A Wary Welcome

'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.