//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: My Little Countries: Magic of the Stars // by BlondeSky //------------------------------// Chapter 8 Astro pulled back as they realized the glow was coming from her own coat, “I-I-I…” she stuttered at a loss for words. There was a sound of stone grinding on stone as walls started closing in around them. She started to back away from the rest, but the wall blocked her path as others rose about them preventing any escape. She looked upwards and the ceiling closed over as well. The stone prison around them was everything but airtight. The white light coming off of her cast a soft glow on the dank gray walls around them. She pulled back until she was pushed up against the wall as all of their startled and confused eyes turned to her. She exhaled audibly as she looked in defeat at the ground beneath her. As she turned her gaze back upwards toward the others she wished only for escape. In the end she realized that the secret was only going to have been kept for so long. “I… I’m a star pony.” she stated as she shrank back, “I ran away when I was young to live in normal pony society. The reason I knew that stuff earlier was because… well… when you’re a star pony that’s all just common knowledge. Still the last time I lived with them was when I was just a foal, I swear!” She looked to Kara and Spot, the only two who had known of her heritage before that moment. They both moved forward to stand by her and gave her reassuring glances. She stood up a little straighter as she realized that there were ponies who were with her. “The both of us can vouch for her.” Kara declared with confidence, “We’ve known her since we were just foals and we knew about this beforehoof. What you are doesn’t change who you are.” she finished looking back at Astro with a nod and a reassuring smile. The rest looked astonished and startled, but none particularly upset or angry as she met their eyes. “So those ponies that attacked us when we got here… you’re one of them?” America asked. “Well… biologically speaking, yes.” she answered sadly. “Either way you can make sense of their actions, understand them, explain them, or maybe even predict them, yes?” England inquired. “I suppose so.” she responded. Germany shrugged, “It’s good to have a man on the inside.” “So… you aren’t mad at me?” she queried surprised. “No, just a little dumbfounded is all.” Diplo promised being the first of her friends to speak up. “Same here.” Ink agreed. “I-I still trust you.” Zone added, but looking fairly shell shocked. As he finished all of the stone walls contracted back into the walls of the ravine. There were several sighs of relief as the claustrophobic prison opened up. Astro’s however was more due to the fact that she still possessed all of her friends and their trust, along with that of the others. “So… why are you glowing?” America asked confused. “The moon gives off a magical current that causes star ponies’ coats to glow.” she answered simply. “Also, can you tell us exactly why they attacked us on the beach?” America inquired. She nodded feeling significantly more confident, “I’m fairly certain it was them who brought you here from your other world. They were probably trying to round you up before you could cause any trouble in this world.” “But why bring us here from another world if they don’t want us here in the first place?” England inquired. “I don’t think they did so on purpose. The star ponies lost something a long long time ago and have been searching for it ever since it was lost. They must have opened a portal to your world, although I don’t know how, hoping to find it there and you all fell through on accident.” she answered. “What exactly is it that they’re looking for?” France queried. “Not really an it, a she. There was an old queen, but one day she just disappeared. There were no traces just poof, gone. She’s an alicorn, so it’s fairly unlikely that she just died. They’ve never stopped looking for her since she vanished. They must have found the means to create dimensional portals and tried to find her in other worlds.” she explained. “So what does that mean for us?” Germany asked. She frowned, “I really don’t know. Dimensional magic I’d imagine is rather complex and draining. I don’t even know how they could’ve managed to do it. I can’t think of anypony who could get you back except...” “Except the ponies who got us here.” he replied. “Unfortunately yes.” she responded. “Um, I hate to interrupt, but we’ve sort of moved.” Kara interjected looking over the edge of the path. They could actually see the bottom of The Abyss from where they were, but it was just the same as everything around them before. Dull gray rock covered the ground everywhere they could see. Although the distance which they could see wasn’t very far so that didn’t say much. The only light they had was from the unicorns’ horns and Astro’s coat. Even with that little light however they could just see the bottom of what they though may have been an endless chasm. “Let’s go! We’ve come this far there’s no point in not seeing what’s down there! Maybe it’s whatever’s been messing with us this whole time!” Kara said excitedly. “I’d like to give them a piece of my mind.” America agreed. After exchanging glances the whole group took off at full canter ready for whatever they might find at the bottom. As they set hoof on the surface of the nethermost section of The Abyss their pace, however, slowed considerably. There was an unmistakable sense of dread about them as they walked forward. Their earlier confidence had left them as they went forth into the darkness unsure of what waited there for them. They had no way of knowing for sure, but chances were that there was something there and it had been what was causing them trouble the whole time that they had been down there. They all halted as Astro, who had been leading the group forward with her light, paused looking confused. Her gaze was directed downward at her hooves and they all looked there as well. She had been looking at a line of bright blue crystalline stone embedded in the floor beneath them. “That’s astral stone,” she explained, “I didn’t think that you could find it anywhere but the Astral Plain, where star ponies live. It glows in response to star ponies.” she added moving her hoof forward to touch it. As she did make contact it lit up and so did the rest of it illuminating a large circle at least forty meters in diameter on the ground. There was a gazebo like structure in the very center that was made of the same stone and was glowing as well. In the newly lighted area they all found that they could all see what resided in the heart of The Abyss.