Tale of the Nether Drake

-Chapter 4-

Light

(~the following morning, a couple hours before noon~)

“Twilight, we're here!” Rarity called out as her and the others approached the front of the library.

Out in front, Twilight and Spike had already inflated the balloon and gotten it tied to the ground, packed up a sizable amount of provisions, and were just finishing running through the last few items on their checklist. At hearing Rarity's voice, Spike's head shot up, turning to the source as he smiled brightly.

“Hi, Rarity!” he greeted with a wave.

“Hey girls, great timing!” Twilight said with a smile. “We're just about done here, so we should be able to leave shortly. Are you all set to go?”

“Why of course darling,” the fashionista replied. “I already got my schedule cleared for the entire next week, and all I had to do after that was just pack a few things.”

Rarity's horn shimmered brightly as a bag floated over and set down beside her. And then another bag followed suit, and another, and another, the flow continuing on as more and more bags and suitcases began piling up around her. Twilight watched in disbelief - was she really about to try to bring all that stuff on the balloon?

“We tried to tell her it was too much stuff,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as the pile grew to the size of a small shed.

“Rarity, I really don't think you need that many supplies to bring with you for just a week,” Twilight explained. “What could possibly be in there that you need?”

“Why, all the essentials of course! I have my accessory kit, my dress bag, my hat bag, my casual day bag, a suitcase with all my sewing supplies, an assortment of fine-”

“Rarity...” Twilight deadpanned. “You get two bags. If all that goes on the balloon, then none of us will have any room, even if the balloon is able to even lift off with all that weight.”

“T-two!?” Rarity choked out.

“Two.”

“But, but--”

“Two,” everypony said in unison.

Defeated, Rarity pouted cutely and began sorting through her pile of bags to see which one she needed the most out of them all. Of course, to her, they were all extremely important... who knew what sort of fashion emergency they might run into on the way!

“Alright, everypony else got their stuff?”

“I got my things right here, Twi',” Applejack approached with her saddlebags and an extra bag hanging from her neck. “I hope ya don't mind me bringin three bags, two of'em got apples in'em ta eat.”

“That's alright Applejack, some extra food will surely help out!”

“Ooh, ooh, I got my things! Right here, right here!” Pinkie bounced up to Twilight carrying her saddlebags. “They're filled with cupcakes!”

“That's fine, Pinkie,” Twilight said with a smirk. “That won't be a problem, more food is always good.”

“Um, I hope I didn't bring too much...” Fluttershy slowly approached, setting down her two saddlebags. “I brought some medical supplies and a couple of towels, along with just a few brushes, if that's okay...”

“Of course it is Fluttershy, some first aid equipment is sure to come in handy!” Twilight smiled as the pegasus before turning her head over towards the last friend. “Uh, Rainbow Dash, you're not bringing anything?”

“Why would I?” Rainbow asked, cantering up to her like it was no big deal. “I've been out on plenty of adventures all on my own, I can handle this sort of thing easy. And don't worry about extra weight, cuz I'm just gonna be flying around and stuff, kay?”

“Um, alright... that works, I guess.” Twilight contemplated the positive aspects of Rainbow Dash not bringing any supplies, or not having to add more weight to the balloon, and decided that may have been wise of her.

“So is everypony here yet?” asked Applejack.

“Not yet, I'm still waiting for Shuske and Tazer to arrive. Has anypony seen 'em around lately?” The group collectively shook their heads, save for Rarity who was still shuffling through her luggage.

“Well hey, if they're not coming, I guess that means we don't have to go,” Spike offered, looking around for anypony to agree with him. Just then a strange rattling sound came from beside him. Looking over, his eyes enlarged when he saw Pinkie's tail twitching sporadically.

“Uh oh, Twitchy Tail!” Pinkie warned as all the ponies suddenly became aware of the threat.

“We're here!” A voice suddenly called out from above.

Looking up, they saw Shuske dive-bombing straight towards the ground with Tazer on his back.

“God damn, pull the hell up you reject!” Tazer growled as he held on for dear life, not wanting for this quest to end before it even began due to Shuske's antics.

“Hold on, I can do this, just watch!” Shuske was grinning wide as he gained more speed, intending on turning up at the last second and making a cool skid across the grass.

This, however, did not happen. Only a few seconds away from the turn point, Tazer – not one to trust his companion with such a stupid stunt – Dug his claws into Shuske's neck and tugged, hard. Shuske yelped out in pain, flying off course and straight towards the library home. The group on the ground winced as the duo went straight down into Twilight's tree, smashing through numerous branches and layers of leaves before breaking through the lower end, falling significantly slower, but still landing quite painfully on the ground below.

“Ouch...” Shuske muttered.

Shuske began to get up, brushing himself off in doing so, but was tackled in the head by a very angry Tazer before he could get up all the way.

“You blockhead! I freakin told you not to try a stunt like that!” Tazer yelled as he beat his companion over the head with a fist.

“I-ow! I'm sorry Taze-ow! I was just trying to have some fu-ow! Can you stop now!?” Shuske flinched as he felt for another swing, but Tazer had stopped.

With a heavy sigh, Tazer crawled off of the griffon and got his own feet down to the ground, brushing himself off as well. He looked up at Shuske, his eyes piercing like daggers as he stared for a few seconds.

“You and I are going to have a lot more problems if you keep trying crap like that...”

“Uh, are you two alright?” came Twilight's voice, briefly startling the duo.

“Oh! Uh, yeah, we're all fine over here!” Shuske said, his expression switching almost instantly to a cheerful tone.

“Whatever,” Tazer scoffed as he crossed his arms.

The due walked towards the group, their eyes overlooking them, their collection of baggage, and more importantly the large hot air balloon that was already filled up.

“Wow, you really do have a big hot air balloon!” Shuske said as he marveled at its size.

“Thanks, it was a gift from Princess Celestia herself,” Twilight explained. “She said it would be useful in helping me get around places other than Canterlot when I needed it, and I think this is a pretty good occasion for its use.”

“Alrighty then, looks like we're all set,” Shuske suddenly paused as he remembered something. “Oh, wait, did you remember the-”

“Tome and the map?” Twilight smirked as she levitated the two items out of the balloon's basket. “Of course I would remember to bring them, they're essential to the quest!”

“Alright, you go Twilight!” Shuske gave a little cheer and fist pump into the air.

“So wait a second,” Tazer spoke up abruptly. “Did you find out anything new or interesting about the map or the book?”

“As a matter of fact, I did!” Twilight announced as she laid out the map and the book in front of everyone there, her magic opening the book up to the page with the diamonds. “You see, what I found yesterday with the diamonds on the map wasn't a coincidence I don't think... the map has all six of the diamond symbols tagged at different locations.” She sat down before the two items as one hoof pointed to the heat diamond and the other pointed to some place tagged in Dragontine. “See where the heat diamond is on the map? That looks like it's in the Dragon Domain. And what's more, I think it might be inside a volcano...”

“A volcano!?” A few of them gasped.

“That's correct. Look on this page,” Twilight flipped a few pages over to where it showed the illustration of inside a cave with rivers of lava. “The Dragon Domain is notorious for its abundance of tectonic activity, meaning there's a lot of volcanoes and stuff there... so, it would make sense for the diamond of heat to be inside a cave just like this, which would most likely be somewhere in the Dragon Domain!”

“Well, I gotta hand it to ya Twilight, you sure can figure 'em out pretty dern well,” Applejack complimented as she looked over the map and the book.

“So those other pictures then,” Rainbow Dash began, catching onto Twilight's hints. “They probably represent where the other diamonds would be, right?”

“That's exactly what I'm thinking,” Twilight replied as she nodded slightly. “And if you look over the map, you can see where each diamond would be. Well, if we could read the exact locations that is. So far only one place with an actual diamond that's written in Equestrian in Canterlot.”

“Wait, does this mean we're going to be going to Canterlot!?” Rarity's eyes glimmered as she smiled wide at Twilight.

“Yes, in fact that's where I planned on heading first.”

“Wait a second,” Tazer butted in. “I never really thought about the pictures being connected to the diamond locations... so at least that's a good find. But where in Canterlot would a freakin dungeon or temple be for something like this?”

“Hmm... well, that is a good point...” Twilight focused on the illustration where they assumed the light diamond would be. Inspecting it closely, she noticed something. “Aha, there!”

“What?” asked Tazer, leaning in to where Twilight's hoof pointed.

“See those figures that are growing out of some of the corners of the walls?”

“...Crystals?”

“Exactly! There's an abandoned crystal mine underneath Canterlot, I've been down there before. I bet if we search through there, we might just be able to find the temple with the diamond inside!”

“Whelp, we got a plan!” Shuske announced cheerfully as he clapped his talons together. “Everypony ready to go!?”

“YEAH!” Replied the group, except for Spike, and with that they all went to gather up their things to start loading them onto the balloon.

Tazer gave an annoyed glance up to Shuske, but then just shook his head as he himself began towards the balloon. Twilight watched over her friends and the duo for a moment before she noticed something, and she spoke out.

“Hey, Tazer, Shuske!” she called to them. “Where are your supplies?”

“Our what?” Shuske replied as both of them turned around.

“Your supplies. You know, stuff you'll need to carry with you to aid in your quest.”

“Well, we would bring some, but our Master said that we need to learn to live off the land with what we don't have on our backs... hehe.”

“We don't need any supplies anyways,” Tazer replied with a deadpan expression. “Any ordinary reject can survive out there if ya know the right stuff to do and the right things to use. So that's the purpose of our master teaching us all that.”

“Well, alright then, if that's what you have to do,” Twilight gave the two an odd look as they turned back around and proceeded once more to the balloon's basket.

One by one, piece by piece, all of the passengers and all of the luggage was loaded onto the balloon. A few of them questioned if it would be able to hold all of their weight, but Twilight assured that with her magical enhancements, it would do just fine. With all of them secure in the basket, except for Rainbow Dash and Shuske who simply wished to stay flying on their own, the new group of adventurers began final preparations, which consisted of Twilight going through a checklist to ensure they had everypony and everything.

Thanks to Twilight's magical modifications, the balloon itself was twice its normal size, and the basket itself was more than three times it's normal size. Twilight knew that they would be fitting several more passengers than the balloon was used to, so she made the correct calculations and re-sized the balloon accordingly earlier that morning. Even the ropes were a bit thicker to support the extra weight of the passengers and their cargo.

Once everyone was on board, Spike centered himself below the main opening of the balloon, ready to breathe an extra burst of flame to get the thing airborne. Twilight then gave him a hoof up as her magic disconnected the single rope tied to a rod in the ground. Spike paused just briefly, giving a bit of a sigh as he let what was left with the knowledge that he was about to go on this 'quest' with creatures he didn't trust. But, unable to do much about it, he took a deep breath after that short moment and blew a large burst of fire up into the main compartment of the balloon.

Twilight's balloon was magic, and the enchantment on the rubbery top allowed it to hold onto the heated air inside for hours on end without needing more fire to keep it up. Because of this, no fire was needed below to constantly feed it hot air. Spike was very thankful for that, knowing that he would have already met his end if he had to constantly blow fire up into the thing on earlier trips.

With the new rush of hot air, the balloon was off the ground and rapidly ascending in mere seconds. The entire town came into view, and then gradually got smaller as they got higher and higher. The cloud line was quickly approaching them, and all of the inside passengers looked out with a few “ooh's” and “aah's” as they progressed upwards. In less than a minute, the balloon had reached its optimal height and had leveled out in the sky, a soft breeze gently pushing it around.

Shuske and Rianbow Dash flew around the balloon as Twilight went to work inside, adjusting the ropes just slightly so the balloon would tilt in a certain direction, making them travel where they wanted. With only a few little tugs on a certain couple of ropes, the balloon wafted to its side gently and began heading towards the east, with Canterlot in its direct path. It wasn't anything fast, but it was progressive, and its advantages were allowing everyone to travel together as well carry sufficient supplies. In only a little over an hour or so, they would be close enough to Canterlot to begin descending to land. And if Twilight's memory served her well enough, they would be in the crystal mines searching for that diamond in no time.

(~Canterlot Castle, around the same time~)

...”Princess Celestia!” called out one of the white-and-gold armored stallions as he and another guard barged into the throne room. “Urgent news, your majesty!”

“Yes, what is it?” Celestia asked as she watched the two guards approach her.

Giving a bow just as they stopped, they held the pose for only a moment before they both returned to standing regularly, their voices visibly shaken.

“Your Highness,” the first guard began. “We just spotted several griffon royal guards on their way to the castle gates as we speak!”

“Griffon guards?” Celestia stood up at this, her face showing her obvious confusion. “What brings them here to Canterlot?”

“We don't know your highness,” the other guard started. “But there's seven of them. From what we saw, six of them appeared to be royal guards, while the seventh was... something else. Probably an ambassador of some sort, because he certainly wasn't a guard, even if he was bigger than them.”

“An ambassador?” Celestia thought to herself for a few moments, her memories of the griffon escort system surfacing. “...No, that wouldn't be an ambassador. Griffons only send two, maybe three guards to escort ambassadors.” She stepped down the stairs of her throne, coming down to ground level as she watched the front gate to the room. “If there were six... that can only mean direct royalty.”

“So then, you mean-” A sudden shout behind the large doors interrupted the first guard.

“I said get out of my way!” barked a voice, one that Celestia immediately recognized.

“...It's King Chalizar Brownbeak,” Celestia stated with an air of nervousness in her voice.

As if on cue, the doors to the throne room burst open. Both large gates were pushed aside by the Griffon King himself as he stormed into the chamber, an angry glare on his face as his guards followed close behind in two columns of three, spears positioned pointing upwards in their grasps. On any other occasion there would have been a friendly reception to his coming to Canterlot, but his unexpected arrival only made everypony nervous that something bad was about to happen.

“Princess Celestia of Equestria!” he spoke out in a raised voice, effectively conveying his negative mood.

“Ah, Chalizar Brownbeak,” Celestia replied in a calm voice, hoping to draw down the volume a bit to something less aggressive. “Good day, and welcome to Can-”

“Spare me the formalities!” Chalizar growled as he approached her, his talons balled up into fists. “I just received word that my son is missing, and he was last seen in one of your kingdom's cities! Care to explain!?”

“Your son?” Celestia asked, honestly confused as to what he was talking about. “King Brownbeak, I do not know what you are talking about. Please, let's talk over this before--”

“No!” he yelled, raising his foreleg to point an accusing talon at her. “No more talking, no more 'conversations' with you in some stupid conference hall! I want my son, and I know you know of his whereabouts.”

“King Brownbeak, please, I don't understand the situation,” Celestia attempted to sooth him as much as she could with her soft, regal voice. “I was completely unaware that your son is missing. By all means, though, I will be more than willing to help in any way I can.”

“Your lies won't get you anywhere, Celestia. Now, this is your last chance...” He lowered his head slightly as his eyes shot daggers at her. “Tell me where my son is, right now, or else I'll--”

“Dragons!” a guard blurted out as he burst through the main door, galloping halfway in before stopping and continuing on. “Dragons above, three of them, very large!”

“Dragons?” Celestia asked as she stared wide-eyed at the guard.

'They appear to be wearing some sort of armor, we think they're guards from the Dragon Domain!”

“What!?” Chalizar growled as he turned his body towards the entrance. “The Dragon Lord... what makes that lizard think he can just bust in on my affairs like this?”

“Your affairs, hm?” Came a loud, low rumble from outside the castle. The sound of large wings flapping outside added a soft rumble that sent light vibrations through the walls of the castle. “My, my, King Brownbeak, you are quite the hotheaded one... at least Celestia has been able to keep her cool. Quite ironic for a goddess of the sun, though...”

“What business do you have here, Lord Talranis?” Celestia was shouting up to the ceiling.

“You ponies never make anything large enough for us dragons to fit in... come to your castle's garden area, I will be waiting there.”

After a few moments the sound of flapping wings stopped as they felt the ground rumble slightly. Celestia and Chalizar exchanged glances for a moment before they both made their way through a back entrance, a group of guards for each close behind.

Coming out to to the gardens first was Celestia and her group of Royal Guard escorts. She immediately saw The Dragon Lord there, casually sitting down beside a fountain with his two escorts behind him on either side. While the dragon guards wore armors with helmets, chest plates, leg and arm braces, and spiked gauntlets, Dragon Lord Talranis Mith did not wear anything.

As Celestia and her guards took up a spot on one side of the gardens, Chalizar and his guards came out to take up another side, all three having a clear view of each other and their guard groups. There was an eerie silence just then as all three leaders looked at one another. The intensity in the air was building, while the only sound was the soft blow of the wind and the rustling of a few leaves. Talranis broke this silence as he let out a deep sigh while he lowered his head.

“Celestia does not know where they are...”

“What?” Chalizar looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean? How do you know?”

“I can see it in her eyes, it's too obvious,” Talranis replied as he looked up to Chalizar. “Your son is missing, as is mine. And while the pain on our hearts is great, it is still important to approach these sort of situations calmly. Unfortunately, I could see in your eyes that you almost wanted Celestia to have taken your son, just to give you a reason to wage some sort of war on them...”

“T-that's not true!” Chalizar barked indignantly. “I just want my son, that's all there is! I could care less about the ponies!”

“Have it your way then,” Talranis then turned to Celestia. “Princess Celestia, it's been a while.”

“Indeed it has, Talranis,” Celestia smiled softly as the two exchanged glances.

“It's been quite some time since we last met like this... how long ago has it been? Over a thousand years?”

“I believe so,” Celestia closed her eyes for a few moments as memories began to collect in her mind. “I somewhat recall it being just after your brother went missing.”

“Hmm... sounds right,” He looked back at Chalizar, seeing his obvious impatient. “Well, someone's a bit anxious to get on with things.”

“And how could I not be!?” Chalizar grew more upset. “I just recently found out my son is missing, gone with some trainer who isn't really a trainer at all!”

“You mean Farnatchi isn't really a trainer?” Talranis tilted his head slightly.

“He is, actually... but that's not the problem,” Chalizar collected his thoughts for a brief moment before continuing. “I just found out yesterday that Faratuchi's body was found near the remains of one of my small villages... the second place our two sons went on their quest.”

“An imposter?” Talranis' eyes grew wide. “Who would be so foolish as to kidnap two princes like that? And furthermore, why would they continue on their quest for so long, but then just recently decide to go off track?”

“Perhaps the two princes had known all along,” Celestia suggested. “Maybe what this imposter seeks is to earn the trust or compliance of the two so that he could use them to do his bidding later on.”

“Inconceivable!” Chalizar spoke up. “My son would never do such a thing! He may be a bit of a foolhardy lad, but he would never willingly go against our kingdom!”

“The same goes for my child as well,” Talranis said. “He strives to show that he is worthy to take my place one day, I can see the passion burning inside of him every day. The idea that they would be going against us directly as an act of their own free will does not quite seem quite possible at this time.”

“What would you both suggest, then?” Celestia looked back and forth at the two as she spoke. “You said they were last seen in pony territory only a few days ago, so you're both giving the assumption they're still here. Now, while I too believe this to be a possibility, I must bring up the alternative, that they are actually somewhere else.”

“Hmm, this is true,” Talranis mumbled under his breath.

“So what would you suggest then Celestia? That we all search high and low for them?”

“Yes, Chalizar, that's exactly what I'm suggesting,” Chalizar looked ready to bark back a reply, but Celestia continued before he could. “None of us know where they are, and that's the problem. What's more is it seems there is an unknown being with them, one who’s intentions are also unknown. In order to find this being and find out what they're after, we must first find your sons. And the only way to do that is to simultaneously search as much as we can while retracing their steps and looking for clues.”

“Seems like the right approach to me,” Talranis mused as he looked over to Chalizar, his arms crossed and giving a small huff. “Come now Chalizar, put your personal thoughts aside. There is something much more amiss here than just a simple kidnapping it seems.”

“Fine, We'll go with the search and investigation approach,” he said with a bit of resentment in his voice. “But if I do find out that some ponies are responsible for this, Celestia,” he continued as he glared over to her. “We will have problems...”

“I understand,” she replied with a slight nod. “Let us not waste anymore time then, and set our law enforcement groups to work at once.”

“So be it, my time here is done,” Talranis spread his wings as he stood up straight, his guards doing the same. “Farewell Celestia, Chalizar, may we meet again when this is all resolved,” with that he gave a hard flap of his wings and launched himself into the air, the two guards doing the same.

The gust of wind from their wings was strong enough to make all the plants in the garden to lean over as their leaves shook violently from the sudden force. Standing firm through the wind, Celestia and Chalizar watched the Dragon Lord fly away before they looked at each other again.

“I shall take my leave then as well,” Chalizar said as him and his griffon guards also stretched out their wings. “I hope we do not have to come to any sort of violent resolution in the future, princess...” with that, Chalizar leaped into the air with his guards just behind him, their path a straight line for griffon territory.

Celestia watched the two groups fly off and eventually disappear in the sky. She looked down, her thoughts delving into the back of her mind. This turn of events was certainly a rather troublesome occurrence, one that might change everything if not handled carefully. She hoped that they would find the two princes soon before relations with the other kingdoms turned sour.

“Guards,” Celestia said suddenly as she looked back at the group behind her.

“Yes your highness,” they replied.

“I'm sure you all heard the plan. Get in contact with every sort of law enforcement group across Equestria. We must find the princes and their new 'trainer' before it's too late.”

“Yes, your highness!”

-~-

High into the sky the group of adventurers carried on with their quest. They had only been in the air a little longer than ten minutes, but already Canterlot was edging noticeably closer. A few of the ponies marveled at how fast these balloons moved, even if it didn't feel like they were going very fast at all.

Rainbow Dash and Shuske were still floating around the balloon and just lazily keeping up with the balloon as it floated through the air. Rainbow Dash was hugging a cloud and fluttering her wings a bit in an attempt to rest and fly at the same time while Shuske was pretending to do backstrokes as if he was swimming. Rarity and Fluttershy had moved to the top of the balloon piece itself and were laying on their backs, casually sunbathing while oversized shades covered their eyes. At that altitude, there would've been practically no clouds to block the sunlight, making it almost perfect for them.

The rest were still inside the basket keeping themselves busy either with some chatting, like Pinkie Pie and Applejack were doing, or sitting down reading a book, like Twilight was. Spike was sitting beside Twilight with his back pressed against a pile of saddlebags and his arms crossed behind his head, happily napping away. Tazer, however, was standing on the side of the basket that was not occupied and was simply leaning against the edge with his head over the side, looking down at the ground below. He simply stayed there, not moving as he stared blankly at the forest below as if he was deeply entrenched in thought.

“So what I was thinking,” Pinkie Pie began as she sat in front of Applejack. “Is that we should get a whole bunch of that zap apple jam and put it in some donuts that can be filled with jelly and then we can have zap apple jelly filled donuts that would be super sweet and apple-tastic!”

“Hmm... ya know, that ain't a bad idea Pinkie. Mixin' some of our family's jam with some of your pastries might just be a darn good idea.”

“Yeah!” she had a wide grin on her face for a few seconds before she looked over to the side, her smile almost completely evaporating as she spotted Tazer. “Hey, what's he doing over there all by himself?”

“Hm?” Applejack looked over as well, looking at the dragon for a few moments before replying. “Oh, well I dunno. I guess he just likes lookin down at the ground er somethin.”

“Awe, he looks lonely,” Pinkie frowned a little before immediately cheering back up again as she got an idea. “Let's go cheer him up!”

“Are ya sure about that? He looks like he might just wanna be left alone...”

“Nah, it'll be okay! Nopony – or dragon – likes to be alone all the time. C'mon!” before Applejack could voice anymore opposition, Pinkie Pie had already hopped her way across the basket, coming to a stop right behind Tazer. “Hi!”

“Hm?” Tazer looked over at Pinkie who was wearing a wide grin on her face, only to be met by a raised eyebrow on his. “Yeah, what do you want?”

“Oh, I just wanted to say hello and see how you were doing!” she exclaimed happily.

“Whatever...” Tazer deadpanned and turned back to stare blankly at the ground.

“Hey Tazer,” Applejack spoke up as she approached him as well. “Are y'alright? Ya seem like ya got a lot on yer mind.”

“Don't worry about it,” he replied.

“But we wanna make sure there's nothing bothering you,” Pinkie added in.

“Mind your own business, would ya? I got freakin enough to worry about right now.”

“But we're your friends!” Pinkie Pie said in a pleading tone as she leaned her head beside his to look at his face.

“Yeah right,” Tazer said with a deep sigh. “I don't got any friends.”

“Ya don't?” Applejack asked, her and Pinkie's eyes widening a bit.

“Nope.”

“But why not?” Pinkie asked

“No point. Friends just get in the freakin way and slow ya down, especially when you wanna reach the top.”

“Get to the top...?” Applejack scratched the side of her head with a hoof. “I don't follow...”

Tazer sighed and slumped his head a bit lower. “It's my dad... let's just say he's in a really important position, and I'm trying to live up to be as good as, if not better than him.”

“So, is he like, a mayor or something?” Pinkie asked.

“No re-re, he's-” Tazer stopped himself, thinking up another explanation to the truth. “He's a really powerful and wise dragon, and that's the whole reason I'm on this whole quest deal with Mr. Blabber Beak over there,” Tazer pointed his thumb back behind him in Shuske's general direction before continuing. “I'm doing this so I can get stronger and wiser... nothing more.”

“So then he's just going on this quest with ya for pretty much the same reason?” Applejack wondered aloud.

“Pft, that mother pecker isn't fit for any sort of real progress. His dad's got a lot of power too, and while the reason for coming on this quest is the same as mine, I know that dimwit isn't going to go far with an attitude like his.”

“Like what? Ya mean how he's kinda goofin around every now'n then?”

“Every now and then?” Tazer actually turned around partially to look at the two ponies. “Shuske's always jacking up crap with his little 'ventures of fun.' The re-re is always getting in the way and causing unnecessary trouble and taking ridiculous risks while I'm left to clean up after him and make sure he doesn't get himself hurt or killed. He's like a flippin’ child... it's pitiful.”

“But it's fun!” Pinkie cheered as she hopped in place a bit with a bright smile. “You don't always gotta be so grumpy dumpy serious! Sometimes ya just gotta shake your hooves off and live a little, yeah!” the last part of that sentence was emphasized with an upward hoof-pump as Pinkie's grin stayed plastered on her face.

“Whatever,” Tazer replied in a dull tone as he turned back to where he was staring originally. “Crap like that just gets in the way of what really matters. No need for it... no need at all for me.”

Pinkie and Applejack sat there staring at Tazer for a few moments, their expressions showing both signs of confusion and pity for the dragon. They knew what it was like to have friends and to let loose and have fun, they did it all the time. And then there's that dragon, a baby one at that, acting as serious as Cranky Doodle Donkey did. What was up with that?

“Uh, Pinkie Pie,” Applejack said in quiet voice.

“Yeah?”

“I think we should leave him be for now... ya know?”

“Okay then...” Pinkie huffed slightly in defeat. But as she and Applejack trotted back to their side of the balloon, she made an inward promise to get him out of his shell and to be a true friend, just like what he did with Cranky. Pinkie Pie doesn't give up that easy on spreading the smiles!

Unknown to all three of them, though, was that Spike had been listening in on their conversation the whole time while watching with one eye open. His dad's really powerful huh? Spike thought to himself. Wonder what that could mean..

Over just a few meters away, Rarity and Fluttershy were engaged in their own bit of small talk as well.

“What about Caramel?” Rarity offered as she made a sideways glance towards Fluttershy.

“Oh, um,” Fluttershy stammered slightly. “He's nice and all, but, isn't he taken...?”

“Oh, right right. My goodness, how could I forget a detail such as that? Some gossip gal I am...”

“It's okay Rarity, we all forget sometimes.”

“Now then, moving on...” Rarity put a hoof to her chin to think for a bit. “How about... Hokey Spokes?”

“N-no, he's much too dirty all the time... I heard he likes to roll around in mud a lot like a little colt.”

“Good point darling. Hm, Pokey Pierce?”

“All those needles... ouch...”

“Ah. Well, how about that doctor, Doctor Whooves?”

“Um, well...” Fluttershy cheeks began to burn a bit as she nervously rubbed her hooves together. “I, I do like his accent he has... and he's well groomed.”

“Aha, I knew I would find a stallion you had a crush on, I can see the guilty blush right on your face!”

Fluttershy giggled a bit at this, “Oh Rarity, you know I could never approach him though...”

“Nonsense darling, you're a model after all! It would be an honor to him to meet you, after all.”

“I, I guess you're right, but... oh my...” the heat in Fluttershy's cheeks increased as she thought about the situation a bit further.

Rarity giggled a bit at her friend's bashful display, and then decided to look around a bit. It was a habit of hers really to just look around randomly like that, and it would be practically pointless in a situation such as that since they were so high up and all that was around was the blue sky, the sun, Rainbow Dash on a cloud, and that griffon that they were helping with their quest. But as Rarity looked over to Shuske as he continued his mid-air backstroking, she began to wonder if she should try to learn anything more about him. Griffons always were a fairly uncommon creature to come across, so having one that wasn't mean like Gilda come around and join them for multiple days like this certainly wasn't a very common thing at all.

“Hmm,” Rarity hummed to herself lightly as she made her decision. “Oh Shuske, Shuske!” she called, waving a hoof in his direction as she rolled over onto her stomach with her hooves crossed in front of her.

“Huh?” Shuske's head perked up as he rolled over a to look at Rarity. “Yes?”

“Be a dear and come over here, would you please?”

“Um, Rarity...?” Fluttershy peeped a bit as Shuske began to hover over.

“Yes, Fluttershy?”

“Why are you bringing him over here...?”

“Oh don't worry about it darling, I was just going to have a chat with him, you know, to sort of get to know him better.” Rarity looked over at her friend, and even through the glasses she could see the nervous expression on her face. “Oh come now, don't worry, I assure you he's not like Gilda.”

“I, I hope so....”

“They both turned to see Shuske stop just in front of them, still keeping himself afloat as he maintained a happy smile.

“Hey, what's up?” he asked.

“Oh nothing too much at the moment,” Rarity began. “We were just wondering if we could get to know you a bit better. After all, we are going out of our way to help you in this quest of yours, so it simply seemed fair that we would get to know more about you.”

“Oh, alrighty then,” he said as he casually settled down on top of the balloon in front of them, sitting there with the same smile on his face. “So, what do ya wanna know first?”

“Hmm,” Rarity thought for a moment as she looked over him, carefully picking out her questions. “First off, you're from the Griffon Kingdom, right? Well what city in the kingdom are you from, exactly?”

“Oh, well, I was actually born in the capital city of Brisalzia.”

“Capital, you say?” Rarity's mind wandered around the possibility that his kingdom's capital might have been as luxurious as Canterlot was. “Well, that sounds rather dazzling! Tell me, is the city very luxurious and high-class?”

“High class?” he scratched his chin. “Um, yeah, kind of. Everything's uptight and stuff, but more because it's a military capitol.”

“Military?” both ponies asked.

“Yeah, I don't really care for it... everyone there is all strict and serious. They cut the feathers on their heads really short, they work out all the time and keep on doing the same boring things day after day, and on top of that most of them are just jerks.”

“Well, working out sounds like it would be a very healthy thing for you,” Rarity chipped in.

“Yeah, everyone knows that, but the problem is when there's a person that doesn't follow the same routine is kind of outcasted. If there's a griffon that isn't fit, or one that likes to keep his features free styled, or one that perhaps likes to keep things kind of relaxed and non-strict, they get kind of weeded out and picked on every day...” at this point Shuske looked down with a frown on his face as he seemed to be momentarily thinking about something.

Fluttershy and Rarity exchanged looks for a quick moment, both of them getting the hint. Shuske, as far as they had known, had always been a sort of playful and happy griffon, one that always tried to just have fun and do what felt right. They couldn't imagine what he must have gone through all of his life living in such an environment, but thinking about that brought up another question in Rarity's mind...

“Shuske,” Rarity began again. “Are you happy to be on this quest?”

“Well of course I am,” Shuske replied with a nod. “I really want to be an adventurer when I grow up, one to just go out and explore mass expanses of unknown territories and--”

“No, well, actually..” Rarity interrupted with a slight cough. “I was wondering if you were happy to be on this quest and away from... well, your home.”

“Oh... oh!” his eyes widened a bit for a second, then half-closed as he stared back at the ground. “I... I am glad, really. I mean, I feel so free out here, so alive, even if Tazer keeps getting on my back about it.”

“So, um,” Fluttershy peeped up in a little more than a whisper. “You... wouldn't want to go back home...?

“Honestly?” Shuske paused, thinking deeply for a minute before letting out a deep sigh. “No, no I don't think I would. I don't dislike my parents or anything, but I just really don't like all that militarized stuff back in Brisalzia. That's part of the reason I want to be an adventurer, so I can get out and get away. To be able to fly away without any guards chasing to restrain me.”

“Heavens!” Rarity gasped lightly. “They send guards out to make sure no griffon leaves?”

“Uh, well,” Shuske stammered, his eyes daring side to side as he almost let loose one of the secrets he kept from them. “They don't like it when we just suddenly run away, ya know? Like, it's gotta be business related and stuff... things of that sort.”

“My word, that sounds sort of like a prison than a real home, especially for someone like you.”

“Well, it did sort of feel like it...” he sighed again. “All my life I've been taught that things always happen for a reason, that one day the pieces will fall into place for everyone and that we all will be destined to do or become one thing or another. That just seems sort of, I dunno... too restricted to me. I like to think that sometimes I have a choice in things....”

“Well, I think now you do,” Fluttershy said. “I mean, you're out on an adventure right now, right? You can choose any path right now, and no one can tell you otherwise.”

“Yeah, you're right...” he smiled softly at her, but the smile vanished as he thought to himself just then. But master is still telling us what to do though... after that thought, Shuske quickly realized his smile had left and put up another one to add assurance to the ponies that he was alright.

“Of course she's right,” Rarity said as she gave a soft flick of her mane. “Shuske, just stick with us for a while, and we'll help you stay away from anywhere that you think might hurt you or cause you distress.”

“Thanks, I'll be sure to keep that in mind.”

Rarity gave him an assuring smile just then, as did Fluttershy. Shuske's smile increased a bit at this as he felt a comforting warmth spread through him. He liked this feeling, it was something he hardly ever felt. To be close enough to someone where you could exchange smiles while not having much to care about in the world. To him, they seemed to be like his...

“Friends?” He asked as he extended a foreleg to them.

“Friends,” Rarity replied with a nod as the two shool hooves, or talons, or whatever... you get the point.

“But I thought we were already friends,” Pinkie Pie said as her head suddenly popped up over the side of the balloon.

“Oh! Uh,” Shuske stammered again, still not used to Pinkie's 'ways'. “Um, I guess this is making it official?” he gave her a sheepish grin.

“Okie Dokie Loki!” she bounced up to him exuberantly and grabbed his hand with both hooves, shaking it rapidly. “Great! Now that we're officially super awesome friends, we can hang out more and stuff!”

“Pinkie Pie,” Rarity interjected. “How did you manage to climb up here?”

“I used the stairs!”

“What sta-- never mind,” Rarity sighed to herself before talking under her breath. “It's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.”

-|-

The flight to Canterlot itself took only a little over an hour. As the balloon began nearing the city's edge, Twilight began to wither down the magically-kept flame inside the balloon to work their descent. Though the balloon stuck out like a sore thumb in the sky, Twilight and her friends knew that the guards would recognize it and simply let it pass without much thought. After reassuring Tazer and Shuske of this fact, the balloon quickly made its way down and landed safely just inside the city walls.

“Alright everyone, we're here!” Twilight announced as she hopped out of the basket.

“Well, it sure is good to be on solid ground again,” Applejack said as she got off herself.

“I feel the same way Applejack,” Rarity said as Fluttershy helped her down from the top of the balloon. “Though I must say, the sun bathing part of this trip was certainly a nice treat.”

“It was fun!” Pinkie said as she bounced off the basket. “We were so high and stuff and even though I have been waaaaay higher before and one time into space it was still really cool! Especially with all of you up there!”

“I had a pretty fun time,” Shuske offered as he hovered to ground level.

“Stupid re-re...” Tazer muttered under his breath as he walked up beside his companion.

With all of them gathering beside the balloon, Twilight took a quick inventory and head count to ensure everyone was accounted for. After that, she began explaining how things would go.

“So, as I stated before,” she began as she levitated the book out in front of her. “The illustration in here showed some crystal formations that I specifically remembered seeing in the caves beneath Canterlot back when the Changeling Queen tried to take over. So, all I have to do is go back to the entrance of the cave and we can begin searching for the hidden chamber with the diamond.”

“That's assuming that it's actually there, and you're not completely wrong about this,” Tazer pointed out.

“Well, I'm pretty sure it's the right place, I mean...” Twilight trailed off as she examined the art more closely, starting to second guess herself.

“C'mon Tazer,” Shuske spoke up. “Have faith in Twilight Sparkle, she seems like she knows what she's talking about. Just lead the way, Twilight!”

“Well, alright then. Just follow me everypony.”

With that, the group of nine began their walk through Canterlot with Twilight leading the way. With her and Spike having grown up in the city, it obviously wasn't much of a challenge to navigate through the city's streets. But one thing they didn't count on was the number of royal guards doing patrols around the area. Unknown to the most of them, however, Shuske and Tazer were getting extrordinarily nervous by seeing so many guards out.

“Um, T-twilight...?” Shuske spoke up, his voice stuttering slightly. “Do you think we could get to the diamond a little faster?”

“What's the rush?” she asked as she turned her head around.

“Well, nothing really, I'm just a bit anxious and all... ya know, with the whole quest deal and everything.”

“Don't worry, we're almost to the cave already.” she turned her head forward again and kept on walking with the group close behind.

“Just hurry the hell up...” Tazer muttered under his breath as he glared angrily at Twilight.

Unknown to him, Spike was walking off to the side and not only saw Tazer's glare, but heard his rude comment. Spike shot him his own angry glare before running up to walk beside Twilight.

“Twilight, I really don't think it's a good idea to be on this quest with those two guys,” Spike whispered over to her. “I just really don't think they're up to any good!”

“Oh don't worry Spike, it's fine. Besides, I examined the book myself, and it is definitely very old. They couldn't have fabricated things like that out of nowhere.”

“But do you really think they've told us all they know?”

“Why wouldn't they?” Twilight looked over at Spike, who simply sighed and shook his head.

Not getting anything from Twilight, Spike decided to get Rarity's opinion on the matter. He slowed down his walk so that he would fall back just enough to be walking beside Rarity, and he then leaned close to whisper to her as well. “Hey, Rarity.”

“Yes, Spike?” Rarity asked as she looked over to him with a simple smile.

“I don't think we can trust these guys... I really don't think they're up to any good.”

“What?” Rarity reared her head back a bit at the statement. “How could you say that? I just know those two have good intentions with all of this and would never do anything to harm or mislead us.”

“But, I just heard one of them--”

“Spike,” she said in a stern voice, one she would have normally used on Sweetie Belle to scold her. “I had a personal chat earlier with one of them, and I could tell the dear was just so happy to be out on an adventure like this. Not only have they already proved to be benevolent, but I could see it in their eyes that they are good beings and that we should trust them.”

Of course she would say that, she's the element of generosity! Spike thought to himself. “But, I just have a really bad feeling that--”

Spike,” she interrupted again. “I don't want to hear it. Just because you can't look past the surface doesn't mean you should just assume things. You should take the time to look deeper into ponies, or, other creatures in this instance, and not judge a book by its cover.” At this, Rarity gave a flick of her mane and looked away, obviously giving Spike the cold shoulder.

Spike's heart sank at hearing that, and he fell behind a while walking with his head low. He didn't really know if it was just the stares he got or the things he was hearing, but something inside of him was telling him that those two were up to something... not right. Like an unknown instinct guiding his direction, only to be pushed aside by how he forced himself to follow his friends. He wanted to believe the duo were good so that he could stop worrying about them, but deep down, he still felt the same, nagging feeling that they weren't as benevolent as Rarity said they were.

After only a short while later, the group reached the edge of a garden belonging to a small mansion on one side of the city. Twilight led them behind a row of tall bushes with an also tall fence on the other side, revealing a large hole in the ground between the bushes and the fence. The hole was easily large enough for a pony to comfortably fit, and the light that streamed down showed a few crystals glimmering at the entrance.

“Here it is!” Twilight announced as the group gathered around the cave.

“So, this is where you guys got trapped by that big changeling queen huh?” Rainbow Dash asked as she hovered over the hole.

“Yes, this is the entrance to the cave of the underground crystal mines.”

“Oh my, um, it seems pretty dark down there...” Fluttershy said as she peeked into the cave.

“Don't worry,” Twilight reassured her. “Rarity and I should be able to spread enough light for us to maneuver around.”

Rarity flicked her head as she fed magic to her horn, producing some light. “Light spells are so simple, yet so useful,” with that, the group proceeded to enter the cave one by one, with Spike being the last to reluctantly hop in.

The entrance was just like Twilight remembered it. The cavern was a vastly open space with the walls and ceilings filled with crystals of all kinds of shapes and sizes. The group took a few minutes to marvel at the brilliance of the cave and how their lights made the cave itself seem to sparkle.

“My word,” Rarity gasped as she looked around. “This place is heavenly! I've never seen anywhere like it!”

“Now THIS place is pretty cool!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew around a few of the larger crystals.

“Oh my, this is place is really, really nice...” Fluttershy said as she looked around.

A loud crunch was heard coming from the side, and everyone looked over to see Spike standing over a crystal with a large bite taken out of it as he chewed noisily. “Hmm... needs salt.”

“Here ya go!” Pinkie said after she zoomed over and hoofed Spike a salt dispenser.

“Oh, thanks,” Spike salted the crystals and took another bite, moaning a bit as the taste of the salty crystals worked against his taste buds before being swallowed down. “Now that hit the spot!”

“Alright y'all, let's stay focused here,” Applejack spoke up.

“Right,” Twilight began as she took a few steps forward. “This cave is pretty vast, and though normally I would suggest we split up, the fact that it's very dark can get us lost, so I think we should stick together.”

“Roger that Twilight,” Shuske replied as he took a few steps forward into the cave with several others.

With Twilight leading the group, she took them into the parts of the cave she had already been through. Down the giant chasm, following the abandoned rail cart path, through the various split paths and multi-directional areas all the way back to where she had found Cadence. All the while the group was 'ooo'ing' and “aah'ing' at all the crystals, with Spike and even Tazer taking a few experimental bites from some of the more lustrious looking gems.

Twilight trotted down a dirt path to a part of the cave that seemed to be blown apart. She walked through the shattered crystal opening to the same area Cadence had been during the Royal Wedding. She looked around a bit, trying to see if there was anything she could find in the area.

“This is as deep as I was taken back when the Changeling Queen sent me down here,” Twilight said as she looked around more. “This is probably one of the deepest parts of the cave system, so we should start searching from here.”

“Er, Twilight...” Applejack muttered as she approached her. “Ya do know that this whole place is really big'n confusing... right?”

“Yeah!” Pinkie agreed. “It's like a house of mirrors kinda, only with crystals. Ooh, I wonder if I can hold a super duper crystal mirror party down here!”

“That just sounds stupid,” Tazer deadpanned.

“Well, we gotta start somewhere, don't we?” Twilight looked around at all of her friends, noticing each was returning her gaze with unsure looks.

“Well, this is getting us nowhere,” Tazer announced as he began to walk off.

“Hey, Tazer, wait!” Shuske called for him as he flew over to his companion.

“I think Tazer might be right on this one,” Rainbow Dash said as she looked around. “I mean, I can see why you thought this might be a good place to start, but there's a ton of different paths that we already went by. Why don't we just start there?”

“Oh, I dunno,” Twilight sighed as she lowered her head. “I just had a hunch that this would be the best place to start looking.”

As the ponies plus Spike talked amongst themselves about what to do next, Shuske caught up with Tazer just out of the rest of the group's hearing range. It was almost pitch black at that area, but they could still make out each other through the darkness.

“Hey, c'mon Tazer, don't back out on this now.”

“I'm not backing out you re-re,” Tazer huffed as he crossed his arms, giving his companion a scowl. “I'm going to search on my own. It'll get things done faster than just sitting around talking about random crud and how they 'shoulda done this' or 'shoulda done that.' It's pretty freakin stupid.”

“Well, we gotta use the others for light, don't we? I mean, what else can we-”

They both froze as a cold shiver ran up their spines, just like it had before they saved the young fillies from the out of control kart. They both knew this was how their master would contact them if he needed to, but every time it happened they couldn't help but feel utter fear gripping them as his energies took hold of their bodies.

Tazer, Shuske... the voice rumbled as it seemed to come from nowhere.

“M-master...?” They both stuttered as they looked around.

A pair of yellow glowing orbs suddenly appeared before them in the darkness, the light from the group not penetrating enough to see the figure that the orbs belonged to.

“Kal hook ro-blem... you two seem to be lost,” their master's voice echoed from within the shadows.

“W-we, we were just trying to f-figure out where to, uh, go next... yeah,” Shuske replied as his eyes darted side to side.

“Hmph... the path you seek, I shall light by ethereal fire... yolt'bwolo ook lingan!” with that, the orbs tilted to the side as a trail of light-green transparent flames seemed to pop out of nowhere in the darkness, not providing any light but still visible by themselves. It was as if they were painted into the “The path you seek I shall light by ethereal fire... yolt'bwolo ook lingan!” with that, the orbs tilted to the side as a trail of light-green transparent flames seemed to pop out of nowhere in the darkness, not providing any light but still visible by themselves. It was as if they were painted into the very scenery, yet they still seemed to burn and flow in the same way as any other flame. “Follow the path only you two can see, and the Daal'Cregz, the Diamond of Light, will be yours.”very scenery, yet they still seemed to burn and flow in the same way as any other flame. “Follow the path only you two can see, and the Daal'Cregz, the Diamond of Light, will be yours.”

After that the glowing orbs faded away into the darkness, as did the ethereal fire. Shuske and Tazer blinked a few times as they felt their master's presence leave them, and then looked at each other.

“Tazer, Shuske!” Twilight called from the other part of the cavern. “What are you two doing over there?'

“Oh! Uh,” Shuske stammered a bit as he scratched at the back of his head. “Nothing much! Just, ya know, looking around and-”

“I think we found a path,” Tazer interrupted. “You all should come check it out with us.”

Almost immediately the rest of the group came up to them with their surroundings brightening up with the light sources being close by. Shuske and Tazer looked back to where they saw the fire and noticed a path strewn out in that direction.

“You think you found the right way?” Twilight asked as she trotted up to the duo.

“Yeah,” Tazer replied. “I think I'm having a freaky psycho moment here, and I got some mad vibes in that direction.” he pointed a claw over to the path he was still staring at.

“Over that way?” Applejack rubbed a hoof on her head. “How do ya figure?”

“Like I said, just a hunch. You yourself had a hunch to come down here, right Twilight?” he looked at her as he said this. “Same thing, right? Let's go scope it out.”

“Well, I guess it's best if we check it out. I mean, we gotta start somewhere...” Twilight's voice trailed off as she looked at each of her friends. They all eventually nodded in agreement except for Spike, who simply crossed his arms and looked away. “...Alright, we'll follow your lead then.”

At this Tazer immediately turned towards the path and began walking down it. “Well let's go then, no sense in freakin waiting around lookin like a bunch of re-re's.”

“What's a 're-re'?” Pinkie asked to nopony in particular.

“Uh, don't worry about it, heh,” Shuske smiled sheepishly as he began to follow Tazer, the rest of the group following close behind.

The cave began twisting and turning much more sporadically than usual the further they got down, as well as get smaller. By the time they had walked for about a minute, the spacial area had shrunken by roughly half its original amount. The number of crystals around them had also increased, with some areas completely encased in them from floor to ceiling. As they pressed on, the path suddenly opened up to a large chamber with seven paths, all going in vastly different directions.

A few of them began wondering what path to take, but Tazer and Shuske simply looked at each other and gave a nod. They closed their eyes for a moment and then opened them again, their minds somewhat demanding the world around them to show the flames again. And it did, to them they could see the light flicker of the ethereal flames point the way down one path to the left side. They led the group that way, and then at another multi-pathed chamber they did the same thing. In all, they used the fire about four times before they finally came to a dead end.

“Hmm...” Tazer hummed to himself as he closely examined a portion of the wall that comprised the end of the tunnel by rubbing his claws against it.

“Is there something there?” Twilight asked as she came up beside him.

“This isn't crystal. This is marble right here, feel it.”

Twilight felt the wall with her own hoof, and hey eyes opened wider as she realized it was indeed marble. But there was something else, something familiar about this marble... she could see it and feel it, as if she had seen this before. But with the task at hand, she pushed the thought aside for the time being and focused on another question. “So, you think the chamber is past this wall?”

Tazer looked back at Shuske who had just closed his eyes, and then opened them. As he looked at the wall for a brief moment, he gave Tazer a simple nod.

“Yeah, this is it, definitely. Can you use your magic to blast through?”

“Well, I'm pretty sure I can, but I don't want to risk causing too much damage to something as important as this.”

“Twilight, it's a freakin diamond, I think it can withstand a little explosion.”

“Well, alright....” Twilight took a few steps back as Tazer fell back behind her with the rest of the group. Twilight channeled magic into her horn, preparing a simple blast of magic to push through the wall. While she didn’t know how thick it was or how to properly gauge its hardness, she focused on her magic feeding through her horn as she lowered her head, pointing it straight at the wall. After a few more seconds she released the energy in a brilliant lavender-white beam.

The blast shook the linings of the cave around them as it tore through the marble. Smoke billowed out form the impact point for a few seconds, but then began to clear. As it did, the group noticed light beginning to shine out from the hole.

“Is... is there a light source in there?” Twilight asked in surprise as she tried to peer through the smoke.

“Let's check it out!” Rainbow Dash ordered as she rushed through the pony-sized hole.

Everyone followed suit, and each stopped to stare in awe at what was before them. It was a large square room made of marble with a few diamonds coming out of the corners and some of the walls, just like in the illustration. And in the center, sitting on a magnificently carved pedestal was a large light-yellow diamond shinning with utter brilliance. It wasn't abnormally large, but the light it was producing was surely an interesting factor.

The group stood staring at it for a moment, and then some of them began to draw closer to it. Tazer and Shuske also found themselves walking up to the diamond until their master's words suddenly came shouting into their heads.

Do not let them touch the diamond! Spike must touch it first, before anyone else! Stop them!

Tazer and Shuske exchanged a quick glance, fear apparent in both their eyes before they looked back to the quickly advancing group.

“Wait!” suddenly called out, causing all of the ponies and Spike to stop and look at him. “D-don't touch it!”

“Why not?” Twilight asked.

“Well, cuz, it could be freakin dangerous, that's why.” he thought up a few lies on the spot and decided to go with them. “That thing is producing light, right? So it's obviously magic and probably really important, so we don't know what will happen if we just take it.”

“Hey yeah, Tazer's right!” Rainbow Dash spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. “It's just like in my Daring Do books, Daring Do comes to find the treasure, but it's always booby trapped. We should think of something first.”

“Yeah, and uh,” Tazer shot a glance at Spike who looked back at him. Tazer knew Spike had seen him, and he was also aware that Spike didn't trust him or Shuske... so he decided to try to play that to his advantage.

“We... I mean, you all should let me come up with something. Perhaps some plan to extract the diamond safely. I mean, we don't want to just go up and touch it.”

“Yeah, I'm alright with that,” Applejack said. “Y'all have been on the money with this so far, can't hurt to see it the rest'o the way now.”

Tazer shot Spike another look, who proceeded to scowl back at him. Spike turned away and began to quickly walk up to the diamond.

“Oh please, there's no sort of trap for this thing,” Spike began as he approached the pedistal which was almost just as tall as him. “Just go up and take it already.”

“Spike, wait!” Twilight called out, but she was too late. Spike touched the diamond, his claws firmly around it.

Spike froze in place, his eyes wide and pupils dilated.

In an instant something seemed to grab onto his mind and pull it away from everything else, taking him away from the physical world and to somewhere unknown. In an instant everything went white, and then black wisps began to seep out of nothing all around him. The black color moved like heavily wind-blown smoke as it swirled around him in weird ways, taking rough shapes of strange figures all around him. He found himself able to direct his vision somewhat, to look around at the scene around him.

It was like he was in some sort of very tall, circular room with a dome on top, only everything was black, white, and real mass as it took shape around him. Directly surrounding him were six diamonds, with one of them lit up to with a yellow glow, being the only thing with color in the entire area.

He looked around and up, seeing six figures overhead placed over each of the diamonds. Their features were distorted by the strange effects of the place, but he could make them all out to be dragons of different sizes and shapes. The figure above the only diamond with color had its color of its own granted to it, revealing a white and yellow dragon that was the smallest of them all.

Spike began to lose focus as if his connection with the area was being constricted somehow. He didn't understand what was going on, but he needed to know, he felt like he just had to figure out what all this was.

He looked up more, seeing two figures looming above the six dragons. One was a large dragon, but it seemed more like a regular one unlike the other six. The other was... something else, something he had never seen before. It had a body with two arms and legs, but many of its features were much different than anything he had seen before, and the texture and distance of it made figuring out specifics impossible.

He looked above them too, but by this time his vision began to white out along the edges as it felt like his very life was being drained away. He strained to see what was at the top, but could make out two more diamonds, no, they were different, they were larger and pointed on their tops and bottoms. And above them were-

His link with the strange realm was cut just then as everything faded away, bringing him back to reality in another instant. Spike blinked several times as he reared himself back from the pedestal, falling to his rump with the diamond still tight in his grip. He blinked a few more times as his senses came back to him, and the sounds of voices and hoof-steps were heard coming up from behind.

“Spike!” Twilight called out as she wrapped her hooves around him. “Are you okay?”

“What the hay just happened?” Applejack asked as she looked over to Spike's bewildered face.

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh,” Fluttershy peeped as she hoped dearly that nothing bad happened.

“I told you guys to watch for traps!” Rainbow Dash blurted out.

“But how could one infuse magic into diamonds? They're immune to such enchantments!” Rarity said as if she was defending the gem from accusers.

Spike shook his head groggily as he finally came to, his thoughts returning to him full swing, along with a small headache.

“W-wah? What happened...?” Spike looked around, seeing everypony leaning over him with worried expressions on their faces.

“Oh thank goodness, you're okay!” Twilight sighed in relief as she hugged onto him a bit more.

“Did... did I miss something?” He arched an eyebrow at her.

“Well, you just seemed like you saw a ghost or something,” Twilight explained. “You stood there for a quick second and then just kinda fell back onto the floor, we didn't know if something happened or not.”

“A quick second?” Spike asked as he thought about what just happened. To him, it had been more like a whole minute. “Well, I uh, I dunno, it's kind of a blur and--”

“Well, Spike's okay!” Shuske announced suddenly as he happily flew around the room. “I guess now we can just take the diamond and go, right?”

“Huh, that's weird,” Rainbow Dash mused as she floated in front of the pedestal to examine it. “I thought for sure that there would be a trap of some sort.”

“Oh, lighten up, Dash,” Shuske said as he hovered over beside her. “For someone as brave as you, I dunno why you're acting so worried about that.”

“Hey, I'm just being cautious is all,” Dash rebutted as she crossed her front hooves defensively.

“Sure you're not just chicken?” Shuske muttered in a playful tone before he started snickering.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash lunged over at him and grabbed one of his feathers with her teeth, plucking it off of him and spitting it out of her mouth. “I ain't a chicken, got it?”

“Yowch!” the griffon yelped, backing off a good two meters from the angry pegasus. “Hey-hey now, no need to get physical, I was just--”

“Hey you two, cut it out already,” Twilight called to them as she wore an unamused expression. “We got more important things to deal with right now.”

The two slowly hovered back down to the ground with Rainbow Dash scoffing a bit while Shuske clutched onto his wing, giving a slight pout and groan. Twilight walked up to Spike and grabbed onto the diamond with her magic, floating it up in front of her to inspect it herself. As she did this, however, the radiant light from the diamond suddenly faded away, leaving only a soft glow coming from the gem. Twilight and Rarity quickly reactivated their horns at this as they wondered why the light would suddenly cut out.

“Well that's odd,” Twilight said aloud as she took a closer look at the diamond, even putting her hoof on it to feel for anything unusual.

“What the hay made the light go out?” Applejack asked.

“I don't know really know,” Twilight replied.

“We probably just disturbed the diamond's chi or some crud like that,” Tazer explained. “Just put it away so we can get out of here already.”

Twilight nodded and floated the diamond into her saddlebag before turning to the rest of the group. They all agreed to go up to the surface so that they would not have to stick around in this dark, dreary cave anymore. With Twilight pulling one more head count to ensure they were all there, they all moved back the way they came and eventually found their way back to the surface.

With the first diamond in their possession, the group felt a wave of achievement wash over them. One down, five to go, and it hadn’t even been a whole day yet. If they were lucky, they might even be able to finish the quest in less than a week.

But while everyone gave their own little minor celebration, Spike stayed to himself, wondering about what exactly it was that he just saw. He wanted to bring it to the others, but they seemed like they didn't want to listen to him. They never listened to what he had to say the last couple days, so why would they then...?

~T~

Word was getting around Canterlot quickly, and at this rate they would probably begin putting fliers up soon. News of this magnitude was not something to be kept as a sort of side-talk subject for very long, and she knew that. Two princes were missing, each from a different kingdom. She had already overheard a few guards saying their last known location was Trottingham, so that's where she knew she would go first.

The Great and Powerful Trixie finished packing up the last of her essential items in her hotel room, stuffing them into two saddlebags before placing them on her back. Over top of them she put on her new cape and hat, which looked just the same as the ones she lost in Ponyville those many months ago. But none of that mattered anymore, for she had her sights set on finding the two princes herself, and more importantly, getting the reward money and the publicity that would come with rescuing royalty.

Trixie stepped out of the door of the hotel, looking around the city and taking in the sights one more time before she left. The only thing off about the city that day was the strange hot-air balloon that had landed a while ago, but she paid no mind to it. Her sights were set on fame and riches, and with her glorious rescue mission, she would achieve new heights.

She cantered down the street and to the train station, which had just started filling up for a trip to Trottingham. She paid for a ticket and got on, a smug look on her face the entire time. As she took her seat, she could barely contain the excitement within her, but only did so to keep her superior appearance in public.

“Yes, this is exactly what Trixie needs,” she said to herself as the train closed its doors and began to move. “Once Trixie puts to use her unmatched detective skills, she will find the princes and finally be recognized as the greatest and most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria! Hahahahaha!”