Flash Sentry, Fluttershy, and Starswirl entered the cave cautiously. Flash lit a stick with the flint and tinder he had on him in order to light the way through the dark cave. He held the torch with his right wing. The other two ponies stuck close to Flash, close to the light. The three strolled through the cave quietly, hoping to not disturb anything living inside the caverns. They took a left turn and found a pool of water in front of them.
“Hmm?” said Flash, curiously, “Isn’t this…”
The Pegasus took out a small flask and scooped up some water from the spring. He inspected the water under the light of the torch closely.
“What a rare find!” exclaimed Flash, “This is a recovery spring.”
“A recovery spring?” asked Starswirl.
“I read this in a book once,” said Fluttershy, “It said that there are magical pools of water scattered across the world. The water holds powerful healing properties, so ponies usually collect the spring water and use it as a base for making recovery potions.”
Flash nodded. “If you soak your wounds in these waters, your wounds will heal faster than normal,” said Flash, “Hmmm. Maybe I can sell this location to some potion vender in the future. Ah, but it’s not a good time to dwell on this. We should get going.”
Starswirl stepped towards the pool of magical water and stared into its depths. His eyes widened.
“What in sakes heavens is that!?” he screamed.
A crab the size of the ponies emerged from the springs. Its eyes glared at the three ponies, and its claws snapped the air preparing to cuts its prey into pieces.
Flash drew his blade and called, “Fluttershy, Starswirl get behind me!”
“Demon Crab, Level 1 Monster, Water elemental,” muttered Fluttershy in Flash’s ears.
Flash was stunned. “Huh? How-?”
“I memorized The Beastiary, hoping that this knowledge would come in handy in the future,” said Fluttershy.
Flash stayed silent. His book, huh? He thought to himself.
The crab suddenly charged at the three ponies. Fluttershy ran into the darkness, and Flash ran to the side of the charge. Starswirl stood his ground.
“A measly overgrown shellfish will not faze Starswirl the Bearded!” the old man exclaimed. He turned around and bucked the crab straight onto its back. “Take that, monster!”
The crab recovered almost instantly and swung its pincers at Starswirl. The old pony narrowly dodged the blow. He backed away from the monster hoping to get some distance, but the crab charged him again. Starswirl noticed something strange and thought, How can I see this happening? I don’t have the torch. He looked up and saw Flash Sentry high in the air, aiming his sword at the monster.
Flash dived, pointing the blade of the sword to the ground, using gravity to strengthen his stab to crack the shell of the Demon Crab. The sword came out the bottom of the crab, and the crab stopped moving, dropping its pincers to the ground. The torch blew out like birthday candle when Flash dropped to the ground, so Flash spat out the burned out stick in his mouth.
“Great. Just great. We are stuck in a pitch black cave with no light,” Flash ranted.
“Where’s Fluttershy?” asked Starswirl as he approached the angry voice.
“She should be around here somewhere,” said Flash, “She ran off when the crab attacked.”
“Fluttershy!” called Starswirl, “Follow my voice! The torch went out!”
“I’m right here,” said a voice directly behind Flash.
Flash screamed, startled by her sudden appearance.
“Oh sorry,” muttered Fluttershy, “I was behind you most of the fight. It seems that no one noticed me, though…”
Flash sighed. “Well, I guess I’ll try to get the torch back on,” said Flash, “But it may take a while. I can’t see a thing.”
He fumbled through his belongings, looking for his flint.
“Wow. I still barely believe how dark it is! Can’t see a hoof in front of my eyes!” exclaimed Starswirl, “If only-“
A flash of light erupted from Starswirl’s horn. Everyone screamed in shock and pain.
“My eyes!” yelled out Flash, “Starswirl! Turn it off!”
“Turn what off!” screamed Starswirl. He squinted and saw his horn shining. “What in the blazes! My horn! It’s on fire! Put it out, put it out!” Starswirl took his beard the patted his horn hoping to smother out the flames.
The other two ponies slowly got used to the light emitting from Starswirl’s horn as he continued to put out the “fire.”
Flash stepped towards Starswirl and screamed in his ear, “It’s not on fire, you dolt! You are using magic!”
Starswirl came to his senses and looked at his radiating horn. He smiled in triumph.
“HA! I told you guys that I am great! I am a wizard! Behold my power!” He swung his shining horn in the air.
“It’s a light spell,” said Fluttershy, “its Level 1 magic, one of the basics. I’ve seen fillies use it easily.”
Starswirl stopped his gloating and rubbed his beard in embarrassment.
Flash signed and look towards Starswirl, “it seems that you subconsciously activated the spell because you needed a light,” explained Flash, “At least I don’t have to build a fire in the dark now. Actually, I don’t even need to make a fire at all now.” He put away the flint he was holding in his hoof.
The three ponies traveled through the cave while Starswirl was attempting to control his new powers. After a few minutes, he was able to freely turn on and off the light at will. After around an hour of traveling through the cave, Flash noticed a hoof sized hole leading outside. He looked through the hole and saw the vast ocean.
“What do you see?” asked Fluttershy.
“Just the sea,” answered Flash, “It seems that this hole is on the side of a cliff facing the ocean.”
Starswirl pushed Flash aside and took a peak out the hole. He looked forward in confusion. “Flash?” he asked.
“What?”
“The wind stopped right?” he asked again.
“Yes it did,” answered Fluttershy.
“Explain this,” Starswirl moved away from the hole.
Flash peaked through the hole and asked, “What exactly am I looking for?”
“Look to the ocean,”
Flash scanned the ocean expanse and spotted a barque boat gliding through the water.
“It’s just a boat. You never seen a sailboat before… Wait! What!?” Flash exclaimed. He looked back into the hole.
“A boat sailing without wind? How is that possible?” Flash exclaimed.
Fluttershy also looked through the hole and spotted the boat as well. It was traveling towards them.
“However it’s doing it, it’s going to dock near us,” Fluttershy said.
Flash looked out the hole one more time, but the boat was out of sight. “Let’s go look for it. Maybe they’ll give us a ride to the Wind Shrine.”
The three ponies ran through the rest of the cave looking for an exit. They came across a large opening and ran through it. Before them was a large, black flag with a jolly roger printed on it, a skull with two swords crossed in an X.
“Oh no,” muttered Flash, “What have we gotten ourselves into.”