- W-what? How? - Twilight looked at Cozy. That was the last thing she wanted to hear in this situation - you literally said you wanted to be a geologist! Geologists work underground, in the dark! "There's still a chance Cozy's just lying. But why would she do that, in such a critical situation?" Sparkle thought.
- Duh, for that reason I didn't. Cozy lowered her gaze again, wondering. "Does Twilight believe me? She might well come to the conclusion that I'm lying. But even if she does come to that conclusion, she'll have no reason to talk about it now."
Twilight noticed that the offshoot of Smooze in the cave had moved slightly.
- Let's go. If your assumption is correct, we should reach the magma springs sooner or later.
She went forward, illuminating the passageway with the glow of her horn.
Flurry Heart was flying high in the sky. Below her was a canvas of clouds, with green land between them. Above her was only the dense darkness of space. All around her was cold and rarefied air. But there in her hair was still the Pony Of sh...no. Breezie of Shadow...? Flurry still wasn't sure what to call him now. She had released the Pony of Shadows from Limbo only a month ago. Anyway, the little tarry creature peeked out of her hair, speaking.
- Here. Come down, we will soon reach the place where the second star is.
The crystal empress obeyed. She dived like a meteorite, landing at the large entrance to a cave. As she got closer she noticed something strange on walls of the cave.
- Is this... slime? In some places the stone walls were indeed covered in a moist green mass. Flurry tried to tear some off with her telekinesis, but her magic seemed to melt away when it touched this substance. Then she pressed on it with her hoof. It made a clucking noise and... stuck. Flurry yanked back. Once more. She's stuck.
She put three of her hooves on the ground and pulled the fourth one up.
- Come on.... come on... ngh! The slime stretched and pulled the hoof back with a crack, causing Flurry to fall.
- Let my dark arts help. Something of Shadows flew up to the stuck hoof. A dark tentacle emerged from its back. With the speed of a cat jumping on a mouse, it streaked across the slime. And with the grace of a cat falling off the couch, it stuckted in it. - No! What a mighty force! It must be a trap left for us by the enemies of the empire!
And so, the first test on the road to bring back of Cosmos has begun!
At first, Pony of Shadows was about to make the great sacrifice of cutting off one of his tentacles. But then he remembered that it was made up of magic and he could just dematerialize it. As he got out, he began to look around, looking for something useful. A twig, a sprouted flower... a couple of rocks. Sharp enough to try and cut something. Gathering them into tentacles, the Shadow Pony turned back to the Empress. She stretched the slime with her hoof, about to lick it.
- What?
Pony of shadows sighed irritably.
- Keep your hoof up, Empress, I'll try to cut through the slime with this stone.
And he tried. It was long and hard and painful. The stone got stuck in the slime, and Pony of Shadows flailed around it, trying to use it as a saw.
- Right, left... come on... come on... Pony of Shadows clenched his teeth, his voice shifting to something between a squeak and a grunt.
- Come on... a little more... he pressed, yanked, circled the slime on the other side, began to press the stone against himself with his tentacles. The slime stretched, and Pony of Shadows flexed, tentacles slipped, and it flew into the wall.
- gruh, that... Ahem! My Empress, the power of this slime is incredible, but even in this weak form it is incapable of resisting the power of darkness.
The Shadow Pony looked deep into the tunnel.
- But to break through it, I must gather the power of the shadows within this network of caves. I will gather the greatest despair, and this green something has paid for what-
- Yeah, okay, I get it - Flurry yawned - and in the meantime, I'm gonna... I'm gonna sit here.
- Soon the forces of darkness will set you free, and the whole world will know your glory! Said Pony of Shadows, flying off into the depths of the cave. Flurry flopped down on her stomach, looking at her hoof stuck in the slime.
- Yeah, how did I end up in this situation?
Pony of shadows advanced deep into the caves. "Hmmm... how do I free Flurry Heart? This slime has absorbed her Alicorn magic, even if I sit here for a month, I'll never gain enough strength with this little body! I need to find something-"
- Are you sure this is the right way?
- Of course not! I know a thing or two about mountains, but I don't have a sparkly horn that would allow me to magically sense the right passage. Though I would always be glad if you could give it back to me.
Pony of Shadows's voice died down, and he ducked around the corner with a squeak. He looked out carefully, only to duck back in when he saw a tall purple alicorn walking through the cave. "Princess Twilight?! What is she doing here? Did she find out about our plans and come to stop us? And who's that on her back? A little... pegasus...?" The Shadow Pony tried to get a better look, but accidentally hit a cracked corner of the wall. The rock from it fell off, Pony of Shadows tried to catch it, got tangled in his own tentacles and the pebble fell against the floor, draw attention of Cozy and Twilight.
- Aaah! Pony of Shadows shrieked, pulling in the light along with the air, plunging everything into darkness.
Twilight tried to turn on the light again, only to feel that Cozy had disappeared from her back. The princess tried to feel for her, but couldn't.
"I have to run before they realize what happened!" Pony of shadows raced back through the cave, but Twilight heard the flapping of his wings and ran after him!
Pony of shadows flew as fast as he could. His little heart was pounding like never before.
- Cozy, wait Cozy! Shouted Twilight, continuing to run.
"Cozy? I'm not cozy, I'm epic and menacing!" Thought Pony of shadows, then remembered that he was very small now, and just huddled up against the ceiling. Twilight, seeing nothing, ran on. Pony of shadows stayed still for a while, huddled against the ceiling, trying not to even breathe. Eventually he slowly peeled away from it, flying away from the passageway where the princess had fled. He continued on his way until he came upon a pink pegasus with a match in its mouth, the same one that was on Twilight's back. "A child, then?" A smirk appeared on Pony of shadows's little face. He approached, and with maximum pathos said:
"Girl, are you afraid of the dark?"
Flurry sat with her face tucked into a hoof. The other hoof, wilted in slime, was moving in the air, stretching the slime and squeezing it again. Back and forth back and forth. Up and down up and down. Her eyelids slowly began to droop. She spread her hooves, yawning, and cracked violently on the floor.
- Ouch! Flurry rubbed the back of her head irritably. You could break something like that.
After a second she realized the hoof was free. The empress looked at the lump of slime that had let her go. It seemed noticeably smaller than the one she had stepped in.
- Dried out in the sun? Hmmm. When Flurry was 14, Celestia had taught her an banishing spell, and told her that any problem will solve itself if you just lock it away and forgot about if for enogh time. That seemed to be true. It was her birthday, though, and Cadence was very angry afterward that Celestia allowed herself to be drunk in front of the baby.
Flurry stood up and started walking into the depths of the cave.
- Pony of shadows? Pony of shado-o-o-ows?
She missed Celestia. She was that one cool aunt for her to talk to as a friend. Although her aunt was Twilight, who had always been a walking moral compendium. So Celestia is her... great-aunt? Step-grandmother? Wasn't Cadence Celestia's niece or something? Flurry shook her head. The royal family's genetic tree was so complex that there were jokes between courtiers that an Alicorn born was the result of the most epic magical incest in history.
Thinking, Flurry didn't notice a familiar figure running out at her. She jerked at the last moment, dodging a horn that flew into her stomach, but she didn't dodge the hoof that flew into her face.
Flurry flew a few feet away, but immediately jumped up, glaring at her adversary.
- That's not a very polite greeting, Aunt Twilight. Talk of the Discord and he is sure to appear, huh?