The Rebirth of The Sun

Somewhere 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.

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“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.