//------------------------------// // Within The Fortress and Meeting The Brother // Story: The Magic Within // by Night--Mist //------------------------------// Within The Fortress and Meeting The Brother It didn't take long to get to the fortress, for Ice Fang had kept his word and had them there sooner then anypony had anticipated. Soon they were at the front doors of the fortress and Twilight said, "Thank you Ice Fang, you were a really big help." "My pleasure your highness, I'll be waiting for you out here," Ice Fang said. "You're not coming with us?" Cadence asked. "My body is too large to fit through those doors your majesty. Even though the fortress is made mostly of ice, I wouldn't even be able to penetrate the door or any other part of it. my father already tried long before and lost a few of his claws in doing so. Seems who ever built this place definitely didn't want something getting in," Ice Fang said. "Or didn't want somepony getting out," Twilight muttered to Cadence. Cadence nodded, knowing it was more then likely Discord made sure Glacies couldn't escape on his own. "Well, we'll be back as soon as we can, once again, thank you for your help," Cadence said. "Anytime your majesty," Ice Fang said. Soon the group of ponies walked up the steps leading to the icy doors of the fortress. Before They headed in however, Twilight said telepathically, 'Glacies, can you hear me?' 'Yes little sister I hear you,' Glacies replied. 'We are here at the fortress. We're just outside the doors and are on our way in,' Twilight tells him. 'Be careful on your way through. Some of the area's are, ironically enough, very slippery, so watch your step little sisters' Glacies said. 'We will, and will be sure to tell the guards as well,' Cadence said, joining the telepathic conversation as they walked through the doors into the fortress. "Watch your step gentlecolts," Twilight said. "This place can be a bit slippery," Cadence adds. The guards nodded and made their way through the chambers of the fortress. Cadence then spoke up and said to lighten the mood, "Kind of makes you wish you came to the north more often, huh Twily?" "Hehe, not me, I just want to find our brother and get back to Canterlot before we find anymore trouble," Twilight said. "Speaking of trouble, we should have run into some by now," Cadence said. "What do mean?" Twilight asked as they walked down a hallway. "You know, a Guard, an ambush or a....." Cadence's sentence was cut short as they felt the ground beneath their hooves move, causing everypony to think 'uh oh'. Soon the floor gave way and Twilight yelled as they started sliding downwards, "Booby Trap!" Everypony screamed as they slid down what appeared to be a spiraling ice slide. After about two minutes of sliding down they finally reached the bottom and everypony was laughing. "You know what, I retract my previous statement Cadence, I do wish I came to the north more often." "Anypony up for round two?" Cadence asked sarcastically, making everypony laugh again. 'Hey little sisters what's all that commotion, I hear laughing close by,' Glacies said telepathically. It dawned on them they were close and Twilight responded ironically, 'We must be close to you then.' 'Hang on, I just remembered mother's location spell, she taught it to us. We can use it to find you. Why didn't I think of that before?' Cadence said as she mentally facehoofed herself. 'Well cast it, the sooner you find me and free me, the sooner we can see each other and get out of here,' Glacies said. 'Keep your horseshoes on big brother, we're coming,' Twilight said. Cadence then cast the location spell and her horn pointed to her left. "Well, let's get a move on everypony, our brother is waiting," Cadence said. "You know where he is Ca- I mean Princess Cadence?" Shining Armor asked. "Yes, I cast a location spell to find him, he's this way. Now mind where you step. We don't want to caught off guard by anymore surprises this place has to offer," Cadence said. "I second that," Twilight agreed. The guards nodded and soon they cautiously made their way down the chambers of the fortress and soon came upon another ice door that led right to where Cadence's location spell was pointing. "Well, our brother must be somewhere on the other side, ready to meet him?" Twilight Asked. Cadence nodded and made her way next to the door. They used their magic to open the door and it slowly opened to what appeared to be a dungeon and many cells that were empty. At the end of there appeared to be a special cell and within it, was their brother. "Glacies," Twilight and Cadence exclaimed. Glacies looked up and saw them and said, "You made it. Wow, mother must of met a fine stallion to give me such cute looking little sisters." "Now is not the time to be flattering your little sisters, Glacies. Right now we have to get you out," Cadence said. Twilight and Cadence used every spell they could try until Glacies said, "Those spells won't work, trust me. I've tried every complicated spell I can remember and it wouldn't budge. There's and inscription above the door, I can't read it from my point of view. Do you think you can?" "Well mother gave us a few lessons in ancient language texts. I'll see what I can make out of it," Twilight said. It was a lot easier than Twilight had thought, as she read the ancient text to herself, 'Simply command it through thought and magic to let them go and the door will open and set them free.' This confused her, so she tried to open it, as the words had told her, yet nothing happened. "What, but I did what it said, why won't it open?" Twilight asked to nopony in particular. "You're sure?" Cadence asked. Twilight nodded and told everypony what it said. Everypony simply sat around and thought for a long while. It was about three hours later when Twilight had an epiphany, It was ancient text, so that must mean, you would command it in ancient tongue. "Cadence, what's the ancient way to say 'let our brother go'?" Twilight asked. Cadence thought about it for a second and then said, "Sino nostra frater vado." (Note: 'Sino nostra frater vado' is Latin for 'Let our brother go') Twilight and Cadence then said the words in her heads as they cast their magic together and the door finally opened. Glacies was finally able to walk out. He then embraced his two younger sisters, who appeared to be his height, but his muscles were more toned as he hugged them you could surely tell the difference in his build, compared to his sisters. "So, we finally get to meet each other, huh little sisters," Glacies said. "Yep," Twilight said and then bonked him on the back of the head. "Ow, jeez, what was that for?" Glacies asked. "For sleeping on the job, and for not asking for help sooner. A little something we promised Aunty Luna," Twilight said. "Ah, Aunty Luna, she never ceases to amaze and be funny in the most unpredictible ways," Glacies said as he chuckled. "Well, on another note, it's great to finally meet our big brother," Twilight said. "And we are not losing you after we just found you," Cadence said. "Well I don't plan on leaving you two anytime soon, but I suggest we get moving. We only have a limited amount of time before this place probably collapses," Glacies said. "Why would it do that?" Twilight asked. "If I know any of Discords tricks, he probably has this place set to keep me here, should I break free of that prison he put me in," Glacies said. "Well let's get moving then, I'll use my location spell to set us on a safe path," Cadence said. Soon the group of ponies was on the move, and were led to the doors while avoiding anymore booby traps as they galloped through the chambers. They were just about to the doors when they felt the ground start to rumble once again. "Get to the doors!" Glacies yelled and everypony kept moving. Glacies was the last one out, and he looked back inside to see the interior of the fortress begin to collapse. Soon everypony got down to the sleigh and climbed aboard. "Ice Fang, get us out of here," Shining Armor commanded with a sense of urgency. "Can do," Ice Fang said, wasting no time speeding off as the exterior and some of the ground surrounding the fortress collapsed into the pit below. Once they were a good distance away, Ice Fang finally slowed down and everypony caught their breath. "A little more fun then I'm used to," Glacies said, and his sisters nodded in agreement. "Thank you for helping us out there Ice Fang," Twilight said. "No problem your highness," Ice Fang replied. "Would it be too much to ask if you could stay with us a bit longer and get us home a lot quicker? We live in Canterlot," Cadence said. "It would be my pleasure your majesty, and I know where that place is, and for me it's two days travel while pulling all of you, well that is, a distance to that city, to a point where I won't attract attention in the winter, which is about fifteen miles. If your all prepared I can take off right now," Ice Fang said. "Thank you so much Ice Fang," Twilight said. "No problem your majesty," Ice fang said. Soon the sleigh was off, which had been extended and restrengthened through magic to give everypony some space, and Twilight and Cadence, along with Shining Armor, gave Glacies a rundown on how things changed while he was asleep for a thousand and ten years after sharing a long embrace with their long lost brother. They only made a few brief stops to have dinner, including Ice Fang and Glacies, and to rest for the night.