~Temple of Fire~

January 14th
6:32 am (Just before Daybreak)
The Cauldron
Ventus Stormwing

Luna's moon did little to illuminate our way, even if it was low in the sky, making way for dawn. I say that because the cracked, half molten rock underneath my flight had fresh lava flowing through it, leaking out of the ground itself. The ground here was unstable, and Blitz carried Stitch on his back. We were headed for a solid-looking patch of rock near the side of the Volcano itself. "Please tell me that your friend isn't inside the volcano, Blitz." I asked.

"She's not." He replied. "She's in the open crater." I smiled, thinking this might be a little easier than I thought. "But, the air in there is too hot for pegasi to fly in; we'd be swept away in the updrafts. And as you can see, the sides are covered with lava."

"…So we have to go in and climb up?" I suggested. Blitz nodded, and we touched down in front of an oddly well-chiseled entrance.

"Welcome to the Temple of Flames. The ponies here worship King Solaris, Celestia's father. But we need to go through the more… dungeon-ey parts to get through."

"I thought you said your friends weren't held hostage in the traditional way." I chided.

"Most of us aren't. However, Cherry Cake is a little too… unusual to have been trapped in their own mind like I was." Stitch said. "So the being that did all of this to us put her in the crater of the volcano you see here." Too unusual? Now this is starting to get a little suspicious. I mean, Spectrum Blitz, well, I could see another pony sharing Dash's mane color. And Stitch could share Rarity's overall design; fashion ponies tend to be the same in my eyes. But a 'random' pony named Cherry Cake? That just screams Pinkie Pie to me. I'm not going to bring it up, though; after all, I haven't met her yet, she could be completely different.

"Alright then." I said. I went to walk into the entrance, when I bumped into another pony. The stallion was a dark brown color, and had a black mane slicked with oil. He had a repair kit slung over his back, and his cutie mark looked like a tribal mask.

"Watch it, pal." He said. "Don't go trashing up this place too much, ya hear? I've got other ancient temples to repair and refurbish." He huffed and walked off, on a more solid patch of the lava outside.

"…Let's just go on in…" Blitz muttered. I agreed, and Stitch followed close behind, complaining about the dirt on his hooves and mane. Walking in, we saw a large hallway, decorated with tapestries of a red alicorn male, presumably King Solaris. Other ponies milled about, dressed in red robes with a sunrise depicted on the back. One of them approached us.

"Greetings to you, newcomers." The stallion said in a light, airy voice. He threw back his head to reveal an orange coat, with a scarlet mane. A small horn poked out from his head. "I am Brother Starshine, the current Patriarch of the Brothers of the Sun." he bowed low, and out of respect we returned the gesture. "Please, follow me. It is hot outside, and we have water to quench your thirsts."

"Thank you. It has been a rough journey." I replied. Starshine led us to a small antechamber, lit with wax candles. A small stream ran through it, and we bowed our heads to drink. The water was warm, but I guess is should have expected water inside a volcano to be such. After the drink, we sat in a small circle to talk.

"Thank you for the drink. I'm Ventus Stormwing, and this is Spectrum Blitz and Perfect Stitch." I said, as a smile appeared on our host's face.

"Please, tell me what brings you to our temple. I would like to know your intentions." Starshine asked.

"We've come here in search of a friend." Blitz responded. "We've tracked her down to this volcano. More specifically, the crater." Starshine looked startled.

"The crater?" he asked. We nodded in reply. "Well, we of the Sun do not deny access to the crater, but it is blisteringly hot in the Temple proper… You would need a cloak like mine to survive, they are enchanted to resist heat. The only problem being that we only have the material to make one more at present."

"Then I'll go in alone." I whispered, turning to my two companions. "I've got the speed of a pegasus and the magic of a unicorn; I'm the most prepared for this as of now."

"You won't get an objection from me, darling." Stitch said. "it's far too dirty in there."

"And I guess I could sit this one out. You sure?" Blitz asked. After a nod he replied, "Alright then. Good luck!"

Half an hour later, the new cloak was made for me. It fit snugly, and due to the enchantment, I felt pleasantly cool instead of incredibly hot. My cloak was missing the sunrise on the back, as I was told that symbol was for proper members of the Brotherhood. My wings poked out of specially designed holes, and were still protected by the enchantment. All in all, I'd say it didn't look that bad either. "Good luck." My friends and Starshine said as I turned to face the cavern entrance.

With a nod to say goodbye, I entered the cave, leaving behind the comfort of the temple. The cavern was dark, and I immediately conjured up a candlelight to guide my path. The simple spell creates a ball of light to float in the air next to me- it's been useful more than once.

…No, I'm not afraid of the dark. I swear.

Either way, I eventually didn't need it anymore. I had found the heart of the volcano, and molten magma was seeping up from the center and up the sides. I noticed that my pathway and several others branching off of it were untouched by the lava. Three doors surrounded me, including my exit.

"Well," I muttered to myself. "Let's see what's behind door number one!" as I approached the door itself, I found it had no hoof holds or handles. As I figured out how to open it, it simply rose straight up as I drew near. "Motion-activated doors… in an ancient temple? Because why not?" I said to myself ludicrously. On the other side of the door was a smaller cavern, dark from the lack of illuminating lava.

I conjured another candlelight, and the light revealed a gigantic pit at my hooves, a small speck of light visible at the bottom- presumably more lava. Glad I looked first. A series of platforms, each only able to be reached by an expert jumper, led their way into the hall, where another door could be seen. I was about to jump to the closest one when I remembered- I have wings. Duh.

The air was still in this chamber, as I found out, and I couldn't gain much altitude from unmoving air. So I found myself gliding from platform to platform, skipping one or two with every jump. Easy enough for a pegasus like myself. The door on the other side of the room opened in a similar fashion as the one before, leading into a wide, circular chamber, the perimeter of the floor giving way to magma about two feet from the wall. Another door opposed me.

"Seems easy. Too easy…" I muttered. Trotting carefully, I made my way to the door. However, when I was halfway across the room, both doors slammed iron bars over them, locking me in. Rising out of the ground, a skeleton of a pony emerged with a large mace slung over its back. Glancing behind me, another skele-pony rose from the heated rock, this one with a sharp sword clenched in its bony maw.

"Buck."

End of Segment

A/N: Yes, I have recently played a Legend of Zelda marathon of gaming (Minish Cap, Wind Waker HD, Skyward Sword, and A Link Between Worlds all played and finished in one weekend, beating my speed run record of Minish Cap by 3 minutes 34.2 seconds). Yes, that leaked into my story. Yes, I am horrible at writing dungeon-crawling segments; expect Ventus's next segment to improve upon this one. ~Nano

The Despair of Equines

Later that same day
Twilit Castle
P. Twilight Sparkle

I sighed from my throne. Court isn't as big a deal as Celestia once made it sound. It's rather boring, judging on ponies' problems and giving out solutions. The sun shone bright as it had been for a week straight now, with the only haven from its hot glare being Luna covering it with the moon to form an eclipse for our night cycle. I sent out a note to all the cities of Equestria explaining this.

Luna herself is out of spirits. Her near-death encounter seems to have shaken her up, and she is unable to perform any royal duties. I've sent a letter to Cadence asking for help, but I haven't received a reply yet.

My friends have gone back to their jobs in Ponyville, as I understood they were needed there. "The next pony comes from Ponyville." My scribe, Spike, called out. He went from being my number-one assistant to the Royal Scribe; talk about a promotion. This perked my ears up in interest. "She is not alone, Princess. It looks as if the entire town is outside your castle." Now this was worrying.

"Send her in." I said, straightening out my regalia. In through the door came Mayor Mare, and she bowed in respect. "Hello, Mayor." I said. "Might I ask what seems to be troubling the entire town?"

"Your highness, Ponyville, it…" Mayor Mare seemed to be in tears. "It's been overrun by monsters!"

"Monsters?" I said, jumping off my throne. "What did they look like? How many were there?"

"They looked like ponies… but they weren't. their flesh was diseased, their bites and weapons killed easily… I managed to evacuate half the town, but the other half…" She looked down. "Didn't make it."

I was speechless. "Emberswirl!" I shouted, calling the captain of my guard. The red unicorn appeared in a flash, his armor a brightly polished purple. "I need you to take a scouting party to Ponyville. Learn about these monsters, and report anything you can directly to me."

"At once, your highness." He replied with a salute, charging out the door.

"Princess! A letter from Manehattan!" Another guard called out to me. I grabbed it in my magic, and read that a similar fate has befallen that town. A second and third letter. Fillydelphia and Los Pegasus also gone…

"Any refugees are welcome in my castle and the surrounding forests." I said to Mayor Mare and a few guardsponies. "I want any and all unicorns who can cast shield spells to secure the entire area around my castle. I don't want anything to harm anypony here." Salutes all around.

"Spike, take a note and send it to all the cities in Equestria." When I saw the dragon had gotten a new roll of parchment, I began speaking. "I, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, hereby decree a state of emergency for the country. All citizens are advised to find shelter capable of protecting themselves, and any pegasi are advised to retreat into the clouds where it is safer. Any and all ponies are welcome to my castle for protection from this menace, which has already raided and sacked four towns that I am aware of. Any contact with the monsters responsible must be avoided at all costs." As I finished, I cast a spell to duplicate the decree, and Spike sent them all one by one to the cities of Equestria.

"Twilight!" I heard a familiar voice cry out. Entering the throne room were four of my friends, and they all ran up to hug me. The one who had spoken was Rainbow Dash. "Twilight, we need to go out there and kick some flank!"

"Hold on there, sugarcube," Applejack called out. "Ah'm thinkin that our Princess here can come up with a plan for us to stay alive." I noticed who was missing again.

"Girls, I do have a plan to stay safe. But… where's Fluttershy?"

End of Chapter

A/N: To answer Twilight's question, you'll all find out next time! Thanks for reading, and please, if you live near me and love to snowboard or ski, PLEASE stop wishing for more snow. It's March. In three days it's going to be spring. AND I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY *censored* SNOW!
…Thank you. ~Nano