Wandering

Chapters

Waking Up
Wandering Into the Unknown
Lights
C-o-f-f-e-e
Down, Down, Down From Radiant’s Cafe

Waking Up

With a dull thump the world slowly came to Radiant Spark. And then another.

The filly lay there for some several long minutes, her mind as weak and discontinuous as the painful throbbing of her skull.

Eventually when she did manage to open her eyes she found herself blinded. Tenuously she reached for her eyes with her hooves, rubbing away any dust or debris obstructing her vision.

Finally catching sight of the world she found it little lighter than thick layer of dust that her eyes had just been caked in, indeed, her eyes stung more than when they had been shut.

Her world felt endless, but narrow and restricting, it was formless, but lacked everything but clear outlines, perceptions of distances and rough, jagged sketches of walls alongside only the most basic of other structures.

The ground beneath her was solid and cold, she was weak, although at least for now warm in comparison.

Shakily the young filly stood up on her four hooves, much of the debris she was covered in falling from her coat and mane as she stood.

As she became more accustomed to the world around her, and moreover consciousness, she found herself standing on firmer hooves, healthy asides from the constant repeating throbbing that ran right from the centre of her brain to either side of her skull and right to the tip her straight ears.

Her mind stood almost as blank as her surroundings. She couldn’t quite remember where she was, how she had gotten here, or much of anything aside from her name, and the ominous felling that whatever she had found herself in it was very wrong. She didn’t belong here, wherever here was.

She also felt alone, but she couldn’t quite remember why. Like a presence had left her, a presence that seemed as essential as the hooves she stood on, but the presence of what, her mind simply blanked out.

Her mind did not even attempt to recall such a presence or speculate on what it might have been, as to her she simply was in this moment, there was nothing in her past to recall or think of, save the past few minutes or so of confusion and fecklessness.

Finding her hooves once again the little filly looked to her side, and trotting towards one of the closer looking outlines tentatively ran her hoof along it.

It was hard and rough, like lots of little jagged things all piled together to make one far bigger structure. She found that these rough surfaces got bigger and at least a little smoother the further and higher she reached with her little hooves back.

Her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness and she found each of the objects to be fairly consistent with one another. Each had a roughly smooth surface and was covered in the smaller rougher objects her hoof had just made contact with. They assumed no clear shape, although they were all similarly circular in the loosest sense, with a few being somewhat more elongated.

It wasn’t long before she was able to surmise that she was standing in front of a large face of rocks, slightly inclining backwards the higher the rocks got.

Examining the world to either side of herself she found two solid walls, clearly made from the same kind of substance as the rock face, but solid and unbroken.

In the opposite direction she found only darkness, a seemingly endless tunnel that to her knowledge could last unchanging for a hundred miles, or end in a similar wall or pile of rocks in a mere 100 steps.

Turning back towards the rocks she had just been examining she felt a strange clinging feeling surge through her body, remaining there. Now seemingly far safer and more known than the endless abyss at the back of her.

Trotting back towards the rock face the confused filly simply lay her throbbing ear against its surface, listening, the throbbing in her skull seemingly to fade somewhat as she rested her head.

Closing her eyes all was silent, save for her calm regular breaths and the faint beating of her heart, her headache residing just enough to allow her to appreciate both.

She found herself yearning for sleep, but her mind was far too alert for that by this point. So reluctantly after a solid half hour or so of simply lying she got back to her hooves and decided to make something more of her surroundings, heading off into the only other direction she was unfamiliar with.

Wandering Into the Unknown

Hesitantly taking a few steps into the abyss Radiant soon found that the darkness did indeed continue far further than than her other three directions, although this was little comfort as she was slowly drawn away from her comfortable rock face into the unknown.

The little filly continued for a good half an hour into the darkness, albeit on small and anxious hooves, until she finally found something of some note, nothing behind her being substantially different than where she had started off.

Standing before here were two separate but very similar looking tunnels, each much like the one she had been travelling down. Veered off to the left, and the other to the right.

Between them stood some sort of black metal cage in the shape of a basket, built into the very face of the wall. Looking up to the basket it didn’t seem contain anything other than a far smaller cylindrical metal stand that the young filly imagined might something long or tall in the same shape as the stand itself.

Looking back towards the two tunnels before she now noticed that an arrow pointed each way. One blue, the other green, and like the basket was made of a material yet foreign to the cave, wood.

Picking a path at random Radiant followed the green arrow, heartened both by the idea that she was making some progress, and knowing despite her faulty memory that such things could have only been left another pony.

Unfortunately this path didn’t prove too fruitful, although wasn’t quite as abysmal as her approach to it had been.

For hours she continued down the tunnel, stumbling into the occasional larger cavern or other chamber, the darkness leading her aimlessly around in circles.

Her journey was however intervaled by the odd metal basket or two, which she had thankfully found not to all be empty.

Passing one such basket she had given herself quite the surprise, as seeming to detect her presence it immediately sparked to life, revealing a bright magical touch inside, lit by a simple but powerful magical aura that shown from in.

Taking the touch she now got a better look at her surroundings, and was quite astonished upon travelling into on of the cave systems many caverns to find the entire celling, which had previously stretched far higher than her weak eyes could see, to be litter end to end with bright white, almost crystal like stalactites, hanging down from the roof in magnificently long spirals.

Re-entering each cavern she found similar formations in each, with some having accompanying spiralling rods jutting out from the very ground around her, and even the walls.

Trailing around the caverns it wasn’t too long until she was able to recognise quite a few distinctive features from the light of her touch, allowing herself to become more familiar with the caverns, eventually making her way back out.

Standing before each way again, now a little more confident with her guiding light in tow, Radiant silently made her way towards the blue arrow and down its path.

Lights

A mere few minutes into her journey down the opposite tunnel she began to notice the faint echoing sound of dripping liquid, the only other besides her own hoofsteps.

Another uneventful twenty minutes or so passed, the dripping fading in and out of her ears, although noticeably coming back louder and almost more melodious each time, before the narrow walls slowly began to widen, and she caught the faint appearance of an entrance away of in the distance from her.

Quickening her trot to a canter, although not quite running, even the small increase in speed going to the throbbing in her head, the young filly soon arrived at the entrance of the tunnel, although what she saw was not a cavern, but something far more stunning, almost other worldly.

Immediately as she left the tunnel’s entrance her torch’s light diminished in the bright glow of what seemed to be a thousand little lights, or one as mighty and powerful as the sun.

Before her lay a large, wide wooden promenade, freshly painted in a deep oak brown, which seemed to stretch on either way for at least a good hundred if not a hundred fifty hooves each way.

Turning around she could see the source of the light as dozens upon dozens of little lights, much like her torch only far more powerful, lined the cave walls behind the promenade. The thing itself seemed to hanging of the edge of a sharp cliff, strong think wooden beams arching down from the walls to hold it up.

These however were only secondary to what really caught her attention. Hanging over and out from the promenade like a million swirling lights were the same long white spires she had seen before, only a thousandfold more numerous, long, and complex. Each one also let off gentle little drips of water, which as a whole made a kind of calm but lively symphony which could be heard echoing throughout the very walls of the cave.

The signing of the spires reverberated through every object in sight, including herself, allowing her to almost feel their sweet nature melody slipping under her coat to warm her very bones.

The dripping was constant, but done so in such a way that the melody of their song could flow like a real musical piece, surrounding and echoing through the large expanse as if it were the world’s biggest amphitheater.

Trotting her way down the promenade, the young filly came across something almost as exciting as the pure spectacular of awe before, a small door, not an entrance to another tunnel or cavern, but a simple wooden door that seemed to radiate head from some unknown source.

Overcome with curiosity she soon turned her attention towards the door, opening it to find that it gave way with little resistance, albeit with slightly creaking hinges.

Entering through it she found a brightly lit and rather cozy room, no bigger than a small cafe, and arranged in much the same manner, with several small tables and pillows at one side, and a counter lined with freshly preserved food at the other.

The room seemed to be a brief respite from the icy cold darkness of the caves, and to a certain extent even the echoing melody that could be heard outside its walls. Being perfectly silent, overly lit and heated, only the walls themselves, carved from the very stone of her surroundings, gave any hint of where she might be.

Approaching the counter the young filly was delighted to find it strewn with a small banquet of cakes, cream buns, sandwiches and various other goodies. Finding herself suddenly attacked with a hunger she hadn’t notice from all of her tiresome trotting.

Running around the counter the filly quickly snatched up a large piece of chocolate cake, hungrily devouring it alongside a few other sweets until she felt her belly bursting and her teeth sore from the sugar.

Her belly full, and hunger more than done away with for now Radiant began exploring her way around the small cafe, searching through each and every drawer and cupboard she could find.

Other than a few common kitchen implements such as knives, forks, plates, alongside a few pots and pans Radiant didn’t find much of interest. She did however find a small cupboard full of tea bags, a few sacks of sugar and flour, and a glass jar full of strange brown specks of something, a little bigger than the sugar.

Opening the jar she took a deep whiff inside. The smell was strange, but pleasantly so. She couldn’t quite place it, but if she had to she had to she’d have described it as dark, strong, and warm, with a certain sweetness.

Taking a small teaspoon in her magic she scooped up a healthy spoonful of strange substance, putting it directly into her mouth, almost immediately spitting it back up from the bitterness and sheer strength of its flavour.

Rushing towards a bin she spat the stuff into a small tissue she had found, throwing into away with her magic.

Looking back towards the small jar she picked it up in her hooves, sounding the letters out on the label. “C-o-f-f-e-e.”

Finding another sign featuring the new word she had learnt alongside a steaming cup of black liquid she quickly surmised that the stuff was meant to be brewed over a stove.

Knowing that flour didn’t taste particularly great either, but was an essential ingredient in the cakes she had eaten the young filly made sure to make a mental note.

Continuing her search she found a modest storage cupboard, equally as warm and light as the room outside. Inside she was very grateful to find a few small creates filled with sacks of preserved bread, cheese, vegetables, fruit, as well as more sweets, flour sugar, and of course c-o-f-f-e-e. Although it wasn’t much, possibly enough to last a filly her size as much as two weeks or even a month if she wasn’t too greedy.

Wandering back around the cafe, she wasn’t able to find much else, other than a small working toilet and a quick look over each of the empty tables.

It wasn’t too long after that Radiant began yawing with sheer exhaustion. Taking a few pillows she snuck back behind the cafe counter, finding a nice corner to fall asleep in.

C-o-f-f-e-e

Waking up the young filly immediately reached over to the kitchen counter to grab herself a quick breakfast, taking a small bun shaped cake and two cheese, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches.

Finishing off her breakfast she let out a loud yawn, arching her back and stretching out her legs.

Taking a quick tort around to double check that she hadn’t missed anything yesterday, and finding nothing, Radiant approached the small exit she had come through, looking back expectantly, as if the small room might disappear as she left.

The first thing she noticed upon leaving the place was brisk cold air of the cave, the second, more warming, being the melodious tune of the cave, no less beautiful or stultifying than it had been before.

Taking a right she trotted her way down to the end of the promenade, hoping to find another door or two, or anything else she might be able to use, knowing that her little safe haven could only keep her fed for so long.

Reaching the end she found that the banister and the wooden trotway itself simply swung around to meet the cave wall, and peering over the edge she found the drop just as uninterrupted and steep as she had anywhere else.

Trotting over to the rightmost end she similarly found another steep drop. Although it didn’t fully sink in quite yet, she knew that she’d have to find some way down then, it was her only option asides from simply remaining in her snuggly little cafe until she inevitably ran out of food and water.

Returning back to the cafe with nothing else to do the young filly decided to try and make herself some c-o-f-f-e-e, if for no other reason than to see if it would taste as bad when it was properly prepared.

Taking a few good spoonfuls of the stuff and a heaping of sugar she tossed both into a pot with about five or so cups full of water, brewing the whole thing over the stove for a good few minutes.

Finishing off she gave it another minute to cool down before using her magic to levitate the liquid directly from the pot into a large cup for herself.

Taking a sip she found it pleasantly sweet, although she struggled to place the flavour of the thing itself. Although she hadn’t drank anything other than water in the past two days, and could remember drinking anything before then, she somehow knew that she hadn’t had anything quite like this.

Allowing her cup to cool a little more before finishing the drink Radiant had another quick snack.

Then suddenly finding herself quite neurotic and buzzing with energy the young filly desperately trod around the cafe looking for anything to do.

Finding nothing, having explored the entirety of her prison just yesterday she began to amuse herself with what little she had, using some of the tables and food sacks to build herself a fortress, and taking any kitchen implement she could find as a kind mock weapon to defend her new castle.

Having bored of that she left the cafe behind, skipping her way up and down the promenade to once again check if she missed anything. Checking every nook and cranny several times over she found nothing other than a shiny rocks of varying sizes, one of which, being a little prettier and more well formed than the others she took with her for safe keeping.

Peeking back around the entrance that lead into the cavern and cascade of rocks she had woken up beside she found herself too anxious to take even a step inside, so she returned back to her cozy little home, having re-explored much of her little world.

With nothing else to do Radiant simply sat around and played idly, bringing a few sandwiches, some fruit, and cake out to eat by the sweet music of the singing spires when she became hungry.

She continued like this for the rest of the night, until growing tired she searched around the cafe for something she could make a better bed out of. Finding one of the old wooden crates where most of the cafe’s food was being stored she dragged it out, bringing it behind the counter to where she had slept last night.

Gathering together all the pillows she could find she lay half inside the crate itself, putting the rest directly around it before the little filly crawled inside, curling up into an adorable fluffy and falling into a comfortably warm sleep.

The following day she woke up and repeated virtually the whole process over again, coffee and all, finding that the increasingly enticing substance definitely had some great effect on her.

Then crawling back into her crate, throwing a think cloth she had taken from one tables over it to enclose herself nice and comfy inside, falling to sleep again on the third night, with plans to finally continue her journey, hopefully out from the cave tomorrow.

Down, Down, Down From Radiant’s Cafe

Waking on the fourth day the young filly continued her morning routine, taking it slow and allowing herself to appreciate her cozy little home for the last time before she prepared to put her plan into action.

Over the course of the past few days she had intermittently searched for a way beyond the promenade, quickly surmising that the only way out was down.

Searching for some way to get down she found nothing, not even ledge or other natural structure she could use to precariously climb or hop her way down from, and the drop was several times high enough to kill a grown, never mind a small filly.

Also realising that she’d need food water, and preferably something to sleep on she quickly saw her crate bed as a must if she was going to attempt to make her way down into the vast cavern alone, realising just how much food alone she’d be able to fit into it, even more so if she could manage to get two crates down there somehow.

The only question being how she could get both herself and a whole crate full of supplies down from such a high cliff. Thinking along this line though it wasn’t too long until she came to a solution.

If she were to hop inside the crate she could simply use her magic to levitate both it and herself down to the bottom of the cavern bellow, letting gravity do a lot of the work.

So awhile after waking up and having her morning coffee the little filly set to work gathering everything she would need for her journey. Taking as much food as she could comfortably fit inside one of the crates alongside a few jars of water, sticking a knife and a few sharper tools in there as well.

Inside the other she placed a single pillow, a few covers she had gotten from the tables around her, her lucky shiny rock that she had found earlier, a little more water, and of course, her coffee, leaving plenty of room for herself in the middle of the pillow.

Then soon after stuffing her face full of whatever little food she couldn’t carry and a healthy amount of water Radiant grasped the heaviest crate in her magic pulling it over to the entrance and out of the door, doing the same with the other crate, finally lining both up right against the railing at the end of the promenade.

With great effort, given the weight of the box, she was just about able to get it over the railing, letting it gently descend in her telekinetic grip, until some distance away from her the task eventually became much more strenuous, the distance eventually proving too great for her magic, causing her to lose her grip completely.

Luckily she had gotten the first crate a good three quarters of the way down, falling the rest of the way with a loud bang.

Peering over she knew that it was now her turn.

Hoping inside her crate Radiant closed her eyes, taking a deep sigh before she released her magical grip around base and side of the crate, gently tugging on it before she lifted herself up in another bout of magical endurance.

Pulling herself over the side she found the task a good bit easier, weighing less than the other crate, and making no distance between herself and it for obvious reasons.

With a thump she landed beside the other crate, finding to her dismay that the wood had been shattered, leaving most everything inside exposed.

Hurriedly gathering together whatever wasn’t too damaged she tried to force it back into the crate, bending, buckling, and hammering the wooden planks in a desperate attempt to get them back into place. All of her efforts resulting in her vainly breaking the planks into even smaller pieces.

Finally breaking down the poor filly let out a tremendous scream, balling her eyes out next a few broken glass jars, once filled with water, and a burst sack of sugar.

Still in tears, she scraped together what little she could and put inside of her own crate, finding the coffee jar, one water jar, and most of the food to be intact and edible.

Then, gathering herself, she took a good look round at where she was, shining her torch off into the darkness.

To her dismay she found that the right side of the cavern ended in a simple cliff, no further than she could see. It wasn’t half as tall as the promenade above, but still impossible, thankfully though, the direction seemed to go on for at least some time.

Taking a few minutes, she decided to venture off at least a small distance, not wanting to stray too far from what was left of her provisions.

Trotting alongside the cliff wall for ten minutes or so her ears eventually began to pick up a faint noise, aside from the constant and still very audible singing of the spires high above.

Rushing towards this noise she was delighted to find a moderately sized stream, solving her water problems at least, and possibly leading to a way out, if not at least indicating a way forward.

The stream came down from an equally sized waterfall, which was however unfortunately too steep and tall for her to get a good look over.

From there her choice was obvious, and it was only now that she reflected on how stupid it had been to think that she’d be able to do much of anything with the weight of two crates behind her.

Her immediate thought upon seeing the water was to use her little crate as a kind of boat, if she had two and the river hadn’t been there she’d have found it near impossible to make any progress with them.

Excitedly following alongside it on hoof for a few minutes she found that it did appear to continue on for at least some distance, worthy of a voyage.

Rushing back two her crate she once again tried to force feed herself to eat anything she couldn’t carry with her before arduously pushing the crate, both with her telekinesis and her own strength towards the river.

It took her closer to half an hour than ten minutes to move all of her stuff, but eventually she moved everything she’d be taking with her alongside the river.

All that was left was to see if her makeshift vessel was seaworthy.

Author's Note

The title of this chapter is a reference to this song, one of my girlfriend’s favourites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWm7tz2TOV0