The cave of memories

“I don’t like those clouds, Twinkle Star.” Crystal said, for the fifth time that evening. “I know, I know! I don’t like them either. We’ll just have to find a place to shelter for when the rain comes.” Twinkle Star said, rather annoyed.
“But how? We’re still stuck in this damn forest.” Crystal said.
She was totally right. They had tried to find a path the would lead them out of the forest, but the only path they could possibly follow was the one leading straight through it. So for five more days they had travelled through the dark forest. The only light they had on their journey was that Crystal recognised one of the peaks of the new Friendship Lands’ mountains. That was two days ago now. It had been weird; being so close to home and still so far away. But they had to move on, and they were quite a bit south now.

The forest was still just as dark, and even the mountains didn’t seem to look a bit cheer fuller. And the dark clouds that were now coming from the east only made it darker. Twinkle Star couldn’t help but feeling a bit scared. She was getting tired from the forest and it’s weird sounds. The path had lead them really close to the mountains now. In fact, there was hardly anything between  them and the foot of the mountains.
“I don’t want to stay outside when the storm comes, Twinkle Star.” Crystal said, while she stopped walking.
“I know. Me neither, Crystal. But there is not that much we can do about it. I don’t think we can find a place to shelter in time. Let’s just keep walking a bit. Maybe we’ll find a nice place to stay before the rain starts to fall.”
Crystal didn’t answer, but she followed her older sister as Twinkle Star resumed walking. Twinkle Star realised the relation with her sister still hadn’t really improved. She simply had so little to tell, and she suspected it was the same with Crystal. Each day she regretted it more and more that she had asked her to come along. She was sure Crystal wasn’t enjoying herself, either. She would have been so much better off if she simply had went back home with the others, Twinkle Star had convinced herself. But there was nothing to it, now. Crystal could not go back, so they had to finish this journey together.

Unfortunately, Twinkle Star hadn’t been right about the rain. Within ten minutes it began to rain, little drops at first, but soon the rain came pouring down. And there was no place where they could hide. They were so close to the mountains now, there were hardly any trees. Soon, they couldn’t even look 10 meters far through the curtain of rain. Twinkle Star felt the rocky path beneath her hoofs get slippery. She couldn’t believe they were stuck out here in weather like this, though of course it was something she could have expected. Her mother had told them before that the weather wasn’t nice on this side on the mountains. In fact, she had to be happy that it had been more than 10 days before it started raining. But that still didn’t meant she liked it. So they walked on, side by side, enduring the rain simply because there was nothing else to do.

“What’s that over there?” Crystal suddenly announced. Twinkle Star tried to follow the direction in which Crystal was pointing, but she couldn’t see anything through the thick drops of rain.
“I don’t know. What do you mean?”
“I thought I saw… Wait here!” Crystal said, and she walked off. Not much later Twinkle Star heard someone call her name.
“Come over here, Twinkle Star!” Twinkle Star walked in the direction Crystal had left a few moments ago, and she could hardly believe her eyes when she got closer. A cave. Crystal was actually standing in a cave. Twinkle Star smiled gratefully to her sister, but she wondered if Crystal had even noticed it. She walked towards the cave, and she was relieved to find out it was actually a really large cave. When she entered, she could not see the end in the darkness. Because the ground was going down, there was no water dripping into the cave. It was nice and dry inside. Twinkle Star shook herself to get the water out of her coat, and then walked a bit further into the cave. She couldn’t really see the end, even a bit further in. But without any real light coming from outside, the cave looked not much more like a dark hole. But then again, it didn’t have to be much more. Just a place to shelter from the rain.

“It’s great, Crystal. I can’t believe you spotted it.” Twinkle Star told her sister while she took her bag off.
“Yeah, I know. Just luck, I guess. Let’s wait here till the rain has stopped.” Twinkle Star looked outside, but all she could see was the curtain of rain blocking her view. She could barely make out the large dark green trees of the forest, which was not more than hundred meters away from where she was. Twinkle Star couldn’t recall when she had last seen it rain this hard. Was it in the Old Friendship Lands? Yes… it had to be. The weather had been so strange there. One moment all was clear and it was hot, the next moment rain was pouring down. She hadn’t been able to find out why. Back the, she had also sheltered in a small cave, with Aline. But everything was so different now… She had been looking forward to this journey, in a certain way. She had become so accustomed to travelling, she began to feel uneasy when she was in one spot for too long. But somehow this journey hasn’t given her the satisfaction yet, that her previous journey had given her. But it was probably because she had been so stuck in this forest for so long. She really wanted to get on with it, and see something new.

Twinkle Star looked at Crystal, who was filling her water bottle with water from the rain. Twinkle Star wasn’t sure if that was such a wise thing, but she decided not to argue with her sister. She simply wanted to rest a bit, so they could journey on tomorrow at full speed. She hoped Crystal would cheer up a bit after they had left the forest. The climate would get better, though, the closer they would get to the sea. It was late summer now, a great time to go to the beach. Maybe they could even relax a bit, though of course their main goal was the royal palace of Madash, to find some answers about Togli’s mind seal. Togli… How would she be now? She’s married now, Twinkle Star realised, and the hectic days of the wedding were over. She probably was getting accustomed to her place as a pregnant wife in a royal household. Once again, Twinkle Star felt determined to find out what had been done to her.

“I think more ponies have been here in the past.” Crystal noted, while she sat down against the cold stone wall.
“Why do you think that?”
“Look at the floor. There’s wood and charcoal. There has been a fire here in the past. I don’t even think it’s been that long ago. I suppose more ponies use this cave as a shelter.” Crystal explained.
“I wonder who build this cave.” Twinkle Star said, more to herself than to Crystal while she examined the walls.
“Build? You don’t think it’s a natural cave?” Crystal asked surprised.
“No, not really, actually. Look at the walls and the ceiling. It’s too straight. A natural cave would be more round, more uneven parts. My guess is that it’s been made a long time ago, though I don’t know it’s purpose. It probably hasn’t been used for what it has been created for in a long, long time.” Twinkle Star said a little dreamy, while wondering over the past of the cave. Would there really be something more to this cave, even now? Or was it just an old cave, now lost to the memories of those whose ancestors have build it? And what was it build for in the first place, anyway?

“You want to go inside?” Crystal said. Inside? Why would Crystal want to do that? It wasn’t like her to be so brave…
“Yeah, sure… Why not, after all, there’s not much else to do. Come on, let’s go check it out.” Twinkle Star said, and she once again picked up her bag. She noticed Crystal did the same, and she turned her back to the exit of the cave. There was nothing but darkness ahead of them, but they wouldn’t go in that deep anyway.

“Let’s go, Crystal.” Twinkle star said, and she began to walk. Soon, the little light that came from outside was gone as well. It was all dark, but somehow Twinkle Star knew exactly where she had to walk. She didn’t know exactly how she did it, but it was almost as if she knew everything about the cave around her, even though hr eyes were of no use. Maybe it were her royal powers, who were guiding her through the dark, making her other senses working much better than usual. She noticed Crystal behind her had no problems what so ever as well. It would be different with Aline; she would be tumbling over every little rock she didn’t detect.

Twinkle Star noticed the walls of the cave became neater the deeper they went. The entrance had been damaged by the weather during time, but of course, the weather couldn’t touch so far inside. It all had a bit of a magical feeling to it, being so perfect in such a remote place of the earth. Once again, Twinkle Star wondered why it was build in the first place. What was it’s purpose? The cave felt so ancient, so… magical, and it only became stronger when Twinkle Star got deeper inside the cave. She somehow had to advance. She didn’t know why, because she knew it wasn’t wise, but she had to go on. She could hear Crystal’s voice somewhere in the distance, but she didn’t hear the words anymore. It was more her presence that she felt, instead of knowing where her sister was. But she didn’t feel like it as wrong what she did. She had to go on…

Suddenly the walls at her sides disappeared. Even though she couldn’t see it, her other senses told her she was in a chamber of some sort. It was round, and there was a door on the other side. The walls were undamaged and still pretty. Nobody had been here in ages… But where was Crystal? Somehow, Twinkle Star had lost her presence now as well. She tried to yell for her sister, but she wasn’t sure if she did it in her mind or aloud. Twinkle Star suddenly realised she could o longer distinguish her spirit from the actual world she was in. It was as if she was blended into the cave. No, there was no cave, nor was there a Twinkle star. She felt as if she had become one with the cave. She slowly walked into the room, though she didn’t even know if it was her or the cave moving. But at some point she stood in the centre of the cave. A cry came to her. A small cry, a soft one. One she had heard before. A crib appeared before her. A crib in a dark cave? No, no. wait… there was more than just the crib. A children’s room appeared. Soft yellow walls, a light pink carpet, light blue curtains to cover the light of the sun. Some baby toys were lying around here and there. Someone was inside the crib; it had to be a baby. Slowly Twinkle Star walked towards the crib.

Indeed a baby was in there. Twinkle Star could see the little dark purple legs, the bright yellow mane, and the cute green eyes of the tiny pony. She couldn’t be more than a week old. It all was so familiar to Twinkle Star, and she didn’t even doubt what she was seeing. It was her younger sister lying there, and this was the first time she saw her. But she wasn’t alone here. Her mother stood next to her, and on the other side of the crib… Twinkle Star looked up. Finally she realised this couldn’t be. This wasn’t real. Her sister Crystal wasn’t just a baby, and she wasn’t just a child. Crystal was in the cave as well, a full grown woman now. And the pony on her other side couldn’t be there, either. Joker had died, and yet Twinkle Star was looking in the eyes of her older sister. How could this be? Had she gone back in time? No. She was still there, she decided. She was still in the cave. She was just seeing things.

“Twinkle Star…”
It took a few moments for Twinkle Star to realise that it was her name, and someone was saying it.
“Twinkle Star…”  Twinkle Star didn’t see anyone. The baby room was fading; her sister and her mother gone.
Yes? She said. Or she thought. She wasn’t sure.
“Twinkle Star… welcome to the realm of your memories.”  My memories? No, no. what was this? But Twinkle Star couldn’t resist, nor flee. She was trapped. She realised she never should have entered this cave in the first place. She thought of Crystal, who was somewhere alone now, too. But not much later she was sucked in her memories, and all she could do was remember the events of the past.