Tricks of the Tropics

At first, they were in a full run, running through the thick underbrush brushing past them. The bright summer sun was darkened by the thick leaves overhead, and the soothing sounds of the beach were replaced by the sounds of shifting leaves, the call of strange animals, and the clop-clop of hooves against the ground.

"PINKIIIIE!" they all called, except for Rarity, her teeth full of beach towel.

"Stay together, ponies!" Twilight Sparkle called behind her. "We don't want any of you to get lost too!"

The ponies ran close together, packed in a tight formation. They all called out for Pinkie Pie as they ran, looking rapidly around them for a flash of pink amongst the dark green foliage.

"PINKIIIIE!!"

"YO, PINK!"

"PINKIE PIE, WHERE ARE YOUUU??"

"COME ON, SUGARCUBE! COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU AR–WHOA!!"

Suddenly, Applejack dropped through the ground, as if she fell down a hole. The ponies all stopped on a time, and turned around in shock.

"Applejack!" Fluttershy cried. She knelt down to where she was, pushing away the fronds, followed by the other ponies. Where Applejack had been was a small depression in the dirt, which looked like it was settling.

"Where did she go?" Rainbow Dash said.

"I don't know," said Fluttershy. "It was as if the ground just... sucked her up!"

"Applejack!" Rainbow Dash called into the dirt. "Are you alright??"

"Groan... yeah, I'm fine," she called back, her voice muffled.

"Where are you?" Twilight Sparkle called.

"I dunno," she said, "but I didn't fall that far. I'm at the end of some kinda long tunnel."

"A tunnel?" Twilight asked. "How could you know that? It has to be pitch dark down there!"

"No, there's, like, these glowin' plants growin' down here," she said, "they're growin' all the way down the tunnel. It looks like it goes on forever!"

"Applejack, we're going to get you out of there!" Rainbow Dash said. "Don't you worry!"

"I can't get back out," Applejack said, "the openin's filled in. What should I do?"

They all looked up expectantly at Twilight Sparkle, their faces full of panic. She looked back, equally panicked. After a few moments, her face turned quite stern, and she looked back down at the ground.

"Applejack, stay where you are," she said. "We'll find a way to get you out!"

"Naw, Twi, I think this tunnel goes somewhere," replied Applejack. "It looks mighty important. Maybe I'll find a way out at the end."

"But Applejack, how will we find you if you go down that tunnel?" asked Fluttershy. "It could go for miles, and who knows where it'll end!"

Just as Twilight opened her mouth to answer, there was a deep rumbling underneath them, and the ground caved in beneath them. Screaming, they plunged down into the earth, landing all in a heap. After scrambling and shouting confusedly for a bit, they all got off one another and, sure enough, found themselves staring down a long, circular tunnel, stretching far off into the distance. Small, leafy plants glowed along the tunnel's length, giving off green and blue light that seemed to get dimmer and brighter at certain intervals, almost as if the light was breathing.

"Grrn... where are we?" grumbled Rainbow Dash, getting up unsteadily on her hooves.

"Dunno," Applejack said, "but we're deep underground now."

Rarity set down her beach towel.

"You don't suppose... diamond dogs made this tunnel, do you?"

"Or a dragon?" Fluttershy said. "Some kind of... burrowing dragon? Who knows what kind of beasts there are here?"

"The worst kinds of beasts are the ones in your imagination," Twilight Sparkle assured them, "but I don't know what we're going to do. This tunnel could still go on for miles, and–"

"Wait! Look at this!" interrupted Applejack. The ponies all looked suddenly at her, and then down at the spot she was pointing at. It was a hoof print.

"It must be Pinkie Pie!" she exclaimed. "And look! They keep going down the tunnel!"

Looking up from the first print, they saw this was indeed true; the prints carried on down the tunnel's length. They were spaced close together, as if the pony had slowed to a walking pace.

"She can't have gotten far," pointed out Rarity, "perhaps we can catch up with her."

"We would need to go now, though," Twilight Sparkle said, "and we all have to stick together. We don't want to lose each other in this tunnel, just in case."

"Right! Let's go!" Rainbow Dash shouted, immediately galloping ahead. Before the others could catch their breath, they sprinted off after her, careful not to lose her. Fluttershy brought up the rear as best she could, and Rainbow's departure was so unexpected, she left the beach towel behind.

The gang was in full gallop along the length of the tunnel, the strange blue and green light shimmering quickly past them as they went. Before long, however, they slowed down to a canter, as the tunnel went on and on before them.

"This was a great idea for a vacation, Twi," Rainbow Dash commented, "but next time, I pick the destination!"

"Rainbow, how likely are you to pick somewhere that Pinkie Pie WON'T go crazy?" retorted Twilight. "Be reasonable here."

"Well hopefully it won't be somewhere full of diamond dogs and dragons and stuff," said Rainbow Dash. "We get enough of that back in Ponyville."

"Can we keep it down to a roar, guys?" Applejack said. "We haven't found a thing along this tunnel, and we haven't lost track of Pinkie's prints. Wherever we're going, we'll be fine."

"...Come to think of it," Fluttershy said, as if she would rather have avoided saying it, "we haven't found... anything at all, have we?"

At this, the group all stopped, and looked at Fluttershy. She looked away from them, frowning.

"What do you mean?" Twilight Sparkle said.

"Well... be quiet, for a second," Fluttershy said. The ponies looked nervously around each other, not making a sound.

"It's... very silent down here, isn't it?" she continued, almost under her breath as if she was afraid of the silence. "You forget how many sounds there are around you all the time. There's no sound of wind, no rustle of leaves, there's just... nothing."

The ponies all looked suddenly concerned.

"And what if this tunnel DOES go on for miles?" Fluttershy said. "What if it goes on forever? What if we're walking down this completely quiet tunnel for ever and ever? That would be scarier than any monster."

Sensing the others were on edge, Twilight Sparkle tried to allay their fear.

"Everyone just stay calm," she said. "It's just so quiet down here because it's underground. There's nothing to worry about; we'll get to the end, we'll escape, and we'll find Pinkie Pie, wherever she's–"

"Wait a second!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, suddenly. "Guys, look at this!"

Looking down, they saw that Pinkie Pie's prints had stopped abruptly, even though the tunnel still stretched far out in front of them.

"Well... maybe something rubbed them out," suggested Twilight, trying to keep the panic down.

"What would'a done that?" Applejack said. "There's nothin' down here!"

"Well, I can't see any other explanation," Twilight said. "We just need to stay calm, we'll figure this out."

As she spoke, the glowing plants, which at first glowed faint green and blue, all started to glow bright white, filling the tunnel with an almost blinding light. The ponies all squinted in the overpowering brightness, some trying to shield their eyes with their legs or wings.

"Twilight! What's going on??" Rainbow Dash yelped.

"I don't know!" she yelped back. "Just keep your head on, we'll figure this out–WHAAAH!"

Just then, all the ponies were lifted off the ground, as if being levitated by an unseen force. They spun slowly in the air, some of them kicking wildly, trying to right themselves.

"Well this explains how Pinkie's hoof prints stopped," said Rainbow Dash, "but now what?"

As if answering, the ponies were all suddenly launched down the tunnel at blinding speed. The ponies screamed as they were all hurtled helplessly forward, twisting wildly out of control like leaves in a gale.

Before they knew it, the ponies slowed to a stop. They breathed a sigh of relief as the sickening sensations of speed left them, but they were still left floating helplessly in the air.

"Sheesh... that even put my mane on end," Rainbow Dash remarked. "Where are we now?"

Looking around them, the group saw that they were no longer in the tunnel, but in a large, egg-shaped room, made of brick. Dozens of holes pocked the curved roof, possibly tunnels leading elsewhere.

"I can't tell," Twilight said, "but Pinkie Pie has to be around here somewhere. Everyone keep an eye out."

"Um... what about down there?" said Rarity.

"Down where?" asked Twilight, turning her head around to see the floor, and seeing there was none. Below them, surrounded by a few of the glowing white plants, was a deep, dark hole. The ponies all stared silently at it, too nervous to say anything. A faint wind echoed in the pit, suggesting it was very deep.

Finally, the apprehensive silence became too much for Fluttershy to take, and she quietly said "Now what?"

With that, the force that held up the ponies suddenly gave way, and they dropped down the hole, shouting with fear. Rainbow Dash tried to fly her way to safety, but her wings only flapped ineffectually in the darkness.

"I can't get airborne!" she yelled. "It's as if we're not just falling down this tunnel, but like we're getting pulled down it!"

"Is it a good time to panic yet, Twilight??" Rarity shouted over the howling wind.

"Yes, I think now is a great time to panic! WUAAAAAAAGH!!!"

"What are you all shouting about?" came a familiar, perky voice from below. Twilight's eyes widened with shock, and she turned her head to see Pinkie Pie flash in front of her, her pink colour standing out against the dimly lit black hole.

"Pinkie??" she yelled.

"What are you–" Rarity shouted as she fell past.

"Doing here??" Applejack followed quickly.

"What's going–" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"On??" finished Fluttershy.

"Come on, you silly billies!" Pinkie joked. "You're not falling, you're just spinning around in a circle."

"We're WHAT??!" they all cried in unison. Suddenly, they all landed in a pile on the floor, and scrambled their way back to their feet. Sure enough, when they looked up, they could see the top of the pit, about twenty feet above them. Rather than falling, they had whirled around and around in this dark room.

"Was this some kind of trick?" Rarity said indignantly. "Was someone trying to fool us?"

"More of a trap, I think," Pinkie Pie offered. "You probably would have just kept spinning and spinning in there until one of you noticed that you weren't falling at all. I caught onto it pretty quickly."

"Well good fer you," Applejack said. "How did ya stumble across this place?"

"Hee-hee, the same way you probably all did!" she giggled. "Fell in that little tunnel there, followed my way down it, and ended up here. But that's not important right now; I've got to show you this thing I've found!"

"You found something?" Twilight said, tilting her head.

"Yeah, it's really awesome! Come here, you've gotta see it!"

Pinkie ran off through an opening at the bottom of the room. The other five ponies all looked at each other, shrugged, and followed after her.