Fourth chapter.

I've noticed I have a tendency to randomly switch between past and present when it comes to verbs. I've tried to correct it, but a few may have escaped me.

Another thing, Appeljack's accent is pretty hard to write. I try, but it doesn't always come off like I want. Please bear with me.

Enjoy~

XxxX

The grateful smiles of the ponies she helps.

The way they look at her, invite her into their homes, offer her a meal, a place to stay -sometimes they beg her to.

She is useful.

She is helpful.

Then why does it feel like a part of herself is still missing?

Some say she is a peaceful ghost trying to help everypony. Others say she's a soul who cannot pass on due to heavy regrets.

Many of those who see what others don't try to help her. No one succeeds.

No one can help her. She is alone, because they cannot understand.

The sorrow in her eyes is an ocean that could drown anypony, not that they really notice. She's become pretty good at hiding.

Some say she's an evil demon who took the appearance of a mare, to trick children into following her. It has happened once, so why not again?

She avoids these villages. Being frightening is worse than being ignored.

Still she walks on, she never stops. But she never truly reveals herself. She cannot afford for anypony to report her presence to Celestia.

She will not go back.

It is not her place anymore.

For countless moons, she wanders. Sometimes she doesn't see anypony for days on end. Other times she cannot count those she's seen.

She's chased bandits and wolves away. She's helped lost foals and fillies, helped the sick and the dying. She's built bridges, houses, villages and any and everything she can think of. While she's no longer an alicorn, her powers are still stronger than the strongest unicorn. Stronger than even Starswirl.

What is he thinking now, wherever he is? Had he been there, would any of this have happened? She cannot know, so she stops wondering. She's spent enough months asking herself 'what if' to know it will get her nowhere.

It doesn't really matter. Because after all, nowhere is exactly where she's going.

XxxX

"…That bridge's not natural." Applejack frowns, looking ahead suspiciously. Twilight only marvels at the view.

"No, it's magical. But even I could not build such a wonder."

In order to get to the Ghastly Gorge, they departed the small village outside of Everfree Forest early the next morning, and after about two hours of walking, they'd stumbled upon this.

It didn't matter if the mayor had told them about it. Seeing it was another matter altogether.

"It is quite the sight," Rarity agreed, running a hoof on the smooth surface. "Truly, Princess Staria has a wonderful artistic sense."

What were they looking at? A bridge.

A crystal bridge.

A magical, eternal, unbreakable, beautiful crystal bridge.

It was barely bigger than a regular wooden bridge, probably because it would have been superfluous over such a small river. Somehow, the crystal did not blind them with its brightness, for it reflected the faded colours of a rainbow, as though it had captured the memory of one long ago, in order to let it shine on a smaller scale for eternity. Hidden by the trees around until the very last moment, the bridge appeared to have been built to be hidden from view, nestled among the leaves, almost in another world. It had to be a thousand years old, and yet it looked built yesterday, shining and unfazed by weather or time. It could have been made of clouds, with all the swirls and graceful curves, but it did not look like it would have its place in Cloudsdale, nor in Canterlott. In fact, it couldn't be more appropriate for this place: it was a gift, one fitted for a forested area, which wouldn't outshine the rest of its environment.

The bridge had been well-thought in its appearance, place and usefulness. Twilight understood that while Princess Staria was one of the most powerful beings in Equestria, she was also quite smart and thoughtful. Which would make their quest that much more difficult. And yet, while it was obvious she had not wanted to go back to the castle -had not wanted Celestia to find her- she hadn't exactly hidden her tracks either. Did she believe appearing as a unicorn would be enough to get anypony off her tracks?

Did she even think about it?

"We're not gonna stare at it all day, are we?" Dash finally huffs, getting impatient. "Let's cross it."

They followed her lead, Pinkie Pie jumping enthusiastically as she noticed the crystal sang when she jumped hard enough. Somehow, the melodic sound was enough to soothe even Applejack's suspicions, and the mane six went back to their journey, and only Twilight wondered further about the structure they'd just crossed.

Ghastly Gorge was just after the bridge, barely an hour's walk away. The height almost made Fluttershy lose her steps, though she was thankfully caught by Applejack. There, right in the small forest, isolated from the rest of Equestria (as the inhabitants worded it, though Dash snorted conspicuously somewhere in the background as they said it), a small village rested -much like the first one they had seen.

"We're doing like yesterday. Walk around and ask about the legends."

They spread through the village in pairs, but it would only be a disappointment. All they got was the same story they learned yesterday -the legend was carried here from their neighbours and then adapted to their village centuries ago. How could they tell? Too many different versions in the same village, too many incoherencies (how could Princess Staria have created a shield against changelings above the village, a limit that monsters could not cross, and a magical fishing net that would ensure they would never go hungry?) One alone might have been believable, but she couldn't have created all three, especially since Twilight could not detect anything magical in here. And yet…

There was something. Extremely small, almost extinguished -no, not extinguished, but…hidden. And she couldn't get her hoof on it.

The alicorn spent the rest of the day searching for it, in vain. She missed lunch with the others, who eventually decided to just wait for her in the inn once it became certain she wouldn't stop until she'd found whatever she was looking for. But when she finally entered the room, exhausted and eyes downcast, the others knew she hadn't found anything.

"Twilight, a know you want to fin' something, but maybe there actually isn't anything here." Applejack was the first to voice her worries, as Twilight dug into one of her books and began flipping the pages without reading them.

"I know there is," Twilight argued stubbornly. "But it's well hidden. Princess Staria was a powerful alicorn, that's why it's so hard to find."

"But it's been a thousand years, darling," Rarity tried. "Surely whatever protection spell she used has long disappeared?"

"You forget the bridge, guys," Fluttershy piped in. "It's still standing after all this time, and without any damage."

"Maybe she didn't want anypony to find it?" Pinkie suggested. "Or it was one of her secrets she didn't want anypony to know about."

"Whatever it is," Rainbow Dash shrugged, "if it's magically protected, then only Twilight can find it."

The others agreed, some more reluctantly than the others. They settled for the night with a heavy feeling of déjà-vu, the first of many to come in the near future, especially now that they didn't know which direction to take, but then again, Twilight should have expected it wouldn't be so easy to follow her tracks after a thousand years. They'd left barely three days ago, and she hadn't imposed a time-limit to her quest, but she knew Celestia would eventually call them back if it took too long, if only because she didn't want her beloved pupil to waste her time on a quest that could quite possibly never end. If Princess Staria really didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be -that was perhaps her only certitude in this whole journey.

Twilight closed her eyes and tried to sleep. It wouldn't do her any good to torture herself with hopeless thoughts when the search had barely even started. She could already hear Dash's heavy snoring, and Rarity's light one. She'd have a fit if she knew she snored. The young alicorn chuckled quietly at the thought of telling her, imagining her wide-eyed and speechless. Pranks usually were Rainbow Dash's field, but she could indulge herself in some once in a while. Losing herself in happier thoughts, she quickly realised she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, despite her exhaustion. She was thinking too much. And when she did, only one thing could settle her mind: going down in the library to read until her eyes gave up. But as her library was unavailable, she'd settle for a walk under the stars. Perhaps they would give her the answers she sought.

Twilight exited the inn quietly, leaving her peacefully sleeping friends inside. She chose a random path to exit the village, but she didn't dare go further than a few yards away -only far enough to collect her thoughts. At least that's what she intended to do.

Instead, she found herself face to face with a young pegasus, not much older than her. She had a dark red wavy mane, an orange coat and feather-shaped cutie mark. Twilight remembered seeing her in the village -several times actually, now that she thought about it. The Pegasus bowed to her.

"Good evening, your Highness. I can take you to what you've been searching for, if you wish."

"What?" Twilight asked, bewildered. "Who are you? And how do you even know what I'm looking for?"

The mare only smiled mysteriously, retreating into the trees. Twilight followed her hastily. They walked in silence for a while, punctuated only by Twilight's incessant questions -which went unanswered- and the sound of their steps on the leaves and grass. Eventually, she led them to the cliff, from where she could see the river quite some distance below. Twilight could barely even hear the water. She saw that the Pegasus had stopped, and as such, she began to look around with her senses to try and find what she was looking for -the small source of magic.

"So it's here? Where? I can't see it, and it doesn't even feel closer than when I was in the village, are you certain we're in the right place? Perhaps you mistook me for someone else, because apparently there is nothing here that I could be searching for, or maybe there's still a hidden protection that needs to be un-"

"Your Highness."

She'd started rambling without noticing, apparently. Twilight looked back at her Pegasus guide, an apology on the tip of her tongue -and then, she saw the mare wasn't looking at the river below. She was standing on the side, eyes looking down, though they faced her when she spoke.

"What you seek is here."

Twilight took a couple steps forward, on guard. It didn't seem to be a trap, but if it was, she'd definitely-

Her thoughts whirled to a halt.

For a short second, she thought she was back to this morning when they discovered the crystal bridge, but this was different.

Before her eyes, there it stood, a heart-wrenching echo of Princess Staria's sorrow and pain as she passed through here. The tall, mourning flower seemed to be made of crystal too, just like the bridge, and Twilight vaguely wondered if this strange material was Staria's magic signature. It was an Aquilegia, she remembered Fluttershy telling her about it. A flower that usually bloomed in altitude, commonly found on mountains. But this was different. It stood up to her chest, taller than any of its sisters, with the crystal's pale colour. But its petals were cast down, as though the flower was crying and she imagined in the rain, it did. She also realised the flower had a magical origin, but remained what it was: a flower. Beautiful, sad and eternal, just like the bridge. A token of remembrance from princess Staria.

Twilight didn't know when she'd kneeled before the flower, but her guide joined her in the grass. Her quiet breathing eased her agitation.

"Back when I was a foal," the Pegasus started, "my mother used to tell me a story. A story her mother told her when she herself was a filly…and it traces back to centuries before. A story I will tell you now, because I believe you deserve to hear about it…"

She took a deep breath. Twilight did not look away from the flower.

"A long, long time ago…"

XxxX

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