The Princess that Equestria Always Had

by rillegas08


14: Kindling and a Spark

The freshly-fallen snow crunched under Twilight's hooves as she followed the hoofprints of the others toward the cave that had been discovered at the foot of the mountain range. The temperature dropping and the wind blew faster, chilling her haunches as if the cloak being pressed against her body wasn't there, and forcing her to shield her face with her hoof. She entered the cave, and a sudden gust lasting several seconds followed her in, causing the five other ponies to shield themselves as well, and blowing her cloak and mane around. She shivered and stamped the snow out of her frogs before passing between the two earth ponies and the two pegasi toward the gray princess.

The entrance of the cave, about as high as an apple tree, curved around sharply before opening into a large, dome-like cavern. The curve of the entrance protected the cavern from the wind and snow, shielding the ponies inside from the unusual weather. Twilight guessed the dome was about the same size as the the throne room in her crystalline castle. On the side opposite the entrance was a smaller opening: a tunnel, which led only to darkness. Princess Platinum was standing firmly near the opening, facing the other tribes, as if defending the only escape route.

"You took your sweet time coming here, Clover," said Princess Platinum to her adviser. "I, on the other hoof, was the first one inside."

"Why are you all the way back here, Your Highness?"

"I took up a position farthest from the entrance so I wouldn't have to deal with the elements. Of course, that also means that the only means of escaping those ruffians is down this dark tunnel, which may end after a few steps or may lead to deadly fall down an unseen cliff." The gray princess sighed. "I'm no longer positive it was a good decision."

"I see."

Twilight backed up against the wall and laid down, tucking her legs under her torso. Her eyes and ears focusing on each of the other five ponies in turn. Each tribe was about the same distance from each other, and each pony stood, sat, or lay by the cavern wall. Nopony spoke, so the cave only echoed the howls of the storm outside. On the cave's floor, Twilight could see that the dirt on the cavern floor had been disturbed; perhaps there had been a territorial scuffle before she'd arrived.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight hadn't realized that she'd closed her eyes, but when she did, she found that her head was resting on the cavern floor. She held back a yawn and, looking up, saw Commander Hurricane walking toward her and Princess Platinum.

"Stop right there!" Princess Platinum stepped in front of Twilight, standing firmly in place.

"What is it, Princess?"

"One step more and you'll be trespassing on the part of the cave that belongs to Unicornia, Commander Hothead."

"It's Commander Hurricane," he corrected, "and I see no line. Besides," he continued, "I was getting bored, and I noticed this dark tunnel just begging to be explored."

"Ooh, that was a good rhyme!" While the unicorn and pegasus leaders had been talking, Chancellor Puddinghead had also approached them. "Do you do that all the time?"

The stallion chose not to look to the earth mare. "I try not to make such foolishness a habit."

"Or perhaps his wit isn't as quick as a rabbit," Smart Cookie said, stepping up beside her friend. Puddinghead giggled. "Come on now, Chancellor, let's stop botherin' the stallion."

"Otherwise he'll be a rapscallion?"

"Well, sure, that rhymes. Just didn't want to cross the line from having fun to making fun of somepony. That's a bit close for my comfort."

The blue pegasus rubbed his hoof between his eyes. "Anyway, we'll be going. Come along, Private."

"Yes, sir, but... it's very dark." Though she appeared calm as she approached her senior officer, her fear of unknown dangers in the dark could be seen in her eyes.

"Before you go in there," Twilight began, rummaging through her saddlebag before levitating a gem out of it. She held it to her horn and cast a light-emitting spell into the gem before giving it to the yellow pegasus as she passed. Princess Platinum frowned. The private took the stone in her teeth as it started glowing. "Take this. No point in going very far if you can't see, after all."

"Thank you, Clover."

"Clover," the gray unicorn said to her assistant after the two pegasi had disappeared into the darkness, the light from the gem swallowed by the darkness. There was a pause.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"You just helped the enemy! Why did you do that?" The princess was practically fuming.

"Several reasons, Princess." Twilight stood and faced the unicorn. "For one thing, like I said, there's no point exploring a dark place if you can't see anything. For another thing, we're in a foreign land. Nopony knows what dangerous creatures may lurk in there, or whether there'll be sudden cliffs leading to bottomless chasms. Third, it's politically advantageous for unicorns."

"What do you mean?"

"Just last week, we were being accused of not earning sunlight or food because nopony thought we were doing enough to earn it. Admittedly, above ground with little else to do, that's probably accurate. However, down here, pegasi are at a huge disadvantage. Even if there are large open spaces, most caverns don't have enough room to fly about. Even earth ponies might have a slight advantage even without a source of light; some can detect different densities of stone and earth."

"The chancellor can do that," Smart Cookie mentioned. The two earth ponies had started listening in, but Twilight continued.

"Down here, unicorns who are capable of illumination spells have a big advantage. We can see how big caverns are without flying around. We can see whether or not there's a cliff we can fall over or if a ledge is unstable. This is as good an opportunity as any other to prove to the other tribes that we belong."

"Do you think you can lend us one of those gems?" Smart Cookie asked, having approached the two unicorn representatives.

"You're getting curious about the tunnel too, aren't you?" asked the gray princess.

"I'd be lyin' if I said no, Your Highness."

Princess Platinum hesitated, then levitated a gemstone out of Twilight's saddlebag. "Clover, could you cast a spell on this? I... I don't know any illumination spells."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Twilight smiled, and touched her glowing horn to the stone before her. When she pulled her horn away, Princess Platinum levitated it over to the tan mare, who held it in her teeth.

"Fhank ya conley. Come ong, Shanshur." Soon, the two earth ponies also disappeared into the darkness.

"Clover," spoke Princess Platinum after several moments of silence, softer than before. "Despite the political ramifications, it's not why I gave them one of our gems. Why did I do that?"

"A little generosity can go a long, long way, Your Highness. Come on," Twilight continued as she started walking into the tunnel, her horn already glowing with an illumination spell, "let's make sure they don't hurt themselves in there."

Unknown to any of the six ponies, frost had been building up at the apex of the dome and was now traveling down the sides toward the tunnel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Shine that light over here, Private."

Standing behind him, the yellow pegasus held up her hoof to her mouth, dropping the gem from her teeth into her frog. She pointed it to their right, the direction that the commander had indicated. The light illuminated several yards past them. Ahead of the two pegasi, the floor of the tunnel they'd been walking on inclined sharply. To their right, the tunnel widened for a few feet before culminating in another wall.

"Darn," he snorted, stamping his hoof on the cavern floor, "that felt like it widened up more than that."

"Guess we'll just have to go up then," said a familiar and cheery voice behind them.

"Please tell me that's not the Chancellor." Hurricane looked behind him, finding the tan and the cream-colored earth mares standing behind him. Smart Cookie held a similar light-infused gem in her teeth that Private Pansy held in her hoof. The stallion frowned.

"It's not me!" said the Chancellor with a smile.

Commander Hurricane groaned, pressing his hoof against his forehead. "Why must the figurehead of the earth nation be such a mare-child?!"

Puddinghead's smile disappeared, and she stepped forward, facing the Commander. "I know what my people call me behind my back. Foolish, stupid, immature, and yes, mare-child. And yes, I do have a lot of fun while Smart Cookie takes care of the paperwork and most of the boring stuff. We may not be the best leaders of our tribe, but what we do works! I could never be as no-nonsense or stiff as you are, Commander. Smart Cookie and I play a game where we poke fun at each others' names. We do that because we've been friends since we were fillies, but when you call me Chancellor Pinhead, there's no fun in it! It's just mean!"

Puddinghead closed her mouth and looked down at her chest. Smart Cookie had stepped to Puddinghead's side, placing her hoof on her friend's chest as she spoke. Meanwhile, Twilight and Princess Platinum had walked up behind the earth mares. Puddinghead stepped back and sat down on the floor, closing her eyes. Smart Cookie placed the shining gem in her frog and turned to the stallion.

"Commander, I understand any faults you may find with the chancellor. I've seen them since we were fillies, and other earth ponies see the few faults that show up when she makes speeches or attends public events. But you gotta figure out how to work around somepony's faults to find their strengths!"

Hurricane didn't respond. After a second or two, Private Pansy's mouth widened slightly and she looked at her commander. While his face remained stoic, they had both thought of his confession several weeks before where he'd revealed that he'd done just that with his adviser. Meanwhile, Twilight and Princess Platinum had come up behind the earth mares.

"Is everything all right here?"

"Uh, yes, Clover, thank you," replied the blue stallion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn't long before the tunnel widened up into a vast, seemingly endless expanse, filled only with darkness. Private Pansy and Smart Cookie shined their lighted gems around, but could only see the floor and the walls next to the tunnel they had just exited.

"Can't those stones shine any farther?"

"My apologies, Chancellor," Twilight replied. "I didn't anticipate such large rooms like this, so I didn't put too powerful a spell on the stones." Twilight braced herself, and her horn started glowing brighter and brighter. "You might want to look away. This is going to be very bright." Finally a ball of light shot from her horn, arcing into the expanse. Suddenly it burst, acting like a miniature sun as it illuminated a very large chamber.

The six ponies gazed about the vast chamber, speechless. Stalactites spotted the ceiling, and stalagmites littered the cavern floor beneath them. Some had grown so large that they'd merged into pillars spanning the height of the cavern, with diameters ranging from a few inches to the length of a pony's barrel.

"Wow..." Princess Platinum was the first to break the silence.

"I know, right?" replied Chancellor Puddinghead. "This place is massive!"

"What?" Platinum turned her head to the earth mare. "Oh, yes. Massive." She turned her head back to the spot on the ceiling she'd just been looking at, just above the top of the tallest pillar. It was a spot she was sure glittered more than the calcium carbonate the cave was made of.

"It's a little cluttered, but maneuvering around those pillars shouldn't be a problem for us if we wanted to stretch our wings for a bit, Private."

"Agreed, Sir."

"While you're stretching your wings," Twilight interrupted, "can you see if there are any paths out of here?"

The pegasus commander nodded, and he and his yellow-coated adviser took off, flying around the cavern. At the same time, Princess Platinum started walking toward the spot on the ceiling she'd been staring at. Smart Cookie stepped up next to Twilight.

"You're not plannin' on splittin' up, are you?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not at all. It's just that the storm outside didn't show signs of letting up anytime soon, so we might as well explore the whole cave while we're stuck in here."

For a moment, Smart Cookie was quiet. "You know, Clover," she finally said, "sometimes I think you may be the smartest of all of us. I'm gonna stretch my legs a bit as well."

Twilight nodded and searched the cavern for the unicorn princess. It didn't take long, since most of the chamber was wide open, the pillars being the only obstructions, and soon Twilight was by the mare's side.

Princess Platinum was still looking up at a part of the ceiling at the top of the widest pillar, and Twilight followed her gaze.

"Clover, can you tell me what you see up there?"

"I see... something glittering more than the rest of the stone in this cave, and in more colors. And in the middle is just a dark hole."

"Mhm. Do you think it goes somewhere?"

Twilight looked again, this time focusing on the dark hole. "It's difficult to say for sure, Your Highness. I don't see any light at the top, or if it even makes a turn anywhere. However, it looks like there's been some water dripping down for ages that caused the stone to erode. See how the edge of the hole butts up against a wider part of the top of the pillar?" The princess nodded. "With a pillar this size, there has to have been an enormous amount of water trickling down for a very long time." Twilight recalled from her youth the waterfalls that cascaded down Mount Canterlot.

Commander Hurricane landed near the horned mares, a slight grin on . "Let me guess, you probably wish you could fly up there about now, right?"

"Flying would be helpful," replied Twilight, suddenly feeling her wings held against her body by the rope, "though it's hard to say if anypony can actually fit in that hole to find out."

"What if you launch another light spell straight up?" he asked.

"Hmm, that could work." Twilight's horn glowed, and she aimed the tip into the hole. Princess Platinum and Commander Hurricane looked away, and suddenly the chamber was once again filled with light, almost blindingly bright when added to the already existing light. The light traveled up the hole, reflecting colored light off a myriad of gems as it went. Once the spell hit the apex of its trajectory, it burst, but showed little. The hole was just too long for the light to reach an opening.

"It looked like the hole was filled with jewels!" Princess Platinum could barely contain her excitement, and her hooves stepped lightly in place.

Commander Hurricane chuckled. "Ah, mares; is there anything shiny you won't fawn over?" Princess Platinum stopped dancing and stared at the commander.

"Your armor," she retorted. "It's too gaudy."

"Well," the stallion stumbled over his words, "this suit of armor isn't supposed to look good. We have other armor, that is, separate sets which are always kept polished exist for formal events. Formal events and public appearances..." The two mares continued to stare at him. "Anyway, Private Pansy and I discovered another tunnel. It's over this way."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like the previous tunnel, this tunnel led upward, and also led into a large chamber. The caverns were little more than a series of tunnels and rooms of various sizes, many of them with various numbers of jewels embedded in the walls. In some chambers, Chancellor Puddinghead tapped the walls until she found a spot that was more hollow than the others, and then Twilight would blast a path through. In others, they would have to go back the way they came, sometimes several chambers back, in order to find a different path. Hours passed, and eventually the six found their way into the final chamber in the cave system.

Chancellor tapped her way around the edge of the chamber, returning to where she started, unsuccessful. "I can't find a way out of this one."

"Well, darn," Smart Cookie replied. "Looks like there's only the one way into and out of this whole cave."

"Ladies, we'll have to double back all the way to the bottom again."

"And just who put you in charge?" Princess Platinum stood firmly, glaring at the stallion.

"Nopony. Why, were going to suggest something else?" The gray unicorn stammered. Commander Hurricane harrumphed. "That's what I thought." He turned and led the way out of the chamber. Private Pansy, after a moment's hesitation, followed after him as the earth and unicorn mares remained in the room.

"I think the Commander is getting frustrated," Twilight said.

"We've been wanderin' around these caves for hours, Clover. Aren't you a bit restless?"

"Well, yes, but those two especially. There haven't really been any rooms big enough for proper wing exercise for a while."

"Oh, come now, Clover," Platinum smiled. "It's not like wings have a mind of their own."

They kind of do, actually.

Suddenly they heard Hurricane's voice echoing down the tunnel they'd left not long ago. "Everypony, get down here!"

Princess Platinum stormed to the tunnel and shouted into it. "I'll come down when I'm good and ready, Commander!" She huffed and turned away. "That stallion should not be bossing me around!"

"Because you're royalty?" asked Puddinghead.

"Of course it is, Chancellor."

Private Pansy appeared in the tunnel. "Commander Hurricane can be rude sometimes. I've calmed him down for the moment. You all really should come down; you won't like what you're going to see." Pansy's face wore a worried expression, and the other four mares' followed suit. The followed the yellow pegasus in silence, and soon stood with him.

What they saw left them speechless. Not fifteen minutes earlier, the chamber they'd passed through was a normal cavern: stalactites, stalagmites, stone. Now, almost half the room was covered in white frost, centered around their original entry point. Where before the cavern's air was warm and stagnant, disturbed only by the sounds of dripping water, there was now a cool breeze emanating from the tunnel, and any sounds of water had ceased.

"How is this possible?" asked Chancellor Puddinghead. "We're so far from where we came into this cave system that that shouldn't be happening!"

"And yet it is," replied the commander. "Since there was no weather to control inside the cave, we pegasi couldn't possibly have anything to do with it. Unicorns, on the other hoof..."

"You'd better not finish that sentence, Commander. I'll have you know that my knowledge of magic does not include weather manipulation, and Clover's been too busy providing us with light to bother using such a spell."

"Not to worry, Highness. I was never going to finish my sentence. I knew you'd finish it for me."

"Commander, Princess, we should go back," said Twilight, stepping around the princess and in front of them. "That frost is not retreating any time soon, and I'm sure none of us want to be surrounded by it right now."

"Right as usual, Clover. Come along, everypony; let us retreat to the last chamber. That frost looks too close to that other tunnel, and we might not make it across the room in time." Princess Platinum turned, leading the small herd back into the room they'd just come from.

"Princess," asked the leader of the earth ponies once they'd entered the room once again. "Something just occurred to me... who put you in charge?"

Platinum stopped and stared at Puddinghead."As the only one among us with royal blood --"

"I'm not so sure about that, actually," he interrupted. "Who in your family's past decided your family deserved to be placed above everypony else?"

Princess Platinum scoffed, offended and speechless.

"He kinda has a point," Puddinghead said. "My people chose me to lead them, and I'd imagine the commander earned his position."

As the three leaders spoke, the air grew cold around them. As Twilight watched the entrance, the frost had continued to grow towards the group, and it seemed to be growing faster than before with every unkind and mean-spirited word. Twilight pulled Smart Cookie and Private Pansy to the side, away from their superiors, who had now started bickering.

"What's going on, Clover?" asked the yellow mare as they backed away from their leaders.

"You mean aside from our superiors arguing as usual?"

"Look at the entrance, girls." They did, and they gasped when they saw the encroaching frost gathering at the hooves of their leaders. "Come on, girls. We'll have to just wait this out."

"But what about them?" Private Pansy asked, indicating their leaders.

"They're arguing too much to realize what's going on. I'm afraid they'll freeze over before they do."

Sure enough, the ice was traveling up the legs of the chancellor, the princess, and the commander, and none of them noticed. By now, their arguing had evolved into hurtling insults at each other. The cold wind swirled around the room, blowing the ponies' manes and tails about. A loud howl blew with the wind, its echos swallowed by the wind.

"How can there be a storm inside a cave?" Smart Cookie shouted out over the din.

"Because this storm isn't natural!" shouted Twilight in return. Though she was sure what she was going to see, she looked up anyway to remove any doubt. Sure enough, three windigos were circling above the six ponies in a higher portion of the chamber. "Look up!"

Cookie and Pansy gasped when they saw the trio of ethereal creatures above them. The three advisers huddled closer to each other, the frost inching ever closer to them as the windigos continued to howl.

"What are those things?" asked Private Pansy.

"They're windigos! Star Swirl told me all he knew about them!"

"What are they doin' here?"

"Windigos are winter spirits that feed off negative energy like fighting and hatred, turning that negative energy into a strong winter storm! The more hate the spirit feels, the colder things become!"

"In other words, they found an all-you-can-eat buffet when they discovered our quarrelin' tribes! This is all our fault!"

"Exactly!" replied Twilight. "Our hate caused the blizzard across our nations to our homes, and everypony blaming each other only made things worse!"

"And now it's destroyin' this land, too! All because we were foolish enough to keep hatin' each other!"

There was a pause, and the ice grew closer to the three, who huddled closer, keeping Twilight pressed in between them. One of the windigos looked down at them and roared.

"I don't hate you," Pansy said. "In fact, I actually like you guys more than I like Commander Hurricane."

Smart Cookie chuckled. "Well, then that makes too of us. I don't hate you either."

"Nor do I."

"No matter what our differences," Smart Cookie finally said as the ice reached their hooves, "we're all ponies."

"Is this it for us? Are we all just going to die, with nopony at home knowing we became friends?"

"No, Pansy," Twilight replied. "As unbelievable as it may sound, we'll all survive. I think I know how to stop them. Close your eyes, girls," Twilight told them as the ice wrapped around their torsos, and they did. Twilight could feel something like small spikes poking into her legs and sides, and could see her two friends wince as they no doubt felt the same cold grip. "Imagine what our new nation will be like."

The ice climbed and tightened around their bodies as the earth and pegasus mares tossed out ideas: wide, sweeping fields of flowers, grasses, trees, and all types of fruits and vegetables; quaint, simple towns and large extravagant cities; and many more ideas.

"Do you really think we'll get to see all that, Clover? Ouch!" Private Pansy asked as some ice poked into her earlobe.

"All that and more, girls."

"The ice is gettin' really close, Clover. Are you going to do what you were planning soon?"

Twilight would have responded, but she saw the ice enclose around the earth mare's muzzle, and soon both of her friends were completely encase in ice. She looked up at the circling windigos, a determined look on her face. "I know you think you've won, but you won't. I know how this ends!" She aimed her horn toward the center of the chamber as all three windigos roared at her, and closed her eyes as the ice enclosed her head.

Inside the ice, Twilight could only hear the muted sounds of the windigos' blizzard and the amplified sounds of her and her friends' beating hearts.

All right, Twilight, think. What spell can I use to dispel the windigos? In the story, it seemed like the magic spontaneously came out of Clo -- out of me just as the ice covered my horn. But what about the Fire of Friendship? I don't know any spells that can do what that did, other than the one taught to unicorn foals for Hearth's Warming pageants, but that's just for show and doesn't give off any heat. Maybe if I think of the Elements of Harmony while I cast it? That could work; after all, friendship is the most powerful magic in Equestria. and it worked in the alternate universe to bring back the Elements of Harmony. The ice covers Twilight's horn. "I'll just have to use a heat spell to melt the ice around my horn first. I bet that could provide the heat for the Fire of Friendship as well."

Twilight thought of her friends as horn glowed with the magic of a heat spell, which eventually melted enough ice to surround her horn with a pocket of the cold air of the cave. She thought of her fondest memories of her friends, memories that showed the six of them proving themselves worthy of being the Element Bearers, and casted the Fire of Friendship spell alongside the heat spell.

Although she knew what would happen next, she could not have predicted how quickly and how violently it would happen. Without warning, and without resistance, as if the ice hadn't been there, her eyelids shot open and all she saw was a bright light, much like when she and her friends first activated the Elements of Harmony to free Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon's clutches. Suddenly, the ice shattered, bursting apart like a balloon filled too full, and the three advisers were freed from the ice's grasp . Private Pansy and Smart Cookie were pushed to the side, and Pansy hurried over to Smart Cookie. They stepped back, watching their friend and comrade as strong magic surrounded her. Twilight started hovering above the cave's floor. Above them, the windigos screeched, as if in pain, and clawed at the ice at the cave's entrance to escape.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next thing Twilight remembered was waking up on the cave floor, the cave bright and warm from the Fire of Friendship. She also remembered having a headache. She'd only cast two spells; she'd cast up to four spells at once before, but creating the Fire of Friendship must have drained a lot of her stamina and caused enormous strain on her.

"Ow, my head..."

"Are you all right?" asked Pansy, who was still standing behind Cookie. "And what was that?"

"I think I'll be fine." Twilight rubbed her head. "That's the Fire of Friendship, a very powerful magic that takes a lot of energy."

"I didn't know unicorns could do that," said Smart Cookie. "Even Star Swirl hasn't been known to do somethin' like that."

"Nothing like this has ever happened before," Twilight responded. "I don't think any unicorn will ever be able to match it, either."

"Uh-huh. You're not a unicorn, though, are you? Clover," she paused as she pointed her hoof at Twilight's torso, "why do you have wings?". Twilight followed where Cookie's was pointing. Twilight saw that her cloak had been tossed out of the way, and snapped bits of rope littered the cave floor around her, and sure enough, her wings were open, resting on the cavern floor.

Twilight closed her eyes again and let out a soft sigh. She had some explaining to do.