Shining Armor led them deeper into the forest, he, Sunburst, and Starswirl glancing down at the map every now and then. The forest became darker the longer they walked, and the trees grew barren, the ground rocky. They stepped carefully around the sharp rocks, trying to avoid poking themselves. Shining Armor took the map from Starswirl and Sunburst, looked at it to check their location, then rolled up the map, tucking it into his saddle bag.
"Dark Shooter, Flash Magnus, Flash Sentry, scout out this area for anything suspicious, this is the area where Grogar's lair is rumored to be." Shining Armor said, and the three stallions saluted him before heading off in different directions. Dark Shooter went left, Flash Sentry right, and Flash Magnus directly ahead of them.
"What rumors?" Rapidfire asked
"By rumors, he means the old legends in this book." Sunburst explained, lifting a book out of his bag and showing it to the group.
"Gusty the Great's accomplishments." Rumble read
"It's actually quite informational." Sunburst said, flipping it open and skimming a few pages while they waited for the three pegasi to return.
Dark Shooter came back to them, followed by Flash Sentry.
"Nothing." Flash Sentry said
"Same here." Dark Shooter added, but Flash Magnus suddenly flew up to them, eyes wide.
"You've got to see this." he said, leading them in the direction he'd come from.
The place was very strange. The ground was rocky, the few trees there were gnarled and barren, the only vegetation being the moss and vines growing over the rocks. In the center of the wasteland was the thing that made the area the most strange. A rock formation that looked like a goat's head, except there were stones extending like ramps on either side of where the nose of the animal would be. The rocks beneath them seemed to make a mouth, where a weird glowing red light was shining in between the gaps.
"That suspicious enough for you?" Flash Magnus asked Shining Armor, who nodded, about to step forward when Soarin blocked him with his wing.
"What's wrong Soarin?" Shining Armor asked, and Soarin moved his wing to point at the stone ramps. They could see something flitting around inside them.
"Those must be the entrances, but there's something on the other side, we can't get in that way." Soarin muttered
"We'll just have to wait then." Fashion Plate replied, and Cheese Sandwich sat down, pulling an accordion out and beginning to play it.
"Fine, but I hope they move soon." Shining Armor muttered.
Thunderlane snatched the accordion away from Cheese, tossing it so it smashed against a tree. Before Cheese could say anything, Soarin responded to Shining Armor's muttered annoyance.
"Agreed, we need to rescue Rainbow...I mean the girls." Soarin said, blushing
"Ah, so that's who you have a crush on. Obviously you had a crush one of the girls on your team, or you wouldn't have been so eager to come along. I had thought it might have been Spitfire, but I suppose since she's into mares that was out. Well, I'll add it to the list." Discord said, snapping his fingers and making a paper appear.
It had two lists on each end of the paper, the names of the stallions on one end and the names of the mares that were gone on the other end. Discord had drawn lines between the boys who had already stated their crushes and their crush. He now drew a line connecting Soarin's name to Rainbow's.
"Anyone else want to fess up while I have this out?" Discord asked, as Soarin covered his face with his wing in embarrassment. Cheese, meanwhile, was glaring at Thunderlane, who was smirking and hoof-bumping Rapidfire and Sky Stinger, who also thought the accordion was annoying.
"Discord, put that away, you can humiliate your friends later, look." Spike said, pointing. A tall, bug-like, black creature with holes in it's body had emerged from the ramps, stretching out transparent wings and taking off, circling the fortress. She seemed to be on guard.
"Chrysalis! She ruined my Wedding, held us captive, and now she's taken my wife!" Shining Armor hissed, starting forward, but Dark Shooter, Flash Sentry, and Flash Magnus held him back.
"Calm down Prince, we'll find a way into the fortress, but we must remain calm. If we charge in now, our cover will be blown." Sunburst said, and Shining Armor relaxed, stepping back.
"Alright, we'll find another way in." Shining Armor decided, but what Chrysalis did next made that unnecessary. She flew back inside and they couldn't see her in the entrance. She must have gone further into the lair.
"What now?" Tender Taps asked
"We send somepony over to peek in and see if there's any villain lurking in the room those ramps lead to." Shining Armor replied
"Who'd be dumb enough to do something like that." Discord scoffed
"Funny you should ask." Shining Armor replied, smirking, and they all looked to Discord.
"Why did I even ask?" Discord muttered
"I dunno, why did you ask?" Cheese asked
"No time for punchlines, we need to move, now." Flash Sentry said, pushing Discord out into the open. Discord glared back at them before teleporting himself to the ramps, and peeking in. He disappeared and reappeared in front of them.
"They're all in there, talking about something. Grogar, Chrysalis, Tirek, and that little brat Cozy Glow." Discord reported
"Cozy Glow too? Oh boy, we've gotta save them!" Spike cried
"Discord, tell us when they leave the room." Shining Armor said. Discord mock-saluted him, then disappeared.
The group of stallions waited what seemed like an eternity, until finally, Discord came back.
"Grogar left and the other three went down another hallway. Grogar ordered them to 'check on the first phase of my plan, and then guard the prisoners'. That's what he said, word for word." Discord reported. Shining gasped. Ignoring the others warning him, he ran for the ramps, the others running after him.