The Cave
“Oh, um, do we have to go in there?” Fluttershy asked sheepishly.
“C’mon Fluttershy, where’s your sense of adventure?” Rainbow Dash teased.
The two pegasi, along with Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Applejack, stood in the maw of a large cave at the border of the Badlands. Known to locals as “Starswirl’s Cave” because of rumors that long ago the unicorn had spent considerable time exploring the large cave system, in recent years it had become a popular spot for ponies all across Equestria to visit.
“But- But what about the monsters living in there?” Fluttershy asked, quivering in place.
“Relax sugarcube,” Applejack said reassuringly, “there ain’t nothin’ in there that we can’t take care of.”
“Besides darling, just think of all the gems that could be tucked away deep in these caves! Gems are very in this season, and I simply must resupply my stock!” Rarity exclaimed excitedly!
“Don’t worry Fluttershy, the reports we’ve gotten say that there’s a manticore, a dragon, and a hydra living here,” Twilight pondered “This cave system is big, but it’s not nearly big enough for all of them to be getting along peacefully in there. I’m sure these are just false alarms, and we’ll be on the train back to Ponyville before you know it!”
“Yeah, I bet it’ll be super fun!” Pinkie squealed.
“Does everypony have their headlamps?” Twilight inquired.
Each of her friends in turn put on their respective headlamps, all normal yellow helmets with a simple flashlight attached, except for Rarity, who sported a baby-blue on which she had put several gemstones. This drew a skeptical look from Applejack.
“What? Just because we’re going into some dreary old cave doesn’t mean a pony shouldn’t look fabulous!”
This earned her an eye roll from Applejack and a snort from Pinkie and Rainbow Dash.
“I think it looks lovely Rarity” Fluttershy chimed in.
“Thank you darling! You’re the only one that appreciates fashion around here!”
Twilight rub the space between her eyes with a hoof in frustration, “We can argue about fashion later girls, for now we have a job to do, let’s go”
**************************************
“Ugh, I feel like we’ve been in here forever! When are we going to see some action?” Rainbow Dash complained, slowly hovering above her walking friends.
“Quit yer bellyachin’, we’ve only been in here for about fifteen minutes!” Applejack replied.
“I’d read that this cave was big, but I wasn’t expecting it to have nearly this many passages, it will take us a few hours to go down all of them!” Twilight thought aloud.
“Hours?!” Rainbow Dash whined, “I don’t want to be in some boring cave for that long, won’t it be faster if we split up?”
“Oh my, wouldn’t that be dangerous?” Fluttershy asked timidly.
“I don’t think so,” Twilight mused, “If there were any of the monsters that ponies had reported seeing in here, we would have seen them by now. They’d have left claw marks, or bones lying around, but so far all we’ve seen is some bat guano.”
“Guano?” Rainbow asked, clearly confused.
“Oh, um, it’s the technical term for bat droppings Rainbow" Fluttershy informed.
“Ew ew ew!” Rarity exclaimed, shuffling uncomfortably in place.
“Well if there ain’t no monsters in here, there’d be no harm in splittin’ up, right?” Applejack inquired.
“I suppose not, here, each of you take one of these.” Twilight ordered.
She passed out a series of strings tied in a loop, with a small crystal attached to each.
“Um, I appreciate you trying to accessorize darling, but couldn’t you do a little better than this?” Rarity protested.
“They’re not meant for their looks Rarity,” Twilight said as she rolled her eyes and put one with a slightly larger crystal around her own neck,” if I’ve tuned them all just right . . .”
Twilight’s horn glows, and her crystal makes a sound similar to a tuning fork. Suddenly the five her friends were wearing began to glow slightly, and all slightly pull towards Twilight’s.
“There, now no matter where you go, your crystal will be able to guide you back to me!” Twilight bragged.
“Whatever egghead, can we go explore now?” Rainbow pleaded.
“Yes, but be careful” Twilight said with some annoyance in her voice.
“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie said excitedly, and began hopping down one of the passages.
“You got it!” Rainbow Dash said with a salute, flying up to and into an out of reach area.
“I’m going to try and get as deep in the cave as I can, that’s where all the big gems would be!” Rarity hurried off into another of the passages, although was careful where she stepped.
Applejack took off down yet another passage, and Fluttershy timidly flew up into a 5th one. Twilight took a deep breath, and began venturing down a passage of her own.
**********************************************
Fluttershy crept slowly along her passage, visibly shaking in fear. Her progress was slowed considerably by the fact that every few moments she would cower behind a rock in fear when she heard so much as a drip of water somewhere off in the distance. Eventually after several minutes, she came to a large, open room, with no other passages connecting to it in sight.
“Whew,” she thought to herself as she stood in the middle of the large space, “I made it all the way to the end without anything scary jumping out!”
She turned to leave the room when a sound caused the hairs on neck to jump on end. She could have sworn she heard somepony . . . giggling? She began to look around the room to try and find the source of the laughter. She then hears, faintly, a familiar taunt.
“Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly”
“Who- Who’s there!?” Fluttershy crieed out into the darkness.
The voice slowly grew louder, and is soon accompanied by another voice.
“R-Rainbow Dash!? If this is one of your pranks it isn’t funny!
The two voices were joined by another voice, and another! Soon it sounds as if a dozen ponies are standing around Fluttersy, all jeering at her poor flight skills.
“P-Please stop!” Fluttershy begged the voices. Suddenly, in her peripherals, she saw a few pair of eyes floating in the darkness, but when she turned her head to shine her headlamp to reveal the owners, the eyes disappeared entirely. The voices grew yet louder until their deafening roar fills the cavern, Fluttershy sits, in place, terrified, until she yelled wildly and sprinted out back the direction she came from.
*****************************************************
“Ugh, when is something interesting going to happen?!” Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she cruised down the passage. The walls were smooth, and a faint tinkle of water ran down the bottom of it. She’d been flying for several minutes now and hadn’t seen anything but the walls around her.
“I bet the others are getting all the action, and that I just choose the wrong path!” Rainbow pouted to herself. Just as she was about to turn around and head back, the view up ahead suddenly changed. A cave-in had blocked most of the patch, but left a small hole in the corner just large enough for the pegasus to squeeze through.
“Deep breath Dashie, it’s big enough for you to squeeze through, no big deal!” Rainbow assured herself as she begins wiggling her way through. She’s halfway through when she swears the hole gets smaller, gently squeezing her torso and holding her securely in place. She tries to wedge her way the rest of the way through, but to no avail.
“No no no this can’t be happening!” She said to herself as she began to feel the panic creeping in.
She wouldn’t tell anypony, but she was deathly afraid of small spaces, especially if they made it so she couldn’t stretch her wings out, such as now. Her breathing got heavier as she frantically tried to pull herself through with her forelegs, while simultaneously kicking wildly with her hind legs. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest, and sweat begin building on her brow from a mix of her efforts and her exertion. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, she finally manages to worm her way through and she lands on the ground on the other side with a dull thud. She gets up, laughs nervously to herself as she dusts herself off. Grateful that nopony saw her panic attack, she stretches her wings, and continues her flight down the passage.
*******************************************
Applejack hums to herself as she trots down her passage. She always had loved this sort of thing, so as far as she was concerned the fact that they had to come all the way out to the Badlands wasn’t the worst thing in the world. She continues walking until she the passage opens up to an enormous room, cut in half by a deep chasm, too wide for her to get across. She shrugs and turns to leave the room when she hears an all too familiar voice call out.
“Hey Applejack!”
Applejack spins around and peers across the chasm. Standing on top of a stalagmite which has its top broken off, leaving a flat surface on top, is Apple Bloom.
“Apple Bloom?! What in tarnation are you doin’ here?!” Applejack yelled across the chasm.
“Well I heard y’all was goin’ to this here big cave, an’ Ah figured if Ah came Ah might be able to get mah spelunkin’ cutie mark!” She called back across excitedly. She had a headlamp that was too big for her head, so it kept slipping down and covering her eyes. She also had a length of rope with a grappling hook on one end.
“Well how did ya get here?!” Applejack asked, the anger raising up in her voice.
“Ah, uh, Ah snuck mahslef on the train.” Apple Bloom responded sheepishly.
“When we get outta this cave Ah’m gonna tan yer hide till-“
Applejack was suddenly cutoff be a ferocious roar. Suddenly, out of the darkness on the other side of the abyss, two timber wolves appeared and slowly began to circle the rock that Apple Bloom was perched on.
“A-Applejack! Help me” Apple Bloom cried out in fear, as her eyes began to widen and she began to shake tremendously.
Applejack ran to edge of the crevice and desperately trying to think of a way to make it across. The timber wolves were attempting to leap onto the top of the rock where Apple Bloom was cowering, but every time couldn’t quite seem to make it on top. Suddenly, Applejack became aware of a slight pressure on her neck. She looked down at the string tied around her neck, the crystal point towards- Twilight!
“Apple Bloom! Don’t move! I’m going to go get some help!” Applejack called out before turning around and sprinting as fast as she could in the direction her crystal pointed.
********************************
Twilight was happily galloping down her segment of cave, taking in the sights. There was so much one could learn from being down here, and if Starswirl himself had taken the time to explore these caves, there had to be something of interest to learn down here. It was beautiful, what with the calming drips of water, all the stalagmites and stalactites, not to mention the peaceful quiet, undisturbed by any-
“EW EW EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!” A familiar voice cried from down a connecting tunnel. A moment later, the unicorn the voice belonged to appeared.
“What is it now Rarity? Did you see a spider?” Twilight asked while rolling her eyes.
“So much worse darling!” Rarity said, while dramatically placing the back of her hoof on her forehead. “Centipedes, at least 10 feet long each! I thought I would have fainted!”
Twilight sighed, “Rarity, centipedes don’t grow that large.”
“Well these ones were! And they were all slimy and simply gross!”
“I think you’re exaggerating just a bit.”
“No darling they-“
Rarity was unable to complete her thought, because at that moment she was knocked over when a pink earth pony ran into her full speed. She stood up quickly, and Twilight could instantly tell something was wrong. Pinkie usually bouncy hair seemed to have fallen much flatter than usual, and her knees shook violently.
“P-Pinkie? Is everything alright?” She prodded gently.
“B-B-B-B-Bats!” Pinkie whimpered.
“Bats? Pinkie you had to know there would be bats in these-“
“But not just regular bats! They were enormous! They had wings, like 30ft long! And glowing red eyes!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous Pinkie, bats can’t get that big”
“See darling! There’s something unnatural about this cave!”
“I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation about what’s going on-“
“TWILIGHT!? TWILIGHT!?”
“What is it now?” Twilight asked with no small amount of exacerbation in her voice.
“Twilight!” Applejack had just rounded a bend in the passage, “Twilight come quick! Ah need yer help!”
“What, you saw three gains bees or something?” Twilight asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
“Please Twilight, just let me show ya!” Applejack pleaded.
“Fine, maybe we can get to the bottom of this. Show me.” Twilight commanded.
***********************************
“N- No. . . “ Applejack said her voice filled with sorrow.
“What’s wrong Applejack?”
Applejack had led them to a large empty room, cut in half by some kind of fissure.
“Ah- Ah wasn’t fast enough.”
“Fast enough for what? What are you going on about?” Twilight asked, her impatience growing.
“Apple Bloom, she was surrounded by timber wolves. Over on that rock,” Applejack replied, tears growing in her voice and eyes.
“Timber wolves? Applejack timber wolves aren’t native to this area. There’s no way they could-“
“Ah know what Ah saw Twilight!” Applejack snapped.
“Look how about we-“
“EEEEEEEEEEP”
Twilight’s thought was interrupted when a yellow blur came out of nowhere and collided with her.
“Oh T-Twilight! It was awful! There were eyes, and- and- and voices and- and-“ Fluttershy began sobbing.
“Ugh, you two Fluttershy?”
“sniff Y-Yes, you saw the eyes too?”
“Not eyes, but everypony else seems to have seen something.” Twilight mused.
“Hey guys!” Rainbow Dash called out as she calmly glided down to join her friends.
“Rainbow! Perfect timing!” Twilight exclaimed, “Have you seen anything strange in these caves?”
“Seen anything? No, unless a bunch of rocks is strange”
“Nothing the least bit scary?”
“Sc-Scary? Who do you think you’re talking to? Nothing scares me!” Rainbow said, with only the slightest quiver in her voice.
“Mhm.” Twilight responded, “I have a theory of what’s going on here, but I’m going to have to test it.”
“What do you have in mind darling?” Rarity inquired.
“Just stay over here, try and find a place to hide.”
Without another word, Twilight spread her wings and glided across the crevasse, landing on the rock that Applejack had indicated. There were no indications of any kind of struggle, no claw marks, and no blood. Clearly if Apple Bloom had been on this rock, she hadn’t come to any harm. Just as Twilight was about to fly back across, she heard the sound of hooves landing on the rock behind her. She turned around to see three crystal guards standing before her. They all looked rather frazzled, their armor smudged, and each had several cuts. The one in the middle took off his helmet, tucked it under one of his forelegs, and took a step forward.
“Princess Twilight, thank Celestia we found you.”
“What’s going on, did Cadance or Shining Armor send you?”
“N- No your majesty. The Crystal Empire, it was attacked by Queen Chrysalis and her changelings, we- we lost contact with the prince and princess.”
Twilight’s eyes narrowed.
“So you three abandoned your posts?” Twilight inquired.
“Wha- Princess we were overrun, we had no choice but to get help!”
“So you did abandon them. I’m afraid the punishment for that crime is very clear.”
Twilight’s horn began to glow, and the guard in the front burst into bright, yellow flames. Twilight’s hidden friends all gasped in shock, and all began leaping out of their hiding places. Then just as suddenly as the flames appeared, they vanished; but instead of the charred crisp of a guard they expected, stood something . . . very different. Calling it a changeling would be the first guess most ponies, but there were a few clear differences. It was much smaller than the changelings the girls had seen in Canterlot, hardly the size of a foal. Also, instead of green wings and eyes, this one’s were yellow. The creature stood for a moment in shock before it cowered down and covered its head with its forelegs. The other two guards also began to shuffle awkwardly in place.
“Not so fun when you’re the one afraid, is it?” Twilight asked looking down at the being at her hooves.
“P-Please don’t hurt me!” The being begged in a clearly male, insectoid voice.
Twilight glared at the other two guards.
“You two can drop the act too.”
The other two guards also burst into yellow flames, and a similar creature appeared in both of their places. Twilight’s friends were now on the edge of the ravine, craning their necks to try and get a better view.
“How many more of you are there?” Twilight asked.
“We- We’re the only three! We don’t form in hives as large as changelings.”
“Um, if you don’t mind me interruptin’ if they ain’t changelings, what are they?” Applejack asked, tilting her head to the side.
“They’re boggarts. They’re close cousins of changelings, except they feed on fear instead of love. They are very good at casting illusions, and they use that to disguise themselves as a ponies worst fear, then feed on that fear.”
“We- We never hurt anybug! Please let us go, we’ll go far away from here I promise!” The one in front begged.
“What? So you can go somewhere else and do the same thing?” Twilight asked.
“W- Well yes, if we don’t we’ll starve!” The boggart explained.
“T-Twilight?” Fluttershy chimed in, “You won’t let them starve will you?”
“Hm,” Twilight mused, “I might have just the thing for you three. . . “
*****************
“Princess Twilight I- I don’t know how we could ever thank you enough for this.” the lead boggart said gratefully.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m glad I could help you put your talents to use.” Twilight said with a warm smile, “I couldn’t just let you three go hungry, right?”
“Ey! Coffee breaks over! Get back to work you three!” a voice from inside called from inside called.
“That’s us! Thank you again princess!” the boggart called as he followed his two friends inside.
*********************
“Scootaloo, this place is giving me the creeps can’t we get outta here?” Sweetie Belle asked sheepishly.
“Don’t be such a foal, it’s a haunted house, it’s supposed to be scary!”
“I agree with with Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom chimed in, “can’t we just go on the ferris wheel again?”
“C’mon, it’ll be fun!” Scootaloo assured as the three crept along a narrow passageway.
Suddenly from behind a curtain behind them, and enormous timber wolf erupted and howled. The three fillies shrieked and began sprinting down the hallway, only to be greeted by and enormous snake. They quickly took a doorway on their left and down another similar hallway. This hallway greeted them with a large, headless horse. With one last terrified shriek, the CMC made a break for the exit, as the three boggarts savored the lingering fear.