“Are you lost?” Eila asked, not sure what to say. The white pony was still inspecting the surroundings. “No… Please, tell me, where am I?” she asked, and she stared at Eila.
“You’re close to Ekiyu forest, in the Friendship Lands.” If possible, the white pony looked at her even more confused.
“What?”
“Eh… you know the Friendship Lands, right?” Eila asked unsure. How could the pony not know the Friendship Lands? Were they not the strongest and best-known country on the continent? But the pony shook her head, which made Eila even more unsure of where this pony came from, who she was in the first place.
“May I ask where you came from? Maybe I know that place, and I can help you to get back there.” Eila proposed. The pony didn’t reply to her, but instead she simply stared at the sky.

“You came from up there?” Eila asked bluntly.
“Maybe… something like that.” The winged unicorn replied.
“So… you got to get back to the stars?” Eila asked unsure. How could a pony possibly come from the stars? Yet she had never seen a pony with wings before, let alone heard from one. Probably… It could be that she came from up there. What did she know?
“Can’t you fly back up there?” She asked when she noticed the pony was not going to reply to her previous question. To her surprise, the pony smiled at her.
 “I’m afraid it’s not that simple. I need to open a gate… but I don’t think I can do it here like that. I need some kind of magic, because for some reason I cannot call upon my own here. I don’t know why, but it’s like it has all left me, like I… left my ability to go back on the other side of the gate.”

Okay, that wasn’t helping at all, Eila thought. Some kind of magic, eh…?
“Well… I know our royal family has a kind of magic. Royal powers, they are called. It’s said it runs in my family too, but only a teeny bit, because I am a descendant of some princess, long ago. But it’s so little we can’t do anything with it. But I could take you to the queen’s palace. It’s a few days walking from here, but maybe they can help you?” Eila proposed, but the pony shook her head in response.
“I’m afraid that won’t do. I don’t have a few days to walk there, nor do I want any to see me, even if I can hide my wings and my horn.”
While she said that, the pony glowed a bit, and then her wings and her horn mysteriously disappeared. Her mane turned purple, as did her tail, and suddenly the pony looked like any common pony she had ever seen. There was no trace left, nothing to see that would make one wonder whether there was something special to her.

“That’s better.” The pony said, and Eila noticed for the first time she actually had a really sweet voice. “May I ask your name?” She asked Eila.
“My name is Eila, of the steward family of the Ekiyu forest region.” Eila said formally, as she had practised so many times.
“My name is Lunarstar.” The pony told her. Lunarstar… a fitting name for a pony who sought to return to the stars.
“I assume that is Ekiyu forest?” Lunarstar asked while she pointed towards the trees in the distance.
“Yep, that it is…” Eila’s voice trailed away. Ekiyu forest… didn’t an old story tell…
“Maybe I can help you after all!” she said exited. Lunarstar looked at her wondering, and Eila continued: “An old tale says that Ekiyu forest was born as a gift to the ponies that lived in this region for helping the queen in her time of need. It is indeed a wonderful forest, full with fruit trees and herbs with all kinds of functions. Anyway, it is said that it was born out of a stone gifted with the royal powers of the queen of those days, which should be in the centre of the forest. I am sure that if there is anything that can help you, it would be that stone.”

Lunarstar pondered over her words for a little bit.
“Are you sure of this tale?” She asked at last.
“Has anyone recently seen the stone?” Eila sighed and shook her head.
“I… I don’t think anyone has ever seen the stone.” This time it was Lunarstar’s turn to sigh.
“So if we should go looking for it, it’s just one big gamble.”
“I guess so…” Eila felt some kind of hopelessness coming over her. She had been so sure she had found the answer to Lunarstar’s problem, but the white pony was right. There was no guarantee whatsoever they would find the stone.
“Is it a big forest?” Lunarstar asked. “Oh, no, not really. You can travel from east to west in only three hours.”
“If it’s so small, then why hasn’t anyone ever found the stone if it is real?” Lunarstar asked. Eila noticed the sarcasm in her voice. She didn’t believe the story, and now that she thought of it, Eila wasn’t even sure whether she did.
“The story said the stone was protected by magic, and only those with a pure heart can find a way to the stone. To protect it from ponies who wish to use it for their own purposes, and all that.”

For a while, they just stood together silent in the meadow. The night sky was growing ever darker, while more and more stars appeared at the sky. From time to time Lunarstar looked up, probably wondering how she was going to return home. Eila wondered if she could ask the pony where she came from, whether there were more worlds than her own out there, a world where maybe winged unicorns were not so rare. But she didn’t even dare to ask, for she did not want to offend the pony or scare her away. She liked Lunarstar, for the few moments that she had known her. She had taken her own worries away for a short while, worries that somehow seemed so unimportant now.

“I think we should try to find the stone.” Lunarstar said to the darkness.
“You think? But what if we don’t find it?” Eila wondered.
“Then we’ll look for another way. But I really want to go back, for there are things I must do…” Her voice trailed of into the night.
“Will you come with me?” She asked a moment later.
“I dunno, I…” Would she come with Lunarstar? Konrou would arrive tomorrow, and she had to look rested and happy when she would meet him. Wandering all night with Lunarstar probably wouldn’t make her rested, and she somehow doubted she would be happy, whether they would find the stone or not. Yet did it really matter that much? She wasn’t so sure she wanted to marry Konrou anyway. She wanted to marry someone she loved, not someone she just… liked. And she wanted to help out Lunarstar. Wasn’t her returning home more important than her own silly wedding?

“I’ll come with you.” She said firmly, and she saw the relief on the pony’s face.
“Follow me, I know the entrance to the forest.” She turned her back to her mansion, and walked towards the forest in front of her. She heard Lunarstar hurrying after her.
“Do you know your way in there?” She asked Eila.
“A little,” she replied, “ as long as we stay on the roads. But it shouldn’t be that much of a problem. If we can get passed the magical barrier, I am pretty sure we will find our way to the stone without a problem.”
“You’re right. But I’m afraid getting passed that barrier will be the largest problem, if nobody has ever done it…”
“Nobody has ever mentioned getting to the stone.” Eila corrected Lunarstar. “That doesn’t mean nobody has ever done it.”

Within minutes, they had reached the borders of Ekiyu forest.
“Does anyone live in here?” Lunarstar asked while they searched for the path leading them into the forest. “Nah, nobody. This place belongs to all who live in this part of the country; its recourses are for the good of all. My family has to make sure nobody abuses it. But nobody lives there, so it’s not like we have to be afraid of being seen, this deep in the night.”
This was something she hoped more than knew for sure. She didn’t like the idea of her mother or father finding out that she was out here with a pony she barely knew, sneaking off into Ekiyu forest to find something that very well might be nothing but a legend, while she was going to meet her fiancé tomorrow. “Oh, here it is.” She said, when she saw the sand path appearing before her. It leading into the darkness was not something she found particularly comforting, but she knew this was the only road they could take. Besides, any other road would probably be just as dark.

“Shall we enter?” She asked Lunarstar. “I suppose. It’s dark, but to find the stone, we probably have to enter, right?”
Eila nodded in agreement, and then stepped on the road and walked into the forest. Strange, she thought, how different the forest looked in the darkness. She didn’t recognise anything of the cheery, light forest she had played in so much as a child. But their goal was inside here, and there was no waiting for the morning.