1029822
".... there's light coming in here... there." Pyre pointed to the wall.

"....so, what was that thing..?" She asked as she helped Sombra up.

1036112

"I think it was a magic restraint. How they managed to make such a small one is beyond me." Sombra said as he looked at the now visible wall seam.

Leaning his shoulder against it, he pushed as the revolving hinges created a loud speak. Inch by inch, the passage became more visible as he pushed.

1036173
".......hear anything out there?" Pyre asked. She was not interested in becoming a prisoner again.

1036484

"Not. Much. There we go," he answered through grunts of exertion. With the path finally open, he glanced in before signalling for Pyre to follow.

Entering the path himself, Sombra looked around in astonishment at the walls of the tunnel. The shape and way the crystal had been cut made it seem like they were walking under the ice of a glacier, if it wasn't such a mild temperature.

1036895
"Wow...." Pyre was lost for words at the intricately carved walls and floor. Light shimmered off them and bounced off each other in wondrous colors and hues.

"...Are we in the castle...?"

1037032

"Your guess is as good as mine, I only knew there was a passage that led into the castle." Sombra replied, happy to see his companion in such high spirits. The clop of their hooves was the only sound as they continued deeper.

1037310
The two walked through the tunnel for some time.

"Ugh.. okay.. I'm getting sick of walking..." Pyre decided to float on a smoke cloud now, lying on her back and looking bored.

103783

"If the walking is making your hooves sore, you can use my back." Sombra suggested, so caught up in his thoughts that he forgot to whom he was speaking to.

Luckily for him, their trip had come to an end. Before them lay a wall with a carved door, just big enough for them. It took a single tug to discover that the door was indeed locked. There was no key in sight, but a small plaque sat to the side of the door.

In plain sight I hide, a window I be, locate the truth to find the key...

1038343
"......A riddle?" Pyre looked to Sombra. "So.. how do we open it?"

1055398
"Locate the truth to find the key...perhaps we could find the key," he said while tapping one of the door's designs. Looking at the door again, it was decorated with carvings of ponies, each with their backs turned to Sombra and Pyre. Near the top was a figure head, of some sort of unicorn deity, with only her head carved into the frame, and both her eyes shut.

"We could also try breaking through if need be."

1056874
" .........I don't like this door..." Pyre was looking more at the carvings and the looked at the deity, it turned into the Fire Alicorn to her for a second before she shook it off.

1061309
"Then we best unlock it quickly. Hopefully this will be the last obstacle we'll face... I would say eyes, but not a single one has their eyes showing..." Sombra said as he prodded the door. As Sombra busied himself, Pyre noticed something odd about the carvings after looking at the floor. The ponies were still turned from them, but the unicorn's eyes seemed to be half-open and peering up at them from the floor. Looking between the door and the reflection, she slowly noticed how the eyelids on the carving seemed further out on the door, almost like they were concealing something.

1062035
".................maybe this isn't the door?" Pyre looked around and then noticed some crevices in the floor.

"Sombra... look.." She showed him the crevices, " I think it's a trap door..."

1063008
(Like the new story, hoping to finish Shell Song's cutie mark in awhile. BTW a fellow artist took the drawing of Pyre and recreated it, are you interested in seeing?)

"It would seem so... should we open it?" Giving Pyre a curious look, he patted along the crevice for a hoofhold before his horn started to glow.

1064280
(Um... is this a question? Of COURSE!! PM me the link.)

"Um...Sombra? Your horn..?" Pyre pointed to it and watched as it glowed brighter.

1064983
(The artist's user is Akogare)

"Just.. trying...to lift," Sombra said between breathes. The black glow around his horn deepened as the heavy trapdoor started to budge, before a bolt of energy shot from his horn and made the door vanish.

Surprised, Sombra flailed wildly as he tried to recover his balance before falling into the hole. It sounded like somepony had dropped a sack of potatoes when the stallion crashed to the ground. Grunting as he turned to inspect his saddlebag. With a relieved sigh, when he noticed the puppet was still whole, he turned to the opening.

"I'm okay Pyre. The drop is only a few hooves." From above he heard the soft shuffling of hooves as Pyre milled around the trapdoor.

1069272
Pyre nodded and floated down with little flames on her hooves. "Great.. it's dark..." She so remedied that with a flame on her horn.

1071796
(Hope you liked the image )

Blinded by the sudden brightness, Sombra shielded his eyes with a foreleg so he could become accustomed to it.

With the extra light a large gathering of creatures, similar to the princesses, appeared in the light. They seemed unfazed as the eight remained facing the two unicorns, their eyes reflecting the dancing flame.

Sombra's gasped in surprise next to Pyre, frozen from shock.

1073859
(oh right, I did, very much)

".............." She was silent and her flame had shrunk to a tiny ember.

1073910
( I thought it was pretty cutesy, but it made me lol.)
With the dimmed light, the creatures were once again concealed with shadows. The room was quiet, except for the occasional breathing, as Sombra tentatively stepped towards the looming darkness.

1074091
Pyre followed him closely.

"........................."

1074140

Getting closer, the flame illuminated one of the creatures. It hadn't moved, and it wobbled slightly when Sombra gently nudged it.

"Stone...dolls?" Sure enough, the various joints on the creature's legs creaked as the life-size pony collapsed to the ground. It was pretty cool to watch, and surprising when it was stuck in a kneeling position.

1074220
Pyre exhaled, "Ahh... thank goodness..." She makes her flame bigger and brighter, fully illuminating the chamber.

"What are they?" Pyre looked at the statues with curiosity.

1074236

"Apparently somepony's idea of security... thinking about it now, these are pretty life-like comparison's to the eight alicorns." Moving down the column, Sombra finally stopped infront of a rather small alicorn with a poofy mane and a marionette for a cutiemark. "Euphoria was always the eccentric type, playing with any one she could, and giving out dolls to the orphans to play with."

1074374
"Huh? Alicorns? Like the Princesses and-" Pyre stopped herself. "....so.. there are more than the princesses?"

1074565

"...Yes?" The confusion was obvious on his face after answering, like Pyre had just told him cows lived in trees. He quickly dropped his gaze and shook his head to try concealing it, before walking around the puppets to a rickety old set of steps. They led to a circle outlined by light, what could only be imagined as a loose floor tile. "I'm guessing this is the way out then."

1077697
Pyre followed him to the steps, wondering about the look he had given her.

1078067

Careful to not make to much noise, Sombra gently lifted a corner of the tile for reconnaissance. Giving the all clear, he lifted himself out of the hole, before offering Pyre a hoof up.

1078357
Pyre followed quickly, eager to get away from the statues. "So.. now where are we?"

1078775

"well from he looks of it, an abandoned section of the castle. Now what should we do?" Sombra mused whilst pacing. "The guards know we're here somewhere, although I'd like to teach that scoundrel a lesson in a duel. We could also try escaping, but the tundra can be too dangerous for travel... Hmm? What to do, what to do..."

1079115
Pyre yawns, "Can't we rest... we've been moving so much.. and I..." She lies down and a blanket of fire covers her.

1079621
Having forgotten he no longer felt fatigue, Sombra slowly nodded his head.

"Yes. A rest would be a good idea," Sombra said before blushing slightly, "...is it alright if I join you?"

1083786
"....um... sure... * Pyre's horn glowed and the fire blanket grew to accommodate Sombra as well. It was warm and safe to touch.

1083874

Awkwardly kneeling down next to her, he laid his head down and closed his eyes. It didn't help that the world turned dark behind his closed eyelids, but the warmth of the mare's touch helped him empty his mind and slip into the stasis that was his sleep; a sleep of the dead.

1084550
Pyre slept calmly as the outside chaos ensued...
---------------------------------
"Sir.., we have found no trace of Sombra or Pyre..."

1084762

"Blast! If they attack from within the city, our response will take too long to ensure there is no colateral damage." Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Shining looked over the map of his new kingdom, one already experiencing two calamities since its reappearance. His eyes scanned each part of the map anxiously, hoping that the next report would bring him good news.

"Are the pegasi ready incase of a fire?"

1090737 Why hello there.

1091370

(do you intend to join, or just tear the semblance of a story line to shreds?)

1084762

1093369 Oh no. I was just saying hello.

1093379
(kay... hello then)

1093396
"Yes sir.., but I doubt we be able to contain her..."

1093437

"Damn!" Hitting the table in frustration, Shining tried very hard not to don his helm once again. It was bad enough he had to walk the streets of his kingdom with a platoon of guards to protect him, but now he wasn't even able to be on the front lines to protect it.

Just calm down Armor, your replacement does a fine job. Just take Cadence's advice and let them do. Their. Job... Gritting his teeth, Armor forced a smile as he looked back at the captain of the Crystal guard. "I understand. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and I , shall await your news. We will remain on standby until our strength is needed. Please keep our little ponies safe."

Seeing the captain salute so formally, a small piece of Shining died as he walked out of the room, knowing he was no longer expected to be directly involved with such events.

1093634
(So, Cadence is the captain? I'm sorry, it was just hard to understand...)

1094476
(Naw, he is only following her advice. He is a new inclusion to the royal family afterall, so he can't be captain of he guards anymore. I just used super proper English to say that Shining would be with Cadence, from Shining's POV )

1094717
(Okay)

Some guards came up to Shining.
"Sir?"

1106144

"Hmm?" Turning towards them, Shining waited as they went through the process of bowing before he motioned for them to rise. "What seems to be the trouble?" Am I too vulnerable to walk the inside of my own castle alone?

Keeping the snide thought to himself, Shining waited for a response.

1107645

"There's a... um.. somepony here to see you... he's waiting in the courtyard..."

1107822
Managing to conceal his confusion and curiosity, Shining thanked them for informing him. Striding past them, he tried to remember if anyone was suppose to meet him today.

Quickened by his curiosity Shining made it to the courtyard in record time, although he'd almost tripped over a maid along the way. Straghtening out his attire, impressions make the stallion afterall, his horn glowed to life as he pushed the courtyard doors open.

1109500
There were guard around the guest, who was covered in a thick hood.

"Sir. He came-"

"Allow me... " The hooded stallion came forward.

1110119

Eyeing the hooded pony, alarms went off in the back of Shining's mind. Unsure of why, he made sure to keep his distance from the stallion until he knew what to expect. It helped that two crystal ponies blocked the path with their halberds when the hooded pony started to get close.