//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Crater // Story: Fire and Brimstone, Book 1 // by BluePhoenyx //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle studied in the library as Spike put the unshelved books away. Suddenly, the ground shook and books again fall from their shelves. Twilight looked up just in time to see a beam of light shoot from the ground in the distance. A moment later, the tremor stopped, and the beam of light vanished. “What was that?” She asked. Spike’s head poked up from a pile of books that fell on top of him. “Um, I don’t know. An earthquake?” He replied. “No, no. That light.” Twilight said as she put her front legs on the window ceil. She stared in the distance thinking about what she just saw. “I don’t like this.” She said, then jumped down and started to trot towards the door. “Where are you going?” Spike asked as he started to collect the books for inventory. “To get the girls.” Twilight answered as she ran out of the house. “Why? It was just an earthquake.” Spike said as he stared confused. A book dropped from a bookshelf above and smacked Spike in the head. His eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground. * * * Twilight Sparkle gathered her friends and headed toward where she saw the strange light. “It was in this direction.” She said leading the ponies in a seemingly random direction. “I don’t get it, Twilight. What’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew up to Twilight. “Did you feel that earthquake?” Twilight asked. “There was an earthquake?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “Yeah, it ruined my house of cards!” Pinkie Pie replied as she hopped alongside the girls. “It scared all of the animal friends.” Fluttershy commented. “It knocked all of the apples off the trees.” Applejack added. “My shop is a mess!” Rarity added. “And did anyone see the light shooting out from the ground?” Twilight asked. “Was it fireworks?” Pinkie Pie asked in excitement. She lept into the air, spinning a full circle before landing once more on the ground in full hop speed. “Oh, I hope we’re going to a party!” “I don’t think we’re going to a party.” Twilight answered. “But I have a feeling that light was the cause of the earthquake. And whatever caused that light must have been from a very powerful source.” “How far is it?” Rarity asked. “My shop is a mess and I have a TON of orders to fill.” “I don’t know.” Twilight replied. “Rainbow Dash, can you fly up and see if you can see anything?” “I’m on it!” She answered and she flew up into the air. She looked around until she saw something out of the ordinary. “There!” She yelled, pointing to a large, deep crater that wasn't there before. “Let’s go, girls!” Twilight said and they all made their way to the crater. The ponies stood at the crater’s edge. They stared at the massive hole unknowing that the unstable ground around them started to slowly give from the weight. “Who’a.” Applejack said. “No wond’a we had that quake.” “Where did this come from?” Twilight asked. “Maybe there was this giant pony who had a ginormous ice cream scoop and made a gigantic ice cream sunday!” Pinkie Pie happily commented. “An ice cream scoop?” Applejack questioned. “What’s that in the middle?” Fluttershy quietly asked. “Yeah!” Pinkie Pie replied. “How else are you going to serve ice cream?” “I don’t think this was ice cream Pinkie Pie.” Twilight said, shaking her head. “Do you see what’s in the middle?” Fluttershy asked again. “Why not? Don’t you like ice cream?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Pinkie,” Twilight said. “It has nothing to do with-“ “Hey, do you see that?” Rainbow Dash announced, cutting off Twilight as she pointed towards a small hole in the middle. “That’s what I’ve been trying to say!” Fluttershy said. “I’ll go take a look.” Rainbow Dash offered and she flew towards the hole in the middle of the ice cream scooped ground. After a brief pause, Pinkie Pie looked at Twilight Sparkle. “I still can’t believe you don’t like ice cream.” “What?” Twilight questioned. "Of course I like ice-AHH!!“ The ground crumbled as the entire crater started to close in on itself. The ponies panicked and ran away from the crater. Before long, the entire crater collapsed knocking them off their hooves. The girls sat up and looked at the vanished crater. “Every pony okay?” Twilight asked looking at her friends. “My hair!” Rarity gasped, feeling at her mane. “You’ll live.” Twilight remarked, standing up. Rainbow Dash quickly flew up and hovered in front of the girls. “It looked like a tunnel of some kind.” She landed in front of the five while they got back to their hooves. “But the ground looked burned at the entrance.” “Burned? That’s odd.” Twilight said to herself in thought. “A meteor?” Applejack asked. “No, the light came FROM the ground.” Twilight answered. “Besides, what’s with that tunnel?” “There’s something else.” Rainbow Dash said. “I saw tracks.” “Tracks?” Applejack asked. “Yeah.” Rainbow Dash replied. “Never seen them before.” “Where’d they go?” Applejack asked. “I don’t know.” Rainbow Dash replied with a shrug. “Whatever it was, there were a lot of them just going in a circle.” “So, what now?” Fluttershy asked. “What can we do?” Twilight replied. "That crater collapsed on itself, burying that strange cave." A few moments later, the six turned around and head back to town.