Manehatten was a huge city with enormous buildings. Life hardly ever stopped there, be it night or day, one of the many skyscrapers were always bustling with life. At times, though even those giants couldn't block the rays of Celestia's sun. High noon was the time of the day everypony hated, for there were little to no shadows. Luckily for them, this day was not as hot as usual.
"Thank Celestia there are some clouds up there otherwise we'd be toasted." a supposedly mulberry unicorn said as she was leading the way down the hard concrete street with her little sister behind her. She was Lily Lightly, her mane was long and silky and - as she states - purple and pink.
"So, I was thinking we could buy Mom a music box, because she loves their sound, or something more bright and colorful, but I can't really decide." Lily continued "Oh Celestia, I got to take a drink, watch out for those stairs, Wishy!" she added with a tired and raspy exhale, reaching into her saddlebag and taking out an empty, unlabeled glass. With a pop and fizz did the bottle open, and Lily was quick to take a taste from its contents.
Her little sister, Will-o-Wishes hummed in approval as she took one careful step after another. She almost snuck in the almost endless line of concrete, until her right leg fell into a ditch. Found it. The ground, without a sound, collapsed in front of her, revealing the stairway. It was running deep, deep down into the black void but after the first couple steps, the filly had no fear in going down after her big sis.
It started becoming darker and darker, and even Lily herself was fading into the blackness. Something was wrong.
"You got awfully quiet Lily, is everything okay?" the little Wishes asked, as she followed her fading sister in the pitch black void. Yet Lily didn't answer, making Wishes become more and more worried with each step. Yes, something was wrong, Lily was not the kind of mare to pull tasteless pranks like this.
"Lily? Are you there?" she asked, running up to the unicorn to poke at her leg a bit. However, soon she touched her, Lily dissipated into a dust of nebula.
The panic struck like a thunder, hard and loud. Will-o-Wishes' heart started beating like it never did before, her lungs pumping the air out and in through audible gasps.
"L-Lily?" she asked again, to no avail. She disappeared. Everything and everyone disappeared. It was only her, completely alone in the dark. This could not be happening, her mind could not accept it. It must have been just an awful joke. Wishy's body shook under the fear that swept through her, like an earthquake. She tried her hardest not to break down in tears but that was difficult.
She took one step after another as if she would walk on a minefield. With each step, the black dust covering the concrete fleeing from her hooves. She was frightened beyond words, only her whimpers could leave her throat. A sudden gust of wind slapped her from the left, it's audible ghostly sound just making things even worse.
That was more than enough, Wishes turned around and got out of there as fast as she could. Easier said than done, though, in the complete darkness, she only knew what she was standing on. She reached into the air to do some kicks, in case the stairs are there. Yet, after a couple steps, what she found was no stairs, but a wall.
She kept tapping it, blowing off the void from its parts. It was so smooth, except for those edges with concretey things between. Tiles, maybe?
She couldn't have lost it, the exit had to be here somewhere. She kept tapping around desperately, making a couple steps both to the left and right, but nothing. Tiles, tiles and more tiles. There was no way out from here.
The wind was whistling at her again, from her left this time. Maybe she had to follow it? It has to come somewhere, she learned about something like this in school. Just the mere thought made her swallow hard. She didn't want any of this, all she wanted is to go home. Her tears were welling up under her eyes but she did not let a drop escape.
"Come on, Will-o-Wishes, you're a big pony." she whispered, taking a huge breath and exhaling it. She turned towards the creepy breeze, gathering every last bit of courage she ever had in her life.
"Lily!"
A somewhat more confident step followed the shout, when suddenly the concrete ground broke under her hoof. With a loud yell she backed away in fright, staying away from the place.
"Lily!" she called out in despair once more "M-maybe I could jump?" she mumbled, but threw away the idea the next instant. Too dangerous.
"I wish I'd have something to see how deep it is." she sighed, as the ghost teased her once again. Maybe if she could make one... she lit up her horn, concentrating every little bit of mana into one place: a tiny, barely glowing orb.
It did not illuminate much, but was better than nothing. Wishes laid it down on the cold floor, as the blob started rolling down on it, up until the crack. It made a couple strokes on its edge, inspecting the rough sides left and right before Wishy decided it is time to send it out. She raised up the magical orb and threw it off the cliff with a fling.
The blob splattered across the dusty ground just a bit below, illuminating a huge portion of it. It was safe to pass, not a big deal, just a crack. Wishy allowed an exhale to leave her body before she followed her own creation, not afraid of the 'cliff' anymore. Even the gooey orb recollected itself, continuing its way forwards on the ground in zig-zag motions.
The dust just crackled under the hooves of the filly as she progressed through the darkness ever so slowly. The dull sound, though subtle, still filled the air with its echoes. Just how long this tunnel was, she wondered. Blip. Her ears perked up at the unique sound. Blop. It came from somewhere on the right. Blip. Water, water dripping into a puddle, though the drops invisible, every impact acted like a small flash on a radar.
She turned that direction, sneaking there when out from nowhere, a piece of steel appeared. As the little Wishes kicked into it by accident, the object made a dull clinging sound before rolling away on the ground. With a grumble, it shook off the blackness that covered it. Before it could fade back into the void, though, a little aura illuminated its very end, picking it up and raising it high. The thing was heavy, and cold as steel, like some sort of... magic sword? Or a lightning casting wand? She did not know, and for some reason, she was afraid of tapping its other parts.
The wind broke her train of thoughts about her newfound thing. Wishes was slightly more confident now that she had a weapon to defend herself with in this cavern. She followed the sounds, dragging the heavy sword behind her. The dust turned into mud, and the mud turned into water under her hoof as she stepped into a small puddle. The last drop came from here somewhere, but not a lot of time she had to think before the next one struck, right on her nose. She backed away to step out from the water, wiping the drop off.
"Not funny." she grumbled in herself, as if she was talking to the liquid that played pranks on her.
She raised her hoof to find its source but to no avail, whatever was dripping was way too high up for her. Wishes wasn't too sure where to go from this point, but like a flap of Celestia's wing, the breeze came to her aid again.
She turned facing towards it once more, but after two steps, her snout hit something.
"Au!" she yelled in pain, scratching her nose, then laying the same hoof on the thing. A wooden pillar, tall, unnaturally rectangular by the edges. It was rough and unpleasant to touch, Wishy snatched her limb off the thing before getting splinters into it.
She kept moving on with her magic sword drawing huge sine in the ground. Like dust swept away with a broom did the darkness fling left and right. Step by step she moved on, the void in front of her never seeming to end. Just the mere thought made her heart sink into despair. What if it is neverending? What if she never finds a way out of this... place? What if she never meets Lily again?
"Lily!" she cried, but why? It was but a waste of air at this point. Then, the magic sword hit something in front of her. Its blunt end stabbed into the chest of the filly as she walked into her own tool.
She reached to it with a loud grunt the moment afterwards. The pain pulse through her chest with enough intensity to have Wishes drop everything. It took a couple seconds for it to settle and once it was gone, the filly picked up her weapon once again.
Yet the very tip of her sword was stuck under something she could not move. With a small 'Huh?' she drew it back, raised it up and laid it on the surface, sweeping the blackness off it. The steel rumbled as it made the tiniest bounces on it, it sounded like concrete again.
A careful move with her leg, Wishes tapped its rough, jittery edge and its less rough top. Concrete, good. She stepped up and moved on, almost hurrying out of this godforsaken place.
Her steps were echoing through the sheer darkness, but she stopped dead on her tracks when another pair of steps responded. She was not alone. Her mind was flooded with uncertain emotions, a mix of relief, panic, fear and happiness. Her ears pricked up she stood there, paralyzed, each step making a miniature flash up in a distance, coming closer and closer. It left hoofprints of white in the black void like a painted shoe in the snow, just inverted.
"Lily?" she called her out much more quietly than before. She wanted to believe it was her.
"Hey, kid! What are you doing down here?!" a raspy, strong voice of a stallion responded, as the hoofprints stopped and then faded into the dark.
Wishes was engulfed with fear, she backed away a step with a shriek, raising the heavy sword with her magic and aiming it towards the dark.
"Hey, hey, put that down, will you?" the stranger called her out, as spots on the concrete started to illuminate as it approached.
Of course, that didn't do the trick, the little Will-o-Wishes started swinging her blade to shoo him away. She was moaning with each enormous swing, the wind audibly blowing with every slash. Her magical strength ran out after the third attempt, and with a loud cling did the weapon drop in front of the wheezing filly.
"Look, I don't know how in Equestria you got here, but this is a construction site. You need to leave, now!"
"Lily told me not to trust strangers!" Wishes retorted with just as much of a shout and her meanest, grumpiest face she could pull.
The thunderclap of flesh hitting against flesh echoed through the cavern, accompanied with a grunt.
"Don't make me have to throw you out, kid. Where is this Lily so I can talk to her?"
Wishes turned silent for several moments, and even after just a couple whimpers left her throat. She didn't trust whoever was behind the voice all that much, but he knew the way out, and he probably could help finding Lily too. Liked it or not but she had to do this.
"If I go with you, you promise to help me find Lily?" Wishes asked, her voice now more quiet, and so much more desperate.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, come now." the unknown replied, making a move towards her once more. Wishes did not retreat, nor shown any resistance despite her heart beating ruthlessly. She allowed a hoof to twirl around her neck, stiff and rough, very masculine. She reached up, tapping him around a little bit, the darkness crumbling off him by each touch. Weird... textile. He was wearing some sort of cloth that stopped at the beginning of his neck.
"Finished?" he said, annoyed by his personal space being shattered like this. Yet what had to be done had to be done.
A slow step was the first, then another one, then a couple more before the two picked up an average pace. Wishes started to calm down and built trust with each step the two made together. Their steps were loud, following its own kind of rythm. Their echoes pulse through the halls leaving cracks in the thick black layer of the ground beneath them.
"We'll be turning right here." he said, stiffening his grasp around the filly and doing a right turn sharp enough to squeeze a "Whoa!" out of Wishes. The filly's nostrils caught yet another whiff of air, but this time, it was different. It felt so fresh, and cool. Yes, this felt like the way towards the exit. The two ponies were outright stomping their way through the tunnel, black void shattering like glass far and wide as they marched. It kept revealing the tiles, the floor, the ceiling even.
"Watch out, stairs!" her guide forewarned, as they took the way up together, side by side. The stairway was enormous, pointing towards a bright light above. She could feel it now, more and more intense with each step closer: fresh air and sunlight. She could hear it, the sound of horseshoes, ponies talking as they come and go, a taxi speeding by on the streets as its old wheels were squeaking. It was just magnificent, unbelievable even.
She made it out. Finally, she made it out.