The Rebirth of The Sunby Star FlankChaptersA Long Way From HomeLost In The DarkLost and FoundA Long Way From HomeSomewhere near the northeastern border of Equestria: A rough camp had sprung into being near a small forest on the very edges of Equestria. Various voices called back and forth as ponies in varying colors worked to get the camp set up before night fell. Rough Spirit, a unicorn from the Canterlot Archeological Society, is in this area to ascertain the existence of a large, ancient castle of mysterious origins. Rough was of course dubious of the existence of any such castle, especially in such a remote area as this one. However, as Canterlot’s leading expert on historical architecture, and having personally led several successful expeditions to the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters meant that he was the only pony qualified to lead this expedition; at least according to those running the Archeological Society. Which resulted in a less than pleased russet coated unicorn standing in the middle of the camp yelling out orders. “Glory, how many times do I have to tell you to tie down each part of the tent before moving onto the next! Dust, make sure Glory actually puts up the pole in the middle of the tent this time! You remember what happened last time.” This last comment was met with chuckles by a majority of the crew as the aforementioned mint colored pegasus ducked her head blushing. “If you have time to stand around laughing then there’s obviously stuff that needs doing. So get to it! Autumn, I want you to take a buddy and grab us some firewood. Play it safe, and don’t head out too far; remember we’ll have plenty of time to explore our surroundings later on. Lightning, I need you to fly up high and get a good look around. Take Rain with you, and be sure to find a decent sized stream; we need to make sure we have a fresh source of water nearby. Make sure to bring back as much water as you can safely carry; we’ll need it for meals and such.” Rough nodded at the ponies he had mentioned Autumn, a chestnut colored earth pony, Lightning, a blue-gray pegasus, and Rain another pegasus her coat a cobalt blue. Content that his team could handle things without him for a short while Rough heads back to his own tent to take stock. Settling himself down at his desk Rough allowed himself a moment to relax as he unloaded his saddle bags, and pulled out a small photograph. Smiling up at him from the image was a magenta colored unicorn with a cream colored mane and tail. She held a maroon colored filly between her forelegs, both mares grinned broadly as if at some unknown joke. Rough frowned a little as he thought back to the conversation he’d had with his wife right before he left. <<<<<<<<< “Yes, I understand that this may be an important find, but why do you have you to go investigate it right now?! I mean I know that you’re the authority in this field, but can’t somepony else go at least for another couple of months until our foal is born?!” the magenta colored mare cried in frustration, barely able to keep her tears from flowing. Rough sighed as he gathered his wife in his forelegs, rubbing her back as she cried softly her face buried in his neck. “I know Velvet, I know. I argued with them for hours, and they’re insisting that I go myself to at least secure the site to begin with. I’ll just get things all set up for Emerald, and then I’ll be back before you know it.” He murmured softly into his wife’s mane. “I know...It’s just...I just worry about you....Especially since you’re traveling so far from home this time...Just...Come back safe, okay?” She asked quietly, her bright blue eyes looking up into his. The brown coated stallion chuckled at his wife’s expression of worry, “You say that every time I travel further than Ponyville, love. I’m taking a good team with me, and I won’t be gone for more than a month or two.” This assurance seemed to calm his wife down a little, as she let herself be led off to bed. <<<<<<<<<< Rough shook his head to clear away these distressing thoughts, and noticed just how dark it had gotten. Cursing himself for getting distracted Rough exited his tent, and just as he was about to yell at one of his crew to tell him where in Celestia’s name Lightning and Rain had gotten too a loud cry caught his attention. As fear ran down his spine Rough galloped across the camp towards where the terrible noise had originated from. Upon reaching the edge of camp Rough felt the knot in his gut tighten as he took in the scene before him. A group of ponies stood around Lightning, the blue-gray pegasus was slumped on the ground one of her wings bent outward at an awkward angle; her whole body covered in large, ugly scratches. Steel Hooves, the camp’s medic, was bent over the pegasus the soft yellow glow of his magic surrounding Lightning as he examined her wounds. Rough became aware that everypony’s eyes were on him, and he hurriedly hid his worry behind a mask of calm. “I need everypony to back off, and let Steel do his job, okay? Just go back to whatever it was you were doing, and I’ll take care of this.” Rough called out calmly, meeting each pony’s gaze with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. As the group broke up, and the different ponies headed back to their tents Rough made his way to where Steel was examining Lightning. Watching as the glow of Steel’s magic worked its way over Lightning’s still form Rough couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong with her?” Steel muttered a curse under his breath and answered without looking up, “ You mean aside from the broken wing, and these nasty looking scratches? I have absolutely no idea. I’ve examined every inch of her, and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with her head. However, I haven’t been able to wake her, and it’s way past the time when any initial shock from her injuries would’ve worn off.” Rough shot the white unicorn a worried look, thinking quickly as he asked, “Is it okay to move her? We need to get her out of the open before we start planning our next move.” Shaking strands of his sky blue mane out of his eyes Steel nodded, “She’s stable enough that we should be able to move her a short distance without making her condition any worse. I definitely would not recommend moving her a great distance though. Not at least until we know what’s wrong with her.” Rough nodded, and readied his own magic its soft green glow lighting up his horn. “Are you ready?” The yellow glow of Steel’s magic surrounded Lightning’s still form once more, and began slowly lifting it into the air. Green mixed with yellow as Rough used his magic to keep Lightning floating evenly as the two unicorns carried her through the camp, and into the medical tent. After they had carefully settled the blue-gray pegasus onto a cot Rough turned to Steel, “Okay, let me know if you need anything else, and be sure to keep me informed of any changes in her condition. Alrighty?” Up until now the two stallions had been speaking softly to one another so as to avoid disturbing the unconscious pegasus mare. Just then as Rough said his goodbyes to Steel hurried hoofsteps approached the tent, and Dust poked his head inside. “Chief, Blossom and Autumn found something when they were out gathering firewood; I think you’re going to want to see this.” The pegasus stallion’s hastily conveyed message, which sounded out quite loudly in the otherwise quiet tent, was met with an immediate and almost violent reaction from the previously unconscious Lightning. The three stallions could only stand there in stunned silence as the blue-grey mare sat up, and began rambling hysterically about something only she could see. “W-What’s going on? W-Who’s there? I-Is that an Alicorn? Who is he? I’ve never seen him before... Oh wait there’s another one...Hmm, her mane’s pink, but she almost looks like.... Oh Celestia!! She’s-She’s...What is she doing to him?! Is that? He looks like Discord, but that can’t be right....Wait....I-Is that Luna?! What in the hay is going on here?!! Oh....They're....They’re...Turning him to stone! Sweet Celestia, why is this happening to me?! Make it stop!!! Anyone please..Just...Make it stop....” Her voice had started out soft, uncertain but as she kept talking her voice rose and rose until she was shrieking at the top of her lungs. At the very end of her rant her voice softened, rough with pain and desperation; before she passed out once more. Steel waited a moment to be sure she was truly unconscious before crossing the tent, and reexamining her prone form. Glancing back at Rough he nodded, “She should be out for good now; I would recommend that we keep things quiet around her from now on though. That little episode wiped her out pretty good. I’ll keep an eye her, just to make sure nothing else happens.” Rough nodded, relieved. “Thanks Steel, I’ll go see what it is that’s got everypony else so riled up, and then I’m getting us all the hay out of here.” As he turned to leave Rough caught Dust’s eye, and saw the other stallion start to protest at Rough’s last statement. Seeing the set look upon Rough’s face quickly dissuaded Dust from voicing his opinion however. “It’s this way chief, if you’re ready to go.” Rough nodded and the two stallions left the tent together. Steel turned back, and gave Lightning’s sleeping form a thoughtful look; “What in the hay was that?” he asked himself softly. Lost In The DarkRough followed Dust through the camp, and into the forest to the south. As, they walked Rough asked the cinnamon colored pegasus about what exactly it was that had happened. “Well chief, the way I heard it from Autumn is that when he and Blossom were out looking for firewood they came across some kind of ruin.” Here Dust hesitated, and Rough guessed at what he was unable to say. “Some of them went in to investigate didn’t they? Without waiting for me, like they were supposed to.” He asked softly. When Dust nodded, Rough sighed and shook his head. “Let me guess, they thought they were going to rush in there and rescue Rain? Or at the very least find out what happened to Lightning, right?” Again Dust nodded, while Rough muttered curses under his breath at his crew’s foolhardiness. “T-They were just trying to help.” The cinnamon colored pegasus explained quietly, head lowered. “That’s exactly what I was worried about. Did they take any unicorns with them at least? Maybe Dancer or Moonlight? They are the best shield experts we’ve got.” A look that might’ve been fear passed across Dust’s face, “No, they took Stormy. They figured he’d be the better choice as he’s talented in battle magic. With what happened to Lightning they weren’t sure what they’d find in the ruins. Was that not a good idea?” the pegasus asked unsure. Rough began to swear aloud as he picked up speed, nearly cantering as he spotted a small group of ponies standing near the end of the trail up ahead. As he entered what looked to be a small clearing Rough’s eyes were immediately drawn to what looked like an ancient, overgrown castle. Tearing his eyes away from the strange sight Rough looked over the few ponies that stood in the clearing. “What are you lot doing? Why are you just standing around?” Rough demanded of the ponies. They all jumped, their attention diverting to Rough. Several of them looked away, worry and shame in their eyes. Rough looked around doing a quick headcount. “How many went into the ruin with Blossom, Autumn, and Storm?” he asked, rushing through to the other side of the group. A citrine coated unicorn approached him uncertainly, “Five other ponies went with them chief, two pegasi, and three earth ponies; Boulder, Peach, Fire, Cloud and Sunny. The rest of us wanted to wait for you before we did anything. We tried to stop them chief, but they were so determined...” At this she started to sob. Rough threw a hoof around her and started to console her. “C’mon Shimmer, it’s alright; You need to pull yourself together. We need someone to go back to camp and grab Dancer and Moonlight. We’ve already lost Rain inside the ruin. I’m not taking any chances with the rest of you.” The group was suddenly cut off by the sound of screaming coming from the ruins. Several ponies jumped, and one even took off running towards camp. “We need the mages from camp now!” screamed Rough. “Don’t come back without them!” He quickly looked at the ruin and started giving out orders. “I need someone to show me the way into the ruins. Shimmer, you stay here and let the others know where we’ve gone. The rest of you, move out!.” They all galloped across the clearing, the ruined castle looming above them. All too soon it seemed the small group had reached the crumbling archway that formed the entrance to the castle. Slowing down the group entered the castle making their way carefully around the large chunks of masonry that lay scattered everywhere. The flagstones of the floor were chipped, and cracked. What may have been carvings on the walls were broken and crumbling. They passed many large, empty corridors some of which were filled part way with rubble. Others had walls that leaned precariously and a few were even covered with scorch marks and piles of stone dust. The further they traveled inwards the worse the condition of the castle seemed to get. Large cracks started appearing in the walls and floors; the piles of rubble became more and more common, slowing Rough’s party down immensely. Blade, a unicorn his coat a forest green, had noticed that as they headed deeper into the castle a powerful magical aura was starting to build. Just as he was going to mention this to Rough a flicker of movement caught his eye, he turned swiftly but only found himself staring down yet another empty hallway. Oddly enough at the end of this hallway stood a large, onyx alicorn statue that seemed to glitter in the dim light cast by the glow of his horn. “Blade, what in the hay are you doing?” Rough’s voice startled the forest green unicorn, and he looked back seeing that the rest of the group were staring at him worriedly. “Sorry, I’ve just never seen a statue like that before is all.” He explained rubbing his neck sheepishly. Rough shot Blade a strange look, “What statue?” Sure enough, when Blade turned around again all he saw was an empty hallway. “B-But, it was there I swear it was!” he cried, looking at each of his comrades in turn trying to get somepony to meet his gaze. Rough finally interrupted Blade, “Take it easy there. You probably just saw a similar hallway earlier that had a statue in it and then thought that’s what you saw here. It’s no big deal, this place is pretty spooky. Now we need to get a move on, they’re ponies somewhere in this castle who need our help.” Blade sighed, and nodded dropping the uncomfortable subject as he followed Rough deeper into the castle. Shortly after the ponies in the group felt a strange sensation wrap around them, and it wasn’t until one of them stumbled into a rock, knocking it against a wall with a dull thud that Rough realized just how quiet it had gotten. The russet coated unicorn froze in place, his ears up as he listened intently. Rough muttered a curse under his breath, berating himself for being so intent on their safe journey into the castle that he hadn’t noticed that the screaming had stopped. Rough turned back to the group, and seeing their worried gazes he knew that they had come to the same realization as he. Now, this whole time Blade had been unable to stop thinking about that statue, and how he was going to prove to his comrades that it did in fact exist. He was so involved in his mental imaginings of him dragging the group back to that hallway, and showing them that the statue was there that he hadn’t noticed the group had stopped. This led to him bumping into Ink, an earth pony whose coat was a very dark shade of grey, Ink turned to Blade to ask him just what in the hay he thought he was doing, but stopped at the look of horror on the forest green unicorn’s face. Ink opened his mouth to ask Blade what was wrong, but was interrupted by the unicorn’s horn lighting with an ominous bright green light. Before anypony could react or even cry out in warning a bolt of energy shot from Blade’s horn, and flew through the air above Rough’s shoulder narrowly missing the russet coated unicorn. The green aura around Blade’s horn gleamed once more as if he was going to try again, but Ink and the other member of their party, an earth pony mare called Leaf, tackled him to the ground. Blade struggled against the two earth ponies rambling about the onyx statue, and how it was alive and that it was going to kill them all. His cries were brought to an abrupt halt as Rough knocked him out with a swift kick to the head. Ink and Leaf shot him looks mixed with confusion and horror, “It had to be done, I just knocked him out so relax. The magical energies of this place have driven him mad, now I need you two to get him out of here. Keep an eye out for Shimmer and our reinforcements, it shouldn’t take them long to catch up with me. I’m not arguing with you two about this, now go!” Ink and Leaf tried to argue, but under the force of his gaze they caved. They carefully picked up Blade between them, and once they’d secured his weight across their backs they began heading back down the hallway towards the exit. Rough sighed and watched them go for a short time to be sure they followed his orders before heading deeper into the castle in search for his missing crew. If Rough had stood there for just a moment longer he might have seen the slightest bit of movement, which if you stared at it directly would look like an onyx alicorn statue sparkling in the dark green light of his horn. <<<<<<<<<<<< As Rough and his group began their journey into the ancient castle Daisy, the earth pony who had run back to the camp when the screaming started, had finally managed to locate Dancer and Moonlight. These three had then made their way back to the clearing where Daisy had left the others. “Where did everypony go?” Daisy asked Shimmer looking around the nearly empty clearing. “Chief took everypony who was left with him into the ruins to look for Blossom, Autumn and Storm. He asked me to stay behind to let you know what was going on, and then he wanted us to head in after him.” Shimmer explained. Dancer and Moonlight nodded, Daisy however felt her legs begin to shake as she looked over the massive, crumbling form of the ancient castle. “W-We have to go in there?” she asked her voice trembling. Sharing a look Dancer gestured to Moonlight, a midnight blue unicorn mare, indicating that she should be the one to reassure Daisy. Sighing softly, Moonlight pressed a hoof against Daisy’s shoulder, “Take it easy there Daisy, everything’s going to be okay. We’ve explored ruins that were way spookier than this one before. Dancer and I’ll keep you safe so don’t worry.” The soft yellow earth pony nodded sniffling as she dried her tears, “O-Okay.” Shimmer waved her hoof, catching the other three mares’ attention “Hey, I understand that you mares are worried and all, but the racket coming from inside there really wears on a pony. So, I’d like to head in there and catch up with the chief as soon as possible, okay?” The other three ponies jumped slightly as they realized that the plaintive moaning sounds they had assumed was the wind were in fact being made by ponies they had known and worked with. Nodding in silent agreement the four mares made their way through the ruined arch and into the castle. Shimmer took the lead, her horn glowing with a pale lavender light as she looked for signs of Rough’s group’s passage. It only took them a few moments to come across several sets of hoofprints that they assumed belonged either to Rough’s group or Autumn’s. They had been traveling for quite some time when something seemed to change in the once still air of the castle. It seemed to the four mares that the darkness pressed close around the edges of the light emanating from Shimmer’s horn. “Wait..” Daisy called softly, “The screams...They’ve stopped..” As Daisy spoke the four mares shared uneasy glances with one another before heading deeper into the castle once more. By an unspoken agreement the group of mares began to move through the hallway at a trot; wanting to find Rough and the others as soon as possible so they could get the hay out of there. Even as they trotted through the ruined hallway being careful not to trip over the ruined flagstones or ever present piles of rubble; the sense of being watched, and that the shadows that swirled around them held whispers of a dark, malevolent power only seemed to intensify. It didn’t take the long before the frightened mares were all but sprinting through the hall hoping beyond hope that they could leave whatever lurked in the shadows behind. The glow of Shimmer’s horn became erratic as she ran, beginning to flicker oddly as she struggled to run and control her magic at the same time. As a result she failed to see the strange lump sitting in the middle of the hallway, and so she tripped and fell tumbling into the wall, her horn winking out leaving them all in darkness. Shimmer groaned, rubbing her head where it had hit the wall. As she moved to stand up her hooves felt something strange and almost soft move away from her hooves. Thinking it was one of her comrades who had tripped and injured themselves she swiftly relit her horn, and promptly started screaming. Her other three companions had tripped into one another when her horn had gone out; leaving them struggling to free themselves in the dark. Then, the light flickers back on and the three mares manage to disentangle themselves from one another. Just as they begin heading towards where the light is coming from, somepony starts screaming. Dancer and Moonlight bolt ahead of Daisy, squinting as their eyes adjust to the brightness of Shimmer’s horn. When they are finally able to see again both mares are stunned into silence at the sight before them. There on the ground lay the corpse of an aged pony, who looked vaguely familiar. Daisy walked up behind them just then, “Hey, what’s going on?” she asked confused; from where she stood she couldn’t quite see the corpse that lay on the ground. The sound of Daisy’s voice broke her friends from their stupor, and seemed to wake Shimmer, who had gone silent as Moonlight and Dancer approached. Shimmer opened her mouth again as if to start screaming, but Dancer bolted over to her and muffled her with a forehoof. As Dancer murmured reassurances to the distraught Shimmer, Daisy and Moonlight carefully looked over the strange corpse. After a long moment of silence Moonlight spoke, “I-I just can’t believe it...I saw him earlier today...T-This can’t be happening...” Her voice trailed off as she looked at the others with tears in her eyes. “We should check and see if we can find anypony else nearby; some of the others might still be alive.” Dancer responds firmly. “W-We can’t just leave him here like this!” Daisy cries, looking between Dancer and Moonlight unbelieving. “There may be other ponies that need our help Daisy. We’ll come back for him later so we can make sure the body gets home to his family.” Dancer explains gently, holding the pale yellow earth pony’s gaze. Finally getting a morose nod from Daisy the four mares begin searching the nearby alleyways for other ponies. Their search only reveals the bodies of Ink and Leaf, who had been aged nearly beyond recognition like Blade. Exhausted by their search the small group decides to split up; Daisy and Shimmer take the three bodies and begin the long walk back to camp while Dancer and Moonlight continue their journey deeper into the ruins in search of Rough. While the four mares had been making their way towards Rough; the russet coated unicorn had been struggling to find Autumn, Blossom and the rest of their group. Unfortunately, a large rubble pile had blocked the main corridor; diverting him onto a series of smaller side corridors in the hope that he could rediscover the main path. After he’s wasted who knows how long wandering around the empty halls, and getting himself more and more lost a scream interrupts his litany of curses about empty hallways. Galloping towards the sound of screaming Rough manages to find his way back into the main hallway, but before he can figure out which direction the screaming is originating from the noise stops. Rough waits for a long moment hoping for any sign of who was screaming or where they were, before he finally decides to continue down the hallway in what he hopes is the right direction. Not long after rediscovering the main path Rough notices that the latent magic in the ruins seems to be increasing; using this as a sign that he’s heading the right way his pace increases to a gallop. Shadows seem to close in around him, as unseen voices taunt him from all sides; he is close so close and just as the darkness seems to swallow him a bright light shines at the end of the tunnel. Rough gives a small burst of energy tearing himself free of the shadow’s grip as he stumbles into the large, brightly lit room. Rough drags himself to his hooves, doing his best to shake off the exhaustion that threatens to overwhelm him. The room he now finds himself in is massive with a high vaulted ceiling, and the remains of large columns running down its center. The empty frames of what he can only assume were stained glass windows run down either side, and the russet coated unicorn can’t help but wonder why he hasn’t seen any sign of vegetation in this ruined old castle. However, as he heads towards the large glowing light in the center of the room it becomes quite apparent what has been keeping all the plant growth at bay; at least on the inside of the ruin. A large glowing crystal sits in the middle of the floor here radiating a brilliant yellow light that stretches the length of the room. It is not the crystal however that holds Rough’s attention and causes him to cry out in despair. For there lying on the ground around the glowing crystal are the bodies of Autumn and the rest of the team who had so foolishly rushed into the ruins. As Rough bolts towards the bodies, Dancer and Moonlight finally manage to find their own way into this large hall and the three unicorns begin to tend to their fallen friends. Lost and FoundRays of soft golden sunlight fell across the four ponies in this hospital room; the soft beeping of medical equipment filled the air as a unicorn nurse tended to the nearby machinery. Two members of the Royal Guard sat nearby, quietly conversing with the pony lying on the hospital bed. A bedraggled looking grey colored pegasus lay on her back with her wings wrapped in bulky casts held to her sides. “Now, Cloud Runner I understand that you’ve had a very traumatic couple of days, but as I understand it after speaking with Rough Spirit and getting the whole story, you went with Autumn Heart and his small group to look for the two pegasi Rain Drop and Lightning Flare, correct?” The older of the two guardsponies asked, his rank identifying him as a first sergeant. Cloud Runner slowly nodded her head without looking at the guardpony who’d spoken. Strong Hoof glanced down at the young guard who had accompanied him and shook his head. They had been asking questions of Cloud Runner for nearly an hour now and hadn’t managed to get more out of her than nods or head shakes. The doctors had recommended that due to her extreme shock they not mention that the other ponies they had managed to recover from the ruins had passed away from their injuries. With only the pegasus Sunny Dancer surviving, but she was in a very deep coma that none of the doctors felt she would awaken from. Sighing softly Strong Hoof motioned to the younger guard and rose to leave. “Thank you for your time Miss Runner. I apologize for disturbing you, and if you remember anything else just let the nurse know and we’ll come right back.” Cloud Runner gave a small nod without looking at either of them. As, they open the door to leave Cloud Runner screamed loudly and began thrashing around wildly on the bed. Both stallions stood there stunned as nurses came in and attempted to soothe the distraught pegasus. Her cries of “They’re here!” seemed to follow the guards down the hall, and just as they went to turn the corner the young guard glanced back and felt a chill go down his spine, ‘I don’t ever remember seeing an onyx alicorn statue there before...’ he thought shaking his head. “What in Celestia’s name are you looking at?” the older guard snapped, Cloud Runner’s sudden fit had unsettled him and he very much wanted to leave the hospital. Looking back, Silver Hooves repressed a shudder as he stared at the now very empty hallway, “It was nothing.” he responded gruffly, “We should go.” Shaking his head in exasperation Strong Hoof led the way out of the hospital muttering about “Young colts these days.” The two guards walked back to the palace in silence. The trip was a short one as Canterlot General Hospital was only a couple blocks away from palace. As the two head through a side entrance they call greetings to the other guards on duty and exchange nods. A gray coated pegasus guard stepped up to meet them as they moved to enter the palace, “the Princess has been awaiting your return, please come this way.” he said gesturing down a side hallway. Silver and Strong shared an uncertain glance at this news, it was unusual that the Princess would take such a personal interest in this case. Both guards, being unicorns themselves, were well aware of the dangers involved with using magic, and had seen many cases similar to this one. However, never before had Princess Celestia herself taken such a personal interest in such a case. As Silver and Strong follow the gray coated pegasus, the silence stretches awkwardly between the three guards with Silver glancing nervously between the two older guards. “Do you know why the Princess wants to see us?” he asked softly. The gray pegasus glanced at the younger guard and shook his head, “She did not say, she did however seem… Quite distressed by something. She has been… distracted lately.” Once again, Silver and Strong exchanged nervous glances but before either guard could respond the pegasus stopped in front of an unassuming door and gestured that they should enter. Entering the room they saw that it was a small study with bookshelves from the floor to the ceiling. Equestria’s solar diarch sat bent over her desk, her flowing mane draped over the various stacks of paperwork she had yet to attend to. All of her attention was focused on a sheaf of papers that had the worn edges and creases showing that the documents had been unfolded and refolded many times over. Strong Hoof coughed, “Milady?” The alabaster alicorn glanced upwards and for a moment the seemingly ageless diarch looked worn, her lavender eyes filled with a deep, unfathomable, pain and just as quickly it was gone. “My apologies my little ponies, what did you learn from speaking with Cloud Runner?” If the guards were surprised at Celestia’s knowledge of the case, their impassive expressions revealed nothing. Strong Hoof coughed and then began, “To be honest milady she seemed to be in so much shock that she only nodded or shook her head in response to my questions. In fact, she only seemed to respond as we were leaving and even then it seemed to be more of a breakdown of some sort and not at all related to the incident at the ruins.” Celestia nodded, disappointment seeming to flash onto her face for a split second. If she had been paying a little more attention she might have noticed the hesitant look on Silver Hooves face and how he tentatively opened his mouth as if to say something. Right before he could however Celestia thanked them both and turned her attention back to her desk in what was an obvious dismissal. As Silver Hooves followed Strong Hoof out of Celestia’s study his thoughts drifted to Cloud Runner’s panic attack and the strange statue he thought he’d seen in the hallway outside her room. Glancing down at the younger stallion as they headed through the palace to grab some food, Strong saw the thoughtful look on his companion’s face. “Where’s your head at?” he asked curious. Shaking his head to clear away his dark thoughts Silver grinned, “Nah man, I’ve just never seen anything like that before… Is it always like that?” he asked softly. A sad look crossed Strong’s face, “Unfortunately yes, that is how it happens all too often. I wish I could say it gets easier kid, but…” he shrugged. Silver nodded and remained silent as the two guards headed into the lunch room. Not too far away in the small town of Ponyville an impatient purple unicorn paced around the center area of her library as she waited for a response to the latest letter she had sent to Princess Celestia. Meanwhile a small purple dragon watched her anxiously awaiting the familiar sensation that preceded one of Celestia’s letters. Just as he was about to give up waiting and suggest to Twi that she should move on to the reshelving she had scheduled for that day when a familiar rumble began in his gut, ending with a belch of flame and the appearance of a familiar roll of parchment bearing Celestia’s easily recognizable seal. Twilight practically pounced on the letter scooping it up in her magenta colored magic and unrolling it, her eyes quickly scanning across the parchment. Slowly Twilight’s face fell her expression turning from one of excitement to disappointment and then confusion. Finally, her eyes drifted down to floor as she finished the letter. “Come on Twi! What’d it say?” Spike asked, trying to recapture some of Twilight’s previous excitement. Sighing Twilight turned her lavender gaze to Spike’s green-eyed one, “Alright Spike I’ll read it to you. It says: My Dearest Student Twilight Sparkle, I am grateful for your offer of help my young student, but I assure you I have the best officials working around the clock to help the ponies involved and to discover the forces behind the incident at the ruins. I appreciate your offer of help Twilight, and of course fully support any of your research into ancient ruins like the ones that were discovered most recently. You can be of the most help by continuing your studies in Ponyville and writing me about your lessons on friendship. Thanks again my faithful student. Best wishes, Princess Celestia” Twilight glanced up, but her gaze seemed to fade through Spike as she thought. “I wonder what she meant by all of that?” she mused to herself. “Maybe there’s a book here that has the information she was talking about?” As she finished this statement her magenta colored magic began swirling around the room picking books off their shelves and hovering them in front of her face so she could scan their titles for a split second before moving to the next set. Spike sighed, and knowing it would be nearly impossible to talk to Twilight while she was like this merely shook his head and walked into the kitchen planning to make a pot of tea for when Twi calmed down. As the books flashed past her face they steadily moved faster and faster until with a start Twilight felt her magic reach for the next text and come up empty. Frowning Twilight felt around with her magic and began tugging on something that felt vaguely book sized and shaped. To her immense frustration the book seemed to be stuck on something, but as she tugged harder a loud crack echoed throughout the library followed by a soft whirring sound as an object flew through the air and hit her in the head with soft thump before falling to the floor. Startled Twilight whirled around and glanced first at the small rough-edged hole in the shelves of her library and then at the pile of dust and shards of wood surrounding what appeared to be a small, tattered, journal. “Twi! What in Equestria was that?!” Spike called glancing out into the main area of the library, his bright, green eyes landing first on the hole in the shelf and then moving to the mess of dust and and wood shards on the floor. Sighing Spike shook his head, “Well that’s new, you need any help out here Twi?” he asked. Rubbing her head where the journal had collided with it Twilight shook her head, “Thanks anyway Spike. Why don’t you go see what the Crusaders are up to?” she asked absently as she picked up the journal and gently brushed the dust off with a hoof. Spike nodded, “Alright then, there’s a pot of tea for you in the kitchen whenever you finish with...Whatever it is that you’re doing.” the young whelp responded, chuckling as his big sister and guardian mumbled an affirmative as she began gingerly flipping through the journal. As Spike went to leave he turned to glance back at his adopted big sister and mother and shook his head at her intense concentration with a fond smile. His eyes flashed over the cover of the journal and through the thick layer of dust was sure he saw the faded imprint of an apple, but then Twilight turned and Spike pushed the thought out of his head as he headed out the front door. Reading through the journal at her usual breakneck pace Twilight froze as her eyes flashed over a particular section of text. Her eyes widened as she reread the paragraph, the words Applejack and Big MacIntosh echoing through her mind. “T-this is… It’s Applejack’s mother’s journal! But how did it end up in the library? And why was it hidden?” Twilight’s mind rapidly ran through a multitude of scenarios each more outlandish than the last. “I need to tell Applejack!” She cried aloud and began excitedly packing her saddlebags with the various odds and ends needed for a trip to Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight glanced out her window briefly to check the time, and made the swift decision that since it was still relatively early in the day she did not need to leave a note for Spike as her trip to visit Applejack should be relatively short. Twilight quickly fastened her saddlebags and headed out the front door of her tree home. The trip to Sweet Apple Acres passed quickly and before she knew it she was standing underneath the sign bearing its familiar apple shape. Making her way through the farm’s main gate Twilight headed over to the large main barn following the sounds of cart wheels and grunts of effort. As she crested the hill Twilight watched Big MacIntosh bring carts of apples into the barn and begin packing them into crates for shipping to different cities around Equestria. Big Mac looked up as Twilight approached, nodding his head in greeting, “It’s good to see you again Miss Twilight. You here looking for Applejack?” At Twilight's nod he answered her unasked question. “She’s working the western half of the orchard today, so you’ll find her over yonder.” Here he gestured broadly with a hoof to the aforementioned group of trees. “Thanks!” Twilight responded giving Big Mac a friendly wave as she headed towards the western part of the orchard. Twilight made her way slowly through the cool shade of the apple trees. As her eyes flicked across the rough, sun-dappled tree trunks Twilight took in the sheer size of the trees in this part of the orchard her mind absently contemplating roughly how old these trees were. Just as Twilight was actually going to begin calculating how many years old the trees were by the depth of the creases in the bark, a loud thunk echoed through the air jolting Twilight out of her reverie. She turned towards the rhythmic sound of apples falling into wooden buckets several yards away from her. “Applejack? Hey, it’s Twilight do you have a minute? I think I found something you’re going to want to take a look at.” the purple-coated mare called as she picked her way through the trees towards where the sounds had originated from. “Yea sure Twilight, just head on over here and we’ll take a look at… Whatever it is…” Applejack called back, chuckling to herself over the obvious excitement in her friend’s voice. As Twilight finally made her way over to the row where she had heard Applejack speaking from and spotted her orange-coated friend picking up some stray apples and placing them back into the wooden buckets she had loaded onto a cart. At the sound of hoofsteps Applejack turned around and treated her friend to a bright, sunny smile “Hey there sugarcube! So, what’s this thing that you’ve found? Some sort of magical doohickey or what?” she asked scratching a hoof through her mane, “Cain’t see how I’d be able to help you none, but I’ll try my best anyhow.” Twilight smiled back and shook her head, “I appreciate what you’re saying Applejack, but it’s not some sort of magical device; more like a journal actually. I think you might be interested in it because it talks about you and Big Mac so I figured your mother or father might have written it.” Applejack’s eyes widened and she moved toward Twilight with surprising speed, “Written by my parents you say?! Where is it?! Where did you find it?! Can I see it?!” she asked swiftly her words almost blurring together as she pressed her face right next to Twilight’s. The startled purple unicorn’s eyes widened as she stumbled backwards and away from her suddenly frantic friend. “U-um… I think it was written by at least one if not both of your parents... I-I um… I have it right here… I-It was in a hidden compartment in one of my bookshelves… I-I...It’s r-right here…” Twilight stammered out, the journal moving out of her saddlebag and into the air before her illuminated in her magic’s magenta glow. Applejack practically tore the book from Twilight’s magical grip and began paging through it her eyes rapidly skimming through it. “Uh...Um….T-Thats….Maybe you should...Applejack?” Just as Twilight had gathered her wits about her and was preparing to lecture Applejack on the proper way of handling books, especially journals that were who knows how old; the sound of wingbeats interrupted her. Looking up Twilight barely had time to move backwards as a familiar cyan blur landed and skidded to a stop right where she had been standing. “R-Rainbow? What are <you< doing here?” Twilight asked startled. The rainbow-maned pegasus shook her head and brushed some stray dirt off her hooves, “Huh, oh hey Twi, hey AJ. What’s goin’ on?” At the sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice Applejack jumped and swiftly hid the journal underneath her hat. Twilight shot Applejack an odd look and opened her mouth to start explaining about the journal when the orange mare interrupted her, “Nothings goin’ on Dash, Twi here just stopped by to say hi and talk about some old book she found.” Applejack explained hurriedly giving Rainbow what she hoped was a friendly smile. Twilight just stood there in stunned silence as her mind processed the fact that Applejack had just lied to Rainbow Dash of all ponies. She glanced over at Rainbow to see how the cyan pegasus had reacted to Applejack’s strange behavior, but her friend merely shrugged. As Twilight’s lavender eyes met Applejacks green ones her friend’s gaze begged her to leave the subject be. ’What did she find in that journal?’ Twilight thought absently to herself. “Uh, hey egg head? You in there?” Rainbow Dash asked waving her hoof in front of Twilight’s face. Blinking Twilight broke out of her reverie with a start, “Oh, uh...Hey there Rainbow. What brings you out here?” Yawning and ruffling her mane with a hoof Rainbow gestured at a tree farther down the row, “Napping spot number 10. I was relaxing after working with the weather team today, we had to work pretty hard breaking up a nasty storm coming off the Everfree Forest.” Applejack tugged her hat down lower on her head as her eye twitched, “Rainbow! How many times do I haveta tell ya that mah trees aren’t fer nappin in!” Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head, “I’m not doing the trees any harm AJ. So calm down, sheesh.” Applejack’s mouth worked as she attempted to come up with an appropriate retort. Twilight stepped between Applejack and Rainbow before things could escalate into a full on fight. “Why don’t we calm down you two. Maybe we can head into town and have dinner together? We haven’t hung out together in a while.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances and shrugged, “Sure why not Twi, I’m free for the rest of the evening.” “Just let me finish this row Twi and then we can all head out together. Okay?” “Sure that’s fine with me.” Rainbow Dash replied easily. “Alrighty then, need any help Applejack?” Twilight asked, happy to be spending time with her friends. “Well I guess a little bit ah extra help couldn’t hurt. Why don’t you two pick up the apples that don’t make it into the baskets, and then load the full baskets into the cart for me?” the orange mare asked. Rainbow and Twilight nodded and then followed behind Applejack as she finished collecting the apples from this row of the orchard. The three friends bantered happily back and forth as they headed through the orchard back to the main barn to drop off the cart of apples before they head out to dinner. Working together Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack put the full baskets of apples in the right area of the barn so they were ready to be sold or made into the Apple family’s delicious treats. Sighing Rainbow slumps to the ground, “Man that was so much work!” the pegasus groans. With a chuckle Applejack gives Rainbow a hearty thump on the back, “That was nothin’ sugarcube, you should see all the work I haveta do everyday from sun-up to sun-down.” “I’d really rather not.” The cyan pegasus chuckles as she rubs a hoof through her mane. Twilight waves a hoof between her friends faces to get their attention, “Hey you two, are we going to go eat or what? I’m starving.” “Yeah, yeah Twi. Come AJ lets get going.” With that Rainbow and Applejack caught up with Twilight and the three friends headed into Ponyville.
A Long Way From HomeSomewhere near the northeastern border of Equestria: A rough camp had sprung into being near a small forest on the very edges of Equestria. Various voices called back and forth as ponies in varying colors worked to get the camp set up before night fell. Rough Spirit, a unicorn from the Canterlot Archeological Society, is in this area to ascertain the existence of a large, ancient castle of mysterious origins. Rough was of course dubious of the existence of any such castle, especially in such a remote area as this one. However, as Canterlot’s leading expert on historical architecture, and having personally led several successful expeditions to the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters meant that he was the only pony qualified to lead this expedition; at least according to those running the Archeological Society. Which resulted in a less than pleased russet coated unicorn standing in the middle of the camp yelling out orders. “Glory, how many times do I have to tell you to tie down each part of the tent before moving onto the next! Dust, make sure Glory actually puts up the pole in the middle of the tent this time! You remember what happened last time.” This last comment was met with chuckles by a majority of the crew as the aforementioned mint colored pegasus ducked her head blushing. “If you have time to stand around laughing then there’s obviously stuff that needs doing. So get to it! Autumn, I want you to take a buddy and grab us some firewood. Play it safe, and don’t head out too far; remember we’ll have plenty of time to explore our surroundings later on. Lightning, I need you to fly up high and get a good look around. Take Rain with you, and be sure to find a decent sized stream; we need to make sure we have a fresh source of water nearby. Make sure to bring back as much water as you can safely carry; we’ll need it for meals and such.” Rough nodded at the ponies he had mentioned Autumn, a chestnut colored earth pony, Lightning, a blue-gray pegasus, and Rain another pegasus her coat a cobalt blue. Content that his team could handle things without him for a short while Rough heads back to his own tent to take stock. Settling himself down at his desk Rough allowed himself a moment to relax as he unloaded his saddle bags, and pulled out a small photograph. Smiling up at him from the image was a magenta colored unicorn with a cream colored mane and tail. She held a maroon colored filly between her forelegs, both mares grinned broadly as if at some unknown joke. Rough frowned a little as he thought back to the conversation he’d had with his wife right before he left. <<<<<<<<< “Yes, I understand that this may be an important find, but why do you have you to go investigate it right now?! I mean I know that you’re the authority in this field, but can’t somepony else go at least for another couple of months until our foal is born?!” the magenta colored mare cried in frustration, barely able to keep her tears from flowing. Rough sighed as he gathered his wife in his forelegs, rubbing her back as she cried softly her face buried in his neck. “I know Velvet, I know. I argued with them for hours, and they’re insisting that I go myself to at least secure the site to begin with. I’ll just get things all set up for Emerald, and then I’ll be back before you know it.” He murmured softly into his wife’s mane. “I know...It’s just...I just worry about you....Especially since you’re traveling so far from home this time...Just...Come back safe, okay?” She asked quietly, her bright blue eyes looking up into his. The brown coated stallion chuckled at his wife’s expression of worry, “You say that every time I travel further than Ponyville, love. I’m taking a good team with me, and I won’t be gone for more than a month or two.” This assurance seemed to calm his wife down a little, as she let herself be led off to bed. <<<<<<<<<< Rough shook his head to clear away these distressing thoughts, and noticed just how dark it had gotten. Cursing himself for getting distracted Rough exited his tent, and just as he was about to yell at one of his crew to tell him where in Celestia’s name Lightning and Rain had gotten too a loud cry caught his attention. As fear ran down his spine Rough galloped across the camp towards where the terrible noise had originated from. Upon reaching the edge of camp Rough felt the knot in his gut tighten as he took in the scene before him. A group of ponies stood around Lightning, the blue-gray pegasus was slumped on the ground one of her wings bent outward at an awkward angle; her whole body covered in large, ugly scratches. Steel Hooves, the camp’s medic, was bent over the pegasus the soft yellow glow of his magic surrounding Lightning as he examined her wounds. Rough became aware that everypony’s eyes were on him, and he hurriedly hid his worry behind a mask of calm. “I need everypony to back off, and let Steel do his job, okay? Just go back to whatever it was you were doing, and I’ll take care of this.” Rough called out calmly, meeting each pony’s gaze with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. As the group broke up, and the different ponies headed back to their tents Rough made his way to where Steel was examining Lightning. Watching as the glow of Steel’s magic worked its way over Lightning’s still form Rough couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong with her?” Steel muttered a curse under his breath and answered without looking up, “ You mean aside from the broken wing, and these nasty looking scratches? I have absolutely no idea. I’ve examined every inch of her, and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with her head. However, I haven’t been able to wake her, and it’s way past the time when any initial shock from her injuries would’ve worn off.” Rough shot the white unicorn a worried look, thinking quickly as he asked, “Is it okay to move her? We need to get her out of the open before we start planning our next move.” Shaking strands of his sky blue mane out of his eyes Steel nodded, “She’s stable enough that we should be able to move her a short distance without making her condition any worse. I definitely would not recommend moving her a great distance though. Not at least until we know what’s wrong with her.” Rough nodded, and readied his own magic its soft green glow lighting up his horn. “Are you ready?” The yellow glow of Steel’s magic surrounded Lightning’s still form once more, and began slowly lifting it into the air. Green mixed with yellow as Rough used his magic to keep Lightning floating evenly as the two unicorns carried her through the camp, and into the medical tent. After they had carefully settled the blue-gray pegasus onto a cot Rough turned to Steel, “Okay, let me know if you need anything else, and be sure to keep me informed of any changes in her condition. Alrighty?” Up until now the two stallions had been speaking softly to one another so as to avoid disturbing the unconscious pegasus mare. Just then as Rough said his goodbyes to Steel hurried hoofsteps approached the tent, and Dust poked his head inside. “Chief, Blossom and Autumn found something when they were out gathering firewood; I think you’re going to want to see this.” The pegasus stallion’s hastily conveyed message, which sounded out quite loudly in the otherwise quiet tent, was met with an immediate and almost violent reaction from the previously unconscious Lightning. The three stallions could only stand there in stunned silence as the blue-grey mare sat up, and began rambling hysterically about something only she could see. “W-What’s going on? W-Who’s there? I-Is that an Alicorn? Who is he? I’ve never seen him before... Oh wait there’s another one...Hmm, her mane’s pink, but she almost looks like.... Oh Celestia!! She’s-She’s...What is she doing to him?! Is that? He looks like Discord, but that can’t be right....Wait....I-Is that Luna?! What in the hay is going on here?!! Oh....They're....They’re...Turning him to stone! Sweet Celestia, why is this happening to me?! Make it stop!!! Anyone please..Just...Make it stop....” Her voice had started out soft, uncertain but as she kept talking her voice rose and rose until she was shrieking at the top of her lungs. At the very end of her rant her voice softened, rough with pain and desperation; before she passed out once more. Steel waited a moment to be sure she was truly unconscious before crossing the tent, and reexamining her prone form. Glancing back at Rough he nodded, “She should be out for good now; I would recommend that we keep things quiet around her from now on though. That little episode wiped her out pretty good. I’ll keep an eye her, just to make sure nothing else happens.” Rough nodded, relieved. “Thanks Steel, I’ll go see what it is that’s got everypony else so riled up, and then I’m getting us all the hay out of here.” As he turned to leave Rough caught Dust’s eye, and saw the other stallion start to protest at Rough’s last statement. Seeing the set look upon Rough’s face quickly dissuaded Dust from voicing his opinion however. “It’s this way chief, if you’re ready to go.” Rough nodded and the two stallions left the tent together. Steel turned back, and gave Lightning’s sleeping form a thoughtful look; “What in the hay was that?” he asked himself softly.
Lost In The DarkRough followed Dust through the camp, and into the forest to the south. As, they walked Rough asked the cinnamon colored pegasus about what exactly it was that had happened. “Well chief, the way I heard it from Autumn is that when he and Blossom were out looking for firewood they came across some kind of ruin.” Here Dust hesitated, and Rough guessed at what he was unable to say. “Some of them went in to investigate didn’t they? Without waiting for me, like they were supposed to.” He asked softly. When Dust nodded, Rough sighed and shook his head. “Let me guess, they thought they were going to rush in there and rescue Rain? Or at the very least find out what happened to Lightning, right?” Again Dust nodded, while Rough muttered curses under his breath at his crew’s foolhardiness. “T-They were just trying to help.” The cinnamon colored pegasus explained quietly, head lowered. “That’s exactly what I was worried about. Did they take any unicorns with them at least? Maybe Dancer or Moonlight? They are the best shield experts we’ve got.” A look that might’ve been fear passed across Dust’s face, “No, they took Stormy. They figured he’d be the better choice as he’s talented in battle magic. With what happened to Lightning they weren’t sure what they’d find in the ruins. Was that not a good idea?” the pegasus asked unsure. Rough began to swear aloud as he picked up speed, nearly cantering as he spotted a small group of ponies standing near the end of the trail up ahead. As he entered what looked to be a small clearing Rough’s eyes were immediately drawn to what looked like an ancient, overgrown castle. Tearing his eyes away from the strange sight Rough looked over the few ponies that stood in the clearing. “What are you lot doing? Why are you just standing around?” Rough demanded of the ponies. They all jumped, their attention diverting to Rough. Several of them looked away, worry and shame in their eyes. Rough looked around doing a quick headcount. “How many went into the ruin with Blossom, Autumn, and Storm?” he asked, rushing through to the other side of the group. A citrine coated unicorn approached him uncertainly, “Five other ponies went with them chief, two pegasi, and three earth ponies; Boulder, Peach, Fire, Cloud and Sunny. The rest of us wanted to wait for you before we did anything. We tried to stop them chief, but they were so determined...” At this she started to sob. Rough threw a hoof around her and started to console her. “C’mon Shimmer, it’s alright; You need to pull yourself together. We need someone to go back to camp and grab Dancer and Moonlight. We’ve already lost Rain inside the ruin. I’m not taking any chances with the rest of you.” The group was suddenly cut off by the sound of screaming coming from the ruins. Several ponies jumped, and one even took off running towards camp. “We need the mages from camp now!” screamed Rough. “Don’t come back without them!” He quickly looked at the ruin and started giving out orders. “I need someone to show me the way into the ruins. Shimmer, you stay here and let the others know where we’ve gone. The rest of you, move out!.” They all galloped across the clearing, the ruined castle looming above them. All too soon it seemed the small group had reached the crumbling archway that formed the entrance to the castle. Slowing down the group entered the castle making their way carefully around the large chunks of masonry that lay scattered everywhere. The flagstones of the floor were chipped, and cracked. What may have been carvings on the walls were broken and crumbling. They passed many large, empty corridors some of which were filled part way with rubble. Others had walls that leaned precariously and a few were even covered with scorch marks and piles of stone dust. The further they traveled inwards the worse the condition of the castle seemed to get. Large cracks started appearing in the walls and floors; the piles of rubble became more and more common, slowing Rough’s party down immensely. Blade, a unicorn his coat a forest green, had noticed that as they headed deeper into the castle a powerful magical aura was starting to build. Just as he was going to mention this to Rough a flicker of movement caught his eye, he turned swiftly but only found himself staring down yet another empty hallway. Oddly enough at the end of this hallway stood a large, onyx alicorn statue that seemed to glitter in the dim light cast by the glow of his horn. “Blade, what in the hay are you doing?” Rough’s voice startled the forest green unicorn, and he looked back seeing that the rest of the group were staring at him worriedly. “Sorry, I’ve just never seen a statue like that before is all.” He explained rubbing his neck sheepishly. Rough shot Blade a strange look, “What statue?” Sure enough, when Blade turned around again all he saw was an empty hallway. “B-But, it was there I swear it was!” he cried, looking at each of his comrades in turn trying to get somepony to meet his gaze. Rough finally interrupted Blade, “Take it easy there. You probably just saw a similar hallway earlier that had a statue in it and then thought that’s what you saw here. It’s no big deal, this place is pretty spooky. Now we need to get a move on, they’re ponies somewhere in this castle who need our help.” Blade sighed, and nodded dropping the uncomfortable subject as he followed Rough deeper into the castle. Shortly after the ponies in the group felt a strange sensation wrap around them, and it wasn’t until one of them stumbled into a rock, knocking it against a wall with a dull thud that Rough realized just how quiet it had gotten. The russet coated unicorn froze in place, his ears up as he listened intently. Rough muttered a curse under his breath, berating himself for being so intent on their safe journey into the castle that he hadn’t noticed that the screaming had stopped. Rough turned back to the group, and seeing their worried gazes he knew that they had come to the same realization as he. Now, this whole time Blade had been unable to stop thinking about that statue, and how he was going to prove to his comrades that it did in fact exist. He was so involved in his mental imaginings of him dragging the group back to that hallway, and showing them that the statue was there that he hadn’t noticed the group had stopped. This led to him bumping into Ink, an earth pony whose coat was a very dark shade of grey, Ink turned to Blade to ask him just what in the hay he thought he was doing, but stopped at the look of horror on the forest green unicorn’s face. Ink opened his mouth to ask Blade what was wrong, but was interrupted by the unicorn’s horn lighting with an ominous bright green light. Before anypony could react or even cry out in warning a bolt of energy shot from Blade’s horn, and flew through the air above Rough’s shoulder narrowly missing the russet coated unicorn. The green aura around Blade’s horn gleamed once more as if he was going to try again, but Ink and the other member of their party, an earth pony mare called Leaf, tackled him to the ground. Blade struggled against the two earth ponies rambling about the onyx statue, and how it was alive and that it was going to kill them all. His cries were brought to an abrupt halt as Rough knocked him out with a swift kick to the head. Ink and Leaf shot him looks mixed with confusion and horror, “It had to be done, I just knocked him out so relax. The magical energies of this place have driven him mad, now I need you two to get him out of here. Keep an eye out for Shimmer and our reinforcements, it shouldn’t take them long to catch up with me. I’m not arguing with you two about this, now go!” Ink and Leaf tried to argue, but under the force of his gaze they caved. They carefully picked up Blade between them, and once they’d secured his weight across their backs they began heading back down the hallway towards the exit. Rough sighed and watched them go for a short time to be sure they followed his orders before heading deeper into the castle in search for his missing crew. If Rough had stood there for just a moment longer he might have seen the slightest bit of movement, which if you stared at it directly would look like an onyx alicorn statue sparkling in the dark green light of his horn. <<<<<<<<<<<< As Rough and his group began their journey into the ancient castle Daisy, the earth pony who had run back to the camp when the screaming started, had finally managed to locate Dancer and Moonlight. These three had then made their way back to the clearing where Daisy had left the others. “Where did everypony go?” Daisy asked Shimmer looking around the nearly empty clearing. “Chief took everypony who was left with him into the ruins to look for Blossom, Autumn and Storm. He asked me to stay behind to let you know what was going on, and then he wanted us to head in after him.” Shimmer explained. Dancer and Moonlight nodded, Daisy however felt her legs begin to shake as she looked over the massive, crumbling form of the ancient castle. “W-We have to go in there?” she asked her voice trembling. Sharing a look Dancer gestured to Moonlight, a midnight blue unicorn mare, indicating that she should be the one to reassure Daisy. Sighing softly, Moonlight pressed a hoof against Daisy’s shoulder, “Take it easy there Daisy, everything’s going to be okay. We’ve explored ruins that were way spookier than this one before. Dancer and I’ll keep you safe so don’t worry.” The soft yellow earth pony nodded sniffling as she dried her tears, “O-Okay.” Shimmer waved her hoof, catching the other three mares’ attention “Hey, I understand that you mares are worried and all, but the racket coming from inside there really wears on a pony. So, I’d like to head in there and catch up with the chief as soon as possible, okay?” The other three ponies jumped slightly as they realized that the plaintive moaning sounds they had assumed was the wind were in fact being made by ponies they had known and worked with. Nodding in silent agreement the four mares made their way through the ruined arch and into the castle. Shimmer took the lead, her horn glowing with a pale lavender light as she looked for signs of Rough’s group’s passage. It only took them a few moments to come across several sets of hoofprints that they assumed belonged either to Rough’s group or Autumn’s. They had been traveling for quite some time when something seemed to change in the once still air of the castle. It seemed to the four mares that the darkness pressed close around the edges of the light emanating from Shimmer’s horn. “Wait..” Daisy called softly, “The screams...They’ve stopped..” As Daisy spoke the four mares shared uneasy glances with one another before heading deeper into the castle once more. By an unspoken agreement the group of mares began to move through the hallway at a trot; wanting to find Rough and the others as soon as possible so they could get the hay out of there. Even as they trotted through the ruined hallway being careful not to trip over the ruined flagstones or ever present piles of rubble; the sense of being watched, and that the shadows that swirled around them held whispers of a dark, malevolent power only seemed to intensify. It didn’t take the long before the frightened mares were all but sprinting through the hall hoping beyond hope that they could leave whatever lurked in the shadows behind. The glow of Shimmer’s horn became erratic as she ran, beginning to flicker oddly as she struggled to run and control her magic at the same time. As a result she failed to see the strange lump sitting in the middle of the hallway, and so she tripped and fell tumbling into the wall, her horn winking out leaving them all in darkness. Shimmer groaned, rubbing her head where it had hit the wall. As she moved to stand up her hooves felt something strange and almost soft move away from her hooves. Thinking it was one of her comrades who had tripped and injured themselves she swiftly relit her horn, and promptly started screaming. Her other three companions had tripped into one another when her horn had gone out; leaving them struggling to free themselves in the dark. Then, the light flickers back on and the three mares manage to disentangle themselves from one another. Just as they begin heading towards where the light is coming from, somepony starts screaming. Dancer and Moonlight bolt ahead of Daisy, squinting as their eyes adjust to the brightness of Shimmer’s horn. When they are finally able to see again both mares are stunned into silence at the sight before them. There on the ground lay the corpse of an aged pony, who looked vaguely familiar. Daisy walked up behind them just then, “Hey, what’s going on?” she asked confused; from where she stood she couldn’t quite see the corpse that lay on the ground. The sound of Daisy’s voice broke her friends from their stupor, and seemed to wake Shimmer, who had gone silent as Moonlight and Dancer approached. Shimmer opened her mouth again as if to start screaming, but Dancer bolted over to her and muffled her with a forehoof. As Dancer murmured reassurances to the distraught Shimmer, Daisy and Moonlight carefully looked over the strange corpse. After a long moment of silence Moonlight spoke, “I-I just can’t believe it...I saw him earlier today...T-This can’t be happening...” Her voice trailed off as she looked at the others with tears in her eyes. “We should check and see if we can find anypony else nearby; some of the others might still be alive.” Dancer responds firmly. “W-We can’t just leave him here like this!” Daisy cries, looking between Dancer and Moonlight unbelieving. “There may be other ponies that need our help Daisy. We’ll come back for him later so we can make sure the body gets home to his family.” Dancer explains gently, holding the pale yellow earth pony’s gaze. Finally getting a morose nod from Daisy the four mares begin searching the nearby alleyways for other ponies. Their search only reveals the bodies of Ink and Leaf, who had been aged nearly beyond recognition like Blade. Exhausted by their search the small group decides to split up; Daisy and Shimmer take the three bodies and begin the long walk back to camp while Dancer and Moonlight continue their journey deeper into the ruins in search of Rough. While the four mares had been making their way towards Rough; the russet coated unicorn had been struggling to find Autumn, Blossom and the rest of their group. Unfortunately, a large rubble pile had blocked the main corridor; diverting him onto a series of smaller side corridors in the hope that he could rediscover the main path. After he’s wasted who knows how long wandering around the empty halls, and getting himself more and more lost a scream interrupts his litany of curses about empty hallways. Galloping towards the sound of screaming Rough manages to find his way back into the main hallway, but before he can figure out which direction the screaming is originating from the noise stops. Rough waits for a long moment hoping for any sign of who was screaming or where they were, before he finally decides to continue down the hallway in what he hopes is the right direction. Not long after rediscovering the main path Rough notices that the latent magic in the ruins seems to be increasing; using this as a sign that he’s heading the right way his pace increases to a gallop. Shadows seem to close in around him, as unseen voices taunt him from all sides; he is close so close and just as the darkness seems to swallow him a bright light shines at the end of the tunnel. Rough gives a small burst of energy tearing himself free of the shadow’s grip as he stumbles into the large, brightly lit room. Rough drags himself to his hooves, doing his best to shake off the exhaustion that threatens to overwhelm him. The room he now finds himself in is massive with a high vaulted ceiling, and the remains of large columns running down its center. The empty frames of what he can only assume were stained glass windows run down either side, and the russet coated unicorn can’t help but wonder why he hasn’t seen any sign of vegetation in this ruined old castle. However, as he heads towards the large glowing light in the center of the room it becomes quite apparent what has been keeping all the plant growth at bay; at least on the inside of the ruin. A large glowing crystal sits in the middle of the floor here radiating a brilliant yellow light that stretches the length of the room. It is not the crystal however that holds Rough’s attention and causes him to cry out in despair. For there lying on the ground around the glowing crystal are the bodies of Autumn and the rest of the team who had so foolishly rushed into the ruins. As Rough bolts towards the bodies, Dancer and Moonlight finally manage to find their own way into this large hall and the three unicorns begin to tend to their fallen friends.
Lost and FoundRays of soft golden sunlight fell across the four ponies in this hospital room; the soft beeping of medical equipment filled the air as a unicorn nurse tended to the nearby machinery. Two members of the Royal Guard sat nearby, quietly conversing with the pony lying on the hospital bed. A bedraggled looking grey colored pegasus lay on her back with her wings wrapped in bulky casts held to her sides. “Now, Cloud Runner I understand that you’ve had a very traumatic couple of days, but as I understand it after speaking with Rough Spirit and getting the whole story, you went with Autumn Heart and his small group to look for the two pegasi Rain Drop and Lightning Flare, correct?” The older of the two guardsponies asked, his rank identifying him as a first sergeant. Cloud Runner slowly nodded her head without looking at the guardpony who’d spoken. Strong Hoof glanced down at the young guard who had accompanied him and shook his head. They had been asking questions of Cloud Runner for nearly an hour now and hadn’t managed to get more out of her than nods or head shakes. The doctors had recommended that due to her extreme shock they not mention that the other ponies they had managed to recover from the ruins had passed away from their injuries. With only the pegasus Sunny Dancer surviving, but she was in a very deep coma that none of the doctors felt she would awaken from. Sighing softly Strong Hoof motioned to the younger guard and rose to leave. “Thank you for your time Miss Runner. I apologize for disturbing you, and if you remember anything else just let the nurse know and we’ll come right back.” Cloud Runner gave a small nod without looking at either of them. As, they open the door to leave Cloud Runner screamed loudly and began thrashing around wildly on the bed. Both stallions stood there stunned as nurses came in and attempted to soothe the distraught pegasus. Her cries of “They’re here!” seemed to follow the guards down the hall, and just as they went to turn the corner the young guard glanced back and felt a chill go down his spine, ‘I don’t ever remember seeing an onyx alicorn statue there before...’ he thought shaking his head. “What in Celestia’s name are you looking at?” the older guard snapped, Cloud Runner’s sudden fit had unsettled him and he very much wanted to leave the hospital. Looking back, Silver Hooves repressed a shudder as he stared at the now very empty hallway, “It was nothing.” he responded gruffly, “We should go.” Shaking his head in exasperation Strong Hoof led the way out of the hospital muttering about “Young colts these days.” The two guards walked back to the palace in silence. The trip was a short one as Canterlot General Hospital was only a couple blocks away from palace. As the two head through a side entrance they call greetings to the other guards on duty and exchange nods. A gray coated pegasus guard stepped up to meet them as they moved to enter the palace, “the Princess has been awaiting your return, please come this way.” he said gesturing down a side hallway. Silver and Strong shared an uncertain glance at this news, it was unusual that the Princess would take such a personal interest in this case. Both guards, being unicorns themselves, were well aware of the dangers involved with using magic, and had seen many cases similar to this one. However, never before had Princess Celestia herself taken such a personal interest in such a case. As Silver and Strong follow the gray coated pegasus, the silence stretches awkwardly between the three guards with Silver glancing nervously between the two older guards. “Do you know why the Princess wants to see us?” he asked softly. The gray pegasus glanced at the younger guard and shook his head, “She did not say, she did however seem… Quite distressed by something. She has been… distracted lately.” Once again, Silver and Strong exchanged nervous glances but before either guard could respond the pegasus stopped in front of an unassuming door and gestured that they should enter. Entering the room they saw that it was a small study with bookshelves from the floor to the ceiling. Equestria’s solar diarch sat bent over her desk, her flowing mane draped over the various stacks of paperwork she had yet to attend to. All of her attention was focused on a sheaf of papers that had the worn edges and creases showing that the documents had been unfolded and refolded many times over. Strong Hoof coughed, “Milady?” The alabaster alicorn glanced upwards and for a moment the seemingly ageless diarch looked worn, her lavender eyes filled with a deep, unfathomable, pain and just as quickly it was gone. “My apologies my little ponies, what did you learn from speaking with Cloud Runner?” If the guards were surprised at Celestia’s knowledge of the case, their impassive expressions revealed nothing. Strong Hoof coughed and then began, “To be honest milady she seemed to be in so much shock that she only nodded or shook her head in response to my questions. In fact, she only seemed to respond as we were leaving and even then it seemed to be more of a breakdown of some sort and not at all related to the incident at the ruins.” Celestia nodded, disappointment seeming to flash onto her face for a split second. If she had been paying a little more attention she might have noticed the hesitant look on Silver Hooves face and how he tentatively opened his mouth as if to say something. Right before he could however Celestia thanked them both and turned her attention back to her desk in what was an obvious dismissal. As Silver Hooves followed Strong Hoof out of Celestia’s study his thoughts drifted to Cloud Runner’s panic attack and the strange statue he thought he’d seen in the hallway outside her room. Glancing down at the younger stallion as they headed through the palace to grab some food, Strong saw the thoughtful look on his companion’s face. “Where’s your head at?” he asked curious. Shaking his head to clear away his dark thoughts Silver grinned, “Nah man, I’ve just never seen anything like that before… Is it always like that?” he asked softly. A sad look crossed Strong’s face, “Unfortunately yes, that is how it happens all too often. I wish I could say it gets easier kid, but…” he shrugged. Silver nodded and remained silent as the two guards headed into the lunch room. Not too far away in the small town of Ponyville an impatient purple unicorn paced around the center area of her library as she waited for a response to the latest letter she had sent to Princess Celestia. Meanwhile a small purple dragon watched her anxiously awaiting the familiar sensation that preceded one of Celestia’s letters. Just as he was about to give up waiting and suggest to Twi that she should move on to the reshelving she had scheduled for that day when a familiar rumble began in his gut, ending with a belch of flame and the appearance of a familiar roll of parchment bearing Celestia’s easily recognizable seal. Twilight practically pounced on the letter scooping it up in her magenta colored magic and unrolling it, her eyes quickly scanning across the parchment. Slowly Twilight’s face fell her expression turning from one of excitement to disappointment and then confusion. Finally, her eyes drifted down to floor as she finished the letter. “Come on Twi! What’d it say?” Spike asked, trying to recapture some of Twilight’s previous excitement. Sighing Twilight turned her lavender gaze to Spike’s green-eyed one, “Alright Spike I’ll read it to you. It says: My Dearest Student Twilight Sparkle, I am grateful for your offer of help my young student, but I assure you I have the best officials working around the clock to help the ponies involved and to discover the forces behind the incident at the ruins. I appreciate your offer of help Twilight, and of course fully support any of your research into ancient ruins like the ones that were discovered most recently. You can be of the most help by continuing your studies in Ponyville and writing me about your lessons on friendship. Thanks again my faithful student. Best wishes, Princess Celestia” Twilight glanced up, but her gaze seemed to fade through Spike as she thought. “I wonder what she meant by all of that?” she mused to herself. “Maybe there’s a book here that has the information she was talking about?” As she finished this statement her magenta colored magic began swirling around the room picking books off their shelves and hovering them in front of her face so she could scan their titles for a split second before moving to the next set. Spike sighed, and knowing it would be nearly impossible to talk to Twilight while she was like this merely shook his head and walked into the kitchen planning to make a pot of tea for when Twi calmed down. As the books flashed past her face they steadily moved faster and faster until with a start Twilight felt her magic reach for the next text and come up empty. Frowning Twilight felt around with her magic and began tugging on something that felt vaguely book sized and shaped. To her immense frustration the book seemed to be stuck on something, but as she tugged harder a loud crack echoed throughout the library followed by a soft whirring sound as an object flew through the air and hit her in the head with soft thump before falling to the floor. Startled Twilight whirled around and glanced first at the small rough-edged hole in the shelves of her library and then at the pile of dust and shards of wood surrounding what appeared to be a small, tattered, journal. “Twi! What in Equestria was that?!” Spike called glancing out into the main area of the library, his bright, green eyes landing first on the hole in the shelf and then moving to the mess of dust and and wood shards on the floor. Sighing Spike shook his head, “Well that’s new, you need any help out here Twi?” he asked. Rubbing her head where the journal had collided with it Twilight shook her head, “Thanks anyway Spike. Why don’t you go see what the Crusaders are up to?” she asked absently as she picked up the journal and gently brushed the dust off with a hoof. Spike nodded, “Alright then, there’s a pot of tea for you in the kitchen whenever you finish with...Whatever it is that you’re doing.” the young whelp responded, chuckling as his big sister and guardian mumbled an affirmative as she began gingerly flipping through the journal. As Spike went to leave he turned to glance back at his adopted big sister and mother and shook his head at her intense concentration with a fond smile. His eyes flashed over the cover of the journal and through the thick layer of dust was sure he saw the faded imprint of an apple, but then Twilight turned and Spike pushed the thought out of his head as he headed out the front door. Reading through the journal at her usual breakneck pace Twilight froze as her eyes flashed over a particular section of text. Her eyes widened as she reread the paragraph, the words Applejack and Big MacIntosh echoing through her mind. “T-this is… It’s Applejack’s mother’s journal! But how did it end up in the library? And why was it hidden?” Twilight’s mind rapidly ran through a multitude of scenarios each more outlandish than the last. “I need to tell Applejack!” She cried aloud and began excitedly packing her saddlebags with the various odds and ends needed for a trip to Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight glanced out her window briefly to check the time, and made the swift decision that since it was still relatively early in the day she did not need to leave a note for Spike as her trip to visit Applejack should be relatively short. Twilight quickly fastened her saddlebags and headed out the front door of her tree home. The trip to Sweet Apple Acres passed quickly and before she knew it she was standing underneath the sign bearing its familiar apple shape. Making her way through the farm’s main gate Twilight headed over to the large main barn following the sounds of cart wheels and grunts of effort. As she crested the hill Twilight watched Big MacIntosh bring carts of apples into the barn and begin packing them into crates for shipping to different cities around Equestria. Big Mac looked up as Twilight approached, nodding his head in greeting, “It’s good to see you again Miss Twilight. You here looking for Applejack?” At Twilight's nod he answered her unasked question. “She’s working the western half of the orchard today, so you’ll find her over yonder.” Here he gestured broadly with a hoof to the aforementioned group of trees. “Thanks!” Twilight responded giving Big Mac a friendly wave as she headed towards the western part of the orchard. Twilight made her way slowly through the cool shade of the apple trees. As her eyes flicked across the rough, sun-dappled tree trunks Twilight took in the sheer size of the trees in this part of the orchard her mind absently contemplating roughly how old these trees were. Just as Twilight was actually going to begin calculating how many years old the trees were by the depth of the creases in the bark, a loud thunk echoed through the air jolting Twilight out of her reverie. She turned towards the rhythmic sound of apples falling into wooden buckets several yards away from her. “Applejack? Hey, it’s Twilight do you have a minute? I think I found something you’re going to want to take a look at.” the purple-coated mare called as she picked her way through the trees towards where the sounds had originated from. “Yea sure Twilight, just head on over here and we’ll take a look at… Whatever it is…” Applejack called back, chuckling to herself over the obvious excitement in her friend’s voice. As Twilight finally made her way over to the row where she had heard Applejack speaking from and spotted her orange-coated friend picking up some stray apples and placing them back into the wooden buckets she had loaded onto a cart. At the sound of hoofsteps Applejack turned around and treated her friend to a bright, sunny smile “Hey there sugarcube! So, what’s this thing that you’ve found? Some sort of magical doohickey or what?” she asked scratching a hoof through her mane, “Cain’t see how I’d be able to help you none, but I’ll try my best anyhow.” Twilight smiled back and shook her head, “I appreciate what you’re saying Applejack, but it’s not some sort of magical device; more like a journal actually. I think you might be interested in it because it talks about you and Big Mac so I figured your mother or father might have written it.” Applejack’s eyes widened and she moved toward Twilight with surprising speed, “Written by my parents you say?! Where is it?! Where did you find it?! Can I see it?!” she asked swiftly her words almost blurring together as she pressed her face right next to Twilight’s. The startled purple unicorn’s eyes widened as she stumbled backwards and away from her suddenly frantic friend. “U-um… I think it was written by at least one if not both of your parents... I-I um… I have it right here… I-It was in a hidden compartment in one of my bookshelves… I-I...It’s r-right here…” Twilight stammered out, the journal moving out of her saddlebag and into the air before her illuminated in her magic’s magenta glow. Applejack practically tore the book from Twilight’s magical grip and began paging through it her eyes rapidly skimming through it. “Uh...Um….T-Thats….Maybe you should...Applejack?” Just as Twilight had gathered her wits about her and was preparing to lecture Applejack on the proper way of handling books, especially journals that were who knows how old; the sound of wingbeats interrupted her. Looking up Twilight barely had time to move backwards as a familiar cyan blur landed and skidded to a stop right where she had been standing. “R-Rainbow? What are <you< doing here?” Twilight asked startled. The rainbow-maned pegasus shook her head and brushed some stray dirt off her hooves, “Huh, oh hey Twi, hey AJ. What’s goin’ on?” At the sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice Applejack jumped and swiftly hid the journal underneath her hat. Twilight shot Applejack an odd look and opened her mouth to start explaining about the journal when the orange mare interrupted her, “Nothings goin’ on Dash, Twi here just stopped by to say hi and talk about some old book she found.” Applejack explained hurriedly giving Rainbow what she hoped was a friendly smile. Twilight just stood there in stunned silence as her mind processed the fact that Applejack had just lied to Rainbow Dash of all ponies. She glanced over at Rainbow to see how the cyan pegasus had reacted to Applejack’s strange behavior, but her friend merely shrugged. As Twilight’s lavender eyes met Applejacks green ones her friend’s gaze begged her to leave the subject be. ’What did she find in that journal?’ Twilight thought absently to herself. “Uh, hey egg head? You in there?” Rainbow Dash asked waving her hoof in front of Twilight’s face. Blinking Twilight broke out of her reverie with a start, “Oh, uh...Hey there Rainbow. What brings you out here?” Yawning and ruffling her mane with a hoof Rainbow gestured at a tree farther down the row, “Napping spot number 10. I was relaxing after working with the weather team today, we had to work pretty hard breaking up a nasty storm coming off the Everfree Forest.” Applejack tugged her hat down lower on her head as her eye twitched, “Rainbow! How many times do I haveta tell ya that mah trees aren’t fer nappin in!” Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head, “I’m not doing the trees any harm AJ. So calm down, sheesh.” Applejack’s mouth worked as she attempted to come up with an appropriate retort. Twilight stepped between Applejack and Rainbow before things could escalate into a full on fight. “Why don’t we calm down you two. Maybe we can head into town and have dinner together? We haven’t hung out together in a while.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances and shrugged, “Sure why not Twi, I’m free for the rest of the evening.” “Just let me finish this row Twi and then we can all head out together. Okay?” “Sure that’s fine with me.” Rainbow Dash replied easily. “Alrighty then, need any help Applejack?” Twilight asked, happy to be spending time with her friends. “Well I guess a little bit ah extra help couldn’t hurt. Why don’t you two pick up the apples that don’t make it into the baskets, and then load the full baskets into the cart for me?” the orange mare asked. Rainbow and Twilight nodded and then followed behind Applejack as she finished collecting the apples from this row of the orchard. The three friends bantered happily back and forth as they headed through the orchard back to the main barn to drop off the cart of apples before they head out to dinner. Working together Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack put the full baskets of apples in the right area of the barn so they were ready to be sold or made into the Apple family’s delicious treats. Sighing Rainbow slumps to the ground, “Man that was so much work!” the pegasus groans. With a chuckle Applejack gives Rainbow a hearty thump on the back, “That was nothin’ sugarcube, you should see all the work I haveta do everyday from sun-up to sun-down.” “I’d really rather not.” The cyan pegasus chuckles as she rubs a hoof through her mane. Twilight waves a hoof between her friends faces to get their attention, “Hey you two, are we going to go eat or what? I’m starving.” “Yeah, yeah Twi. Come AJ lets get going.” With that Rainbow and Applejack caught up with Twilight and the three friends headed into Ponyville.
