> Duskdweller said:
> Thank Moonflower for keeping you from forgetting and follow her to the bats.

You agree with Moonflower, and thank her for the reminder. Setting aside your idea for the time being, you and your friends begin making your way east to Starfalls Town…

You arrive at the camp a few minutes before sundown. While most of the villagers have started gathering behind the elder's tent for the event to come, a few others are scattered around, tending to some last-minute tasks.

One such mare, sitting by the western edge of the camp, notices your arrival. Or, more specifically, that of the awaited Oracle.

Modest mare: "Oh, the Oracle! You're here! Good evening. Um… there's… something you should see."

Moonflower: "What's goin' on?"

You follow the mare over to the entrance of the cave to Starfalls Town, and she gestures to it as she speaks.

Modest mare: "The outsiders brought a geologist earlier to check on the cave. She said it was unstable, and then, well… see for yourself."

As you step into the cave's mouth, you are met with a most unfamiliar sight; where its depths were once nightly dark, they now reflect the colours of the evening sky through a massive hole in the collapsed ceiling.

Moonflower: "Oh no! The town, it's ruined!"

The waterfalls, which once rained from dozens of ceiling founts all over, now noisily cascade down the far wall. Your eyes follow them below to the battered ground, littered in rubble.

Over half of the houses lie crumbled under fallen stones, the vine bridges between them snapped and broken. Rocks fill the once sandy rivers, flooding the entire lower level with rushing waters of a faint azure glow.

Modest mare: "Fortunately, nopony got hurt. It gave us quite the scare in the middle of the day, though, but the geologist said it should be safe from now on."

Moonflower nods. It takes her a moment before she manages to rip her gaze away from the remains of her hometown.

Moonflower: "Uh… right. Thanks for showin' me. Should we get ready for the ritual?"

Modest mare: "Oh, of course! I'll be right there."

While the mare trots off to join the growing crowd, you follow a thoughtful Moonflower to her tent, where she readies her outfit, and stores her cap and satchel.

Apple Basket: "You okay, Moonflower?"

Moonflower: "Yuh uh. S'just that… gettin' a new Oracle was already gonna be a lotta change for us, and now we jus' lost our town, too."

You wrap a foreleg around Moonflower's shoulders, and remind her that she's not alone in this. That manages to bring a little smile back onto her muzzle.

Moonflower: "Heehee… I keep forgettin'. Thanks, Blazer. Y'know, you guys don't gotta stand with me for this part of the ritual, but… do you wanna?"

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