A Week Later
Time had past in the invasion between Humans and Equestrians since both received injured and casualties. However, the full week of no conflict helped give the civilians feel a sense of safety, but at the same time if brought paranoia to them since they've heard a human has gone into their custody. For who knows why, it could become an advantage or a liability to constantly worry of his presence since he was known as the one who easily disposed of two of the Element Protectors. Speaking of which, they all couldn't help but feel self pity at failing to protect it. It was only a fraction of a piece though in their minds it made it big deal to them of how it could affect all other citizens in the future. However, they were grateful it wasn't anymore than it needed to be and enough to where it didn't matter too much.
During the whole week after the battle, it took a relatively small amount of time to repair their home. Canterlot had sustained the most attention at the moment due to it taking the most damage, eventually other parts of Equestria were also given any notable repairs if any were needed. Only the central part of Canterlot and the Princess's Castle were really all that were major now since then. Even within the room of now crowned Princess, she could see Workers and Royal Guards alike working together to gather up the appropriate materials to keep building Canterlot to 100% of what it was before the incident. Twilight eyed through her window once in a while too see them work. Currently, she was doing one of her favorite hobbies ever since she was young, reading. She made it as a habit to entertain herself when no work was to be done or at this time...keeping her mind out of focus of what happened a week earlier. She really had strained herself throughout those days.
All the fighting she went through which she couldn't believe herself for doing. It was all in the sake of her homeland and her fellow people, but no doubt she may receive a lot of unneeded praise for Equestrians all over Canterlot or wherever she went for that matter. In fact, that's what she and Spike has to deal with from now on as they were now seen as a new generation of heroes along side her friends. Guardians of the Element they would call them, but the people were ignorant of the fact that the Humans has obtained a precious Shard of the Element. Magic would be slightly weaker than before to every Equestrian within the country. It was no big deal if you were among the weakest or strongest, however anyone hoping to become better at magic would have to strain themselves harder to pull off a highly skilled spell. Twilight was a good example of this concept as she once tried to levitate multiple objects of her room around for rearrangements and she become exhausted after a few minutes. Her fighting capabilities however didn't seem too different outside of her usual lacking stamina. Rainbow Dash would always bash on that flaw and Applejack would even step in to prove it's liabilities. Rarity on the other hand, known for her supportive magic and admirable combat potential, she had no objections surprisingly.
A knock on the door interrupted Twilight's reading moment. She looked up with a groan as the unknown individual knocks once again on her door without giving any sort of acknowledgement of who they were. However, Twilight used her magic to open the door and gasped at who was there to show up. A familiar bright yellow furred figure with long pink hair that could covered the right side of it's face. Gorgeous teal eyes looking towards the sitting Princess as well as wearing a casual wear of a yellow shirt with a pink butterfly design on the front and a pair of jeans. It was Fluttershy, much to Twilight's astonishment that she gasped loudly. She hasn't seen Fluttershy in a while even during her ceremony of becoming pronounced as Princess. It left her worried, but relieved as she didn't need to worry so much about Fluttershy's weak stomach and her fear. She was strong regardless, but her emotions always stopped her in her tracks of fighting. Something Rainbow Dash has always wanted to teach her to NOT worry in battle.
"F-Flutter...shy?" Twilight spoke slowly as she stood up and slowly walked towards her. Her eye contact with her was disrupted when a familiar white rabbit showed up on Fluttershy's shoulder with a grumpy attitude. Angel the Bunny glared at Twilight with his usual protective demeanor. Twilight blankly stared at him back to hold back her amusement of how he tried to make himself intimidating. However, Fluttershy's voice caught her attention once again.
"Y-your highness. I a-apologize for not attending your ceremony. I...I was busy with important matters on behalf of Rainbow -,"
"First off, please refrain from calling me in formality. It makes me feel awkward." Twilight cuts her off.
"Oh uh...s-sorry P-princes - er...Twilight!"
Fluttershy told Twilight her accompany with Redheart to help out with a sibling of Rainbow Dash's health. Twilight immediately understood and looked down at having to remember the situation Rainbow Dash had to be pushed into. To add onto the event, during the battle last week, the hospital Fluttershy and Redheart were being kept had been attacked by humans as well for unknown reasons. Unfortunately, some sick and injured Equestrians had deceased in the aftermath while Rainbow Dash's brother was a lucky one of the few that survived. Twilight bit her bottom lip at hearing the tragic news, something she didn't want to bother thinking. What point was there for such an act? Nothing at all. There was no exclamation even in villain standards of why killing off sick and helpless individuals was necessary. Nonetheless, not all were slaughtered and some managed to survive to live on and hopefully recover properly. That sort of news gave Twilight the urge to now head outside at this time. Sunlight was probably what she needed these past few days and it may help clear her thoughts perhaps. She lets Fluttershy know she was leaving and asked her if she wanted to accompany her.
"Why of course your highness...Ah! I mean Twilight!" Fluttershy corrected herself in a flustered tone. Twilight and her one of her best friends head out down the stairs while stumbling across some Royal Guards that gave their formal salutations upon seeing her. Once again, Twilight was flustered and annoyed, but she kept moving on through the corridors of the castle as she noticed small repairs still being done within the castle. Fluttershy stopped to greet some of the workers as Twilight still made her way down to the lower levels. Now down on the first floor where she walked down a large batch of batch of stairs to make her way to the double door exit at the end of the room which was completely repaired and cleaned. Fluttershy followed behind with a jog and caught up with the Princess.
"Where are you going exactly?" Fluttershy asked curiously. Twilight halted herself for a moment to think about just where she wanted to go after all. In her mind all she really thought about was just getting sunshine on her body. Considering the way things have been, she thought maybe checking around for strange activity would act a good way of keeping her outside. She settled by vaguely stating that she wanted to check within the outskirts of the Canterlot. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at her answer, but didn't bother trying to really evaluate what she meant. She simply kept following Twilight and hoped to keep her out of danger.
They stepped outside and finally Twilight had first hand witnessed the sunshine after a week of rest and reading. She took a deep breath in relief as fresh air filled her nostrils and stretched from all the laying around she's been through. Twilight looked back at Fluttershy with a smile on her face then looked back in front of her to keep walking until Fluttershy suddenly stopped her much to her dismay.
"Twilight. If you're planning on going on a long trip without Celestia's knowledge it would at least be best to take one of the carriages for a ride to avoid so much walking." She suggested.
"Are you implying I can't walk on my own or something?" Twilight groaned.
"Twilight we're friends. I...I just don't want you to strain yourself again like the last time you tried training with the Royal Guards." Twilight chuckled at remembering the moment Fluttershy brought up. The funny story was that at some point around when Shining Armor applied to become a Royal Guard, she had joined one of the training sessions without his knowledge and worn herself out faster than the time she tried running two laps around the castle (Only making it halfway through one lap mind you). It was an embarrassing moment, but the past was the past. She couldn't stand behind her friends the entire time as her lack of stamina was clearly notable even today. No, she wanted to keep getting better and proving herself as the next natural leader of her land. Become a true force to be reckoned with, thus the reason she was said to potentially become an Alicorn someday. There have been no clear tells of her changing to one. It wasn't even proven logically that it was going to happen, Celestia once again on placed all her hope on Twilight's future and hoped for the absolute best for her.
Twilight looked at the neatly parked carriages placed ahead of the castle. Two reserved for the Queens as they were colored in their natural color scheme and lastly a free one that shared the same purple and gold color as most carriages would hold. Thanks for the Magic emitted from it, the carriages didn't have to be pushed or pulled by an actual force. All it needed was passengers and their guidance for directions to be able to function properly. Twilight walked up to one of the 5 available carriages to hope in before she was once again interrupted by all too familiar voices behind her. She turns around to see Spike and Rarity happily speaking among each other about their time through the last few days until noticing Twilight and Fluttershy near the carriages. Spike immediately rushed over to Twilight with an annoyed look as if she had did something wrong while Rarity calmly stood beside Fluttershy and giving her salutations.
"Twi! You could of at least let me in on whatever trip you're going on. You know you need your "assistant"." Spike quipped. Twilight folded her arms as she gave him a stern look which Spike only returned.
"I was actually fine. But I don't mind in the slightest. Just...don't baby me like the helpless Princess like everyone else." Twilight retorted.
"When have you known me for worrying?" Spike asked jokingly. Twilight smiled at the compliment he attempted to make. Rarity cleared her throat to get Twilight's attention and gave her a look of concern as she just had to know of where the princess was heading. If even if it annoyed her, she would still understand that it was simply safety measures for her friends and loved ones. She asked Twilight where she planned on heading at this time. Twilight proudly replies on the location that she simply wanted to monitor Canterlot for any suspicious activity and head right back. Rarity gave her a stern look which also filled with concern for her. However, she knew nothing was much to worry about as she knew Twilight's capabilities as well as her own synergy which can improve the outcome of her travels. She simply nods in agreement with Twilight's ideas without a second thought and asks if she can accompany as well. Twilight didn't mind one bit. In fact she began to feel that it would be a good idea to have her friends along the ride to make it even more interesting and fun for her. After all, she knows for sure that at her current state she needs the social attention and action from outside. Without any more interruptions, the party entered the carriage with Twilight focusing her magic to enable the locations she wanted to see. As the preparations were finished, she sat comfortably next to Spike as Fluttershy and Rarity sat across from them as the carriage began to hover from the ground and takes off in the air.
A few minutes after silence came between them since the ride had begun, the carriage made it's way above Canterlot where they could sneak a peek over to get a bird's eye view of the structures beneath them. Twilight has stated to her friends that the trip was going to take a while as she instructed multiple destinations which neither of them mind. Spike stretched himself and folded his arms before looking at Twilight with a caring smile on his face.
"You know...last week was quite a turn of events." He begun.
"Spike..." Twilight groaned, she tried to forget about last week's event.
"Twilight, it doesn't matter what we do. You said it yourself, humans are after our blood...well Equine Blood namely. However it just seemed to get me thinking about what happened. They stole a portion of the Element which leaves us with 5 shards remaining. That's bad news and all, but aren't we still capable of summoning them?" He points out. Twilight shuddered at what Spike was implying. Powerful creatures that could be summoned through pure magic. Only the Alicorns themselves were able to accomplish such a feat which even then took a lot of concentration and patience. Twilight reminded him that the Elements had nothing to do with the process. It actually took portions of the souls of the summoners as a cost. Therefore, if the summon was the die prematurely, the summoners would be given a shorter life span as repent for failure towards the summon. Spike suddenly shuddered himself for the thought of it. It sounded very risky and scary now that she explained it. However, Twilight also points out that the use for summons are almost never a failure as they themselves are extremely powerful that even an entire race of Equestrians would barely stand a change against them.
"Interesting facts darling. I take it you've been taking too much pride into your homework?" Rarity quipped.
"I mean work may as well be her bride." Fluttershy added jokingly. Spike laughed at Fluttershy's joke in synergy with Rarity which even made Twilight snicker at the joke made at her. It was nothing she was ashamed of. Without something to keep her mind focused and calm such as working as a distraction she may as well go crazy.
"You know. Now that we bring up the topic of work here. I just so happened to sneak a few facts about that human we captured from before." Spike spoke proudly. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity gave him their full attention at what he had to say. Spike gave them all a stern look as he took what he was about to say very seriously.
"That man, his name is Baron Helmut and he of course works alongside the other humans to obtain the Element to drain our power source to leave us with nothing for our everyday lives. He stated himself that he had no intention of harming us lethally unlike the others. In fact he doesn't care too much about the remaining shards of the Element. He told the Queens and the High Ranking Royal Guards that more humans from different regions of his country is after the shard for their own personal gain. In other words this was just the beginning." Spike took a moment to gather him thoughts. "Take this into account once again. More humans, different regions, different goals. They're treating us like we're objects to be carried around. As we of course know, magic is what gives us power. Power is something that Humans and everything in Equestria strives for. Can you take wild guess on what'll happen if this power is scattered?"
"Simple. It gets into the wrong hands and used for bad reasons. That's more than enough reason to get that shard back." Twilight answered, trying to hold back an aggressive statement.
"Actually, even worse now that I think about it. Oh my, Spike you're not implying that a war may happen if the Elements continue to be stolen?" Rarity added. Spike nodded at their answers before sitting back. It's bad enough that one shard of the Element is gone, but once word of it's power is once again spread towards Humans, they will become hungry for more of it's power and it'll eventually become a defense for Equestria against countless numbers of Human Organizations and Personnel. Twilight remembered the report that Rainbow Dash had been gravely wounded by Baron whom she'll take her precious time considering to forgive him. Suddenly, that mindset made her get a cold swear and a chill run down her spine. She's never thought so...vengeful before. Was it stress of the situation Equestria was in? She was officially apart of the situation as her power could be noted. Suddenly another thought of an individual came into her mind! The human cleanly defeated who called herself "Dragoon". Was there anything they could get out of her perhaps?
"Turns out that girl wasn't real. The body was a decoy. There's no one named Dragoon in custody." Rarity replied sadly. Twilight grunts and sat back with her arm resting on the handle of the door and her hand on her cheek. She was deep in thought now. There was literally nothing she could possibly do on her own. Even with the help of her friends could be risky to try to hope for any access to face the humans on their own for answers. Suddenly, the carriage began to descend which they all felt. Twilight ignored all the thoughts rushing in her head and decided it was best to continue on with her idea of wandering the open land outside Canterlot, Eclipse Plains. The carriage landed, allowing all of the passengers to step off to take a look at their destination. The calming green land around them had once been a key location for Celestia and Luna where it was debated to be their training grounds when they were younger, or perhaps a place where they once fought when Luna went rogue in the past. The Queens had never spoken of the event themselves which remains a mystery. Personally, Twilight wanted to somewhat keep it simple and pretend it was simply named by the Queens themselves. After all, this places biggest aspect was nature and it was the first location you'd see a Solar Eclipse happen. As a result seeing it in daytime was a little bit awkward for her. She saw some of it's inhabitant creatures spreading across the plains going about their way of life.
"I would like to assume this is just a tour trip. But, you're here for something aren't you your highness?" Rarity asked? Twilight turned towards her friends with an awkward smile and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. Rarity seemed quite determined to know her schedule in a place like this. In all honesty, it was more of a minor-major issue that she felt was necessary to deal with since the Royal Guards seemed oblivious. Twilight reached in her pocket within her jeans to pull out a folded sheet of yellow paper and unfolded it before showing what was on it to her friends. A bounty, of a creature labelled to the Equestrians as "Behemoth", a deadly creature that Twilight remember nearly encountering when the humans attacked the castle. Perhaps it was once of their own creations to assist them. However that day, it vanished and no sign of it was recorded by the Royal Guards which left a bad feeling in Twilight's well being. She didn't want to believe it necessarily just vanished from thin air. It had a location to attend to which she cannot allow to keep in her land for very long. It could endanger a species or in fact just be a trump card for another invasion for the Human's next strike at some point. Fluttershy stared scarily at the creature on the bounty sheet.
"I-I've never seen something like that going around in town!" She yelped.
"Simple, it's only exclusive to Royal Guards. I doubt Celestia or Luna would want any random kids attempt to be heroes and dying horribly to such a thing. The reward is suppose to be based on the evidence we find on it's defeat. We're talking at least 10,000 Bits perhaps." Twilight grinned slyly.
"In the middle of a the beginning of a war and all you care about is the money. Interesting." Spike replied grimly.
"That's not the only thing I care about. This is eliminating a possibly major threat to our environment as well as getting a major start on probably future travels if we succeed. Which of course we can." Twilight explained. It's not greed or any of that nature which pulled her into this assignment. No, instead it was the possibility of just doing the work as a potential Sovereign of Equestria alongside her friends and perhaps use the reward for future benefits. Who knows, perhaps afford more good clothing? A weapon collection? Maybe another pet?
"How exactly do we know where this Beast is anyway?" Spike asked curiously.
"It's said on the Bounty itself. Finding the exact location is possibly our issue really. It shouldn't be too bad though right?" Twilight replied.
"There's more to Bounties than you think darling. Are you really sure you have the stamina to withstand the task? You have no sort of experience with this creature after all. Who knows what it's capable of, as well as it's size and strength. There is more to this assignment than you may think Princess." Rarity tried to point out, with a look of concern on her face. "Which is why I believe the Royal Guards should-,"
"We're already here Rarity. I don't intend on leaving unless I get a piece of that Behemoth thing or I just so happen to get knocked unconscious." Twilight sternly replied. "The assignments been out during the previous week. I don't even thing they want to deal with it at this moment. I say we make it easy for them and just prove that we can handle ourselves fine. After all, I'm not just a Princess that always needs protecting...right?" She asked with a tilt of her head. They all finally decided to agree on the matter. Twilight's confidence and enthusiasm was always a rare factor that had to make them agree as they knew it was just a way of her wanting to prove herself as a leader.
"We should get going now. The sooner this is done, the better." The Princess added. The party walks off in a random location leaving behind the carriage which surrounds itself in a white barrier. Twilight walked along the grass to meet nature of the Eclipse Plains which it's been a long time she's walk on. Parasprites making a line of an area and spreading it's song throughout the area which the party had always taken note of since first arriving. It was soothing to all of them as it gave out a positive vibe about nature's cycle and job. Sadly, Spike convinced Twilight to ignore them at the moment after taking what Twilight said a bit seriously. Moving on further through the plains the party stumbled upon a lake with a quite exquisite site in the middle to catch their attention. A massive statue of Celestia and Luna back to back with one another holding up their arms. Across from their arms was hovering magical orbs that happened to represent the powers of both entities. Celestia's being white for representing Light/Sun Rise and Luna's being a Blackish Purple to represent Darkness/Moon Fall. It was a very nostalgic thing to look at from all their perspectives. Twilight has only seen this same statue twice in her childhood along with Spike. Seeing it again as a grown up gave her an odd feeling in her stomach that she couldn't explain. Fear? Relief? It was difficult to put into words. Nothing at all could express this feeling, but it must of been good as the statue represented a reunion between the Queens as they haven't always been as people hoped.
"Eclipse Eternia, this statue is just a memory of a miraculous reunion and synergy with our now named Queens. I must say, this is the first time I've seen it in person." Rarity said. "Unless you count the designs of some of my dresses I made to represent it."
"The name is so appropriate if you think about it. An Eclipse to describe Celestia and Luna's bond. They are sisters...b-but-," Fluttershy trailed off on her voice. Twilight nodded in agreement. She's even heard that the orbs are suppose to sense Celestia and Luna's presence by combining and forming it's own Eclipse to shroud the water in it's color. It was an interesting piece, it was just a shame that no individual was credited for the work since the creators is unknown.
"Nothing interesting is really gonna come out of it at this point. Celestia and Luna aren't here so we won't be able to see what it can really do." Spike pointed out. The party stepped away from the edge of the lake and continued onward to explore and find any kind of clue if there could be any sign of the Behemoth. So far nothing of interest really came up to their knowledge. Only finding a few members of nature and respecting it (Nature was doing the reverse for Fluttershy periodically). They traveled rather far from where they started to the point that their protected carriage was just a spot of white in the distance which could easily be covered by the sun's gleam. Twilight folds her arms in frustration and throws them up with an angry grunt. Hunting really was something difficult for even a few people to handle. As much as splitting up would be a good way for spreading area, her team was too paranoid to leave her by herself. Then again, Twilight began to have second thoughts of that idea when an idea of her own came into her mind of finding the beast.
"I just thought of something. What if that thing is only into being in dark areas? I mean we did encounter it on full alert during the night. If we could just find a dark area...maybe wait till night?" Twilight suggested. Spike shrugged, not really caring too much about the idea she proposed. Fluttershy looked down at the ground a bit shaken at her idea. Rarity merely groaned as she sternly looked at Twilight.
"If we can find it at night, I'm sure finding it in the day time would suffice. Besides, if it's true then we just hope that it's weak at daytime or something." Rarity replies. "Honestly, your highness you're pushing your luck."
"Rarity, enough with the formalities." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Maybe you are right. Finding it at day time could help out during this time. This really can help out our chances of taking it down."
"That's not what I-, why do I even bother?" Rarity pinched the bridge of her nose. Spike nudged Twilight to gain her attention and pointed her out towards the distance. A canyon, but what Spike tried pointing out was completely out of Twilight's eye sight. Therefore he decided explain it to them.
"I see a cave just along there. Call me crazy...but I think maybe that's where it could be if excels more in dark areas." Spike smiled at his idea and slowly turned to Twilight who thoughtfully looked ahead. It definitely was a substantial theory he made, but then again a cave in general was bad news as there was located the 'bad' parts of nature. Bats, Chimeras, who knows what could be there? That was probably beyond her guidelines as she knew it was going to be difficult to see in there. Lastly and most annoyingly, Rarity's glamour.
"Ugh, if you would of told me sooner that this would involve a cave...I would of worn something to fit that occasion. You both will have to owe me a bit of the reward." Rarity retorts.
"When did you turn into a rogue?" Twilight quipped. Rarity scoffed but remained silent. "Well, once we get this done. You can have some of the money."
"Now you really are making me sound bad now." Rarity groaned. Twilight laughed, then began to move ahead towards the canyon with Spike followed behind her. Rarity had trouble catching up while Fluttershy purposely decided to stay behind. To add slightly more joy to her freedom to run around, Twilight summoned her broadsword from her hand and tossed it ahead of her to warp to the location. Little was she even aware of where she was even throwing it to. The blade lands and Twilight vanished into a flash of white which surprised Spike as he realized where she ended up.
"Oh boy." Spike muttered. Twilight pulled her sword out and took a look at her surrounding and noticed she was surrounded by a pack of large four legged creatures surrounded in red fur and large tusks erupted from it's hidden head. Twilight was paralyzed with shock and fear as they slowly moved around her, but didn't necessarily take a glance towards her. Instead the creatures slowly moves past Twilight, carrying along it's business as if she wasn't standing there from the very beginning. The princess sighed in relief as she rubbed off sweat from her forehead from nervousness and the heat of the sun. She notices Spike moving around the animals she came across as he rushes towards her with Fluttershy and Rarity behind.
"Twilight darling! You...are you alright!" Rarity spoke up first before Spike as she examined Twilight for any sign of wounds. The unicorn mage sighed in relief after seeing none on her.
"Don't worry Rarity, those were just Garulas. They are harmless unless anything harms it." Fluttershy assured. Rarity simply nodded as she stood tall and kept her elegant posture.
"Yeah...'sis'. You may wanna keep all the enthusiasm for when we actually find what we're looking for." Spike suggested as he walked ahead of Twilight to lead forward. Twilight calmly follows and decided to actually stick near her friends in case something unfortunate did actually in that scenario. It was a slightly long walk for the party till actually reaching the entrance of the cave that the dragon mentioned. Just the entrance itself was pitch black which was to the point that everyone felt a bit discouraged to step foot in there. After a bit of silence and staring, Rarity shocking decides to step forward to look ahead with her horn illuminating the front of the cave.
"I suppose just a little light can get us a long way. We each have our own method of creating a light for ourselves correct?" Rarity asked. Spike replied by blowing a green flame into his hand and hovered it towards his chest. He released the flame as it stayed stuck to his chest like a flashlight. Twilight illuminated her horn as she followed behind Spike.
"Um...I-I'll just rely on you guys for light." Fluttershy whispered, slightly embarrassed. The party moves forward into the cave preparing for anything awaiting them.
Back At The Castle
Shining Armor was growing a bit impatient. It's been hours since anything has been spoken of by their captive. Outside of what he's stated about there being a future invasion as soon as Noel makes it back to his country. It grew a sense of paranoia for every Royal Guard including himself. Something like that shouldn't happen a second time and it definitely shouldn't result in more losses. Despite a minimal amount of casualties thanks to magic, it just made it more scary as those were simply his own forces. Civilians weren't so lucky. That thought messed around his mind which had him pacing back and forth from the room he was guarding the prisoner. He could expanded the defense across Canterlot instead of just the castle. Hell, he could of just made it there himself to put his life at risk if that's what it took.
"No...I cannot think like that. Not at this time. Remember what the former captain said...you can't save them all." He muttered to himself. "If only you were here right now Cadence." His sweetheart and fiancee Cadence was thankfully away from all the violence in Canterlot and was helping the Crystal City, far north of Canterlot. A true beauty and his goddess as she was the niece of Celestia and Luna. The only real reason he's considered the prince of Equestria. Still, he follows his duties as a Royal Guard for the sake of protecting her and everyone around him. Fear of course was what prevented that from happening last time, the event of when so many firearms and so many Royal Guard weapons threatened to puncture the opposition. He simply should of ordered to make the first strike and it would of happened. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie's intrusion prevented that from happening since he had too much confidence in them. He still remembered when Baron had stepped back in the room and saw a glimpse of the rainbow haired Pegasus defeated and unconscious. Someone of that caliber to take on two of the main Guardians of the Element had just made things more complicated and risky.
"I really hope we don't encounter anymore guys like that sooner or later." He told himself. Another Royal Guard came to his attention when he approached.
"Captain. You are needed by Celestia and Luna in the throne room." He said sincerely. Shining didn't waste a breath on the news and headed towards the destination.
"Oh boy." He thought.
Mysterious Cave
"Gosh, without this light I wouldn't even be able to see my own hands." Spike groaned. He was correct on his analysis, the entire cave as expected was pretty dark with the exception of Twilight and Rarity's horns illuminating a small area around them. The ground beneath them was quite covered in stone and other minerals which gave a somewhat reliable light source from a distance for them. Twilight who was standing behind her friends like a formation was making an attempt at producing a mobile light source from her palm, but sadly failing with her hand only causing white sparks.
"Okay, we make due with what we have." She pouted. The party took careful caution of their surroundings as they moved and slowly began to realize they were standing in a one way path the entire time. Thankfully it made it slightly easier for them at the moment. After reaching the end of the corridor they were exposed to an even larger part of the cave. Completely open space and glimmered with minerals that lit the area a lot more than before. Rarity gasped in astonishment at the display. She never thought that the inside of a cave would every show such...elegance. However the illusion was broken when she covered herself from a bunch of bats flying past the group.
"Well that killed my change of opinion on caves. Disgusting as always." She groaned.
"Don't worry too much Rarity. I'm sure the bats meant no harm." Fluttershy replied nicely.
"Meanwhile, we should see if there's even anything of interest to locate this thing." Spike pointed out.