Prologue: Nightmare's And Memory's.
Prologue: Nightmare's And Memory's...
Gadget looked around his surrounding's, his emerald green magic illuminating the dark cave in strange shadow's as he wandered around the complex maze of pathway's in the underground labyrinth he found himself in. His pitch black coat would have hidden him from any creature's that is if he didn't have a golden yellow mane that stood out on top of his head like a porcupine. He looked at his blank flank and let out a sigh.
"Man this suck's." He squeaked to himself.
"Why can't i get a cutie mark in rock tunneling? That would at least come in handy right about now." He thought back to the whole reason he was in this mess.
Gadget was playing around with a ball in the dirt field's just outside of ponyville when his ball had bounced into a hole in the ground. He went running after it but didn't stop himself in time and he went head first down the hole letting out a scream as he went. When he regained consciousness Gadget had scrambled to his hooves and looked around. He couldn't make out anything in the darkness so he he lit up his horn. A bright green tide swept through the tunnel he was in casting cruel shadow's onto the smooth cave wall's. More twisted visage's played off of the wall's as the colt bobbed his head to and fro looking for any hint of sunlight. Sunlight meant the surface. The surface meant a way out. Getting out meant he could get home, home to his family and friend's.
"Ohh mom and dad must be worried sick about me."
Gadget kept trotting down the dirt tunnel to what he had hoped was his freedom. He kept going until he came to another fork in the tunnel system. He looked down both branches and sighed at his option's for escape. He couldn't decide for himself and he didn't have any bit's on his person so made the choice to leave his decision up to the most powerful force of all.
"Ok eany, meany, mini, mow. Catch a pony by the toe. If he holler's-"
"Let him go!"
Gadget spun around to see a tall bipedal creature covered in short matted brown fur looming over him.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
Gadget ran down the left tunnel as fast as his hooves would allow him to. His horn blazed with more magic as he ran, his fear fueling his magic brightening the earthen corridor even more. His eye's scanned for any way out but he couldn't concentrate .
"Come on! Come on! WERE IS IT!" His mind screamed at him for an answer but he just couldn't find the one. Eventually his leg's almost gave out from underneath him.
"Come on. Just. A. Little. Further." His brain egged him on, reinforcing his will to survive. So he continued to walk.
Several hour's later Gadget was loosing all hope of ever finding a way out of these cave's.
"Come. On. Just. A. Little......"
That same mantra kept repeating in his head. At first it kept him going but now it was loosing it's effectiveness. His growing fear and paranoia was chewing at his inside's like a black fire threatening to consume him whole. Gadget was walking at a brisk pace now keeping one hoof in front of the other. His horn was beginning to fizzle out from exhaustion.
"Must. Make. It. Home."
All at once Gadget's emotion came flooding through him at full force. He began to cry and blubber in agony at the thought of never seeing his parent's again. Flash's of them went through his mind at a fast pace until one of them stopped. He starred off into space, his horn finally fizzled out, as he focused on this one memory. It was of him and his parents at Rainbow Fall's just to take a relaxing trip from there home town of ponyville. More memory's flashed before his pouring eye's.
"I remember being there. I remember the train ride, the sun was out and the rainbow's were especially bright that day."
Gadget got to his hooves and began to trot aimlessly in the same direction that he had started in.
"It was as if Celestia herself had taken the time to put the sun at just the right angle to fully bring out the beauty of those fall's."
He could see the fall's, shinning in all of there glory, he could feel the sun on his fur as-- Wait? what! Gadget opened his eye's in surprise and, SMACK!!
"Ohhh." Gadget grumbled as he rubbed his snout to get rid of the ache. When his snout stopped hurting he looked around and saw sunlight glistening from a small hole in the ceiling. When he finished scanning his surrounding's he realized he was in a small circular cave that looked like it was carved out of the earth with magic.
"Well well we meet again little pony."
"Oh no." Gadget swirled around desperately looking for any way to escape. His eye's roamed upward again at he spotted a hole in the ceiling. He briefly glanced at the rock wall behind him. He couldn't climb out that way, but then he as he looked back to the diamond dog guarding the only conceivable entrance and exit in front of him he looked beyond the monster and saw a new path to freedom. Jutting out of the cave wall was a small ledge. A diamond dog wouldn't have a chance of ascending the ledge but a small pony just might be able to make it. Carefully he hustled back against the wall.
"Oh ho ho ho is the little pony afraid?" Gadget whimpered in fear at the question.
"Ah ha ha ha good!" The diamond dog lunged at Gadget but he didn't count on the colt darting between his leg's.
"Wha?" The diamond dog didn't have time to think about how to capture the pony as he hit the wall head first. Gadget just kept running until he got to the ledge and frantically began to scramble up the ledge. He got half way up the ledge before the diamond dog woke up from his self induced head trauma.
"Were are you little pony!" The diamond dog looked around for his quarry as Gadget reached the last ledge between him and the surface. Just as his hoof touched the rim of earth his brain shouted "escape!" Only for him to recoil in both agony and fear as a huge explosion rent the air apart and a giant rainbow tore the sky's asunder. The ground around gadget began to spit apart and his hoof grasped at emptiness were there was once solid ground.
"No, no, no, no, NO!" His brain screamed out. In a last ditch attempt to gain his freedom Gadget used his magic to teleport out of the cave's. As he fell trough the air he tried to concentrate on forest. He only got a glimpse of the forest floor but that wasn't the issue stopping him. His whole short life was flashing before his eye's and that was throwing off his magic's ability to lock onto a central location.
But what go's up must come down and just as his spell was about to fire off several thing's all happened at once. Gadget's body made contact with the ground horn first. His horn snapped in two sending a massive amount of pain flooding through his body. He cried out in agony as burning hot pain shot through his body. His spell fired off and his world was consumed by darkness.
