"So how many have we passed now?” Lunarstar complained.
“I dunno… fifteen?” Eila sighed.
Their walk through the forest had become more and more troublesome; there were way too many trees and bushes to walk comfortably, and sometimes they had trouble finding the next stone. Eila had wondered a few times now if they weren’t simply walking in circles, but she didn’t recognise anything either. Even Lunarstar, who had been determined to see what was at the end of the line of stones, was beginning to complain now.

“Do you have any idea where we are?” Lunarstar, who walked behind her now, asked.
“No, to be honest. I’ve never been this deep into the forest. It’s kind of forbidden, though I don’t know exactly why. I’ve never been too far from the path. But I suppose we should be fine. The lights will guide us back if we don’t find anything.”

“There’s the next!” Lunarstar pointed out. Eila saw it too, now, another purple light in the distance.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” She asked the white pony behind her, and she began to walk a little faster. Yet when they reached the next purple stone, it took them a while to find the next; it was further away than most of them had been, and as they soon found out, much harder to reach. The bushes were much closer now, as were the trees, and it was hard to reach the stone. Eila silently wondered how she ever was going to get home and pretend nothing had happened while her body was covered in scratches from branches now. Yet before she even could begin to think of a solution, her heart skipped a beat and she stopped walking, which caused Lunarstar to almost bump into her.

“What?” She asked irritated.
“Over there…” Eila almost whispered, while she pointed into the distance. Lunarstar stood next to her now, gazing to the place Eila was pointing. A bright light was shining there, reaching them broken because of the trees that blocked it. It was much brighter than the ordinary purple stones for sure; whatever caused this light was much larger and higher than any of the stones they had seen up until now.
“Let’s go check it out!” Lunarstar shouted, and she ran towards the light, almost tripping over a branch she hadn’t seen.

“Come on, Eila!” She yelled, and Eila began to follow her. Soon enough they reached the soure of the light, and Eila first couldn’t believe her eyes.
A giant purple stone stood in an open spot inside the forest. It was much higher than the others, and it was shaped as a decayed pyramid, pointing towards the sky. It was so much brighter and more magnificent than the stones that had guided them here, that Eila felt no doubt that this was, indeed, the stone they were looking for, the source of this forest gifted to them by a queen of old times.
“it’s beautiful…” Lunarstar said while she walked around the huge stone.

“It really is… isn’t it…” Eila agreed. It was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen, and it made her feel… content with the world, like somehow she was sure the world would become exactly like it should be. Were this the mysterious powers the royal family possessed? The powers she too, apparently, somehow possessed?
“But now what?” Lunarstar asked, which brought Eila back to the real world.
“Now what?” she asked confused.

“Yeah, you know… what about the stone, how are we going to use it, how am I going to get back home?”
Now that was something Eila had not yet thought about. Here they were, at the stone, and yet they had no idea how to use it.
“Try touching it.” Eila proposed. Slowly Lunarstar approached the stone, she raised her hoof, and reached out for the stone. Eila almost backed away for whatever could happen, but to her disappointment, nothing happened, at all. Lunarstar touched the stone again, and again at different places, but nothing whatsoever happened.
“Guess that’s not it…” She said when she returned to Eila. “Maybe you should do it? You’re probably the one that activated the stones in the first place.” She suggested to Eila.

It sounded like a find idea, but when Eila touched the stone, again nothing happened, except that Eila could feel the stone… in a different way, like she was aware of it’s presence not only through her touch and her sight, but also because she could feel it… like she had another sense that told her that yes indeed, the stone was here. Maybe that extra sense that she felt was her share of the powers of the royal line, not strong enough to be actually used but still able to detect the presence of other powers?

“Nothing, Lunarstar… I can feel something odd, like I sense the stone is here, but that’s it.”
“Why don’t you try wishing for something?” Lunarstar suggested. Eila once again touched the stone, this time she softly said: “I wish you could help me return Lunarstar back… to the stars.” She felt a weird flow of the powers through her body, but other than that, nothing happene.d They waited for a while, and Eila tried it again, but once again, nothing happened. “I’m afraid it won’t work.” Eila sighed. Lunarstar shook her head furiously. “I refuse to accept that! There has to be a way. We made those stones light up somehow, so we must be able to activate this stone, however, whatever!”

Eila sat down in the sand, with her back to the stone.
“I know Lunarstar, I know… if only I knew how! I would like to help you so much, I really do, but I don’t know either. Maybe only the queen knows now, how to use stones like this, or maybe you need to be able to handle those powers to make the stone work, I dunno… but I don’t know it either. I wish I could help you return to… wherever you are from, Lunarstar.”

Right when Eila was finished speaking those words, the stone lit up, and Eila was almost pushed away by the strength of powers that came flowing out of it. She quickly got back onto her four hoofs and stood next to Lunarstar, watching as the stone began to shine brighter and brighter.

“You did it again…” Lunarstar whispered while the stone actually began to open. It split up in four triangle shaped rocks, that slowly opened like a flower. They now saw the light came from within the stone, not from the rocks themselves. Something was in there that was so light it could actually shine through rock. When the stone was completely open and the four sides were laying flat on the ground, The light slowly began to dim, like it was focussing now on a smaller spot. The light began to take a peculiar shape, until Eila began to realise what it was – the light was shaping itself like a pony! When it had completed, Eila and Lunarstar were actually looking at a pony made of light, a pony wearing a crown Eila recognised all too well – the royal crown, which was still worn today by Queen Hazante, the crown that was said to hold special powers of it’s own.

The pony’s long mane, made of millions of little lights, were like a wave on a lake that was bathing in the day’s last light, while her eyes shone like bright stars in the sky. Her long tail was like the long grass in summer dancing on the wind.
“Eila Daiya… You have summoned me.” The pony said, without even moving her lips. She simple stood there, motionless, and it was like she transferred her words directly into Eila’s mind.
“I… I guess I did…” Eila stammered. She glanced at Lunarstar, who was as amazed by the pony of light as she was.
“I will grant you one wish, Eila Daiya, future steward of Ekiyu forest, descendant of Princess Daiya, but one wish only. I have seen your heart is pure. Choose your wish carefully.” One wish… One wish only. Yet, Eila suddenly realised, with that one wish she could change everything for herself. She could wish for the freedom she so desired, freedom from the steward line, freedom from the crown, freedom from her arranged marriage…

Yet when she looked next to her, she saw Lunarstar looking at her hopefully, waiting for her to repeat the words that had released the pony of light. It was indeed what she had come here for in the first place. To help Lunarstar get back home. It would be easy, to wish for her own freedom instead of Lunarstar’s journey home. She could run away from everything with her new friend, and start a new life. But yet… Was it hers to decide what this pony was going to do?
“I have decided what my wish will be.” She told the pony of light.
"Tell me, and I shall grant it.”