The Two Sisters

Sunny looked at the map on her smartphone.

"According to this... we should be right on the edge of a huge forest." She said, looking up.

"Yikes.."

Yikes indeed. The giangantic forest that lay before them was tall, overgrown, and kind of menacing looking. The trees grew in weird twisted ways, and jet black vines curled up along their trunks, almost like long black serpents. The bushes were extremely thick, with thorns and a type of red berry growing on them.

"Ooooo! Berries! Yummy!" Squealed Izzy, hopping forward and snatching some in her magic.

"Izzy NO!" Sunny yelled, swatting the berries out of the Unicorns magical aura.

"It says in my dad's journal these berries are poisonous to ponies. They're called... 'Wandering Snazzleberries'." Sunny continued reading. "Beware of the red Wandering Snazzleberries. A single bite from one of these dangerous berries can turn anypony to stone. There is no known cure."

Zipp looked at the red berries on the ground and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Dang, talk about a sweet tooth for death," She said.

Sunny cleared her throat and turned toward her friends.

"Alright, from now on. Nopony eats anything from this forest or touches any plant that looks like it could kill you in your sleep and roast you over a fire."

The group nodded and Sunny turned back to the forest, using her magic to push aside the shrubbery covering the overgrown path. One by one, the ponies entered the forest and began trotting forward. It was dark inside, mostly due to the canopy of trees blocking out the sun.

"Wow... this is really creepy," said Pipp, recording a video for her Cantergram account.

Hitch nodded, "I couldn't agree more. Sunny? Are you sure this is safe? Maybe we could find a way around."

Sunny shook her head. "No, we need to follow this path. According to my dad's journal, there was an old town on the other side of this forest called Ponyville. It may hold the key to figuring out what happened to Twilight, and the two alicorn rulers."

The group continued on, stepping over vines and branches and fallen trees.

"Hey.. Sunny? Your dad, how come he knew so much about ancient Equestria?" Izzy asked.

The apricot earth pony-turned-alicorn, sighed a little remembering her father.

"My dad was an archeologist. He was fascinated by how ponies used to live hundreds, even thousands of years ago. He was well respected in the science community for his discovery of the lost chalice of Griffinstone."

Izzy looked at Sunny questioningly.

"Um.. what's Griffinstone?"

"Its an abandoned settlement on the cliffs overlooking the Lunar Sea. They found ancient text books that were still intact explaining the founding of the village and who lived there. Hundreds of years ago, real life Griffons used to live there."

Zipp looked at Izzy and Sunny

"You mean those winged creatures that look like a cross between an eagle and a lion?" The Pegasus asked. Sunny nodded.

"Yup, but no one knows what happened to them. Or any of the magical creatures of Equestria. My dad noted he knew of 6 different species. The Griffins, Dragons, Yaks, Changelings, Hippogriffs, and the Kirin."

Hitch spoke up. "So.. all these creatures. Just disappeared? Like into thin air?"

Sunny nodded and hopped over a fallen log.

"Mhm, at the ruins we have discovered. No bones or grave sites have ever been found."

Izzy was about to say something, when suddenly she tripped and fell forward, disappearing through a thicket of bushes and trees.

"Izzy!" Sunny shouted, jumping through the thicket after her.

"I'm okay! But wow!!! You guys need to see this!"

As the rest of the group emerged from the tree line. Each one of their jaws dropped at the sight before them. In a huge clearing, sat an enormous shiny looking castle. Some of its windows were broken, and it had many vines growing along its walls, but it was surprisingly still fully intact.

"Woah..." Sunny said in amazement. Looking at the structure before them. It was an impressive piece of architecture. The towers not looking like traditional towers, and the entire thing actually resembling a tree.

"Woah is right, this is incredible," said Pipp. Taking out her phone and snapping several pictures as well as a video.

The rest of the group looked on in amazement at the towering structure.

"Hey Sunny, how old do you think this thing is?" Asked Hitch.

Sunny shook her head slowly, turning to look at her friend.

"I.... I have no idea! Hundreds? Thousands??" Hitch! This is the discovery of the CENTURY!!!" She screamed, smiling and dancing around laughing and clutching her dad's journal to her chest. Zipp approached the closest wall and looked at the castle.

"Hey.. I'm no architect. But I think this isn't your traditional stonework." She said, running a hoof down it's smooth surface.

Izzy trotted over to join her and also felt it with a hoof.

"Shes right, this is pure crystal. But it's a hardened building crystal called Dalinite."

Sunny stopped dancing and looked at Izzy.

"What did you just say?" She asked. Her face lighting up with excitement.

"Its pure crystal Sunny. A crystal castle."

The alicorn practically fainted when she heard this and sat on the ground to steady herself.

"Oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God.... we just discovered Twilights Castle..." She whispered to herself, rocking on her haunches as she laughed softly.

"Who's castle?" Asked Zipp, turning and looking at Sunny.

"Twilight Sparkles castle.. they said it was lost long ago to time when the forest grew." Sunny said, slowly standing up and trotting to a pair of huge rotting wooden doors.

"I just can't believe we found it... this place could hold the key to what happened to Equestria all those years ago!" She said excitedly.

Izzy grabbed some camping gear they had brought with them.

"Not to ruin your excitement guys, but the sun's starting to go down. I think we should set up camp for tonight and explore the castle tomorrow." She said, starting to unpack a tent.

Zipp nodded in agreement.

"Shes right Sunny, we'll have plenty of time to explore the castle in the morning."

Sunny looked at Zipp, "you're right, it'll be safer too. Let's get some rest everypony."