'She stood behind the railing of the balcony, staring at her stars, which still shone brightly, even after her 1000 years of banishment. But as she stood, staring at the North Star, a single blip broke formation, departing from its usual position. It drifted towards the right, before stopping its visible progress, and sailing towards Equs.'
'"What is this...? We will not have a renegade planetary body! Return to thy place!" Luna called out, her horn igniting a spark of magic with the intent of moving the 'star' back to its main position, only for the Lunar Princess' magic to fizzle out, the energy having no effect on what was currently beginning to break through the atmosphere, and hurtling the surface of the planet below.'
'"Dear Mother... Tia! We have a small problem on Our hooves!" she cried out, as the 'star' was now falling towards the Crystal Empire, or, at least, it was assumed to be. Luna ran down the corridors of the castle, before coming to a stop at her elder sister's library, and swinging the doors wide open. However, what she saw within the Solar Princess' private study was shocking.'
'Celestia's body lay on the floor, charred and bloody, her now-blank eyes staring at the ceiling with a gash in her neck. A single, steel-grey pegasus stood over the body, wearing charcoal-black clothing, with a blood-stained coat.'
'"An assassin! Thou shall pay for Our sister's death, you murderer!"' Luna screamed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, only for the perpetrator to remain unmoved by the knock-back created by the shouting. Instead, the pegasus simply remained still, and looked towards Luna, two faint pin-pricks of light shining from beneath the hat he wore.
'"... Your nightmares haven't ended, Princess. In fact, they have just begun," the pony said, a blinding light shining as he finished his sentence.'
"AH!"
Luna bolted upright in her bed, pillow soaked with sweat, as was her face, and ever-flowing mane. Two Guards stationed outside of her quarters burst into the room, spears drawn. The two looked around the room, and withdrew their weapons once they realized that their nocturnal ruler wasn't in any harm.
"You Highness, are you alright?" A single Guard asked, still wary of his surroundings, while acting extremely paranoid. Luna began to calm herself down, her skyrocketing heart rate slowly returning to normal. She shook her head once to clear it, and blinked a few times to try clear her vision.
"... Yes, Guard. We are, indeed, alright. You two may return to your duties of the wishes," she stated, the Guards immediately understanding what she wanted, and left the room, closing the doors to Luna's room as they left. However, as the last stallion was about to leave, completely, the Princess of the Night called him back.
"Wait! What of my sister? What of 'Tia?" She questioned, the Guard being asked pulling a clipboard out, flipping through multiple notes before stopping at a certain page. Putting said clipboard away, the stallion cleared his throat before answering the Royal Sister.
"Princess Celestia is currently having breakfast," he explained, pausing for a few seconds for Luna to try and comprehend what he had said in her sleepy state. "She has just lowered the moon, and raised the sun in your absence, due to you being unresponsive to our attempts to rouse you from your period of sleep."
"... Thank you, sir. You are dismissed for the time being," she said with a thankful nod, the Guard then leaving, finally closing the door behind him. Luna then got out of her bed, and stretched, before cleaning herself, and her bed, up, before leaving her quarters, and heading for her sister's study. Once she got there, she suddenly felt a shiver go down her spine, before shaking the feeling off, and pushing the doors open, expecting something scarring, or gruesome to await her eyes.
Instead, she was greeted with the sight of Celestia sitting in her chair, in front of the fireplace, the flames casting a bright glow on the Solar Princess' face, as she calmly read from one of the books from the shelves. "Sister," Luna began, the simple word grabbing the elder's attention.
"Luna. You're awake! I thought that you'd never wake up..." Celestia spoke, worriedly, before rising from her position, and proceeding to hug her younger sibling, only for said sibling to dismiss the motion.
"Now is not the time, 'Tia. Has anything happened while We were asleep, between the raising and setting of the Moon?" Luna queried, earning a thoughtful look from her sister.
"Well, a comet did careen towards Equestria, but it burned up when it entered the atmosphere," she stated, the silence Luna received telling herself that the 'star' within her dream might have simply been something burning up, prematurely. However, she had her doubts.
"Are you sure that it was just a comet?" She asked, pressing for any extra information on the planetary object. Celestia appeared to think for about another minute and a half before going into detail about the object.
"I'm very much sure that the item was harmless. It might have caused some minor damage to the mountains in the avalanche area of the Crystal Empire, but Shining Armour's squad is investigating any possible damage, present and future," the Solar Goddess explained. "Besides, Lulu, if anything living were to have been the cause of that object," she continued.
"... I believe that, whatever it was, we can handle it."
Meanwhile.
Several kilometres into the mountains, East of the Crystal Empire.
The snow around the smoking crater, located at the base of one of the mountains surrounding the kingdom, continued to melt after the hours worth of exposure to the intense heat that emanated from the hole, as well as the hoof prints at had been dug into the snow several minutes before.
The Empire's Guards swarmed the crash site, examining the structural damage to the natural environment that enclosed their homeland, whilst others took note of, and followed, the hoof-steps that led South, around the snow-topped piles of rock, and towards the rest of Equs, the whole operation being overseen by none other than the Captain of the Unicorn Guard; Prince Shining Armour himself.
"Sir! Do we have permission to keep following the path?" A random Guardspony called out to the Captain, who pondered on the thought of resuming the process of tracking down what had left the crater, and then nodded, signalling for the search to continue. The Guard that requested permission then makes his way towards the rest of his assigned squadron, which then proceeds to follow the set of hoof-prints left by whatever quadruped had made its way towards the rest of Equestria.
While said group began searching for the being that was on the move, said being, a pegasus, was currently struggling to keep moving out of the freezing environment of the North, eventually clearing the border that separated the Crystal Empire from the rest of the world. He then lifted the hat he wore up, slightly, allowing him to get a better view of where he was.
"... Finally... Sunshine..." He then whispered to himself, pulling his black trench coat and cap back into its usual position, before resuming his trek, wondering where the hell he would end up at the end of his journey, as Celestia's sun shone down on his metal-grey fur.
Eight days until the ascension of Twilight Sparkle.
Golden Oaks Library.
"Thanks, Spike. Could you make sure that the 'E' to 'H' section is properly sorted again?"
"Sure thing, Twilight," the young assistant called out, and went out to do what he had been asked to do. As the small dragon went to do as told, Twilight, herself, sat at her desk, reading one of the books from the stack of them, which rested on the right side of said desk. Although, as she had set her eyes on the next paragraph of the page, she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of flames, and burping. And Spike.
"Uh... Twilight? You have a letter!" The draconic assistant shouted, running up the stairs to reach the second floor of the structure, yet he froze as he was about to step onto the second floor itself, as Twilight stared at him with a stern expression that clearly stated, 'What did I tell you about running up the stairs?'
He then sighed, and walked down the flight of stairs, before coming back up, properly, and handing the letter to Twilight. "Thanks for not running up the stairs, again, Spike," she said, opening up the rolled paper, and reading the message written on said paper.
"'Dear Twilight,
After Shining looked into the tracks that led away from that meteor you were obsessing over for the last few days, I decided to look into this, myself. With the help of the librarian down at the Empire's library, we determined that if anything living were to actually survive that crash in the mountains, it will most likely be nearing areas around places like Ponyville by this point, unless it has... Expired.
If you, your friends, or you, or your friends could check out the border of the Everfree Forest, you might find something, unless it's just something ordinary in there, or there isn't anything found at all. But just check, please? For your big sister-in-law?
Anyways, until the next letter or visit, Twilight!
From,
Cadence.'"
'... Huh. So something did make it out of that crater,' Twilight thought to herself, as she put the book she was reading away, and laid the letter out on the table. She stared at it for a few moments before rolling the paper back up, and placing it in the basket where she placed her other letters.
'The Everfree Forest... Alright, then.' "Spike! I'm going to see Fluttershy!" She called to the baby dragon, who simply responded with a "Sure, fantastic." The lavender unicorn then grabbed the letter in her magic, and placed it in her saddlebags, which she then equipped, eventually leaving the library once everything was in order.
Fluttershy's Cottage.
A bowl was flung across the living room of the small cottage, smacking into the wall next to the butter yellow pegasus that occupied it with her animal companions. "Angel! I told you not to do that!" Fluttershy cried at the rebellious and demanding rabbit, who crossed his front legs and tapped his right hind leg impatiently.
"" He retaliated, obviously still aggravated at the fact that he was lacking his lunch. Fluttershy sighed, and picked up her 'friend's' bowl, and placed it in front of Angel, a carrot or two soon finding their way to said bowl, both of which were devoured immediately by the rabbit.
"... Oh, Angel. When will you ever learn to--" Fluttershy began, before the pegasus was then interrupted by the rustling of leaves, followed by a loud metal 'clank,' which was heard through the open windows of the room. In an instinctual rush, she darted underneath her kitchen table, shivering in fear. "Wh-What was tha-at?" She then whispered to herself, her voice cracking.
Outside, the bush that had moved then parted, the shaking form of a grey pegasus stepping into the area. Said pegasus then stumbled forwards, collapsing a moment later, falling onto the grass in front of the house. Fluttershy, having heard the thump of what sounded like rock on grass, tried to compress herself further beneath the table, but to no avail.
Giving up, she crept towards her front door, and opened it, freezing when she spotted the broken, struggling form of the other equine. Said equine turned his head to look at her, before it finally stopped moving, its body failing to support its weight as the pegasus clattered to the ground.
"... Oh... Oh, my..."
Several minutes later.
KNOCK KNOCK
"Fluttershy? Are you home?" Twilight called to nopony in particular, only trying to see if her friend was present within the small shelter. Oddly enough, Fluttershy's animals were all outside, sitting under trees, or directly in the sunlight, rather than inside the small household. When she had received no answer, she tried to peer through the windows, only for the door to open as she began to look.
The door had only opened slightly, though, to the point where all the unicorn could see was the eye of Fluttershy, who was currently peeking through the door to see who had arrived. "T-Twilight? Oh, thank goodness you're here!" She said, much to Twilight's surprise. Fluttershy then pulled her friend in, locking the door behind her.
"Fluttershy, is everything okay?" Twilight questioned, making Fluttershy pause briefly, until the yellow pegasus moved so that she was no longer blocking the sight of what was laid out on the living room couch. "... Dear Celestia... Is he alive?"
Several hours after the discovery.
Golden Oaks Library.
As the sun set, the orange light shining through the windows of the tree, Twilight waited patiently as Spike wrote the words she was saying for a letter meant for her mentor.
"Dear, Princess Celestia.
Today, Fluttershy discovered something that was likely related to the meteorite that crashed near the Crystal Empire. When I was told that something had made it out of that crater, I didn't expect it to be anything living.
What pulled itself out of that crater looks like a pony. A pegasus stallion, to be specific. He wears some form of clothing, which isn't that different from what we ponies would put on occasionally. The clothing, aside from the piece on his head, won't come off normally, though. I've tried taking it off, but it feels like it's been stapled to the body.
I won't try to look into its mind, as I feel that I'd most likely damage something, and do more harm than good. He's still unconscious, from what Fluttershy last told me, and has suffered, somewhat, but I'll be checking on him tomorrow, myself. I await your response.
From,
Twilight Sparkle."
"'From... Twilight... Sparkle.' Done!" Spike stated as he stopped writing, the quill being set down on the table next to him, whilst rolling up the letter. "Should I be sending this thing, right now? Or should I wait?" He asked.
The lavender unicorn thought for a brief moment, before deciding to go with with the first option available to her.
"Go ahead, Spike. The sooner the Princesses hear of this, the better," Twilight told her assistant, who then sent the parchment on its way with a single breath. He then walked back down the stairs of the library, returning to the main floor, leaving the librarian to herself.
'... Hopefully that pegasus isn't going to be a problem. If Celestia has to intervene for a certain reason, I don't want to see any of it...' She thought, wordlessly staring out the window, towards the Everfree Forest.
Later.
Fluttershy's Cottage.
The pegasus lay still on the mat laid out on the floor, unmoving. The being wasn't breathing, and remained cold, yet warm, oddly enough. Fluttershy sat there, keeping an eye on the supposed equine, tending to her animals as she did so.
"... Still cold... Poor guy..." She whispered to herself, simultaneously scratching a bear behind its ears. She yawned quietly, briefly falling asleep before shaking herself awake. The bear next to her nudged her, gently, gesturing for her to get up.
"... You're... You're right, Mr. Bear... I should be getting some sleep..." She said, weakly, before fully falling asleep, the quadruped holding her up laying her out on the couch, before draping a blanket over her, resting himself at the foot of said couch.
But as he began to slip into unconsciousness, he could've sworn the pegasus on the ground, clearly unmoving, snapped its eyes open, looking at him dead in the eyes before silently getting up. It gave one quick, seemingly thankful yet resentful glance at the butter yellow caretaker on the couch before stumbling through the door, and out into the dark night, shutting the door on its way out.
