//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Entrance // Story: The Nutcracker, The Four Realms, and The Storm King // by GoebelTron //------------------------------// After taking a few steps into the mouse hole, the floor beneath them gave way as they both fell into a magical portal. They were floating in its gravity for a bit before landing in a snowy cave, sliding down a slope until crashing into a pile of snow below. Sweetie Belle stood up and looked around the frozen cave surrounded by walls made of what appeared to be crystals. “Where are we?” she asked. Shining Armor then looked around, “Must’ve taken a wrong turn back there.” He then noticed he was missing something. “Now where did my sword go?” Sweetie Belle spotted the sword’s hilt glittering in the dim light of the cave. She walked over to pick it up, “Here, let me give you a hand with that.” She pulled out the sword, only to realize her previous statement was literal as the nutcracker’s hand was still attached to the sword. “Uh… here you go,” she said, holding out his arm. Shining Armor walked over to Sweetie Belle and grabbed his arm and sword from her. “Sorry. That sorta happens a lot,” he said sheepishly, after reattaching his arm and putting his sword away. Sweetie Belle giggled for a moment before the wind picked up, billowing snow throughout the cave. A twinkle of light flitted around them both. “A firefly?” Sweetie Belle asked. “No, a snow fairy,” Shining Armor said. Upon closer inspection, the light is revealed to be a small fairy with fair skin, long blonde hair in a bun with a few sparkles, and blue eyes. She wore a blue sparkling ballet dress and a crown and had delicate wings on her back. She flew up and inspected Sweetie Belle’s face, chittering. She then pulled on Sweetie Belle’s sleeve, causing her to laugh. The fairy lost her grip and was sent flying into the nutcracker’s chest, bending one of her wings, until he caught her in his hand. She stood up, examined her bent wing, and then looked up at the nutcracker and began chirping angrily at him. Shining Armor then replied, laughing, “Well I’m sorry, but you should have been more careful!” Sweetie Belle then held out her hand and the nutcracker tipped the little fairy into her hand, “Here, we’ll fix this right up.” She then used her fingers to flatten out the kinks in the fairy’s wing. The fairy flapped her wings, but after Sweetie Belle tickled her tummy for a moment, the fairy then flew away. “Hmm. Not so much as a thank you,” Shining Armor said. “She was kinda cute,” Sweetie Belle said. “Well, try not to push your luck,” Shining Armor said, as the nutcracker looked around. “Now, to find a way out of here.” The two approached a towering wall of iced crystal. The nutcracker drew his sword and attempted to smash it to no avail. “These crystal walls are as hard as solid ice!” Shining Armor said. “So what do we do now?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Not sure,” Shining Armor replied. Suddenly, wind and snow began to billow around them again as more snow fairies appear from amongst the flakes. The fairies begin to dance around Sweetie Belle and the nutcracker. Waltz of the Snowflakes (Shining Armor and Sweetie Belle don’t dance in this one) While Sweetie Belle was amazed by their performance, the littlest fairy pulled on Sweetie Belle’s finger to get her to dance along. “Oh, no I…” Sweetie Belle bashfully said. The little fairy did a simple dance step 4 times and then waved her hands for Sweetie Belle to try. She then sighed, and very hesitantly mimicked the step but gave up partway. The snow fairies continued their dance, with more fairies appearing as the dance continued, popping out like fireworks. As they neared the end of their dance, the fairies swarmed around the nutcracker, causing him to stumble closer to Sweetie Belle. “Hey!” Shining Armor said. As the finale of their dance, the snow fairies flew away down the long path, and towards a wall of ice and crystal and shattered it, clearing the way for Sweetie Belle and Shining Armor to leave. “I guess that was their of saying ‘thank you’!” Shining Armor said. Sweetie Belle looked around for the fairies, “Where’d they go?” “Probably off to make a blizzard somewhere,” Shining Armor joked. “Hey! I think I see a light! Right there!” Sweetie Belle announced pointing ahead, as a tiny speck of light was waiting ahead at the end of the tunnel where the snow fairies left. “I think we’re close. Come on. We better get moving,” Shining Armor said, as the two continued their way down the cave. From where Sweetie Belle’s footprints lie, flowers began to bloom. As they approached the light, Sweetie Belle had to shield her eyes for them to readjust to the brightness. When she opened them, she gasped. They had emerged from the exit of the cave and appeared onto a cliff of a big view of a forest of tall, snow-covered pine trees that looked as if they would touch the sky, floating rocks, huge mountains and a big castle far from where they were. “Welcome to Parthenia!” Shining Armor said, as Sweetie Belle loved the view. “It’s so beautiful!” Sweetie Belle said in amazement, as she reached down to pick up a handful of snow. “The snow isn’t even cold.” She then took a deep breath, with a sniff of the air, “The trees smell like actual fresh pine. And I’ve never seen a sky so blue!” “Oh, just you wait,” Shining Armor chuckled. "This is only the edge of the kingdom. And soon it’ll all be a memory if the Storm King has his way.” He sighed. “I thought as much. It will take us a day, or maybe even longer before we reach the Sugar Plum Palace.” “Where is the palace?” Sweetie Belle inquired. “At the kingdom’s very center,” Shining Armor replied, pointing towards the castle on a huge mountain with a waterfall. “How will we even get there?” Sweetie Belle asked. “There should be a direct pathway that leads to the palace,” Shining Armor said. “Oh,” Sweetie Belle said. “But… we should be very careful following this path,” Shining Armor said as he led the girl forward. “The Storm King may have spies watching over every corner for any approaching intruders, meaning we should stay to the edge of the path, so we can jump in the bushes if anybody approaches.” “What will we even do when we get to the palace?” Sweetie Belle asked. Shining Armor bit his lip. “I’m not sure, but I’ll think of something soon enough. Besides, we have at least a day before we reach the palace.” Sweetie Belle then paused when she heard a twig snap. “Did you hear that?” Shining Armor held out his sword and waited for something to appear. When nothing came, he relaxed. “It was probably a squirrel or something. We’re safe for now, Sweetie Belle, but we should still stay on guard. There’s no telling what may be lurking in these woods.” “And you’re sure the Sugar Plum Princess can help?” Sweetie Belle asked. “She’s our only hope of defeating him, once we find her and rescue her,” Shining Armor replied. The duo walked past a tree where a gray pudgy little hedgehog was hanging, and wearing a black shirt. He looked up at the mention of the Sugar Plum Princess, waiting for them to be out of earshot. “Hmm… Interesting…” Grubber chuckled and then began running haphazardly away towards the palace where the Storm King resided. In the center of Parthenia, a large castle stood underneath a swirling sky full of thunderclouds and a few flashes of lightning. The entire castle looked very chaotically gloomy, with a design of a huge black crystal like tower covering most of the castle, except the conical roofs of the towers were reddish violet, and torches with blue flames were lit everywhere. The Storm Creatures were on guard everywhere. Inside, the Storm King lay sprawled across a throne chair made of black stone, but with the original golden throne chair left with it. However, a second throne sat a few feet away from him, but this one less menacing, with a pink and purple pattern and a crystal heart at its head. There was a thin layer of dust on the seat, as it hadn't been sat in for a while. Next to him was a woman with a scar on her right eye, and wore a black uniform with matching armor, gloves and boots. It was the Storm King’s top lieutenant, Tempest Shadow. He then had a ice pack laid onto his head while feeling miserably depressed, or frustrated. “A girl!” he groaned. “A girl! Outsmarted by a little girl, no more or less!” “I understand that, sir. Perhaps you shouldn’t have underestimated her,” Tempest said. “How would you know?” The Storm King said. “You weren’t even there!” Tempest then scoffed, “But you should be grateful that you’re still in one piece, except you can usually be totally predictable most of the time.” He then sat up and glared at Tempest. “Will you shut up?! And could someone get me some more ice! This thing’s gone cold!” The Storm Guard then looked at him, before Tempest looked back, “Well, what are you waiting for?! You heard him! Get him ice!” The Storm Creature nodded and went to get more ice for the Storm King. The Storm King then growled in frustration. “As if knocking me off the firewood wasn’t enough, she decides to throw a slipper at me! A freaking slipper!” “At least I’m not the one suffering from humiliation or pain,” Tempest mumbled to herself. He then held his hand against his face in thought. How could he have let his guard down like that? How could he have let himself be beaten by a little girl?! He was about to think further when Grubber suddenly came back inside the throne room running, but suddenly cried out as he slid across the floor and crashed into a pillar, but then opened his eyes wearily and found himself in an upside-down position, but laying on his back, huffing and puffing to catch his breath. ”I think you put too much wax on the floor, your majesty,” Grubber wheezed. The Storm King rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “This better be important, Grubber. I nearly had a splitting headache this morning! So what news do you bring?” “I wish I could remember but I’m so hungry. I feel weak. No, faint!” Grubber dramatically fainted, as he collapsed to the floor, carefully to keep one eye on the Storm King as he did so. “You insolent little rat! I should turn you into a… poached carpet or some chair cushion of some sort!” The Storm King snarled with a sneer. Grubber then stood up and began to walk away, with a sly look on his face, “Well, that’d would be a shame, otherwise then I couldn’t tell you the juicy bit of gossip I overheard.” “And what would that be?” Tempest asked. “I can’t tell you, because I don’t have the power or the uhh… stomach to do it?” Grubber nervously said. The Storm King growled irritably before swiping a tray of fruit from off the table and onto the floor for Grubber to eat, “Alright, take it! You happy?!” Despite his size, the tiny hedgehog gobbled up nearly the entire tray. The Storm King then rolled his eyes at him. “Thank you very much, your most royal majesty. May I say you’re looking specially regal this evening, sire?” The Storm King glared at him, “Now, for the last time, what do you have to report?” Grubber laughed nervously. “Well, you see, I was watching the cave like you told me and…well…you’re probably not gonna like this…” “Just get to the point!” Grubber then cleared his throat, “Er, right. Well for starters, Shining Armor’s back.” “WHAT?! He’s here already?” The little hedgehog squeaked as he fell to the floor. “Ugh, I should’ve known Nut Boy would follow me!” The Storm King growled. “If only I were able to open that portal more than once!” “Uhh… he actually didn’t come alone,” Grubber grunted as he got back up. “An army, then? Has he come to declare war, I presume?” “Actually, he’s got some pretty little girl with him. Don’t know where she came from, but she seemed kinda innocently cute or something like that. Never seen her before,” Grubber said. “I do…” The Storm King grimaced and rubbed his head. “So… what else did you hear?” “Well, I’m about to get to the good part, so here it come: they’re looking for a Sugar Plum Princess, someone who has the magical ability to supposedly, or maybe possibly… well, defeat… you.” The Storm King’s eyes widened. “Er, according to the Nutcracker!” Grubber said. “What do you make out of all this, your excellency?” Tempest asked. The Storm King was confused, “Sugar Plum Princess? I’ve never heard of a such a thing, especially a Sugar Plum Princess!” The Storm King then thought of an idea, and whirled around to face a guard who was falling asleep, startling him. “You there! Assemble a squadron! Bring me the royal registry! And… bring me the Nutcracker.”