In the horizon, the morning sun came into view. As we walked, we stopped just before a ghastly-looking cave. Surrounding the cave's outskirts were trees that were still untainted by the horror's of the Everfree. A cold breeze is constantly being emitted from the entrance, sending chills down my spine. "Here we are. The shortcut to Canterlot," Red states.

I peered through the darkness of the opening into the middle of a seemingly random cave. The chilling darkness coupled along with the sinister feeling radiating from the interior of the grotto. "Are you sure this is a shortcut to Canterlot?" I asked as I turned my head around to face my two changeling companions. "I just have a very bad feeling about this place."

"Yes. I've even used this a long time ago," Chrysalis answered. "This leads towards the Crystal Caverns, which is just below Canterlot. From there, it should be much more easier to infiltrate."

"Don't worry about the dark. There aren't any monsters in here that'll devour you in here," she casually chirps as she walks closer to the edge of the cave."

"That's not what I'm worried about," I sigh as I look back into the endless fog of darkness that was the cave's entrance. "What if we get lost? Just how big is this?"

Chrysalis responded, "The route should be pretty monotonous. There aren't any crossroads for us to get lost, anyways." Sparking her jagged horn with a green glow, licks of flame ran through it, providing ample illumination. "Now come on. We don't have time to waste," Chrysalis said as she entered the cave.

She stopped herself mid-step as she noticed that I wasn't following her. Shooting a glare at me, she raises one of her eyebrows. "What's wrong? You can't be seriously be afraid of the shadows," she said in a mocking voice.

Reluctantly leering over at the rigid rocks, I take note of their instability. Some of the rocks have crevices. Some even looked as if they were about to collapse any given moment.

Red passes by me as she head towards the inky darkness in the chasm. "Hey. If you want, you could stay here and just wait for us to bring you back the necromancer," she said in a casual fashion.

Chrysalis groans. "If it makes you feel more secure, try bringing an army with you," she said as she began to head deeper into the cave, vanishing from my sight. "I'm going to go ahead. Catch up with me as soon as possible."

With a defeated sigh, I withdraw my book from my cloak. A faint, reddish aura permeates from it, along with that, the air around it seems to be corrupted with some sort of enigmatic arcane energy. "Ever since the book saved me from that blast, it became off."

"Go in the cave without your personal bodyguards then," Red says as she enters the cave without giving me time to reply. "Deal with it," she said casually.

I could only stare at her as she vanished into the darkness. I feel somewhat ignored. I shrugged off the feeling of ignorance as I stepped into the cave. "Bah. It's probably a bad idea bringing an army through this small passage," I muttered to myself as I noted the confined space within the cave.

I cautiously made my way through the cave. My vision was extremely limited; I couldn't even see my own hands in this lighting unless I just place them inches away from my luminous eye. In fact, the only thing that was giving off light.

As I walked, I heard a few footsteps that weren't synchronized with my own. Sheepish, I called out for the owner of the steps. "Hey, Red. Is that you?"

Confirming my answer, her voice replied back to me, "No. I'm a cave-dwelling monster that has come to eat you up." Despite the snark knotted in her voice, I was relieved that I was not separated in this dusky cave.

"It's so dark that I can't see a few inches away from me. How are you not complaining about this? How can you even tell what's in front of you?" I asked in a confounded state of mind.

"Oh. It's dark?" she said, feigning a voice of concern. "Well, I can't really tell since I have better night-vision than you."

I could only glare at the spot where I presume she's walking on with envious eyes. "Really? Damn you. Why can't I have night-vision eyes too?" I said as I crushed something beneath my shoe.

It was apparently brittle as it shattered easily upon the slightest of pressure. "Oh- Huh? What was that?" I managed to recover my composure, nimbly avoiding tripping down.

"Well, for your first question, it's because you're not a Scarlet changeling," she said with so much smugness that it's not hard to picture a cocky grin on her face right now. "Secondly, what you just stepped on was an animal's skull."

I recoiled slightly at that. "Well, at least it wasn't another sapient being's skull... I would've been much more creeped out."

She scoffs at me. "Well, if you're disturbed by the dark so much, why don't you use that fancy book of yours?" she asked.

I raise my eyebrow in an arc. "To summon an army to light up this place for me?"

I hear a sound akin to that of someone planting a hoof into their face; a face-hoof. "No! Use it to light up the place--it's got enough magic to provide light." I hear her groan before she continues, "Heh. I get why Chrysalis puts up with you. Your clueless personality is cute."

Disregarding that last remark, I questioned. "Okay..." I bring out the book, retrieving it from my shadowy robes. "How do I exactly make this thing give out luminescence?" I said as I waved the book around in my hands in the pitch blackness.

"Huh?!" she blurts out in reflex. "You mean to say you don't exactly know how to control it?" She cackles like a madman as she said, "I actually lost to someone who can't even control their weapon? That. Is. Hilarious!" As the laughter continues, my frown gradually became more apparent.

Continuing on laughing for a few seconds, she finally recuperated from the fit of laughter. "Ha... But in all seriousness. Maybe try placing some magic in it, I dunno."

I hesitated before continuing, "And how do I do that?" I wave my hands around to gesture to something obvious. "Despite my appearance, I am no magician."

"Oh, wow. This is priceless," she said as she was forced to suppress a giggle. "Look, since we're both helping each other here, I might as well tell you. You just have to command it."

"Oh, right. Like you said, I took in a lot of magic through that blast was sent straight into my face. Right... So, I just have to command it?" I repeated with a look of an addled mind. "Once again, how do I do that?"

There was no answer for a few seconds as she spent some seconds pondering. "I don't know, actually. It's like moving your arm, you see? I can't exactly tell you how I do it, but I just can. So yeah..."

"So... I just have to control it as if it was a body part?" I said with uncertainty.

"Exactly!" She claps her hooves as if to congratulate me. "Go ahead, try it!"

Shrugging off this uneasy feeling building up within me, I raise my book to head-length. 'I might as well do it. What's the worst that could happen? Oh no. I'm jinxing it, aren't I?'

With a hesitant sigh, I began channeling my magic, or at least attempted to. So far, nothing has happened. I focused harder, but to no avail. Perhaps it's because I'm lacking something to channel it to? Unicorns use their horns as conduits, so I must have to use... the Grimoire, perhaps?

"Did you give up yet-" Red started talking but stopped short as a brilliant light came from the book all of a sudden. The spectral beams of radiance showered a good portion of the cave with its brilliance. Unfortunately, due to Red being adapted to low-light conditions, she reacted poorly to this.

"Argh!" Red yelped out, causing me to cringe back. "Dim it down! Dim it down!" she repeated as she shielded her eyes.

I, being a novice at magic, did not know how to dim the brightness of this thing. Needless to say, I panicked before I recalled that you have to treat it as if it was a part of your body. Commanding it as if it was a limb, I reduced the intensity of the light, making it only light up a few feet away from me.

Just a few steps away from me, I see Red rubbing her eyes. "Ow... Seriously? What were you trying to pull off? Blinding me?"

With a nervous smile, I apologized. "Uh. Sorry. I don't know how to control it properly, it seems."

Blinking a few more times, she smiles and carries on walking. "Well, at least I managed to teach you how to wield that potent magic you stole now." Without looking back, her grin widens as she spoke, "That means you owe me now."

"Eh? What do you mean-" Before I could even complete what I had to say, Chrysalis came into view in a frantic sprint. Held in her mouth was something that resembled that of a sword.

Stopping at an appropriate distance, she dropped the sword held in her mouth as she questioned, "I saw a sudden bright flash." Turning her frenzied gaze at the Red Queen, she questioned as her horn kindled with her familiar green aura. "What are you scheming, you-"

Seeing the tension building up, I swiftly intervened. "Woah! Woah!" I dove into the space between Chrysalis and Red, hands protectively raised. "That was me! No need to worry about it."

Chrysalis pauses as she looks at me skeptically. "You? How did you produce that bright flash-" Suddenly, her eyes became fixated on the book as she notices the glow coming from it. "Since when could your little tome do that?" she points at it with mild curiosity.

The changeling queen beside her couldn't help but show a boastful pose. "I tutored him on how to use magic."

Chrysalis' head snapped towards the direction of Red. "You? Of all exceptional mages, you managed to do it?"

I shrugged once more. "It's... surprisingly easy. Now then, can you tell us why you decided to just leave us back here?"

"I- What? I can't even..." Chrysalis cut herself off as a stern look appears on her face. "Enough of this." Her horn sparked once more with magic, and the sword she dropped earlier began to hover towards my direction, stopping just at grabbing distance. Taking this as a gesture, I take the sword in my hand. "Use that newly found skill, why won't you?"

Confused, I turned to face Red who was apparently spectating the view in front of her with an amused smirk. She turns her head to face Chrysalis. "What's the panic for, Chrysie? Something happened?"

"It's the crystals. The disappearance of the Elements caused the balance of magic to be disrupted. The magic... it basically possessed the crystals-"

Suddenly, a footstep resounded from deep within the cave. I could only stare dumbfounded in the shadowy horizon. Then, after what seemed to be several seconds in tense anticipation, it appeared. It was a colossal being comprised of entirely of crystals.

Every step that it took seemed to shake the very earth itself. It stood on two legs. Its right arm was that of a spiny blade with protruding crystals. Its left arm was blunt, as if it was made for bludgeoning. Its face, or rather the lack of one, seem to have some sort of runic symbol engrave on it.

Red stepped back ever so subtly. "Well, since I have no magic. I think I'll leave the handling of this monstrosity to you guys!" With that, she swiftly vanished from view.

At the same time, Chrysalis and I turned to face her, or rather where she once stood, and exclaimed, "Are you serious?!"

Author's Notes:

Alright. Alright. It's about time that I work on my other fics.

So, which one do you guys think that I should work on next?