//------------------------------//
// Cavern of Fire 
// Story: Entropy 
// by Rose Quill 
//------------------------------//

I paused in mid flight, glancing back towards Canterlot as something trickled through my mind. Almost like a faint brush of my wife’s thoughts. It was wispy, so faint that I couldn’t tell what it was beyond the source.

“Sunset?” Cadence called, coming up alongside. “Are you all right?”

I shook my head. “I thought I felt Sunshine,” I admitted. “Probably just missing her.”

The Princess smiled and put a hoof on my shoulder.  “I can understand that,” she whispered gently. “Hopefully, we won’t be gone too much longer.”

We both turned and went to meet Twilight on a cloud to rest and lower the sun. It had been almost a whole day since we had seen any pursuit and our escort of phoenixes had dwindled to just a few members of each strain. I hadn’t seen Philomena since the attack the night before, though Thea had taken her place. I alighted on the fluffy surface and stretched out my wings and other muscles, sore from the long flight. Twilight fluffed her wings before glancing at the sky.

“Well, shall we?” the bookish pony asked.

I nodded, feeling the tautness in the back of my mind tighter than normal. “Is it odd that this is starting to feel like a dull bit of routine?” 

“A little,” Twilight agreed. “But I can’t wait to give it back to Luna. Dreamwalking is hard to get a grip of.”

“I’ll bet,” I said, remembering a minor spell that my wife and I used rather often. I closed my eyes and ignited my horn, mentally gripping that strand that linked me to the sun and pulling it down towards the horizon. It felt heavier than normal, and I strained a bit for the final few moments. Once it was fully lowered, I collapsed on the cloud, panting. “It was harder than normal,” I gasped. 

“Are you ok?” Twilight asked, her horn glimmering slightly. I waved her off and settled a little more comfortably on the cloud.

“Just a little tired, I guess.”

My friend nodded, her horn glowing brighter as her eyes slid closed. The moon and stars began to glide out and settle into the sky. Then, with a grunted whimper, the moon started to turn dark as stars flared out. Twilight whimpered again, her horn flaring brighter as she tried to relight the sky.

“What’s wrong with the moon?” Cadence asked, looking up in surprise and a hint of fear.

“I don’t know,” I whispered, watching as some stars wink into being as others died. “Maybe our links are deteriorating?”

Twilight finally collapsed, sweat beaded on her brow. “Maybe the princesses are close to finishing the ritual and reclaiming their power?” She wiped her brow and took a deep breath. “I feel like I need a nap.” 

I felt the same, to be honest. Thea came up and settled on my back between my wings, her weight barely noticeable. After a moment, she fluffed her wings and sang out, sounding frustrated.

I frowned, turning to look at the bird. “I’m sorry?”

The phoenix flapped her wings, looking as though concerned. She looked me in the eyes and I heard her voice dimly.

The cavern is nearby, and the magic energies in the area are wild, difficult to control. The phoenix fluffed up her feathers. 

I glanced to Twilight, who just shrugged and glanced up, taking in the dim moon and patches of starless sky. Concern flashed across her face as she looked back at us.

Cadence lit her horn and I felt some of the fatigue bleed off from her spell. I stood and spread my wings to stretch the muscles out. Stepping to the edge of the cloud, I looked down at the landscape, my eyes roving over the rocky expanse of canyons and mesas. I longed for the green of Ponyville, the quiet of my condo and the warmth of Twilight’s arms around me as we laid in bed. I felt old, old and tired.

I had a new appreciation for Celestia as I slipped off the cloud and fell into a glide, Thea sliding out in front to continue in her role of guide. The wind currents shifted slightly as Cadence and Twilight followed suit. Flying for a couple of days on end had opened up my perceptions from the Pegasi magic my ascension had granted on me, how to use the wind to keep me aloft just as much as the muscles of my wings, sensing changes and angling my wings to keep on an even flight path.

But as peaceful and serene that the sensation of gliding usually brought me, all I felt was a slight sense of foreboding. It felt almost like something was watching and laughing quietly.





I stepped forward, horn lit for light. The cavern entrance in front of us was darker than what seemed natural. My magelight barely illuminated more than a length or two inside.

“It feels strange to be walking,” Twilight said, her wings somewhat spread still. “ After flying for so long, I was beginning to think all there was were clouds.”

Cadence walked forward, lighting her own magelight, illuminating the edge of the cavern entrance to reveal some weathered carvings with depictions of a sun and moon intertwined, a crude tree and serpent, and a swirling design. A few other carvings between each of the images had been worn to where they couldn’t be made out beyond a few dim impressions.

“This looks like the place,” the Princess of Love grunted, turning to face Twilight and I. 

“I don’t like it,” I said. “There’s something foul on the air, like something burning.”

Twilight lit her horn and started to walk forward, head lowered slightly. “I don’t smell fire,” she whispered. “I smell mold and rotting books.”

“Odd,” Cadence noted. “I’m not picking up on anything other than just wet stone.”

“I don’t get it,” Twilight said. “It’s so strong, how can you not smell it?”

I walked into the cave, the smell growing thicker as I slid into the blackness. I could barely see more than a length ahead of me, my magelight seeming to be swallowed by a hungry beast. I heard the sounds of my friends walking closely behind me. Our hoofsteps echoed oddly for what was such a small cave.

Then, flames flared up around us, illuminating a huge cavern, and at the far end I saw the two Diarchs, kneeling down in front of a pair of plinths with crude depictions of the sun and the moon. Their horns pulsed slowly with onyx light that spread backward along their bodies before dissipating.

“Well, it took long you enough,” a voice boomed from around us. I spun, looking around but seeing no other figures around us.

The fire swirled and separated us from the princesses. A form walked out, built out of flames and then slowly cooled into the shape of a pony that bore some strange familiar face. The stallion smiled at me, causing my stomach to twist and lurch.

“What’s the matter, Sunset?” the pony across from me grinned. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Who are you?” I whispered.

“It depends on who you ask,” the stallion asked, lazily walking back and forth. “I’ve been called a lot of names over the years. But the face I’m wearing now? I’m afraid I don’t know his name, but you might know his sister. After all, you gave her a wonderful sendoff in the frozen north.”

Recognition flashed as I recognized the face of the young colt in the photo from the ransacked home of Neighlin’s family.

Screeching sounds began to echo along the cave, and in the flicker of flames I saw Blights slowly crawling into my peripheral vision. I heard Twilight and Cadence shift, but I couldn’t pull my gaze from the thing that wore a pony’s face.

“Who are you?” I demanded again.

The pony only smiled as a haze started to flow from him, seeming to take up the height of the cavern, twisting and strange shapes reaching out before retreating. The flames behind the shadowy figure rose higher, cutting us off from the Diarchs.

“You know, Seer, False Sun,” the pony said, his voice turning hard and forceful. “Say it.” He smashed his hoof down onto the stone, cracking it. “Say it!”

I spread my wings, snarling.

“Entropy.”