Ch. 1 A Simple Exploration
Chapter 1 A Simple Exploration
'Thy Elements of Harmony be thin Key...
Not much is known about the Everfree Forest. Most ponies find it quite the strange place. The Everfree is full of strange creatures, but there is tale of an ancient castle that was in the forest. Many stories have been told about that place, but there was only one tale that managed to attract Daring Do’s attention. A tale of a secret room hidden in that place with a treasure beyond one’s wildest dreams. It only made sense that something like that would gather her interest.
“Are you as excited as I am?” Daring Do asked eagerly.
“Calm down, Daring,” Victorian said, “this isn’t going to be anything major. Of all the stories you decided to take about the history of the castle, you choose to listen to that foals tale?”
“But if it’s true…” Daring Do said, drifting off into a fantasy of the potential adventure.
Victorian shook her head and sighed, “we can’t leave with you daydreaming, Daring.”
“Right!” Daring Do said, coming back to the current situation. She turns to the three ponies that stood behind them and asked, “are we all set then?”
Power Digger looked at Merchi blankly, and he received a blank stare from her in return.
“Supplies are all done,” Merchi stated.
“It’s a nice day out. I can’t wait for a nice trot through the wilderness. I do love walks,” Rumble Jack said.
“Great! There’s no time to waste!” Daring Do smiled.
They began to to walk, starting their adventure.
“Oh, such a lovely place. It’s so peaceful. Such a tranquil walk in the forest,” Rumble Jack was saying.
“Rumble, please,” Victorian said.
“What?” Rumble Jack asked, “Are you bored? Want to play a game? Or maybe-”
“Did you hear that?” Powder Digger asked, hushing them all.
They all went silent. They could hear howling; it sounded close by, but it was too hard to tell with the surrounding thick, dark barked trees. Most of the sound was absorbed before it even reached the party’s ears.
“Timberwolves,” Powder Digger whispered.
They remained silent, listening for any signs that the wolves were closing in or passing by. It wasn't long before rustling in the bushes could be heard. Powder Digger pulled out his HC-P shotgun.
Soon enough, five Timberwolves shot up out of the bushes. Shotgun flying into action, Powder Digger shot each of the wolves before any reached the group. They scattered into multiple pieces of wood, showering the group with debris.
"We gotta run, now!" He shouted, wanting to take advantage of the opportunity.
They all sprung off into a full run, gaining as much distance between the immortal predators and themselves, but wolves don’t give up on their prey that easily. More and more bullets were shot as the Timberwolves persisted on catching the group.
"Damn it, why are they so persistent?" Powder seethed.
"Because they're immune to anything but fire which we don't have." Rumble replied.
"No, really?" Powder said, unamused, “if you’re going to be a smartplot, you can help too.” He tossed a .36 Colt Patterson 6 round custom over to Rumble.
"You all run on ahead I'll deal with these overgrown moss holders,” Powder growled, he looked at the other hired helper and added, “Merchi, I need some rope."
Merchi cast a spell that opened a large containment void, which she had created when she earned her cutie mark, and pulled out a coil of rope. She tossed the coil to Powder.
"You better come back Powder." Merchi said as she closed the void.
Powder Digger halted and turned around to face the oncoming Timberwolves, only to find that the Timberwolves had given up following them as multiple and turned into one giant one.
“Hmph,” Powder Digger grunted, “I guess I have to do this the hard way.”
He pointed his shotgun at the charging Timberwolf as he readied himself to pounce.
Daring Do and the others had no idea what dangers Powder had decided to deal with, for they were already quite a distance away from the battle that was now unfolding. It was darker than it was before, but they were certain that it had been day only a few moments ago.
“Oh! Now it’s getting quite nightly out,” Rumble said, “does the time move differently here too?”
“It shouldn’t,” Victorian said, “but I can’t deny that it seems as if night has fallen…”
Rumble looked up, “Oh, how silly of me,” he snickered, “it’s just about to rain and the cloud is blocking the sun.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” Victorian asked.
“Yeah,” Rumble grinned, “we’re about to get drenched in…” Ramble counted down from “three.” When he reached “zero,” it started downpouring.
Victorian sighed, “you couldn’t have told us sooner so we could have found some shelter first?”
“How could I have known?” Rumble asked, “there wasn’t a cloud in the sky before. The Everfree is such an interesting place.”
“I… hate… getting… wet…” Victorian said in between annoyed breaths.
There was a sudden growl. The group fell silent and huddled closer together.
“Did you hear that?” Daring Do whispered, “what do you think it is?”
As if in answer, a Manticore jumped out of the bushes.
“Oh my Celestia!” Rumble said, jumping from shock. The gun he had been given fell to the ground.
“Uh… hey?” Victorian laughed nervously. She whispered harshly to Daring, “you just had to ask.”
The manticore didn’t attack them, but watched them to see what they would do.
The group backed away slowly, hoping the manticore wouldn’t suddenly pounce. It vanished into the thickets as they backed out of view. Merchi grabbed Powder’s gun with her magic and gave it to Ramble.
“Next time, keep a better grip, okay?” she hissed.
Speaking of the gunslinging devil himself the unicorn stallion came out of the bramble,“There you are,” Powder said, coming in behind the group
“Oh! You took care of them already?” Merchi said.
“Please,” Powder smirked. He walked up to Daring Do and asked, “which way now?”
“Should be that way,” Daring said, pointing towards their destination.
They ran into no other problems other than a heavier rain.
“We should find a shelter from the rain,” Powder stated, “we’ve been in it for far too long already.”
“While I’d prefer a nice history book and a cozy cabin, it’s too late for that,” Victorian said, “I can see the castle in the distance.”
In the distance, there stood the remnants of a broken castle. All they had to do was cross the bridge that crossed the ravine below.
“It should provide enough shelter from the rain,” Victorian stated, “while it isn’t exactly standing strong, there are rooms that should have a ceiling.”
“But that bridge doesn’t look safe, even without the slickness the rain provides,” Rumble said, nervously.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to cross it,” Daring said.
“It’s not safe to fly in the rain, though,” Rumble said.
“It should be able to hold one at a time, Ramble,” Victorian sighed, “I’d like to get out of this rain as soon as possible.”
"I'll go first." Merchi said, receiving a blank glance from Powder
The group finally reached the castle’s front doors. They quickly ran into the shelter the first room would hopefully provide.
There was no roof.
“Damn it,” Victorian muttered.
“There’s a hallway over there,” Rumble pointed out.
The narrow hallway was cracked from old age and covered in moss and vines where plants had grown, that hallway was were the group set up camp for the time being, until the rain would pass.
“I’d give it twenty minutes to an hour,” Rumble said.
The rain finally cleared.
“Ah, it’s cleared up now!” Rumble said, “such interesting weather here.”
“When did it become night?” Victorian asked, looking outside.
“Who cares?” Daring asked. She was very excited. She dashed out of the hallway and back into the entry room.
“The six elements will guide the way,” Daring Do said, “That’s what the tale said, at least.” She then took out a scroll and opened it. It showed the six Elements of Harmony. The sixth element in the center of the pentagram created by the other five, as was the normal image shown when representing the Elements.
“I’m sure this pedestal has something to do with it,” Daring continued she pointed to the giant sculpture in the center of the room. The pedestal was empty; the Elements it was meant to hold were not in their places. Even the pot of bushes didn’t sit on top; it was just another holder.
“Does that thing have anything to do with that myth?” Victorian asked.
“Well, do you not see the five arms of the pedestal?” Daring asked.
“Yeah, but it’s empty,” Victorian pointed out.
“Please,” Daring said, “we could replace them with other orb-like objects.”
“That pedestal was build for the Elements of Harmony. The Elements of Harmony have been lost for centuries,” Victorian said,
“The chances-”
“Hey Victory!” Daring called, “I found a round rock with a rock gem carved into it!” She rolled a spherical rock out of some rubble of the castle.
“That can’t be…” Victorian mused in awe. She ran over to get a closer look.
In Daring’s hooves she held one of the Elements of Harmony.
“What’s the big deal?” Daring asked.
“Do you not realize what this is, Daring?” Victorian asked.
“It’s a round rock with some rock carving of a gem on it,” Daring said.
“Don’t be so foolish,” Victorian said, she was fixated on the stone orb.
“You’re the one being foolish,” Daring said, “Like I already said, this is a rock.”
“No, Daring,” Victorian said, “this is… an Element of Harmony."
Daring looked at the rock, then looked to the rest of the group and called, “what does this look like to you?”
They all looked over towards the rock Daring was leaning on.
Powder answered first, “it’s a rock.”
“Rock,” Merchi shrugged.
“Why it’s a rock!” Rumble said, “a rock that is gray. A rock that was fancily made and may have even had a place in bringing charm to this once beautiful castle. Right, Victorian?”
Daring looked back at Victorian and said, “see, it’s a rock.”
“It. Is. Not. A. Rock!” Victorian said, holder her anger.
“Call it whatever you want,” Daring said, “let’s just put it on that pedestal.”
Daring picked the rock up and placed it in one of the five arms branching from the pedestal.
“Okay, guys,” she said, looking at her companions, “let’s find four more round orbs!”
The orbs weren’t exactly hidden, just misplaced by time and a crumbling castle. It didn’t take them more than an hour to find and relocate the four remaining orbs. Once they had placed them all, they waited incase something happened.
Victorian stared in awe at the fact that they had found five Elements of Harmony. None of the others believed her, but she knew the truth. She’d probably only be able to report it unless the others were willing to carry them back, which she highly doubted.
After a few silent minutes passed by, Daring sighed, “ugh… I thought that might trigger something.”
“There are six elements,” Victorian said, “the six only appears if the other five are present. Still, not only is the six element unknown, but has never been seen by anypony other than the Princesses themselves.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Daring said, “and you left out that these are just rocks. We’ll just need to find something that fits the last one.”
"Like that will ever happen,” Victorian said.
“Well, we did find five random orbs,” Daring said.
“I keep telling you-” Victorian started, but stopped herself and sighed. “Fine. What, pray tell, do you have in mind?”
“Hmmm…” Daring thought, looking around, “Well… a flower pot could come in handy, or one of us could stand on it.”
Victorian sighed, “Daring, you’re hopeless… it is said that a spark will reveal the sixth element. Why not giving the statue a shock?”
“I got it! I know what I need!” Rumble said, instantly flying off into the night before anypony could stop him.
Ramble returned within minutes, holding something in his hooves.
“The unfriendly clouds made it tricky,” he grinned, “but I managed to capture this little fella.” He opened his hooves to reveal a small storm cloud. He used it to spark the center of the pedestal. Part of the walls started to crumble.
“Dive!” Powder said, using his shotgun’s length to push the group back as he jumped back.
Where they had stood now lay another pile of rubble castle.
“I get it now…” Daring Do muttered as she stood up. She then said aloud, “I think the reason this room was never found was because the keys to the unlocking the room where made part of the architecture!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Victorian said.
“But we managed to find all the round orbs needed to open the gate,” Daring said, pointing to the pile that had just fallen.
In the pile of rubble that had just fallen was another orb, though this one was larger than the others.
“So, all this time, the Elements…” Victorian said in awe.
“Victory, they’re rocks and are the key to this puzzle,” Daring persisted, “stop calling them by that ‘Elements’ thing, okay?”
Daring them went to attempt lifting the rock, which was about her size. She didn’t get it to budge.
After some intense effort, the two unicorns and two pegasi managed to finally place the orb on top of the pedestal. To reward their efforts, they heard a click and saw the pedestal sink slightly.
Suddenly, the five arms started spinning, slowly gaining speed. The circle around the pedestal started forming a spiral staircase downwards, where a dark abyss awaited.
Daring looked at Victorian and smirked, “see, told you the legend was true.”
Victorian couldn’t believe any of what had just happened; Daring had just found found the six Elements of Harmony that had been missing for centuries, called them rocks with marks on them, used them with some random pedestal, and found a secret lost to history except through one insignificant tale. It was unbelievable, but that’s Daring Do for you.
“Anyone want a torch?” Merchi asked.
“Of course,” Powder grumbled. The others also agreed that they’d prefer one.
Merchi opened the storage rift and tossed them all a torch, roughly shoving the one she passed to Powder.
On the way down, Rumble wasn’t able to hold his curiosity anymore.
“I've been wondering...” Rumble said to Merchi and they reach the bottom of the staircase.
“Yes?” Merchi asked, looking at Rumble with a bored face.
“What is your relationship with Powder? Are you two like cousins or business rivals?" Rumble asked, “You both seem to be at each others throats somewhat, so you must know each other in some way.”
They entered into the lost room of the castle, Merchi not answering and Powder ignoring everything all together.
“Well you see-” Merchi started.
“Oops…” Daring interrupted.
Suddenly behind them there was a loud grinding sound as the staircase sealed itself back up. Up top, where the pedestal was, the big rock was pushing down, spinning the arms in the opposite direction than before, not only closing the stairwell, but locking the pathway forever more.
“Daring!” Victorian sighed, “what did you do!?”
There was a long silence before Daring finally admitted, “I’ve never been good when it comes to pressure plates.”
“I’m sure there’s another way out,” Rumble said, “but what’s more interesting is this room…” he trailed off.
The room itself was standard for ancient times; a center path, with evenly spaced pillars standing on either side, lead straight to a platform in the center of a domed-window that looked out of the cliff face. On the platform stood some kind of pedestal.
Daring started to walk towards it, but was instantly halted by Merchi.
“It’s probably better letting out of us go first,” Merchi said, maintaining a bored expression. If she had any concern or fear, it was well hidden. She walked passed Daring and took the head of the group, leading them along the already clear path.
In the end, there was no more traps along the stretch to the platform.
On the platform was the pedestal. The top had a mannequin unicorn head that looked like it should be holding some ancient headdress. The only other intriguing thing about the pedestal was the strange writing on its base.
“Aw…” Daring complained, “we weren’t the first…”
Merchi noticed the letters glowed faintly. She laid eyes on the writing and instantly stopped moving, as if frozen in time. Her bored stare turned into a wide-eyed trance as the ancient and forgotten equish writing that was written on the pedestal invaded her mind. She snapped out of it only because Powder shoved her to the side.
“What the hay was that, Merchi?” Powder asked. His tone and face showed no sign to whether he was upset, worried, or annoyed.
Merchi looked at the letters again; they weren’t glowing anymore. Merchi just shook her head to indicate she hadn’t the slightest clue, so she just shrugged it off and said, “it was nothing.”
Victorian looked at the writing herself and soon muttered, “quite interesting…”
“Oh! What is it? What is it?” Daring asked eagerly, then she realized a better question and asked, “What language is it?”
“This is an ancient Alicorn language,” Victorian said, “and it reads, ‘Beware those with fear; this is the Crown of Terror’ and the rest I can’t read…”
“Didn’t you know all languages, being a historian and stuff?” Daring asked.
“I’ve seen nothing like it…” Victorian said, “I know the twelve different languages of Equestria, and the rest isn’t any of them.”
“So we have no clue what was here once before...” Daring said.
“Well…” Rumble said, “I’d say it was a Crown of Terror, whatever that thing is. I’m guessing it’s a object that gives the user bearing it power over fear and if they have fear of their own, will be consumed by it. Maybe it was something related to Nightmare Moon?”
The rest of the group looked at Rumble. Even Powder raised an eyebrow.
“What?” Rumble asked, “isn’t a nightmare another form of fear? And it warns those with fear… I just added the two things together.”
“See Victory,” Daring grinned, holding back a laugh, “I told you there was an unbelievable treasure hidden here.”
The whole exploration this far has been unbelievable, Victorian thought. She shook her head at Daring.
“Would you ponies get your heads together?” Powder said, slightly frustrated, “have you forgotten we’re trapped down here?”
“Well, there is the window,” Merchi suggested.
Rumble looked at the two of them and asked again, “Why are you and Powder always at each other?” It was driving him insane being near the two as they bickered.
Powder ignored Rumble and walked over to the window. He shot it with his shotgun, sending the pane flying in hundreds of shattered pieces.
“Let’s get out of here,” Powder said, “Merchi, the ropes.
“You took them, remember?” Merchi said.
“You didn’t bring more than that?” Powder asked, looking back at Merchi.
“When have we ever needed more that one roll of 400 yard level 43 titanium reinforced magic rope?” Merchi answered.
Powder looked back at the cliff face that fell away before him. “Well, it’s not too far,” Pops muttered looking downward into the abyss created from the darkness of night and the distance from the floor.
Victorian walked over to look over the edge and instantly jumped back. It was like looking out upon a dark and green sea from the window of a lighthouse.
“How is that even remotely close!?” She asked.
Meanwhile, Daring and Rumble had taken on the task of mindlessly wandering around the room, looking for anything interesting.
When they returned to where the stairwell they had come down was, Daring realized a crack.
“Hey, Pop!” Daring called to Powder, “do you have anything that can break stone?”
The others came over to see what Daring was referring to.
“No stone breakers,” Powder shook his head. “There are none.”
“Merchi?” Daring asked.
Merchi shook her head as well.
Victorian rolled her eyes, then stood on the pressure plate Daring had activated earlier.
“There is a reason that traps don’t constantly repeat until a plate is stood on,” Victorian explained, “a mechanism is activate for a time, then stops after the pony is off of it.”
The stairwell, that had enclosed them into the room, suddenly started moving and revealing a staircase, though not heading back up, but heading further down. The five ponies walked down the staircase and found that it didn’t lead very far, for it ended abruptly in an abandoned mine shaft. There was nothing else they could do besides trudge on into the unknowns of this mysterious mine.
To the Birth place of Chaos andIt's true forms.
“Never trust a mine,” Powder muttered.
“Why not?” Rumble asked.
Powder looked at Rumble for a long pause before uttering a single word, “dogs.”
“Dogs?” Rumble asked, “as in ponies’ pets?”
“It’s best to leave it alone,” Merchi said, “We don’t have to worry about it for now.” She then took the lead and walked into the void that was the dark mineshaft.
After what walking for quite some time, Merchi suddenly halted and extinguished all the torches.
“What is this for?” Powder grumbled.
“Look,” Merchi whispered.
Up ahead of them, they could now clearly see the shadows of three dog-like figures in a light from the lantern one was carrying. Soon the light vanished down one of the lightless tunnels.
“Oh, what where those? They don’t quite look like anything I’ve seen,” Rumble said, “though if you think about it, this means that the mine isn’t abandoned or that we aren’t the only one’s trapped.”
Powder sighed crudely, “I guess that hope is out of the question.”
“What hope? What were we hoping for or about?” Rumble asked.
Powder shook his head, “this mine being abandoned.”
“What’s so scary about mines?” Daring asked.
“You’ve heard of Diamond Dogs, right? They are creatures that live down in underground mines out of their overly obsessive greed for gems,” Merchi informed the group, lighting only one torch, “they are natural diggers and can burrow at almost unnatural speeds.”
They started heading forwards once more.
“And what’s so bad about them?” Daring asked. “Maybe they could guide us around this abandoned place.”
“This mine is abandoned, yet they are here. There are no lights except theirs and ours. There is no working, not even them. There’s something strange about it all,” Powder said, “I don’t like any of it.”
“While normally Diamond Dogs are annoying to deal with, they do generally understand when one is passing through, or lost, and will ignore you as long as you don’t have any gems,” Merchi continued for Powder, “but there is no gem digging here. Then there is the fact that this mine was made for that secret room, not by the Diamond Dogs themselves.”
“So the three are renegade or something?” Rumble asked.
“We don’t know and we should keep it that way,” Powder said, taking the lead and Merchi’s torch. They had reached wall where they’d seen the light and shadows.
Within moments, Victorian gagged, “what is that putrid smell?!”
“They live down here,” Merchi shrugged, “what do you expect?”
The group then walked along with the scent, hoping it may lead them closer to a way out.
Powder extinguished the flame and the group halted; they could see the lantern light ahead.
Slowly, they crept through the shadows that danced around the light in the opening.
Inside sat three Diamond Dogs. Two were male and the other was a female. They were all the same rock-grey and were huge in size. They’re hands looked more like iron shovels the size of a Pegasus’s spread wing. The first thing each of them noticed were the hollow stomachs. The other stand-out feature they noticed were the bloodshot eyes, or at least the group hoped they were bloodshot.
Relief filled the group as passed with no problem and found themselves trudging onwards, even though they were still blindly trotting along into darkness.
Not a single one noticed the contents of the room since they were too focused on the Dogs. The room was filled with many gorey sights that should never be described, ever; what was in that room would cause even the strongest and bravest to feel and express terror. This room should best be forgotten by all, for it shouldn’t be allowed existed in this world.
“Another dead end…” Powder muttered. They had just turned from the tunnel they were currently in, and so were only a few feet down this side tunnel. They had all agreed it was probably best not to stay in one tunnel for too long incase they are seen by the dogs, but it seemed like too many times that they were dead ends.
“Um… guys?...” Daring called quietly and insecurely, “this may be a strange question, but, um... are these drag marks and a trail of blood?” She pointed to the dimly lit ground in front of her.
Powder went over to Daring instantly, brightening the ground with the torch. Sure enough, there were drag marks across the ground, as well as blood, though the blood was old, dry, and crusty.
“That… can’t be good…” Rumble managed to get out, actually keeping quiet on his own accord for once.
“We need to find a way out, now!” Powder ordered, instantly taking the lead and running down yet another tunnel.
The others needed not a warning; they were right behind him before he’d even finished his sentence.
After what felt like minutes, the group came to a halt. It was quite foolish to run, but they had hoped the trail would lead them to the outside. Instead, it lead them to another dead end.
Suddenly, Merchi extinguished the light. The group instantly fell still and silent. They noted a lantern light dimly lighting up the corner. It was getting brighter each moment that passed by. Soon voices could be heard.
“Trotting. Definitely trotting. We know trotting,” a hoarse voice grumbled.
“Yes, yes. Trot, trot,” a brittle voice agreed.
“Here trotters!” the third voice called, that one sounding more feminine than the rest.
They came into sight, but the shadows the group huddled back in were not yet touched by light.
“Where are you trot trot?” the brittle-voiced one asked.
Powder slowly brought out his shotgun, preparing for an emergency.
“Trotting! You down there?” the hoarse-voiced one called.
Powder looked at the rest of the group, then walked into the light, shotgun ready.
“What do you want?” Powder asked, glowering at the three dogs.
“Food. Yes. Food food,” the brittle-voiced one said.
“I do not have any food on me,” Powder said. He hadn’t budged an inch; he hadn’t changed his position in advancement of retreat, “now leave.”
“But you do have the food!” the feminine one said.
“I do not have any food,” Powder repeated, “I will not warn you again.”
“You are food! Pony food! Pony meat!” the hoarse-voiced one cried, taking charge.
Powder fired the gun, though the dog was not in range. “That’s not a good idea,” he advised.
The charging dog halted in his tracks. “Guns mean. No gun,” it complained.
“Stay back and leave now,” Powder said, firing another warning shot.
“Don’t fire! Gun bad for mine!” the feminine voice wailed.
“I can fire my gun whenever I want,” Powder yelled, “Now leave us!”
The three dogs then huddled together and started conversing with each other.
“Merchi, the TnT,” Powder whispered.
Merchi silently and stealthily summoned the portal and took out a stick of dynamite to give to Powder.
Powder put his gun away and took the dynamite from Merchi, still not moving an inch from his current pose.
The three look at him as if it was the perfect time to strike. All three instantly bolted down the tunnel at incredible speeds.
Powder had expected it and threw the already lit dynamite towards the dogs. He dove back to the others.
There was a huge explosion.
When the dust cleared, the tunnel had collapsed in front of them. They were now trapped in a section of tunnel that was blocked on both sides.
Whatever happened to the dogs didn’t seem to deter them. They may have howled in pain and cried out, but soon enough digging could be heard through the holes in the debris, though the digging was slow and distant.
“We don’t have much time,” Powder said, “we need to find a way out, now!”
There was a pause as the group realized they could see moonlight.
“Am I the only one seeing this?” Rumble asked.
“No…” Victorian said, pointing towards the source.
Opposite of the debris, there was a small hole in the wall, right at the shaft’s end.
Powder grimaced as he tried to bust through wall with another kick. The digging was almost upon them, or at least the sound was closing in.
"For the hundredth time, that's not going to work, damn it!" Merchi grumbled at him.
"Then what do you expect me to do," Powder roared, "I have a job to do, that is to keep everyone safe and sound, and, if you couldn’t tell, THIS PLACE ISN'T SAFE!" He shouted, then added with a grumble, “and TnT’s out of the question; this space is too small…” Powder needed to think up a better strategy than just bucking the wall pointlessly.
Then an idea hit him. He quickly pulled out a small sack out of his saddle pack.
"Powder, not that," Merchi said, eyes growing wide. She knew exactly what he was about to attempt.
"What's in the sa-" Rumble started.
Pops poorer the contents onto the floor near a single spot.
“Oh it's gunpowder.” Rumble finished.
Powder ignored Rumble as he rolled up the smaller cloth to make a miniature-scale explosive, which he then proceeded to shove into the small crevice of light.
"Wait you’re going to blow up the wall!?" Victorian asked with worry.
“This is only a small amount and should be safe. Any other worries are your problem. This is my job; I’m doing this for your safety. Now get ba-” Powder began.
“Powder don’t-” Merchi pleaded.
“Stop arguing, Merchi,” Powder interrupted.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Daring asked, awed by the stallions determination.
"Stop asking questions and get back, now!" Powder said, holding back in his volume. He didn't need anymore words as they all shuffled back as far as they could, knowing that they really had no other choice.
"So Merchi, why are you two constantly at each others throats all the time?" Rumble asked, in an attempt to change the subject.
"Now is not the time, Ramble!" Merchi hissed.
There was an explosion and Powder flew into the wall just above the others’ heads. He bounced off and landed in front of them with a loud and audible thump. Blood splattered slightly from his mouth as his head hit the floor, painting some red dots and lines on the old, dirty soil known as the ground, and his body went limp; it wasn’t hard to tell, even in the dim, prisoning mineshaft that was holding them captive, that Powder was injured badly.
In what little light they had, the others realized that the right side of Powder’s head had been burnt slightly.
"POWDER!" Merchi cried, crouching down next to him. "Don't die on me you jerk! Come on, wake up! Wake up you damn idiot!" She frantically opened the portal and brought out a first aid kit one would find in a hospital.
"You... You weren’t supposed to die, you idiot!" Merchi yelled.
The other three ponies exchanged concerned looks, not sure if they should worry more about Powder’s injuries or Merchi’s reaction.
Merchi slapped him once. Twice.
On the third one, he stirred from his unconscious state with a moan.
"Damn that hurt. Put a little too much powder in that…”
Powder grumbled, his blue and green eyes opening as he looks up at the sandy-white pony that was on top of him.
“Hey, Merchi, get off of me; you’re not exactly… light."
Merchi's ears perked at the voice. "You jerk!” Shesnorted angrily, shaking Powder’s neck, but only gently because she wished not to worsen nor irritate Powder’s injuries.
"You’re alive! That’s a relief!" Daring said.
"That’s not important," Powder coughed, “in case you’ve forgotten, we need to get out of here!”
The debris behind them had already began to crumble; the feral dogs had finally reached the last part of the debris caused by the collapse and were still digging with all their fury.
Merchi helped Powder up and supported him as they walk to the wall that had been cracked by the explosion.
“Ramble, I’m in no condition to deliver the final buck,” Powder said, turning with Merchi to look at the blue pegasus.
“No problem!” Rumble happily obliged and bucked the wall, smashing it and sending the decimated chunks flying in all directions down the cliffside.
Though the hole they may was still quite a distance from the ground, there stood a conveniently place tree branch that had grown from the tree across from them, bridging over the darkened void below. The branch itself would have been considered unnatural if the tree itself didn’t have a height of at least twice the branch’s length. The trees all seemed unnaturally tall; they all seemed more ancient than Equestria itself.
The branch alone was big enough for the whole group stand on all at once. Below them laid the abyss Victorian had glanced down at earlier, from the lost room, though the castle was no longer in view.
The Diamond Dogs broke through the debris and charged into the open space. Behind them lingered a hungering darkness – a black nothingness; behind them gapped a void from which they hadn’t left for many centuries.
The dogs paused for a moment, adjusting to the moonlight. None of them held the lantern for it was extinguished by the collapse; they’re eyes had adjusted to the complete blackness the tunnel provided them and needed to re-accustom themselves to light.
In the moonlight, the wounds to the dogs could be seen as well. They all had injured paws that were slightly blood-stained and covered in fresh cuts.
They soon were able to see once more and were ready to take revenge on the ponies.Behind the dogs lingered a hungering darkness – a black nothingness. A void from which they hadn’t left for many centuries.
“Pony pony,” one of them said, though it was unclear as to which one.
“Merchi,” Powder looked into Merchi’s eyes.
Merchi met Powder’s gaze and nodded.
“Revenge! Make food pay! Food!” another one of them yelled.
The dogs then charged, but it was already too late for them.
“Everyone hold on!” Powder yelled.
Merchi had cut the branch and they were already starting to fall.
“Are you crazy?!?” Victorian cried, instantly clutching the branch for dear life.
“It should work!” Merchi called back, holding Powder tightly to the branch along with herself.
As they fell, the cliff came closer and closer to the tree and the base of the tree grew wider and wider. Between the two objects, the tree branch grinded itself away at both ends until the group could feel it starting to slow down. Soon enough, the branch came to a halt altogether.
“We still alive?” Powder asked.
“What kind of question is that!” Victorian yelled, standing on the branch again, facing the two unicorns, “you just did that without knowing the result?!”
“This or dog food,” Merchi shrugged.
Victorian went silent, realizing that was something she hadn’t considered. She decided to peek over the edge.
“I still don’t see a ground,” she muttered.
“Ground’s right here,” Daring called. She walked under the log from the other side and appeared in Victorian’s vision. She was about ten feet below her.
“Daring,” Victorian said strangely calm, “did you just fly down here instead of fall like the rest of us?”
“What did you expect?” Rumble said, landing next to Victorian, “it’s a natural instinct to.”
“I’m going to throttle you,” Victorian growled.
The conversation was interrupted by a thud and shake on the log. Rumble instantly takes flight out of shock. The action received a glare from Victorian.
Rumble laughed nervously, “yeah. Sorry 'bout that.”
The tension changed as they looked at what had caused the shake. One of the Diamond Dogs had fallen; he must’ve had his front paws on the log. His back feet were blood stained, showing signs of paw marks that had probably held him for as long as they could, but were unable to save him. Now his body lay on the ground from smashing face first into the log, blood trickled underneath the body and slowly began to pool.
“Is he… okay?” Victorian asked.
“We’d best not stick around to find out,” Powder said.
Daring joined Rumble in the air and helped him lower the others down to the ground, one by one.
Victorian was the last to be brought down. She instantly hugged the ground and started kissing it.
Merchi looked at the Rumble and Daring.
“She’s afraid of heights,” Daring said.
Victorian stood up and glared at Daring, then said, “I’m sorry Daring, but some of us here can’t fly.”
It was obvious the group was trying to ignore the sght of the crushed and gushing body behind them.
“We can make small talk later,” Powder said, still managing to take charge of the situation, even while injured, “we need to get out of here incase the other two climb down.”
The group ran into the darkness of the forest as best they could with Powder’s injuries. They weren’t too concerned with escape because that fall had actually been quite the long one. Still, they didn’t want to waste time.
Once they finally stopped for the night and set up camp, they started thinking about their current situation.
“So… where exactly are we?” Rumble asked.
“We’re in the forbidden section of the forest,” Daring said.
“Forbidden?” Rumble asked.
“Yeah, the section where Celestia ordered no pony to enter for reasons unknown,” Daring said, starting to get excited again. “This must mean some awesome tomb or something is hidden here that no one has ever entered! And what’s best is now we have an excuse to be here!”
“Daring, don’t be so stupid,” Victorian protested.
“But Victory, think about it!” Daring said, “Ruins unseen by anypony else. Mysterious historical sites. You know?"
Daring let the silence sit in the air to make her words linger in Victorian's ears.
“I guess that does sound interesting,” Victorian mused.
Daring looked at Powder and Merchi, who had her first aid kit back out.
“Our job is to assist you for this exploration,” Merchi said, “we’ll follow you until you’re done.”
“Then it’s agreed!” Daring said.
The group still unknowing of the true dangers of this forbidden land, the true dangers that awaited them.
