Crumbling Meteorite

by Alcadera

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Romance, Princess Luna, Original Character, Comedy, Princess Celestia
Length: 12397

Meteor Guise, taken from another world by Princess Luna to be her last backup.

We all know the great story of the two sisters. We all know of Princess Luna's corruption, how she became Nightmare Moon, her plan for eternal night and how Princess Celestia banished her in the moon. But nopony knows the story of her intended last hope.

To have someone on her side, to have someone who would help her.

To what lengths would she go to ensure the Night will last forever? to what lengths will she go to have her nights duly appreciated?

What will come of this lost soul who was meant to become her last hope?

Published 2012-08-26 10:04:04 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-29 17:34:07 UTC

Prologue - NEW

Crumbling Meteorite.

-----
Please note: the following story contains certain assumptions and takes certain liberties you may or may not agree with.
- It assumes Celestia and Luna fought off Discord together before he was sealed in stone.
- It assumes Discord is responsible for Luna’s corruption, leading to her eventually turning into Nightmare Moon.
- It assumes the elements of harmony, when used by the Mane 6, removed all traces of this corruption from Luna, making her no longer prone to becoming Nightmare Moon.

- It takes the liberty to use non-canon spells.
- It takes the liberty to use non-canon lore.

If you are going to rate this story, please only do so if the above does not influence your judgement.
If the above does not bother you, I hope it will prove to be a enjoyable read.
-----

Prologue

We all know the great story of the two sisters. We all know of Princess Luna's corruption, how she became Nightmare Moon, her plan for eternal night and how Princess Celestia banished her in the moon. But nopony knows the story of her intended last hope.

It was only a few months before she would fully succumb to the corruption in her heart and turn into Nightmare Moon. With nopony showing any signs of appreciation for all the work she puts in her most beautiful nights, she began to seclude herself in her private quarters more frequently. Thoughts had begun to manifest in her head that her sister was to blame. She had always loved her sister, and Celestia had always been Luna’s only friend, but the corruption was starting to cloud her better judgement. She wanted to revolt against her sister, she wanted ponies to see and appreciate her night... but regardless of how empowering these thoughts made her feel, she still considered her chances to triumph to be low.

She felt she needed somepony to have as a form of back up. Somepony that could either keep Celestia or her royal guards busy enough for her to overthrow her sister and force all ponies of equestria to accept the beauty of her nights. She had her own royal guards at her disposal, but had her doubts of their loyalty if confronted with an order to fight her sister’s guards. This was also the biggest problem, if she cannot even trust her own guards to back her up in a revolt, how was she to find anypony at all. It was because of this that she had started to look through the castle archives. At first she considered spells to conjure apparitions, but these would depend on her own durability in magic. Brainwashing spells seemed promising at first, but turned out not to be as foolproof as she had hoped.

Several nights she would return to the archives to try and read up on alternative means to ensure her victory. The thought that her suspicious visits to the archives had begun to be noticed was slowly creeping into her mind, and she suspected it would only be a few more nights before maybe even one of her own guards would report this to her sister. She then remembered there was a small locked section only accessible to her and her sister. Spells and discoveries that were deemed too dangerous for anypony to attempt. As an act of desperation, she opened the restricted wing of the archives. As the door shut and locked behind her, the odd sensation of both her and her sister’s protection spells kicking in sent ripples down her spine. She hadn’t been here since she helped her sister create those very spells that protect this room from any attempted entry.

The shelves were mostly empty here, but the amount of documents and even books that had been collected since this wing’s creation was eerie to say the least. For there to be so many discoveries that were deemed so dangerous as to be locked away in here were enough for Luna to rethink her decision to come here for a few moments, but the thoughts of her sister being the sole pony who deemed all these documents dangerous was enough for the corruption to convince her this was the right choice. After all, her sister would lock away anything that would challenge her rule.

After half an hour of reading through spells that were all a direct threat to the well being of the pony attempting them, she found a collection of scrolls that were initially a part of an astrology project. The goal was to explore for worlds beyond the stars. These documents were from one particular unicorn that had attempted to use magic to project his consciousness to other worlds. By focussing on the faintest signs of life in several star clusters, he managed to find anchors to project his consciousness. His reports were met with great criticism and he had chosen to continue his studies in seclusion. It was only after reports were made of strange grey ponies, who seemed to show no signs of being born as one, that an investigation was launched on the ex astronomer. He had begun to pull beings from other worlds through to Equestria, after which he forced their consciousness into a pony body. He was arrested for crimes against innocent creatures of unknown origin, and the test subjects were adopted into a special integration program to help them adjust to their new life, only half of the subjects managed to fully integrate, the other half had slowly lost their minds before the integration program was complete.

The final document detailed the astronomer’s final conclusions before he was found out and had been imprisoned. A small sketch indicated which cluster he brought his test subjects from, and the document described the parameters required for a successful transition from one world to another. The subject is not to be forced into a predetermined body type, as the subconscious of the subject would automatically guide the creation of the body to what befits it most. The subject also had to be open to the possibility of another life as another species, a trait he claimed most commonly occurring in lonely subjects.

Complete failures were entirely grey ponies with no definition of colour. Minor failures were variations in between that would still feature hair or tail colour. Potentials were ones featuring both hair/tail colour as well as eye colour at the same time, but having grey fur still left them viable to becoming unstable later on, as he stated high stress would deteriorate the subject until all colour faded, from that point they would be unsalvageable. The astronomer was planning to put his research to the test and attempt to successfully pull a subject through into a properly coloured and functioning body. Before he had managed to, however, he was found out and had been taken into custody. His records sealed away here in the restricted section.

These scrolls seemed ideal, if dangerous. Part of her felt it would be a cruel thing to pull a being from another world into this one with such a high risk of becoming unstable. Yet the corruption lead her to the conclusion this was her most usable option thus far. The description of this world appeared similar to Equestria, save from the species within it, and she knew how to affect the dreams of others. This would allow her to find someone who wouldn’t take her beautiful nights for granted.

With a sigh of relief she left the restricted wing, no longer surrounded by the layers of protection spells and made her way to her private quarters. She was glad her guards never patrol within the archives itself, meaning nopony will find out she accessed it. Only her sister could possibly find out, if she’d even know what to look for, and why.

The following evening Luna had made sure the stars would be extra visible. She might be the princess of the night, but she still needs to see the stars in order to find the right direction. For the first time in many years, Luna was glad there were no ponies attempting to seek an audience. she made her way to her private quarters and stood by her window to find a suitable place to be alone. At the very least to be alone long enough to find the cluster described in the document. Luckily the astronomer had only lost his sense of morality when he wrote his last documents, as the details were clear and the sketch included the position of some nearby constellations. She noticed a small outcropping in the mountains near the castle, across from the canyon the castle majestically towered above. That appeared ideal.

After a quick teleport she looked around. She remembered she would sometimes go here as a young filly to watch the castle in peace and quiet, see what everypony did behind the windows. Sometimes she could even spy on her sister, how she would occasionally get buried in scrolls to sign, how she made rude faces at Ponies seeking a private audience while they weren’t looking. She smiled at that, it was always funny to see how her sister would break etiquette to brighten up her work. A single tear shook her back to the reality of now, she was planning to fight her own sister, but... she still remembered the good times... but all of them from long ago. The euphoria of her memories were replaced with the pain of the present. The good times felt like a single drop of water in an endless desert... it wasn’t enough...

After a deep sigh she turned her gaze back to the sky, the depicted constellations made it a breeze to find the cluster of stars she was meant to focus on. The only trick was figuring out how to project like the astronomer said. He made very few notes on how he did it. Luna knew how to project herself into dreams, a spell she had taught herself long ago, but for an astronomer unicorn to know how to project was admittedly hard to fathom. It’s a type of spell that has always been rare. Some manage to learn it by reading up on it, but most tended to learn it through other spells. In total there must have been a dozen or two throughout the millennia of recorded pony history.

She decided to sit back and take a long stare at the cluster of stars. With her dream projection spell in mind, she tried to focus in that one single direction. The key to projecting one’s subconscious was to find a tether to hold on to. The astronomer mentioned faint signs of life, but considering projection is often different for every pony, which is why it’s extremely rare in the first place, she would have to look for signs of dreams...

Sounds around her began to fade, and her eye focus slowly relaxed as colour almost seemed to disappear from anywhere around the cluster of stars she kept her eyes on. Mentally she was still completely focussed on it. Her body slowly began feeling numb as her consciousness seemed to stretch out. She started feeling the presence of dreams, very faint and distant, but the longer she kept her focus, the clearer they became. From a vague blurry sense they slowly came into focus as separate dreamers. At the very moment she felt like her entire state of being was loosening from her body, she closed her eyes and held on to the tether of dreams. After what felt like gravity itself releasing it’s grasp on her, she opened her eyes again to find herself facing what appears as half a sphere of lights. As bright and numerous as the stars themselves.

This was the first time she didn’t project herself directly into a dream, sometimes to watch the funny stuff ponies can come up with in their heads, sometimes to poke a bit of fun. Its possibly because she only projected into dreams before, that she did not actually see the planet before her, but only the dreams as tiny dots of light. The next problem was to figure out how to search. By closely following the astronomer’s notes she managed to use a spell she already knew to get this far, but she wasn’t intending to just randomly start tapping into every dream.

She thought back for a moment, as she hadn’t always projected the same way. She most commonly aims for a specific pony to project to, but way back when she first learned how to, she reached out for a very specific feeling. As it was on a sad rainy night, while she had proudly introduced a more colourful night sky only to find that same night was scheduled for heavy rainfall. She felt so upset and neglected that she couldn’t stop thinking about who could possibly feel the same. It was this, that had caused her to experiment with a spell... and it worked. She appeared in a young filly’s dream, who just had her birthday coïncide with the scheduled rain that day. She managed to cheer up the little filly, and by extent herself, by holding a special birthday party together under Luna’s brand new sky. It showed her what control she could gain on dreams, but also how to find someone with a specific feeling. Now looking at the giant collection of dreams, she knew how to make things easier. She closed her eyes and thought about a long lasting feeling of loneliness, the same loneliness she had endured for a long time now.

For a while it seemed like nothing happened, the usual feeling when she projects into a dream wasn’t happening, no stretching feeling, no flip of gravity or any of the like. When she opened her eyes again to see what went wrong, she found she was already in a dream. It had not occurred to her that when already projecting it is much easier to project again, as she essentially just moved position by altering the criteria.

The dream itself was almost like a reflection of how she felt many times before. There wasn’t much to speak of in terms of surroundings, an endless stretch of grass with some mild differences in height. The sun hung low behind the horizon with only a tiny sliver of light still peeking out above it, while a dark and empty sky was ready and waiting to replace it. Luna was on a small hill looking down at a bipedal figure, it hadn’t noticed her as it seemed completely focussed on the setting sun. She sat there and watched the scene for a few minutes until it became apparent that the sun wasn’t moving.

it made it seem like the bipedal figure was clinging to the last shimmer of hope it had, an empty dream perhaps meant an empty life. Standing in solitude, but not by choice. It was definitely a depressing sight, and the symbolism with the sun would have offended Luna had she expected the figure’s home world to have it’s sun controlled by Celestia, but she knew better. She recognised the same loneliness in this being that she herself is so familiar to, her heart went out to it. It was then that she decided to use her ability to alter the dream.

The rays of sunlight began to dwindle as it lowered further below the horizon, the thin golden ribbon dividing land from sky began to shimmer and die out, as the sky’s orange glow quickly gave way to the darkness closing in from all around. The bipedal creature took a single step forward, stretching out an arm as if to beg for the sun not to leave. As darkness settled in, it fell to it’s knees, lowering it’s head in defeat. the symbolic hope it held on to so desperately had failed and left it in darkness. As it reached down to the grass, about to weep in desperation, it noticed a silver white light spreading across the ground. It’s shadow that had previously left a long trail behind it now lay in front of it, slowly shrinking in length. It stood up to find the entire grass field lit with this pure light, as it turned around it found a majestic bright moon rising from behind a hill. Atop that hill he saw the silhouette of a majestic winged unicorn.

With her wings spread, her head held high with her horn glowing her light blue aura, she raised the moon the same way she always had in Equestria. As the moon released itself from the horizon, she looked down to find the bipedal creature looking up at her and the moon with bewildered fascination. She lifted her head once more, and with a strong blue glow from her horn, the black veil of the sky became dotted with lights as stars pierced through the darkness. The darkness appeared to crack and shatter, patches of black seeming to fall down and fade away, making room for a beautiful flow of blue, purple and sometimes a faint haze of pink.

When she was done, she found the bipedal creature could find no words for the amazing beauty of Luna’s night, it could merely stare up with fascination and amazement. Luna was considering to approach and talk to it when a sharp headache made her reach for her forehead. A stretching feeling and a flip of gravity later, she found herself on her side back in Equestria. It had been a while since she last projected, but what had undoubtedly drained most of her endurance was the distance, paired with it being fairly new compared to her previous projections.

Luna teleported herself back to her room with a content smile, there was little doubt left in her mind. From what she saw, this creature would be ideal. As lonely as her, and showed a fascination for her night that no pony had ever shown before. For the moment she decided to rest, her tether now lay with it, so she could project back much easier tomorrow night.

The following night she decided to project from the comfort of her own room, lain on a stack of soft pillows, using the memory as her new tether. It didn’t immediately work, which she figured might be that he wasn’t asleep, but when trying a little while later she had more success. After the same stretch and shift in gravity, she found herself in the same field again. This time the creature was standing atop a hill, staring up at the sky. The sky was almost exactly like she created it the night before, just about the clearest indication as to how much her work impressed it. She joined it atop the hill and only then wondered if it would understand her, using a much more insecure tone of voice than she intended to use.

“i take it... this means you like it?”

Her voice took the bipedal creature by surprise as it took a step away from her before it realised it was the same mare as the night before. It faced her directly and slowly approached, it’s expression was filled with awe. it was perhaps about a few inches taller than her. it looked somewhat masculine to her, so if she were to guess, a male. Eventually he managed to even stop awkwardly staring and break the silence.

“y-... you can talk?”

Definitely male.

she couldn’t help but let out a chuckle in the middle of a massive sigh of relief, she had started to fear he couldn’t understand her at all, to know he was just flabbergasted and couldn’t think of anything was definitely a relief... and funny.

“yes *giggle*.. yes i can talk... and a little more than you it would appear.” That made him smile and blush brightly. He felt silly, it was obvious enough as he heard and saw her do it.

As they both sat down and talked under the moonlight, it became clear that this creature was as lonely as she was, they didn’t say it flat out, but it was fairly obvious throughout their conversation that he felt as alone as his dream showed. The word conversation was in fact a bit of a big word, as they didn’t really say more than a line or two at a time. But the start was there, and it was obvious they both wanted to meet again.

Each following night Luna returned to her new friend, and each night they got to know each other a little better. They shared a little bit of their life, but mostly the reasons they were lonely and felt unfairly treated, Luna told of her royal status and the day and night cycle she and her sister maintained, and about the ponies that never showed any interest in her nights. The male responded in pure disbelief, he felt a night so beautiful could not possibly be taken for granted. To him it was a blessing to find himself with Luna every night.

About two weeks passed before she found the male with tears running down his face, he had grown to enjoy their talks under the moonlight so much that his life seemed even more bland and empty in comparison. As he admitted to her he wanted to stay with her for more than just dreams, luna felt tears well up in her eyes as well. He matched her feelings so perfectly that she didn’t even need to bring up the subject herself. He already stated nights before how he would do anything he could to help her make others acknowledge the beauty of her nights if he were there with her, but she was still unsure if it was right to suggest her plan to him. For him to come out to her like this was everything she had ever hoped for. She pulled him into a tight hug, leaning her head atop his head, as her tears ran down her cheeks. They exchanged no words, everything had been said, they both knew what they wanted. And it was the night to start with the next step.

As she let go, she positioned herself in front of the male, leant her head down until their eyes met, and gave him one last look to see if he was sure. His expression was still pleading, she couldn’t bear leaving him like that. She closed her eyes and leant her head closer, touching the top of his head with her horn. The male was confused for a moment, he wondered if she was about to cry when he suddenly felt a sensation he had never felt before. Like gravity itself was unsure where to go.

Using magic, Luna held on to him while she followed the remaining instructions, she had enough time to memorise the procedure by now. The trip back is essentially like projection again, but using yourself as a tether to guide the subject with you. The process after that is a bit harder to understand. The astronomer knew no more about creating pony bodies than Luna did, but every subject would always come through as a pony. The fact the astronomer had initially forced subjects into the wrong pony bodies had apparently to do with subconscious thought itself. The astronomer described it as a “failsafe intervention”. Instead of creatures being spiritually stuck in a world they’re not meant to exist in, a new body is formed by magic beyond anypony’s comprehension. The astronomer mentioned that presumptions, expectations, hopes, all have an influence on the final outcome, forcing the wrong body type.

Luna could feel herself in her own body again. While still holding on to her friend, she stood up to make sure he has enough room to take form. She opened her eyes to find a white glowing silhouette of a pony, exactly the same size as her. She noticed holding on to him halted the process, so she released her grip and took a few steps back and waited for the process to finish.

Eyes became visible of the deepest blue, a bright yellow mane sprouted from his head and neck, draping down his side, paired with a short but smooth yellow tail. The glowing silhouette seemed to flicker a while, and for a few moments it seemed he was to become an earth pony when lastly a horn shaped atop his forehead and the glow quickly dissipated. Luna saw his eyes closing as his hooves touched the ground, his legs immediately buckling. She managed to levitate him just a millisecond short of dropping to the floor, quickly pulling him over to the same pillows she projected from and laying him down gently. As she looked him over to see what might have gone wrong, she noticed his fur... it was a dark shade of grey.

“No.... no, no please be alright...please?”

The documents never mentioned anything about the subjects being unconscious on arrival. Did she do something wrong? She followed the documents to a tee, but the astronomer mentioned he perfected the process. His fur couldn’t possibly come out grey... unless... what if the astronomer was wrong in his final conclusions?! Luna was about to assume the worst when finally he twitched a little and groaned.

“Luna?... why do I feel ...weird...”

Luna gasped and could barely stop herself from squealing like a schoolfilly when she heard him talk. He’s alive and, from the looks of him, just a little groggy. She hugged him tightly and stood to face him. He only just opened his eyes and carefully looked around the room. Luna laid herself down in front of him, making little to no efforts to hide her enthusiastic smile as she watched his first reactions. The male looked puzzled for a few moments while he was looking around the room.

“Where are we?...”

His puzzled look soon faded when he realised the room fit exactly to Luna’s description of her castle.

“A-... a-are we in...”

Luna eagerly nodded her head, smiling wider at how big his eyes became from the realisation.

“Y-you mean... I’m awake??...Here??... I-I won’t wake up in my own world anymore??”

At which point Luna shook her head as eagerly as she had nodded a moment before. The young male’s face appeared to have an inner argument whether to to express bewilderment, fascination or outright euphoria. He hopped up from the pillows and stood upright.

“Wow! this is-... this is amasing! i- WAH!”*pomf*

As the young male found out he wasn’t in the same body after his failed attempt at standing upright on two legs, Luna was having a hard time to stop herself from giggling. she stood up and turned him over onto his belly.

“You need to take it slow *giggle* you’re in a completely new body now and have to get a feel for it. Get used to having hooves before you stand up, While i start thinking of something important that we need to do.”

As she walked over to her windows, the young male tried to turn around to face her, carefully using his front hooves to push off while he shifted his rear on the pillows.

“uhm... what is it exactly that we need to do?“

Luna turned her head to look at him.

“Your name. You know I had trouble pronouncing it, but it’s also not a common name here, in fact nopony would understand it. Here ponies are named after common things in our native tongue. Some name ponies after food, some currency... all kinds of things. My own name, Luna, refers to the moon. My sister’s name, Celestia, refers to the sun. As much as I don’t like asking you to change something about yourself, renaming you would make your new life a lot easier.”

Meteor scratched his neck for a moment, still feeling slightly odd about using a hoof to do so, and tried to sit upright. As he thought about it, a mild blush appeared on his cheecks.

“W-.. w-would you... name me?” He asked as his blush increased.

“I-I mean I... didn’t really like my old name... in the first place... s-so... whatever you want to name me means much more to me”

His flustered response melted Luna’s heart, it made her feel a lot better for asking it, and it made her realise he’s growing a crush for her. Something she felt she might be getting for him as well. She looked back out the window while grinding a hoof along the floor as she continued, having a hard time not to blush as well whenever she glanced back at him.

“Well I... kind of already knew what i wanted to name you a week ago. You came from beyond the stars, and was not originally of an equestrian species... so i came up with the name... Meteor Guise”

The newly named Meteor Guise suppressed a giggle of enthusiasm when he heard his new name, there wasn’t a name she could mention that wouldn’t make him feel great in the first place.

“That... is a really cool name!” He said while still trying to stop himself from giggling in sheer joy.

He stood up fully as he said it, carefully and slowly stepping forwards one hoof at a time, his legs trembling a little while he tried to keep his balance. Slowly but steadily pacing towards Luna who had already turned around to face him fully. She couldn’t stop smiling as Meteor took his first steps toward her, and stopped just in front of her, leaning his cheek against hers to show his affection. Luna blushed again and took another step forward, to show him what a pony hug is like. They held their necks together and rested their heads on each other's shoulders. Meteor had a small tear leak from his eye, running along his cheek until it touched Luna’s lower neck.

“Thank you, Luna... Thank you so much...” Was all he could muster before leaning his head tightly against her.

With a trembling chin he silently cried of joy. This was the happiest day in his entire existence, while Luna had a moment of pause, as happy as she was to have him there, she remembers why she looked for him in the first place... and the fact he had a grey coat of fur... She began to doubt if she deserved enjoying this happiness.

After minutes passed, Luna felt it was time to break the silence.

“We should rest... we’ve gone through a lot tonight...”

Meteor nodded and followed her to her bed. Luna let him lay down first, and then positioned herself against his back. As she was about to rest her head atop of him, she noticed he also had no cutie mark, though she didn't think much of it. As far as she knew, it might take a few years before he would get one. He IS practically new born as far as Equestria is concerned, it would simply look weird for an adult pony.

While Meteor had little trouble falling asleep, Luna stayed awake a while longer. She thought about his grey fur. His hair and eyes had colour meaning he was in the potential category, but there was no mention of those subjects ever improving. She knew ponies exist with a light grey coat of fur, but this dark grey paired with the oddly abrupt end to his body’s creation made it seem it should have been a colour. Maybe tomorrow she can find documents on the integration program. With that in mind, she eventually managed to sleep.

Their rest was of a mere few hours. With the sun already well above the horizon, a sudden knock was heard on Luna’s doors. Luna abruptly awoke to find her and Meteor in plain sight on her bed. As she stood up, she quickly levitated a very confused Meteor underneath the pile of pillows he had lain on the night before.

“Be very quiet and stay still!” Was all she said before quickly tidying herself up.

“Enter!” She spoke, while preparing to use the more traditional royal vocabulary just in case it was royal business... which would be a first.

As the door opened, princess Celestia poked her head in the room with her usual warm smile.

“Good morning, Luna” She said casually as she entered the room.

She walked up to Luna and gave her a nuzzle to the cheek in greet before moving towards the pile of pillows they usually sit on when discussing matters that require both their attention. This made Luna immediately regret her chosen hiding spot for Meteor. She quickly followed Celestia in hopes a conversation would allow her to lead her sister away, but Celestia already started along the way.

“I wanted to talk to you about an idea i’ve been thinking on the past few weeks. It’s been so long since we’ve had ponies visit us without some hidden agenda or the usual royal business, that i thought it would be nice to host a gala here at the castle!...”

Luna was so concerned with Celestia finding out about Meteor that she could barely manage an audible response to her sister’s ideas. Celestia sat and stretched her legs, allowing herself to flop sideways on the stack of pillows, which happened to be exactly where Meteor was hidden.

Meteor was deeply confused with what was going on. He had expected to wake up in his own bed back in his own world, only to find himself to still be a pony in Luna’s quarters and swiftly carried across half the room and put under a stack of pillows. He was thankful that he wasn’t on the floor, and that there were some pillows under him, but to be hidden under more of them wasn’t what he had in mind to spend his first morning in a whole new world. He heard luna calling for someone to enter, he heard the door open and a distant voice that he couldn’t make out. There was a moment of silence before the voice continued, something about ponies visiting? He intently listened for a while, when he noticed the voice was getting clearer. he followed Luna’s orders to keep quiet, but it sounds like he is about to be found out. He considered crawling away when suddenly he felt a large body press down atop the pillows... atop of him.

He could hear the mostly one-sided conversation press on without any change. It was a good thing he was laying on his side at least, if he had his head upright, whomever is on top of him would notice. As he heard nearby pillows moving, he could only assume Luna had lain down beside her guest to keep appearances... he was stuck there... better breathe carefully, regardless of the weight pressing down on him.

It wouldn’t take much for Luna to keep her appearance. At least her recent, more quiet appearance, as she lately hasn't been much in the way of conversations. The fact Celestia was nearly the only pony she had conversations with was concerning to say the least, as she feared her sister would notice her increased reclusion, both physically and socially.

And sure enough:

“Luna?... are you sure you are alright? I know we hardly manage to talk anymore, but when we do, you mostly keep quiet lately. Won’t you tell your own sister what is bothering you?”

As tempting as it was to her to just say “yes, my sister. I am fed up with everypony hiding away in the night and only coming out at daytime. If you would be so kind as to stand down and let me rule equestria in eternal night, that would be great!”. Though, she decided that lying was the best course of action, granted it wouldn’t be a complete lie. The most convincing lies often hold some truth in them. She looked away for a moment and began her story.

“I... haven’t been sleeping very well the past few months...” she started off before turning her head back to Celestia.

“Ever since we fought discord it has been harder for me to sleep during the day. Ever since he meddled with the day and night cycle, i found that the light just keeps waking me up. So i decided to try and sleep before you raise the sun. I know it’s my royal duty to be available for anything for the entire duration of the night, but nopony has ever sought an audience with me for years...”

Before she could explain further, Celestia had gotten up and nuzzled Luna’s cheek.

“Oh Luna. All you had to do was tell me. If i had known you needed some more sleep, i wouldn’t barge in on you this early in the morning. Maybe we should have some curtains put up in here so the morning light won’t interrupt your rest.”

She raised her head and made her way back to the door. Luna stood and followed her to the door

“We can let my idea of the gala wait until you’ve had some more proper rest, perhaps tonight after you’ve raised the moon?”

Luna nodded with a little smile.

“That sounds excellent, my sister.”

They exchanged a gentle nuzzle as Celestia went on her way and closed the door quietly behind her. Luna’s forced smile faded as she turned around, as nice as Celestia pretended to be, Luna knew she was keeping an eye on her.

As Luna was about to call for Meteor that the coast was clear, she found him poking his head out above the pillows. The sight of that one single head between a pile of pillows paired with confused puppy-like eyes was almost enough to make Luna’s heart melt. She quietly giggled to herself as she approached him.

“You can come out now, nopony else is likely to visit today. We should be safe.”

But Meteor just sat there with a slight blush on him, while still looking as confused as before.

“Why did you hide me under the pillows? She was heavy!” He whined.

That did it, Luna could no longer contain herself and began laughing heartily.

“Well, she IS almost twice your size!” Luna managed to utter between bursts of laughter.

“Really? How much does she eat to manage that?!...and that doesn’t explain why you put me under here instead of... of” He looked around for anything that would have hidden him...

“That!” He said determinedly while pointing a hoof at a nearby dresser. Luna raised an eyebrow at Meteor.

”You want to be hidden inside of my dresser drawers?” At which point Meteor realised what he implied and blushed.

“Well no... but I could’ve stood behind it or something.” After which Luna giggled and shook her head.

“She probably would have seen you then, but you’re right. We need to think of a better way to hide you...” She said while pacing around the room. Meteor climbed out of the pile of pillows and tried to pace after her... or rather tried to learn how to walk instead of wobble.

Luna walked up to a line of statues she had commissioned over the years, among which were three statues of the three separate pony races. Pegasus, Unicorn and Earth Pony. The unicorn wasn’t that much different from Meteor. Almost the same size, the same build, the mane and tail were different, but it’s not likely for anypony to notice... Not even Celestia would have casually memorised every feature about Luna’s room...

“Hmm... I think I have an idea.” She said as she turned back to Meteor.

“If you managed to hear my end of the conversation while you were buried under my sister, She and I once fought a draconequus named Discord. In order to keep him locked away all we could do in the end was to seal him away in a stone statue. It took a considerable amount of effort from both me and my sister because he is... or was, a very strong creature. The effort required was tremendous, but the basic requirements for the spell to work are quite simple. Provided no resistance is given before the spell’s effect is complete.”

By the time she finished, Meteor had managed to move over to Luna and sit down. He seemed to understand her... until he tilted his head kinda sideways and said.

“Err-... a dracowhatta?”

Luna sighed, but couldn’t help but smile just a little. As far as Equestria goes, he practically WAS born yesterday.

“I think I will bring some pony history books from the library up here later. What I was trying to tell you, however, is that I can turn you into a statue to hide you when necessary. So we won’t have to use you as a pillow any more.”

Meteor blushed a little, but at least he understood her intent this time. It sounded like a good idea, but he wasn’t feeling too comfortable about being turned into stone. Luna explained the process to him while she pulled the unicorn statue off it’s pedestal. She didn’t know any more than he did about what it would feel like, but assured him there have never been any nasty reports about it.

“I’ll only keep you like that for a few minutes, and then turn you back to normal.”

Meteor nodded nervously while he was on the pedestal. It didn’t feel right to him at all to be turned into stone for several minutes. Even though he will be released, he wasn’t too keen on it becoming a recurring thing to do.

With quivering hooves and his eyes closed tightly, he told Luna he was ready. Luna’s horn began to glow and a ray of blue light shot towards Meteor, enveloping his entire body with her aura. To meteor it felt like his entire body was being enveloped in warmth, and after an odd numb ripple washed through his entire body, Luna released her aura and sat down expectantly.

Meteor carefully opened an eye to find Luna sat down and finished with her spell, but he didn’t feel or notice anything, much less over the duration of several minutes.

“D-... did the spell not work?”

At which point Luna giggled triumphantly.

“Oh, yes it worked alright! you were a perfect example of the most nervous statue i have ever seen for up to five minutes!”

As Meteor stood upright, while looking at luna in amazement, Luna quickly turned him into stone again and back. He wasn’t sure how long it was this time, as their first experiment proved that any sense of time is warped. What he did notice was that Luna’s movements seemed vague, but also sped up, like seeing ghostly images appear and vanish again. When she seemed back at normal speed again, she sat exactly where she did before, but this time holding her hoof over her mouth while giggling furiously. When Meteor asked what happened, she held up a mirror to show his face. He was now the proud owner of a red monocle and mustache... courtesy of Luna’s lipstick.

“That’s the first time i ever got to use my red lipstick!” She uttered between bursts of laughter.

“It looks really good on you, i think you should keep it!” She added before falling to her back.

Meteor couldn’t help but laugh as well, though more thanks to how silly Luna looked while rolling around like that. Granted, it was funny to think she turned him into a statue just so she could pull a little prank... and considering how she talked about her life here thus far, this seemed like the most fun she had in many years... maybe even longer than his entire life thus far. To be fair, however, the same applied to him. This was the most fun he has had in a long time as well.

Over the course of the following days and nights, Luna taught Meteor various basics of being a unicorn of Equestria. It started off with teaching him how to keep his balance in his new body. How to walk, run and jump properly. Some basic pony history. She even taught him his first spell, how to levitate objects, which soon turned into how to levitate Luna... which turned into a game of hide and seek with magic.

She found he was unusually quick on the uptake for his first spell, especially with a mind that had already developed into maturity as another species. When they talked about it, there appeared to be a link between his ability to visualise and his ability to wield a spell, as his imagination appeared to be a large contributing factor. This appeared to only help him with basic spells however, as their attempts at having him learn a more advanced spell like turning one inanimate object into another ended with him shattering a vase and holding up the pieces in the general shape of a teapot.

Meteor was very often turned into a statue those days, whenever a knock was on the door, he was quickly put on the pedestal and turned to stone. The unicorn statue he replaced had long been rid of by now, and nopony who entered seemed to notice any difference. Meteor was regularly turned into stone during dawn and dusk, as those were the most likeliest of times for them to be interrupted. They both slept during daytime as no pony ever really disturbed Luna’s quarters then anyway, but Luna found herself to keep Meteor sealed in stone for longer periods of time... Time she spent looking over the astronomer’s documents.

Even though she had memorised them by now, she hoped there would be something she was missing, to no avail. There appeared to be no trace of any documents about the integration project used on the astronomer’s test subjects. She figured it must have been stored in the restricted wing of the archives along with the astronomer’s documents, but she found nothing of the sort. The only one she could ask about where to find them was also the same pony she wants to use the knowledge against, Celestia. For all Luna knew, the integration might never have been documented, that Celestia might have figured with the astronomer’s documents locked away, there would be no need to write about the integration program in detail.

The time she spent with Meteor had become the highlights of her life, she felt happy again when she was with him. When he was locked in stone, however, she felt guilty about the damage the pressure of her revolt would do to him. She needed his help, but couldn’t force herself to put him in danger. As with every passing hour she spent alone, that old familiar burning in her heart grew stronger. She wanted to revolt... she wanted her nights to last forever, for the ponies to see... yet as the days passed, she also wanted the power... As much as Meteor brought back her true nature, the corruption was too strong to hold back.
One night, in the final hours approaching dawn, Luna locked meteor into stone for the last time. She looked deep into his eyes. He posed as devoted and loyal as her sister’s guards always do, the type of appearance her own guards wouldn’t even try to mimic. As tears began to run down her face, she kissed Meteor’s nose.

“I’m sorry Meteor... I can no longer hold it back. I feel this burning inside of me... and i fear what it may do to me. You have to stay here, stay safe... I’m doing this for you... I-...”

She cringed and backed away from the statue, her mind switched from one mindset back to the other. While she tried to hold on to her feelings for Meteor, another voice within her cried out for battle. She had found back her innocence with Meteor, but wasn’t strong enough to repress the corrupted thoughts. While she crawled out of his line of sight, she turned her gaze to him one last time.

“I’m so sorry!”

With a final whimper she curled into a ball and lifted off the ground, the burning flowed through her entire body. She was helpless to stop the change. When she opened her eyes she began to scream, her irises became slits, her fur tone turned dark, and her body and mane began to grow. The scream twisted into a dark roar of rage.

When her hooves met the floor once more, Princess Luna was no more.

Nightmare Moon was born.

As opposed to Luna’s methods of scheming in solitude, Nightmare Moon preferred a direct approach. That night she refused to make way for the sun, challenging princess Celestia to fight for rule over all of Equestria. After a long battle that left the castle an unsalvageable wreck, Celestia had managed to banish Nightmare into the moon... it wasn’t until then that she had the time to realise... she just fought and imprisoned her sister... for all eternity...

A thousand years passed, and over the generations the memories of Nightmare Moon would fade amongst ponies everywhere, but Nightmare Moon inevitably returned. Equestria was reminded by force what had started a thousand years ago, but with the elements of harmony, new heroines rose to face the challenge. Princess Luna was freed from her corruption. Celestia had regained her sister, Luna had lost everything she had before Nightmare Moon. Little more than a few empty halls remain on the edge of the canyon. What was once the magnificent castle of the royal sisters, is now nothing but an empty skeleton.

Rumors went around that over the following years, princess Luna sometimes went back to the old castle, walking through the empty broken remains. Returning to Canterlot with her cheeks wet from tears.

Nopony could figure out why.

On a dark and rainy night in the everfree forest. Deep below the ruin of the old castle, the canyon still lay filled with the overgrown piles of rubble that fell from above. Hidden within it lay a mysteriously unscathed statue of a unicorn. Magically protected from the fall and subsequent burial.

Tears appeared in the corners of it’s eyes... as cracks began to form.

That night, the canyon was met with a muffled scream.

“LUNAAAAA!!!”

Chapter 1 - Emerging

Chapter 1 - Emerging

Alone, cold, confused and sore. Meteor found himself writhing between the rubble, trapped in complete darkness.

“LUUNAAAAAA!!!”

Repeatedly he cried out to the only pony he thought could help him, like a child screaming for its mommy. No help came, no magical intervention that got his cry for help to the right ears. As far as he could know, no sign of life nearby either. In his struggles he found there was only enough room for his body, with a massive slab of some form of stone precariously held above him.

What Meteor didn’t realise however, was that while he was a statue, he was one of the main things holding that slab up. The more he screamed and struggled, the more it began to move. It wasn’t until the roof above him came down a foot, pinning him down tightly against the rubble below and sounding ready to collapse that Meteor had enough sense to try and stop it. He tried putting his hooves up against it, but as he was pinned on his side, it’s impossible to get a good push. With the rumble of grinding stone filling his ears, Meteor panicked. His eyes and horn began to glow as a bright yellow aura enveloped his body.

With a bright yellow flash, Meteor’s eyes were met with clouds, rain and a miserable view.

Somehow his guts felt really weird... and what was that draft coming from below?

When he turned his gaze down, the answer came speeding towards him. Or rather, he was speeding towards it. He had been teleported several hundred yards into the air and was now in a freefall towards a very uninviting outcropping on the side of a mountain. He flung his legs around, trying to slow his fall, but without wings he had no chance. With only a hundred yards left to go his horn began to glow again. There was only one spell he knew how to use, and with every fiber of his being screaming for him to slow down, he had the ideal focus. The same yellow aura encompassed his body once more, and sure enough began to slow his descent. He had to slow down a lot harder though. Hard enough to come to a-

*THUD* “...Oooouwwtch!” he whined as he lifted himself off the hard soil.

He was finally somewhere safe it seems, no broken bones, all his teeth intact. Just his personal pride suffered a minor dent... and perhaps his chin, chest and hooves felt kinda sore now. Meteor sat and paused for a moment however, as he remembers he could pick up Luna with levitation before, but could only barely slow himself down enough not to get injured.

“I should have pulled off that levitation spell a lot better than this, what’s wrong with me?”

Though it shouldn’t take a genius to figure it out. What had teleported him was his own magic, he remembered Luna talked about teleportation as one of the advanced spells. It’s probably the reason he currently has a sharp headache, but not why he managed it in the first place. It wasn’t what he intended to do, though in his panic he could only think of being away from there... would an advanced spell really be that simple? He had his doubts. Either way it seemed a good explanation as to why he couldn’t levitate himself. That advanced spell probably just knocked a lot of energy out of him.

With the rain clattering down on him, the water washing most of the grime out of his fur, he made his way to the edge of the platform. He wasn’t too far away from where he must have been buried. With chills running down his spine, he looked down upon the ruined last remains of what once must have been a castle. He couldn’t guess at how the castle looked when it was still intact, but it pains him to know he never got the chance to. He knew for certain he had been away a long time, the long monotonous wait was unbearable. Knowing how long it felt paired with the knowledge that, to his perception, time speeds up dramatically when encased in stone meant it was a very... VERY... long time...

There it was, the new life he had been promised. Buried under a broken ruin.

“Luna....No...”

His words were soft and drowned out by the heavy clatter of the rain. Tears ran down his cheeks and mixed with the rainwater. She was gone, everything was gone. Introduced to a whole new world for a week or two, to find everything quickly stripped away before he even had a chance to get used to it all, before he had even been allowed to leave the room.

Now he was alone again... but more so than before. In his own world he had a home, a job. He knew where he was and he knew where he could go. Back there he was simply alone because he lacked initiative to start conversations, nor the will to maintain any that he ended up in. It was the mutual fascination he and Luna had for each other that showed him what a friendship was like.

Lamenting on these memories with the sight of the broken and ruined castle became too painful to bear. Meteor started sobbing heavily as he turned his gaze away, and as there was nobody there to comfort him, he curled up into a miserable ball of sorrow.

Meteor wept like a baby without it’s mommy for several minutes before a pause in the rain caught his attention. As he looked up to see a break in the clouds as they passed over, he noticed the stars behind it, paired with that distinct flow of colour so very familiar to him.

“T-That....Is that possible?” Meteor quietly whimpered as he got back up on his hooves. examining the small crack as much as the clouds would let him. Could that same beauty be emulated by another? Or does it mean Luna is still out there? The first thought would still mean Luna is gone forever, but the latter on the other hand sparked the hope she might yet be alive.

Meteor remembered Luna mentioning she and her sister were responsible for the day and night cycle in equestria. He didn’t recall any mention of there being anyone before them. The pony history Luna taught him made it sound like they were there for a long time. That might mean they live for centuries!

As the break in the clouds passed, and the rain once again started beating down on Meteor, there was still some doubt, but seeing the night sky between the clouds gave him enough hope. He had to try and find Luna. The sight of the ruined castle was still painful, but bearable. As Meteor paced along the edge of the platform, he thought it would have been better if the teleport spell had put him somewhere near the castle’s front gates, but as he still hadn’t a clue how it worked, he knew it wouldn’t be wise to try repeating it. His crying hadn’t helped with his headache either. The sharp pain felt like someone ran a pin through the length of his horn right into his forehead, but without magic, he couldn’t imagine getting away from here.

The side of the mountain was too steep to try and climb his way down, so his best bet was to find another platform to jump to. The nearest platform that he could see, however, was the remains of the castle. If he used his levitation spell on himself just enough to extend his jump and slow his descent, he might make it over to what appears to be a large hall. The roof was gone, so he wouldn’t have to aim for any windows either.

It seemed like the best way to get out of here, but the moment he realised the depth which he would have to cross, some healthy hesitation came to mind. Meteor backed away from the ledge and sat down for a moment. Taking the time to overcome the natural fear of the risk involved also gave him some time to keep his eyes closed in hopes of letting the headache fade.

After a while, Meteor stood up and got as far back as possible to get a proper runup. He knew this was by far the stupidest thing he’s done in both his lives. As his horn glowed, the yellow aura once again enveloped his body. The headache came back at full force, he knew this wasn’t going to last long. He ran for the edge and jumped as hard as he could.

He was airborne, and he was heading towards the castle, but just as Meteor was about to proclaim success, he noticed he was heading for a wall, and not the open ceiling.

“Uh oh... no... no, no-no-no-NOO!” He screamed with flailing hooves before smashing into the wall, which immediately buckled from the sudden force and collapsed into the middle of the large room. Meteor found himself atop a freshly created pile of rubble, his body was sore again and his headache worse than ever... but this time he had a way out.

He didn’t immediately stand up this time, regardless of the castle’s condition he felt safe to be on some form of solid ground again. His hooves were still trembling from both the exertion, and the realisation his jump spanned across a several hundred yards sheer drop.

A few minutes, he gave himself a few minutes to catch his breath, then he forced himself to stand up. Part of him wanted to stay here and explore the remains, but with every second he spent looking at the ruined state of it, his heart grew more heavy. As he made his way out the front door, he tried to push every thought of it from his mind. If he is to find Luna again, he can’t let himself be dragged down by pain and fear.

Meteor was somewhat surprised to find no clear indication of any path leading away from the front doors, though considering the amount of time passed, it would be inevitable for nature to reclaim something as simple as an unused path. It did cause Meteor to take in his immediate surroundings a bit more thoroughly, as he wasn’t planning on going just any random direction. Roads lead somewhere after all.

Grass thrived with no restraint, although tree growth seemed to have been fairly slow, as the soil along the cliff edge was likely not the most fertile. Close to the main gate was a small, but surprisingly intact small guard’s outpost. Though, ‘intact’ would perhaps be a slight overstatement. The windows were broken, but the walls were upright and there was still a roof. With it being three yards wide and two yards deep, it would make for an excellent shelter to spend a night out of the rain...

There was certainly enough temptation for Meteor to curl up inside and try to rest for awhile out of the rain, but he already had set his mind on moving on. There would be enough time to rest if...when he finds a settlement and know’s for sure that there is at least more life out there than just him. Plus... if there are Ponies, there’s bound to be some who know of Luna.

As Meteor moved on, he found, to his own horror, that the castle wasn’t directly connected to the cliffside at all, as he was faced with yet another deep drop. It wasn’t nearly as wide as the gorge under the ruined castle remains, but nothing he would expect to have formed in a mere thousand years. A single rickety rope bridge connected this... spire of rock to the actual cliffside. Had Meteor known all this, he most likely wouldn’t have felt safe when he landed in the castle hall. Granted, the chunk the castle was built on was massive in it’s own right, but whomever decided to build a castle on that must have been either gutsy, or blind.

As soon as he crossed the rope bridge, he could let out a deep sigh of relief and forget about the castle for the time being. The less he thought about it from now on, the better. His struggle wasn’t over yet, however. It was now fairly easy to see where the path goes, but only thanks to the massive looming dark forest of doom that grew around it.

He had a healthy hesitation to walk through this forest, it looked like nothing hospitable could be found inside, but there wasn’t any option to turn back. Meteor thought about trying a sprint, but after two crash landings and a splitting headache, he was in no shape to hasten his pace, much less run.

The darkness inside the forest wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn’t been for the rain clouds up above obstructing his only source of light, the moon. Meteor had to really focus in order not to stray from what little hint there was left of a path here. He needed a source of light, which he knows there is a spell for, but not how to wield it. Not that his headache was going to allow him to do any spell for a while.

The only thing that confirmed he was still on the path was the faint sight of a clearing, far up ahead, the only way he could see that was if there were no trees in the way. Granted, the feeling of only tall grass brushing along the lower parts of his legs instead of bushes worked as an indication as well, he just preferred to see.

It felt like half an hour before he reached the clearing, even when it was only a couple of minutes. Being a statue for millennia didn’t help his perception of time of course, but walking a lonely straight path in near absolute darkness would be a big contributor as well. At least when he reached the clearing, he noticed the rain was starting to ease up. It seemed almost like a sudden change when he reached the clearing, but in fact it was merely the fact the thick tree growth is so soaked all the way through, it would keep streaming down a barrage of thick droplets like nothing happened for a while, even if the rain completely stopped.

Luckily for Meteor, the rest of the way seemed to have significantly less dense tree growth, allowing him some higher degree of vision. At least now he wouldn’t have to constantly be focussed fully on where he’s going, allowing him to look around a bit. The flora was definitely more diverse than it seemed at the edge of the forest, but nothing compared to what he was about to run in to.

At first he thought there was somepony up ahead, holding up a blue light, yet calling out to it yielded no response. When he realised it wasn’t moving he decided to inspect it closer. It didn’t cast light any further than two yards away, but it was definitely something he would find use for. The source of the light turned out to be a bioluminescent flower of sorts. The sight was magnificent to behold, natural bioluminescence was a rare thing to come across in in his world, but to find a sample of such brightness in this one was something he never imagined possible. Granted, the fact he was previously in near absolute darkness most likely played a part in this, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was whether or not this flower would maintain it’s luminescence if he plucked it. He was no gardener in his world, but he knew plants didn’t instantly wither away the moment they were plucked, so maybe this light would last him long enough to reach.

Meteor closely inspected the stem to see if there were any thorns. It appears to be completely smooth for as far as he could tell, but he was still somewhat hesitant to touch what he could only assume to be a rare plant. As he sat down to take a look around for anything he could use to pluck this new plant without risking poison, a brief flare of his headache reminded of an ability he had been ignoring, though for good reason. He knew all too well it wouldn’t make the headache go away, but since it’s only a plant, it wouldn’t weigh enough to add a lot to his headache either.

He considered his options for a little while, what it boiled down to was a choice between risking poison or risking a stronger headache, and as much as he would have prefered a perfect in between solution, he wasn’t going to find Luna by reconsidering every step of the way. He used the only spell he knew to hold on to the flower and levitated it off the ground. The stem broke with a faint subtle crack, and now was the moment of truth. After holding his breath for a few seconds, he let out a sigh of relief. The flower still maintained its luminescence for the time being, and his headache didn’t seem that much stronger.

As he got back on his way, the added source of light made it far easier and faster to traverse the forest. Aside from the interesting flora, however, there wasn’t much to really look at. Eventually every tree and bush looked the same. After about half an hour of continued pacing, he arrived at another clearing, except this one a lot wider and providing it’s own obstacle. A long and rather wide river spanned across his path. On the other side he could see where he was meant to move on, but he couldn’t understand why this place wouldn’t feature a bridge, while the desolate castle still had at least a wood rope bridge. He started to wonder if he was going the wrong way, that there might have been a path leading another way, but he couldn’t turn back now. There would have to be at least SOMETHING at the other end of this forest.

Meteor carefully dipped a hoof into the water to compare it to the temperature of the rain, which was when he realised the rain had already stopped. As he looked up, he was still met with a large deck of clouds, but there did appear to be a few stars only just poking through here and there. There was even a large white blur where the moon would be. The forestation on the other end of the river, however, was dense enough for him to require his flower for a while longer. He carefully stepped forward into the water, It didn’t even seem too bad, it hardly got up to his torso. That was until he reached about a quarter of the way, where the ground almost seemed to stop, and Meteor fell head first into the water. After a brief moment of struggle, he realised he wouldn’t be able to swim the way he would with his previous body, resorting to a form of doggy paddle instead, which thankfully got his head above the water’s surface and made him able to slowly make his way to the other side, where he hastily clambered out of the river and sat down to catch his breath.

The water didn’t seem cold at first, but being fully submerged in it was far less comfortable than he anticipated, and lowered his body temperature enough to cause concern. If he had a fire, he would’ve taken the time to rest, but since his source of light is little more than a wet luminescent flower, the only way to get his body temperature up now would be to keep moving. Regardless of his sore muscles.

The rest of his journey luckily seemed to feature no more hazardous obstacles. After passing between two large rocks, the path became significantly wider, perhaps about three to four yards wide. It was here that he noticed a few other paths connecting to this one. Meteor considered taking a look, though regardless of the opportunity to try out a different direction, he preferred staying on the nice and wide path. It felt like a main road of sorts, that the other paths connected to. It went up along the side of a mountain, curving left and back the other way as it ascended further and curved to the right around the mountain. When he reached the apex, he noticed some severe damage to the path itself. It seems a large portion had broken off in a landslide here, though luckily for him, there was still a few feet worth of path left.

After carefully inching himself along the narrow path, mostly keeping his body pressed against the mountain, Meteor was faced with yet another path through the forest. At which point he sighed and lowered his head.

“For pete sake... i’ve been walking for hours... what if there isn’t anything out here...” he said to himself as he slowly walked further through the forest.

Fifteen minutes later, however, Meteor noticed a change in the near-endless stretch of forest. It looked like another clearing, yet this time he could see no forest beyond it. Meteor stopped for a moment as the realisation sunk in, he had finally reached the edge of the forest. The moment it hit him, Meteor ran forwards as fast as he could, no sore muscles were going to stop him from finally reaching the end of that horrible gloomy forest. In his enthusiasm, however, he failed to notice the path of the forest and the grassy field beyond it shared at least two feet height difference. As he was about to leap out of the forest, his front hooves weren’t met with the ground where he expected it, by the time he realised what was happening, his momentum already toppled him over and rolled him onto his back before grinding to a halt in the grass.

His eyes were met with a spectacular view, The rain had already stopped long ago without him even noticing, there weren’t even any clouds in sight. After staring up for a few minutes, a reassured smile found it’s way back on Meteor’s face. This was the best hint he had thus far at Luna’s well being, and it may not be as good as finding her, it at least meant he was going the right way.

By the time he thought to himself how comfortable the grass was to lay on, he realised he ran the risk of falling asleep right there and then. As appealing as that felt, his goal hadn’t changed from when he crash landed in the castle remains, he had to push on to find Luna... he could rest later.

Meteor got back on his hooves and surveyed his surroundings. Most of the area outside of the forest appear to just be grassy meadows, lakes and the occasional bundle of trees, though far less menacing looking than some of the ones in the forest. He could have sworn that in the far distance there was even a farm of sorts. The best, however, was when he turned left. A town, one that didn’t look ruined and in fact could very well be inhabited! There was no doubt he wouldn’t find Luna there, but there’s bound to be ponies that know how to find her.

“Uhm... Excuse me, sir? is this yours?”