A 'Sticky' Situation

It was a dim, humid afternoon in the jungle, and the creatures were all in an uproar. The toucans were screeching, the monkeys howling, and the frogs jumping, and suddenly, the source of the uproar was discovered...

It was a pony, a mare to be exact. She was a pale orange-ish color with a black and grey mane. She was wearing an olive shirt and her favorite adventuring hat, her cutie mark was a compass rose, and she was running like the dickens. Sweat beads rolled off her face as she galloped as fast as she could from the mob of animals behind her, there were lions, turtles, even birds, and they were NOT happy.

“The ruins should be here somewhere...” Said the pony as she maneuvered around the trees and roots. If she tripped up, it spelled doom for her. She looked back, and the mob was catching up, she couldn’t gallop any faster, and a light shone from ahead of her, which at this point in the jungle meant only one thing...

A cliff.

The mare braced herself to jump as soon as she reached the clearing, and placed almost too perfectly in front of her was a vine, hanging from a very large, and sturdy tree. She leapt, grabbing the vine and swinging across the ravine, but as she did, her hat blew off. “My hat!” She yelled as she lunged at it with open jaws. She managed to grab it between her teeth and land with a soft thud on the other side.

The animals growled and screeched at her, then turned back into the woods, too upset to find a way around to her. She let out a short sigh and stuck the hat back on her head. “Now... the temple...” She trotted through the woods, looking closely for any signs of a building. It wasn’t long at all before she came across a towering stone door, leading deep into the earth.

“This MUST be it.” She said as she ran her hoof along the door. Almost magically, the door opened slowly, allowing her entry. “Strange... I would have thought it to be quite the task, opening that door...” She adjusted her hat and trotted down the stairwell. The door closed behind her, meaning she would need to find another way out. She wasn’t worried though, it happened all the time.

Almost as if somepony was waiting for her, there was a lit torch on the wall. She hesitated, thinking that it was probably a trap, then looked down into the darkness and sighed. “Can’t find treasure if I can’t see...” She quickly grabbed the torch, expecting a trap to activate...

Nothing.

She continued onward into the depths of the temple, wondering about the treasures that could be waiting for her. Her informant said something about a figurine with magical properties. She grinned quietly to herself as the floor began to level. So far her trip had been, by her standards, easy. She had been chased by animals, swung over a ravine, and was now walking peacefully inside a corridor.

She thought she heard a bump in the distance, but dismissed it as her imagination. She finally reached the end of the corridor, and in front of her was a large chamber with very high ceilings. In the center of the room was a pedestal with an iron cage around it. She took an apprehensive step into the room, and then another. She looked around cynically for traps. “No way it can be this easy...” She took a few more steps and suddenly she was at the pedestal.

She stared at the cage, there was no way she could lift it, or see through it, it was too thick and heavy. There was a large chain leading up to the ceiling, from there, she followed it down a wall to a lever to her right. She let out a sigh, “These puzzles are so simple...” She trotted cautiously to the lever and pulled it slowly. There was a clank and a bang, and suddenly the chain began to tighten, and the cage lifted off of the pedestal.

She galloped over to inspect it, realizing that she probably only had moments before the temple collapsed. On the pedestal was a small wooden figure. She leaned in for a closer look, and realized what it was...

It was her.

Suddenly, the figure shot out a thick, pink gas, and the mare recoiled, coughing. “W-what’s the big idea?” She began to sway where she stood, realizing that it was knockout gas. She groped about for the pedestal, but did not find it in time as she collapsed onto the stone floor, blacking out completely.