The Epic of Brightblade Warpony

Chapters XI

The dark portal was dank and stuffy. There was a slight current to the air, but it came from the unknown darkness that lay before the voyagers and carried with it only more dankness and stuffiness. The floor of the passage was slick with moisture and uneven. Strange sounds drifted up from wherever they were heading: some almost like voices, others mere moans, and most were unidentifiable.
Occasionally Brightblade sensed that a passage forked off to one side or another. He couldn't actually see the passages in the darkness, but he could feel an emptiness to one side or the other, and once overhead. And Epona had warned him about becoming distracted. To help focus on the task at hand, the Warpony continued his tale.

The glorious light poured from the arched portal. I stepped forward cautiously toward the light. I was afraid that the light would blind me, but I could not close my eyes or look away. I gazed wide-eyed into the light as I was drawn into the temple's inner chambers.
The first chamber was round, much like the outer chamber, but smaller and not open. It was all of purest white stone, perfectly polished. There was no apparent source for the light that bathed the chamber; it was almost as if the very air glowed. Despite the glorious appearance of the room, the Warrior's Horn was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the chamber was entirely empty.
I moved on to the next chamber. The only sound was that of my hooves on the polished stones of the floor. This chamber was illuminated like the last but not so brightly, and was of the same polished stone. This chamber, however, was huge. The ceiling was so high that it was almost lost in the supernatural glow. The width and length of the chamber were filled with massive columns. It was like a forest of stone with a broad path down the middle. There was no sign of the Horn.
Beyond the Chamber of Columns was another chamber, more of a hallway than a room. Along the walls were reliefs depicting all kinds of Little Ponies; there were earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, flutters, sea ponies, and some I did not recognize. The air in this passage was not luminous; the only source of light was the door to the previous chamber. By the time I reached the end of the passage I was in near total darkness.
The final chamber was blackness. I could not see any walls, ceiling, or even the floor. But the room felt vast. Though there was no light, the Warrior's Horn floated, gleaming, in the middle (or what I imagined to be the middle) of the darkness. I walked forward, mesmerized by the vision of the Horn, until I was directly under it. It seemed impossibly distant and at the same time almost within me.
The ancient helm floated down (or rose up from within me) and came to rest upon my head. It formed perfectly to the shape of my head. Though the Warrior's Horn seemed to be forged of cold steel, it felt almost warm against my coat, and was surprisingly light, almost weightless. It felt as if it were part of me.

The rememberence of his first joining with the Horn lifted Brightblade's spirits somewhat. The warmth of the horn spread throughout his body. He concentrated on his quest and the immediate concern of traversing the Dark Portal. The Warrior's Horn began to glow, as it had only done in the past when the Warpony had gone into battle. Now Brightblade and his companions could clearly see the passage they traveled, but the light of the horn only illuminated the true path, it did not penetrate the side passages that branched off and led to certain doom. Epona smiled, at last the Warpony was learning the true extent of the Horn's power.
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