“What is our next step, master?” Twilight asked, trotting to keep up with Sombra’s long strides. Se had woken up merely an hour ago after sleeping for 36 hours straight, a long rest to allow her magical reserves to replenish. Now she was back at full power and eager to follow through with her master’s plan.
 
“Now we raise my army and free my people. I don’t want to waste any time~~” Sombra was cut off by a loud growling noise. He looked to Twilight, annoyance in his eyes. Twilight cleared her throat awkwardly.
 
“I guess I’m hungry…” She trailed off and kept her eyes trained on the ground. Sombra sighed.
 
“We will eat, but quickly. We’re wasting enough time as is.” The dragon spoke.  
-~~  
The deer plopped onto the stone floor with a wet smack. Twilight looked at it with distaste, scrunching up her face in an attempt to avoid smelling the blood.
 
“Um, my King, I can’t eat meat.” Twilight said in her most submissive voice, not wanting to anger her master. Sombra lifted his wing revealing a bush of some sort which he promptly dropped in front of his subject. Twilight looked at it with shock before drawing closer to inspect it. She sniffed the leaves before smiling. “Blueberrys! Thank you master!” She gushed. Sombra merely grunted in response.
 
Twilight had eaten nearly half the berries on the bush when Sombra suddenly looked up from his meal. Twilight turned to look in the direction he was gazing in but saw nothing but the path leading to the entrance of the cavern.
 
“What is it mas-” She was cut off by Sombra shushing her. Twilight pursed her lips, staying silent as she stared at the dragon. Moments passed before Sombra spoke.
 
“We need to go, now.” Sombra said in a hushed tone.
 
“Why?” Twilight asked quietly.
 
“There are ponies entering the cave. We must move to the next phase of my plan, now.” He said urgently, standing up and quickly walking deeper into the cave. Twilight scrambled to stand up and began trotting briskly to catch up with the drake. She followed closely beside Sombra while straining to hear what he had heard. She had almost given up when she heard the distinct sound of metal clanging on stone. She gasped and bit her lip, anxiety bubbling in her chest.
 
“What if they find us?” Twilight whispered harshly, worry etched on her face.
 
“They wont, once we reach the lowest chamber we’ll be able to seal ourselves off from the rest of the cave. The ponies have no reason to search behind the walls.” Sombra explained in a low, grumbling voice. The pair made their way down the stone stairs to the chamber housing their small regiment of Skinwalkers. Once they reached the foul smelling room Sombra breathed green fire into the air, catching the attention of the monsters. “We leave now, follow me and keep quiet, all of you.” He instructed the group of creatures before quickly turning around and leading them through the hallway. The group galloped down a long hallway that lead deeper and deeper into the cave and the ground soon became too steep to walk on. Sombra, slipping downward through the dirt and rocks, opened his wings to slow his decent. A mile down, they reached a narrow chamber alight with blue fire. Twilight fluttered to the ground and looked ahead while the others arrived. There was a large, jewel encrusted door just a few yards from them. It had one large ruby on each door as well as several large emeralds be-speckling it. On either side of the door there was a torch alight with purple flames. The door exuded power, and Twilight felt her hackles instinctually rise. Sombra strode past her to stand in front of the door. He looked back at Twilight and spoke. “Come here.” he commanded with an authoritative voice.
 
“Yes sir.” Twilight whispered, afraid to raise her voice in this confined space. The skinwalkers around her hissed as she passed by, green ooze dripping from their mouths. Twilight stood beside her master and looked at the large door that towered over her. “How do we get in?” Twilight whispered. “And what’s in there?” She added as a chill ran down her spine in the ice cold cave.
 
“My people.” Sombra spoke in a low voice. “Your people.” He said softly. He looked to the odd hole in the middle of the door. “Place your horn here and summon your alicorn magic. Then the door will open.” Twilight grit her teeth and nodded. She flapped her wings and flew up to the middle of the door, bracing herself on in with her fore hooves. With a deep breath, she slid her horn into the hole and summoned her magic. There was a small click, but the door didn’t open. Twilight huffed and poured as much magic into the lock as she could muster. With a loud clank and several low clicks, the door cracked open, pushing her back. She pulled her horn out of the lock and fell to the ground, landing on her hooves with a stumble. Sombra gripped the inner edge of the door with his claws and pulled it open, revealing…darkness.