Spike, Blueblood, and Twilight set out to find Starswirl's Journal.
Starswirl the Bearded's journal is by far the most sought after item in Equestrian history. For centuries, pony after pony have failed to find it's location.....until now. After translating a map written by Starswirl himself, Spike and Blueblood make plans to seek out this journal. Twilight finds out and decides to go with them, although Blueblood is reluctant.
Little do they know, they're not the only ones on this trip.
A month had passed since the battle with Spike’s dark half. Twilight and the girls were now more considerate towards Spike and his feelings. From Rarity no longer using Spike’s feelings for her own gain, to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash not playing as many pranks on him, and to Twilight bringing him along on whatever activity the girls have planned and doing her fair share of housework around the library. Before they returned to Ponyville, Celestia told Spike that she wanted to him to write letters to her whenever he could. Not to tell her what he learned about friendship, but little things like what his day was like, where he went and what he did. She wanted to be closer to him and she felt this was the best way to start doing that.
With Twilight away with Rainbow Dash to pick up the latest Daring Do novel, Spike sat in the room he shared with her; finishing up his letter to Celestia and awaiting word from Prince Blueblood. Spike remembered the fun they had at the Power Ponies convention, but it was after they made back to the castle that the two planned their next outing.
****************************
“What’s this?” Blueblood asked, looking at a book that was sticking out of Spike’s bag.
“Oh, that’s from the Starswirl The Bearded museum.” Spike explained. “The pony who runs it said that it was written by Starswirl himself and it’s supposed to lead to his journal.”
“Why would he give it to you?”
“Well, it’s written in a language nopony could decipher, so I suggested that maybe Twilight should have a look at it.”
Blueblood levitated the book to his face and opened it to a random page. “Let’s a have a look.” he said. “Follow down the narrow passage, there you will find the fifth marker.”
Hearing Blueblood recite a passage from the book caused Spike’s eyes to widen. “Y-you can understand that?”
“Of course.” Blueblood explained. “I’ve been studying dead languages since I was a colt. It’s a hobby.”
Blueblood flipped through the pages skimming through the words and a few pictures. “ You weren’t planning on trying to look for this journal were you?”
“Well, I was thinking how cool it would be to see Starswirl’s journal.” Spike explained.
“If you want, we could go looking for it.” Blueblood suggested. “I kinda want to see it for myself.”
“Really?!” Spike said with a bit of excitement.
“Sure, but it might take a while to fully translate this book; seeing how big it is. So i’ll tell you what, give me a month to fully translate this and then i’ll let you know when we’ll head out. Sounds good?”
Spike nodded.
****************************
Spike had wrapped up his letter to the princess and was about to send it to her when he suddenly burped up a letter that was from Blueblood. It indicated that the prince was not now finished with the translation and would be ready to move out at the end of week. Spike was now super excited after reading the letter and rushed to get ready for the trip.
Later on Twilight had returned home. She made her way upstairs to her room where she saw Spike packing his bags. “Spike, what are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m getting ready.” he answered.
“For what?”
“I’m going on a trip with Blueblood.” he explained. “He translated a map that was written by Starswirl the Bearded that leads to his journal.”
It took a moment for Twilight to process what she just heard. Starswirl’s journal. His actual journal. The one thing many unicorn have spent their whole lives looking for. Spike and Blueblood have a map that leads straight to it, and they’re going there to retrieve it.
“Um, Twilight.” Spike said waving his hand in front of her face.
“S-Starswirl’s journal?” she said. “STARSWIRL’S JOURNAL?! OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH!”
Twilight started bouncing around the room in joy. “I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! YOU AND BLUEBLOOD HAVE THE LOCATION OF STARSWIRL’S JOURNAL! STARSWIRL’S ACTUAL JOURNAL!”
“Yeah, we’re leaving at the end of the------” Twilight’s high pitched squealing cut Spike off. Before the young dragon could say anything else, Twilight ran off into her closet and began packing; making known that was coming along for the ride. Spike laughed as he watched Twilight furiously pack up her thing s for the trip. He started to go back to his packing when suddenly he burped up another letter from Blueblood.
Oh, one more thing. Don’t tell Twilight.
Blueblood.
Spike rose his head from the letter with an awkward look on his face.
****************************
At the week's end, Blueblood showed up at the library with a backpack strapped to him. He walked in and called for Spike who came down the stairs. “Ready to go?” he asked.
“Um yeah.” Spike said as if he was unsure.
“Is something wrong?” Blueblood asked. “I thought you wanted to go.”
“I do.” Spike answered. “It’s just......”
Blueblood tilted his head; confused as to what Spike was trying to say. The prince was going to speak up, but noticed a purple blur from the corner of his eye. Turning his his head, he saw Twilight standing a little too close to him with a big goofy grin on her face. Blueblood's face went blank as he turned back to Spike. “You told her didn’t you?”
****************************
As the train pulled up at the station, Spike and Blueblood prepared to board it. Blueblood brought Spike to their private luxury car at the end of the train. After getting settled in, the pair sat down and waited for the train to get moving; Blueblood pulling out the map and taking another look at it.
*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*
The sound of somepony banging on the door caught Spike's attention. "Who's that?"
"Nopony important." Blueblood answered.
"Come guys open up!"
"That sounded like Twilight."
"Like I said, nopony important."
Spike was on his way to open that door, but Blueblood stopped him by levitating back into his seat. "If you're quiet, maybe she'll go away."
*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*
"I can hear you in there!"
"I still don't see why she can't come with us?" Spike asked.
"Because it's Twilight." the prince explained. "What do you think will happen if she gets her hooves on Starswirl's journal?"
"Point taken." Spike answered.
*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*
"Guys come on, this is a chance of a lifetime. I wanna go. OPEN UP I'M SERIOUS!" Twilight continued banging on the door harder and faster; almost threatening to break it down and screaming and begging Blueblood and Spike to let her in. The prince went back to reading Starswirl's map; ignoring Twilight's cries.
*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*
"Guys?! You GUUUUUUUYYYYYYYYYYYS!" Twilight started crying hard while slowly banging on the door; causing Blueblood to raised an eyebrow.
"Is she seriously crying?" he thought. The prince looked over at Spike who looked back at him. Sighing heavily, he conceived. "Let her in."
"PLEASE, JUST OPEN THE DOOR!"
****************************
Twilight was let in and sat across from Blueblood; who continued to ignore her. "You're a jerk." she sniffed; her eyes still red and watery from crying. "This is why you don't have any friends at all."
Blueblood lifted his head to face her. "Better that than to have to deal with you everyday."
Twilight just sat there and glared at the prince as he went back to reading the book. Twilight's anger died down a bit once Spike moved closer to her. She put a hoof around him and rested her head on his shoulder just as the train started move.
****************************
On top of the train station, three hooded ponies watched on as the started moving away. "Let's go." one of them said. Moving fast, the three hooded ponies leaped from the roof of the station onto the train as it began picking up speed. They snuck in one of the cars through an open window and took refuge inside one of the rooms. "So what's the plan?" asked the stallion.
"We follow them." answered the mare. "Keep a low profile until they lead us to the journal. Then we attack." Dark chuckles filled the room as the train rolled on.
It was after dark, and Spike had already fallen asleep. Twilight, using her magic to levitate him, brought the young dragon to the bed and tucked him in. Upon looking at him asleep, Twilight started to reflect on how much Spike means to her, and how much she took him for granted. She reflected on how her actions caused Spike to turned into a demon a month ago. Yes, she and the others tried to make up for it this past month, but that's just small potatoes compared to the long abuse he suffered while being near them. Thinking about everything caused tears to form in Twilight's eyes. "I'm sorry Spike, i'm so sorry." she whispered as she leaned closer to the dragon. Twilight gave him a small peck on the cheek before wiping her eyes and returning back to Blueblood.
The prince glanced up from reading Starswirl's map to see Twilight taking a seat across from him. He noticed that her eyes were red; probably from crying. The prince ignored her and went back to reading the map. Wiping the last bit of tears from her eyes, Twilight looked over at the prince. "So where are we headed?" she asked; breaking the silence between them.
"Whitetail Woods." Blueblood answered. "It's just outside of Las Pegasus."
"Why there?"
"It's one of many places throughout Equestria where Starswirl built a hidden cave." he explained. "Probably to hide away hidden items he thought were too powerful for one pony to have; like his journal for instance."
"That makes since." Twilight stated. There was a brief moment of silence between the two before Twilight spoke up again. "Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"How did you and Spike get a hold of that map?" she asked.
"Spike was the one who did." the prince explained. "He said he'd got it from the Starswirl the Bearded museum in Vanhoover."
Twilight was both shocked and excited to hear that there had been a museum dedicated to Starswirl. She wanted to ask more about it but could clearly see that Blueblood had no desire to speak to her. From the tone in his voice right down to his body language she could tell that he didn't fully trust her. His words to her the night Spike gave into darkness replayed over and over inside her head. Blueblood got up from his seat and put the map away. "It's late, i'm going to bed." The prince grabbed his things and walked off; leaving Twilight alone. Thinking she should getting some sleep as well; Twilight made her way to Spike's room. Climbing into bed, she wrapped her hoof around him and held him close. She soon drifted off into the dream world.
****************************
The next day, the train had made it to it's destination. Twilight, Blueblood, and Spike had gotten off and saw the entrance to the Whitetail Woods right in front of them. "Okay, the cave should be in the middle of the woods." Blueblood explained.
"Alright, let's go!" Spike said excitedly.
"Hold on Spike." Blueblood stopped him just as he was about to move forward. "Don't just run in like that. Who knows what kind of creatures are in there." The prince pulled out the map and took a quick look at it before putting it away again. “Let’s all go in together.” Twilight levitated Spike onto her back and the trio started to make their way into the whitetail woods; unknowing that they were being followed.
Unlike the Everfree Forest, the Whitetail Woods had wide open spaces and didn’t give off the feeling like everything was being crammed together. Light from the sun shone through making it that much easier to navigate across the area. “Ohmygosh, I can’t believe how close we are to Starswirl’s journal!” Twilight said; unable to keep her excitement in check. “We’re gonna be the first ones to see it!” Spike laughed at Twilight’s excitement while Blueblood rolled his eyes.
As the trio continued walking through the woods, Blueblood stopped suddenly and looked behind them with suspicious eyes. “Hey what’s wrong?” asked Spike.
“Nothing.” the prince answered.
****************************
“How much farther?” Twilight complained. “We’ve been walking for hours.”
“According to the map, the entrance should be right......THERE!” Blueblood pointed his hoof towards what appeared to be a dragon’s cave.
“I-I-I-It’s a d-d-dragon cave.” Spike stammered. Looking at the cave reminded Spike of the dragon cave he found after running away from home when he thought Twilight didn’t love him anymore.
“Relax Spike.” the prince reassured. “There’s no dragons around here.”
The trio began walking towards the cave when Blueblood heard another sound of somepony stepping on a branch. He quickly turned around to see who was there but saw nopony. The prince was sure that somepony was following them.
Upon entering the cave, Blueblood started staring at the walls. Placing his hoof upon it, he noticed that it wasn’t ruff and jagged as all cave walls were, these walls were smooth, and gave off the impression that they were recently built. Cave walls don’t normally stay that smooth for thousands of years unless they were.........
“It’s getting dark in here.” Spike said.
“I’ll make us a little light.” Twilight said as she began to light up her horn.
Blueblood quickly noticed that the cave walls started sparkling; reacting to Twilight’s magic. The prince’s eyes widen with fear as he quickly turned to Twilight.
“NO!” he yelled and tackled Twilight to the ground; stopping her spell casting.
“BLUEBLOOD, WHAT IN THE......!”
“You can’t use magic here.” the prince stated. “The cave walls are made out of Serpentine Rock.”
Twilight gasped.
“What’s Serpentine Rock?” asked Spike.
“It’s a special kind of mineral rock that reacts negatively to magic.” Twilight explained. “It causes them to break apart and explode upon contact.”
“It would seem that Starswirl made this entire cave out of Serpentine.” said Blueblood. “Make sense, seeing as how mostly unicorns would be the ones looking for his journal.”
“So then how are we gonna find our way through here?” asked Spike.
“Let’s go find a branch or something to make a torch with.” Blueblood suggested. The trio left the cave and walked back into the woods. There, Blueblood found a stick that was big enough to light a torch. Using his fire breath, Spike lit it up and the trio began making their way back into the cave, but not before Blueblood noticed something moving out the corner of his eye. Quickly turning his head, he saw a figure of a pony disappear into the woods for a brief second.
“We need to move.” he said sternly.
“What’s wrong?” asked Twilight.
“We’re being followed.” he answered.
Twilight gasped. “By who?”
“I’m not sure, but I get the feeling that they’re after the same thing we are.”
“Maybe they’re archaeologists?”
“I doubt it.”
“Hey, what are you two doing?!” yelled Spike; catching their attention. Blueblood and Twilight saw that Spike was already at the cave entrance waiting for them.
“Stay on guard.” Blueblood whispered to Twilight.
****************************
The trio spent what felt like hours walking through the cave until they came to a wall. “A dead end?” asked Spike.
“Not necessarily.” Blueblood said as he walked to the wall and placed a hoof on it. “According to the map, there should be a switch somewhere.” The prince began to feel along the wall until he pushed on a part of the wall that went inwards. The ground began to shake and open up beneath them. The trio fell through and landed on some type of slide. They slid through through the dark tunnel at a very fast pace; only to exit through hole in the wall. They found themselves in an open chamber with many torches hanging on the walls lighting the way.
“Ugh, where are we?” Spike groaned.
“It appears to be some kind of underground chamber.” Blueblood answered while talking a look at the map.
“There doesn’t seem to be any Serpentine Rock here.” Twilight said; looking at the walls.
“No, but there are traps here.” Blueblood added. “The map doesn’t say where they are or how to not trigger them but if we manage to get past them then it’s a straight shot to the journal.”
“Alright, let’s go!” Twilight said with excitement.
*click*
“What was that?” asked Spike.
Looking down, Twilight saw that she had accidentally stepped on a small button on the ground. Small holes began opening up within the walls and sharp metal knives stuck out.
“W-what the......” Spike started.
“GET DOWN!” Blueblood yelled as hundreds of the metal objects shot out of the walls from both sides. The trio quickly fell to the ground and covered their heads just barely missing getting hit. Sounds of the knives crashing into each other at full speed filled their ears. Suddenly, the sounds came to a stop and the trio found themselves covered in broken and bent knives. Slowly they emerged from the pile and took a look around.
“Is everypony okay?” Twilight asked.
“Ugh, barely.” Blueblood groaned. “Let’s keep moving, and watch where you step; who knows what other traps await us.” The trio began making their way through the chamber; being mindful of where they stepped. They soon came across a stairway that led them to a lower level. Upon reaching the bottom, they saw that the lover level had giant statues on each side of the walls.
“Whoa, look at them all.” Spike said in amazement as he ran towards one of them. “Who are they?”
“These are all of Starswirl’s enemies.” Blueblood explained.
“ Really?!” Spike said in shock. “There’s so many.”
“Back then, Equestria was constantly under attack by a new threat basically every other day.” Blueblood explained. “Starswirl took it upon himself to take on all threats as they came. He was the sole protector of Equestria.”
As Spike admired the statues, one caught his eye. It was a unicorn with a crazy smile on it’s face; similar to the one Twilight wore when she went crazy and caused ponyville to riot. “Who’s this?”
“That pony is called, Insanus.” Blueblood answered. “The less you know about him the better. Let’s go.”
Twilight levitated Spike onto her back and the trio moved on, but not before........
*click*
“Uh oh.” Twilight said as she looked down and saw that she stepped on another button. There was a loud rumbling sound that caused the trio to look up. The statues were all turning their head towards them and there eyes started glowing.
“Um, are statues supposed to do that?” Spike asked nervously.
“No!” said Twilight. “RUN!” Spike held onto Twilight as she and Blueblood started to run as fast as they could just as the statues took aim at them. Within seconds, the statues began shooting beams of magical energy from their eyes; just missing their targets by inches. The impact from the beams caused mini explosions which damaged the floor and caused the room to shake. “KEEP GOING!” yelled Blueblood as the beams kept getting closer by the second.
“Over there!” Spike yelled; pointing to a small opening.
“Go go go!” yelled Blueblood. Twilight and Spike were the first to jump through the opening with Blueblood right behind them. With no targets to shoot at, the statues went right back to their original positions. The trio found themselves in a small room with the only exit being the way came in.
“Now where are we?” asked Spike.
“I don’t know, but least those statues stopped firing at us.” said Twilight. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
*click*
There was dead silence in the room. “Please, tell me you didn’t step on another one, Sparkle.” said Blueblood. Suddenly, their only exit was sealed off and a loud rumbling sound began to fill the room. To everypony’s horror, both sides of the wall and the ceiling began closing in on them.
“OH NO!” yelled Twilight. Frantically, they began looking for a way out of the situation. Inch by inch the walls came closer and closer forcing Twilight and Blueblood to push against them, to no avail. “I’ll cast a spell!” As Twilight’s horn started glowing, Spike looked up at the ceiling in horror.
“TWILIGHT!” he yelled then pointed up.
Twilight rose her head and saw what Spike saw. “S-Serpentine Rock!” she yelled. “The ceiling is made of Serpentine Rock! I can’t use magic!”
Spike ran over to the opening, put his claws through the cracks and desperately to pry it open. “COME ON, OPEN UP FOR CELESTIA’S SAKE!” It wouldn’t budge.
Spike took a couple of steps back and turned to see Twilight and Blueblood pushing against the walls as they closed in.
Was this it?
Is this how it ends?
No, not like this. It can’t end this way.
*click*
Spike had stepped on a switch which allowed the floor to open up beneath them. The trio fell through just as the ceiling and walls closed in. They slid down another passageway into a smaller chamber. “That was close.” said Blueblood.
“So where are we now?” asked Twilight. The trio looked around the room and saw that on top of a small staircase was the podium, and on that podium was a large book.
“That must be it!” Twilight said excitedly. “Starswirl’s journal!” Before Twilight could take one step forward, Blueblood stuck his hoof out and stopped her. He didn’t want her triggering anymore traps; if there were any. Spike started scanning the area for any signs of hidden traps and found none. Once the coast was clear, Blueblood allowed Twilight to run up to the podium. Once she got there, she couldn’t keep her excitement in check any longer. With the biggest smile on her face, she grabbed Starswirl’s journal off the podium and was about to open it when it was suddenly pulled out of her grasp by Blueblood.
“We got what we came for, now let’s get outta here.” he said looking at Spike. Putting the journal in his saddle pack, both the prince and Spike turned to leave but was soon confronted by Twilight. “What are you doing?!” she half yelled.
"We’re going to deliver the journal to the museum in Vanhoover.” Blueblood explained.
“W-WHAT?!” Twilight screamed then teleported in front of Blueblood. “Y-you’re not even gonna open it up and read it? It’s Starswirl’s journal!”
“And who’s to say that you won’t try casting one of the high level spells written in here?” Blueblood asked. “Based on what Spike told me, your spells never go right.”
Twilight glared at Spike who turned away from her whistling. Blueblood levitated the young dragon onto his back and proceeded to leave the chamber until he was once again stopped by a small barrier made Twilight. “Sparkle, what are you doing?” he asked, a bit annoyed.
“I just want a little peek inside.” she asked. “Just one page, that’s all.”
“You won’t stop at one page.” The prince shattered Twilight's barrier with his own magic and once again started to leave with Spike, but soon felt Twilight grab onto his hind leg in another attempt to stop him. “No. NOOOO!” she begged. “Come on, let me read it, it’ll satisfy my hunger for knowledge.” Twilight began speaking in a strange whispered tone that made her sound......suggestive.The prince and Spike both looked at Twilight before continuing on; dragging her and ignoring her cries.
“Come on Twilight, this is getting pathetic.” Spike said. Twilight just continued to beg and plead to read the book until Blueblood came to an abrupt stop.
“What’s going on?” asked Spike.
“We have company.” he said; catching Twilight’s attention. The trio were now facing three hooded ponies who showed no intention of letting them leave.
“Who are you!” Blueblood demanded. The three ponies removed their hood to reveal that they were light blue earth ponies with pure white manes and tails. Blueblood instantly recognized their appearance.
In the wake of the explosion, Twilight, Spike, and Blueblood ran out of the chamber while the members of the Snow Clan recovered from the surprise attack. The trio ran down the hallway and into an area with many staircases that led into different rooms. "Which way should we go?!" asked Spike.
"This way, come on!" yelled Blueblood. As they began running up one of the stairs, the members of the Snow Clan managed to catch up to them. One of them threw a kunai; cutting Blueblood's saddle pack and causing the book to fall out.
"There it is, GET IT!" yelled the snow clan mare. The two stallions quickly moved for the book to which Spike jumped off Twilight's back and grabbed it before they could get to it.
"Get your claws off that book, lizard!" yelled one of the stallions.
"Get away from him!" yelled Twilight as she charged up her horn. She fired a blast at the stallions causing them to leap up into the air to evade. This gave Spike enough time to get away from them with the book. While up in the air, one of the stallions took aim at Spike and was about to fire a shuriken at him, but Blueblood appeared behind him with his shield in hoof and hammered him into the ground. Looking over the other stallion, the prince threw his shield at him to which he countered by catching it and throwing back at Blueblood. However in doing so, this gave the prince a chance to teleport behind him and hammer him into the ground as well. While that was going on, Twilight found herself going against the last member of the clan. The mare had thrown a couple smoke pellets to the ground causing smoke to rise up and conceal herself from Twilight. The alicorn conjured up a wind spell to blow away all the smoke to find that the mare was gone.
"TWILIGHT!" Spike yelled; causing her to turn around. As she looked behind her, the snow clan mare managed to hit Twilight causing both her and Spike to roll on the ground; separating them from the book. Spike quickly got up and made a mad dash for the book; as too did the snow mare. However, she didn't that far seeing as how Blueblood's shield landed right in front of her. This gave Spike enough time to grab the book and run away.
"You won't get away!" yelled the snow mare. She was about to make a move, but Blueblood landed in front of her. While the two engaged in a fight, Twilight quickly rose to her hooves and teleported over to Spike's side as he was about to be confronted by one of the snow stallions. Twilight's horn lit up and she deflected the many kunai that was thrown at them. With all of them gone, she fired a blast of energy right at them, but they managed to dodge out of the way. One of them landed on the side of Twilight and knocked her over before turning his attention towards Spike. The young dragon blew fire at the stallion causing him to stumble backwards a bit which gave Twilight enough time to recover from being knock over and launch a counter attack. The alicorn blasted the stallion with a strong attack sending him flying into a wall. However in doing so, he wound up hitting a switch which caused the floor beneath them to shake violently. "W-what's going on?!" yelled Twilight.
"Up the stairs, NOW!" Blueblood answered. Everypony quickly started to run up the nearest staircase as large cracks on the floor started to appear. Spike was the last on trying to make to Twilight and Blueblood while holding on to the book. The snow mare locked on to Spike and with a single leap, tackled him to the ground; forcing him to let go of the book. She quickly got up and made a dash for it, but Spike countered by blow a breath of fire against her flank; causing her to scream out loud which gave him the shot he needed to reclaim the book. However, one he grabbed it, the floor beneath them started to crumble at a fast pace.
"SPIKE!" Twilight yelled as the young dragon started running for his life. Twilight lit up her horn to grab him, but the soon the entire floor collapsed under Spike and the snow mare; the two of them falling through. "SPIKE, NOOOOOO!" Twilight tried to go after him, but was stopped by Blueblood. The alicorn continued to scream Spike's name as she witnessed him disappear into the darkness below.
****************************
Spike awoke in a dark area with debris from the floor all around him. He had no idea how long he was out, but at least he was okay, to an extent. He had bruises all over his body and could barely move. Spike could barely even see his claws in front of his face, let alone, anything that was around him. However, when he lifted his head, he saw a small glimpse of light peeking from behind something. "What is that?" he thought. "Maybe it's a way out of here." Spike started to drag himself across the ground towards the small light; stopping every few moments to let the pain he was feeling die down a bit before starting to move again. As he got closer, Spike started to see that light was coming from behind a large piece of debris that he had to climb over. Groaning in pain, Spike managed to rise to his feet before he climbed over the large piece of debris; soon falling over on the other side. It was then Spike saw that the glowing light was coming from a large ruby rock the shape of a dragon's scale. Spike was immediately entrance by it. He felt that it was somehow calling out to him. Sticking out his claw, Spike reached for it. Small red sparks began shooting out at his claw; not hurting him, but healing him. His injuries were completely gone with seconds and before he knew it, he was up and about like nothing had ever happened. Still entrance by the rock, Spike inched closer and closer towards it until his claw touched it.
It was then that his body glowed just as bright as the rock. Suddenly, it began to shrink down to where Spike could carry it easily. "W-What was that?" he said; unsure of what just happened to his body. Before his body stopped glowing, Spike felt some strange power flowing through him. He couldn't describe what it was, but it felt amazing. Picking it up, Spike climbed back over the debris and found his bag; along with the journal. After placing both inside, he began searching for a way out of wherever he was.
****************************
Twilight looked into the deep pit and screamed Spike's name over and over; hoping to receive some kind of reply from him. "Come on, let's go." said Blueblood.
"We can't leave him!" she yelled.
"We're not leaving him, we're finding a way down there." he explained. "Not that you care anyway." Twilight didn't hear Blueblood mumble that last part. She was too worried about Spike. The pair made their way through one of the openings and found themselves in another hallway. This one was a bit narrower, with the walls looking like they were going to close in on them at any second. "Stay close and watch your step." the prince warned. "No telling what kind of traps are set here." Both ponies slowly trekked through the hallway; being extra careful and suspicious of anything that even looked like it could set off a trap.
"Um, Blueblood?" Twilight spoke up. "Those ponies who attacked us, who were they?"
"The Snow Clan." he answered; not really wanting to have a conversation with her. "They're a group of earth pony ninjas whom Celestia banished centuries ago for trying to overthrow her and take Equestria for themselves."
"This is the first time i've heard of this." Twilight said. "Why did they try to overthrow her?"
"Celestia and Luna believed that it was to show how powerful they were, but that's partly true." he explained. "The truth is, the clan believes that they were the first ones to ever set hoof in Equestria and believes that it rightfully belongs to them, but in actuality, the clan and the first Equestrian settlers came here at the exact same time. Nopony knows what made them believe they were here first. It could be anything, ego, pride, etc...."
"I wonder why they're after Starswirl's journal." she said.
"Starswirl kept many things in that journal other than spells." Blueblood explained. "Things like the locations of mystical items and what they can do. It's possible that they're after something like that." Both Twilight and Blueblood continued to walk through the hallway with Twilight getting more and more worried about Spike by the second. "Spike." she whispered as she lowered her head. Blueblood gave out an exasperated sigh while rolling his eyes. He didn't buy that Twilight was was worrying about Spike. Deep down, he knew that this was just a act to make herself feel better. Once she returns to Ponyville, it'll be business as usual. The battle with the nightmare aura will be a thing of the past and nothing will change. Honestly, he doesn't know why Celestia decided to make her alicorn when she clearly doesn't deserve it. All those "friendship speeches" she's known were nothing more than her stroking her own ego at the fact that she's his aunt's student. By some sheer miracle, the two of them made through the hallway without triggering anything They wound up entering a rather large room with massive statues that resembled the ones from earlier. Both Twilight and Blueblood soon heard voices coming towards them. They ran behind a pillar as the voices revealed to belong the Snow Clan Ponies.
"Where are we?" asked the first stallion.
"How should I know?" answered the second stallion. "Grr, I can't believe we let the book get away."
"Don't worry." said the mare. "There's no way anypony could've survived that fall. Once we find a way down there, they'll be nothing in the way of getting it."
"What about the other two?" asked the first stallion.
"We'll handle them in time." she said. "Now, let's keep moving." As the snow ponies continued off in one direction, Blueblood and Twilight hurried off in another; being careful not to alert them. The pair ran down a different hallway in an attempt to find some kind of staircase that would lead them downwards. Their travels lead them to room, after room, after room, and they found nothing looking like a staircase or anything that might lead them to Spike. Twilight and Blueblood entered into a hallway which had statues of warrior stallions at each pillar. Believing it was a obvious trap, the two of them started to head back; not wanting to set anything off. As they started to leave, they heard a rumbling sound. Looking out into the hallway, they saw that a wall was slowly opening up.
"Something's happening." Twilight said.
"Hide!" Blueblood said with urgency. They ran behind a corner and peeked their heads out as the wall opened up. Walking through was a small figure they couldn't make out. It wasn't until the figure came into focus that they knew who it was.
"Spike!" Twilight yelled as she came from behind the corner. Running over to him, the purple alicorn practically tackled the young dragon as she held him tightly; squeezing the air out of his lungs. "You're okay, thank Celestia, you're okay!"
"T-Twilight.....c-can't.....breathe." he struggled to say. Twilight ignored Spike's statement and continued to nuzzle her cheek against his. Blueblood rolled his eyes, believing that Twilight's reaction was all just an act, and use his magic to separate the two so that the poor dragon could breathe.
"If you're done trying to kill him, we should get out of here while the Snow Clan are preoccupied." he suggested.
"Y-Yeah." Spike breathed. "The exit is this way."
"How do you know where the exit is?" Twilight asked as Spike started walking.
"I don't know, I just do." he answered. The trio walked to the opposite end of the hallway where Spike began feeling against the wall for something.
"What are you doing?" Blueblood asked.
"There should be a switch somewhere around here." he said as he continued feeling around. Twilight and Blueblood looked as each other in confusion before looking back at Spike. They wondered how it was that Spike knew there was a switch around here. Both ponies were pulled from their thoughts when they heard a loud click followed by a rumbling sound. Spike found the switched that opened up a hidden door which revealed a dark entrance. "Here it is." he said. "This should lead us back outside."
"Spike, wait up." Twilight said as both she and Blueblood followed him in. Twilight and Blueblood both lit up their horns so that they could see where they were going. Twilight walked right next to Spike; wrapping a hoof around him and held him close just in case something were to happen; she didn't want to risk losing him for a third time. After a few minutes of walking, the trio came to a bright light at the end of the cave. This led them right into the White Tail Woods, or rather, another part of it. It didn't matter now, all the matters is that they're out of that cave, and away from the Snow Clan.
"We have to move." said Blueblood. "The sooner we get to the train station, the farther away from the Cnow Clan we'll be."
"But which way IS the station?" Twilight asked. "We're in a different area." Twilight question was soon answered when they heard the distant sound of a train engine.
"This way." said Blueblood as he used his magic to pick up Spike. They ran as fast as they could through the woods in the direction of the train. As they ran, the sound of the train got louder and louder. They were sure it was either at the station ready to leave, or was about to arrive; either way, they had to make it to there and hope the Snow Clan doesn't catch up to them. It felt like forever, but the trio had finally made to the station where the train was about set off. With nothing more than a second to spear, the leaped on board just as it started moving.
"W-We.....made it." Twilight panted.
"B-Barely." Blueblood added. Both the prince and Twilight struggled to make to their car while Spike stood in between them; helping them keep their balance. It didn't take long before the trio made to their destination; Twilight and Blueblood flopping down in their seats as Spike closed the door.
"It's finally over." Twilight said as she motioned for Spike to come next to her. Spike went over to Twilight and she wrapped a hoof around him; nuzzling him close to her and causing Blueblood to roll his eyes. "I can't believe we've made it out of there." she continued. "But Spike, how did you know where the exit was?"
"I don't know." he answered. "Ever since I touched that red glowing rock, it just came to me."
"What red glowing rock?" Blueblood asked. Spike pulled up his backpack and opened it; revealing to Twilight and Blueblood the red rock he'd found. The look the prince gave was a combination of both shock and fear; as if he knew what it was that Spike found.
"It can't be." he thought. Before he could say anything, car started to shake violently; nearly tossing the trio around. A few seconds later, the shaking stopped; leaving them confused as to what just happened.
"What as that?!" Spike asked.
His question was soon answered when pony crashed through the window and grabbed him. It was the mare from the Snow Clan. "Give me the journal or the dragon gets it." she demanded.
"SPIKE!" Twilight yelled as she was about to use her magic to get him back, only to be stopped when the other two Snow Clan members entered in as well.
"You honestly thought you could get away from that easily?" the mare laughed as her grip around Spike tighten. "Now, hand it over!" The Snow Clan were ready to attack if Twilight or Blueblood tried to do something. Blueblood looked at the situation they were in and went for Spike's backpack.
"Here, take it." he said as he tossed it to them. "Now, let him go."
"Gladly." the mare said with a dark smirk. In one move she tossed Spike behind her through one of the broken windows.
"SPIKE!" Twilight screamed before teleporting after him.
"You'll pay for that!" Blueblood yelled as he charged at them. The two stallions stood in front of their leader and blocked the prince's attack as she grabbed Spike's backpack. With a smirk, the mare threw a pellet on the ground and white smoke filled the room. Blueblood conjured up some wind magic to blow the smoke away; only to find the three ponies were gone. "No." he growled. "Where could they have......." He stopped mid sentence and took a look at the broken window. Believing where that's where they might've gone, Blueblood crawled through the window and onto the roof. The heavy winds from the speed of the train nearly caused the prince to fall off, but he kept his balance and looked around. Running up ahead of him, were the three members of the Snow Clan. Blueblood gave chase after them; soon teleporting himself closer to them where he fired a beam from his horn and hit of the stallions off the train and into a nearby lake; taking back Spike's backpack. "One down, two more to go." he said as he conjured up a shield.
Angry at what happened to their comrand, the two members of the Snow Clan took a fighting stance. The Snow Clan stallion was the first to attack; charging at the prince who blocked him with his shield. Blueblood pushed him back to which the Snow Clan mare threw a couple kunai at him. Using his shield, Blueblood deflected them away, however this left him open to an attack. The Snow Clan stallion charged at the prince and tackled him down. Blueblood countered by kicking the stallion off him, grabbing him while he was in the air and throwing him at the mare who took one step to the side as he passed her by. The stallion managed to stop himself from falling off the moving train by grabbing to the ledge and pulling himself up. "He's good." he acknowledged. "But not good enough." A dark smirk appeared on his face as Blueblood took a fighting stance. Coming up behind the prince, was the first Snow Clan stallion he took care up earlier brandishing a kunai for a sneak attack. His plan was obviously to dispose of the prince and take back the backpack. Blueblood's attention was kept on the other two unaware of what was behind him.
"Why are they just standing there?" Blueblood thought as he watched them. "Are they anticipating my next move?"
Both Snow Clan ponies' dark smirks turned into smiles as their comrade got into position. He was about to strike the prince down when suddenly......"BLUEBLOOD, LOOK OUT!" came a familiar voice. A beam of lavender magic came from nowhere and blasted the stallion off the train.
"What the..." the prince said looking behind him.
Twilight and Spike came in from the sky and landed next to Blueblood. "That was close." Spike said as he went to grab his backpack. With a growl, the Snow Clan mare threw a couple of small silver pellets at the trio which soon exploded; cause bright flashes of light that temporarily blinded them. Spike, Twilight, and Blueblood yelled in pain; shielding their eyes as best they could. This gave the mare the chance she needed. In a single dash, she ran towards them and grabbed the backpack. She quickly turned and ran away with it just as the trio got their sight back. "She has the backpack!" Spike announced.
"Not for long." Twilight said as she spread her wings. With a single flap of her wings, Twilight took off after the mare; taking her down and causing her to lose the backpack which flew out of her grasp and landed a few feet away from them. The journal flew out of the backpack and threaten to fall off the train. Thinking quickly, Blueblood used his magic to teleport Spike over to the book just as the Snow Clan stallion ran over. Spike landed on top of the book just as the Snow Clan stallion approached him.
"Move!" he demanded before knocking Spike away. Right as he was about to grab the book, Spike leapt back and snatched it away. The stallion grabbed Spike and ripped the book from his claws. Spike bit down on the stallion's hoof causing him to yell out in pain which gave him time to pull the book away; unintentionally causing a page from it to be ripped out. Spike started to runaway from the stallion just as the Snow Claw mare was thrown at him. Both ponies collided against each other and was soon encased in a large bubble by Blueblood. "I'm ending this." he said. In one move he threw the both of them off the train; sending them deep into the woods with no way to attempt to get back on.
"Spike!" Twilight yelled as she ran to the young dragon. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah....but.... a page out of the book was torn out." he said. Twilight gasped and Blueblood levitated Spike's backpack to him.
"We better get back inside." he suggested.
****************************
Time passed as Spike was fast asleep with Twilight watching over him. She looked over at Blueblood who had Spike's backpack encased in a magical bubble that only he could release. She remembered the prince explaining that they were going to bring it to a museum in Vanhoover. The Starswirl the Bearded museum she had no idea existed until Spike told her about during his time with the princesses. Part of her was excited that they were actually going to a museum dedicated to her idol, but at the same time, she was frustrated that she couldn't even look at the content within his journal. She could only imagine what was written in there; stories of his exploits, powerful spells he's created and mastered over the years. A whole variety of knowledge was right there in front of her and she couldn't get anywhere near it. It was tearing her up inside just knowing that she was so close, yet so far away from the writings of her idol.
On the plus side, she was on her way towards the Star Swirl museum in Vanhoover. As she thought about it, her mind went back to the fight with the Snow Clan from earlier. Spike said that a page from torn from the book when he tried to get it back. She wondered what page was ripped from the book, and what was written on it. If the Snow Clan has it, then it's definitely not a good sign; especially if they plan to attack Equestria. After this trip, Twilight will have to travel to Canterlot and inform Celestia of the attack.
Across from her, Blueblood stared out the window into the night sky; looking at Luna's bright moon. "The Snow Clan." he thought. "They really wanted Starswirl's journal, but for what? What in Equestria are they planning?" The prince continued to ponder that query as the train continued to make its way towards it's destination.
"Forgive us sir." said the Snow Clan mare. "We've found the journal, but Prince Blueblood and two others got there before us. We attempted to steal it from them, but all me managed to get was this one page." All three ponies kneeled and awaited their punishment for failing, but instead they received a chuckle from their leader.
"Well done." he said. They looked up at him with confused looks on their faces. "This one page is all we need, you're dismissed." With that, they left; relieved that they succeeded in their mission. The leader of the Snow Clan entered a back room where two other ponies were waiting for him, a stallion and a mare.
"Father, where is the journal?" asked the stallion.
"This is all we need, son." he answered as he presented the torn page.
"A torn page? That's it?" his son said with a confused look.
"Look at what's on the page." he said as he placed it on the table. "It gives the location to what we seek, one of the Dragon Stones."
"I know that location." said the mare. "Isn't that....."
"Yes." said their father. "It's the location of the Crystal Empire. Starswirl must've hidden it somewhere in the wretched kingdom."
"I've heard that's where something called the Equestria Games are supposed to he held." she explained.
"Then that's when we'll make our move." said their father. "While everypony is distracted with their games, we'll search the kingdom for the Dragon Stone. The two of you should start preparing, this will be your mission."
"Yes, father." they said in unison.
As the two ponies left, their father continued to look at the page. "We're almost there, the Dragon Empress will rise again."
