//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Into the Depths 
// Story: Purpose of Harmony 
// by Rapthorn2ndform 
//------------------------------//

	The cave wound deep into the mountain. Luckily for the intrepid mares, the interior was a single long passage. The walls shimmered in the magical light, revealing all manner of precious gems. They walked for several hours, their hoofsteps echoing into the darkness. As they grew weary, they noticed alight at the end of the tunnel.  They rushed towards it, wondering if they might find the source of the powerful magic beyond.
They came to the end and noticed the light to fill the entire cavern as bright as daylight. They looked out seeing an entire city held within the walls of the cavern.  All around them were hundreds of carved buildings and roads extending out to the far wall several miles away. In the center stood a massive castle similar in design to the castle of the royal pony sisters in the Everfree Forest, only much larger. Also like sisters abandoned castle, the entire city had fallen into disrepair. Chunks had fallen from the castle towers destroying nearby building, roads cracked and mangled by strange subterranean plants, and once clear signs had faded to the point where one could only guess what the had originally said.
“Whoa, this place is huge” Rainbow said, her voice echoing back
“Yeah, ya could pro’ly fit everypony Canterlot in here” said Applejack in awe of the size of the city beneath the mountain.
“Even more, the buildings are much smaller and closer together and look” she pointed first to the massive piles of rubble at the edge of the wall, then up to where they would have fallen from “Judging by the distribution and shape of the stones, those were probably wall-mounted houses for pegasi running, the entire height of the wall, if it wasn’t so run-down, I could probably house most of Equestria!”
When she pointed up, she winced as if looking directly at the sun. It took her a moment to realize that, hovering at the top of the dome-shaped catacomb was a ball of fire giving off heat and light on par with the true sun. The group looked up in awe at the tiny sun, marveling at its beauty.
“Well, ah never would’a guessed that this places would have its own sun” said Applejack “that must a’ taken a lot o’ magic to make” 
“Yeah, I’m not even sure Princess Celestia could do something like that” responded Twilight “To get it so small but maintain the power, I couldn’t even begin to guess at how it was done.”
“Ooh, dank tunnels, strange magic, ruined cities, Dashie was right!” Pinkie shouted sending vibrations loud enough to send another portion of the weakened keep plummeting to the floor. The other three mares glared at her as she continued in a whisper “Sorry, but this IS just like Daring Doo.”
They continued in to the city, being careful to remain as quite as possible so they wouldn’t cause another collapse. However this proved more difficult for some than others, specifically Pinkie Pie. The group had determined after a second and third collapse that, for everypony’s safety, Pinkie need to have her mouth taped shut.
“Are we going the right way? Asked rainbow dash as they neared the town center “You haven’t done that detecting…thing in a while”
“I know, the magic is so strong now. I can feel it without the spell” explained Twilight “Good thing too. If I tried to detect now, the power would probably knock me out.”
“Jus’ think Twi” mused Applejack “This mornin’ we were jus’ sittin’ ‘round camp,” mused Applejack “and less than a day later, we’re in the middle of a ruined city that nopony knew existed. Won’t the princesses be surprised?”
“mah dah thahh thahh wahh” Pinkie Pie tried to say
“Pinkie, you can take off the tape if you promise to whisper” said Twilight
“I said ‘mah dah thahh thahh wahh’ which means” whispered Pinkie as she hopped to the front of the line and pointed around a corner “I don’t think they will.”
Pinkie pointed to a marble statue directly in front of the castle. I appeared to be of two young alicorns wearing armor similar to what Nightmare Moon had worn. When the approached, the mares were left speechless for the fourth time that day. The taller alicorn looked exactly like Princess Celestia only much younger, a young adult like Luna. Her breast plate appeared to have once been painted red, with the emblem of the sun matching her cutie mark.  The smaller was the spitting image of Nightmare Moon only, to what the mares could only guess, would be the alicorn equivalent to a young teenager. Beneath the statue was the first legible word they has scene sense entering the city, etched deep into the marble was the word ‘Saviors’.
“Well…ah guess they would know about this city than” stated Applejack, eyes wide to take in the beauty of the statue.
“Hey girls, take a look at this” Rainbow said, pointing at the base at the back of the statue “this seems weird”
“You’re re right, it looks like there was a third figure standing with them when this statue was fist made.” said Twilight running her hoof across the abnormally rough patch. “This part was broken off later. Strange. Why would the ponies break a statue dedicated to their ‘saviors’?”
“Huh? No, I was pointing out that this statue could move” Rainbow dash grunted as she slid the statue to the side, revealing yet another dark passage.
“Amazing Rainbow” complimented Twilight “Pinkie was right; this really does feel like something straight out of Daring Doo”
Rainbow opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by the faint sound of metal against metal. They paused to listen, and heard it again. The repeated clang echoed up from the newly revealed corridor. The same clang, over and over, every few seconds, almost in rhythm. The group shuttered to think what could be making those sounds.
“Well…who wants to go first?” Asked Rainbow Dash, grinning nervously “We could draw straws, or …
“N…Now wait a second sugar cube, we don’ even know if that’s the right way” interrupted Applejack, clearly shaken by the new sound “We may not need ta go down there, ain’t that right Twi?”
“I wish it was” sighed Twilight “But the magic is definitely coming from below. I’ll go first, but stay quite; we don’t know what’s down there. It may not be friendly”
The three mares nodded and followed Twilight, once again, into the darkness.  While the previous cave had looked to be naturally occurring, this one had stairs and smooth walls. It appeared that these walls were in far better condition than the city above. 
The girls had completely lost track of time. With no sun or moon to guide for reference, they couldn’t tell how much time had passed from the time they entered. As they trudged down the stairs, the clanging noise echoed louder and louder. They tried to stop and rest, but the incessant clang made it impossible for them to relax. They silently agreed to continue.
Deeper and deeper, the stairs seemed to continue into the depths of Tartarus. It was now getting warmer and warmer with each step. The heat was becoming unbearable, but they continued on.
Just when they thought they couldn’t take another step, they reached the bottom of the stairs. A large door, about thee ponies tall with a large window into the next room, stood at the back of the chamber. The room beyond the door gave off enough light for the four girls to see without Twilight’s magic. The clanging was coming from the next room.
“Well…” whispered Twilight nervously “I suppose we should go in”
“Right” said Applejack in an equally hushed voice “no matter what happens, we stick together”
“Yeah, no pony left behind” said Rainbow with a weak grin 
Pinkie responded by pulling them all into a group hug.
“Rainbow, could you fly up and peek in the window?” asked Twilight “I’d like to get an idea of what’s in there before we barge right in”
Rainbow hovered below the window, peering through. The room was lit by a huge fire taking up the entire back half of the room. Hundreds of swords and sets of armor adorned the walls, ranging from plain blades to gem-encrusted plate mail. But the first thing to catch her eye was hanging on the right wall a few feat from the roaring inferno, a purple star shaped gem mounted on a golden tiara. There it was, the Element of magic. 
Rainbow Dash was about to rush through the door, when she saw the source of the horrifying clang. She saw right next to the fire, a unicorn stallion smashing a hammer against something on an anvil. His shear size made Big Macintosh look tiny by comparison. His deep green mane and tail were pulled back but other wise looked completely untended. His pale green coat set him in contrast to the mostly red glow of the room. Rainbow could just make out his cutie mark, a glowing red sword resting on an anvil.
As Rainbow explained the room to her friends, the striking of the stallion’s hammer ceased. They stared at the door in silence as an explosion of het black light radiated through the window. Rainbow looked back to see the fire at the far side of the room had shrunk considerably, now only the size of a large campfire. The green stallion had put down his hammer and covered his work in what looked like a metal blanket. He turned and let out a long yawn, then walked to an adjoining room, shutting the door behind him.
“Now’s our chance” Rainbow whispered with a smile “he left the room”
“Right” Twilight nodded as the pushed open the door and rushed towards the Element as quickly as possible.
They could now see that “hundreds” did not even begin to count the items adorning the walls. Every weapon imaginable had it’s own section on the wall, swords, bows, axes, spears, daggers, maces, flails, spiked chains, pole-arms, war hammers, all ranging from tiny blades barely the size of a tooth pick  to large enough to be held by a full grown dragon. The armor sets to, were strange, most pony-shaped, some griffon and dragon, others particularly strange having an upright body and four legs but the top two came no where near the ground. If she had not been so focused on the Element, she would wonder what sort of monstrosity would fit into such armor. But no she made a b-line for her tiara as her friends watched the other door.
Rainbow reached a hoof out to pull the metal sheet from the anvil. She wondered what new work the unicorn could have been making. But before her curiosity could be satisfied, Twilight had the Element and motioned for them to leave. With one last glace back, Rainbow followed the others out of the room, closing the door behind them.
They galloped up the stairs nonstop for nearly an hour before they stopped to catch their breath. Exhausted, they collapsed into a fit of giggles on the stairs.
“That was INSANE” chucked Rainbow, being sure to keep her voice low so not to cause an echo “I can’t believe, after all that stress, we got the Element back so easily.”
“Yeah, he totally looked like ‘boss fight’ material” squealed pinkie “but he was probably, like ten levels higher than us sooo…yeah, fighting him probably woulda’ been bad.”
“If’n that means he was tough” said Applejack with a nod “Ah hav’ta agrees. I’m no push over, but that stallion was bigger that mah’ brother, I don’ think we could’a taken him without the other five elements and the rest o’ the group”
“Yeah, especially sense the magic I was picking up on wasn’t the Element” said Twilight, gazing at the look of shock on her friends faces “What ever that magic was, it vanished after that black light. I’d be willing to guess that the thing he was working on, was what was giving it off and when he finished, it stopped.”
“Very clever spellthief,” Said a deep voice from behind them. Twilight winced as her saddlebags were ripped from her back. The group turned to see the giant unicorn towering over the mares as he glared. The group shrunk back in fear at the anger on his face. He continued in the same tone as before “but what, pray tell, was your plan if you had met resistance? Oh please do tell,” a dark grin contorted his face “I’m DYING to know”