A series of indignant grunts awoke Celestia from her sleep. The sun was just beginning to shine through the forest and she wallowed for a moment in the warm summer air. Then the groans and grunts that had disrupted the young filly's dreams started up again, prompting Celestia to investigate. Weaving through the foliage, she found her sister Luna was hard at work practicing her magic.
"Luna, did you even sleep a wink last night?" Celestia queried.
Luna turned around suddenly and blinked her bloodshot eyes."Is it morning already?" she asked.
Celestia nodded. "What could possibly be so important that you had to stay up all night?"
Luna raised her head. "I've just about gotten my teleportation spell down," she answered proudly.
Celestia gawked. "No way! Have you actually teleported yet?"
"I'm not sure," Luna confessed. "I think I might have just a little during the night. Although I was so tired I may have just blacked out for a second."
Celestia smiled and shook her head. She walked over to her sister and rubbed her head affectionately against her side. "You really must not put so much strain on yourself, sister," she chided.
"But I want to be just as powerful as you," Luna protested.
"You're already very skilled," Celestia insisted. "I don't know of many unicorns your age who can use their magic the way you do. Why, just the other day you levitated a huge boulder off the ground! That takes special talent!" Celestia put her foreleg around Luna's shoulders. "I know you're feeling impatient, but in time I know you'll get the hang of it. There's no need to rush."
Luna smiled gratefully. "I suppose you're right," she conceded. "But I still need to practice if I want to improve."
"All the practice in the world won't do you any good if you're too tired to focus. Or stand up on your own," she said, feeling her sister's weight press against her side.
Luna straightened up and shook her head. "I guess I better go lie down for a moment."
"Take a nap," Celestia insisted. "I'll go out and gather some berries for us. Then maybe you can show me your teleportation skills once we both have a full stomach."
"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?" she asked.
Celestia nodded. "Don't worry, I won't wander far," she assured her. "And I've got a few tricks to keep out of danger."
Luna nodded her head and sauntered over to her bedding in the middle of a circle of bramble bushes. She crashed down into the soft pile of moss and leaves and closed her eyes. She fought the urge to get up and try to teleport again, knowing that she was in desperate need of rest. The faster I go to sleep, the sooner I can try again, she thought. And Celestia was right; she was just a young filly and had her whole life ahead of her to master magic. There was no need to rush.
After a dreamless sleep, Luna awoke to find Celestia was still not back. Stretching her legs, she decided to practice her spell again. I'll surprise Celestia when she comes back, Luna thought.
She turned her head and concentrated on the clearing on the other side of the brambles. She exhaled slowly and pictured herself teleporting onto a dry patch of grass a few feet away. She felt energy rushing into her horn and she strained to remain focused on the spot. Slowly, Luna felt her body begin to compress and a wave of excitement surged through her. This was enough to cause herself to break off from her target and she cried out as she felt herself materialize on top of the brambles. She hopped off and landed awkwardly on the ground. She laid there stunned, basking in her failure. But then she realized that she had indeed teleported and let out a triumphant shout.
"I actually did it!" she said to herself. She got to her feet and puffed out her chest, posing for the crowd that wasn't there.
Celestia strolled through the forest with a clump of berries dangling from her mouth. The tree canopy above her was abnormally dense, saturating the area in a pool of shadows. Suddenly, her ears pricked up as she realized that it was not just her vision that was unstimulated; she did not hear a thing. She became ever more aware of her own heartbeat and the soft crunching sound of her hooves against the leaves on the forest floor.
A dark shape shot out of the bushes in front of her. As her mouth opened in shock, two more shapes crashed into her sides, causing her to emote a shrill cry throughout the forest. Instinctively, she teleported away from her attackers. She appeared a second later on a thin branch twenty feet off the ground. As the branch began to give way, she leapt off and rolled along the ground.
She heard menacing growls behind her as she took off through the trees. She narrowed her eyes as she raced along, trying her best to avoid tripping on the debris around her. Ahead of her, the distinct glow of daylight broke through the forest. Celestia pressed her head forward in determination. Just a few more seconds and I'll have some room to maneuver and light to see. She could hear the rugged breathing of the beasts behind her.
With a final stride, she broke into daylight. She dipped her head down and felt her heart shoot into her throat and her momentary relief turn into horror. A hundred feet of air separated her from a shallow pool of water at the base of a waterfall. Despite this sudden juxtaposition of emotions, she turned and caught a loose vine in her jaws before she could fall to her death. She looked up and came face to face with her attackers: three fully-grown timberwolves.
Panic shot through Celestia's body as they snapped at her from a few feet above. Their rancid breath filled her nostrils, causing her eyes to tear up. She jerked her head around, desperately trying to find a safe place to teleport. Her mind and muscles were fatigued and a feeling of hopelessness overcame her. How long should I hang here? she thought. Would it be best to let go now, before the timberwolves drag me up? What I would give to trade this horn for a pair of wings!
"Celestia!"
Celestia turned her head to see Luna galloping towards her.
No, stay away! Celestia thought desperately.
Luna narrowed her eyes as the wolf pack turned to face her. She felt her energy manifest in her horn as she leapt off the edge of the cliff. Celestia screamed as she slipped and fell away from the vine. Luna stretched forward and caught Celestia mid-fall. She wrapped her legs around her sister and cast her teleportation spell. A moment later the two of them crashed through the waterfall and slammed onto the smooth, rocky floor of a tenebrous cavern.
The Cavern Behind The Falls
Luna lay panting on her side. “I did it,” she gasped.
Celestia was sprawled out on the floor, She turned her head to Luna and smiled. “Yes, you did! Thank you-”
“Did you see me teleport?” Luna asked ecstatically. She sprung up and stood on her hind hooves. “I was like, ‘I’m not afraid of heights!’ Then I just jumped off the cliff and then, boom! I proved that I could teleport if my life depended on it!”
“Not just yours, but mine too,” Celestia reminded her. “You saved my life.”
“Oh yeah,” Luna said, grinning. “That too.”
She turned and looked around the cave. On one side was the roaring falls they had come through. On the other was a tunnel that extended far beyond the reach of light.
“This cave is huge,” Celestia said. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it when I was hanging over the cliff.”
“It’s very secluded,” Luna said. “You have to stand from the point I was at to see it. Even then, I thought it was just a ledge.”
Celestia stood there, pondering the walls of the cave. These seem unnaturally smooth for a cave, she thought.
“Hey,” Luna budged her. “You want to check it out?”
“Are you crazy Luna?” Celestia asked. “We just almost got ourselves killed and the first thing you want to do is explore a dark cave we’ve never seen before?”
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Luna said, walking ahead. “Don’t tell me you’re a scaredy-pony.”
Scaredy-pony! I’m the one who just ventured into the dark part of the forest all by herself trying to get food! Speaking of that...
Celestia’s stomach growled. “You know Luna, we really should get some food. Remember, that was the whole point of me going out earlier? You must be hungry after doing that teleportation spell.”
Luna continued walking. “Yeah, but maybe we’ll find some food here.”
“The only food in here is us!” Celestia insisted.
“And the only way out that we know of is to teleport back up to the cliff,” Luna said, pausing. “And I doubt those timberwolves are very far away. It wouldn’t be wise to leave yet.”
She has a point, Celestia thought. Looking at the smooth-cut walls again, she couldn’t help but feel intrigued about what lay ahead in the shadows.
“Okay, fine,” Celestia conceded. She trotted up to Luna and illuminated her horn. “But we can’t stay too long,” she insisted. “We still need to get food and we don’t want to get lost in here.”
Luna nodded her head in agreement. “You lead the way.”
Light from Celestia’s horn shone upon the cave walls as the two sisters marched along the tunnel. Celestia slowed down as she noticed a series of strange words carved onto it.
“Hey, what gives?” Luna stopped. “I can’t see ahead.”
Celestia plodded over to the wall and examined them closely. The carvings appeared to be gibberish; the words had no meaning to her. The letters were also strange, although some resembled ones in their language. The carvings themselves were not etched very deep, but they were long and jagged.
“What do you suppose this is?” Luna asked.
Celestia shook her head. “I don’t know what to make of these,” she confessed. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were the deranged scribblings of a mad mare.” She then gestured towards the edges. “But these edges are so sharp and the letters, strange as they are, appear to be made with precision. I don’t know if that means anything, but I can’t help but think that whoever wrote this had a purpose.” She shone her light along the wall down the tunnel. The carvings seemed to have a pattern to them. The same sequence of symbols appeared all along the wall at different heights.
“It’s like they’re trying to tell us something,” Luna remarked. “It’s the same phrase over and over. They want to make sure you see it. It must be really important, like a name perhaps?”
Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Or a warning.”
They pressed on and Celestia noticed that the carvings appeared less and less as they moved deeper into the tunnel. The carvings and whatever meaning they had faded away just as the daylight behind them had. The tunnel curved slightly and Celestia felt the temperature drop as they rounded the corner.
“Maybe we should turn back,” she proposed to Luna. “We’ve been walking for awhile and there doesn’t seem to be anything more here.” Part of what she said was wishful thinking. Based on what she had seen, Celestia had no desire to uncover any secrets hidden within the cave.
“Just a little further,” Luna insisted. “There’s something in here, I’m sure of it.”
Celestia frowned. “I don’t know about that. It seems pretty barren.”
“You know as well as I that this cave was not made by any mere work of nature,” Luna said. “Only another intelligent creature could have cut such a precise tunnel in this stone. And I have a hunch whoever it was did so for a reason.”
“What makes you so inclined to finding out what that reason is?” Celestia prodded.
“Oh, come on Celestia! We’ve never seen anything like this before! For all we know, we’re the first ponies to ever come inside here. Unless a pony made those carving back there. All the same, you must be curious to see what lies ahead.”
Against her better judgement, Celestia realized that Luna was right. There’s something about this place. Something unlike anything we’ve ever seen up in the world above. I can’t help but feel an urge to understand it.
As suddenly as those thoughts had materialized she smashed into the wall. Luna let out sigh of despondency,
“A dead end!” she cried. She smashed her hooves against the wall in discontent. Celestia came to the realization that never before in her life had Luna been exposed to such an enthralling mystery. It seemed it was the cruel nature of their world to end it in such manner.
Luna fought back a tear as she dragged her hoof down the wall. I really thought we were onto something, she lamented. Suddenly, she felt all of her repressed vexations about their world build up in a fit of rage. She felt her magic manifest inside her horn and with scream of indignation, blasted a beam of energy at the wall.
Celestia gasped. Luna was shocked to see her magic swirling around in tight circle, slowly edging towards the wall. Looking closely, she saw it was heading into a small groove. Above it was a small symbol that resembled a unicorn horn. They stepped back as Luna’s magic fit into the groove, causing the wall to glow an azure blue. The wall slowly shifted apart, revealing a small corridor.
Was my magic a key? Luna thought.
Celestia gaped in disbelief. Luna had been right. There is something in this place. Something that only unicorns are meant to find.
As they stepped into the corridor, Luna’s magic beam broke away from the receding wall and shifted into twin grooves on the walls. They were bathed in the same blue light as it spread down the corridor. Celestia and Luna looked around and gasped as they saw that the walls were lined with masterfully crafted symbols and drawings. The ceiling was made in a perfect arch only a few feet above their heads. Even the ground was decorated in an elaborate series of grooves.
We found something alright, Celestia thought, watching Luna as she gazed in awe at the elaborate passage. What is this place?
