> Eveningray-Who is that foxy?
>  by ChevalNoir
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Maple's wild day boarder
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the far north, farther than the Crystal Empire, beyond Yakyakistan, there lies the Kingdom of the Midnight Sun, a vast land of ice and snow. Contrary to all expectation ponies live even in this harsh realm. More than a thousand years ago, in the heart of the kingdom, by a forest, there was an old log cabin. A piebald earth mare called Maple lived there alone for a long time. From time to time her friend, a tall unicorn mare Blizzard came to see her. Like the day that she arrived with her daughter Spring Brook. Maple baked sweet apple pies. Then she put one piece in a dish on a stump in front of the cabin and came back.
"Why did you do it?" Blizzard asked her. 
"Wait and you will see."
In a while, something moved among trees in a distance. It looked like a red flame nearing the edge of the forest. Finally, that thing got out. It was a little red-maned filly galloping towards the stump. She looked around, took the pie with her hooves and ate it.
"Who is it? And why don't you invite her indoors?" Blizzard wondered.
"Once a pack of wolves strayed around. This filly was among them. She didn't fear them and they respected her. The wolves went away but she stayed. I could hear her stomach rumbling. So I gave her some carrots. She was hesitating, carefully took the carrots, ate them and ran away. The next day she came for dinner again. I was trying to invite her indoors many times but she is too wild." Maple took a look around the room, "Blizzard, where is your daughter?"
Spring Brook was out to look better at the wild filly.
"Oh, no. she will scare her off," Maple sighed.
The wild foxy sniffed at Spring Brook, walked around her, watched her for a minute, and galloped to the forest. Later when Blizzard pulled a sleigh with her daughter home, the wild filly followed them. She was trying to keep pace with the tall mare, though her own hooves were sinking deep in the snow. After a while, Blizzard stopped and took her with them.
Another halt she made near Azure Lake.
"I am going to pick some rare herbs growing along the shore. Wait here. I'll be right back," Blizzard said and left.
"So, what's your name?" Spring Brook asked.
The wild filly just stared at her. Suddenly, she turned her head and growled.
"Stop it! It's scary!" Brook said. 
But the foxy bristled up and growled louder. Brook took a look in the direction that the filly was pointing her nose at. In the sea of white, she discerned a polar bear coming to them.
"BLIZZARD, HELP!!!" Brook called out, but Blizzard couldn't hear her. 
The bear was nearing fast. Brook shot a beam of energy at him. The beast got hit, but didn't even feel it. Then the wild filly closed the eyes, set her teeth, and her horn shone for a second. An explosion dug the snow right in front of him. He shook his head, and carried on walking. The foxy closed the eyes again. Her horn flashed. This time the explosion struck so close that they almost fell off the sleigh. Blizzard heard it, came running and drove the bear away.
At home, Brook told Blizzard, "She can't speak, just growls."
"And she doesn't know how to use her horn, but I feel a great power in her."
"You could teach her that picture magic," Brook proposed.
"You are deeply underestimating runic magic but you are right. It could be a good beginning for her."
"How shall we call her?"
"Come here," Blizzard called the foxy, "from this moment on your name is Eveningray," as she spoke the words a lightning shone, and thunder crashed, "let it walk with you on your way through life." Then Blizzard put a magic sign on her forehead.
> The princess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every day, Blizzard and Spring Brook went somewhere outdoors while Eveningray had to stay and practice at home. She honestly did. Until the day that she gave in to her curiosity, and inconspicuously followed the two. Eveningray was so focused on being unseen by the two that she didn't notice a stone under her hoof. She stumbled on a narrow path, fell downhill on a river shore and fainted. 
Brook turned around and saw her lying down there. "EVE!" 
"GO!" Blizzard called out.
Brook galloped directly to the edge of a cliff, jumped down, in the air took off her cloak and spread her wings. Eveningray was slowly slipping on a mud to the fierce river. Brook grabbed her just at the last moment, and carried to a safe place, but drenched Eveningray was freezing. Brook immediately used her magic to warm her up. In a minute Blizzard arrived at a gallop to take her home. They put her next to the fireplace.
"No matter how hard I am trying to keep her warm, she is still getting colder!" Desperate Brook said.
"Let her sleep now. I'll make a hot soup for her."
In the evening, Brook was crying on the floor of her room. 
"Don't cry, Brook. It will be all right, whatever it is," a mare stroked her head.
"What?!" Brook turned back, and saw Eveningray standing there. "Blizzard, your soup has worked!"
"I haven't prepared it yet," Blizzard said and entered the room. "Are you all right, Eveningray?" She asked.
"I feel so fresh!"
"Your scratches and bruises are all gone! I've never seen anything like this!" The mistress wondered. 
"But I saw wings of Brook. What, who is she?"
"Well, here we go," Blizzard sighed, "Brook is an alicorn. Her true name is Princess Polar Sky, the rightful heiress of the throne. And she is not my daughter, but an apprentice like you. We have to hide ourselves from guards controlled by a usurper Lord Malevolent. Now swear that you won't speak about us with anyone!"
"I swear."
"You know, Eve, we go practicing my flying to Blue Pass, so that no one can see us," Brook explained.
> Hard beginnings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once Blizzard said, "Eveningray, you are good at runic magic, but you have to be able to use your horn properly. It is more effective in fight against your enemies. Brook will show you some tricks with fire, and you try to repeat them after her. I don't expect you to be as good as her, because the power over fire is her talent, but try your best, please."
Brook stood opposite a table on which a candle was set. She focused, her horn shone and the candle lit. Brook made the flame higher, bent it and made a ring of it. After that she put it out. 
"Did you see? It's easy. So, go ahead," Blizzard encouraged her. 
Nervous Eveningray came to the table, focused and...
All the mares ran out of their house full of smoke with their faces dirty of soot. 
"I am sorry, Blizzard," Eveningray hung her head down.
"Never mind. You'll just have to practice your magic outdoors next time."

Another day in their back yard, Blizzard said, "Eveningray, your today's task is to hit the log over there. Brook will show you how to do it."
Brook aimed her horn at the log and burnt a hole into it. 
'Calm down, it's easy,' Eveningray thought to herself. Then she aimed her horn at the log and series of explosions dug the snow all over the yard. The target remained intact. 
One of two snow heaps said, "Blizzard, I think we should stay away from her." 
"I am sorry," Eveningray whispered.
"Try again!" Blizzard shook the snow off. "Don't let one fail discourage you!"
Eve looked at the log, frowned, her horn shone again and the log exploded.
"I did it!" Eveningray rejoiced.
"Excellent, my dear," Blizzard praised her.

On a rainy day, little Eveningray was looking for a shelter in a dark forest. She got into a cave. The pony felt like there was something else in there. She didn't see it, but she feared it.
Suddenly, a deep voice sounded, "We'll meet again, and it will be your end!"
Terrified Eve shot out of the cave. She was running through the forest in the pouring rain, until her legs were able to carry her. Then Eve fell down exhausted. Many steps rustled around her. She raised her head, and her face was full of hopelessness. 
"Wake up, Eve!" Brook shook her. "You've had a bad dream."
Eveningray opened her eyes and sat up in her bed.
"Is it still the same, you as a little filly, cave and forest?" Brook asked.
"I am not quite sure if it was just a dream. It felt so real!"
> The cutie, a kidnap, and an odd matter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many months later, Blizzard sent Brook to a market.
"Where is Eve?" the Princess asked.
"She has been practicing her balance for 12 hours now and mustn't interrupt it."
"But I need her to come with me. I can't take all the food alone," Brook objected.
Blizzard frowned. "Well, tell her she may go there with you."
Brook went to the back yard, where Eveningray was standing on her left hind leg. She had small cups of water on the other legs, nose and forehead. 
"Ha ha ha. I knew you've had a hard training, but this--" Brook laughed.
On the way to the market Eveningray turned to Brook. "Thanks for saving me. Lately Blizzard's been trying to squeeze the cutie out of me!"
"Well, the truth is that I have never seen another almost grown mare without her cutie mark."
"I am just an ordinary, boring mare with no special talent," Eveningray sighed.
"Eve, you're everything but ordinary or boring," Brook smiled.
"Maybe I'll get the mark for racing with you."
"It would be an unfair race. I have my wings."
"My legs are faster!" Eveningray shouted, and started to gallop towards Blue Pass. 
Brook spread her wings and flew up. Eveningray ran along a shore of a frozen river. She knew each yard of the path. Her carmine mane and tail waving in the wind looked like two long flickering flames. Sound of her hooves hitting the ground echoed all around the pass. Her heart was like a drum beating in a fast rhythm. Little sparks of the speed thrill shone in her eyes. 
Brook thought to herself, 'I can fly over the blue mountains, and Eve will have no chance to win this race.' She climbed up above the mountains, but in a while she felt like something was slowing her down. The Princess saw that the tips of her outer feathers were freezing. Brook used her power to warm them up, and dived lower to prevent another freezing, so she couldn't take her short cut. She flew to the finish fast, but Eveningray was already standing behind two purple stones representing the finish line. Suddenly, the red-maned mare shot a strong beam of energy against Brook. It missed her. The alicorn looked back at it, and saw a big tree trunk thrown by an avalanche in her direction, frozen to a near rock by Eve's beam. The foxy mare fainted from exhaustion.
When she woke up, she saw Brook grinning from ear to ear. "Thank you for saving me, Eve, but take a look at your flank!"
Eveningray did and found there two snowflakes as her cutie.
"Blizzard will be so happy when she sees this!" Brook smiled.
"Well, we don't need to tell her all the details about how I got it! I guess it would turn her joy into wrath!"
On the way home Eveningray looked sad.
"What's the matter with you, Eve?"
"Your power is fire. You can warm up ponies. Blizzard's main power is wind that can propel sailboats. And mine? Frost! What a useful power in the land of ice and snow! I had greater expectations."
"Eve, you don't even know your potential. This is your power. You can't give it back and get another one."
"Blizzard might allow us to have a little celebration."
"Eve, she'll be elated," Brook laughed.
As the two came back to their house, they felt like there was something wrong. The Princess ran inside. There was a mess all around. She ran out again and shouted, "Blizzard is gone!" 
"According to these hoofprints she was attacked and taken away!" Eveningray stated.
"What is this?!" 
A dark sticky matter lay there on the snow. As the red-maned mare came closer to the stain, it moved  towards her. 
Brook burnt it to dust. "Let's go find our mentor!" 
The alicorn was following the clues, but fresh snow covered them soon.
"Brook, we have to go to Maple for advice!"
The Princess returned into the house. She was searching among books that were lying on the floor. 
"Yes, here it is. Look!" The alicorn lady pointed to a picture of a strange jewel, below which was written, 'Moldavite horn ring makes a unicorn's horn ten times stronger. In Misty Valley is a place of nowhere. Find your way, don't forget what you come for, don't believe your eyes, tame your greediness, and you can gain it. But beware...'
"Mice ate the rest of the page. Well, it doesn't matter. I have all I need to know. With this thing we'll be able to defeat any enemy," Brook said.
"But, what about the warning?!" 
"It's about a great power comes together with a great responsibility, or something like that."
"No, Brook, we are going to Maple tomorrow!"
The next morning Eveningray found this message from Brook on a table, 'I'll get the ring, and come back within three days.'
'She took the only map, and I can't follow her!' Eveningray thought.
> Brook's Test
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took the Princess almost all night to get to Misty Valley. She couldn't see very far in a fog spreading all around. As the day broke, she beheld a dark silhouette of a stone arch contrasting with the mist glowing in the morning sunlight. Brook went through it, and in a second was in a desert. There was nothing there, but the sand and an old dried tree. The mare looked back but the arch was gone. 
'Well, Blizzard, you have never taught me your runes, but I saw you doing this,' Brook thought, and wrote a magic sign into the sand. It changed its shape to an arrow pointing at a spot next to the tree. The Princess stepped there, and appeared in a beautiful garden. A smell of apples spread through the air. Thirsty Brook drank a sweet apple cider. What she didn't notice was a sign covered by leaves, saying, 'OBLIVION FOUNTAIN'. She took a walk around, ate apples and carrots, and slept in a soft grass.
On the second day when the sun was going down, its crimson shine lit the garden.
'A beautiful evening is coming,' the pony lady thought, 'Evening-- Eve and that carmine color, it is reminding me something important, someone I used to know! Oh, I am so thirsty that I can't even think straight!'
Brook drank the cider and said, "evening is coming; it's supper time."
The next morning she woke up surrounded by apple cores. As she was lying in the grass watching clouds in the sky, the Princess found, she had a bracelet on her left front leg. She read a dedication on it, 'From Blizzard to her apprentice Spring Brook.' "What is Blizzard, and who is Spring Brook?" She wondered. Then she noticed a strange sign on it. The mare touched it with her right hoof. A diamond in the middle of the bracelet shone a beam of light into her eyes. 
"Oh, no! I must get the ring, and I have lost so much time here!"
The mare came to the only thing that didn't fit in there, a white obelisk. She touched it, and was transmitted to an old castle. 
There was a writing on the wall, 'Once you cross this line, do not stop, or you will not survive!'
She was cautiously walking through a corridor so narrow that she couldn't even spread her wings. A rumbling sounded. The floor behind her began to tumble down into a deep abyss. The Princess went faster, but then she saw a giant reptile with its mouth opened wide ahead. 
"If I stop, I'll fall. If I carry on walking, I'll end up in the monster's stomach!" Still walking to the reptile, she aimed her horn at it and shot. It had no effect. The monster was still there.
"How come?!" Then she remembered the words written in the book, 'don't believe your eyes.' Brook neighed, and galloped right into the mouth of the monster. It roared and disappeared.
Now she was standing in an oval room. There were magic artifacts all around. "Wow, a diamond sword! And this talisman gives wings to unicorns and earth ponies; we could fly along with Eve. Here it is, the moldavite horn ring." She grabbed it. On the way out she thought to herself, 'Should I take even the talisman?'
The Princess couldn't see movable tiles under the other artifacts releasing trapdoors in the floor.
'Well, when will I have such opportunity again?'
She reached out for the talisman. Her hoof almost touched it. A mouse passing by turned over a silver cup. The trapdoor opened on the opposite side of the room.
"Oh, what a fool I am! This cursed place is full of traps!" Brook walked through another stone arch, and appeared back in Misty Valley.
> Cold hooves and blue mane
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brook climbed up a near hill in order to know which way to go. In a distance, she saw a group of guards who were about to cross a frozen lake. The mare spread her wings but then folded them again. "No, I won't run and hide anymore!"
The Princess put the moldavite ring on. Her horn shone bright. She sent a very strong stream of fire to the lake. The ice on its surface melted down. Trees around caught fire. The heat drove the guards deep into a near forest. Right after that, she sank on her knees and lay down. Brook was confused. Unicorn Silver Mane with several guards walked out of their hiding place. Two stallions came pulling a cart with a small barrel. 
"You have no idea what has happened, do you, Princess Polar Sky?" Silver Mane laughed. "That moldavite junk on your horn makes it ten times stronger, but it takes the needed energy directly from your body. So you've just gotten exhausted ten times faster."
He took the ring off her horn and threw it on the snow. One of the guards broke the barrel with a big hammer. A dark liquid came out of it. As it was nearing her, she stood up and spread her wings. But she was too weakened. The mare fell down. The dark matter covered her and hardened to a solid crust. The guards loaded her on the cart and took away.

For six days Eveningray was waiting for Brook. Then she went to Maple.
"... so Blizzard and Brook are away. I don't know where to find them and what to do!" 
"Oh, my little wild mare, you are already a young lady. You must be hungry. Have a piece of my apple pie and then I'll give you something that will answer your questions," Maple said.
Eveningray ate the pie. 
Maple gave her an amethyst. "Last time Blizzard had a foreboding and left this here for you. Take it up that hill. You'll know how to use it."
There was a small pyramid on the top of the hill. She put the amethyst in it and a picture of Blizzard appeared. 
"As you know," she said, "all the food we have come from Green Fields, warm places heated from the underground by eternal flame. Without its effect, life in our land, but even in Equestria and the Southern Kingdom, wouldn't be possible. Princess Polar Sky, your ability to rule fire is not fortuitous. You are predestined to become a guardian of the eternal flame. Malevolent has been trying to control it, in order to destroy all the kingdoms of ponies. Eveningray, you must protect our Princess! Forget me. Obey Maple and practice your magic. I am sure that someday you two will defeat the evil usurper, but now you are not ready for such fight yet. Avoid our enemies!"
The picture of Blizzard disappeared. 
Back in the log cabin, desperate Eve told Maple, "Blizzard hasn't told me where I can find her, so as not to imperil me!"
"All I know is that Malevolent is some dark creature that doesn't like cold. It came to our land though. It is the only kingdom where the eternal flame can be tamed. The only place where Malevolent's lair can be is Five Rivers. Four hot rivers flow together into the fifth one there."
"It sounds romantic."
"There is nothing romantic about Five Rivers. It's a swampy area full of dirt, mud and tar pits. That place is very suitable for a monster."
"Will you give me a map to get there?" Eveningray asked.
"First, show me how good you are at using your power!" Maple set a cup of hot water on a table. "Cool it down, just a little," She said.
Eveningray focused. A thin layer of ice covered the table, then chairs, and on the third try she made an ice rink on the floor, but the water remained hot. Angry Eve touched the cup with her hoof and froze it.
"What have you done now?" Maple asked her.
"I know I was to have cooled it down just a little, but it raised my anger."
"No. I mean, how did you do it?"
"Normally, I used my horn and..."
"No, there was no aura around your horn. You lowered your body temperature instead. There is still hoarfrost on your hooves. And look at this." Maple showed her a hoof-mirror. 
Shocked Eve saw that her mane was light blue, which turned red again in a minute.
"Oh, no! I am a monster! Other ponies will be afraid of me!" Eveningray worried.
"You have to separate control of this weird capability from your magic skills in your mind, and when you master it, ponies will have no reason to be afraid of you."
That night, Maple led Eveningray to Red Rock.
"Look up at the stars in the sky. They are all in a perfect harmony. Each of them has its place and purpose. Don't think about it, just perceive it," Maple said and went home.
After three hours of sitting in the moonlight alone, Eveningray thought to herself, 'This is good for nothing!'
The following morrow, Maple climbed up Red Rock and found Eveningray joyful.
"Maple, the meditation helped me to feel my magic. It's like peculiar waves coming through my body. I feel like there's nothing I can't do."
"So, show me what you've got."
"Can you see that pinecone on the tree over there?" Eveningray froze the distant target.
"Nothing special," Maple provoked her.
"Hm, you left a bucket of water in front of your log cabin." The foxy shot twice and turned it into the ice.
"On the second try? You still have much to learn," Maple judged her performance.
The morning sun melted snow on the tops of trees around. Eveningray noticed small drops of water falling from the branches down behind Maple. In the air, she froze one drop that fell on a branch beside the piebald mare, bounced and tapped her ear.
"I'm sorry, Maple, I just couldn't resist," Eveningray snickered.
"Well, it seems you have found your inner harmony after all."
They went back to the log cabin. Maple took the frozen bucket, put it on a stove, and found a message written with hoarfrost on the table, 'I told you I'm good.' She looked at Eveningray.
"This is the first try," the red-maned unicorn smiled.
After breakfast, Maple gave Eveningray the map and the red-maned mare set out.
> Five Rivers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

First, Eveningray headed for Misty Valley to know what happened to Brook. Following the clues she found the broken barrel with stains of the tar around on the top of the hill. The mare read hoofprints in the snow, 'Five on one?! Those cowards!' A light-green splendor on the snow attracted her sight. 'So, this is the moldavite marvel.' She put the ring into her bag. The cart tracks led her to a steaming river. She went downstream along its shore. At night, the foxy got to the confluence of the four rivers. Eve crossed a half-rotten wooden bridge and saw a strange fortress. It was a dome of dark walls with no windows. Behind a massive draw bridge, was the only gate obviously leading somewhere to the underground. The gate and bridge opened. Silver Mane and six guards went out. 
"Catch her!" He called out.
In a while the guards encircled Eveningray. One of them took a step towards her. She threw a clod of mud in his face with her magic. Other two jumped to catch her. The mare used her levitation skill and flew up. The two head-butted each other. She landed several yards farther. The remaining guards followed her. Two of them sank in a mud. The others were trying to get them out. Another group of six guards went out of the fortress. Eveningray straddled away her front legs, and aimed her shining horn at them. The rising sun shone through dark clouds. Eve raised her head.
'Why did Blizzard put a sign meaning 'RISE' on me?' Flashed through her mind. She the  said, "I see," and hung her head down. The aura of her horn went out, while Silver Mane's horn shone. The dark tar came out of a near pit, covered her body and hardened. The guards took her to the fortress, into a chamber where Blizzard and Brook were standing as two dark statues, and walled them up.

Silver Mane entered a large hall with a big violet crystal in the middle. "We got another one. I think she was the last."
A strong deep voice sounded, "Well done. Now there is nothing in my way."

All three mares were standing motionless in the darkness of their cell. Suddenly, a glimmering slightly shone through the crust on the forehead of each of them. As the light grew stronger, it formed into runic letters. When Blizzard gave Eveningray her name, she put a sign on her. The same kind of magic rune as she had put on Brook and herself. Blizzard's rune was 'TOGETHER', Brook's sign meant 'WE', and the rune of Eve was 'RISE'. The crust cracked, blew up in a dazzling shine, and all the mares woke up.
"What are you doing here?!" Blizzard asked, "Didn't you get my message?!"
"Yes, but Brook was already away," the foxy replied.
Blizzard counted to three to calm down and said, "Let's get out of here."
Brook heated a wall of the chamber, Eveningray cooled it down rapidly, and Blizzard struck it with a lightning. The wall exploded. The mares were trotting through underground tunnels until they got to the large hall.
Eveningray had the same feeling like in her dream. Something evil was near. Then the foxy remembered.
Once when she was a little filly straying in a forest, rain drove her into a cave, but there was some dark thing there either. Her animal instinct told her to flee. 
On the way out the filly heard a voice saying, "We'll meet again, and it will be your end!" Little Eve was galloping through the forest in the pouring rain until she fell down exhausted. Some steps rustled around. She raised her head, and saw a pack of wolves showing their teeth. Eveningray closed her eyes expecting the attack. Subconsciously, she used her horn and made series of small explosions. Then the wild filly opened her eyes, and saw the wolves hid scared behind the trees. 
And now in the fortress of Five Rivers she felt that the dark thing was near again. Silver Mane with the guards came from behind and cut off their way out. Blizzard tried to knock him down to his knees with a lightning but she couldn't.
"Can you see that crystal over there? It emits a certain kind of energy neutralizing magic of unicorns," Silver Mane laughed. 
Blizzard kicked the stone three times, but she didn't even scratch it. From the opposite side of the hall, a huge thing was coming. A hairy leg appeared first.Other seven followed it. The mares stepped back, looked up, and saw eight red eyes and a pair of terrifying mandibles.
"It's time to get rid of the pest!" The giant spider said.
Eveningray stood behind the crystal and leant her front hooves against it.
"You can't hide from your destiny. Your days are numbered!" Malevolent said.
Trembling Eve closed her eyes.
"Oh, oh, don't you cry, little pony. It will be over soon!" The spider laughed.
"Leave her alone!!" Blizzard shouted, and pointed her sharp horn at it. The spider stretched its leg forth, knocked Blizzard down on the floor and stepped on her. Brook reared and kicked the leg.
"Isn't this cute?" The spider said, "Once I wanted to take over your mind, and control the flame through you. It would be real fun to make my puppet of you, Princess Polar Sky. But I don't need you anymore." The spider raised another leg to knock Brook down.
Eveningray opened her eyes. Her mane and tail were light blue. The crystal under her hooves was deep frozen. She turned around, kicked the now so fragile crystal in full strength, and shattered it into pieces so small that it looked like a diamond dust.
"How come?!" Malevolent thundered at Silver Mane, "you told me they wouldn't be able to use their magic!!"
"This is not my magic, but a terrifying nature of my monstrous existence! You'd better run!!" Eveningray shouted. 
Her mane and tail turned red again. Eve made a wall of ice between the mares and Silver Mane with the guards. Brook burnt the spider's leg. It screamed and stepped back. Blizzard stood up. The monster tried to attack them with its mandibles. Eve and Brook sent a fire stream and freezing beam against it. The spider dodged them nimbly. Blizzard struck its abdomen with a lightning. The eight-legged freak staggered. Then a cross on its back shone. Malevolent raised a shield around itself. The walls of the hall made of the hardened tar began to melt in the place where the ponies were standing. Blizzard, Brook, and Eveningray attacked the monster again, but they couldn't overcome the shield. Eveningray tried to freeze the tar flowing down the walls, but there was too much of it. Soon the mares were crowded on a small elevation that remained after the broken crystal. The red-maned mare took the moldavite ring out of her bag.
"NO, EVE!!" Brook got appalled.
"Trust me; I know what I'm doing." The foxy wedged Maple's garnet brooch into the ring. Both the parts perfectly fit together. She put it on. The garnets powered the moldavite part. Eve's horn shone so bright that Blizzard and Brook had to turn their heads away. The walls and floor of the hall  froze in a few moments. A cold mist spread around the hall. Maple's brooch cracked. Eveningray took the ring off.
"Did you get the monster?" Brook asked.
Malevolent put on an amber amulet. The cross on its back and the amulet shone. The alicorn lady shook her head.
"What's the matter with you, Brook?" Eveningray asked her.
"The flame," Princess Polar Sky whispered.
The floor between the mares and Malevolent bulged.
"The monster is trying to raise the flame. I can feel it." Brook said.
Blizzard turned to her, "You are supposed to gain the power over the eternal flame during the coronation. You haven't been crowned yet, but if you can feel the flame, you are supposed to be able to control it!"
The bulge cracked. A hot lava flowed out through small fissures.
Eveningray looked at the princess. "Can you stop it, Brook?"
"I am dizzy," Princess Polar Sky said and fainted.
The foxy tried to stop the lava with her freezing beam. It just sizzled and made the fissures longer and wider.
"I am going to have fried ponies for dinner today," the spider laughed.
An invisible force lifted Brook's body aloft. Eveningray was about to get her down, but Blizzard stopped her, "Don't touch her! You might get hurt!"
Other cracks arose in the floor. Two green flames leapt out of them, flew around the princess and hit her chest. Her muscles twitched.
"LEAVE HER BE, YOU DIRT!!!" Eveningray shouted, and shot a series of freezing beams at the spider. None of them pierced its shield. The cross on its back and the amulet shone brighter. The lava poured out. Then two blue flames came. The Princess spread her wings, the flames touched them and disappeared. The tips of her outer feathers became golden. She opened her eyes. They were white. Above her head,a red flame appeared, which turned into a golden crown.
The alicorn lady descended to the floor. She stretched her front leg forth and said, "obey."
The eternal flame calmed down. The lava returned deep to the underground. She blinked, and her eyes turned back to normal. Blizzard bowed down before her.
Eveningray hugged her, "I feared for you so and you became our Queen."
"Blizzard, get up, please. I will always be the same Brook for you two."
Malevolent's amulet went out. The spider tried to gain control of the flame again. In vain.
"You won't steal my power away from me, you queen of fleas!!" The monster said and set off towards Polar Sky, but the damaged floor couldn't bear its enormous weight any longer and collapsed. Malevolent fell down into a deep abyss with a lava river on the bottom. 
On the way down, the spider called out, "This is not the end!"
Its power over Silver Mane and the guards' minds ceased. The hole in the floor enlarged. Brook broke the wall of ice.
"Which way is to the exit?" Blizzard asked Silver Mane.
"I--I don't know," the confused stallion mumbled.
A wall on the opposite side of the hall crumbled.
Blizzard shook him, "Which way?!"
"Through the tunnel on the right, I guess," he said.
All the ponies escaped from the fortress a few minutes before it tumbled down. None of them noticed a long spider's hair sticked up to a hoof of one guard.

Nervous Maple was cleaning up her log cabin. Someone knocked at her door. She answered it, and saw the three mares standing there.
"I knew you would bring them back," Maple hugged Eveningray.
"I am sorry, Maple, your brooch is broken," the foxy said.
"You know what, my little wild mare? Have a piece of my apple pie. You look so hungry."

THE END