The Phoenix King

by Turtlehaus

Chapter 31: The Great & Powerful

Sir Lancaster was drawing a continuous line across several pieces of parchment, as if tracing a reoccurring theme across the lot of them. Glancing up, Sir Lancaster could see Queen Chrysalis resting upon the stone chair she had constructed; glaring at him with anticipation.

"Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick…" Queen Chrysalis taunted him; imitating the sound of a clock.

This shook Sir Lancaster something awful, it felt like lead weight in his stomach, knowing that the Queen would make good on her promise of harming the others if he failed to deliver. Drawing his eyes from her, Sir Lancaster's hoof shook with anxiety trying his best to finish.

"Have you come up with a plan, Pinkie?" Rarity whispered to her; knowing that their hour was nearly up.

"We must wait for the precise moment, Rarity, Sir Lancaster has already offered us the window of opportunity; we merely need to take advantage of it." Pinkie whispered back; seeming rather confident about it.

"What do you mean? What has Sir Lancaster done?" Rarity asked in a hushed voice.

"He's changed something, a small detail, I'm not sure what, but it will most likely be our only chance to get out of here." Pinkie Pie hissed in anticipation as the hour grew nearer.

---

Trixie and the Duke stepped into a clearing of the woods. A large mound of earth, decorated with a stone archway, presented to them with a tunnel in which they could enter. There was no sign of any Changelings lurking about, leaving them to walk right in, but Trixie was rather nervous to go in. Trixie watched the Duke, in his unfitted mask, already making his way towards the entrance. Upon reaching the threshold of the arch, the Duke turned back to see Trixie still standing a few feet away.

"You coming?" The Duke asked curiously.

"I… I… I'm not one for these sort of… heroic things. I'm just a magician. I preform simple tricks; I've never had to save any pony from an evil Queen." Trixie confessed, sounding rather scared.

"Being heroic has nothing to do with being ready; it's about being able to do what's right when a choice is laid before you. That's what makes you brave, that's what makes you a hero, being able to do what's right in the face of something that is wrong." The Duke said to her.

Trixie was still very much afraid, although the Duke's words did impact her. It was similar to what she had said earlier, but more profound, as if he had told this sort of thing to many ponies over the years. Nodding her head, Trixie approached the archway, walking with the Duke down into the tunnel.

---

"Your hour is up, Sir Lancaster, have you figured out how to open the portal to the Void?" Queen Chrysalis asked curiously; rising from her chair.

Gathering up his research, Sir Lancaster got to his hooves, approaching her slowly; looking very nervous.

"I-I-I… have." Sir Lancaster stuttered, sounding very frightened.

"Funny." Queen Chrysalis said sarcastically; pretending to look surprised while looking about the cave. "I don't see a portal anywhere, do you?"

"Y-y-you see, the portal needs a-a-a-a catalyst, something that powers it to have it work." Sir Lancaster began to explain fumbling with his research.

"It sounds like an excuse, Lancaster." Queen Chrysalis replied coldly; her horn glowing menacingly.

"It's the truth, Chrysalis! The Obelisks in the Ashen Fields needed the flames of the King to open the portal!" Rarity shouted; worried for Sir Lancaster's safety.

Queen Chrysalis's mood soured more, it did seem plausible to her, the two red Obelisks themselves had done nothing on their own; meaning that there was something needed for this to work.

"Have you figured out this 'catalyst' that is required to open the portal?" Queen Chrysalis hissed in displeasure.

"The-the-the portal requires sunlight to activate." Sir Lancaster stammered laying out his research in front of her.

"Do you take me for a fool, Lancaster?" Queen Chrysalis asked angrily stepping upon his research; watching him back away from her. "You believe I would be foolish enough to expose these eye soars to all of Equestria? The immense glow of these Obelisks would draw every eye from Trottingham!"

"B-B-B-But that is the reason they buried it! In a dark secluded place! To ensure that no sunlight would ever reach it!" Sir Lancaster shouted back, cowering before her.

Queen Chrysalis lifted her hoof off one of the pieces of parchment, her magic lifting it to her face, the rest of Sir Lancaster's research soon floated up as well. Glancing over his findings, the patterns in which spoke of dates, times, positions of the sun, and even an old symbol that depicted the celestial calendar of the sun and moon.

"The sun will be setting soon…" Queen Chrysalis remarked sounding annoyed.

"The Flame Pony King is, in essence, a power source, quite possibly the Obelisks in the fields were modeled after these. Replacing the sun, for a Flame Pony's fire." Sir Lancaster offered her.

"Pinkie Pie, I fail to see how Sir Lancaster has provided us with any sort of window of opportunity." Rarity hissed to her; starting to become very worried.

Pinkie Pie didn't respond. She was watching Queen Chrysalis intensely, trying to figure out what exactly Sir Lancaster had changed in his research. With Queen Chrysalis haphazardly tossing sheets of parchment away with her magic, after she was done reviewing it, Pinkie Pie noticed the parchment containing the symbol that Sir Lancaster had inverted. It was the celestial calendar. Pinkie Pie smiled wide.

"Rarity, get ready, we're busting out here." Pinkie Pie whispered to her.

"How? We're still shackled, Pinkie. Mine are even magic-proofed." Rarity whispered back, shaking her hooves to rattle the chains.

"Yours are, but mine aren't." Pinkie Pie whispered with a smile.

Queen Chrysalis tossed the remaining pages over her head; she looked rather annoyed by the amount of numbers and old pony text that Sir Lancaster had provided.

"You better be right, Lancaster, or I shall be paying a visit to your darling wife." Queen Chrysalis remarked threateningly.

Looking up towards Pinkie Pie and Rarity, Queen Chrysalis noticed two oddly shaped Changelings appearing at the mouth of the cave.

"What is it?" Queen Chrysalis asked aloud.

Pinkie Pie and Rarity turned to look behind them. Rarity gasped in horror at the incredibly low budget disguise, while Pinkie Pie used every ounce of will power to explode into a fit of laughter at the sight of them. The Duke and Trixie stood at the mouth of the cave, bathed in the red light of the Obelisks, stunned by the otherworldly nature of them.

"Speak!" Queen Chrysalis demanded.

"W-W-W-W-We…" Trixie began to stammer.

"There is a battalion of soldier ponies on the moor! They know we're here!" The Duke shouted, attempting to disguise his voice with a very poor imitation of the Changeling they met earlier.

"What's wrong with your voice? Are you sick or something?" Queen Chrysalis asked, looking rather confused.

"Puberty?" The Duke questioned his own logic.

"Are you asking or telling- you know what, never mind." Queen Chrysalis cut herself short; shaking her head of the thought.

"We… we… should escape while we can!" Trixie shouted, trying her best not to sound afraid.

"Escape? In my moment of triumph? I dare say that- wait… why are your heads so swollen?" Queen Chrysalis asked in surprise; having finally taken notice.

"We're… uh… we…" Trixie mumbled trying to remember their excuse.

"We're retaining water." The Duke replied beginning to sound annoyed with all the questions.

"You're what?" Queen Chrysalis asked looking surprised stepping towards them.

Queen Chrysalis was just stepping past Sir Lancaster, nearing the center of the space between the two Obelisks.

"Trixie now!" The Duke shouted suddenly.

The papier-mâché mask Trixie wore flew from her face, her horn brimming with magic, as her mask tumbled through the air. Dozens of smoke bombs appeared trailing from the mask, snaking its way across the cave, before touching the ground and exploding into huge thick clouds of smoke.

"What is the meaning of this?" Queen Chrysalis shouted angrily backing away from the smoke.

"Now's our chance, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie shouted holding out her shackles.

With a sudden blast of magic from Rarity's horn, Pinkie Pie's shackles fell undone from her hooves. With Queen Chrysalis blinded from the smoke, Pinkie Pie raced into the clouds towards where she last saw Sir Lancaster. Queen Chrysalis did her best to clear the smoke with her wings, but the clouds were heavy with powder; making it difficult. Pinkie Pie found Sir Lancaster attempting to crawl away within the cover of smoke; Pinkie Pie helped him to his hooves, and helped him towards the exit.

Trixie and the Duke quickly rushed to Rarity's side, looking at the magic-proof shackles that bound her. If not for the shackles, Rarity would have hugged the pair of them, but they had only moments before Queen Chrysalis would realize their deception.

"I don't have keys for this." The Duke mumbled bitterly tugging on the shackles.

"I do." Trixie said quickly, putting her hoof to her mouth.

Trixie withdrew a key to both Rarity's and the Duke's surprise. With a click, Rarity's shackles fell undone.

"Why did you have a key-" Rarity asked sounding astonished.

"Magician's code number three: always have a spare key." Trixie cut her off, helping Rarity to her hooves.

Pinkie Pie reappeared from the smoke, assisting the tired Sir Lancaster towards the tunnel.

"Let's go every pony!" The Duke shouted to them.

The Duke, Trixie, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Sir Lancaster galloped towards the tunnel. Queen Chrysalis's evil laugh echoed throughout the cave, the smoke was beginning to settle, but it made no difference; Queen Chrysalis magically appeared at the entrance of the tunnel looking rather amused.

"Cheap parlor tricks? That was your plan?" Queen Chrysalis asked looking rather insulted.

With a swipe of her wing Queen Chrysalis struck the Duke to the wayside, knocking him off his hooves and relieving him of his mask. Pinkie Pie tried to put herself between Sir Lancaster and Queen Chrysalis, but her magic conjured century old roots to spring from the ground to bind them from moving.

"What have we hear? The little mare that Sir Lancaster entrusted with his research. You've been a difficult pony to get a hold of." Queen Chrysalis stated menacingly.

"Not another step you, cretin!" Rarity declared, firing a blast of magic at Queen Chrysalis.

With a nimble dodge, Queen Chrysalis avoided the attack watching Rarity's spell strike the side of the cave wall. Queen Chrysalis's horn gleamed with a green aura; the ground beneath Rarity swallowed her up to her neck before returning to a solid state.

"This… this is… quite uncomfortable." Rarity mentioned, only able to move her head.

"I'll say." Pinkie Pie muttered, attempting to chew through the roots.

Trixie backed away from Queen Chrysalis, frightened by the leaps and bounds their aptitude of magic were, unable to think of single possible thing that would work in her favor. Queen Chrysalis found Trixie's fear amusing, feeling that she could toy with her for a while.

"Sweet saddle soars! I'm old damn it!" The Duke's voice rang throughout the cave.

Both Queen Chrysalis and Trixie turned to the direction of the Duke. It was clear that his left hind leg was sprained, seeing as he could not lift himself from the ground.

"My, my, my, Duke Wellington of Trottingham, I am surprised to see your old and wrinkled face here. Aren't you a bit out of your depth to be playing the hero?" Queen Chrysalis jived at him.

"Aren't you a bit ugly to be considered a Queen? Perhaps a witch or a slug would better suit you." The Duke snapped back.

"Insolence!" Queen Chrysalis cried angrily.

A blast of magic erupted from Queen Chrysalis's horn, striking the Duke on his side, and knocking him back down. A noticeable stream of smoke seared off the side the Duke, having burned his hide with her magic.

"Leave him alone!" Pinkie Pie shouted angrily; struggling against the roots.

"Shut your mouth you insufferable pink pony! Once I acquire the Void's power I will be sure to consume you first!" Queen Chrysalis shouted in Pinkie Pie's face.

"Is that… what this is all about?" The Duke asked with a groan, rolling back over. "You think you can just… waltz right in and… take a power like that? And here I thought the Mad King was crazy."

"You know nothing of what I am capable of! The Flame Pony King wasn't strong enough to claim the power of the Void for himself, but I won't be so weak! I shall acquire the Void's power, toppling every Kingdom that stands before me, and every pony shall love me or face despair!" Queen Chrysalis declared; striking her hooves hard against the ground.

"I… I met that Flame Pony a while back. Just a kid. Looked like the dragon's dinner when he walked in; daddy issues. Timid, nervous, but wasn't too crazy about being named King; having just lost his entire family I couldn't blame him. I talked at him rather than to him, because I didn't know what sort of pony he was." The Duke responded; leading into a story.

"What are you rambling about?" Queen Chrysalis asked, looking confused by his story.

"When I met him again, he was close to losing what little he had left of a family; some vengeful Orc making a mess of things. I talked down to him for not acting like a King, but I was too much of a pompous mule to see that he wasn't trying to be; he was just trying to be himself." The Duke continued sounding rather bitter with himself.

"Does this story have a point?" Queen Chrysalis asked sarcastically.

"That kid knows that a pony isn't measured by his or her strength or by some dumb title. It's measured by how far a pony will go to help some pony else. That's why these ponies are here trying to save a complete stranger, that's why Smolder entered that Void, and why I… I want to bring him home. It's a thing called love you heartless witch, and it's why you'll never succeed in anything. " The Duke said firmly.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie were nearly moved to tears by the Duke's words. None more so than Trixie who had been on both sides of this, having been helped and how she could still be of help to every pony. She could see that even an old stubborn donkey cared enough to go through all this in the hopes of saving another pony.

"I've always known donkeys to drone on and on but you take the cake you old mule. You should really consider early retirement!" Queen Chrysalis hissed threateningly.

Queen Chrysalis's horn began to glow a neon green, the Duke closed his eyes, feeling content with what was about to happen. A sudden rope of tide handkerchiefs whipped around Queen Chrysalis's horn, before violently pulling her head to the side. Queen Chrysalis's magic fired off balance, striking the cave wall several feet away from the Duke; the handkerchief rope burning away.

Turning around quickly, Queen Chrysalis saw Trixie's horn glowing a light blue, the color of her magic mixing with red light of the Obelisks changing the room to a purple.

"You challenge me? You have to be joking." Queen Chrysalis scoffed at her.

Trixie did not respond, conjuring three very large cups overhead. One of the cups concealed her, while the other fell beside her. A sudden explosion of smoke surrounded the cups as they danced around each other, quickly trying to confuse Queen Chrysalis to which she was under.

"Hardly amusing." Queen Chrysalis remarked.

The magic from her horn blasted the cup furthest right, turning to ash, revealing nothing underneath. Infuriated by her incorrect guess, Queen Chrysalis quickly swiped her horn across the remaining two cups at once to reveal the hidden Trixie.

"What?" Queen Chrysalis asked in disbelief.

None of the cups contained Trixie, having all been empty. Turning around quickly, Queen Chrysalis could see Trixie having just freed Sir Lancaster and Pinkie Pie of their rooted binds.

"I don't think so!" Queen Chrysalis shouted in anger.

Trixie's horn exploded with magic once more. A panel appeared beneath Queen Chrysalis's hooves, folding itself into a large boxed that trapped her with. The box began to spin on the spot, faster and faster it spun, throwing Queen Chrysalis against the side; making her rather dizzy. With her anger mounting, Queen Chrysalis's magic ignited the box causing it to shatter around her.

Watching the cave spin around her, trying to remain on her hooves, Queen Chrysalis could see the distorted and twisting vision of the ponies digging Rarity out of the ground. Shaking her head, attempting to right herself, Queen Chrysalis slammed her hoof upon the ground angrily as her magic flashed upon her horn.

"I've had enough of these tricks!" Queen Chrysalis cried.

With Trixie helping the Duke to his hooves, Pinkie Pie and Sir Lancaster just having finished freeing Rarity from the ground; Queen Chrysalis focused her rage upon the pony that had made a fool of her. Queen Chrysalis's horn swelled with magic, the spell firing in their direction, the magic impacted, but the sound of shattering glass filled the air.

What she had believed to be Trixie and the Duke was nothing more than a well-placed mirror pane, reflecting every pony's image to her. Having only now realized that box had spun her facing the opposite way, seeing their reflections with the mirror, having believed it to be them. Looking over her shoulder, Queen Chrysalis saw the silver tail of Trixie racing up the tunnel, every pony already gone, and having been made a fool of.

"Trixie! That has to be the single greatest trick I have ever seen in my entire life!" Pinkie Pie shouted, assisting the Duke up through the tunnel.

"It truly was unbelievable, darling! You were absolutely amazing!" Rarity complimented, also assisting the Duke.

"It… it was nothing, really." Trixie replied humbly, as too much of her adrenaline was pumping to really enjoy their compliments.

"Thank you… for coming after me, Trixie." Sir Lancaster mumbled, being helped by her.

Trixie could see how tired he was, the toll Queen Chrysalis must have taken on him, but she knew that the best thing for him was to get him as far away from this place as possible. Reaching the entrance of the tunnel, they galloped out into the clearing, reaching the tree line before finding themselves face to face with some familiar faces.

"Sir Lancaster!" Misses Minerva shouted in disbelief.

Misses Minerva and Mr. Bartlesby stood alongside an unfamiliar pony, Arthur Tullius, who had the entirety of the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers at his back having just arrived. Misses Minerva rushed over to Sir Lancaster's side, with Mr. Bartlesby close behind her; they took her from Trixie, assisting him towards a Soldier Pony medic that quickly rushed to their side.

"Good to see that you are in one piece, your Royal Highness." Arthur remarked, respectfully approaching him.

"Forget about me, what about all the Changelings running around these woods?" The Duke asked being set down near another Soldier Pony medic by Rarity and Pinkie Pie.

"Scattered, sir, we pummeled them until they went running scared. Our forces quickly regrouped to come and apprehend their Queen." Arthur informed him.

An echoing laugh could be heard rising from tunnel; Queen Chrysalis appeared from the entrance. The 5th Northumberland Fusiliers dropped into their attack formation, poised for battle, unfazed by the maniacal way she carried on laughing.

"It's over, Queen Chrysalis!" Pinkie Pie shouted to her.

"I think not! Even with my Changelings scattered, there is still time enough to win the day!" Queen Chrysalis declared looking at the sun as it was nearing dusk.

"Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers! Prepare to subdue this wretched creature!" Arthur commanded with a sudden grunt from his Soldier Ponies.

"Fools! All of you! I will decimate all of you, along with Trottingham with the power of the Void! None of you will be able to comprehend the power I will soon wield!" Queen Chrysalis cried in delight.

With a flash of her horn, the power she was summoning, the ground shook violently from her power. Turning back towards the tunnel entrance, Queen Chrysalis fired her power spell down into the depths of the cave. The explosion far beneath the soil could be felt, the sudden upheaval of the mound of earth swelled before exploding the dirt high into the air; the force blasting in all directions.

Every pony dropped to the ground, covering their heads from the explosion, feeling the sky rain with pieces of dirt. No pony moved until the ground stopped shaking, the last bits of earth still falling from the sky, a massive dirt cloud was settling around them as Queen Chrysalis stood at the edge of the enormous crater she had created. The glow of the pulsing red Obelisks could be seen upon Queen Chrysalis's face, her wicked smile brimming from ear to ear at the sight of them.

Ever pony looked on, expecting to see the stories reported of the incident that had happened in the Ashen Fields, to see the portal crack open, the thunderous roar of the storm, but nothing happened. Silence hung in the air, Queen Chrysalis looking towards the sun that was still clearly hanging in the sky, before turning back towards the Obelisks that ominously pulsed without change.

"What is wrong?" Queen Chrysalis hissed, her anger rising again.

"Looks like you've failed, you old witch." The Duke mocked her. "I will decimate all of you. Ha!"

Queen Chrysalis whipped her head towards Sir Lancaster, her stare a cruel and vengeful one. Sir Lancaster recoiled from her but the Soldier Ponies stepped in front of him to shield him from any possible attack she may throw his way.

"I, Arthur Tullius, of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers place you under arrest for crimes against the good ponies of Trottingham and the Royal Crown." Arthur declared, having judged this all to be a farce.

Queen Chrysalis shook with anger, unable to fathom what Sir Lancaster had withheld from her, or what she had done wrong to activate the Obelisks.

"I will not be made a fool of again!" Queen Chrysalis declared in her outrage.

Her horn exploded with magical green neon light, firing a blast of magic at the left Obelisk which impacted it with a forceful explosion. The dust settled from her attack, the Obelisk still standing, her breathing was short from her rage, as every pony knew she was still a powerful threat and would not be easily taken down.

"I suppose I will just have to destroy you lot without the-"

CRACK!

The sound was so loud that it caused every pony to recoil in surprise. The left Obelisks formed a crack where Queen Chrysalis's magic had impacted. They were no longer pulsing, the two Obelisks red glow started to intensify, and a low hum could be heard coming from them as Queen Chrysalis slowly backed away from the lip of the crater.

---

In the Ashen Fields, Wingston sat at the right of the Throne, discussing the renovations that had been so far finished by Roman and his stone cutter ponies. Golden Fleece was there, tallying the bits needed for further improvements and remarking on the budgets they could set up for options concerning the amount of ponies that would need to work overtime to finish on schedule. A noticeable low hum started to fill the air around them; every pony stopped what they were doing to look for the cause of it, and every head turned towards the Obelisks that started to glow green.

---

Within the mountain of the Jungle Ponies, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were dictating a letter to Princess Sapphire about what they had found in the jungle to Daring Do. Chief Talon had conceded to Tier's choice of allowing them to make herself known to the outside world, feeling that it was her duty to now to help them in whatever way possible.

Almost like a lash from a whip, Tear fell forward out of the air in incredible pain, shrieking at the top of her lungs riving on the floor. It drew every ponies attention as the purple marks upon her arms started to burn brightly. Chief Talon tried to assist her; unsure of what was causing her such pain. Two dark figures at the bottom of the lake started to glow, turning the water color an ink black, the low hum growing louder around them.

---

Deep inside the roaring tundra of the Frozen North, two Obelisks stood started to burn blue, generating a low hum that trumped the howling winds of the blizzard. Floe the Court Wizard sat at his desk within his workshop, delicately trying to remove every seed from a strawberry; refusing to eat them otherwise. The hum reached his ears, taking a sudden interest in this phenomenon he quickly rushed to his window to the faintest blue light sparking in the distance. Galloping from his window Floe threw open his door to find Princess Sapphire about the important discovery he had made.

---

I had taken a breather from flaring my flames so continuously, Mira was still meddling with her jars, when she I both took notice of the markings on her arms suddenly growing brighter. To be honest, I had no idea if this was normal for her, seeing as I knew very little about her kind, but the horror on Mira's face told me that this wasn't a good thing.

"No… no… no, it's too soon." Mira mumbled in fear, staring at the marking on her arms.

---

With the humming becoming louder, it seemed liked the air trembled from the Obelisks, as Queen Chrysalis had nearly backed away far enough to be standing beside Pinkie Pie and the rest of the ponies. At the height of the humming, it was suddenly cut by the sound deep boom that echoed over and over again.

A black dot appeared within the air above the crater, almost like fire it started to burn the air around it, the dot grew larger, fizzling at its edges before it stopped its spread, and hung ominous; its flaking with bits of darkness. Every pony seemed to realize at the same time what they were staring at, a small rip into the Void.

The setting sunlight poured through the tear, illuminating the dark world to them, but all any pony could see was miles of black sand. Queen Chrysalis was stunned by this, stepping forward to get a better look at what was beyond it.

"Is… Is any pony there?" Queen Chrysalis called out to the portal.

There was an upheaval of wind that seemed to suck Queen Chrysalis closer to the portal, dragging her hooves to keep her from moving forward. Every pony held onto nearby trees, or one another to keep themselves grounded. The trees of the forest groaned from the wind that funneled into the Void, but it wind died away just as quickly.

Queen Chrysalis looked nervous, unsure of what was going on, and trying to find something her eyes could focus on in the blackness. With her eyes adjusting to the darkness, Queen Chrysalis could see a ruined castle miles off in the distance, perched upon a cliff that stood taller than anything else in the darkness. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of something moving in the darkness near the ruined castle. She saw storm clouds oozing up from under the cliff, lightening cracking across the clouds, illuminating a creature that stood upright, floating within it.

It lingered for a moment. Queen Chrysalis felt that this creature had locked eyes with her from so many miles away. The storm broke like water over the ruined castle, rushing down the cliff, racing across the fields of black sand like a tsunami, heading straight for her.

"I-I-I-I am here… t-t-to claim…" Queen Chrysalis stammered, trying to retain a brave front.

The roar of the storm echoed so loudly it shook the very ground of Equestria, every pony could feel the hunger it suffered, the desire to reach them, and emptiness that came with it. Queen Chrysalis leaped back from the portal, her nerves failing her, leaping into the air and running from the storm.

Pinkie Pie watched wide-eyed at the portal, seeing the storm barreling towards them, remembering the storm that taken the Great Dragon Char so easily; feeling every last happy thought be taken from her. The 5th Northumberland Fusiliers were beginning to run in fear of this storm, every pony else cowered before it.

The sun had slipped away in the west, the moon beginning to rise as the Obelisks were bathed in its glow. The red glow of the Obelisks faded quickly, returning to its neutral color of black before the markings began to glow a bright purple. With storm nearly upon them, it was as if the portal had taken a snapshot of what lied beyond it, like embers of a fire the portal started to peel away, disappearing into the air. The portal was gone. The Obelisks marking were now pulsing a deep purple, waiting to be used.

"We're safe now…" Sir Lancaster's voice broke the chilling silence.

"A-A-Are you sure?" Mr. Bartlesby voice quivered.

"The moon is what activates these Obelisks, not the sun, but only when presented with a pony of Royal Bloodline can it be opened again." Sir Lancaster reassured them.

"You'd… you'd excuse me if I don't step up right away." The Duke mumbled, looking rather flustered by the experience.

Rarity approached Pinkie Pie who was still fixated upon where the portal once stood. Placing her hoof gently on her shoulder, Pinkie Pie blinked a few times, looking rather pale, turning to look at Rarity.

"Are you alright, Pinkie?" Rarity asked slowly, still a bit shaken.

"Sparky is in there, Rarity." Pinkie Pie said sounding scared. "With that… that horrible… evil…"

"I know, darling." Rarity said to her sympathetically, trying to comfort her.

"I'm scared, Rarity." Pinkie Pie whispered clinging to her.

Rarity hugged Pinkie Pie, trying to comfort her as best she could. It was terrifying to say the least with what they had seen, but if they wanted to rescue Smolder, they would have to brave the portal again.