Author's Note

Finally done with the fifth chapter. I'm goin to take a break for the long hard work, but I'll still work with the sixth chapter. I'm also working another project in a long time, but never finish it. So I'm taking my time to finish both. :-)

Chapter 5: The mystery of Sweetheart´s disappearence part 3: The Cottage

Twilight have never been in the Everfree Forest in a long time, but it hasn't changes. Althrough she's often in the woods a lot of times to visit Zecora for example, but it also provides a lot of memories from her first day in Ponyville.
How she and her friends have been through the danger in the forest and the creatures, they have befriended (especially Steven Magnet thanks to Rarity's generosity) and how they became the elements of harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon.

Twilight smiled slightly when she thinks about the memories, but she shook them off and tries to focus on following Sweetheart. She follows her to a path that leads to the ruinous castle (which belonged to the princess´s). Suddenly Sweetheart walks away from the ruinous castle and leads her to a different path. Twilight was confused at first, but followd her direction to find out why Sweetheart disappears all the time.
It didn't took long enough before Sweetheart disappeared inside a thicket of willow leaves. Twilight observed and saw two willow trees, which looked ancient. She closes her eyes nervously and put gently her head into the thicket. She took a moment to prepare for the worst, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and looked amazed at something she has never seen before.
She took a step from the thicket and admires a great meadow. The meadow seems very beautiful and it consists of blue azalea and a long river of the clearest water. Even the stars in the sky looked quite beautiful. It's incredible that she´s never been here before or have never known there was a meadow here in Everfree Forest. She don´t think there´s nopony who´s been here before. She decided to explore a lbit and would inform Princess Celestia about this wonderful discovery. But she can´t, when her only goal was to follow Sweetheart, but... She just disappeared suddenly. Twilight had no idea where she was until she saw a cottage a bit far away. And Sweetheart, which was closed to the cottage.
She sneaks through some azalea flowers with a quick pace to the cottage. When she arrived, the door was opened and she quickly rushed to hide. She stands quietly behind the cottage and could hear Sweetheart´s voice (thankfully the moonlight was clear enough to shine the cottage an it´s shadow hides her shadow). She spoke with somepony inside the cottage, and afterwards it was closed when Sweetheart went back to the forest. Twilight was waiting for the right moment until Sweetheart finally disappeared into the thicket, so she can come out from her hiding place.
She tries to figure out how she gets into the cottage, but she was frightened by a shot from the cottage roof. She noticed immediately, that there´s a star-shaped object that was shot up to the sky. Strangely enough, it came from the cottage, but Twilight was too inquisitive to find out who or what is inside the cottage.
She was looking for some windows, she can climb in, but the only window is on the rooftop, where the stars were shot. She takes the risk to find a way to open the door. But there was nothing else to open the door with only grass and flowers everywhere. But she has no choice but to find another way to open the door. She uses her horn to unlock the door, but suddenly it opened by itself
Twilight looked at it with a confused face, but she gently opens the door and looking around, but everything was too dark. She takes a step into the cottage, but when she emerged, she was very surprised to find a room with larger space. (Even when she took a quick look outside a few times to make sure that she was not seeing things)

~~~

Inside the room, there was a large telescope, where you can certainly see the whole sky at. There is also a large compass in the center of the room with candles around the compass and almost the whole space. Up at the skylight, there's some kind of canon, where the stars were shot at. Twilight couldn't take her eyes off from the magnificent world she is in now.
And an excellent work that has been done. She sees a lot of barrels of flowers. Moon lilies (Twilight read it from a acient botany book in the secret library). There are some azalea-flowers in the barrels too, but it's mostly moon lilies, which has been used. Now that Twilight think about it, it looks like little stars. Maybe it was used to shot in the sky? Just like the shooting star and other star, she saw in couple days ago.
"As soon as I'm back to the festival, I'll report Princess Celestia about it... Maybe this work can be useful to Luna?" Twilight thoughts satified to herself at the thought of another reward. But then she heard the door being open, she hurries to hide in the shade. She tries to be quiet as a mouse, until she hears something stampen from a staircase. She takes a quick look behind some boxes. She looks a shadow of a tall horse.

"It looked a bit like that pony, I saw the other day?" Twilight wondered and watching it."

The tall pony opened the door with its magic and Twilight looked surprised to see Sweetheart. "Wasn´t she here a few minutes ago?" Twilight thought confused and suddenly noticed a basket of muffins. But it didn't take long for Sweetheart to give it to the mysterious pony, while Twilight thought it seems quite suspicious. (She thought Sweetheart already gave the muffins before Twilight came).
She hurried to hide before the door was closed. She took a peek and the mysterious pony siddende disappeared. She sneaked out from her hiding place and try to get out from the cottage and back to Ponyville. But suddenly it got dark in the room and the only light is none other than the moon. She tries to open the door but it was locked.

"I know you're here..." said a mysterious voice.

Twilight was frightened and looked around in a panic face to find the voice. "Who is it!" said Twilight terrifying. It was quiet for a moment, but then she heard a scornful laughter which was an ego in room, until the laughter stopped.

"Get out or I'll turn you into a toad!" said the voice loud and serious, and the whole room lit up with a purple aura.

Twilight knew immediately that it was serious about itand must find a solution immediately. "No, wait! I don't want any trouble". She asks the voice to spare her. The voice fell silent, while the aura still lights up sharply. Twilight closes her eyes with fear and could feel the heat from the aura, but then, the heat felt weaker, and when Twilight opened her eyes, the aura faded away. The voice has spared her, but it demands to know what she was doing here in his workshop. Twilight thinks that it's very odd to call it. But she told the voice that she just followed Sweetheart, to find out what she was up to. It was actually the plan, until she found this secret meadow and the cottage. And she was so fascinated by it that she had completely forgotten about Sweetheart.
The voice was silent for a moment, but he giggled as she said Sweetheart's name. He muttered something like how typical of her, leaving any trails when everything's supposed to be a secret. Twilight didn't really understand what it meant, but she said that if it let her go, she promises not to tell anypony about it. The voice seems quite skeptical and said, "I din't know, if I believe in you, since you're sniffing around, but I don't like strangers who lies in order to escape from the consequences!"
Twilight feels very frightened than ever. Has there ever been ponies who knows about the mysterious pony's secret? It could be since there's no pony who discovered the place, but what happened to those who didn´t keep the promise?
Twilight could hear in his voice that it's not very hospitable and doesn't seem to trust strangers. Twilight confesses that she had intended to report it to the princess, but also realizes that it would be wrong to report without a pony's permission. That's what she learned, when she's still learning.
She said to the voice, that she promises with much honesty to not tell anypony about this place or his work at night (although she often is bad to keep a secret like Spike's crush on Rarity, which everypony already knew). The voice was quiet and seems skeptical again.

"How do I know, you're not lying!?"

Twilight was not surprised to hear it's answer, but she must find a way to get the mysterious voice to trust her. "Because..." She hesitated for a moment, until she remembered something she longed for so long "... Because I have this dream for a long time..."
The voice was silent at her response. Twilight felt quite foolhardy to say something, but she has this feeling, that she need somepony to talk about her secret... Somepony who she can confide. She told the voice, that her dream was to meet the prince from her fairytale and have waited in a eternity for him, but got no luck and she almost lost faith to him. She also told that she wishs she could tell her friends or Sweetheart about it, but couldn't because they'll just say that the prince is nothing but a fairytale figure. But for Twilight, the prince meant more than a fantasy.

"He...". She hesitated for a moment, until she got the courage to put it bluntly, "... He was my guardian angel... He was my only friend, I can confide to..."

It quickly got quiet in the room with the moonlight as their only light. Twilight lowered her head as arelief, but of sorrow. She had finally told somepony about her secret, but it just feels more strange, but somehow, she feels that she's finally escaped from her isolation. She begins to babble about how ridiculous her secret isand laughed humiliating at herself.
"I don't think it's ridiculous..." the voice said calmly. Twilight stopped laughing and stared confused, but astonished against the voice's direction. The voice said that it was an amazing secret she has. And such a imagination, she has. Twilight smiled shyly and took it as a compliment. For the first time ever, there was somepony who liked her secret. And that made Twilight so happy inside.
The voice said to her that it trusts her and letting her go. Twilight was relieved and was ready to leave the cottage, but she stopped and didn't reached the door, which was lighten up for her. The voice asked her, if there's something wrong and Twilight turns around. She asked the voice, if she's going to make this place a secret, she want to see the pony, she was talking to. The voice hesitated and told her, that it's not possible, but Twilight insisted to know who she was talking to. Frankly, she don't know why and wouldn't care it at all, but she had to know if she have to make a new friend.
The voice sighed, but agreed as long as she keeps the place and its identity a secret. Twilight promised with Pinkie promise. It wasn't long before a shape of a head popped out. Twilight was a little bit excited to see who the pony is. A figure appeared out of darkness and standing proudly in front of her. Twilight glared at the figure with open mouth and surprising eyes like she's never imagined in her own eyes...