A Typical Tuesday Afternoon
Deep in the heart of the Everfree Forest lay a secret kingdom, invisible to all but those who already knew of it. To those who could see it, however, it was glorious. High in the treetops, on wooden walkways and in hollowed trunks, ponies went about their lives, completely safe from the creatures below.
There were ponies of every kind there, too. Craftsponies and blacksmiths and farmers all worked together among the branches of the...
Wait a second... How would farmers grow stuff up high in the trees? They're no dirt. Wouldn't they?...
I don't know. Somehow, the farmers grew stuff. Maybe they used magic or something.
Anyway, they were all ruled by the majestic Prince Stone Hoof, Defender of the Downtrodden.
The alicorn prince lived high in the tallest tree, where he could see the entirety of his kingdom. By day, he was a fair and just ruler, and by night, he was a protector who kept his kingdom safe.
Far away from his kingdom, in the frozen lands to the north, his sister Ice Heart, Princess of the Cold, kept her kingdom secure as well.
If there was one thing she loved, it was bringing joy to her subjects any way she could. It was her magic that kept the land covered in snow and ice, so that it would always be winter. That way, her subjects could celebrate Hearth's Warming all year.
It was she who had, at that very moment, teleported into Stone Hoof's royal chambers.
"Greetings, Ice Heart. It's good to see you again."
"Good to see you too, Stone Hoof, but I'm afraid I bring really bad news. The evil wizard Lord Malachor has returned."
"Lord Malachor! I thought we imprisoned in stone, wrapped him in duct tape, and threw him into the sun!"
"Well, somehow Malachor returned."
This was not good at all. Malachor the Oppressor was the one true threat to either of their kingdoms.
Well, besides Dr. Glockenspiel, at least... and Captain Napalm... and Darth Vulcan... not to mention the electric eagles from last week... and the five-legged manticore, of course... and the space aliens; couldn't forget those.
Besides those, the evil wizard Lord Malachor the Oppressor was definitely the greatest threat.
Stone Hoof put a hoof under his chin.
"We have to stop him before he takes over, then. And we're gonna need more duct tape this time. Do you know where he is?"
"Yep! I've got a map! It says his hiding spot is in the Caverns of Ruinous Doom."
"Nice!"
They both headed out to the Caverns of Ruinous Doom.
"Hey, wait a second. Where'd you get the map?"
"I dunno. I just found it."
Stone Hoof looked at her for a moment, then shrugged.
"I guess that works."
They then continued their way to the Caverns of Ruinous Doom.
Their path took them through a dark canyon that finally opened into a barren plain. In the center of the plain, the ground funneled down into a giant sinkhole. Here, the dirt gave way to jagged rocks, the innermost of which resembled inward facing teeth. A single slip would send any pony who got too close down through the teeth and into the maw below. Beyond that maw, a drop of a hundred feet awaited the unfortunate ponies who fell in.
Indeed, this was the entrance to the Caverns of Ruinous Doom.
The prince and princess looked at each other, then glided down into the gaping maw. At the bottom of the vertical shaft was a tunnel with a ceiling so low that they would have to crawl on their stomachs. Unfortunately, this was the one path into the cavern. They crawled through one at a time, eventually emerging in a cave on the other side. Inside, everything was pitch black, so that someone would not even be able to see his hoof in front of his face.
Stone Hoof lit up his horn to illuminate the cavern.
Stone Hoof tried to use his horn to illuminate the cavern...
Stone Hoof was pretty sure he could use his horn to...
He turned to his sister.
"Let's just use flashlights, okay?"
They both pulled out flashlights and used those to illuminate the cavern. At the far end was an opening surrounded by sharp rocks and sleeping monsters.
Stone Hoof and Ice Heart lowered their flashlights as quickly as they could, holding their breaths in fear that the monsters might awaken. Thankfully, the creatures remained asleep.
The prince leaned over and whispered to his sister.
"What do we do now?"
"If we attack them, Malachor will hear us and run away. We'll have to be quiet and sneak past them."
The two crouched down and slowly crept past the sleeping monsters. They needed to be especially careful near the exit, where most of the monsters had gathered. Navigating the slumbering creatures was almost like a maze, but with the foreboding knowledge that touching a wall or making a sudden sound would only bring forth certain failure.
They finally made it to the other side. Thankfully, the room past the opening was much better illuminated.
Unfortunately, it was illuminated by lava.
Lots of lava.
Just as before, the only opening was on the other side of a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Thankfully, there were a few tiny islands of rock jutting up from the floor.
Ice Heart jumped onto a long rectangular one that was close by, followed closely by her brother.
There were a couple islands close enough to jump to, but only one in the direction they needed to go. Stone Hoof made a long jump onto the smaller square island, using his wings to catch his balance.
Ice Heart backed up to the other end of the long island, then ran across it, leaping as soon as she reached the end. As soon as she was off the ground, she spread her wings to try to catch as much updraft from the lava as possible.
Her front hooves landed hard on the other side, and for a moment she was nearly stable, but then, one of her rear hooves slipped, and she fell. She clung to the island with both front hooves, flapping her wings frantically as her brother reached out to try to save her.
"Come on! Take my hoof!"
She hesitated, not daring to let go of the edge as she slipped closer to the liquid fire below.
Closing her eyes, she reached out for him. He immediately took her hoof and pulled as hard as she could. Slowly, she made it back up onto the ledge, safely away from the molten floor beneath. She then looked up in dismay.
"The opening's still too far away."
Stone Hoof looked across the gulf of fire.
"You're right. There's got to be another way."
They both looked around for anything that might be of use.
"I've got it!"
Stone Hoof jumped back to the rectangular island. There were a couple loose slabs on it, right under his feet, he picked one up in his mouth and tossed it to Ice Heart, who caught it and set it beside her. After they did the same with the other slab, he jumped back and picked one up. A quick toss sent it out into the lava lake, where it floated on the surface.
Ice Heart grinned, then jumped out onto the floating slab of rock. Her brother then tossed her the other slab, which she tossed to just the right distance to reach the exit.
They both jumped from one slab to the next, making it safely to the opening.
The next cavern had two exits, one on the left, and the other on the right.
Stone Hoof looked from one to the other.
"Which one do you think we should go down?"
His sister looked at the two options as well before pointing at one.
"I think it's that way."
They both ran through, only to find the cavern completely empty.
"I guess it's the other one then."
As they were about to leave, a rumble echoed through the cave, so that even the floor shook. Just in front of them, a massive boulder fell across the entrance, blocking their one way out.
"Oh no! What do we do now?"
Stone Hoof braced himself and shot the boulder with his horn, but alas, twas to no avail.
"He magic-proofed it! It was a trap for us the whole time!"
"Can we push it out of the way then?"
Stone Hoof shook his head.
"It'll absorb our magic as soon as we touch it. If that happens, we won't be strong enough."
"But we have to defeat that wizard before it's too late!"
Stone Hoof turned back to the boulder in their path and examined it. He examined the rest of the cave as well, looking for anything that might be of use. All he saw around him was stalagmites on the ceiling with water dripping off them.
Or maybe they were stalactites?
Which ones went on the ceiling again?
No matter. All he saw was... uh... hanging rocks on the ceiling with water dripping off them.
He took a closer look at the boulder again. This just might work.
"You can break it!" He turned to Ice Heart with a grin. "The boulder might be magic proof, but it's cracked. If we put water in the cracks and freeze it, it'll break!"
"You think it'll work?"
"Yeah! I learned about it in a book."
Stone Hoof charged his horn and telekinetically gathered as much water as he could, then forced it into the cracks in the boulder.
"Now!"
Ice Heart shot the boulder with a steady stream of her snow magic, slowly freezing the water inside the cracks.
The boulder creaked slightly as the pressure inside it increased...
"Now!"
Gneiss watched as Feldspar lowered her face and pointed the waffle cone she had taped to her forehead at a bean bag chair. A little after she had it pointed the right direction, Obsidian ran around to the side, gripped the bean bag chair in his teeth, and slowly dragged it out of the way. As soon as the path was clear, he ran back to his original position beside his sister, and they both pumped their hooves in the air.
"We did it!"
They then ran into the next room, their wings flaring behind them.
"It's Malachor!"
"Look out! He's got a gonkulator!"
Gneiss snickered into her wing, then picked up the couch cushions off the floor and set them back where they belonged as the two kids saved their world from yet another evil monster.
Author's Note
This story is a prequel to A Pegasus Horn, but putting that at the beginning seemed like it would spoil it.
