The Lost Alicorn City

Sorry it toot me so long to update this. I got distracted on Youtube for a while making videos. But I should start updating sooner again now.

As the seven ponies descended deeper into the cave, the light of the opening behind them faded and it was quickly becoming too dark to see. Twilight, Rarity, and Trixie lit up their horns with magic, casting enough light around them all to illuminate the cave.

“I see something up ahead,” said Twilight.

The tunnel abruptly came to an end. However, on the rock wall in front of them was a stone sign engraved with ancient Allicorn writing.

“It’s a dead end,” Rainbow Dash stated the obvious with a groan.

Twilight walked up to the sign and started translating the writing.

“What’s it say, Twilight?” asked Fluttershy.

“I think it’s a riddle,” said Twilight.

“Ooo! Ooo! I love riddles!” said Pinkie Pie. “What is it?”

Twilight began to read it aloud for her friends. “What has a mouth, but does not eat or talk?”

Suddenly, they heard a rumbling behind them. They all spun around in shock to see a stone wall slide out of the cave wall, sealing off the passage behind them.

“WE’RE TRAPPED!” squealed Rarity.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack hurried over to the wall blocking the way out and started banging against it, using all their mussels against it.

Applejack grunted, “… It won’t… budge!”

Then, suddenly, several small holes opened up on the sealing, and water began pouring into cave, quickly beginning to fill up the room with them inside of it.

The seven mares screamed.

“OH NO!” shouted Twilight, the water level already rising up above her hooves to her ankles.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack continued their futile attempts against the blocked passageway. Twilight’s horn glowed and then the wall glowed as well as she attempted to move it out of the way with her magic. She grunted with effort as she tried to push the heavy slab of solid rock, but it refused to budge.

“Let Trixie,” said Trixie as her horn glowed as well and added her own magic against the wall, but even the combined magical efforts from the two gifted unicorns wasn’t enough.

After a little bit, Twilight and Trixie cut off their magic.

“Its no use,” said Twilight. “It must be magically sealed with a powerful spell.

“What do we do now?” asked Rarity. The water had now risen up to their underbellies in the time they had wasted trying to move the blocked passage.

“I think we have to solve the riddle in order to get out of this,” said Twilight. “Okay, girls, what has a mouth, but doesn’t eat or talk?”

All the mares began thinking as fast as they could, trying to come up with an answer.

What sort of creature has a mouth, but doesn’t eat or talk? Twilight thought to herself. She ran through ever species of animal she knew about. She knew some that didn’t talk, but none that didn’t eat. She could feel the water already rising up to the base of her neck. They didn’t have a lot of time.

“Gah, I can’t figure it out!” cried Rainbow Dash, hitting her head with frustration.

“Well one of us better soon,” said Applejack, “Cuz if we don’t, we’re all gonna drown!”

“Maybe we’re thinking about this the wrong way,” suggested Pinkie Pie suddenly. “Maybe it’s not a creature. Maybe it’s a… thing.”

Twilight considered this for a moment. What non-creature had a mouth? The water was almost up to their heads now.

Then it hit her.

“A river!” she shouted.

A second later, the dead end in front of them slid away into the cave wall, revealing another passage. The water that had built up in the room quickly gushed out through the open door, pulling the group of mares along with it. Twilight and her friends all cheered that they had gotten passed that challenge and avoided getting drowned.

As soon as the water level got down to their hooves, they proceeded down the next passageway… only to soon come to another dead end with another riddle hanging on the wall.

“Not again!” groaned Rainbow Dash.

Then, just like before, the way behind them slid shut and water began pouring in from the top of the cave.

“Quick! Read the riddle!” urged Pinkie Pie.

Twilight hurriedly translated the riddle on this sign. “Okay. It says… what is broken every time it is spoken?”

They all began to work out this new riddle in their heads, the water rapidly rising around them again, already up to their knees.

“Silence!” Trixie suddenly said after about a minute.

This appeared to have been the correct answer as, once again, the wall in front of them opened up, letting all the built up water rush out.

Trixie held her head up proudly for figuring out that riddle.

“Alright, I hope there are no more,” said Rainbow Dash.

The mares hurried down the next passage, only to once again run into another dead end with a riddle.

“OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!” shouted Rainbow Dash.

Like clockwork, the way behind them sealed shut and water began pouring into the tunnel again.

Twilight was already at work translating the next riddle. “What comes twice in every week, once in a year, and twice in a lifetime?” Twilight read aloud.

Once again, the group started trying to figure out the riddle.

Twilight soon found that the riddle didn’t seem to make any sense. How can something come twice a week, but only once a year? For that matter, how can something come twice in a lifetime and twice every week? A lifetime is several decades.

Twilight could see that the others seemed equally frustrated with the riddle. Minutes went by, but none of them could figure it out. The water level was soon up to their necks and getting higher.

“I’ve got nothin’,” said Applejack.

“Neither have I,” said Rarity.

“We can’t give up!” Twilight shouted. “We need to try thinking outside the box here. Maybe the answer isn’t an event.”

“I’m trying!” groaned Rainbow Dash, rubbing her forehead with her hoof. “But my brain is starting to hurt from all these insane riddles.”

The water kept getting higher and higher. They soon had to start treading water to stay afloat, but the tunnel was almost fully filled up to the sealing of the tunnel, and they were quickly running out of room to breath. They were all barely keeping their heads above the surface.

“Well, y’all, it was nice knowin’ ya,” said Applejack sadly.

“At least we’re all together,” Fluttershy muttered. “Not that I want any of you here in this horrible situation!” she quickly corrected herself. “I just meant…”

“We know what you mean, darling,” said Rarity, giving her yellow friend an understanding nod.

“It can’t end this way! I don’t want to die like this!” moaned Trixie as she flailed around in the water, briefly forgetting to speak in the third person in her panic.

Just as they were about to run out of room to breath, Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted, “THE LETTER ‘E’!”

Like a miracle, the wall in front of them instantly opened up and the water started pouring out, taking the seven ponies along with it. The mares were washed into the next passage, and soon found themselves all sprawled out on the cold stone floor, the water around them all draining away down to nothing.

Gasping for air, the seven mares all looked around them and at each other.

“WE’RE SAVED!” shouted Rarity with relief, throwing her front legs up into the air.

“The letter ‘E’,” said Pinkie Pie. Everyone turned to look at her. “’E’ comes twice in the word ‘week’, once in the word ‘year’, and twice in the word ‘lifetime’. I just figured it out at the last second.” Pinkie Pie grinned from ear to ear.

The others all stared at her, now feeling quite stupid.

“Please tell me that was the last riddle,” said Rainbow Dash as she and the rest of the group slowly stood up, their manes and coats soaking wet.

“I sure hope so,” said Twilight, desperately not wanting to go through that again.

“Oh, my mane and tail are ruined,” wined Rarity, looking at her drenched coat and purple mane and tail.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Rarity, that ain’t important right now. Y’all can fix your mane again the way ya like it when we get back home.”

Rarity moaned, but nodded.

They heard water dripping onto the stone floor. They turned their heads and saw it was only Trixie ringing the water out of her cape with her magic.

Twilight opened up her saddlebags and took out the black book with her magic. The pages were soaking wet and ruined. “Oh well. I guess we’re just going to have to make it the rest of the way without it,” she said and then placed it back in her saddlebags.

They walked down the passage and, to their delight and relief, didn’t come to another dead end. Instead, the passage led to a large underground chasm. A narrow stone bridge was the only thing that connected the two sides of the chasm. On the other side of the bridge was an opening to another passage, which they guessed was where they had to get to. Above the opening to the tunnel on the other side of the chasm was a stone ledge jutting out of the rock wall, upon stood a life-sized golden statue of the ancient Allicorn, Princess Faust.

“Wow, look at that statue!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

“It’s Princess Faust,” said Twilight. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s mother. This is proof that we’re on the right path. Come on, girls.” Twilight started walking out onto the path.

She hadn’t taken more then three steps when Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted, “Twilight! The statue just moved its head!”

Twilight looked over her shoulder at her pink friend. “Oh, Pinkie, don’t be ridiculous,” she chuckled. “Statues don’t move.” But then Twilight saw that Pinkie and the others were all looking passed her with terrified expressions on their faces. A chill went down her spine.

She turned her head back around to look in front of her. She gasped at what she saw.

The statue of Faust had moved into a crouching position on the ledge and was flapping its wings; glaring right at Twilight like it was about to pounce. Its eyes were glowing red.

“It’s alive!” shouted Trixie. “The statue’s alive!”

The statue leaped down off of its ledge onto the stone bridge in front of Twilight, and its horn began to glow with bright red energy as it pointed it at her.

“TWILIGHT! RUN! COME BACK!” her friends shouted to her.

Twilight was not too far on the bridge, so she quickly backed up off of it to her waiting friends.

The statue fired a bolt of lightning from its horn right where Twilight had been standing a moment ago, leaving a black singed mark on the stone floor. The seven mares jumped and gasped with surprise and fear. Fluttershy leaped behind Rainbow Dash, her entire body shaking with fear.

“That was close!” Twilight exclaimed.

The statue went back to perching on its ledge, exactly how it had been before.

“I’ll get that thing!” announced Rainbow Dash angrily.

“Rainbow Dash, wait!” shouted Twilight as the rainbow Pegasus flew out above the bridge towards the other side.

After a few flashes of lightning bolts, Rainbow Dash crashed down back where her friends were, exhausted, and the tip of her tail a bit singed.

“Its no use!” grunted Rainbow Dash. “I can’t get near that thing, and it sure doesn’t want us anywhere near the other side of the bridge.”

“It’s a guardian,” said Twilight. “This has to be another test. Lets look at the morals the book said we’d need. We’ve already used patients, generosity, kindness, and we used wisdom when we solved the riddles. That only leaves humility and faith. And since this is a statue of Princess Faust, my guess is that it is the test of humility.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Twilight walked back out onto the bridge again. Just like last time, the statue looked at her and got into an attack pose.

“TWILIGHT!” her friends all shouted in concern.

Twilight then bowed her head low to the ground in front of the statue of the ancient Princess. Almost instantly, the statue stopped its attack and moved back into its normal position on the ledge.

Twilight looked back at her friends with a smile, while still keeping her head bowed to the ground. “Come on, girls. And keep your heads bowed.”

Trixie quickly moved in front of the others before they could step up to the bridge, wanting go before them. This earned her a few glares from the others, but nothing more. Trixie bowed her head to the golden statue and began walking across the bridge behind Twilight. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy followed after, keeping their heads bowed the whole way.

The statue continued to stay where it was and didn’t move an inch as they crossed.

The mares reached the other side and walked into the next tunnel.

“Okay, five challenges down,” said Twilight optimistically as they walked. “That means there should be only one left.”

“Does anypony else think it’s getting rather warm in here?” asked Rarity.

Twilight could tell what she was talking about. All of a sudden, it had gotten very warm in the tunnel, and it was only getting warmer the further they went.

“Hey, yeah, it did get kinda warm in here all of a sudden,” said Applejack in agreement.

Then, as they rounded a corner, they all saw why.

Their path was blocked by a wall of fire in the tunnel right ahead of them.