Dire Circumstances
Chapter 1: Dire Circumstances
“Hard cider?”
Overcast waved his hoof dismissively. “I don’t drink.”
The mine boss shrugged and walked back around the desk, popping the cork on the bottle of cider. He tipped it back and downed half of it. Slamming it onto the table, he looked at the agent across from him. “Pull up a seat. They tell you why you’re here?”
The stale smell of old cider permeated the air, seeping into Overcast's lungs. He looked around the room in search of a chair, coughing to repel the stench. The wall to his left was the same dark brown of the rest of the mine, only broken by a bookshelf that held more dirt and empty cider bottles than books. A stained map of the mine had been tacked to the wall just above the bookshelf. To his right sat a plump file cabinet, overflowing with papers that had long ago spilled onto the only unoccupied chair he could see. He sighed and looked at the slightly larger, dark blue earth pony with a light green crew cut.
“Yeah.” Overcast neatly stacked the papers from the chair and placed them on the grimy desk, which held nothing more than another map and a lit lantern, before sitting down. “Your workers had been disappearing, so the C.E.O. of this operation appealed to Princess Celestia to send an investigation.” Overcast leaned back in the chair and frowned. “Why Princess Celestia, though? You could have gone directly through the Equestrian Secret Service..”
“That’s what the agency told you? That our workers were... getting lost and you’re just gonna be playing a big game of hide-and-seek?” the mine boss growled. “Typical service. They don’t even trust their own guys.”
Overcast leaned forward and threw the bottle of cider against the bookshelf behind the desk. The mine boss jumped and hiccuped. “Okay, then what is this about?” Overcast asked calmly.
“Oh, we’ve had workers go missing. The problem is, they show up.” The mine boss gulped, colour draining from his face as his eyes darting about as if one might jump through the office window.
“So? That’s good, right?”
“Dead.” His hooves trembled as he reached under the desk for another bottle. “T-they showed up mutilated.”
Knocking the other stallion’s hoof away, Overcast asked, “When did this start happening?” He shook his head. “No, lets go to before the deaths. Start with the disappearances. When, and where?” He pulled out a notebook and pencil from the saddlebags alongside him. He looked at the mine boss, pencil poised over the paper.
“A w-week ago. Right after we unearthed this... this statue.” he looked around nervously. “One of our unicorns said it had to be from the Discordian Era. A-anyways, we went about our normal day, until Cider Sponge, one of the mine monkeys, went missing a few hours later. A few ponies went looking for him the day after, but they never returned.
“We sent off a letter to our boss about the statue and disappearances. He was furious that we hadn’t told him about the thing we’d unearthed earlier and thatwe had lost not one but four workers. Next thing we know, this purple mare shows up, sayin’ she’s here on behalf of the Princess.”
“Wait, purple mare... unicorn? Star for a cutie mark?” Overcast stopped writing and leaned forward, raising an eyebrow in interest. “Personal student of Princess Celestia, by any chance?”
The mine boss gulped, some of his nerves returning as the cider took hold. “Yeah, that’s the one.” He shrugged. “Sparkle Light or something like that.” He pointed to an envelope on the desk. “She just told us who she was and asked where the statue was. Tossed us this letter to explain the rest.”
Frowning, Overcast grabbed the letter and brought it over to himself. He took a moment to scan it and grunted as he passed it back to the mine boss. “Twilight Sparkle, just like I suspected.” He slid the letter back over to the mine boss. “It says that she was sent because she’s one of the few ponies that has had any sort of dealing with Discord.
“Now, back to the issue on hoof. What about those dead ponies? When did those start appearing?” he asked.
“Two days ago, down on the fifth level. Funny thing is, the fifth level is nearly completely blocked off. You skip it and end up on the sixth unless you take one of the mine cart shafts.”
“Anything else you can tell me?”
“No, o-only that they were mutilated,” stammered the mine boss.
“Right, I’ll get started looking into this.” He finished jotting down the last of the notes and put the notebook away. “Where’s Twilight right now? I’ll start by seeing what she knows.”
The mine boss pulled the second bottle of hard cider out and tipped it back, holding it there for a few seconds before setting it on the table. “She and her friend are down by the statue on the third level. I’ll get one of the workers to take you there now.”
“Friend? Twilight brought a friend and you just let said friend waltz in? Are you daft?” Overcast shouted, standing up and pounding the table with a hoof. “That should have never happened! You’re endangering the lives of more ponies than necessary.” He leaned back and groaned. “If the letter didn’t mention anypony else, then she should have arrived alone. Otherwise, it’s against regulations. And those, especially now, are what you should be sticking to.”
The mine boss ignored the outburst and looked around Overcast. The cider had clearly taken effect. “Hey Iron Hoof!” he called. “Escort our friend here to the third level. He has a date with that egghead unicorn.”
“Don’t bother, my father was a cartographer and he taught me how to read maps like that one over on the wall. And if you don’t mind, I think I’ll take it. Just in case.” Overcast grabbed the map before shoving his way past the miner and into the hot afternoon. “I’ll fly there on my own.”
Once in the air, he turned north and quickly flew towards the one entrance he had seen that was particularly close to the statue. Beneath him, muck covered ponies scurried along the gravel roads, coming in and out of the old, brown paint-faded buildings. Through the holes in the roofs, he could see the same ponies standing in line as they waited for food or dumped a load of iron in the small run-down storage huts.
Overcast landed on the tin roof of one of the buildings and took out the map. He examined it, found where he was and traced the path to the elevator, adjusting his direction. Nodding, he folded it back up, putting it away as he adjusted his direction.
He took off and flew as fast as he could for a few seconds before landing by a deep pit, its splintered supports disappearing into the darkness below. The elevator was built just over it, held in place on a splintered wooden track. The floor had a hole in the corner, revealing a set of new looking gears. A mud and sweat covered lift operator stood next to it, looking around as if she had done nothing all day. Overcast nodded to her and stepped into the rickety cart. “Take me down to the third level. I shouldn’t be away more than an hour.”
Without a word, the other pony fed some magic into a slot on the stand in the center. Gears turned just beneath the floor, causing the elevator to roll down the track it was mounted on. It bounced and jerked as it descended, stopping every couple dozen yards while the unicorn caught her breath from holding the spell.
“So...” Overcast shuffled his hooves against the ground. “What’s your name?” When the lift operator merely grunted, he tried again. “Are all the entrances the same as this?” Overcast asked, trying to strike up some friendly conversation. He hated the silence. It made any situation awkward or unnerving. “With an old elevator like this, I mean.”
The unicorn shook her head. “No, this is the only entrance that starts with an elevator. The others go down about two hundred yards in with offshoots before an elevator is needed.” She looked up, breathing heavily before pouring more magic into the stand. “And this is the oldest elevator. We’ve replaced the boards a dozen times, but it still runs nicely, especially since installing this device.” She pointed to the stand. “It’s one of the few we’ve actually put on a lift. The others will get their own in a few weeks.”
“I can see.” Overcast eyed the splintered and chipped wood wearily. “But this is the one closest to the statue, correct?” Overcast mumbled, looking around as the elevator cart squeaked and rattled pass the second level. Looking out, he could see some ponies sweating as their pickaxes chinked against stone while others loaded carts with the iron the mine was famous for. “Nothing out of place on the upper levels, I see.”
“This elevator isn’t the only one that goes to the third level,” corrected the unicorn softly. “But the only other ways there are via minecart access. There’s one on the first level and another at the opposite end of the mine at the second level.”
The elevator shuddered to a halt and the gate raised. “Third level. Just ring the bell when you’re ready to come back up and I’ll be along in a few minutes.”
Overcast nodded his thanks and walked into the dimly lit mine shaft, sidestepping several miners pushing carts. All around him, dirty, rank smelling mares and stallions of all races worked to dislodge the chunks of iron from the wall, their lanterns throwing elongated shadows against the walls. Their pickaxes clanged against the ore loudly, and Overcast had to suppress the urge to wince every time a pony swung the large tool.
Trotting down the path, he noticed that the number of ponies around him was slowly decreasing until finally, a few hundred yards later, he found himself alone in the hallway. Looking back, the stream of workers ended, as if no pony dared go any further. Facing forward again, he could see a glow from around the corner cutting through the haze. Flapping his wings, he cleared the dust and squinted. Cautiously walking forward, the light pulsed around him ever so slightly.
“Hello?” he called. “I am Agent Overcast of the Equestrian Secret Service. I’m looking for Twilight Sparkle.”
When he got no response, he peeked around the corner into a room off the main tunnel. Twilight sat on the ground in front of a statue of Discord standing on his throne, looking patronizingly down towards her. Two torches against the wall behind her cast eerie shadows over the large, rough gray statue. In the distance, Overcast could still hear the tink of pickaxe on stone.
A cyan pegasus paced around behind Twilight, ignoring anything around her, snorting and huffing impatiently, as if waiting for something to happen. Occasionally, she would peer over Twilight’s shoulders before going back to walking in circles.
Twilight’s eyes were closed, beads of sweat running down her forehead as she concentrated, her horn glowing brightly with a spell. Every time the other mare looked over her shoulder, Twilight would flick an ear, but nothing more. Her attention seemed to be wholly on the statue.
“Excuse me! Twilight!” He tapped her on the shoulder.
She yelped, whirling around. The spell disappeared with a crack, replaced by a bright flash forming on the tip of her horn.
Overcast jumped back and shielded his eyes with his wings. “Whoa! I’m a friend, a friend!” Through the increasing brightness, he could see the other mare fall to the ground with a cry of surprise, rubbing her eyes frantically.
Twilight aimed away at the last second, the flare ricocheting off the cave walls and disappearing deeper into the mine. She turned back to Overcast, a look of concern in her eyes. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” She gulped and looked back at the other mare. “This place is just so scary that I’ve been jumping at the slightest things. Luckily, I wasn’t that deep into the spell yet or who knows what would have happened!”
“Yeah! It doesn’t help that you snuck up on us,” the cyan mare retorted, getting up and rubbing her eyes. “How’d you expect us to react? Look, tell your boss that Twilight’s doing all she can to find out what this statue is about and she can’t move any faster.”
“I-I didn’t sneak up on anypony,” Overcast sputtered. “It was you who didn’t respond when I called out to you. You should...” He shook his head and sighed. “Nevermind that. Arguing with you will only prolong the case and no pony wants that. Despite the rough start, no pony was hurt. And I’m not here about the statue.”
“Oh? Then why are you here?” retorted the cyan mare.
Overcast pulled out a wallet from his saddlebag. It fell open, revealing his badge. “I’m here with the service to investigate the deaths of some miners.”
Twilight leaned close to the wallet and examined the silver star engraved with his cutie mark, a cloak overshadowing the moon. “Huh, didn’t know the service would be interested in this.” She glanced back at the cyan mare, who glared at the badge.
He flipped the badge closed and dropped it back into his pack. “I wanted to ask you some questions.”
“Wait a second.” The cyan mare leaned close and looked at Overcast suspiciously. “I know the name on the badge. Gimme a second.” She sat down and tapped her chin thoughtfully. Her eyes widened and she jumped up, grinning. “You’re Overcast! I remember you! It’s me, Rainbow Dash!”
Overcast looked at her skeptically and looked her over. The rainbow mane, the magenta eyes, the cyan coat. "We’ve met before? I'm sorry, I don't really remember many ponies from back then."
“Yeah! We went to summer flight camp together.” She closed her eyes and tapped her forehead, trying to gather her thoughts.
Twilight joined Overcast in looking at her friend curiously. “Whoa! What are you talking about, Dash?”
Rainbow Dash stopped bouncing. “I was the mare that asked you to the Starlight Dance. Though, it sorta was influenced by Gilda. In all honesty, it was really just a bet. I probably wouldn’t have asked you otherwise.” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Sorry about that. I just haven’t seen anypony from flight camp in a long time.”
Overcast nodded. “Yeah... now that you mention it, I do recall being asked by the camp champ to a dance. It was a shame I had to move before it could take place.” He glanced back towards the elevator. “Hey, do either of you mind showing me around a bit? I’d like to see where the disappearances took place.”
“Sure! It’s not far from here, actually.” Twilight stacked her supplies neatly at the base of the statue before moving towards the elevator. “It’s just down a level and—”
“I’ll take you!” Dash stepped to block Twilight. “Twi’ needs to finish that spell, anyways. Is that okay?”
Overcast rubbed the back of his head and blushed. “Uh... yeah. That’d be great.”
Rainbow Dash beckoned for Overcast to follow. “There’s a small access shaft we can take to the fifth level. I guess you’d like to start where the bodies showed up?”
Nodding, Overcast followed after Rainbow Dash. They walked for a few seconds in an awkward silence before arriving at the small elevator. In the distance, a bell clanged almost frantically. Both ponies looked down the hall.
“End of the day bell already?”
Rainbow Dashed shrugged. “Time can pass quickly down here without us noticing. No clocks or sun to tell us how long we’ve been in the mines.”
“What about Twilight? Will she leave with the miners?” Overcast inquired. “She probably shouldn’t be down here alone.
This time, Rainbow Dash laughed. “Naw... she’s too busy with her research. The mine boss, Quicksilver, said that he’d make sure that at least two miners, Lucky Find and Coal, stayed down with us. They haven’t failed yet.”
“Right, cause it’s not like miners have disappeared anyways. At least, that’s what I’m told.” Overcast grabbed the rope in his mouth pulled, lowering them.
“So...” Rainbow Dash tapped her hoof and coughed. “What happened to you after camp?”
“We moved so my father could go to college in Manehattan for a better degree as a map maker,” Overcast mumbled around the rope.
“Uh-huh... but you could have come back to camp.” Rainbow Dash frowned. “Still not much of a conversationalist, are you?”
Overcast sighed and let go of the rope, bringing the elevator to a stop about halfway to the fifth level. “Sorry, I was kinda pulling a rope. Umm... it was a little more complicated than that. My dad dropped his job so he could back to college. My mom worked with the district’s weather team, but it wasn’t enough to send me back to camp.”
“Oh. Must have been interesting with a working mom and a father going at school all the time,” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “My father would never have let my mother work. He pulled his shift at the weather factory in Cloudsdale and that was always enough.”
Grabbing the rope again, Overcast lowered them the rest of the way down to the fifth level. When they reached it, he let go and stepped into the cave. “I wouldn’t know too much. I ran away soon after we moved.”
He gestured at some blood that smeared the rock around them. “The murders really took place this close to the elevator?”
“Why did you call them murders?” Rainbow Dash asked. “The official statement said that it was an unfortunate mining accident. Cave in or something.”
Overcast scoffed. “Does it look like there was a cave in? No, no evidence of one. Blood doesn’t spatter this violently. This was a homicide.” He leaned close and brought out a sketch pad and pencil. Mumbling to himself, he drew the wall in front of him.
Rainbow Dash stood next to him, a look of confusion on her face. Finally, she broke the silence. “You ran away and that’s how you joined the CIA?”
“Hmm...?”
“I assume that you kinda lived on your own for a few years and then just joined the CIA?”
Finishing the rough drawing, Overcast slid the sketch pad back into his saddlebag and stood up, stretching. “Not quite. I became a street urchin. They caught me breaking into their Manehattan HQ. Though, at the time I didn’t know it was their headquarters. Kinda an ambiguous front.”
Chuckling, he signaled for Rainbow Dash to follow him back into the elevator. “Needless to say, they were impressed that I’d slipped security. It didn’t hurt that my coat colouration was just what they were looking for.”
“Charcoal gray coat and a white mane?” Rainbow Dash cocked her head. “They want that colouration exactly?”
“Nope, they want darker coats and a mane that can be dyed any colour.” Overcast shrugged. “It helps me blend into the shadows or with a crowd. Anyways, that was the day I also got my cutie mark.”
Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise. “I knew you were a late bloomer, but that late?”
“Hey! The wait for a cutie mark in infiltration was well worth the wait.” Overcast shrugged. “It’s probably the second biggest reason that the CIA decided to train me that early on rather than throwing me in jail. I mean, I was only twelve, but still.” He went back to pulling on the rope.
Rainbow Dash was about to retort when the elevator squealed and the gears ground together. “Hey! Why’d you stop we’re still on the fourth level.” She looked around nervously. “They just repaired this thing.”
Overcast put a hoof to her lips and shushed her. He glanced around suspiciously, reaching out for the rope again. Just as he pulled it, something dropped into the elevator, rocking it dangerously. Rainbow Dash cried out, tumbling back, catching herself just before she dropped over the edge. Overcast barely kept his balance, grunting as he lashed out instinctively with his back hooves, hitting the thing dead on. It flew over the gate and landed in the corridor of the fourth level. It roared and ran off, disappearing around the bend.
“W-what was that?” Rainbow Dash pushed herself off the wall, trembling. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It looked like a pony, but one could never survive a fall that high.”
Overcast looked up and squinted. “Yeah, it wasn’t a pony. It looks like it came from third level. Any higher and it would have just shattered on impact.”
“Third level? But that means...” Rainbow Dash looked at Overcast, her eyes filled with terror.
“Twilight!” they shouted together, jumping into the air as Overcast took point. They flew straight up in the tight elevator shaft and burst through the gate on the third level. Galloping at full speed, they shot around the corner leading to the statue.
The two miners flanking Twilight jerked to attention, raising their pickaxes. Seeing who is was, they relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Dang are we glad to see you!” the broad shouldered earth pony on the right said. “We’ve been hearing weird noises that sound like they’re coming from the walls.”
“Yeah, we’re just waiting for Miss Twilight to finish this spell and then me an’ Coal are outta here,” the runt-like unicorn agreed.
Overcast motioned for Rainbow Dash to stand beside Twilight. When she had, he pressed an ear against the rough stone opposite the statue. He could just barely hear something scratching on a rough surface above them. Realization hit him like a bolt of lightning.
“Back! Get to the elevator! Now!” he shouted.
“But Twilight’s still casting the spell.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes darted around the tunnel, a shudder running down her back. “Why? What’s up? Is it that thing again?”
“I don’t know! Now hurry. What ever’s making that noise is—”
The roof caved in around them, cutting Overcast off. One of the things landed right behind the miners. Seconds later, a flesh coloured spike burst from Lucky Find’s chest, narrowly missing Overcast. Lucky screamed and flailed for a moment before dying. Coal spun around and swung his pickaxe, but missed.
“Go!” he screamed. “I’ll take care of this monster and join you at the elevator!”
Shouldering Twilight onto his back, Overcast pushed Rainbow Dash and galloped for the large elevator that led to the surface. When he and Rainbow Dash reached the elevator, they frantically ran the bell. A few seconds later, the ropes started moving.
A scream of pain echoed from behind them, signaling the death of the second miner. Overcast met Rainbow Dash’s gaze, and they gulped.
He transferred Twilight, whose spell had finally faded, onto Dash’s back. “If it comes down to it, I’ll hold the thing off and fly to the second level. I can find another way out from there. Just make sure you get to the surface and get help.”
The monstrosity appeared around the bend and screeched. Overcast could tell that it had once been a pony. Now, slashes and jagged cuts scored its body. Blood, both dry and wet, matted its fur, or what was left of its fur and instead of hooves at the end of its legs, it had thin, needle like spikes. Skin hung in long strands off of its body, barely covering the gaping hole in its gut.
While he examined the monster, more of the things appeared from the surrounding tunnels. Together, they growled, looking hungrily at the ponies by the elevator.
Looking up, Overcast could barely see that the elevator through the gloom. It looked like it wouldn’t reach them for another two minutes at least. “Okay, time’s up. It just passed the second level and is blocking any upward flight.” He looked down the shaft. “Jump.”
“Are you crazy?” Rainbow Dash shouted, balking. “Down? Shouldn’t we be going up where there are probably less of the walking dead?”
“I can’t fight three to one! Jump and meet me on the sixth level. Twilight is still recovering from whatever she was casting and needs to be somewhere other than here. You can get her to that other place.” Overcast took a few steps towards the creatures and braced himself as they charged. “Go! I’ll distract, then lose them on the fifth level. I can join you after that.”
Rainbow Dash nodded, sliding Twilight off of her back before grabbing her under the legs and moving into the shaft. “Right, I’ll see you in a few then. If I run into any more of those creatures show up, I’ll move up to the fourth and call the elevator from there.”
Overcast nodded as Rainbow Dash disappeared, slowly lowering herself and Twilight down. He turned back to the creatures just in time to see the creatures jump at him and lashed out with a forehoof, striking one hard in the chest. It collapsed onto the ground while the other two flew just over his head. Spinning around, he reared up and threw a punch, grimacing as something cracked in the dead pony’s body. When it didn’t go down, he backed up slowly, eyeing both creatures wearily.
One of the things jumped, wrapping its forelegs around Overcast’s neck. He struggled to keep it from slicing the blade like appendages across his neck. The pony shrieked and tried to bite him, but at the last second, he broke one of its legs free of him and pushed away. His moment of triumph lasted only a second when another pair of legs grappled him from behind.
Crying out, he thrust back with a knee, striking whatever had grabbed him in the face. It wailed and tried to lurch at him again. He clumsily sidestepped, staring in shock. The dead pony he had kicked earlier had gotten up again. He shook his head to clear the surprise and barely managed to duck under a wild thrust from the third monster.
“What are you?” cried Overcast. “A blow like that would have knocked most things out!” He dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding being impaled.
One of the creatures charged him as he bounced back to his hooves, slamming into him and throwing him back. His head smacked the wall and everything started swimming fuzzily in his vision. He groaned, vaguely aware that he’d been thrown into the elevator shaft and was falling fast.
He tried to flip over and spread his wings, but something cracked in his shoulder and he squealed in pain. Sweating, he tried again. This time, he managed to turn over so he faced down, but when he flared his wings, they just fluttered uselessly.
He closed his eyes and sighed, resigned to falling to his death. “Well, they did say that a job in the service could be dangerous and that death was a very real possibility,” Overcast mumbled.
A sudden coolness surrounded his body and he jerked to a halt, the whiplash causing him to yelp in pain. He opened his eyes and gasped as he sat suspended in midair. “T-Twilight! Dash!”
“W-what happened? Why were you falling?” Rainbow Dash looked around nervously. “I thought you were gonna lose the things.”
“I did,” Overcast said, gasping for air. “And unless they jumped after me and can fly, they’re gone. Either that, or they’ll fall out of the sky and hit me if you don’t drag me into the cave now.” He looked up worriedly.
Twilight nodded and levitated him above the gate. She set him down gently at her hooves and sighed. “So, I come out of a complex spell to find Dash flying me down. Care to explain what’s going on?”
“Yeah. W-we’re being chased by... some sort of nightmare monster.” Overcast looked up the shaft again and cursed. “Horseapples! Incoming!”
The gate shuddered, breaking into several pieces as one of the monsters tore through it. With a feral screech, it tackled Overcast, stabbing at him. Overcast rolled to the side avoiding the spike as he kicked the thing off. With a burst of adrenaline, he jumped up and lashed out with his hooves again, sending the dead pony flying back into the shaft where it fell into the darkness below.
He watched the thing fall for a second before turning back to the two mares. “Ugh... Whatever that was, It may have been a pony at one time, but it’s no longer that. It’s just a grimy, mutilated corpse now.”
Overcast took a few steps and winced. Sitting down, he felt his shoulder. Groaning, he gently pushed and something popped back into place, causing him to yell in agony. He leaned against the wall for a minute, groaning. Finally, he got up and marched down the hall. “We need to keep moving. More are bound to be coming down. That is if the elevator didn’t arrive and they’re on their way up instead. If I remember correctly from the map, this is the most confusing level.”
“Hold up.” Twilight put her hoof on his shoulder, pulling him back.
“That’s a nasty scrape you got on your back and your wings look like they’re pretty bruised. Got any bandages?” She opened up the saddlebag on Overcast’s side and dug through it. She came up with a roll of gauze. “Nevermind, found it! Now hold still while I patch you up. I have a soothing spell I can cast after this. It won’t heal you, but it’ll help you ignore the pain for a bit.”
Overcast rolled his eyes and stood still as Twilight wrapped the gauze around his back and neck before touching her horn to his shoulder. It flashed briefly and a soothing feeling flooded his body. He flexed his wings and examined the cloth around them. “Thanks. Now, lets go.”
Both mares nodded and followed after him, Twilight’s horn lighting the way. He immediately turned into one of the branching tunnels, following it for a twenty or thirty yards before turning left into another offshoot. A few minutes later, they turned back onto the main path.
“Why’d you do that?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah. Didn’t either of you look at the map when you arrived?” Overcast glanced back, frowning. “You should have. Knowing the layout of any place you go could be important.”
“We did!” Rainbow Dash insisted. “Well... we looked at the map for the surface down to the third level. We didn’t think we’d be coming down to the sixth.”
Overcast nodded. “Prepared, but not enough. The sixth level is divided into two halves. If we had kept going, we would have run into a solid wall. You gotta take the side paths around that wall.”
“So... what then?” Rainbow Dash cantered up next to Overcast. “It’s just a straight shot to the elevator?”
“‘Fraid not,” came a voice from behind them.
They wheeled around, gasping in unison. They found themselves looking at a grimy, dust covered earth pony. Blood covered his entire body, hiding most of his copper brown coat. His ragged, dark brown mane was coated with a mixture of dried blood and caked dirt.
“Only way up is that minecart access you just came from. The other elevator is stuck on the fifth level. One of the necroponies slashed the ropes about an hour ago and it crashed down.” The pony shrugged. “However, I may be able to get us out of here if you follow me.”
“Who are you?” Overcast eyed the other pony suspiciously. “The last ponies we saw tried to kill us. Granted, they didn’t offer any help first.”
Twilight shook her head. “I trust him. He doesn’t look like one of those... things. And unlike them, he’s actually talking to us rather than attacking us.” She glanced at Rainbow Dash, who nodded her agreement.
“The name’s Cider Sponge.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Raising a hoof, Overcast pointed at Cider Sponge in disbelief. “I was told that you went missing a few days ago. You were assumed dead.”
Cider Sponge huffed, and crossed his forelegs. “Well I ain’t. I blacked out and woke up on the twelfth level where the experimental hydroponics are.” He looked around nervously. “Next thing I know, those necroponies are swarmin’ the place. I barely made it to the elevator. I made it to the eighth level before it quit workin’ on me.”
He gestured for the group to follow as he led them back down the path. “If we go back to the other shaft, we can get to the seventh level.”
“So?” Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof and scowled. “We want to go up, not down. There has to be a way up from here.”
Cider Sponge shook his head. “Only the two shafts on either end. But on the seventh level there’s a very small access elevator that leads directly to the surface. It was used while we dug out that cave. We loaded rocks for excavation onto it while we finished the mine cart access.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes until they reached the elevator. Cider Sponge gestured for Overcast and Rainbow Dash to take the lead.
“Think you two pegasi could carry me and that unicorn down? Don’t want to be alone on any level if one can help it. ”Cider Sponge glanced down and grimaced as a loud screech echoed around them. “On second thought, I think we should stay here.”
Overcast sighed and reached into his saddle bag, pulling out two blades attached to gray cloth straps. He took a minute to slip them over his hoof and tightened them. “Looks like we’re gonna be here awhile.”
“What now?” asked Twilight.
Cider Sponge frowned at her. “We wait. Wait and pray to Celestia that they don’t find us.”
