Spike peered over the edge of the air balloon basket, seeing the colorful lands far below. He glanced up, past the balloon, at the near sky, where clouds passed them by just out of reach. After a few moments, he looked over at his companion.
“Starlight?” he asked nervously. “Starfall’s gonna wake up someday soon, isn’t he?”
The unicorn looked to him, trying at a hopeful expression, although the baby dragon could see straight through it. “I’m sure he will, Spike. We just need to be patient, and make sure he has nothing to worry about when he wakes up.”
Spike slowly nodded, looking out across the land once again. “Y-yeah, you’re right.”
Starlight took a moment to breathe, and then looked back down at the map. “According to the map, we should be able to see-”
“Hey, there it is!” Spike interrupted her, making the unicorn stand and lean on the basket edge beside him.
The Great Smokey Mountains could be seen in the distance, the two peaks rising up high into the sky. Although they were too far away to see, both Spike and Starlight both knew that the valley between them was radiant and beautiful from Fluttershy telling them the last time she visited it.
Starlight watched for a few seconds, but then looked back to the map, her gaze now turned to the south. “And look! There’s Las Pegasus.”
The dragon joined her on the opposite side. The city was harder to see than the mountains, but it was still very much in sight. Having heard a lot from Applejack about her experience there, the two always wondered what the city was like.
“You ever been there before?” Spike asked her.
Starlight shook her head, but then smirked. “No, but Trixie has asked me to go there with her a few times now, sooner or later I’ll have the time and say yes.”
Thinking about that reply, Spike looked to her. “So… when do you think you’ll actually have the time? I mean… what if we never find Chrysalis, Sombra, and Stormclaw?”
“We’ll find them.” She tried assuring him. “Besides, how many places can there be left to look? Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of our friends found them within a week.”
“Do you think we might find them?” He asked, having scooted over to her in the process.
She looked down at him and rubbed at his head. “We may yet, Spike.” She replied, looking out at the land again. “We may yet.”
Spike joined her in looking out across Equestria. Down below, the train tracks of the Friendship Express met their end, the lands beyond reaching to the Undiscovered West. Starlight hoped to Celestia that she was right, and that those three villains would be found soon.
Or better yet… that she would find them.
The lands west of Equestria were all but untouched by modern civilization. Practically no one ever crossed the border, for the wilds beyond it were uncharted and shrouded in mystery.
Starlight had always wondered what lied to the west; she often found it an intellectual exercise to imagine what all lived and existed there. True, there were some explorers who ventured out here to catalog what they saw, but they never ended up traveling very far.
The only one of those ponies Starlight took any interest in, was none other than Starswirl the Bearded himself. Several entries had been made in his written volumes about mysterious places that existed beyond Equestria, and the Undiscovered West was one of them. These adventures of his had become classic information for powerful unicorns, most notably his discovery of the Summer Isle or the Caverns of Maretania.
Not knowing exactly what to expect, Starlight found herself quite eager to see these uncharted lands with her own eyes, and witness sights very few ponies would ever see.
Only an hour or so after crossing the border, the two travelers spotted the temporary search site of the changelings, which was a relatively small area cleared of trees where a camp was located. As the balloon descended, both Starlight and Spike took notice to just how many changelings there were. They practically filled the skies around the camp, traveling in groups of a few dozen, no doubt to have the numbers advantage should they find their targets.
Spike peered over the edge of the basket to where they were landing. A silver-scaled dragon and a dark colored changeling stood in wait for them, eyes fixed upon the air balloon.
“Starlight look, Scorch is here.” Spike said aloud.
Looking down as well, Starlight smiled. “And Pharynx too.”
The basket touched down, a few changelings tying it off on a few posts as the unicorn and dragon hopped up and out of it.
“Pharynx!” Starlight said, trotting up to him. “So nice to see you again!”
The dark changeling nodded to her, and then glanced over at the baby dragon by her side. “So, you’re Spike, right? Thorax’s friend?”
“Yep, that’s me!” Spike replied with a smile.
Pharynx scoffed, looking back to Starlight. “Looks about right. When I heard my brother was friends with a dragon, I won’t lie, I was pretty impressed. Aaaaand then I found out instead of a cool dragon-”
“Like me.” Scorch chuckled.
“His friend is just a baby one.” Pharynx finished, almost like the two had rehearsed it.
Spike grimaced, but Starlight lightly laughed it off. “Still quite the soothing one, aren’t you?”
Scorch elbowed Pharynx, grabbing his attention, and then gestured behind them with her head. “Come on, we’ve got work to do, let’s just bring them to your brother and Ember already.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he replied, turning with her as he motioned for the two guests to follow them. “Quit acting like you’re the boss of me.”
“I will,” Scorch growled. “When you quit wasting my time.”
Starlight tilted her head a bit. “Huh, natural fit, those two.”
“What did you say?” Both Scorch and Pharynx said back at her at the same time.
The unicorn quickly shook her head. “Nothing, nothing!”
The two of them faced forward again, leading Starlight and Spike towards the center of the camp. Recognizing a few changelings, Starlight waved to them as she went. Spike, anxious to see his friends again, found it hard to walk at their current, slow pace.
Ember laid in a hammock slung between two standing trees at the center of camp left for shade. With her arms tucked in under her neck, she swung ever so lightly back and forth while she snoozed.
Pharynx stopped at the sight of her and glanced around, looking to one of the changelings. “Where’s Thorax?” he demanded of them.
“He went with a few others to gather gems for Dragon Lord Ember.” The changeling replied.
Scowling at this response, Pharynx turned to Scorch. “My brother is not some servant your Dragon Lord can command.”
Scorch scoffed. “Right, because your king obeys her every command.” She replied sarcastically. “You really think she commanded him? He’s a pleaser, Pharynx, just last week he tried convincing her to stay here while he went out and searched because he was afraid she’d be too tired.”
Pharynx scowled again, turning away abruptly. While the two of them heated the atmosphere with their argument, Spike ran up to Ember, who had stirred about upon them raising their voices. Her eyes opened just as Spike made it to her.
“Oh,” She said, letting out a brief yawn. “Hey there, Spike.”
Spike hopped up into the hammock with her as she sat up. “How’s the search been goin’ so far?”
The Dragon Lord shrugged. “Meh, could be better.” That’s when she looked up and around, her eye brow lifting. “Where did Thorax go?”
“Off to get you a snack.” Pharynx replied sharply.
Ember groaned, shaking her head. “Typical Thorax, it’s like he’s trying to spoil me or something.”
Starlight trotted over to her. “Good to see you again, Ember.”
The blue dragon nodded. “Yeah, you too. Took you guys long enough to join the search.”
The unicorn somewhat expected that to come up at some point, so she was able to handle it well. “Yes, well, we were otherwise distracted.”
Hearing the arguing again, Ember turned to the two combatants, who were at it again. “Hey!” She shouted, silencing them. “Knock it off you two, or else I’ll pair you up again for another pass over the coast!” That struck the right note, making the two stop talking all together. Ember nodded in triumph. “Uh huh, that’s what I thought.”
“I’m back~!” Thorax announced, flying in with a few other changelings, each of them carrying some gems they found during their outing. “Spike! Starlight! You’re here!”
Before the friends could reunite, Ember rose up and glided over to him, crossing her arms. “Oh no you don’t,” She scolded him, chin as she squinted down at him. “Instead of using your time checking with the group leaders about their search areas, you went out to find me gems?”
Thorax’s ears went flat to his head, and he lifted up a red gem. “I found your favorite~.” He tried lightening up the tension.
Ember was about to go off again, but she stopped, eyeing the ruby for a moment. She swiped it from his hooves, turning slightly. “Well… don’t let me catch you doing it again.”
Having waited for this tense moment to end, Spike then went running up to Thorax and the two of them hugged. “I’m so glad you two are here!” Thorax said to them, separating from the little dragon. “Ember and I found something we know you’re gonna love!”
Starlight was intrigued. “Really? What’s that?”
Ember, having already eaten the ruby, joined Thorax’s side. “We’ll get to that in a bit, but first, we wanted to ask you two about something.”
“Fire away.” Spike replied, Starlight stepping up beside him.
“Twilight told us about how ponies originally came to Equestria,” Thorax continued. “You know, with the whole storm of the wendigoes thing? Did you ever find out exactly where the three tribes came from to reach Equestria?”
Spike looked up at Starlight, who looked unfamiliar on the topic. “I know all three tribes fled the blizzard and reached Equestria at the same time… but no, I don’t think we ever found out where they came from. I don’t think the stories mention anything like that.”
Thorax looked over at Ember with a somewhat giddy grin on his face. “Can we go show them now?”
“I don’t see why not.” Ember replied, spreading her wings. She flew over and hoisted Spike up onto her back while Starlight used her magic to make her fly. Thorax then took off, heading north-west with the three trailing behind him.
They passed several changeling groups along the way, as well as a few geological features Starlight found interesting. Strange hills and mountains lined a certain range to the near north, which caught her attention. The rivers and valleys looked completely untouched by society, which she and Spike both knew Fluttershy would love to see someday.
His excited, anxious smile still on his face, Thorax led them towards a small mountain range just beyond that of the strange one Starlight had seen. At the very edge of the range sat the crumbling ruins of what looked like a castle. Starlight’s mind went from intrigued to blown away in no time flat.
The ruins suggested the castle wasn’t all that big, at least not compared to Canterlot or the Crystal Empire. That aside, the reality of the find was still very much groundbreaking. Starlight was easily able to deduce the ruins were several millennia old, based on its deteriorating condition.
Landing on a small hill with a perfect view of the castle, Starlight squinted at it, examining it and shaking her head. “I don’t understand…” She then turned to Thorax and Ember. “I thought the west was undiscovered, that no one ever lived over here and it’s been nothing but wilds since the founding of Equestria.”
Thorax nodded. “You’re right, it has been wilds since Equestria’s founding.” He said, grinning to give his friend a clue.
Starlight froze, the pieces all coming together in the blink of an eye. “Wait…” She said slowly, turning back to face the ruins. “Does that mean…?”
Ember chuckled to herself, and glanced back at Spike, who was still confused. “Welcome to the castle of Princess Platinum, the last ruler of the Unicorn tribe.”
With a large gasp, Starlight lifted her hoof up to her chest. “T-this is…? You mean this is…?” She fumbled with her words and her eyes were wide open. “What are we waiting for?! Come on!” She took off in full gallop towards the ruins.
Spike sighed. “She’s been spending too much time with Twilight.”
The door to the castle had withered away centuries ago, leaving the ruins wide open. Starlight trotted through the entrance, her heart beating a mile a minute as she couldn’t wait to tell Twilight about all of this.
“We can find out more about the unicorns!” She said excitedly. “Maybe even about the earth ponies and pegasi!”
Ember sat Spike down on the ground and he tilted his head at hearing the comment. “Umm… I don’t know about that, Starlight. This place has to be thousands of years old, far more even than the Castle of the Two Sisters. You really think we’ll be able to find anything?”
“Oh, you’d be surprised, Spike.” Thorax told him, taking a quick glance around at the interior. “As soon as we found out this may have been the unicorn castle, I read up on them best I could. Apparently, the unicorns sometimes etched important histories in the walls inside their throne room.”
That was all Starlight needed to hear. She went zipping down the corroded hall, followed by her three companions. Reaching a larger chamber, one that had a few gaping holes in the walls and ceilings, Starlight slid to a halt.
The throne itself was in pieces, and rounded from the passage of time. The once regal and decorative pillars had all fallen, leaving several parts of the chamber completely collapsed. The walls were all ruined and scarred by time, impossible to be interpreted.
Thorax lowered his head a bit, having not realized the room had been in this bad of a condition. “I’m so sorry, Starlight. I thought for sure they would still be here…”
The unicorn shook her head, turning to him. “No… it’s alright, Thorax, this place… it’s still incredible, even without the histories of the unicorns.”
Ember stood with her arms crossed, having pushed past the reason they were there in order to give Starlight something to be excited about, given all that has happened to her and her friends. She decided to give them a little bit longer before pulling them back on track with the search.
Having walked up to one of the ruined walls, Spike felt it with his claw, which crumbled slightly at his touch, it was so fragile. He looked back at Starlight, knowing how disappointed she must feel on the inside to have found the castle, but be unable to know ANYTHING more about the unicorns that lived there.
Glancing down a different hall, Spike felt compelled to search for something, anything to lift his friend’s spirits. Putting one claw in front of the other, he walked down the hall, looking up and around at the terrible conditions of the ruins. Briefly looking at one of the walls, he kept walking, but then stopped, tracing his gaze back to that particular wall. There was a symbol on it, almost invisible due to the aging and elements corroding the castle. Although faint, he could make out the outline of what looked like a star.
“Hmm…” He said to himself, rubbing his chin as he squinted at the peculiar wall. “What do we have here?”
Taking a step back to try and see if he could make out the image from further away, Spike stumbled back over a piece of debris on the floor. With a light shout, he caught himself on the wall, his claw grinding grooves into it in order to not fall. Upon making the mark, there was a ripple that appeared from out the wall he touched, resonating down the hall and eventually leading to the wall with the symbol on it, which glowed faintly for a second before dimming again.
“…huh?” Spike said, examining the symbol further.
Starlight, Thorax, and Ember came running down the hall towards him. “Are you alright, Spike?” Ember asked him. “We heard you shout.”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine…” He replied, eyes still honed in on the wall. “Hey Starlight, take a look at this.” Reaching back, Spike scratched at the wall, creating the ripple once again.
Starlight watched this reaction as the ripple moved to the symbol on the wall, glowing again. Taking a step towards it, her horn lit up in her magical aura. The symbol reacted, glowing faintly once again. “This is a concealment spell…” She said to her friends, recalling a similar one she practiced a few years back, but this one was far more advanced. Placing her horn against the symbol, the glow intensified, revealing a star crest on the wall.
Feeling a magical lock, Starlight realized they must be onto something. Hoping this was a door of some kind, she tried forcing it open, but it didn’t budge. She didn’t want to try blowing it up, whatever it was could be more than just an entrance, and doing so may ruin it all together.
Spike, Ember, and Thorax watched in silence as the unicorn continued her attempts, obviously deep in thought as she had gone quiet. Spike recognized that look, it was the same one Twilight whenever she tried solving a problem in her head.
Starlight used her copying spell to try and better understand the spell on the wall, but it told her very little about it. All she knew was that whoever cast this concealment spell was a powerful unicorn, and a cunning one at that.
It was upon using a revealing spell that Starlight brightened up a bit. “I think I’ve got it.” She said, looking back at her friends. “Hold onto me.” The three of them complied, each of them stepping forward and holding onto her. Starlight closed her eyes and concentrated, wincing a bit as her horn sparked. Letting out a discharge of magic, her horn flashed a bright light and the four of them teleported.
When Starlight opened her eyes, her horn was still resting against the star crest, only now it was plainly visible on the wall, not faded in the slightest. Spike, Ember, and Thorax all opened their eyes, confused at seeing the wall now in perfect condition. Spike was the first to turn around.
“Sweet Celestia…” he said quietly. Starlight turned and felt her mind go off the rails.
The four of them stood along the wall of a completely different chamber, which was lit by magic torches on the walls, which were completely untouched by the passage of time. Short bookcases and shelves stood filled with books and scrolls in a semi-circle around a mage’s table, that is, one with several pedestals around it for recording information. While the chamber wasn’t decorated quite like one would think of a unicorn back in those times, there was a statue near the back wall of Starswirl the Bearded, one Starlight had never seen before.
“Where are we…?” Thorax asked. “What is this place?”
Starlight looked up and around, her eyes still wide and full of wonder. She placed her hoof on the wall, which made a similar rippling effect as the wall in the ruins did, only this one was more visible. “It’s a preservation spell… somepony cast a spell to make it so that this room never ages… we’re still in the castle somewhere, the wall just teleported us here.”
Ember lifted an eyebrow, impressed. “I know you ponies can do some wicked stuff… but is that even possible?”
“Oh my gosh…” Starlight said quietly, the initial shock of finding the room having clouded her deductive abilities up until this very moment. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” She repeated excitedly, capturing her friends’ attentions. “This is the library of Clover the Clever! She must have cast a preservation spell on it before leaving with the rest of the unicorns to Equestria!”
Spike’s eyes went wide. “Whoa… wait till Twilight hears about this…”
Starlight galloped up to the closest bookcase, eyes in knowledge absorption mode. Reading the titles, she passed over into the scrolls that Clover had been working on last. Seeing one with a title she could never forget, she used her magic to pull it out. “Ancient Artifacts, Volume 1!” She practically shrieked. “This is the original to Ancient Artifacts of Equestria! She must’ve added the Equestria part in after the tribes united!”
Thorax joined Starlight in looking at the books and scrolls, while Ember and Spike both walked up to the statue of Starswirl. “Isn’t this guy an important pony or something?” Ember asked.
“Yeah, this here is Starswirl the Bearded!” Spike replied. “He was said to be the most powerful unicorn in history. Every aspiring unicorn in the field of magic looks up to him.” Ember tilted her head, examining the statue.
Starlight was beside herself in joy, this was one of the biggest discoveries in the field of magic. Clover the Clever, one of the most studious apprentices of the great Starswirl the Bearded, having an entire library of studies on magic and the lands of the Undiscovered West. This was groundbreaking, ponies would never see the west the same way again.
Thorax closed one of the books he was reading through, sitting it back up on the shelf. “Hey Ember, you want to show them that place you found?” He asked, turning to her.
Ember glanced back at him, her willingness to give them time to look around dimming a bit. “You know, while I get its cool we found this place for you ponies, we should really get back to our searches; there’s still a whole lot of work to be done.”
“We can’t leave yet!” Starlight replied, having become so distracted by the discovery of the library to think about the search.
Thorax tried at a compromise. “Why don’t we go to the place you found? You wanted to show them when they arrived, and we haven’t been able to search it yet anyway. Why not do both and save time?”
The Dragon Lord couldn’t deny the logic in that, and took a moment before nodding. “Yeah, okay, I guess that works for me.”
“What place?” Spike asked, walking up to Thorax’s side.
Thorax turned to Starlight. “We’ll show you, come on. We can always just come back, right?”
The unicorn, although floored at the finding of this amazing stockpile of knowledge, knew she had to at least try and keep on track with why they were there. Sitting down the scroll where it goes, she joined the three of them as they walked back towards the wall with the star crest on it.
It was difficult for Starlight to completely focus on the task at hoof now that she knew Clover’s entire library was just sitting there, asking to be read and shared with Equestria. She knew the importance of the search outweighed this desire, but it was too strong to just ignore. As the four of them flew towards wherever it was Ember wanted to show them, Starlight couldn’t help but wonder all that she and Twilight would learn from that room, and how much it would benefit all Equestria.
This train of thought was derailed, however, when the unicorn caught a glimpse of where Ember was leading them. Having flown for another hour or so further west, dark clouds loomed overhead. Starlight didn’t think much of it at first, but the closer they got, the more it became evident that these clouds weren’t normal storm clouds. They spiraled over a valley of stone in between several dark, jagged mountains.
Spike cringed away a bit at the sight of the upcoming region, catching Ember’s attention. “Don’t worry, Spike, it’s not as bad as it looks.”
Thorax flew over beside Starlight. “This storm has been here since we arrived, at first I thought it was because there’s no pegasi to control the weather, but now I think it’s a kind of magic storm.”
“Where exactly are we going?” The unicorn replied. “It’s not in there, is it?”
Ember glanced back at her. “Sure is, now come on, you’ve got to see this.”
Gliding down closer to the valley, the shadow of the storm engulfed the land below, keeping it darkened even on the brightest of days. They descended down to and landed on the edge of a rocky slope overlooking a depression in the valley that delved even deeper into the ground. All along the bottom of this pit were giant, gaping cavern entrances. The stone of the area was almost like obsidian, pitch black with a somewhat reflective surface, but the caverns seemed to be a different kind of stone, one that defied description, as it was unlike anything Starlight or Spike had ever seen before.
Starlight took a moment to take in the sight, slowly turning to Ember. “What is this place?”
Ember glanced over at her. “We were hoping you’d be able to tell us.”
Looking back to the cryptic holes in the earth, Starlight was left speechless for a time. Although this was all beyond anything she had ever seen before, she couldn’t help but see it as vaguely familiar.
Spike, who was still on Ember’s back, peeked around at the many caverns. “W-we’re not going in there, a-are we?”
“That was the plan,” Ember replied, looking over to Starlight. “The cave systems are like a maze down there, so we avoided searching it when we first found it.”
Starlight stood silent, eyeing the enchanting site for any kind of clues as to how it seemed so familiar to her. Her gaze fell upon an object just outside one of the cavern entrances, and she trotted down the slope towards it. It was a smooth, fragmented boulder that had been seemingly broken apart by something a long time ago. A seemingly dead tree jutted out from a hole in the boulder, with one solid branch hanging just overhead.
Stopping just shy of the dead tree, Starlight thought back, way back in her studies since this land was the previous home of the ponies. She lifted her hoof to the dead tree trunk, and then stared down the darkness of the cavern just a few yards away. She looked back at the tree, squinting.
“Can it be…?” She asked quietly.
Ember and Thorax both walked up from behind her, remaining silent as they saw she was deep in thought.
Turning to them, her eyes widened in realization, and she turned back to the tree. Lifting herself with her magic, she inspected the limb, seeing the engraving of a lantern clip on it. Letting herself back down to the ground, she stood in awe of the dark entrance before her.
“These are the Caverns of Maretania…” She said quietly.
Ember and Thorax both looked at one another, shrugging in confusion, but Spike jumped down from Ember’s back, walking up beside Starlight. “Seriously…? How can you tell?”
“The branch,” She replied, gesturing to it with her hoof. “That’s where he hung his lantern to write down his final entry before venturing inside.” Remembering from her past time studying Starswirl, she recited his quote:
“Darkness overhead, darkness beyond, and darkness before. One final respite, and then it is into this darkness I must delve. Verily, this place is a nightmarish one indeed. With hope, the lantern gifted to me by my apprentice shall alight my way and not lead me astray. How dark this land is now, even before I enter, can only be staved off by said light that hangs upon this dead tree. Whatever fables and myths that lie within this black oblivion must be known. For me, for all ponies, and for all time.”
Thorax was left wide-eyed during the whole thing, mystified by the way the legendary unicorn described his ventures. Ember, on the other hoof, stood with an estranged look on her face.
“Quite the somber one, this Starswirl.” She replied.
“Well, how bright and cheery can somepony be when standing in a place like this?” Spike asked, eyes now returned to the cavern before them.
Starlight turned and faced it as well, having wondered what the caverns were like ever since she first read Starswirl’s entries. This was astonishing, finding not only the ancient castle of the unicorns, but also the legendary Caverns of Maretania? The enchanted tunnels from which only the most powerful unicorn in history ever returned? There were no words at first.
“Spike,” she spoke, finally able. “I know I shouldn’t be asking this of you, but we need to all go in.”
The young dragon flinched upon hearing that. “W-what?! Why?!”
“I don’t feel comfortable letting anyone stay up here alone, especially you,” She began, shaking her head. “So we should all go, we need to stay together.”
Ember scooped Spike up. “Don’t worry, Spike, just stick with me, we’ll be alright.” The little, purple and green dragon didn’t have it in him to respond, only clung onto her for dear life.
Starlight turned to Thorax, who nodded. She then looked to Ember, who also nodded. The three of them, with Spike holding onto Ember, walked forward and into the dark of the cavern.
Much like Starswirl’s writings, and Thorax’s description, the caverns were a maze of black stone and perpetual darkness. The light from Starlight and Thorax’s magic barely enough to grant them sight, surely Starswirl’s lantern had to be enchanted in order to better illuminate his way. Ember breathed out a flame every now and then for the four of them to see better, but in the abyssal darkness, the flickering of flames did little to help their morale.
In the absolution of darkness, and with their voices echoing even at the slightest whisper, the four companions found themselves staying uncharacteristically quiet.
Minutes felt like hours, and the hour they spent wandering felt like a matter of days to them. Starlight used an advanced spell to leave a trail so that they could find their way back when they wanted; it was the same spell she used when she fled into the caves close to her village.
The caverns delved deep into the earth, and splintered into so many paths that it would take a lifetime for anyone to search them all. Fortunately, Starlight was able to pick up on a spell similar to hers, leaving a trail down a particular set of tunnels. It too led off towards the surface, and so Starlight felt better knowing that following it too could lead them out, in case something happened to the spell she herself was using.
The dim, bluish glow struck their eyes upon Starlight stopping her light spell for a moment. It was faint, but constant, and seemed to be coming from the exact direction the trail was leading them. Rounding the corner from where the glow was coming from, the four of them felt a certain ease in seeing the natural light coming from the luminescent crystals in the walls and ceiling after having been traversing in the dark for so long.
It was not knowing what left behind this magical trail was what made Starlight most nervous, but it was their only lead, and so she followed it still.
Not long after they had found the luminescent trail of crystals, they came upon narrow paths that led to several small chambers. Ember immediately recognized the scorch marks on the floor and walls and approached them, lifting her claw up onto the marks. “There was fire down here… recently.”
Starlight and Thorax both walked to her side, inspecting the marks on the floor. “Do you think it was them?” Thorax asked.
“Could very well be,” Starlight replied. “That magical trail wasn’t laid down too long ago either, and it was potent, so it was being used quite a lot.”
Ember growled to herself. “We must’ve just missed them, no more than a few days.”
“Perhaps…” Starlight said, looking around the chamber for other signs of their presence there.
Spike got down from Ember’s back and landed on the stone floor. While the three of them checked that one chamber for clues to the whereabouts of the villains, the little dragon walked back to the narrow passage, squeezing himself back through it. The light from the crystals had begun staving off his fears of the caverns. He was still afraid, but now he felt brave enough to take a look around, himself.
He kept close to the crystals, and made sure not to go so far that he couldn’t find his way back. He followed a concentration of the lights, which spiraled down another passage.
At first, Spike thought the quiet sounds around him were just his imagination, but the further he went off by himself, the more it seemed like the sounds were real. He eyed his surroundings as he went, but saw nothing. They sounded like movement and breathing, which played on the little dragons fears much more the longer he went on without his friends.
Deciding he had ventured off for long enough, he turned to head back and froze in place. A dim light caught his eye from not so far away. Unlike the crystals, this glow was purplish, and it was somehow enticing, especially amidst the sounds of things being around him in the dark.
Still staying close to the crystals, Spike approached the light, but stopped when he saw a gap in the cluster of crystals, a zone of a few dozen feet of pitch black. He hesitated, but then walked through it, still very much able to remember his way back. The sounds seemed to be more audible now that he was in the dark, but still nothing happened.
Reaching the purplish glow, he found that it was at the entrance of another narrow passage. Squeezing himself through it, he crawled down underneath a depression in the stone path, and up into a much different chamber.
“Spike!” He could hear the others calling out to him. “Spike, where are you?!”
He turned and called back, “I’m over here, but I’m alright!”
He froze again when he realized he hadn’t yet looked at what the source of the purple glow was. Turning back around and facing the chamber, he saw 2 braziers of purple fire, on either side of a giant wall. The light wasn’t all encompassing, but it lit up the wall enough for Spike to see it.
Starlight, having followed the general direction of the glow, crawled into the chamber along with both Ember and Thorax. “Spike, what are you-” All of them went silent in the sight of the mural.
Six pillars, five along the outside and one in the center. A kind of veil surrounding the area within those pillars, and a darkness beyond it. Behind those images, and up higher on the wall, there was something else.
A giant form, larger than the area depicted below it. It had no detail apart from its unique silhouette, which loomed like a shadow. It stared down upon not the images on the wall, but the four companions themselves, with amethyst eyes, bright like stars in the night sky.