Star regained consciousness and found himself in the void once more. The stone orb above greeted with him with the same silence as before. He replied with his own silence and waited for the usual events to play out.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Five minutes have passed, but there were no whispers.

There were no calls to Rise, Obey, or Consume.

There was nothing.

Star mentally raised an eyebrow. After being so used to hearing a barrage of voices for most of his life, this new silence felt strange. He wondered if something broke, the void forgot its lines, or if it finally grew tired of saying the same nonsense for the past decade and a half. Whatever the reason, he welcomed this change.

Finally, I can hear myself think, Star thought.

...

...

...

After almost eight minutes of complete silence, Star began rethinking his stance. Sure, the whispers were annoying, but they helped past the time, even by a little. Whenever he would slip into boredom, a disembodied voice would call out to him. He would then complain about said voice and forget about--

The sound of shattering rock erupted from the void. The strength of the sound would have destroyed Star's eardrums if they were real. All he could do was suffer through the pain.

When Star pulled his conscious back together, the first thing he noticed was the orb in his upper peripheral. Unlike all the times he's seen before, the giant entity above was scathed. On its surface, there was a wide, circle-shaped crack facing Star.

The hay is going on? Star thought.

All of a sudden, the void started shaking. This time, Star tried to fight the nauseousness and remain focused. The rumbling was far more intense than any earthquake he's been through.

As Star struggled to keep his awareness, he saw more cracks on the orb forming. Every second that passed, a crack would form inside the circle and then expand outwards. After reaching the circumference, the cracks would stop growing. When enough have formed, the entire circle burst into a wave of debris that fell on and all around Star. Then the rumbling stopped and there was silence.

When Star regained focus once more, he was met with a giant eye looking through the circle and directly at him. Its sclera was beige, the iris was violet, the pupil was reptilian in shape, and it was the scariest thing he had ever seen. Star felt an overwhelming wave of fear and intimidation as it looked down on him. He didn't know why it scared him so much, it was just an eye. Yet, it was able to instill such feelings of despair that it could break anypony.

STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--

---

"--aaar. Star, wake up!"

In one jerk, Star was thrust into consciousness. He gasped as he tried to figure out what anything was. There was too much fear and confusion clouding his mind. Without much else to rely on, he tensed his muscles, ready to fight for his life. He swung his hoof upward at the strange blob hovering over him.

Nothing happened. He could feel his hoof outstretched, but he didn't feel an impact. Something else held on to it.

"Star."

The familiar voice pulled Star out of his trance. His vision was still a bit blurry, but he started to make out a familiar auburn smudge atop a big, blue blur. He took a few more breaths, heaving less and less, before saying to the voice, "Flax?"

The blue unicorn's ethereal grip on the hoof was released and he watched his brother cradle it. "You passed out on the sofa. Again."

"The sofa?" Star's vision finally returned to him so he looked around and saw that he was in fact on the wooden living room sofa. He slowly sat up and asked, "Did I break anything?"

"No," Flax said as if it was regular question. "The signs showed before it happened. Loss of balance. Sudden exhaustion. I was lucky I saw it before your need to knock over everything came too."

There was a thumping in star's head as he tried to recall the night before. He held his head with a hoof and said, "I... I don't think I remember."

Flax looked straight ahead, and spoke in the same nonchalant manner. "Like the day before. And the one before that."

Star rubbed his temples to soothe the pain as well as try to remember what his brother was talking about. He realized it wasn't helping do either so he laid his head back against the sofa, leaving only the sound of silence.

"So what was that dream about?"

Star lifted his head from the sofa back so he could look at Flax with a raised eyebrow.

Flax looked back at him with tired and semi-interested eyes. "Must be quite the dream if you always wake up like something's trying to kill you. This time you managed to get--" he held a hoof a few inches away from his face, "--this close."

A hoof rubbed the back of Star's head as he looked away. "Oh, right..."

"You don't have to answer that."

Flax got off the sofa and walked into their kitchen from a connected doorway. There was a bit of noise before He came back, levitating a single teacup on a plate. He set the beverage down on the center coffee table and took his seat again.

The house was quiet once more. It was a quiet Star was familiar with, the one he didn't like. He didn't know what his brother's plan was, but he knew he wasn't going to be a fan. He could even feel his brother knowing too. Star prepared himself for what came next.

Flax released a long breath to break the silence. In a slow, calm voice, he said, "Star, I know you don't want to leave Somnambula."

Star's blood warmed up.

"You have already told me no before multiple times, but you know as well as I do. We're running out of unicorn horns."

"Stop," Star said, annoyed. His brother continued.

"I tried looking for ways to get more, but what I've found is that they're too expensive, too rare, and too hard to grow ourselves."

"I said stop."

"Acacia was always kind enough to give us free batches, even after we moved out. But, now that she's gone--"

"I told you NO!" Star said as he slammed a hoof against the wooden armrest. He bared his teeth, not only showing how sharp they've got, but how the tears along his cheeks have fused into bigger tears. Some of the tears even turned into holes, revealing the inside of his mouth. "I don't want to leave my home! I don't want to drink any more of that stupid plant! And I don't want to be sick anymore!"

Star got off the sofa and flipped the table over, throwing the tea and other accessories across the room. Before the table could impact the floor, a yellow aura surrounded it and objects that went airborne. In a matter of seconds, everything was put back into place, leaving the gold earth pony seething in front of the beverage.

Flax sat calmly, eyes closed and unmoved. The yellow from his horn vanished and he opened his eyes to see Star glaring at him. "I don't like any of this either," He said, keeping his voice level, "If I knew there was a cure for you, I would take it in a heartbeat, no matter the cost. Instead, all I've got is Acacia's old letter from before she left, saying how a friend in some forest found some unicorn horns and wanted learn how to grow them. It isn't much to go by."

Star sat back on the sofa, refusing to look at his brother. He held the tea with both hooves, too upset for the smell to bother him.

"We would have to find the name of the individual and where they live. They would have to know how to grow unicorn horns and already have a successful garden. Finally, they have to be willing to part with quite a lot of their stock at little to no charge every 1 or 2 weeks. I know I'm assuming a lot, but it's the only option we have left."

Star gazed into his beverage. It took him a while to think, but his brother was patient. After enough thought, he said to Flax, "Where."

---

From the mouth of the Everfree, a filly and a Zebra emerged, each carrying their own saddlebags. Leaving the darkness of the forest, they sat and basked in the light of the late afternoon sun. The zebra glanced over at the pale yellow filly and saw that there was some dirt on both her red mane and bow. After a quick brush with her hoof, the filly smiled back.

"Thank you, Zecora."

Zecora returned the filly's smile with her own and said, "Apple Bloom, it was only dirt. No need for thanks for this little effort."

Apple Bloom giggled. "I'm not thanking you for that! ...Allthough, I'm still thanking you anyway." She removed her bow and gave it another brush. "I'm thanking you for letting me have some quality time with an old friend."

Zecora placed her hoof on the filly's shoulder. "Even if you spend more time with your apple family or your filly friends, know that I will be more than happy to spend some time with each other again."

Placing her bow back on, Apple Bloom asked, "Does that I mean I can come back later to see what those sprouts grow into?"

"If the flora's prime is what you seek, here is one you can peek," Zecora said as she opened her bag and carefully pulled out a small, white plant in a pot.

Apple Bloom expected to see a flower, but here it looked more like a miniature pine tree. Instead of leaves, it had petals that grew larger near the bottom. At the top, the petals were more sparse, exposing the black stem underneath. "This is what they turn into?" Apple Bloom asked, "It looks so odd..."

Zecora brought the plant close to her face. "While the appearance of this plant is something to behold, its true worth comes from the quirks that it holds."

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. "What makes it so special?"

Zecora smiled at her before focusing on the plant. She observed it top to bottom, checking even the smallest wrinkle of every petal. With a careful pluck, she pulled one of the petals from the middle and held it between her and the filly. It was then that Zecora noticed Apple Bloom giggling.

"What?" Zecora asked.

"I'm sorry, it's just that--" another chuckle escaped Apple Bloom, "--you looked like you were having a staring contest with it."

"Oh?" Zecora looked at the plant before chuckling herself. "I suppose my inspection must have looked quite funny, but when dealing with this plant, you must not be in a hurry."

After placing the plant back into her bag, Zecora held the petal up to the setting sun so the light can shine through it. Apple Bloom tried to ask what she was doing, but was only told to look closely. As Zecora also watched the petal, she could see Apple Bloom looking in awe from the corner of her eye.

Apple Bloom asked, "What is all that stuff zipping around in there?"

"These spastic waves you see is raw magic, pure and volatile. Each petal is overflowing, both dangerous, but very worthwhile."

Upon hearing 'volatile', Apple Bloom slowly leaning away. "Like, blow up-ish?"

Zecora chuckled. "Worry not Apple Bloom, this petal is not your doom. If you treat it with utmost care, there is very little to beware."

The filly was hesitant, but she trusted her friend's words and relaxed. "I still don't get how an itty bitty petal stuffed with crazy magic is worth all the trouble."

Zecora opened her mouth only for her to notice the petal's light grow dimmer. The sun was nearly below the horizon, past the time she was supposed to send Apple Bloom home. Pulling out a tiny bottle, she placed the petal in and returned it to her bag. "Come back tomorrow and you will see, what it is I do with these."

Apple Bloom agreed and they watched the setting sun a little longer, ignorant of the rustling retreating back into the heart of the forest.

Next Chapter: Helping a Stranger Estimated time remaining: 26 Minutes