives whoever gets there the ability to--" Ace cut off, as his mouth was forcibly sealed shut by blue magic.
"Ace, you know that's taboo!" Stella said. "I don't care how angry you are, but it's not worth it to get yourself and Zephyr killed!" She ran up to them, Thunder and the Guards right behind her. "Lila was risky enough, but Zephyr is definite suicide." Ace wanted to apologize, but his mouth was shut so forcefully that he couldn't open it, even after Stella removed her spell.
"As for you," she said, turning attention to Zephyr. "I don't know if you're capable of handling this. I'm not sure what Ace was thinking bringing you along, but it's time for you to go."
"All I want is for somepony to tell me what is even going on!" Zephyr exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen." Her horn began to glow.
"Well, we're, like, a million miles away from Ponyville. How do you--" Before she could finish the sentence, she flashed and disappeared.
"You sure it was a good idea teleporting her that far?" Ace said, finally able to open his mouth, albeit with a very sore jaw. "You didn't do so well from Canterlot."
"That was just exhaustion. You know how much magic I used just moments before then."
"Fair enough." Ace moved to address the rest of the group. "Alright, we're almost at our destination, so let's move out!"
***
"--expect me to..." Zephyr trailed off as she suddenly found herself surrounded by a crowd. Not just any crowd, though. It was comprised of ponies from Ponyville. "With magic. Of freakin' course. It's like they're all out to get me or something." She continued to mumble to herself as she made her way home.
Her hooves guided themselves upon a familiar path as Zephyr put the rest of her focus on trying to come up with a logical explanation for everything. She had walked completely past Crescent without thinking about it until afterward, when an idea struck her. "Hey, Crescent!" she called.
Crescent turned around to greet Zephyr. "Oh, hi Zephyr! What's up?"
"You went with Ace to Canterlot, right?"
"You could say I was the reason we even went," Crescent replied. "Why?"
"Can you tell me what happened that night?" Zephyr asked eagerly. "The night of the perihelion?"
"Well, when Luna raised the moon, it was much larger than normal."
"I mean at Canterlot. What made Ace change?"
"Oh," Crescent looked around at anything but Zephyr. "I don't think I can talk about that."
"Why not?" Zephyr demanded. "The Princess was kidnapped! Don't you think you should be telling the Royal Guard or something?" She had said it a little too loud, causing passerby to stop and listen.
"What are you talking about?" Crescent asked. "The Princess wasn't kidnapped, silly."
"But, Ace said she was."
"Princess Celestia's abroad. So if Luna was kidnapped, then who's the one controlling the sun and moon?" Zephyr opened her mouth to respond, but couldn't think of any valid response.
"Then why did he leave to go save her?" Zephyr said finally.
"He didn't, he just went back to Canterlot the morning after the perihelion. And he brought Thunder with him."
"So who's Stella?" Zephyr's question caught Crescent off guard, but she didn't flinch.
"Who?" Crescent asked, doing very well to maintain her facade.
"Stella. The unicorn that Ace happened to meet once Princess Luna was taken."
"I think you should go home, get some rest," Crescent said. "Maybe tomorrow, you'll realize that nothing suspicious is going on." She smiled nervously, expecting to be caught right there. To her relief, Zephyr was too confused and tired to even notice. She flew home, where she took Crescent's advice and went to bed.
***
The path between Whinniesburg and the temple was short. The cliff was visible from the western gate. From the sky a ways out, Ace could make out the shape of the temple in the distant fog. "I can see it from here," he called out upon landing again. "Not much farther now."
"What are we gonna find there?" Thunder asked.
"Hopefully, Luna," Ace replied bluntly. "Also, and I should have probably mentioned this earlier, but there's going to be a lot of danger." He looked down, slightly ashamed. "I almost guarantee that we won't all make it out alive."
"Sounds like a challenge!" Chrys boasted. "Leave it to us, we'll have it cleared in no time."
"It's not that simple," Ace added. He would have continued, but he stopped when the three guards were in a battle-ready position. He turned to see what had got them so worked up.
"It's... just a bush," Stella pointed out. "Nothing special about it except it's the last one we'll see."
"No, there's a pony there," Blaze said. "I can sense it." The bush began glowing with the same orange aura as his horn. He pulled it apart, revealing a violet face, eyes closed, and appeared to be trembling. Stella grabbed the pony with her own magic and dragged her out.
"Lila?" She opened her eyes for a moment when Stella called her name. She closed them again and turned her head away when she saw everypony staring at her. "What are you...?"
"I thought I told you to stay back!" Ace yelled. "Why did you follow us?" She didn't answer. Ace stepped closer. "Answer me!" When she didn't react at all, he turned to Stella. "Send her back."
"No."
"What? Why not? She did exactly what I told her not to!"
"That's no reason to send her home," Stella replied. "If anything, it shows that she's willing to defy anyone to come here."
"But still..."
"I know. She may be dead weight, and none of us want to see her hurt," Stella finished for Ace. "But remember we're a pony down, and we're not likely to find any better replacement this far out. It was your idea to tell her where we're going and show her what we can do. Now get back to where you were and apologize to her." He backed up, ready for Stella to return time to normal.
Lila half-opened her eyes, her head still off to the side. "You did, and I'm sorry for following. I'll be going home now."
"Wait," Ace stopped her. "I was a little harsh on you back there, and I apologize for that." She looked up at him. He sighed before adding, "If you want to come along with us, I won't stop you."
"Really? Thank you!" She was about to grab Ace, but he flew out of the way.
"Just try not to slow us down," he added, landing beside Stella. "If something happens to her, it's on you, Princess," he whispered to her.
"Just stop worrying about it. I'm sure she'll be fine."
"I hope you're right." Ace started back towards the cliff. "Okay, let's get going. Our destination is just over the cliff, so let's go!" He led the way to the cliff overlooking the temple. The others followed him down the cliff side walkway leading up to the temple. They stopped in front of an arch with inscribed text that only Stella could read. Ace turned to face the rest of the party.
"Once we go through here, there's no turning back," he said. "I'm sorry to have to put you all through what's ahead, but it's crucial that we get Luna back. If you want to leave now, then speak up." For a moment, it appeared as if they all wanted to keep going. Then, Thunder stepped forward.
"I'd like to go home," he said. Ace nodded and looked to Stella.
"I'll teleport you back," she said. "Remember, you can't tell anypony about what has happened." Her horn began to glow. "And make sure Zephyr doesn't say anything, either." Thunder disappeared into the blue flash that was Stella's teleportation spell.
"Anyone else?" Ace asked. When none of the remaining responded, he continued. "Then let's go." He walked under the arch, followed by Stella, Lila, and the guards. A flaming wall cut them off from behind, marking the start of the first trial.