Right around the corner it then came. The thick but oddly fast magma had no intention of stopping. It boiled everything that came in its way, but much to the company’s luck and surprise did the foundation of the cavern remain intact. Yes, it was boiling hot, but somehow and thanks to something else, the whole cavern hadn’t just molten wherever the magma touched. It possibly had been the one saving grace that the company had in order to make their escape.
But their route was riddled with turns and twists that they had to take. Yet the magma could just crawl its way not only through it, but also over it. The massive amounts of the liquid rock were more than enough to burn every last obstacle in its way and wake. The fear was once again all too real in the eyes of the beings that ran away. Twilight and Rarity had their horns powerfully charged up and shone a combined light down the cavern.
A light that was powerful enough to make the terrible darkness vanquish for just a moment or two. They could see what was in front of them, but they didn’t knew what laid behind the protective barrier. For all they knew had they passed once more a couple dozen spiders that were vastly asleep.
They didn’t knew and they really didn’t wanted to know it either. The shudders that were travelling down the bodies of each of the mares as they as much as dared to be looking behind them was horrible. The sheer amount of magma that was chasing them at the higher than expected speed wasn’t too comforting.
It came closer and closer with each passing second. Twilight then realized that they couldn’t outrun it even if they tried their utmost best. So perhaps the only thing that they could be doing about it was to protect themselves in a way that hopefully would have been working out.
The soothsayer constantly watched over her back and towards Rarity. She really didn’t wanted to continue with her plan of madness, but it could have been their literal only hope of making it out alive and unburned. “Listen, I’m having a plan to possibly make the flow stop for at least a little while.”
“And how much is a ‘little while’?” Rarity asked while she didn’t cease her running. She didn’t even dare to look right behind her. Her head was only turned a little bit so that her eyes could watch Twilight and Twilight only. “Also let me guess that it is something highly dangerous and possibly idiotic.”
“Doesn’t sound like me, but possible, yes,” replied Twilight while she glanced once more behind her. “I can put up a shield, have the magma clog up there and possibly, just possibly have it freeze up to make another seal, like the ceiling in the volcano.”
Rarity’s mind had some trouble to connect the dots of the plan together. It seemed indeed like a plan of madness and one she wouldn’t really be partaking in with whatsoever. Yet if it did happen to be their only way out, she gladly would have taken it.
Though there was one little thing that kept on bugging her. A little, but rather important fact was the thing that kept on chewing upon her mind. And she had to break it to Twilight before she would do something really, really stupid.
“So basically, you want to seal our only known way out to keep the magma from coming right after us, that’s what you plan to do here, aren’t you?” she said in a rather emotionless tone. Almost like she was content with the plan already. Sure it sounded stupid without a doubt, but for Rarity it was the final nail in the coffin that told her that their trip would have been a one way.
They would become the unsung heroes of Equestria who hopefully had stopped the tremors and allowed life to flourish in their lands. It was perhaps a grim future for them but if their land could thrive on, there was no other way it could have been done. Though to make matters worse hadn’t Twilight even confirmed or denied the words of the unicorn yet.
“Rarity, it is like you can read my mind. Yes, it will seal up our only access route that we know of, but we can dig another one or just look for another.” Twilight replied as she formed a genuine little smile upon her face.
“I just hope that you know what you’re doing. Because I don’t feel like dying in here!” Rarity snarled up towards the soothsayer.
“Less talk, more action! Do what you have to do, Twilight!” Rainbow shouted. That very argument was supported by both Fluttershy and Applejack.
“Do what you gotta do!” Pinkie yelled from the rear as she had formed the rearguard by herself. That actually all did it for the unicorn. She would create a shield and freeze the boiling magma into solid rock. That was what she hoped at least.
Whether it was going to be liked or not, it was something that needed to happen, no matter what. The unicorn gave a powerful nod to herself before she would have summoned her staff once more into existence. Twilight Sparkle then allowed the others to pass her as she lowered her own pacing. She had to be the rearguard if she wanted it all to work.
It had to be her who was the last being in the whole line of beings. Only once Pinkie had slithered past her she would have waved around with her staff. “You lot have to guide me! I’m going to walk backwards!” the mare shouted without any warning beforehoof.
It terrified everypony that she said those words. It meant that one anthrony had to yell into which directions Twilight had to be going. And that without messing it up whatsoever. As if the risk wasn’t great enough already.
Out of everypony in the company did it happen to be Fluttershy who had taken the role of caretaker upon her and with every turn they made, she yelled it through to Twilight. It was the only way it could have been done without the soothsayer coming to a standstill.
A standstill and an incoming magma flow weren’t two things that seemed to be particularly working out pretty well for anyone. The magical aura around the horn increased itself as the sphere of the staff became brighter and brighter. The time was nearly there to cast the spell.
The prayers were said and the wishes made in silence. If they made a difference was something that remained to be seen by all of them.
Fluttershy managed to guide Twilight through the turns and twists without much of a hassle at all. She seemed to be knowing exactly into which direction she needed to be going and what to yell towards the unicorn. Perhaps years of surgery had perfected her ability to speak up all of the different directions in the reverse order for somepony who was facing the other way.
That, or it was just blind luck that the two happened to have every single time. But whichever it was, it seemed to be working. The lights became more intense as the company could only run forwards into the unknown.
Twilight was running backwards and she was working on the last preparations of the massive shield and the manner to cool the magma. It only was one shot that she needed, but that could have either made or broke her. A gulp was released through her throat as she finally spoke the chant of the spell in the ancient tongue.
Nopony understood a word from the little chant before the whispers also were faded away by the roaring waves. But finally there was something happening with the staff of Twilight. It was swung from both left and right in manners nopony had even expected to be possible.
But the shield was formed nonetheless. The massive shield that should have been good enough to have protected them was created. It reached through the whole side of the cavern. From left to right it covered every last little bit of the way.
They only hoped in silence that the thing was strong enough to hold the thousands of tons of magma that would be pushing itself against it within the next series of minutes. Yet the mares had all come to a standstill a couple moments after the shield was raised. They had their heads turned over towards it, but their bodies were ready to dart away if needed.
Twilight’s magical power was exceeding everything she had ever done before while the pressure of the magma only became greater. Even though she wanted to already freeze it up, she had to wait. She had to wait until the stuff was high enough to be frozen. That meant that it had to cover the whole of the cavern. If not, there would have been gaps through which it could escape and therefore rendered the whole attempt just complete and utter useless.
The seconds were slow, tedious and agonizing. Every passing second there were many more tons of magma pressing up against the shield. The face of the soothsayer already showed it in its fullest that she was struggling to keep up with everything.
With Rarity being the only other unicorn in the group, there was only so much that could have been done. Ye the struggle through which Twilight was going was a whole lot more than just holding up a simple light. “Not again,” the pirate captain muttered to herself.
It was the only thing that could have been done in the matter if they didn’t wanted to have shield just completely shattered. Rarity began to charge her horn even further before she released all of the magic it carried at once. A massive ray of blue light was shot towards Twilight. The unicorn soothsayer felt the increase in power and knew what happened to her in an instant.
It was then or never, she had to use the magic given by Rarity and place it for a good cause. With a deep exhale and another chant in the ancient language did it had to happen. To her eyes was the cavern filled up pretty much to the bring at the other side. Which meant that she could do what she needed to be doing.
Then it finally happened. With one massive burst of magic did the shield turn into the purest form of ice there was out there. The sheer coldness of the ice was in fact a combination that came forth out of the combined magic of both herself and Rarity. Even the air began to liquefy itself if the company looked close enough towards it. At their side of the shield it looked like that, who knew just how cold it was at the opposing one?
It must have been terribly cold though. For the magma began to turn gradually back into rock again. The boiling hot and molten stone didn’t seemed to have been standing much of a chance against the solid coldness from the shield. The rocks were formed and once the whole area had been nothing else but rock, Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Have, have we done it, Rarity?” she dared to question herself before a gulp was given off. The fear of removing the shield was still present inside of her and she didn’t wanted to destroy perhaps the only thing that stood between them and thousands of tons of boiling hot magma.
Rarity had made her way over to Twilight. She was still irradiating the ray of support magic towards the soothsayer. But she placed a hand upon the soothsayer’s shoulder and gave a nod. “It think, I think we did it, yes. From the looks of it at least,” returned Rarity while she gained a genuine smile across her face.
Rarity then discharged her own horn and looked over to the wall that had been created. Behind it did lay their way back for certain as well as the deadly magma. It was time for the shield to be released from its foundation and see whether or not it would hold together all by itself. Rarity gave one last nod towards Twilight who understood the meaning.
The horn of the soothsayer was being discharged and the aura from both it as well as the orb just faded out of existence. The shield was the next thing that faded away and Rarity made her steps closer towards it. With a great care in each hoof she placed, she inched forward.
Only to eventually have been able to actually touch the stone wall. But when her hand got closer and closer towards the stone, the colder the air seemed to have gotten there. Which was a clear indication of the thing holding itself together. The pirate captain seemed to have been content with the stuff as it was.
She then made her way back to the company with haste and nodded in calm. “It seems to be holding everything together, for the time being,” said Rarity before her attention shifted over to Pinkie Pie. “You happen to be familiar with these grounds? I know we’re passed the statue, but there must be more ways leading to the same thing, right?”
All hopes were then placed upon the lamia. She had said she knew a great deal of the cavern systems that were going through the ground and all. So perhaps there was a little bit of a chance that she knew the system they were in as well. Yet with all of the eyes aimed at the lamia, she became a little bit scared. Not to mention that the question was repeated a thousand times inside of her head.
Because of the fact that she was so nervous, the lamia did just spin around upon the spot. She was looking for spots that she knew. Spots that she would recognize out of thousands to identify the hallway. Her eyes gazed and gazed as her body turned and turned. Yet there was nothing to be seen in her eyes.
“N-No, I don’t, know these parts,” said Pinkie eventually in a defeated tone. “I never could get past the statue.” It was of course a massive bummer for the whole company. They had hoped that Pinkie would have known anything about the place. But it was in fact a long shot to begin with.
“Which means,” the pirate captain started while she gazed away from the company and further into the darkness that was natural to the caverns, “we’re going in deeper while almost literally being blind. No information, no nothing.”
“What else did ya except, Brittenburg?” Applejack began before she crossed her arms over each other. She managed to get the attention of the pirate who gazed upon her with a simple expression. “Ya expected detailed maps hanging ‘round here with little notes saying where ya are?”
“Not per say, but some information certainly would have been nice, Jackie. But how about we stop any further bickering between us and focus upon the task ahead?” Rarity returned while she wanted to keep the peace between both her and Applejack for just a little bit more.
The admiral gave a nod towards her nemesis and the company turned itself around to face the darkness. Deep exhales of many mixed emotions were released through the nostrils of the company’s members as the first steps were set.
All they knew was that they needed to go down, down, down and down once more. They needed to lower themselves into the soils of Equestria even further than they already had. But that was something which was in fact a whole lot easier said than actually done. Luckily they didn’t had the flow of magma to worry about anymore.
At least not that they were actually aware of. The magma was all nicely sealed away behind another barrier of actual and massive rock. Twilight and Rarity should have been making certain that it all had worked out in their very own favors.
That was the easy part though, the hard part was to find something that could be guiding them even further down into the cavern system. Which in and of itself resulted in each of the beings diverting a little bit from the main path. They were all a little bit scattered in the hope to figure out where exactly they needed to be going in order to complete what they needed to be doing.
The only problem was that nothing seemed what it actually was. For doorways appeared but disappeared when they arrived. They thought to have heard small river flowing in the dead silence of the caverns. It just overall messed with their heads.
They there all just so desperate that they all needed to have something to which they could be clinging to. Something that told them that there was some form of hope left within the world they had entered.
~~~~
Yet after what seemed of hours of searching, could even that very little form of hope have been just flushed down the drain. There wasn’t anything that felt like it mattered anymore to any of them. They all had hurdled themselves together as the light of both Rarity and Twilight were the only two things that illuminated the place.
Deep exhales were released by each of the company’s members while the heads were hung low. “So what’s the plan now?” Rainbow asked of them. She wanted to know what they all had upon their minds. “Do we just, give up and watch the land crumble?”
“‘Course not, we be needing to find something in this mess,” countered Applejack before she then looked over to Twilight. “Ain’t one of them riddles able to help ya out?”
Twilight looked back to the admiral before she shook her head. “None of the riddles that I have faced in my life could have prepared myself for any of this. I just, am clueless. I do not know what to do right now and I don’t think I can make the ascent now. Not with the magma still up there,” the mare said with a desperate glance in her eyes.
“Actually,” the lamia said then. Pinkie pointed with her finger in a motion that she knew something. “You remember the riddle at the statue?”
“What does that statue has to do with the things we’re doing here?” Twilight asked as she had to admit one thing. Her curiosity had been peeked. “What are you thinking in that head of yours, Pinkie?”
“Didn’t it say something about lighting up in your darkest hour? I, I may sound stupid here, but we’re behind the statue, right? Perhaps, and this is a small chance, the riddle wasn’t only to just open the doorway, but also…” Pinkie didn’t finish the whole sentence, Twilight would come in.
“Also to guide you through!” Twilight exclaimed while she slammed a fist in an open palm. In an instant did all of the switches inside of her turn themselves back on as the gears all clicked back into the places that they needed to be. The desperate glance was replaced with a hopeful one. The words of Pinkie had brought something to light she had forgotten.
All of the mares didn’t understand a single bit from it. They didn’t knew the riddle that was placed near the statue. But for both Twilight and Pinkie, it seemed to be making a whole lot more sense. And if it made sense for them, they could only hope it made so for them as well.
The unicorn soothsayer grinned like mad just before she completely discharged her horn. Not even the usual emitted light was visible from it anymore. Which only left Rarity with the one source of light. The mare looked a little bit worried as Twilight gestured with her hand that she had to lower it as well. Or better yet, extinguish it completely.
A gulp came from the pirate captain as she closed her eyes. In the darkness of her eyelids did she discharge her horn as well and the place had fallen once again back in its natural darkness. The darkness that consumed everything returned as if it was nothing. The company could feel its cold grasp striking them. The icy shards in their hearts had become perhaps a little bit of a hinder than a help in the moment.
Yet on the ceiling it then formed itself. All of the mares looked up and saw just how countless little things formed some kind of natural light. A natural light that would have enabled them to follow it and hopefully brought them to the right way.
“Impossible, all of the bacteria are irradiating the lights… But that means, no, it can’t be that they even had the powers over that, right?” Twilight whispered to herself. Yet the only thing that they could be doing in order to get the answers was to follow it. They had to follow the ceiling covered lights to whether it would be leading them.
The mares had to admit that it was having some kind of strange moody atmosphere when it came down to the fact. It looked lovely with the blue casting off from the ceiling and the floor. But much time to witness the near magical scenery wasn’t there. For Twilight was already following the stream of light irradiating bacteria.
The rest was not having much choice but to follow her to the best of their abilities. The further they walked, the more comfortable everything seemed to have gotten. But what they didn’t knew was where it brought them. Their eyes just wouldn’t get used to the darkness around them and even Pinkie Pie struggled to witness anything.
Without a warning were there six screams that echoed through the tunnel. There then wasn’t anything seem by the mares anymore. No bacteria, no nothing. But they were picking up speed. They were picking up speed by a whole lot in fact.
There was only one explanation that could have been given for that fact, and that was that they were going down a slide of the rocks themselves. Whether or not they had made a mistake when it came down to planning remained to be seen. For as far as Twilight knew had they actually followed the stream of light.
Their screaming only became more intense as the rocky bottom of the slide suddenly disappeared. They were floating through the air, or better said: falling through it. And then there was nothing else but silence. After the six thuds had been made was there silence. Just complete and utter silence.
Fluttershy was in fact the first of the mares who released a groan after they had been laying there for perhaps a minute or three. Everything in her body was just sore but it didn’t felt like she had broken anything. Which was actually a massive relief for her.
Rainbow then released a groan and had positioned herself almost up right. She was rubbing her head among the darkness and watched a little bit around her. Though not much else then dark was the thing that was being witnessed by her. Seemed like they had gone once more out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Applejack and Rarity regained their consciousness about the same time and managed to find one another before just leaning back to back against the other. The two remained silent as they inspected everything from their body. Had they broken anything? And was everything still working the way it was supposed to be?
Twilight and Pinkie Pie were the last two to have woken up. Though not even Twilight called upon her magic as her head was just so sore. If she didn’t know any better, it could have been sworn that she had fallen straight upon her head. Yet Pinkie Pie was getting off the easiest, even though every muscle in her body seemed to have been in pain.
They weren’t out of danger just yet. The very seal that Twilight had made a while back was in for a nasty surprise. High above them it could be seen, that orange glow had returned to them once more. But in the moment, none of the mares did seem to care. It almost seemed as if they knew that it would fall right on top of them and end their very lives there and then. Perhaps the strangest of facts happened to be that they were happy about it.
They were happy to die if the magma would have fallen upon them. After all of the trouble that they had been going through already to reach the center of Equestria and still not having found it, there wasn’t much else they could have done.
Though the skies it soared until it than just crashed right against the rocky bottom of the pit. The seal had returned to its maker and it would only have been seconds before the magma would have hit them. All six of the beings closed their eyes as the final prayers were being made.
All of them were ready to go, they wanted to go in fact.
Finally did the magma managed to hit the ground and they began to wait for the agonizing pain to come. That burning sensation before everything would have just been over once and for all.
Though the pain just never came to them. They heard the magma flowing with clarity, but it never managed to be hitting any of the mares. None of them seemed to have been able to understand just what was going on there and then. But the lights in their eyes could already been a sign. So the only thing that they could have done in the case was to just look. Open their eyes and look to the world outside.
~~~~
Six pairs of eyes were opened and were placed upon a curtain of magma. They had seen it all by then, for they were looking straight at a massive waterfall of nothing else but magma. Yet to make the matter more interesting, they followed the streams that were leading towards something.
It wasn’t filling the place up like it had done in the lake. Instead was the magma guided to some place behind them as the gutters were transporting it. Something didn’t seem right and all of them got up at almost the exact same time.
Curiosity struck them all as they looked behind them in order to see. To see what laid behind them and what the magma happened to be casting its deadly light over. The sights that they saw weren’t the prettiest to say the least. Nor were they some of the most desired.
What they caught inside of their eyes was something gruesome. A terrible sight that probably had explained why the longboat could have been found where it did. Their very eyes had been resting themselves upon a small and abandoned settlement. The reason of why it was abandoned? The marks of fire could have been a clear indication of that little fact. Everything was simply burned to a crisp but something didn’t feel right.
If it happened recently, there were no bodies to be found. If it happened a couple dozen to a hundred years ago, there were no skeletons or fossils to be found. Each of them felt it though, as if prying eyes were looking straight at them. The dead still lived in the town.
“Caution is the thing we need now, we do not want to wake the dead. Foul magic is at play here. Whatever you do, don’t break or touch anything. We’re only traveling through it. …With all the shudders taken for granted,” the soothsayer said to them. Her horn had felt it the moment she laid her eyes upon it.
Dark magic was indeed at play in the place and she had to be cautious about everything and everyone. One wrong move and perhaps an army of dead things would be standing right before them. Everypony nodded in response to the words of Twilight. She was the expert in magic so they knew whom to listen to when it came to magical matters.
Even if they didn’t believe in things like ghosts, they didn’t have any other kind of explanation for it. Ghosts were resting there, which was all there could have been said. Spirits that were trapped inside of the physical world while their bodies had decayed ages ago. A fate worse than death.
The company would be traveling over the market place of the settlement while the magma was coursing through all kinds of channels that were made into the ground. The system was genius but also having trouble with it. That was perhaps why the whole town got eradicated, everything got burned because of a magma overflow. Only the houses remained standing and other elements made out of stone itself.
It was a gruesome sight to witness it in the light of the magma. But neither of the unicorns dared to call upon their magic. Perhaps the arcane energy could have been enough for the spirits to be woken up. After all, it was a clash of both white and black magic that would be happening. Somepony surely would have been noticing it if it would happen.
Though the dangers came from a whole other corner. Pinkie Pie was just watching her eyes out as she couldn’t believe that there was another town or settlement hidden beneath the rocks. And that one laid even deeper than her own city or anything else she had come across in her time. It was just pure amazement.
Weren’t it for the fact that her tail was swung all the way across and over countless things. Every time it happened to have good until that one moment. That one time she swung her tail a little bit too low and managed to hit something on a table. When she realized what she had done, had her eyes went wide and she tried to catch it.
The sounds of the shattering could be heard in the ears of all the anthronies. Not a single word was spoken by any of them, but their attention immediately shifted back. There they saw Pinkie with a stretched out hand just before the broken object. Then their attention was caught again by trembling hooves. Hooves that seemed to have gotten out of pretty much every single direction.
There they all appeared. The ghosts of both yesterday and those passed away. All kinds of different colored spirits had come into existence. Some came through the walls, others through the windows but some even came through the doorways as if they were just leaving their houses. Time to make a friendly chat wasn’t there though, for the weapons were drawn again the anthronies right away and they were all rallied up in a circle.
The closer they looked towards the dead anthronies, the more the mares could see that they looked like they died. Burned, charred and missing complete parts of their body already. The gruesome sights made them turn their stomachs as they looked away from the spirits.
But only one of them spoke up against the mares. A brightly white one stepped forward, one without a weapon and appearing to have no skin left whatsoever. “You… You’re different. A great light, is found within you. You aren’t like, her. Not yet at least,” the spirit spoke in an echo. One that was aimed directly towards Twilight.
The unicorn was having a difficult time to understand just what the spirit meant and needed to have more answers if she wanted to have anything to work with. “W-Who are you, a-and why are you, s-still here?” She was terrified of the ghostly weapons, one swing and she could pretty much join them. But deep inside of the eyes of the spirits it almost seemed as if they didn’t wanted to draw their weapons. All they wanted was to be left at peace.
“We, are the settlers of this place. To protect it from any danger it could be facing. But we weren’t prepared for her arrival. She was swift and merciless. None of us stood a chance when the lava began to rise. Her power, unequaled by any,” the spirit said before it gestured to all the other to lower their weapons.
It was a massive relief for the mares. But Twilight just had to know one more thing before they could be having a full on conversation with the spirit. “Name this, her, you speak of,” she spoke up in a demanding tone as she made herself as big as possible.
“I’m certain, you know her name as well and know of whom I speak. If not, the name you seek is Nightmare Moon.” That name alone made the feelings of Twilight sink like a brick. She wasn’t prepared or had thought about the fact that Nightmare Moon was actually capable of doing such things. Once again was there soot thrown in their dinner and they had to deal with an army of ghosts.
Just another day for the company of mares.