The Starmaker

Chapter 13- The Observatory

A few days and one treacherous trek up into the mountains later, the ponies arrived at the front gate of Princess Nova's observatory. All throughout the trip, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had been practicing their flying technique, and Fluttershy was actually getting pretty good. They did their best to teach Scootaloo, who was also improving slightly.

But now they had reached their goal. The observatory was a large, dome-shaped building nestled between two snow-covered peaks, a large telescope emerging from the roof, pointing towards the heavens.

"This is it!" Twilight declared. "The Starmaker is in here somewhere!"

"Just one problem, Twilight," Spike started, "How do we get in?"

By looking at the gate, one could see the baby dragon's point. The door was a solid slab of rock, no handles, knobs, or keyholes, and an archway with mysterious, ancient lettering carved into it.

Applejack went to the door, and pressed against with all her might. It didn't budge.

"Rainbow Dash! Gimme a hoof here!"

Rainbow Dash join the orange pony in her efforts to open the door, but to no avail. Applejack bucked the stone in frustration, only to regret it a second later.

"Ow," she hissed, hopping on her front legs. "Gogo, you got any fancy gizmos that could open this here door?"

Gogo Gadget studied the door. "I could pick the lock…if there were one."

The ponies all groaned.

"Hey," Twilight said, "The writing on the arch, it's the same as the book! Maybe it's the key to opening it!"

"Um, darling, wasn't Zecora the only one who could read this language?" Rarity asked.

"Well, yes, technically, but she did teach me some of it while we were at her hut. Hopefully it's enough to decipher this."

Twilight settled down in front of the door, taking out a quill and notebook.

"Hey Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash called out. "Wanna race around the mountain while Egghead here is figuring this out?"

"Oh, I don't know about a race…it just seems so…competitive. How about we just take a leisurely flight around the mountain?" Fluttershy proposed.

"Okay, fine." Rainbow sighed. "No race, but it definitely won't be 'leisurely!'"

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash took off.

"Well, just lookit her," Applejack mused. "A few days ago she was a wreck, and now she's confident, and flying well enough to give Rainbow Dash a run for her money!"

"She really has come out of her shell, hasn't she?" Rarity agreed.

"I've got it!" Twilight cried just as the pegasi finished their flight around the mountain

"Well that was fast," Rainbow Dash observed.

"What's it say?" asked Pinkie Pie.

If I'm correct, it says," Twilight cleared her throat, "The light that shines when all others go out, the light that shines when the darkness is deepest, the light that shines when all hope is lost, that is the light that shines brightest."

The runes on the arch lit up like fire, and the stone slab melted away like ice, revealing the entrance to the observatory. The ponies entered, and gasped. The inside of the observatory was quite majestic, fit for a princess. Marble pillars rose out of the marble floor, circling the round room. A spiral staircase corkscrewed up to the next level of the observatory in the center.

"Ooooh, shiny!" Pinkie chirped.

"You can say that again," Applejack said, taking in the splendor.

"I guess we go up," Twilight surmised, gesturing to the staircase.

The ponies climbed the spiral stairs, reaching the second floor. It was just as extravagant as the first, with a large statue of a unicorn positioned prominently. The walls were lined with compartments with writing on them.

"They're names," Twilight revealed upon closer inspection, "and dates. Birth dates and death dates. This is…a mausoleum!"

"What's a 'mouse-o-leum'?" asked Applebloom.

"Fancy cemetery," Applejack explained to her sister.

"Um, Twilight?" Rarity said, standing over by the unicorn statue. "You might want to look at this.'

Twilight joined Rarity. "What am I looking at?"

Rarity pointed her hoof at a plaque mounted below the statue. Twilight read it aloud.

"Princess Nova…wait, this is Princess Nova? But, she's just a unicorn!"

"Keep reading," Rarity said grimly.

Twilight scanned the plaque and gasped. "This says…it says…"

"Well?" asked Rainbow Dash. "What does it say?"

Twilight gulped. "She died two thousand years ago. This is her tomb."

"So what you're sayin' is…?" Applejack started.

Twilight nodded. "That's right. There's no Starmaker. Not anymore."

"So we came all this way for nothing?" Rainbow Dash groaned.

The ponies shared a moment of frustrated and defeated silence.

"So what do we do now?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"I honestly don't know," Twilight admitted. "This was our only plan."

"I say we just use Elements of Harmony on Abysma!" Rainbow Dash declared.

"We can't do that, Rainbow," Applejack explained, "Abysma's the one who made the durn things in the first place. Gogo said so. Right, Gogo?"

No answer. Everypony looked around.

"Where is Gogo?" asked Pinkie.

"And where are the Crusaders?" asked Rarity.

A few moments earlier, while the others were examining the statue, the Cutie Mark Crusaders noticed something strange; Gogo Gadget was heading down the stairs by herself.

"Did you see that?" Applebloom whispered. The other fillies nodded. "Where is she going?"

"We should follow her!" Silver Spoon suggested.

Scootaloo grinned. "Now you're thinking like a Crusader!"

The little ponies hurried downstairs after Gogo. At this time, they could see the grey unicorn leaving the observatory through the open entrance.

"Where IS she going?" Applebloom repeated.

They went out the door. Gogo was walking away from the observatory. The Crusaders followed her until she stopped, and turned around, making them dive behind a nearby boulder.

Gogo's horn glowed, and two metal cylinders emerged from her saddlebags. Cannons

BOOM! The left cannon fired, hitting the left peak. BOOM! The right cannon fired, hitting the right peak. Gogo stood for a moment, until a cracking sound could be heard.

"Avalan-" Sweetie Belle cried before Applebloom put a hoof over her mouth. Too late, though. Gogo focused on them, her right eye swiveling.

"I see you," she grinned maniacally. The Crusaders could do nothing but look back and forth in horror at Gogo and the walls of snow burying the observatory…and their friends.