//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Stallion of the Everfree 
// by Wolfoftheforest 
//------------------------------//

As she trotted out of sight, into the shadowy horizon, I could see Xanther start to calm. I decided I needed a few questions answered.

“Xanther,” I said. He whipped his head in my direction. “What was that, and why were you so scared?” That seemed to get him, as he stood up again.

“First off, I wasn’t scared. I’m not scared of anything.” He said, trying to act like the fear in his eyes wasn’t there a few seconds ago. “Secondly, that was an ancient, evil, beast known as a pony.”

I tilted my head in confusion. “But, how are they evil, they look a lot like us?”

Xanther released a sigh, “They may seem friendly at first, but that is just to lull you into a false sense of security. The moment you trust them, they will hurt you. They are nothing more than backstabbing, murderous, outsiders.” 

“But what have they done that’s all that bad?”

Xanther opened his mouth to say something, when a snapping twig was heard near them, a foul stench was wafting through the air. 

Xanther immediately snatched me up, and threw me onto his back.  Before he galloped back towards the Kingdom, a wooden wolf leapt out of the nearby shrubbery at where I was just located. Running through the forest I heard my brother give out a yelp and slight stumble, it wasn’t very noticeable, but it was there. 

“Ackycha,” Xanther called up to me. 

“Yes,” 

“When we get back, don’t mention the pony or the wooden wolf to mother. We don’t want to frighten horses, do we?” Xanther questioned.

“No, I guess not.” I replied, as we entered the densest portion of the forest where the entrance to the kingdom was hidden.

The darkness of the area would have made it impossible to find the entrance, but as we ventured into the darkness, Xanthers necklace illuminated the area. Xanther immediately located the entrance in the corner. The entrance was marked with three stones pushed together. Two of them were large as boulders and had the markings of the goddesses of the bright and night circle. The third had a keyhole as big as one of our necklaces. It was connected to the doorway mechanism, which when triggered caused the two boulders to shift apart, showing a clear dirt path passing through rows of trees and vines. 

Xanther pulled his necklace of and plunged it into the keyhole. A low rumbling resounded around the area, as the doorway was shown. As Xanther trotted through the doorway, he grabbed his necklace. A louder rumbling resounded as the boulders slipped back into place with much more haste. 
As we entered the thicket, a faint drumming was heard and Xanther stopped. 

“Alright Ackycha, you’ve gotten a free ride long enough. Time to get off.” He said as he reared back sending me off his back.

I landed with a thud on my hindquarters. Locking eyes with him I said, “You didn’t have to do that I could have easily jumped off you know.” 

Xanther didn’t respond as we continued on our way. As we got closer to the kingdom a wild flickering was seen through the woods, as the drumming got louder and louder. We reached the empire a few moments later. The fire seemed to be in front of the giant, grey, stone made palace. Off to the right was a small temple built for the bright circle goddess Owlwen, was constructed using yellow thunder rock. 
To the left of the castle was a temple stretching higher and built more lavishly, was the temple for the night circle goddess Selene. It was constructed using only the finest water stones we could find. Above the entrance was of obsidian rock in the form of a croissant moon. 

The drumming seemed to be coming from in front of the castle indicating that we were nearly late for the ceremony. Rushing off to join the ranks of my brothers and friends of various colors, we made it just in time for mother to start walking towards the fire. 
She was dressed in her most beautiful of dresses. It was a navy blue that complimented her black coat beautifully. Her mane was done up in the ceremonial style with many colored water stones here and there. 

“When each of us comes of a certain age, the goddesses of the bright circle and the night circle, bestow upon us a gift. A gift of a crystal, that help us through our daily struggles. Some of us use these rocks for strength, some of use them for knowledge, and others beauty.” Mother says as she hoofs her mane. She then looks my way. “Ackycha, you have finally reached that age. I have been to the clearing where the circles shine the brightest, and the goddesses have bestowed upon me your crystal.” She picks up a package that was near the fire. “Welcome to the age of Stallion-hood Ackycha.”

With that she opened that pack, seemingly for the first time, as she was having trouble unwrapping it. She finally got it, and started to unbound the package. I lowered my head down ready to receive my stone necklace. 

“This isn’t possible,” she muttered softly.

‘That doesn’t sound good’ I thought as I looked up. I saw her staring in shock of what she had in her hooves. Instead of the normal water crystal, there lying in the brown blanket laid a crystal of fire. The outside was an orange, while the inside danced with what looked like a live fire. ‘Is this some kind of trick?’

She snapped out of the shock of the fire stone and continued with the ceremony.

“It seems that the goddess of the bright circle have graced young Ackycha with a stone of frozen fire.” Mother said as she held the necklace for all to see. 

Placing it around my neck I felt a strange sensation. I started when my insides started to warm.It started as if I was sitting in warm water. As the sensation kept going, the heat gradually increased.

“Ackycha, you must connect your soul to the stone or it will overtake you.” Mother whispered into my ears.

I fell to the ground in writhing pain, as the heat became too much. I felt darkness enter my vision as I closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes the darkness was gone, so was the world I knew. I was now in a world of snow white colored light. As I turned around I saw a raging fire emanating from the firestone. As I trotted closer to it I could feel the heat. The heat from the fire seemed to double in intensity as I trotted closer.  It felt as if I was in a fire pit. As I went to grab for the necklace, the flames increased in size. I was hesitant when I went to grab for the necklace again. I reached in as the fires flame engulfed my hoof. As I touched the necklace, my vision once again turned black. Blinking, I saw that I have returned to the world I knew once more.