The journey to the magma temple part 1

Chapter 10: The journey to the magma temple part 1

The next morning, Rose and Hope were the first to be there. 

"I guess we are early, sis." Hope said. "I wonder when Aspen is getting here." 

Rose just gave off a smirk. 

"And you make fun of ME for having a crush on Stephen!" Rose said "You keep wondering where he is and you are always making goo-goo eyes!" 

"Oh, you admitted it!!!" Hope said. 

Rose was just glad Stephen wasn't there to hear that. 

The two foster sisters sat down and talked until they came. Rose could hear them coming, So she laid down a rule. 

"No matter what, Do NOT tell him what I said!" Rose said to her. 

She just gave her the "My lips are sealed" gesture, but it was different without fingers. It looked like she was smearing her hoof across her mouth. As Stephen arrived, Rose couldn't help but greet him. 

"Hi, Stephen!" She greeted Stephen. "The journey in the spirit world is going to take two days, and there will be some dangerous obstacles there." 

Stephen just greeted back and explained how they would get to the temple. 

"The chariot ride will take a couple o' hours, and we will use the compact at this altar Celestia mentioned." 

He showed the three ponies the map. "

Wait, why did she tell you, but not us?" Rose questioned Stephen. 

"Think o' us as your bodyguards, Rose." He explained. "Celestia wanted us to protect ya while you do your spirit business, bringing balance and all that." 

"But there is something Celestia won't tell us, Why did she choose us?" Aspen joined in "But enough chatting, we have a job to do!"

The chariot ride was scary for Rose as usual, but hope still loved to fly around. To comfort herself, she focused her attention on her compact. The blue gem glinted in the sunlight. She opened it up, and she saw her reflection. But she looked different. She had roses in her hair, and a red mask. She appeared to be wearing a cape. But why did she look like that in her compact? 

She just decided to leave it be. Soon enough, they were at their destination near the top of a volcano. They saw the same amount as last time, but they seemed more hostile. 

This time, they had Armour and weapons of their own. They landed near them, and Rose transformed her compact into the weapon of her choice, a rose scepter. Soon enough, a flash of blue light came out of aspen's necklace and turned into a gleaming blue sword. They were the first two ponies to charge in, but Stephen jumped in with them. Hope picked up a hard rock and flew up high to drop it on the tall one with the amulet around it's neck. "We have to get the amulet!" Hope said. 

Rose just nodded and charged with her scepter in her magic's grip. 

Many were coming to attack, but Stephen had a strange strength that seemed to feed off the energy of the volcano. Soon enough, he had activated a spell which he never knew he could do. Fire was shooting out of his horn at the spirits which destroyed the last of them. "Whoa, That's summin to brag 'bout" He said with great pride in his voice. Rose just smiled and went to the temple. She picked up the amulet and stood in the center of the large room. 

"Hello? Fire spirit? Is anyo- Any PONY here?" Rose said. "It would be really nice if you were to show yourself!" 

Just then, a big flame appeared in front of them and showed the big lava alicorn which ruled this temple. She was the same alicorn as the one she saw in her recent vision. 

"Hey, Did I miss the fight?" She said. "I always love a good fight! I have the element and every- Hey, here he is right now! Here!" 

She threw a necklace to Stephen which had a flame shaped gem on it. 

"Well, that was quick." Hope said, still flying. The fire spirit just did what appeared to be a face-hoof, but Rose was still confused about being a pony. 

"Just follow me and we can get this over with." The spirit said "The trip will take a day or two,so we will camp on the way." 

They all stood on the central platform and were beamed to the spirit world. This time, it was a field of fire. 

"My name is Magmaria, you need to activate your water powers to get us through." She said. Rose just took the compact out of it's holder and it shot out a beam of water. It created a path to the top of a hill where they would look for the temple. 

"That was pretty cool" Stephen said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. 

Her face soon was red with blush, but she was still concentrated on the task at hand. 

A steady stream of water constantly shot out of the compact until they got to the hill. The walk was hours, but they got there. They saw the temple on the horizon, but it was still far away. 

What appeared to be their sun was setting, so they set up camp on the hill. This was actually wasn't the first time Rose went camping, so she was prepared. The next day, they would finally be at the temple.