Family Vacation

”…but that’s not all; it went like super fast! I’ve never seen anything go so fast, except that time with Rainbow Dash at the young flier’s competition, but seriously, who can top that?! As far as flying furniture goes, this was—”

“Pinkie!” interrupted Rarity, removing her eye-cover, letting the severe brightness of the sun wash into her darkness-adapted eyes. “Do you mind? I’m trying to sunbathe!”

“What a coincidence, that’s what I was doing, but then I was like, boring, and decided to take a stroll on the beach; and here I found you!”

“Well I can’t imagine me being that exiting for you,” countered Rarity. “Why don’t you go back to the hotel and try that ‘arcade’ thing that you were so fond of last night, and let me spend my vacation in peace?”

“I already beat the high-score like five times. Come on, Rarity, don’t you get restless from all that resting?”

“No, I get rested, which is just the way I like it. Didn’t Applejack and Fluttershy say something about exploring the mountain or some such? I’m sure it would be much more fun bothering them.”

“You know what, I think you’re right!” agreed Pinkie Pie with a grin. “Who knows, maybe they’ll find that missing sofa.” And with that remark, Pinkie Pie hopped away, off the beach and inland toward the jungle and the mountains.

***

A whole week of vacation! A whole week on a tropical island in the middle of Dream Lake, the largest body of water in all of Equestria! A whole week away from the everyday routine of bucking and selling apples!

A whole week of boredom. When Twilight had first told the gang that the Princess had granted them a week’s worth of vacation as a thank-you for her student’s diligent work, she had been very much looking forward to it. One week of relaxation? What hard-working pony wouldn’t want that? But it had only taken a day before she felt fully reinvigorated and ready to buck some apples… only there weren’t any apples to buck on this island, and there were still six days left to spend. She had considered for a moment asking her friends if it might be alright for her to go on ahead home, but figured that might seem a bit rude.

So instead, she was exploring the island, climbing her way up a mountain. It posed the perfect challenge for her: steep, but not so much so that she couldn’t figure out a way to brave it. She was measuring one such jump, carefully planning how she would have to land in order to not fall down; she prided herself sturdy enough to take a fall or two, but it would be a pain in the neck having to start over at this point. She needed to think this through perfectly… gather the right amount of strength in her legs, and…

“Applejack!”

The call came just in time to throw off her entire effort, the resulting jump only carrying her half the way. She tumbled down the steep cliff-side, but fortunately managed to grab a hold of a ledge so that she didn’t have to fall quite all the way. “Gosh darn it, Pinkie!” called the orange work pony back, annoyed. “Ah thought you said you didn’t wanna come! Don’t come sneak up on me!”

“I wasn’t sneaking up on you; if I was, why would I be calling your name?” rebutted the pink pony. “Are you doing anything fun? Have you seen a sofa lying around the jungle?”

“Uh, no, I haven’t,” Applejack replied. “Haven’t checked though; been too busy trying to scale this thing.” She motioned at the mountain. “I don’t have wings like Fluttershy, so I told her to go on ahead and wait for me at the top.”

“Can I come too? I’ve been sooo bored; there’s nothing fun to do around here, unless you really like resting, like Rarity, or read books in the hotel room like Twilight.”

“I hear ya there, sister,” replied Applejack. “Wonder what RD’s up to. She likes adventurin’ an’ all. No matter, race ya to the top!”

Applejack immediately began jumping over from ledge to ledge, moving as quickly as she could without making a misstep. But once she was back to the place where Pinkie Pie had thrown her off, she saw the pink party pony taking giant leaps up the cliffs, grabbing hold of tiny hoof-holds that Applejack hadn’t even noticed, and within ten seconds she had climbed past the orange pony by at least twice her height. Applejack, hopped on to the next ledge, determined to leave the party pony in the dust.

***

“Nice try, Applejack, but I won by at least 153 noses. Oh, hi Fluttershy.”

“Hi, Pinkie,” greeted the yellow-coated, pink-maned pegasus. She had been quite surprised when instead of Applejack, Pinkie Pie had appeared over the cliffs edge. The three ponies were now standing on the top plateau of the mountain, flat as though the peak had been shaved off and thrown into the sea. Farther in-land, there was another mountain top just like it.

“Well shucks, ah guess ah’m a little outta shape after all that lyin’ around. What is this place, anyway? Ah don’t think ah’ve seen ground so smooth since ah last visited Canterlot Castle.”

“There’s something there in the middle,” reported Fluttershy. The three ponies quickly trotted over there – Pinkie Pie bouncing – until they were all looking down on what appeared to be a painting on the ground. She couldn’t make sense of it though; it resembled five crooked drops of water, connected in the most awkward position.

Applejack patted it with a hoof. “Ah wonder what’s this is supposed to be. Some sorta royal mark or sumthin’? This is Princess Celestia’s private island, isn’t it?”

“Maybe it’s a charm to keep away dragons,” suggested Fluttershy. “Maybe that’s why they shaved off the top, so they wouldn’t build their nests here. What do you think, Pinkie Pie?”

“Not a clue,” she replied. “But my mane is itching for some reason.” She took a few steps back. “Nope, not itching here. That’s strange; never had a twitch like that before.”

“In other words, we have a couple o’ mountains with the top shaved off, and what we can assume is a magic seal of some sort that’s giving Pinkie itches… what say we go check out that other mountain; maybe there’s another mark on there!”

“I don’t know,” said Fluttershy hesitant. “It seems awfully far. And what if these marks are dragon-repellant, and we accidentally break it…!”

“Ah doubt it, Fluttershy; why would they come all. Come on, it’ll be nice exercise.”

“Race you!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, running off toward the mountain edge. Applejack, instantly accepting the challenge, ran off after her, leaving Fluttershy no say in the matter. Maybe she ought to have stayed on the beach with Rarity instead…

***

The air in Rainbow Dash’s lunge was almost gone. Her chest was starting to ache, as was her wings, furiously flapping as she sped toward the lake surface. Just as her brain was starting to not feel the oxygen anymore, and the tiniest bit of panic was starting to creep into her mind, she broke the surface, shooting into the air like an arrow.

Was her little escapade worth nearly dying for? Yes, it was. She had never known the joy of diving before, and when she realized she could use her wings to give her speed and maneuverability under water, she had been trying to break her record, seeing how far she could go without drowning. Right now however, she needed some rest; she flew up along the mountain wall on the island’s backside, and slumped down on the rocky ground. She stared up at the clear-blue skies – courtesy of herself, as per the Princess’ request – allowing her wings to recover.

Five minutes later, she deemed her wings healed and sprung up and took to the air; she gained more and more altitude, until the island was about the size of her outstretched hoof. High enough for gravity to give her quite a boost, but not so much that she would accidentally set of a Sonic Rainboom; she wouldn’t want to cause a tidal wave. She let herself drop, aiding gravity with the fast beating of her wings, until she pierced the surface like a spear.

Thanks to one of Twilight Sparkle’s fancy spells, the water parted right before her eyes, allowing her full visage of the blue beyond. The lake was massive, the biggest in Equestria, and diving in it felt like soaring through the sky of another world. Far down below, she could see what looked like ruins of some sort, and in the distance, a tower stuck up from the lake floor. Maybe it was thanks to her newfound love for adventure novels, but Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but wonder if maybe these ruins belonged to an ancient civilization, or if there were treasures left behind in them.

Here and there swam a bunch of different aquatic animals, such as fish, squids, even sharks, all fleeing from the rainbow-colored streak shooting downwards. This time she was gonna do it! She was gonna reach the bottom, with air to spare to rise to the surface again! That being said, the strains from her previous attempts were starting to pile up in her wings, and she soon found that the pain intensified exponentially for each beat of the wing, and it wasn’t long before she realized she had to call it quits again if she would have any chance to survive this.

But just as she was about to turn around, she spotted something that made her forget all about going back to the surface: a hole in the cliff wall! And it looked like it was leading deep into the mountain. What’s more, the walls inside the cave were glowing for reasons she could not determine; more than enough incentive for the daring mare to take a closer look. That was, until she realized she needed air, whereas she immediately darted upwards, ignoring the pain in her wings, panic driving her one. She weren’t gonna make it, she weren’t gonna make it…!

***

“Rainbow Dash, are you alright! Oh please tell me you’re alright! You can’t die! Oh please please please don’t die!”

“Okay, okay,” said Rainbow Dash, still a bit groggy for coughing up so much water. “I won’t die, Pinkie. I told you I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You’re not feeling a little dead?”

“Not a bit. But I can’t believe I almost drowned. Thanks for saving my life, Pinkie. How did you know where I was?”

“Well, I was having a race with Applejack when suddenly I had this combo: left back knee-twitch, nose twitch and eye-flapping; that usually means a friend is about to drown.”

“Saved by the Pinkie senses, huh,” sighed Rainbow Dash, giving her friend a smile.

“What are friends for. So, did you find something cool down there? Did you see a sofa? Ooh, I bet there’s a bunch of treasure left behind from pirates and zombies and stuff!”

“Zombies?”

“Haven’t you heard about the sea-zombies? Why, those things could bite your legs off! You’d never be able to walk or swim again!”

“Uh, right. Anyway, I think you’re right about the treasure part: I found a cave down there, and it looked like it was leading into the mountain.”

Pinkie Pie’s eyes shone up. “Really?! That’s so awesome! We gotta go get it!”

“Except it’s way down there, and I could barely get down there with one gulp of air. You saw what happened.”

“What about Twilight? I bet she could cook up a spell that lets us breath underwater.”

“That’s actually a great idea!” agreed Rainbow Dash. “Let’s go ask her right away.” Despite Rainbow Dash’s near-encounter with death, she quickly got to her feet and were soon sprinting through the jungle with Pinkie Pie. There was a convenient trail leading from the hotel to the Cliffside, and it didn’t take more than twenty minutes of sprint to get there.

The hotel was a cozy affair, a decent sized two-floor cottage made out of palm trees and leaves. The moment they entered the building, they could feel the fresh smell of nature, almost as strong as on the outside. Celestia had made sure to send the receptionist home and move any reservations done this week; this island was an expensive resort mostly reserved for the rich ponies of Canterlot, or so she was told.

Rainbow Dash knocked on the door to Twilight’s room, and just as expected, there came a ‘come in’ as a reply. She opened the door; the unicorn was, just as she thought, sitting on her bed reading a book. “Hi, girls. Had enough of adventuring? What can I do for you.”

“Actually, we’re not done adventuring,” explained Rainbow Dash. “I found this awesome-looking underwater cave, and I was wondering if you had a spell or something that would let ponies breath underwater. Turns out it’s a bit too deep for me to reach on my own.”

“She tried, and almost died! I’m still not entirely convinced she’s not dead.”

“You’re right, Pinkie, I am dead. I’m a sea-zombie.”

“Ahh!! I knew it!” the pink pony screeched, rushing out of the room.

“Well, I think I remember one such spell that might work,” said Twilight, paying not the slightest attention to Pinkie’s shenanigans. “I would need some time to prepare it, but it works like a charm. Actually, would it be okay if I came with? I’ve always found caves fascinating.”

“Really? You wanna come with us on an adventure?!” said Pinkie Pie excitedly, back in the room. “Of course you can come with, right Dash?”

“Yeah…” she said, although a bit hesitant. She didn’t take Twilight for the adventurous type … but rejecting the one who would make the trip possible in the first place didn’t sit right with her. “Glad to have you onboard.”

***

Rarity, feeling well rested and ready for a relaxing soak in the hot spring, craved just one more thing: a cold glass of cider. And Celestia, benevolent ruler as she was, had granted the six friends free access to the hotel cellar. Pulling open the trapdoor, she walked down the cold storage room. Fireflies filled the air and provided all the light she needed, illuminating the rows of barrels stretching out a good twenty feet before her eyes.

She passed each of the barrels, reading the labels; these were all brews from famous farms and manufacturers, of many different flavor: pear, mango, melon, orange; but Rarity was only interested in of specific flavor, the taste of home. And sure enough, farthest into the storage room was a full barrel of Sweet Apple Acre’s Apple Cider. Say what you will of Applejack’s brutish lifestyle; her cider was truly to die for. She grabbed a pint from a nearby shelf, and was about to fill it up, when she spotted something right below the barrel.

Actually, she didn’t so much ‘spot’ it as she felt a tingling in her horn that alerted her of its presence. A strange symbol was etched into the rocky ground, like drops of water curved in an angle, connected haphazardly. She looked at it curiously; was this perhaps a magic seal that would keep the cider fresh? Or was it a bug repellant of some sort. She touched it with her hoof, as if to see if the it felt different from the rest of the floor, but beside from the slight tingling of magic, nothing seemed out-of-place. She shrugged, and focused instead of pouring the cider.

***

“Uh, Rainbow, are you sure we have to jump from all the way up here?” Twilight gazed down the 90-degree fall that dropped right into the water. It was about fifty feet up in the air already, and because of the clearness of the water, she was facing the whole expanse of an underwater world. It made her queasy just looking at it.

“Come on,” said Rainbow Dash. “Show us some guts. What would Daring Do think if she saw you now?”

“This is because I didn’t tell you about the new book that came out last week, isn’t it.”

The cerulean pony responded with a laugh. “Just making sure you’re worthy of reading it before me.”

“Well, Rainbow Dash, one of the reasons I like these books is because Daring Do can do things that I can’t, so that I can experience her adventures without having to do crazy stuff like–”

“Just jump already!” urged Pinkie Pie, and with that pushed the poor unicorn off the cliff. It felt as though the world was pulled out from under her, panic seeping into her every vein as gravity pulled her toward the big blue. She frantically tried to remember any levitation spells – weren’t there any that let non-pegasi float in the air for a brief while? – but then she remembered that casting another spell now would shot-circuit the underwater breathing spell. The water hit before she had time to think about anything else; the gasp she let out involuntary let her know that the spell had worked, and that air was reaching her lungs instead of water.

Seconds later, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash appeared by her side. Since the spell created a thin layer of air around their bodies, they could speak to each other just fine, albeit a bit muffled. “Was it necessaryto give me the fright of my life?!” snapped Twilight at the pink pony.

“No, but wasn’t it fun? I’d totally do it again!”

“Yeah, lighten up,” said Rainbow Dash. “A little water can’t hurt you. Especially now; I mean, this spell is amazing! This is gonna be so awesome!”

“Just remember, I had to magically process each air supply separately, so we only have about an hour each,” reminded Twilight, letting their antics slide for now. “So let’s get going. Lead the way, Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight Sparkle admittedly wasn’t the best swimmer, especially underwater. It wasn’t that she couldn’t do it, but getting the hang of the right movements took some time. Rainbow Dash, to her apparent annoyance, had to pace herself to Twilight’s slow movements. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, had no problem whatsoever moving like a fish, doing twirls and summersaults in front of her. Twilight paid no attention her, however; the ruins on the lake floor were far more exciting. How could ponies have lived under the water? Where there actually Sea Ponies, like in the myths? Or was the lake once a valley that had been flooded?

Occupied with such thoughts, it wasn’t long before the threesome reached the entrance to the cave. “See, it’s even glowing! There’s gotta be some neat stuff inside!”

The three swam inside, and found themselves following a straight path, lit up by a blue-ish glow emitting from the walls. “These are Sun Algae,” Twilight told her friends. “They were produced to help with underwater constructions. They don’t grow naturally.”

“Which means this gotta lead to some hidden hideout,” guessed Rainbow Dash excitedly. “Guess we’d better be careful; the pirates could still be around.”

“Or zombies! Don’t forget zombies!”

“Why would pirates or zombies have put up sun Algae? You seem to forget that this is Celestia’s private island.”

“Okay, so maybe she hid something in here?” suggested Rainbow Dash. “Something she doesn’t want anypony to see.”

“My gosh, you’re right,” realized Twilight. “If that’s the case, I really don’t think we should go any further.”

“Come on, Twilight, aren’t you curious?” urged the cerulean pony. “She wouldn’t have put us on this island if there was something she wanted to keep a secret here.”

“Well, sure, I guess,” replied Twilight hesitantly. True, her curiosity was piqued, but she didn’t want to stumble across something that might upset her mentor. On the flip side, this was an excellent opportunity to learn something new about the Princess. In the end, Twilight didn’t argue as they kept swimming deeper and deeper into the cave.

Eventually, the cave bent upward, and soon they found themselves breaking the surface to an air pocket. It was just a small hole in the ceiling, and a dead end. “This is it?!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “Did she quit half-way? Talk about disappointment!”

“Wait!” said Twilight, “there is definitely traces of magic here. I wonder if maybe…” she moved to tap the wall. At least, she meant to tap it; instead, the hoof went right through the wall. She heard Rainbow Dash let out a terrified sound as she grabbed a hold of a ledge on the other side of the non-existent ceiling and pulled herself up. her eyes widened as she gazed upon the room in which she had arrived.

***

“This is wicked,” awed Rainbow Dash, taking in the secret chamber. It was no bigger than the hotel room, but it looked as though the rock walls had been shaped and polished by magic. Beside from the empty desk that stood in one corner, the room was completely empty. “Somepony must have used this as a secret hide-out. Bet you anything there’s still treasure hidden in here somewhere.”

“Lookie here!” called Pinkie Pie. She pulled away a rock that lay in another corner, and unveiled a small passageway, barely big enough to crawl under. “Oooh, if it weren’t so dark in there, I’d totally go check it out.”

“No sweat; we’ll just send in our bright student over here,” said Rainbow Dash, motioning toward the lavender unicorn. When she didn’t give any sort of reaction in return, she added, “Twilight?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized. “It’s just that this whole cave seem to be under some sort of spell, but I can’t figure out what it’s supposed to be for. Maybe this cave was a hidden research facility; that sure would explain the desk.”

“Maybe we’ll find out more if you go into the hole,” said Rainbow Dash, pointing at the small crevice in the wall.

Twilight eyed it curiously. “This is where all the magic in this room is coming from!” She peered into the hole, then lit up her horn. “Wait here.”

“Break a leg,” said Rainbow Dash, as the unicorn crawled into the small space. “Well, not literally.”

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie waited for a few minutes, watching the tiny slivers of light that bled through the hole, until they finally heard Twilight call, “Come on over! There’s something here, alright.”

Excited, Rainbow Dash crept through the small passageway as quickly as she could, Pinkie Pie in tow, and arrived in an even smaller room – barely large enough to fit the three of them – lit up solely through Twilight’s magic. The glow from her horn illuminated a giant symbol drawn on a flattened rock wall. Odd water drop-shapes connected in an awkward manner, making no sense to Rainbow Dash whatsoever. “What’s this suppose to be?”

“It’s a magic seal,” explained Twilight, her voice betraying hints of awe. “This entire island is an amplifier for an incredibly complex spell. I’m not sure what it’s suppose to do, but it’s connected to three other access points on the island. Maybe they were building some sort of device here.”

“What do you suppose this mark means?” asked Pinkie Pie, running her hoof along the pattern.

“Uh, Pinkie, are you sure you should be touching a magic seal that contains some mysterious super-spell?”

“It’s okay, Rainbow Dash; if I’ve understood this right, the spell won’t initiate unless you touch the three other outlet points, so I don’t think we have to…” But her sentence was cut short as the cave suddenly started to tremble beneath them…

***

Poke, poke. After another walk and another climb later, Fluttershy and Applejack had arrived on the other mountain plateau, and sure enough found the exact same mark “Doesn’t look like there’s much to it. An’ here ah thought there might be some hidden meaning to ‘em, like if we compared the two symbols it’d make a map or something.”

“They have to mean something,” pointed Fluttershy. “Maybe Twilight would know something about this sign.”

“Or, we could ask Celestia about it,” suggested Applejack. “Ah guess we could have a look around, see if there’s any other stuff like this ‘round here.”

“Or… we could go back,” said Fluttershy meekly.

“Aw shucks, yer legs hurtin’, sugarcube?”

“No… actually, yes, a bit.”

“I guess we could call it quits,” offered Applejack. “There’s always tomo— what in tarnation is all that shakin’?”

From somewhere deep within the mountain, Applejack felt a slight tremor. After a few moments though, it wasn’t slight anymore, as the whole mountain started to shake violently. “What the hay?!” The orange pony fell over. “W-w-what’s happenin’? Did we do something that we shouldn’t have?”

Instead of an answer, Applejack felt two legs wrap around her body as she was lifted off the ground. She could feel Fluttershy’s frantically beating heart as she flew away from the mountain. Below, the trees in the jungle was quaking like crazy. Then there was a large cracking sound, as a rift started opening up in the island’s centre. “Whatever is happening,” said Fluttershy, a bit of panic in her voice, “I don’t think it’s safe to be on the island anymore.”

***

Rarity was falling down toward the shaking island, having been flung into the air by the natural spring to which she had gone to relax, now shooting jets hot water into the air. It all happened so fast, she had yet register just what was going on. What she did register was that if she kept falling like this, she would hit the ground and likely hurt herself really bad.

Fortunately, she didn’t: just before impact, a pair of orange legs wrapped around her abdomen, and she was lifted back up into the air. “You okay, sugarcube?”

“Applejack?” said Rarity incredulously. “Fluttershy? What is the meaning of this?”

“Don’t ask us; all we know is that the island’s breaking up, and we gotta get the hay outta here lickedy split!”

“Fair enough, but… what about the others? What about our luggage.”

By now, Fluttershy was reaching the end of her rope, and the trio was quickly losing altitude. Soon enough they touched down on the beach. It wasn’t shaking as much here, but Applejack could feel it was still coming on. “We’ll worry about them later. First we have to get to the balloon,” she flung the exhausted Fluttershy onto her back. “Else we’ll all get swallowed up. We’ll look for them from above.”

“Wait!” came a voice from behind. Turning around, they saw a lavender, a cerulean and a pink pony come rushing their way.

***

It was times like these that Twilight was glad her special talent was magic. Trapped in a small room with an earthquake growing by the second, there was no way she and her friends would have made in time was in not for her teleportation magic. Carrying three ponies at once was a bit more straining than she was used to, but there had been no other choice. Still a bit shaken, she ran with her friends toward the balloon she had parked a little further along, trying to keep her hooves steady.

The moment they were all on board, she took the balloon to the air; just in time to see the hotel crumble. All their baggage left inside. But Twilight soon forgot about that as she gazed out over the crumbling island. The crevice at its centre grew larger, trees around the island fell over, and large chunks of rocks were dislodged from the twin mountains… until it all stopped. As sudden as it has begun, everything went quiet, leaving only ripples upon the water surface to remind them of the reckoning.

“Whoa nelly,” said Applejack. “What in all of Equestria was that all about?!”

“The island was wired with a magic spell,” explained Twilight Sparkle. “But it was way too intricate to have been just a simple destruction spell. And it wasn’t supposed to go off unless somepony touched the outlet points.”

“The outlet…?” Applejack’s eyes suddenly sprung up, followed by a sheepish look. “Oh boy. Guess we shoulda left those things alone after all.”

“You mean to say that that weird magic symbol on the ground was…” Rarity began, then assumed an expression of shock. “Oh my; forgive me, everypony, I had no idea!”

“No need to apologize; it was just unlucky coincidence that all of us happened to find these marks; the three of us shouldn’t have snooped around in that underwater cave to begin with. I guess we’d better go tell Celestia about it.”

“That’s okay, Twilight,” said Princess Celestia. “I’m right here.” Everypony whipped around, and saw the majestic alicorn flap her wings to remain airborne right next to the balloon. Twilight supposed she shouldn’t be surprised; she must have sensed the magical outburst, and come to make sure they were all okay.

Her first instinct was to apologize. “Princess Celestia, we’re so sorry! It was all an accident; we didn’t know the island was going to—”

“It’s okay, my student, neither did I,” the Princess calmed. “I’m the one who should apologize; I had forgotten what I had done to the island. I suppose when you are as old as I, you forget which islands you imbued with magic.”

“But why on earth would you do such a thing?” asked Rarity.

“Watch,” said the Princess, pointing at the crevice on the island. Twilight had to hold back a gasp as giant glowing orbs were gathering by its mouth. They appeared to be coming from the edges of the island itself, as if all the magic stored within were being focused in one place. Then, a pillar of light shot up from within the island, disappearing into the blue beyond.

“Let me take you higher,” said the Princess, and without warning engulfed the balloon in her aura, and started ascending. Twilight watched as Equestria grew smaller and smaller below, until they were high enough to see the world’s bend. She could do naught but awe at the sight; below her, she could see all the big cities as smidges on the ground, the smaller villages as dots and the mountain ranges as clustered grey spikes. She had seen photos of Equestria from the air, but never had the chance to see it with her own eyes.

“Look there,” Celestia told them, guiding their attention to the light pillar, which they were now level with the top. The Princess took them closer, making sure they could see the mark on the pillar’s roof.

It was the same water-drop symbol they had seen on the island.

“Would you believe this was once a secret symbol between Luna and me?” told Celestia. “When we first started out as rulers, we weren’t quite as adept in political intrigues as we are now, so we would invent our own secret language to pass the time during the meetings. The ministers could always tell if we using verbal through telepathy, but then we found that if we limited our mental connection to crude symbols, they would be none the wiser. So we invented our on secret alphabet; this one here represents Family.”

Twilight was fascinated by the story; the rulers of Equestria, sending secret messages to one another to pass the time during important meetings? But how did it end up on the island. But then realization hit her. “So the spell was…”

“…my attempt to bring Luna back from Nightmare Moon,” Celestia finished the sentence. “I thought that if I could create a magic pillar of light that could connect Equestria and the moon, I could form a connection that would allow my thoughts feelings to reach her, perhaps draw Luna back from Nightmare Moon. But without the Elements of Harmony, creating such magic turned out to be quite an ambitious project, and when I realized the funding put too much of a tax strain on the people, it had to be abandoned.  That was over eight hundred years ago…”

Twilight was unsure of what to say. The thought had crossed her mind before: the loneliness Celestia must have felt when she had been forced to lock away her only sister, the only eternal friend she had, but this story really put it in perspective. As did the solemn look on Celestia’s face. “Anyway, now you know a lost piece of Equestrian history. I should probably write it down somewhere, so I won’t forget it this time. Probably a good idea to check if I hid any other crazy magic experiments anywhere else.”

“What about our vacation?” asked Rainbow Dash abruptly. “Are we supposed to spend the week on that cracked-up island with a pile of rubble for a hotel?”

    Princess Celestia gave her a smile. “Well, there’s another resort island on the other side of the lake; I could retrieve you luggage and send you there, if you want. It’s a bit more crowded, though; I could send you to another one of my private island, if you’d prefer.”

“Actually, crowded is fine,” said Rainbow Dash, to which the others nodded. “Less chance of the island exploding that way.”

***

Luna gazed upon the pillar of light, illuminating the darkness of the night. Even from a distance, she could feel Celestia’s unmistakable aura emitting from this spectacle of magic. She circled around it, spiraling upwards, until she reached the top. There, she saw the ancient sign. One of the many symbols the sisters had invented as a means of entertaining themselves. She flew closer, until she was close enough the touch it. She heisted for a moment, but decided to take the plunge.

The moment the hoof made impact, tears formed in her eyes. She was touching the very essence of her sister’s loneliness; the sadness, the frustration, and the love. The undying love for her one and only family. She realized that this was not something meant for her to see at this point, that it was far too late for her to receive the message, but all the same, the sentiment resonated deep within her heart.

Tomorrow, the glowing pillar would have burned itself out, and Celestia would see to that the island was mended the best it could. But Luna would never forget. Just as the crevice on the island’s centre would forever serve as a monument to her sister’s broken heart of the past.