Prologue: Beginning of the End
It was a crisp, cold Winter morning. The wind blew, knocking snow off of trees and sending them onto the ground, where it was scooped back up and blown away. There was the distant sound of carriages. The sky was clear; the most clear sky Equestria had seen in months. It was a perfect day for spelunking.
10 carriages pulled up next to the face of a cliff, each one stopping at an instant. The doors lazily swung open, and ponies slowly stepped out of them. Each carriage held about 8 ponies; 5 would sit on a seat, and the others would be standing, or sitting on the floor. It was as if they needed as much help as possible. After everyone had gotten out and stretched, the Ponies formed a line, each one standing as straight as possible. The expressions on their faces told you that every inch of their body was dedicated and devoted to doing their job. Their faces were straight, but you could see the slightest emotions. Many tried to hold them back, others had tears streaming down their eyes, unable to hold back whatever emotion they were feeling. Minutes after complete silence, and the occasional moan and groan, another carriage pulled up. It sat there for a few seconds before the door swung open. Out came a pony dressed in many different colors, mostly green. He was a general. He paced slowly back and forth down the line, eyeing every Pony that looked straight at his face. "Hello, everybody," he barked. No one moved. He slightly squinted his eyes and sighed. "I know none of you want to be here, but this is a matter of life and dea-" "Why are we here?!" Someone screamed from the line. "You're here because Celestia said so! Now shut your trap or else I'll come over there and do it for you!" And that's exactly what the Pony did. The general looked around to see if anyone else was going to raise their voice at him, still squinting his eyes. "OK. . . Now, let me get back to the briefing. You were sent here for secret purposes. What you are about to see is highly classified, and if it is mentioned to any outsider, you will immediately be put to death, as well as the one you told it to." The general yelled. This seemed to panic everybody. Ponies whispered back and forth to eachother, while others fiddled with their mining helmets, and talked to themselves. "There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just a simple get-in-get-out mission." The general reassured. "We're wasting too much time. Everyone grab your supplies and start digging." He pointed to a spot on the cliff. "We're. . . digging into the cliff? Are you serious? Do you know how long this will take to do?! I haven't pulled an all-nighter mining in ages! And you expect us to dig into the side of a cliff! Ridiculous!" Someone yelled. The gneral spotted him and rushed over, an agressive look in his face. When he got to the Pony, he grabbed his neck, and squeezed. "If you have something to say to me, say it to my face." The general screamed. Bits of saliva flew onto the Ponie's face as the general screamed at him. "I- I'm sorry. . ." The Pony said. The general walked away. "Damnit," the Pony said as he examined the cliff. "How long will this take?" He asked. Another Pony answered the question for him, not caring that there was not supposed to be an answer. "Forever," he said. "How pessimistic of you," the first Pony said. "Hah, yep. Name's Barbados. You?" He stuck out his hoof. "Uh, yeah, my name's Dane." "Well, aren't you goin' to shake hooves with me?" Barbados asked. "Um, yeah," said Dane, grabbing Barbados's hoof, shaking it slowly. "You seem like one of em' quiet types. I like em' they're not too crazy, but when they are, they go insane. You like that?" Barbados asked. "No. I'm just quiet, that's all." Most Ponies had begun chipping at the wall, yelling in agony as the tip of the pick hit the stone, sending a reverberation through their entire body. "Hey, um, maybe we should go over there and join them? I don't want to die, you know. Heh. . ." Dane said quietly, his voice fading. "Yeah, I was thinkin' the same thin'."
The cold wind blew in Dane's face as he walked over the the Supplie's carriage. Barbados was already over there, searching through the useless tools that everyone left behind for good one's that no one would have seen. He climbed out of the carriage with 2 picks. Barbados handed Dane a pick with a smile. The head of the pick was bent in places. The tips were rusted and dull. The handle looked as if someone chewed into it, like a pencil. "Barbados. . . Did you even try to look for good ones at all?" Dane asked, annoyed. "Yeah! Yeah! There ain't nothin' in there but broken pick's n' scraps of metal!" He exclaimed. "We're not going to dig through this wall one bi-" There was a vibration in the ground, then a flash of light. Ponies laughed, and others screamed. "Damnit! What just happened over there?!" Dane screamed. The light had faded, allowing them to see what had happened. The wall had been blown up. Chunks of rock were scattered on the ground, covered in fire. Some of the ponies were stilled laughing insanely. "Damn Dynamite," Barbados said. "When the Hell will these Ponies learn?" The other Ponies began to chip away the bits of remaining rubble. At an instant, more rocks fell, and others screamed. "Ovah here!" Screamed the Ponies, already making their way into a gaping hole in the wall. "What the Hell did they just find?" Asked Barbados. "I don't know, but I think we should go an find out." Dane and Barbados made their way over to the hole, stepping over rubble and climbing over debris. The hole was about 20 feet deep, and nothing was visible inside. "How far do you think that thin' goes?" Yelled Barbados, expecting to get an echo back. "I dunno. Should we find ou-" Dane's leg buckled. He slipped, rolling down a hill of rubble before plummeting down the 20 foot drop. He screamed as he rolled. There was a snap, then silence. "Dane?" Screamed Barbados. "DANE?!"
