Dear Reader,

You probably know what I saw in my parents bedroom if you have read the description of this book. Even so, I still think that you should read the whole thing because I have worked very hard on writing this book. Do you know how much ink I used? No pun intended.

Yours Truly,
Princess Luna

If I had known that this would happen I would have stopped it but its too late now.

Lying in the royal diamond bed was Queen Moonglow. She had dark circles around her eyes and instead of her usual shiny silver coat, there was a grey one with a slight tinge of green. On her side table there was a bucket that smelled like the worlds dirtiest ogre had not bathed for several decades.

Princess Luna saw Lapis Lazuli place a wet towel on Queen Moonglow's forehead. She wasn't the only pony in the room either. Sitting in the antique armchair at the other end of the room was Princess Celestia. Even the usually busy King Sunbeam was there.

"Tia, what is going on?" asked Princess Luna as her eyes welled with tears.

"Mother is sick," replied her older sister whose eyes were red and puffy. Princess Celestia had been crying, something Luna never thought that she was capable of since her older sister always had a happy face on, especially since her pink mane and tail became multi-coloured which meant that she could officially rule Equestria if their parents died. Luna was still stuck with a 'solid' mane and tail but she honestly could not wait until she got the 'galaxy' version just like her mother's mane and tail.

"Did you call the nurses?" asked Princess Luna.

"They were here this morning while you were still asleep. They told us that there was no cure that could help your mother," Lapis Lazuli said. She knelt down to dip the towel in an old rusty bucket that sat on the floor. Princess Luna could feel her sadness quickly turn to anger.

Without warning, Princess Luna yelled, "My mother doesn't deserve a rusty old bucket! She doesn't deserve this disease! She doesn't deserve any of this!" At that moment, Luna broke down in tears, sobbing on the newly furnished carpet.

The outburst had left Princess Celestia and Lapis Lazuli in a state of shock. King Sunbeam, on the other hand, remained calm.

"Luna, I am sorry to say this but I think that you should wait outside," said King Sunbeam.

"Father! I must stay with Mother!" grumbled Princess Luna.

"Then you leave me no choice. Princess Luna, I order you to leave this room immediately or I shall have you locked in the dungeons for a week!" roared King Sunbeam. Luna nodded. She knew that it was best not to continue arguing with her father once he started to roar like one of the fiercest lions in the Everfree Forest.

Exiting the room, Princess Luna then remembered something. There was an old Moon Guardian book in the castle library which contained cures for even the worst of illnesses. Princess Luna then started galloping towards the castle's left wing.

Opening the grand doors, Princess Luna took in a deep breath. Luna loved visiting the library, indeed. The ancient books from a time before Equestria astounded her. The antique bookshelves had a welcoming feel to them.

Trotting towards the end of the library, Luna scoured the shelves for the book she was looking for. Pulling out one of them, she gently blew the dust away. The title that was written there in fine print read: The Moon Guardians' Guide to Herbal Medicine.

This was it!

She then started galloping her way to the largest room in the tallest tower.

Jumping into her bed she started carefully flipping the torn and tattered pages. Soon, Princess Luna found her answer. The page was written in Star-ish, the Guardians' second language. Fortunately, Queen Moonglow had made sure that Princess Luna was well versed in it.

Her mother apparently had Collin Syndrome, an illness that, if not cured, could lead to death even in alicorns. How was she so sure? The Moon Guardians had written the symptoms as detailed as possible so it was easy for Princess Luna to match them to her mother's.

The cure for Collin Syndrome was simple, you just needed to feed the affected pony a single East Wisteria blossom. Unfortunately, unlike the North, South and West Wisterias, the East Wisteria was the rarest, even now, when Equestria was filled with life. According to the book, East Wisteria could only be found in one place, the place which was known as the Everfree forest.

Princess Luna was not going to give up easily. She quickly packed a small backpack and planned on leaving that very nights since she was sure that her father would not let his sixteen-year-old daughter go on such a dangerous quest.

At around midnight, Princess Luna crawled out of bed and grabbed her backpack. She quietly peeked out of her window. Her father had now taken the night shift as he did not think that it was a great idea to have his daughters guard the night at their age, even if Princess Celestia was twenty-one.

Princess Luna knew that she could not sneak past her father so there was only one way to get to the Everfree Forest, teleportation. Luna was not exactly good at the spell since she only started last month but she was confident that she could do it.

Mustering all the magic she could, Princess Luna closed her eyes and let the spell envelop her just like her mother had told her to do.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Here is a tip, do not teleport yourself to a certain location without doing research on it. I learnt that the hard way.

Opening her eyes, Princess Luna found herself surrounded by thick vegetation. She was shocked at how many plants there were, she did not recognise any of them!

In front of her, there was a narrow dirt road.

"Why is that there? I don't think anyone would live here," said the young princess. Indeed, it was quite strange to find a road of any kind in a place as remote as the Everfree forest. "I'll just follow it, anyway. It might lead me to the East Wisteria." At that moment, Princess Luna realised that she had no idea what the East Wisteria looked like! She was so excited when she found out that there was a cure for her mother's ailment that she did not bother to pay much attention to the picture of the East Wisteria.

"I guess I'll just have to try my luck," Princess Luna thought, putting on a brave face.

Trotting down the path, Luna came across a cluster of strange plants. They had large flowers which had a neon blue glow to them. Were they the East Wisteria? Creeping closer, Princess Luna extended a hoof. Just as she about to touch a flower, somepony tapped her on the shoulder. At least she thought it was a pony.

Princess Luna spun around to see a hooded figure. It gestured for her to follow it. Princess Luna figured that he or she would know the forest better than her so she did. Princess Luna was led to an tiny hut in the heart of the forest. It had a thatched roof and wooden walls that had splinters no matter where you looked. The door was simply an old fabric draped over a hole and there was no floor at all! This was not what Princess Luna was used to.

The hooded figure took off the cloak to reveal a mare. Her coat was black. Her mane and tail were white and braided. She had a wrinkled face which meant that she was much, much older than the princess of the night.

"Who are you?" Princess Luna asked.

"I should ask you the same. My name is Zerica. I'm just a humble old zebra while you on the other hand are a majestic alicorn, am I right?" said the mare.

"Yes, I am. My name is Princess Luna. Um, not to sound rude but aren't zebras supposed to have black and white stripes?" Princess Luna mumbled.

"That is true. Do you know why I don't live in a herd like other zebras?" asked Zerica. Luna shook her head. "I was an outcast starting from the day I was born. No one wanted me, not even my own parent. They agreed that when I was old enough to take care of myself, they would just abandon me. Sure enough, they kept to their word. When I was eighteen, I woke up one morning to find that my herd had left without me and I have been living here alone ever since. The reason was simple, I was born different."

"That's horrible! How could anypony do such a thing!" protested Princess Luna.

"My herd could," said Zerica. Placing two cups of tea on a tree stump, she sat down. Luna did likewise. "Now, enough about me. What brings a regal alicorn like yourself to the Everfree Forest?"

"I'm on a quest to find an East Wisteria. I read that they grew here" replied Princess Luna.

Taking a sip out of one of the clay cups, Zerica said, "An East Wisteria. Interesting. Indeed, they do grow here but you do realise how rare they are, right?"

"Of course I do. Unfortunately, I don't know what they look like. I was wondering if you could tell me whether those blue plants I saw earlier were the ones?" asked Princess Luna.

Chuckling, Zerica placed her cup on the table. She muttered, "I'm sorry to say but those weren't the East Wisteria. You almost touched a Poison Joke flower."

"Poison Joke?" said a puzzled Luna.

"Hm, you don't know much about the plants that grow in the Everfree Forest, now do you?" asked Zerica. Princess Luna shook her head again. "Poison Joke are a type of flower that hold mysterious powers. If you were to touch one, I would assure you that by daybreak something strange yet hilarious would've happened to you. To tell you the truth, Poison Joke are just one of these plants that have magical properties." Princess Luna was amazed at how much Zerica knew. "Now, the East Wisteria is white in colour, unlike the other Wisterias which are different shades of blue. Its buds face the ground and it climbs all sorts of trees. Now why are you trying to find an East Wisteria?" asked Zerica.

"My mother is gravely ill," Princess Luna said with a bit of hesitance.

"Hm, this will pose as a problem," muttered Zerica.

"What are you talking about?" the alicorn questioned the zebra.

"I will explain to you when the time is right," said Zerica. "We leave at dawn."

"We?" murmured Princess Luna.

"Why would you think that I will let you explore the Everfree Forest alone?" Zerica casually explained.

Princess Luna smiled at the thought of having a guide.

Author's Note

Hey guys. Finally finished chapter 2. Hope you like it.
I don't really have a lot to say so...

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON!!! -SG