Fallen Star

by Archangel2401


Into the Woods

Princess Luna shared a few more words with Celestia before bringing a waxing gibbous moon high in the sky and then taking off in the direction of Ponyville. The pegasi had removed clouds earlier during the day so Luna was able to enjoy smooth sailing in clear skies. It was some time until she reached Ponyville and her flight, while relaxing, was entirely uneventful. It gave the Princess of the Night ample opportunity to let her thoughts dwell on the task at hand.

Perhaps the dream was just a reminder of what happened between she and Celestia? A story she conjured in her sleep that took it's roots from her own transformation into Nightmare Moon? That certainly seemed more the more rational notion, but what she saw had been two stallions, not mares. At least, the voices she'd heard belonged to stallions... and the crystal cave? She'd never seen such a place before. No, it couldn't have simply been a figment of her imagination. But why haven't I felt anything until now? After all this time? Could it just be the Tree of Harmony responding to all the trouble with Tirek?

Luna was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she'd flown over Ponyville without realizing it and she'd spotted the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres. The Princess gave a soft huff of exasperation and quickly altered her course, spiriting away towards Twilight Sparkle's castle to which she arrived at shortly thereafter. She lingered outside, taking a few moments to admire the structure's gleaming architecture. It wasn't the Golden Oak Library, but in time it would certainly suit Twilight. She approached the doors and gave them a few sharp knocks, letting the sound echo throughout the hall beyond. After a moment Twilight Sparkle was the one to appear and answer the door, a look of thinly veiled anxiousness on her face.

"Princess Luna! We got the message you sent. Please, come right in! You didn't have to knock-" Twilight greeted Luna until the latter silenced the former with a gesture and a smile.

"Please Twilight Sparkle, it would be most unbecoming if I just let myself in. Though thank you for answering so promptly. Truth be told I expected Spike to let me in." The Princess of the Night continued to smile and the Princess of Friendship bowed her head, standing to the side to let her new arrival enter.

"It's late and spike is still a young dragon after all. He zonked out on me so I tucked him into bed."

A quick trot through the halls would leave Twilight and Luna in the throne room with both princesses standing alongside the map in the center. Luna had yet to see the crystalline pedestal with the Map of Equestria since the castle had formed and seeing it with her own eyes was more than she could have imagined.

"We must say Twilight Sparkle, we confess ourselves to be a tiny bit envious of your accommodations. The magic behind this unique cartography is simply stunning." Luna said quietly as she gazed over Equestria, her eyes lingering fondly over Canterlot. The awe she felt did not properly show on her face, but it did cause her to revert to using the royal 'we'.

"Oh! Well thank you Princess. That's very kind of you, but it's nothing as regal as Canterlot of course. As for the map, it just appeared when all of my friends gathered her with me. Like the castle was reacting to our friendship." Twilight replied as she joined Luna in looking over the Map once again. It wouldn't be long until Cloudsdale moved close enough to Ponyville, and that meant time for a change in season.

"We do apologize. We... err, that is to say -I- am sure you're puzzled as to what I'm doing here, so let us discuss the situation. We also need not trouble with formalities." Luna gestured towards Twilight's throne for her to sit while she herself began to pace back and forth. "What I can most adequately describe as a 'vision' has brought me here. My sister suggests that you assist me in the investigation." Luna proceeded to share all the details. Well, maybe not all of the details. While she cared deeply for Twilight, she simply felt it was not relevant to share her feelings of guilt or responsibility as she had with her own sister.

"You've never seen visions like this before?" inquired Twilight.

"Not to my recollection." Luna replied instantly.

"Are you sure it was a vision? Couldn't it just have been... well... a bad dream? I mean, we all get them from time to time, right?" Twilight smiled timidly, hoping she didn't come across as condescending. Luna raised an eyebrow.

"As the one who shepherds others through their bad dreams, I can say with certainty that I didn't 'just have a bad dream' myself>"

"I didn't mean-" began Twilight, only to frown with embarrassment as she lost her voice. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound rude and I don't pretend to understand how your power works-" Luna gave Twilight a reassuring smile before cutting her off.

"It's all right. This may have been a bad dream... but it was not my dream. It was shown to me. I could see a cave full of crystals. Before that I caught glimpses of dense tree-lines. While not the only forest in Equestria, it is the largest that remains wild and-" Luna was cut off by Twilight this time as she finished the deduction.

"A perfect place to hide something you want to stay hidden." Twilight nodded and it took her a moment to realize what she'd done, a yelp and a blush of embarrassment creeping in on her cheeks. Luna simply laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Celestia and I came to the same deduction."

"Well, where should we even start looking? The Everfree Forest covers a pretty vast- wait..." Twilight's voice trailed off, her eyes widening as the other shoe fell. "The map!" With this exclamation she immediately turned to face the table in the center, practically leaping from her seat to rush to the edge.

"What about the map?" Luna moved to stand beside Twilight, peering over her shoulder with a curiously raised eyebrow.

"After we got the message that you were coming, I saw a blank spot... or I -thought- I saw a blank spot. I just assumed I was imagining things, but maybe I wasn't... darn it, how do I make this thing-"

Twilight Sparkle huffed in frustration as she put her hands on the map's edge, trying to get it to cooperate. The interactive image of Equestria responded, perhaps a little too quickly. It took Twilight several moments to get a handle on moving the image until she finally managed to get it centered on Ponyville. Slowly she shifted right to show the Everfree Forest, they could see exactly where Zecora's hut was located along with the ruined Castle of Two Sisters, and finally the Tree of Harmony. Where was it? As she rolled towards the center she finally caught sight of the anomaly. A black spot barely the size of a pea. The patch flickered as if the Map was trying to fill in the blank, but something was preventing it from doing so.

"That has to be it. Unless this thing is broken? Wonder what kind of warranty this thing has..." Twilight tapped a finger against her chin as she thought aloud. Luna gave another amused smile and rolled her eyes.

"I doubt it's broken. It's showing us the way. Though it doesn't look like we can get an exact fix, but it shouldn't be difficult to locate once I'm in the general vicinity." Luna stared hard at the flickering patch of black and tapped the edge of the table, causing the map to zoom out. Twilight frowned as she looked over at Luna.

"Don't you want me to go with you?" Luna had just turned to leave when Twilight issued the question, causing her to stop in her tracks. She had intended on looking by herself, though her brow furrowed as she envisioned the stern look on Celestia's face if Twilight confided in her that Luna had asked her to stay behind.

"I was intending to investigate myself, however you are welcome to accompany me If you wish... Though it is quite late at night. Are you certain you don't wish to remain here with Spike?" inquired Luna, already sensing such a flimsy diversion wouldn't be enough to peruade Twilight to remain.

"Spike is out cold. He's still young after all, I hate keeping him up this late. He'll be all right, I'll leave a note for him if he wakes. Besides I couldn't just sit idly while there's a chance I might be able to help you." Twilight replied, nodding eagerly.

"Very well, we begin whenever you're ready to depart."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It felt like hours had passed since Twilight and Luna had ventured into the forest. However much time had actually passed, the starry night sky could still be seen overhead through the foliage every time Twilight looked up. The two alicorns had passed Zecora's hut on their way towards the old Castle of Two Sisters, deciding that it was as good a place as any to use as a starting point. The zebra sage came out to greet them, though the brief meeting left Twilight feeling disconcerted. Zecora had issued a warning that she had felt something was amiss though she, like they, could not identify what. The zebra was spooked and Twilight couldn't recall her ever looking so anxious, not even when she'd been driven from her home by Plunderweeds.

"Princesses please beware, a foul scent lingers on the air. Something creeps out there in the dark, take heed before you disembark!"

Twilight Sparkle glanced occasionally in Luna's direction, who seemed un-phased by the zebra's words as they continued deeper and deeper into the forest. The longer they travelled, the closer the air became. Anypony claustrophobic would surely by feeling the effects. Stars were becoming more difficult to spot between tree branches of the wild Everfree trees until finally darkness enveloped them from every angle.

"I don't understand. We had clear skies, and such a bright moon tonight. Now we can't see one hoof in front of the other- ah!" Twilight was cut off as her hoof snagged a particularly troublesome root that curled mischievously from the ground, causing her to trip and faceplant with a yelp.

Luna paused and knelt down to help Twilight up, the latter scowling as she rose upright. She'd shake her head, huffing indignantly as she brushed some of her purple and pink mane from her eyes. Her horn lit up, glimmering with magic and soon glowed brightly enough to illuminate the path ahead. Luna nodded and gave Twilight an encouraging smile, soon following suit with light from her own. Wondering why she hadn't done this sooner, it only then occurred to her that Luna could probably see in the dark far better than she could. It was then that a rumble of distant thunder came from overhead, thus answering Twilight's question as to why they could no longer see the stars or the moon.

"Great, so now it's going to rain..." She let a sigh of exasperation escape her and Twilight allowed lingering doubts to entertain her, wondering if she shouldn't have stayed behind after all. Luna had been largely silent most of their journey so far and she opted to attempt a bit of idly chit chat. "I guess it's easy to take for granted that ponies keep the weather under control everywhere else."

"Indeed. When Celestia and I first began living in the castle we built here, it was some time before I'd adjusted to the random weather patterns. She was insistent we let this forest continue to grow without interference." Luna smiled faintly, but kept her eyes focused on the path ahead until the dark trees were beginning to recede, making their narrow path wider until it finally spilled out into a small clearing. In the center stood an abandoned metal post with a sign that had long since faded and rusted over, its message lost. Vines that looked not dissimilar from plunderweeds had encroached on the long forgotten marker, twisting all the way up the post and coiling around the piece of slag bolted at the top.

"Look there." Luna murmured softly as they approached the dilapidated marker. Reaching out with her left hand, she tore a few of the vines entangled around it away.

"I can't make out anything on it, it's completely worn away." Twilight replied. She circled around behind the post to see if the back was any less eroded or obscured by the troublesome plants when she spotted a patch of pitch black at the other end of the clearing, nestled at the base of a tree stripped of all it's leaves. Luna moved towards it and leaned her head in so the light from her horn would pierce the darkness. The tree's bark was white, yet faded as a sign of it's apparent age. With no leaves, flowers, or fruit hanging from it's branches it was a testament to see it still standing, clinging to life despite all wild trees growing around it. It's trunk rose up off uneven ground, at it's base lay a rocky crevice rent into the earth beneath it, wide enough to allow a pony of even Celestia's size to enter. The closer they approached, the more obvious this hole in the ground became, though anypony not paying attention would find themselves in for a startling surprise if they took a wrong step.

"I believe this is what we're looking for Twilight." Luna spoke softly and she looked up, trying to take in as much of her surroundings as she could. The darkness made it impossible to see anything beyond the clearing, though Luna could vaguely make out the shape of a mountain not far off behind where this ancient tree rest and it occurred to her that this rend in the earth likely disappeared beneath it.

"Down the rabbit hole, right?" Twilight let out a chuckle and forced a smile in attempt to hide the anxious look in her eyes.

"Only way to know for sure, yes?" replied Luna who smiled at Twilight Sparkle. The latter leaned forward to let the light from her horn shine down the tunnel and the Princess of the Night went to step in until Twilight stopped her.

"Wait a second. Let me just-" She galloped over to the edge of the clearing and with a brief sparkle of magic, Twilight left a ribbon tied around a tree branch marking the path they'd taken to get there. After hurrying back, she performed a repeat of the spell and left a ribbon tied to one of the branches of the tree that marked the entryway to this rocky outcropping. "Just in case."

Luna nodded as she turned to face the tunnel and the pair descended into the darkness. There was a much louder clap of thunder from outside mere moments after they began their descent, signaling that the storm had finally blown in overhead.