10 Days, 3 Adventures - Part 1 - "In Dreams They Came"

by TP Night

Chapter 7-A - Luna And Twilight

Please note - Chapter 7 is divided into three sub-chapters, 7-A, 7-B and 7-C,
each following one of the three groups of ponies as they search for the orbs.
ALL THREE have the same opening scene, but each sub-chapter follows a different group of poneis after they split up.

“Okay.” Twilight started as they all walked out from the library.
“Me and Luna will go deep within the forest to find the stone
furthest away from here, since Luna knows the Everfree forest better
than anypony else here. Applejack and Applebloom, you two
head for the stone in or near the river west of here.
Spike, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, you three go east and try to find
the stone at the everfree outskirts near Fluttershys cottage.”

After she had given everypony directions, they all split up into their
respective groups and went away towards the direction they
had been assigned.

* * *

“Now then, where do we go?” Twilight asked.

“We have a long way to go, so I would suggest we begin our journey
flying over the forest rather than walking through it.” Luna said while
looking toward the forest. “In the past, the forest was just an ordinary forest.
So even though I still remember most of the layout, it has become much
more dangerous. Also, it is faster that way. Above we can go in a straight
line toward the area where the stone should be. On ground level,
we would have to find a path between all the trees and plants.”

“True. Let’s fly then. How far is it, by the way?”

“A little bit beyond our old castle.”

“I see.. I’ve never been deeper into the forest than the castle grounds
and its surroundings.”

“Then, you shall now see the other side. Not very far from the castle
though, we should still be able to see it from where we are going.”

They both spread their wings and took off, flying in a straight line upwards.
After they had reached twenty meters above ground, Luna stopped and
hovered in the air. Twilight stopped at the same height, next to Luna.

“Look.” Luna said, pointing her hoof toward the forest.
In the distance Twilight could see the upper parts of the castle ruins,
the old tower spire sticking up through the forest.

“Let us go there first, as a midway point. from there, I will cast the
scanning spell again to see if I can get a closer pinpoint of the stone.”

Luna started flying toward the castle spire at a medium speed.
Twilight followed shortly behind. After a couple of minutes they reached
the tower. Luna carefully landed on the pointy roof, but only stood there
for a moment before lifting herself into the air again.

“The tower feels unstable. I am unsure if it could hold my weight.
It is a miracle it still stands at all.” She said when she noted Twilights
questioning look.

Twilight looked at the tower, and flew closer. She gave it a push, and they
both watched as the upper half of the entire tower broke off and fell down,
becoming nothing more than a pile of rubble on the ground below.

“Better this way.” Twilight said. “Otherwise it may randomly fall at any
time, and somepony or some animal could get hurt, or worse.”

“Agreed. This entire castle is no more than a ruin anyway.
You should have seen it a thousand years ago, when it was still
in good shape. The tower you just knocked down used to be a small
storage area, but me and Celestia also used to hide from guards there
when we stole cookies from the kitchen.” Luna smiled and almost giggled
at the memories.

“I used to steal cookies too when I was a filly. Me and my brother.
We hid in a large bush outside in our garden. Then we ate the cookies and
read old ponytales from my books.”

“I believe most fillies and colts steal cookies at some point.” Luna said with
a small laugh. “At any rate, I will scan the area now. I must ask you to be
as silent as you can for a minute while I do so.”

“I understand.” Twilight said and fell silent,
except for the gentle flaps of her wings.

Lunas horn began shining brightly again, just like it had in the library
earlier when she used the same spell.

“Ah!” She exclaimed. “I have it. The location. Or, well, the area at least.
Look over there. Do you see the two trees that are slightly taller than
the rest?” She said while pointing a hoof north.

Twilight looked where Luna pointed, and noted the two trees.
“Yes, I see them.”

“The stone should be somewhere near those trees.” Luna said and began
flapping her wings, and took off toward them.

Again, Twilight followed just behind her.

They landed between the two tall trees and started looking around.

“How do we know where they are?” Twilight asked.

“The black flowers Spike and the fillies mentioned. Look for them.
They are indicators I created, to help me find the stones if I ever needed to.”

“I see.” Twilight said and started looking for the small black flowers.

They searched for a while, and eventually Luna called out for Twilight.

“Twilight! I have located the flowers. They are here, underneath these
shrubberies!”

Twilight came running, just as Luna started using her magic to dig away the
shrubberies, and the ground itself. A few hooflenghts down she
found what the were looking for. A shining black orb.

“Ah, yes. This is it. We should take this back to the library.”
Luna said as she lifted the orb up from the hole.

“Yeah.. Let’s go!” Twilight said, and they both took off once again
into the air, flying as fast as Twilight could manage.
Luna could have flown faster, but she held Twilights speed,
as to not leave her behind. After a few minutes flight, they both landed
outside the library and entered, finding that they were the first to return.

“Looks like we’re the first.” Twilight said as they entered.

“Indeed. Then we wait.” Luna responded.

“Want some more tea?” Twilight asked as she walked in to the kitchen.

“If you have peppermint tea, I would not say no to a cup.” Luna smiled.