How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back

Finite Sledgehammer

Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it.

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Chapter 6

Moonstruck jerked awake as someone knocked softly on her door. She sat up and stared at the wall for a few moments, awareness of her surroundings seeping into her sluggish brain. It was early; there was a cold draft sneaking in from behind the curtains, it was still raining, and she could remember dreaming, but couldn't remember what of.

"Mooney? You awake?"

She shook her head. "Ye-yeah. I'll be out in a few."

"Good. Change of plans, breakfast meeting at the Mayors office."

Moonstruck groaned and slid out of bed. She shuffled into the small bathroom to splash her face off, brush her teeth, and attempt to run a comb through her mane and tail to work out the worst of the tangles. Once she was more or less presentable, she summoned up her illusion, pulled her saddlebags on, then a light cloak, then opened her door. Windwake was waiting for her in the hall, already in his rain gear.

"Mornin'," he grunted. "Nightingale is already there."

Moonstruck grunted, then yawned and followed the pegasus stallion down the hall. "So, what kind of plan changes are we talking?"

"Er... you'll see when we get outside."

Moonstrucks eyebrows wandered up under her forelock as she glanced out the hall window. Aside from the part where it was raining, she couldn't see anything particularly scandalous in that direction.

It became clear once they were out in the street, with a grand view of the mountains. Although it was raining steadily, the ceiling was high, high enough to see even the tallest peaks... and the weird, shifting lights that danced over the highest glaciers. Occasionally the rainbow corona would arch out and downwards to brush the foothills, only to crash against some unseen object, then recede like the ocean meeting the shore.

"Pretty." Moonstruck grunted. She had no idea if this was good or bad.

They trotted through the muddy streets, the only sound that of the rain, and their hooves squishing through mud, or clomping across the occasional boardwalk. Aside from some forlorn looking weather ponies who fluttered damply overhead occasionally, the town was deserted. Rain, Moonstruck knew, wasn't a problem; the strange lights over the mountains was keeping ponies indoors. She couldn't blame them.

They were muddy half way up their legs by the time they reached the mayors offices, and had to rinse off with a garden hose before they could go inside. Once the front door was closed, and they were out of sight of the hiding townsponies, Moonstruck used her magic to dry them off. No one came to greet them, so they went ahead and trotted back to the office. The mayor and Princess Luna were standing at the window; they turned as the pair entered the room.

"We are moving up the time table." Luna said. "You leave as soon as we can gather your gear."

Moonstruck grimaced. "Was afraid of that."

"The magic storm over the mountains and the sudden rainstorm are more than likely linked; we cannot waste time. If the magical field is expanding, we need to know what's happening over there as soon as possible." Luna sighed.

"You know, the funny thing is, we're in the middle of a drought, so the rain isn't unwelcome." Tumbleweed chuckled. "Provided it doesn't flood of course."

"You didn't build on a flood plain did you?" Windwake asked wryly.

"Er... we did, but it's one of those thousand year flood things. Meaning it doesn't happen often. And... well, the river doesn't run the way it used to so we don't really know." The mayor mused. "Anyway, I've got Sagebrush out rounding up some ponies to help get your gear in order faster."

"Sagebrush?" Moonstruck asked.

"My niece."

"Right, right." Moonstruck scowled. "So, wait, my mission now is to poke around in the Broken Lands - if I can get in at all - and maybe figure out what's up with the magical disturbance?"

Luna pressed her lips into a thin line. "Yes. If it's at all possible. Magic storms are not unheard of but this does not seem to be a coincidence."

"Oh goodie." Moonstruck sighed. "Well, at least I got to sleep in for one morning, and sleep in an actual bed for two nights."

The mayor chuckled as Luna rolled her eyes. Lightning flashed nearby, thunder hot on its heels. Moonstruck craned her neck to look outside, and noticed another bolt of lighting out over the foothills; it seemed normal enough, no strange waves of electricity or rainbows or anything. She wondered if the storm really stretched over there, or if that bolt of lightning was from eons ago.

"So, should we go get Mooney's gear, or is it coming to us?" Windwake asked.

"It's being delivered. Sagebrush can get everyone hoppin', you'll probably be able to leave by this afternoon, weather permitting." Tumbleweed nodded.

"I think I'll go see if I can help the weather ponies." Windwake said. "Maybe with three of us we can create a lull in the storm or something."

"Yeah, good idea." Moonstruck nodded. He left; the door creaked as it swung shut behind him.

"So... any final briefings? Anything useful from Princess Celestia?"

"I am afraid not." Luna shook her head. "And she did not know of the exact original location of the disturbance, nor that it had expanded. Alicorns generally avoid this area."

She grimaced, then lifted her head. "Oh dear, I wonder if I'm too close…"

"Eh?" The mayor asked, furrowing his brow.

"One of the reasons Sister chose Princess Moonstruck to embark on this quest is that she is too young for the magical barrier to recognize." Luna gestured to the distant mountains. "I may be close enough to the disturbance to, well, disturb it."

Moonstruck whistled as the mayor swallowed hard.

"Well, there's an easy way to test it out. How are you at long distance teleportation?" Moonstruck asked. "I can only do it if there's nodestones involved."

Luna blinked a few times. "I think I can manage to teleport back to where we last camped. Give me ten minutes."

She stepped into the center of the room, lowered her head, and closed her eyes. After a few tense moments of magical build-up, she vanished in a flash of light.

"Wow." Mayor Tumbleweed gasped. Then, after a short pause, "what are we waiting for?"

"To see if the magic storm lets up or something." Moonstruck shrugged. "Can we access the roof?"

"Yes! Yes, right this way." He led her out of the office to the back stairs, up to the second story, then to a hidden staircase that went up to the roof.

"It's kind of a long shot." Moonstruck mused as she pulled her hood up and stepped up onto the roof. "I mean, Princess Luna wasn't even here most of the day yesterday. She had to fly those packages to Prariedog Junction herself."

"Oh dear. Well, Prariedog Junction is only a little further from the foothills than we are - just further east."

"Ah, so it wouldn't matter." Moonstruck nodded slightly. It was still raining steadily, but there seemed to be fewer unnatural looking rainbows over the hills.

"Do you think ten minutes will be long enough to tell?" Tumbleweed asked.

"I dunno. Actually, I figure we'll be able to tell for sure when she teleports back." She nodded towards the foothills.

"Right."

Moonstruck shifted her weight off of one hind leg and let her eyes slide half shut. It was too dang early for this sort of thing, she hadn't even had breakfast yet. She made a mental note to locate a pastry and some coffee once they were done conducting their experiment. After a couple of minutes of watching the hypnotic waves of swirling rainbows, she blinked and cast her eyes downwards to the empty streets below.

Nearly empty streets, she corrected herself. Somepony was standing in the middle of the main road towards the edge of town, also watching the storm. Moonstruck opened her eyes fully when the wind whipped up and blew the ponies hood back, revealing a horn.

"Well it's a bout time one of you showed up." She muttered.

"Pardon?" The mayor asked.

"You said there's only one family of unicorns here, right?" She took a step towards the edge of the roof.

"Er, yeah, the Amber family. Very old family, been here since the town was founded. Only one branch of the family remains though, and they tend to keep to themselves. They're doctors, mostly." He squinted down at the figure in the distance. "I think that's Amber Rose, their eldest daughter."

"I'm gonna go have a word with her." Moonstruck grunted. She teleported down to the street, and trotted towards the young unicorn, not bothering with an illusion - her cloak covered her wings, anyway. As she approached, she realized that the unicorn was still but a filly - probably around the same age as her brother; tall but gangly with a short cropped mane and tail. Her cloak was of very fine material and repelled water with ease.

"You were a pegasus yesterday." The filly said as Moonstruck stopped a polite distance to the side. She did not turn to look at Moonstruck, just twitched an ear in her direction. "I saw you from my window when you were at the book shop."

"I can appear to be many things." Moonstruck said cryptically. "Have you ever seen it do this?"

"No. Great grandmother said that when the last of the outposts were lost it was like this for months afterwords. She said it was an ill omen." She finally turned to look at Moonstruck. "So is the arrival of newcomers who can change their shape."

Moonstruck snorted a laugh. "You made that last bit up."

Amber Rose smiled very faintly.

"A little bird tells me that there's only one family of unicorns left here in town."

"Yes. Most of them left long ago. Magic..." she scowled, "magic does not always work the way it should here."

"Does it ever not work at all?" Moonstruck lifted a brow.

"No, it just... isn't as powerful as it should be, or it doesn't quite do what was intended." Amber Rose scowled. "My family practices Earth Pony medicine, but with telekinesis, so our ways are simple. We have been mostly unaffected. The families that owned the mines, and hunted for the crystals grew flustered and left when they could no longer locate crystals easily."

Moonstruck nodded as her mental timer went off, she shifted her weight and gazed out at the foothills. At any moment Luna would teleport back; if she really was what was riling up the magic field, there should be some evidence of her arrival. She flicked an ear back as she felt a faint shiver of powerful magic, and a familiar spell at that. Line of sight teleportation was nearly instantaneous, but long distance teleportation could take up to thirty seconds, which mostly meant that a sensitive unicorn could feel the magic build up a few moments before the traveler arrived. The magic storm didn't seem to do anything in particular for the build up, but there was a very prominent ripple when Luna arrived in the mayors office.

"Hmm." Moonstruck grunted. "Well, that doesn't answer much. Later."

"What?" Amber Rose asked, turning around as Moonstruck started to amble away.

"Was conducting a little experiment. Results are inconclusive." Moonstruck shrugged. "It will probably take more time to work out."

"You know something about the magic storm!?" Amber Rose asked, trotting to catch up.

"Not really. Was hoping you did, actually, since you live here." Moonstruck sighed.

"Oh." She was silent for a few moments. "I know about the pegasus pony they found near the foothills."

Moonstruck stopped and spun around. "You saw Sarah!?"

Amber Rose slid to a stop then stumbled back a couple of steps. "Ye-yes! I was making rounds with my mother that day - my father was on the team that brought her in! I helped stitch up some of her wounds!"

"Did you notice anything that didn't make it into the final reports?"

She blinked a few times. "Um... no? I don't know, I was only helping my Mother! I don't even know what went in to the reports!"

Moonstruck scowled. "I need to speak with your parents."

"I - they're hiding. From the storm. I-I'm actually not supposed to be outside right now..." Amber Rose ducked her head and pulled her ears back.

Moonstruck let out an irate sigh. The words were about to say were words she'd never thought she'd use in seriousness, but she sensed she didn't have time to convince the filly any other way.

"By royal decree, I, Princess Moonstruck of the Queendom of Trot, and Royal Agent of High Princess Celestia demand that you take me to your parents!" She flared her wings dramatically.

Amber Rose sat town abruptly, her jaw dropping open. "I did not expect that."

"Well?"

"Where's Trot? I've never heard of it."

"It's a little country off the west coast of Equestria - seriously, I need to talk to your folks."

"Why would Princess Celestaia send someone we've never heard of all the way out here?"

"Reasons. Go. Parents. Talk to. Now!" Moonstruck levitated Amber Rose and set her on her hooves.

"R-right! Um - I'm gonna get in trouble for this…"

---

A few minutes later she was standing in the drawing room of a large house towards the southern edge of town. Moonstruck magicked away all of the mud and water in her fur, fluffed her woefully messy mane as best she could and hung her cloak and saddlebags on a coat rack by the door. In hindsight, she should have gone and snagged Luna to help, but she had an inkling that time was of the essence. Amber Rose returned from the depths of the house to bring her into a large study, where a handsome pair of unicorns stood sternly next to the picture windows. They scowled at their daughter as she trotted sheepishly into the room, then blanched as they saw Moonstruck.

"Okay, quick question." Moonstruck said before anyone else could speak. "Was there anything you left out of the report you wrote on Sarah that you did not send to Canterlot?"

They simply stared wide eyed at her.

"What?"

"Y-your highness, it is truly an honor to -"

Moonstruck rolled her eyes and waved a hoof.

"Yeah, yeah. Really, I don't have a lotta time here - was there anything that you left out of the report of the pegasus pony who was found near the foothills?"

They exchanged confused glances. "No, not that I know of."

"Did it mention her broken ulna?"

"And her concussion?"

"Also that she only had one, greatly diminished wing digit on each wing, and her strange skull and dental growth?"

"And that her digestive track seemed entirely different from -"

"Yeah, it had all of that." From what Moonstruck could remember, anyway. She'd just skimmed the technical stuff. "I mean... I dunno, anything magical that might have been off about her? Anything in particular about where she was found? Something she might have said while she was delirious?"

The stallion scowled. "Magically speaking it is difficult to tell what is normal so near the foothills. As for location... well simply being that close to the foothills is odd. The only reason she was found at all was that a patrol had gotten turned around at night and had strayed closer than normal. And, well, she kept mentioning a dragon who had helped her - but I'm quite certain I included that in the report."

Moonstruck nodded, crestfallen. "Okay, just checking." She sighed. "Sorry to bother you."

hr

"Well, that was a waste of time." Moonstruck muttered to herself as she ventured out into the rain again. She mentally kicked herself for not leaving a nodestone in the mayors office before she left, which would allow her to teleport directly. Windwake and the weather ponies didn't seem to be having any luck with the storm; it was still raining steadily.

"There you are." Luna said as Moonstruck shook off on the porch of City Hall. "Where did you go?"

"To talk to the family of unicorns that live here." Moonstruck grunted, again magicking away the mud and water from her fur. She really should have brought her rain boots.

"It was a dead end, they don't know much of anything."

Luna sighed. "Did you notice any change in the magic storm when I returned?"

"It rippled a bit, but that was it. You might have to stay away longer."

Luna nodded and led the way indoors. "I intend to leave tomorrow morning. Sister is sending a team of scientists here to monitor the magical disturbance, perhaps I should enlist the local unicorns as well."

"Probably a good idea."

Mayor Tumbleweed was setting a tea tray on his desk as they walked into his office.

"Sorry I don't make it as good as Sagebrush, figured you'd like something warm to drink and a little breakfast."

"Yes, thank you." Luna dipped her head politely and selected a cup, saucer, and pastry off the tray.

"Read my mind." Moonstruck grunted, following suit. They munched in silence for a while, listening to the occasional thunder, watching the rain hit the window.

"Anyone here play cards?" Moonstruck asked after she'd eaten. She hadn't played since they'd left Canterlot.

"I happen to be Stirrup Springs' poker champion six years runnin'!" Tumbleweed beamed.

"Oh ho ho!" Moonstruck grinned and whipped out her deck, shuffling the cards in a dazzling display of telekenetic dexterity. "I'm gonna take that as a challenge, sir!"

Luna moved aside as they plopped down on the floor.

"Now you're making me nervous, Your Highness. Dunno if I can stomach letting you win."

"Don't worry, you won't need to." Moonstruck winked.

Sitting down on the floor with a deck of cards between them was amazingly soothing; the fury of the storm faded into the background, the magical disturbance pressing at the very edge of her perception became so much white noise, and the task ahead of her seemed like some far-off distant chore that she'd get to when she got around to it. She let the mayor deal, and inspected her hand, her mind drifting placidly between the various options she held, the strategies she could use. Of course, it all depended on the luck of the draw. Poker wasn't a card game exactly, but a game of observation and misdirection. Tumbleweed was not particularly hard to read. After three rounds she was quite certain he was convinced he was going easy on her, and that he had no idea she was going easy on him in turn. After five, she was pretty sure she knew the bulk of his unconscious twitches. The sixth round she tested a few theories, confirmed a couple of his more cryptic idiosyncrasies. After that, it was a massacre.

"Y-you sure you're not psychic?" Tumbleweed asked after she called his bluff for the umpteenth time.

"Quite. You just wrinkle your nose a tad when you have a pair of something. If it's aces, your left hind hoof twitches a little. If it's something smaller you tend to keep it more on the down low." Moonstruck said absently, shuffling the cards.

He gaped at her.

"Well y-you... um... kinda raise an eyebrow when you... no wait, you were bluffing. And - ah, no you were bluffing then too..."

Moonstruck giggled. "Sorry, I never properly introduced myself; I'm Moonstruck. Maverick Moonstruck, best card player in all of Trot."

"Oh, horse apples!" He laughed, "well, I stepped in it, didn't I?"

"Only a little."

Out in the other room, the door opened and then shut, the sound of at least two sets of hooves and hushed conversation echoed down the quiet hall.

"Sagebrush, that you!?" Tumbleweed called.

"Yeah, it's me, and Sheriff Juniper Berry!"

"Oh good, she'll have the latest info on the foothills." Tumbleweed said, he climbed to his hooves and started clearing off his desk. "Want some tea?"

"Yes, please!" Sagebrush said as she and the sheriff trotted into the room. The sheriff slid to a stop as she saw Princess Luna seated on a cushion casually sipping tea, then her wide, blue eyes snapped down to Moonstruck, whom was gathering up her deck of cards and placing them back in their pouch.

"I almost didn't believe you." The sheriff muttered.

"Ah, This is Juniper Berry, our sheriff. Juniper, I'm sure you recognize Princess Luna, and this is Princess Moonstruck from Trottingham."

"Just Trot." Moonstruck grunted, getting to her hooves.

"Right, sorry."

"I-it's an honor," She said, continuing into the room. "So, Sagebrush tells me Princess Moonstruck will be on a solo expedition into the Broken Lands."

"Indeed she is." Tumbleweed nodded, removing the last of the brick-a-brack and paperwork from his desk. "And I understand you know of a pretty reliable way to get into the foothills."

"Yes, we have a small outpost there. It's where we base our patrols in that region." She shrugged out of her saddle bags, then pulled a neatly folded map out of one of them. The chestnut mare trotted to the desk, then expertly flipped the map down so that it unfolded a little on its own, then hastily unfolded it the rest of the way. Moonstruck approached the desk, noting that it was color coded; green areas were absolutely free of magical distortion, blue areas had some minor disturbances, purple areas were iffy at best, and red were highly unstable and strictly off limits.

"We're going to send you off from here," Juniper Berry said, tapping a black dot labeled Lookout Hill Outpost. It was on the edge of two zones; blue which was closer to town, and purple which transitioned to red on it's opposite edge. "It's the furthest we've been able to build into the foothills since we lost Beacon Hill Outpost over a century ago. There's a quirk with the magic there that means anyone who goes in on hoof will make it safely to the red zone. If and when they return, they'll return to this spot, pretty much."

Moonstruck grunted and nodded.

"The going isn't easy though; the landscape is only reliable up to the edge of this little valley here." She indicated a shallow valley beyond the outpost. "Once you cross that ridge, things tend to shift around on you. I've only been to the edge of the purple zone myself, and it was mighty confusing. We can walk all day, make our way through the maze of hills and canyons, send pegasus up to scout around only make it about five miles in. Unicorns can make it into the red zone, but there's points where they must be able to fly; and other points where the wind is so strong that flying is absolutely out of the question."

"So I've been told."

"The last expedition probably made it about seven miles in - nowhere near the higher mountains. They were gone almost a month, and they estimated that the bulk of the time was spent going in circles. I'm assuming that the logic here is that you have magic, and flight capabilities, so you should be able to muddle your way through the distortion." She eyed Moonstruck curiously.

"I'm also good at cards." Moonstruck nodded solemnly.

Juniper Berry stared at her for a second then shifted her gaze to Luna. "Is she kidding?"

"I am afraid not." Luna sighed.

"She's really good, actually." Tumbleweed chimed in a bit cluelessly.

Juniper Berry shook her head. "Your gear is being delivered to headquarters. We'll depart from there by carriage about noon. It should take us half the day to get to the outpost, and you can set off first thing in the morning."

"Weather permitting." Moonstruck added.

The sheriff smirked. "If we waited for that, you'd never get a chance to leave."

---

Windwake met up with her as Moonstruck hoofed it back over to the inn to gather her things and check out. The storm, he was irritated to report, was not manageable. Whatever weather was happening when Moonstruck departed was the weather she was stuck with.

As promised, the gear was waiting for her at the sheriffs office; and she was mildly disturbed to discover the bulk of it was made up of a special, lightweight tent and bedroll that folded up small enough to fit into a standard sized saddle bag. The rest was specially built, lightweight survival gear, a half dozen slim journals and pencils, and a special travel bread that was enchanted to keep for a long time. She had known ahead of time that she would have to forage for the bulk of her food, but it simply hadn't hit her that they wouldn't be sending her off with oodles of dried fruits, and things. She did have some dried fruit, but it was only enough to supplement a few meals. She had actually brought more snacks with her for the trip out to Stirrup Springs than they were giving her for a possibly months-long expedition into the Broken Mountains.

While they readied the carriage, she arranged her saddle bags; all of her new gear fit neatly inside, and there was enough space for a couple of extra odds and ends, including her cloak, which she would fold up when not using, a warm vest, a spare canteen, a hair brush (not that it ever did much good) and her playing cards and assorted crystals and pebbles. She left those in their pouch and stashed them in the bag. Windwake watched her pack, the distressed look on his face reflecting the churning in her gut.

"You don't have to go, you know. You can always back out." He said as she finished.

"I know. I figure it's at least worth a shot. I'll probably just get lost like everypony else and have to turn back." Moonstruck sighed, magicking her saddlebags onto her back, adjusting her wings, then pulling her cloak on. "They say there's not much out there. Mostly just some ordinary animals. No monsters or anything."

He scowled, but nodded. "I'd come with you, if I could."

"I know."

They made their way into the garage, where the carriage was waiting. Four earth pony stallions in special rain gear were hitched to it and ready to go. Tumbleweed, Luna and Juniper Berry were chatting off to the side. They stopped as Moonstruck and Windwake came into view.

"All set?" Juniper Berry asked.

"Yep." Moonstruck grunted.

"I cannot accompany you to the outpost," Luna shook her head regretfully, "so I shall say my farewells now."

"Yeah, I figured. Have a nice flight back." Moonstruck said, dipping her head.

"Have a safe journey, and may the winds be in your favor." Luna mirrored the gesture.

With that, Moonstruck, Juniper Berry and Windwake climbed into the carriage. Moonstruck stared out the back window as the carriage lurched into motion. Stirrup Springs quickly faded into the rainy gloom. They played cards to pass the time, and watched the soggy landscape slide by. Unlike before, in the mayors office, she didn't slip into a zen-like state of amused peace as the cards were dealt; it was a cold detachment that greeted her instead. She could still read her opponents, the cards, even the rattle and sway of the carriage as it trundled over the bumpy, muddy road, but it brought no joy and did nothing to soothe her restless nerves.