Now begins the interesting part. Try not to panic, I can assure you that you are safe. I have the utmost confidence in my spells, and I don't say this from a conceited point of view. Let's watch together what happens, and from time to time I think I'll provide some pieces of commentary.
Twilight noticed how her field of vision was altered to the point where she could no longer see her body. Her heart was racing but she kept a lid on her reaction; after all, the unique nature of the experience excited her and the very possibility of directly sharing a memory with what seemed to be a most powerful spell-maker of the history was more than she had ever dreamed for. Seconds passed as she struggled to bring order to her erratic heartbeat, breathing in deeply the air filled with moisture. The wind carried unknown incenses, and as she felt the streams of rain passing through her being, she accepted that she was part of the scenery now, an invisible witness to a moving painting that was now unfolding at an accelerated pace. In her immediate vicinity, the young unicorn that was awakened by the unleashed nature was now troubled by his unknown whereabouts. From the blurry surroundings that lined the border of her vision, Twilight heard the clear voice of Star Swirl:
I had absolutely no idea how I got here. And I made no connection between my current predicament and the shooting star: after all, these are only tales of pony folklore, the tales of times when there were earth pony knights in shining armor battling fierce dragons and rescuing pretty alicorn damsels in distress. They always seem to rely on the fate reserved to them by the stars above, don't they? No, I can assure you that however wild this may seem, this was all my own doing; as far-fetched as this sounds, if I had not made that wish nothing would have happened and I would not live to see the roles reversed. I find it incredibly hilarious now, looking at this scene. Look how miserable I looked!
The young pony was crying, laying on the ground near the bank of the ever expanding torrents of water. It made no motion to move away from the wet tendrils that began to bite in the ground underneath and around him, and soon enough he was surrounded by water from all sides, the unintended king of a diminishing island. A larger wave ended the struggle between the land and the river, sweeping both the patch of dirt and the unicorn, and they disappeared from Twilight's sight. She cried in fear of what was going on, wishing that she had arms to reach for the helpless little colt. Unexpectedly, she began to move along the flowing river, passing through the trees that were welcoming the end of the dry air and dust by sprouting out tiny leaf buds that quickly started to grow in abundance, transforming the barren landscape in a green land. As the turbulent waters advanced in front of Twilight's eyes, life sprung from every crack and every burrow in the earth; as the grass draw in the life giving waters, so did a confusingly large number of animals that appeared almost out of nowhere, feasting on the succulent herbs. They were much wilder than anything Twilight had seen before, lacking the civilized poise of the city ponies as all the hoofed distant cousins of the ponies she knew all too well were rejoicing in spite of the bellowing thunders produced by the powerful lightnings that ignited the racing clouds. Her amazement grew after noticing one of them standing out of the crowd.
In the tumult of antelopes, wildebeests and gazelles, there was a zebra. Well, in fact there were hundreds of zebras in the middle of the frantic crowd, but this particular zebra set herself apart from the herd, looking intently at the ground, digging here and there for roots and various herbs that she meticulously packed in her saddle bag. The vision carried Twilight closer to the unusual striped horse as she in turn approached the river - something caught her attention and as the attention of several other hoof-beasts was directed towards the river, its focus was getting defined as a small body flowing inertly on the ebbs of the unruly waters. The unnamed zebra yelled something at some of her fellow equines that quickly jumped in the water, reaching for the body of the young pony and picking him up. Just as they dropped the limp body on the solid ground, the image turned pitch black. Twilight could not longer see anything, and Star Swirl's voice was not present to give away any hints as to why that was. The darkness did not last, for the warm light of a cozy fire illuminated a different scene, very much like the changing set of a play at a theater Twilight used to go from time to time. And now the action had moved inside a small hut: outside, the storm had long since ceased, and the first rays of moonlight challenged the feeble reign of the hearth's fire over the ebony night.
I had been sleeping for two days straight, it seemed. Star Swirl's tone betrayed a faint nuance of melancholy. They did not attempt to wake me up, for she forbade them to intervene in any manner. I never got her name until I returned to this place, a great number of years later, and by then she was much older than I was. Yet she knew who I was, and she remembered my stay. Look, there she is now; I think I am about to wake up. Let's observe, shall we?
The zebra carried inside a bubbling pot, swelling with strange and potent aromas. Laying it beside the sleeping pony, she gently started to blow against the steam that emerged from the pot; flaring his nostrils, the unicorn slowly regained his consciousness. Rubbing the back of his head, he rose to an upright position, looking at the zebra with a curious tilt of his neck. In turn, she revealed her heavily adorned ankles as she bowed in front of him, confessing in a most peculiar accent:
- It truly is the first time I see before my eyes a most cute unicorn pony. I understand that for you, my little one, the sight of a zebra must be quite fun! But do not burden your mind with fears that you will never find; have a little of my special stew, and let me have a better look at you.
The young pony was quite famished as he gulped down the mixture in the pot with great haste. Only after having finished with the last crumbs and placing the hoof-made vessel on the ground, the unicorn noticed the zebra's petrified stare, her deep purple eyes adamant on observing something that occurred right above the foal's head. She did not move an inch but nothing in her posture hinted at her being afraid: more like being shocked by what she had seen, she muttered something beyond either Twilight's or the young Star Swirl's hearing. Minutes passed by as the truly frightened malachite unicorn was trying his best to pry the zebra out of her prostration. Oddly enough, she seemed to nod ever so slightly from time to time or occasionally shaking her head and closing her eyes as if she was thinking about something. All the while keeping her eyes fixed on the very same spot, and while the frantic unicorn's attempts of distracting her attention failed one after another. Twilight saw him trying to push her out of the way, trying to block her line of sight with anything that he could pick up from the floor or around the hut, jumping in front of her and on top of her; everything he tried was in vain.
I had no doubt that the ghost had cast some sort of spell on her, and it was the last thing I wished for. By now, it was clear to me that the ghost wished only bad things to happen to me. It had taken me from my mother's bedside when she was in her most dire need of my presence and instead placed me in an unknown land, jinxing everyone that went in contact with me. You might have wondered why I did not try to swim when the currents had taken me; for a moment there, I truly believed that by getting rid of myself I would help the others. I genuinely believed that my demise would actually bring some good to ponykind. The thoughts of a young pony can be so simple yet so disturbing at the same time... Either way, I had given up fighting before the real combat had even started; seeing this zebra having to suffer from the curse of my birth was too much, and I was infuriated to the brink of exploding. Guess I should have been thankful that I still had no magic because I'm certain I could have caused more harm. Much, much more harm.
The paralysis subsided as if by magic, the zebra regaining her composure. Grabbing the distraught pony's hooves, she spoke to him:
- You have no longer need to be afraid my young friend, for your pain and suffering I now understand. A few nights ago, I saw a shooting star in the sky; why did it chose to fall that very moment, I now know why. And I have some words I wish to share as our time together is little to spare. My young pony, one precious thing you must understand before you will proceed on your journey and go from this land. Things in life are not like my stripes of white and dark, and your actions will often differ from either color's mark. You'll find that the further you go into your quest, the harder your decisions will be to digest: there will be an ever thinner line between what feels wrong and what seems fine and before you step into the unknown look back and see where your hoof prints are shown. I will give you this flask of remedy, to use when you'll become a true unicorn pony.
Kissing him on the forehead, the zebra pressed a small flask into his hooves: afterwards, with the brightest of flashes, the scene quickly faded into darkness. And Twilight opened her eyes into the crimson light of the dawn. She recognized the patterns of the delicately grooved sculptures decorating the chandelier of her own chamber. Turning her head to the right, she noticed Shining Armor sleeping in an armchair right beside her. She smiled, lifting an unkempt lock of hair that partly covered her big brother's eyes. He twitched a bit, but was in a deep slumber. He must be worn for keeping a watchful eye over me, thought Twilight, and so she carefully picked up her blanket, covering him as she got out of bed as stealthily as she managed. The silhouette of a pegasus guardian at the door almost made her jump as she tried to sneak her way out of the room; with the book floating beside her at its own volition, Twilight looked closer at the big stallion that must have been appointed by Celestia to keep an eye on her while she was sleeping: he too was taking a healthy nap, propped up against his hefty spear. She covered her mouth with a hoof to keep her laughter from alarming the guard and dashed out in the courtyard, in the warm sun of the morning. And there, on the first steps that lead to the interior of the castle she opened the book, reading the first words she encountered:
- I hope that you saw a very interesting detail, one that slipped out of my mind until the very end. Right before I disappeared from the hut, a change occurred on my flanks. Once again, the tiny star was visible in the center of the snail's shell.