A dark portal stood before the ponies, Twilight stepped closer, then hesitated, glancing back at Celestia, "Go ahead." her teacher smiled reassuringly. With a deep sigh, she stepped through the portal, her friends following close behind. Twilight's hooves landed on cold, deep blue stone, she looked around with a gasp, the beauty and awe of the place she was in taking her full attention. The ceiling of the palace was caressed in stars, all the constellations and galaxies fully depicted, the walls were black marble, with veins of dark purple and blue running in-between. And large blocks of stone spotted the halls, each carrying a transparent statuette, after staring at the lovely statues, she realized they were constellations, in the shape of ponies.
Hearing hoofsteps behind her, Twilight pulled her gaze away from the room and onto her friends, who responded equally to the beauty, following her friends was a tall, purple alicorn with dull black hair that hung limply down her nape. "It's breathtaking isn't it?" Cosmic giggled at their faces, each had open mouths, and gazed around at every little detail.
"It is...indescribable." Rarity breathed.
"I knew you would like it, but there are more pressing matters at hoof than my palace's beauty." Cosmic's tone became serious, causing the ponies to look at her, "The enemy we face are known as the Boggons." she sighed.
"Hideous beasts, they thrive in the darkness." Cosmic turned to face the ponies, "My kingdom was quite peaceful before they came, I cannot figure out where they came from. All I know is that they destroyed my source of power, and now the moon lays stuck in the sky." her horn lit up green, pulling the curtains behind her apart, "Take a look." she gestured to them, Twilight took the first steps forward, looking to the sky. The moon was sitting directly in the middle of the sky, it was a strange moon, broken on the left side, small rocks hovering in space near it, yet that was not the strangest thing, the sky was filled with colors of every hue, and stars shining brighter than any she had seen. The sky was not only strewn with color, a large blue planet with light blue rings hung on the horizon.
"Indeed, the sky is beautiful too, yet not as beautiful as it once was." Cosmic hung her head in sorrow, "Not only has my power been taken, but my people as well, that is why the palace is empty." a solitary tear fell from Cosmic's eye.
"Do not fear Princess!" Twilight beamed, "We will bring your people back, and restore power to you." Cosmic lifted her head and smiled.
"You warm my heart Twilight Sparkle. Yet your quest is long and hard, and I cannot be with you, my duty is to guard my castle." At this, Fluttershy walked timidly towards Cosmic, stroking her purple leg.
"Don't worry Princess..." she soothed, "We can do it." Cosmic's grin widened more.
"Thank you. Now, you must begin on your quest, and I have only one piece of advice for you." she ushered them close, each mare huddled nearer, her tone was more frightening than her description of the Boggons, "Don't die."
Twilight glanced back at the palace, crystal blue spires rose from the black walls, she could see Cosmic watching them from the balcony. Turning back to the path ahead, she saw that dark grey canyons lay before them, looming high above the ground, some rocks seemed to float about, as if they were not affected by gravity. "Let's go girls!" Twilight reared and galloped on, into the canyon, her friends broke into gallops, Rainbow Dash flew of course,
"So.." Rainbow began as she flew alongside Twilight, "What's the plan?" Twilight flapped her wings, rising a few feet off the ground.
"Well, like Cosmic said, don't die." She replied, Rainbow Dash chuckled.
"Besides that!"
"Find the Boggons, free her people, restore her power...need I go on?" Twilight smiled when Rainbow's face dropped into a scowl.
"I was hoping for specifics..." she mumbled, Twilight was about to remark when a sharp pain struck her head.
With a shriek, Twilight crashed into the cold dirt, her friends skidding on their hooves to avoid hitting her, "What was that?" Applejack rushed over to help Twilight up.
"I don't know..." she winced, rubbing her head, suddenly Rarity did the same thing, crying out in pain and collapsing.
"Rarity! You ok?" Pinkie Pie zoomed over and slowed her fall.
"My head.." Rarity whimpered, Twilight hobbled over to her.
"Everyone stay still, it might effect all of us." she ordered, her friends sat still, and for 5 long minutes, nothing was heard but the breeze. "So, it only effected me, and Rarity..." Twilight paced slowly, "What do Rarity and I have in common?" she asked herself.
"I got it!" Pinkie Pie raised a hoof, Twilight turned her attention to her, "You're both unicorns! Well except your an alicorn and of course alic.." Rainbow Dash stuffed a hoof in Pinkie's mouth.
"I think we got it." she sighed.
"Pinkie, I've said it before an I'll say it again, you are a genius!" Twilight stopped her pacing, sat still and thought deeply. "Everybody out of the way, I'm going to try a spell." Twilight's horn began to glow, she targeted a floating rock, and fired a beam of magic, the rock exploded with so much force, it knocked all 6 ponies back against the walls.
"What in tarnation? Are ya tryin to kill us?" Applejack blustered,
"That spell wouldn't have scratched a boulder, let alone destroyed one..." Twilight furrowed her brow, then began to mumble scientific calculations rapidly. "The only explanation is enhanced magic." Twilight concluded.
"Enhanced magic?" Fluttershy repeated, confused.
"It means Rarity and I have been effected by the planet, it must triple the magical abilities of unicorns, or alicorns." she explained, Strange though, Twilight thought to herself, Princess Cosmic felt so powerful, why does she act so weak?
Twilight and her friends had been walking for hours, yet the same old boring canyon still lay before them. "Ugh!" Rarity groaned, "I am sick and tired of all this grey, I need to see color!"
"Then look at my mane..." Rainbow Dash snickered quietly.
"I heard that." Rarity scowled at Rainbow, not amused.
"Heard what?" Rainbow looked over both shoulders, faking innocence.
"Guys stop!" Twilight twirled around to face them, "We need to make a camp, we aren't getting out of here tonight." She ordered, spreading her wings and lifting off the ground.
"Where are ya going Twilight?" Applejack asked while busy digging in her satchel.
"I'm looking for firewood." Twilight waved her off, scanning every nook and cranny of the surrounding canyon, her search yielded little, but it was enough for a small fire.
"Let's tell ghost stories!" Pinkie bounced up and down excitedly.
"Now isn't the time Pinkie, we aren't camping, we're on a quest remember?" Rainbow rolled her eyes.
"Suit yourself, I guess it's just you and me Gummy." Pinkie trotted off to a corner with her saddlebag.
"What?! You brought Gummy with you?" Fluttershy was horrified, "What if he gets hurt? Or what if he gets lost? Or.." once again, Rainbow stuck a hoof in Fluttershy's mouth, raising an eyebrow at the yellow pegasus.
Twilight was sitting near the fire, warming her face, when she noticed the fire taking shape, "What the?" she whispered. She could have sworn she saw a face in the fire, it was calling out to her, but she couldn't hear it, "Speak louder." Twilight said aloud, all her friends looked at her quizzically, "What? You don't see it?" she pointed to the fire when she noticed her friend's looks.
"I don't see anything..." Rainbow Dash peered at the fire, then back at Twilight, "Sure you aren't imagining things?"
"I swear I saw something! It was a pony." Twilight defended, "And no I'm not crazy."
"Let's just go to sleep, Ah don't wanna be in this place longer than Ah have to." Applejack snuggled into a blanket near the fire. Following her example, the other ponies settled down for the night.
I have a feeling that we're being watched.. Twilight thought, looking all around the canyon before she closed her eyes. Her heartbeat was rushed, and a chill ran up her spine, this was not a pleasant place, she didn't want to be here either.
When Twilight awoke, she thought it was still night, but then she remembered that the moon was stuck in place. Stretching, she stood up and yawned, "Alright everypony, time to move out!" Twilight tossed dirt on the fire, stamping it out.
"5 more minutes..." Rainbow mumbled, Twilight wouldn't have any of that, and dragged her out of bed with magic. "Hey! Put...me...down!" she wiggled around, flapping her wings, and then Twilight dropped her suddenly.
"No time for sleep, we need to move out." Twilight ordered, she had already packed her saddlebag, and began trotting off.
"Hey wait for us!" Rarity called, Twilight turned around to see them still packing, rolling her eyes, she used her magic, packing the saddlebags in the blink of an eye.
"All done, now let's go, we need to hurry." she had an anxious tone to her voice, and she seemed twitchy. Pinkie Pie bounced alongside her.
"So...where are we going?" Pinkie Pie asked, still bounding.
"Oh Pinkie." Twilight laughed, not able to answer. Pinkie giggled, even though she didn't know why Twilight was laughing.
"Hey! The canyon ends up ahead." Rainbow Dash pointed out, causing her friends to burst into a run.
"Yeehaw! We're finally getting out of here!" Applejack cheered, galloping top speed towards the exit. She nearly crashed into Twilight, who had come to a grinding halt. "Woah!" Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie bumped into Applejack. "What're ya doing Twilight?" Applejack straightened her hat.
"Listen..." Twilight was swiveling her ears this way and that, her friends copied her actions, there was a faint rumbling sound. The ground started to shake violently, splitting the canyon directly down the middle, Rarity screamed as she tumbled over, catching her hooves on the ledge.
Applejack grabbed Rarity's hooves and pulled her back up, "Run! It's and earthquake!" Rainbow zoomed past them, they scrambled to their hooves and galloped after her. The rocks were cracking apart everywhere, some broke off the walls, crashing around the ponies. The grounds split apart before Twilight, making her stumble, if it weren't for her wings, she would have fallen down the dark hole.
"Hurry!" Rainbow was already in the safety of a forest up ahead, the earthquake only seemed to be effecting the canyon. Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack skidded to a stop once they entered the forest.
"Phew! That was a close one." Applejack collapsed, panting, Rarity looked around.
"Hey! Where is Fluttershy? And Pinkie Pie?" she gasped, Twilight turned to look at the mess behind them.
"Oh no..."