Princess Luna's Dream

Princess Twilight and her company of scientists arrived at Canterlot two days after the meeting in Cloudsdale. Princess Twilight had urged Celestia to let her leave sooner, but Princess Celestia refused to let her go until they were certain that the shaking had stopped so Twilight would be at no risk. After descending through the cloud layer, which had been left over Canterlot since the day of the shaking, they were all still shocked by what greeted them beneath the white blankets of clouds even though they were all there on the day this had happened. The carriage landed in the southern part of the city as it had been the only clear place to land the carriage, which had all the research equipment. They would have to walk to the western end of the city, as it was where the palace was. They headed down the main street which they had planned to use to get to the palace quickly. After walking for a while they came to a blockage of the road by a fallen house.

"Looks like we will have to go around" Princess Twilight said to the others. "It will be quicker than trying to clear the blockage." The two pegasi who were pulling the carriage grumbled as they went to turn the carriage around. "We can use the this time while they are turning the carriage to figure out our route," Twilight said as she pulled out a map of Canterlot. She looked around to find a landmark which could be used to find their location on the map, but nothing was recognisable. While attempting to turn the carriage the two pegasi managed to knock a small bit of rubble away to reveal a sign on one of the buildings. "What does that say?" Princess Twilight asked one of the two guards.

"Donut Joe's Doughnut Shop, Your Majesty" he responded.

Thoughts of the night after the Gala flooded her mind. "We must be here then," she said, putting her hoof on a part of the map. "If we take this route, we can get there before sundown." With the carriage now facing the right way, they began their journey along the new route.

They reached the palace just before sundown as Princess Twilight had predicted. The courtyard, which stood before the grand palace, was littered with giant boulders that were once part of the palace. Twilight looked at the palace, trying to imagine it before it had been destroyed. She could see in her mind the library she used to call home here. Then she blinked and it was all gone. "Let's get a move on and head inside. Be careful, the castle still could have loose debris that could fall on us, so tread lightly and watch your step." The ponies walked into the ruins of the castle as they made their way toward the room which had the tunnel to the cave.

"Which part of the palace are we in?" asked one of the ponies.

"I think we are near the throne room, which means that the tunnel isn't too far," Twilight responded. they continued walking around the palace until they finally reached the tunnel.

"That took a bit longer than expected," one of the guards commented.

"Well, we couldn't tell which parts of the palace were damaged, so our routes were limited." Princess Twilight shot back at the guard which made him shut up.

They came to the clearing which Twilight remembered as the place where she first saw the damage done to Canterlot. "Alright everypony, we don't know how stable the walls of the tunnel are, so three ponies will always be casting a protective spell." Princess Twilight announced to her companions. The group entered the tunnel one by one with the first three casting protective spells in case of any falling rocks. After walking for a little bit they came across a blockage in the tunnel.

"Well don't just stand there, get the shovels out!" ordered the head guard. The other guards did as they were told and started digging, but didn't get very far. As soon as the first guards shovel made contact with the rock it shattered. He jumped back out of reflex in case he himself got hurt. "Try again!" the head guard shouted at another guard. They got the same result. "It would seem we are stuck, your majesty."

"Not quite," Twilight said, looking at the rock. She aimed her horn at the rock and blasted it with a spell. The rock shattered into dust. "Let's keep moving forward," she said as she trotted ahead. The guards stared at the princess.

"You heard her majesty, get moving!" the head guard said, bringing the guards to their senses. They continued through the tunnel until they finally arrived at the cavern. Twilight flew around the cavern quickly before returning to her companions.

"It would seem that the cavern has altered since our last visit, so don't expect to find anything the same," she said. "Set up a new research stand near the entrance in case we need a quick escape. I want you guards to make sure the scientists don't get crushed. Each one of you will accompany a scientist and keep a protective spell cast. Sergeant Firelash, you will accompany me on my research. Everypony, move out!" As soon as she finished speaking, the scientists got to working, setting up their equipment with the guards accompanying them, while Twilight and the sergeant explored the cavern to see just how much the cave had altered. They searched the cave and found that two tunnels had opened up.

"We will have to send somepony to explore the tunnels," Sergeant Firelash said.

"Well thank you for volunteering, sergeant. You can search that tunnel while I search this one," Princess Twilight said.

"But your majesty, I can't leave you unaccompanied, especially in these caves. It's too dangerous!" the sergeant responded.

"Well it's not up to you to decide. That's an order, now go. We will return here once we have found the end of each cave," Twilight said as she headed down her tunnel leaving the sergeant unsure of what he should do.

"Well, orders are orders," he thought, and went down the other tunnel.

Twilight traveled down her tunnel. "It feels like I walked all across Equestria," she thought to herself. "Surely I must be near the end." No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than she had  found herself at the end of the tunnel. It was blocked, but there were small gaps which had sunlight gleaming through them. She pointed her horn at the rocks and blasted them to dust. When she looked up and saw where she was, she was speechless. Standing before her was the Tree of Harmony.

Sergeant Firelash was exhausted. He was one of Equestria's most well-trained soldiers, and yet he was exhausted. "I've surely walked across Equestria," he thought to himself as he felt the strength leaving his muscles. He collapsed from fatigue. When he awoke he saw a light in the distance. "Could it really be? The end of this confounded tunnel!" He got up and ran toward it. As he left the tunnel, he was showered in sunlight. "Thank Celestia!" he shouted. After he had gotten his energy back, he looked around to see where he was. He seemed to be in another cave. He wandered through the cave until he came to a staircase made of pure crystal. "Impossible," he thought to himself. He ran up the staircase to see where they led. At the top there was a wooden door which he burst through into a small room. At the centre of the room on a podium was the Crystal Heart.

Twilight approached the tree slowly. She had been to the tree many times before, but there was something different about it this time. It seemed to be lacking its normal magical essence. She knew that the tree was losing its magic, but at a slow rate. Now there was no magic left in the tree at all. The tree was dead now with no magic to sustain it. She hoped it wouldn't affect her friends. "I've got to let Celestia know of this," she said as she ran back through the tunnel.

Sergeant Firelash trotted over to the heart. The Heart lay unmoving on the podium. He had seen the Crystal Heart before when he was a cadet. The way he remembered it, the Heart was supposed to be floating in the air as it was filled with magic and shining as bright as the sun. Now it was just a large crystal on a podium. The magic was gone. "Princess Twilight must be informed of this immediately," he thought to himself as he raced to get back to the cavern.

The two ponies arrived back at the cavern at the same time and nearly crashed into one another. "Your majesty, I have news that I must tell you immediately!" he gasped, panting, trying to regain his breath.

"What is it?" Princess twilight asked him.

"The tunnel lead to the crystal empire. It brought me right to the room of the Heart. it had no magic, your highness!" he said.

"Really?" Twilight responded. "That can't be a coincidence. My tunnel lead out to the Tree of Harmony and it was dead. All the magic had been drained from it. Was your tunnel in a straight line, by any chance?"

"Yes it was, your majesty," the sergeant responded.

"I have a theory that the magic from both the Heart and the Tree of Harmony carved those tunnels, and that's why they weren't there last time we were here," Twilight said.

"We will have to inform Princess Celestia of this immediately," Sergeant Firelash said.

"Yes we will," Twilight agreed. "Let's gather up the the rest and head back to Cloudsdale."

"Your Majesty," one of the scientists called out, "I think you should come have a look at this." Twilight and the sergeant galloped over to the scientist who called her. He was standing by a small hole. They both looked in the hole and gasped.

"What is that thing?" Princess Twilight said.

"I was hoping you could tell me," the scientist responded.

"We'll have to bring it with us, your highness," Sergeant Firelash said.

"Of course, gather up all the equipment and that thing and let's head back to Cloudsdale.

The group headed back up through the main tunnel to the castle. As they approached the carriage, they felt a huge tremor from the cave.

"What could that have been?" Firelash asked.

"I don't know, but we'd better leave before it happens again," Princess Twilight said.

Down in the cave, there was an explosion that blasted half of the cave away. Out of the cloud of smoke that was created stepped a foot.