Beat swayed her pink tail left and right as she examined the foals in front of her. "Really?"

"Really!" The filly that was in charge of their little club hopped forward with a huge smile. "It's our favorite game. We split into teams, then go explore somewhere dark and scary."

Pulse tilted his head. "And what do we find there? Scary things?" He laughed softly at that. "Why would we go looking for scary things?"

The filly waved her hoof at that. "Because it's fun, and we get to know that we're brave enough to do it. We explore the darker places, together, and look for anything cool."

A colt ahead of her smirked at Beat and Pulse. "Wanna join? If you do, we'll show you around the kingdom after." Noises of encouragement rose from all around, the other foals urging their new metal friends to come along.

Beat looked at Pulse with a smile, seeing he was just as eager to have fun with the others. "We accept your offer. Thank you, friends." She trotted along at the head of the little group, meeting with her sibling.

"If you want to run and be a scout, I can take the back and make sure we don't get separated." Beat inclined her head ahead. "I do not think organic ponies can operate in the darkness very well. They will need your assistance."

Pulse thumped his chest with a clang. "I'm ready!" As if to prove that, his eyes began to glow gently, barely visible in the light of day. "I'll keep them safe." He pointed at Beat. "And you keep me safe. I'm scared of the dark too."

Beat reached over and bumped noses with her sibling. "Silly! Why are you scared of the dark? We can fight the dark."

"Yeah." He sounded not entirely convinced, but they went together, galloping alongside the other foals on the way to their little bravery challenge.

They soon found themselves at what was little more than a hole. It was ignored by the adults, but certainly not the children. They clambered inside, giggling with excitement.

Beat's eyes could also glow in the dark. Hers and Pulse's illuminated their surroundings, casting a faint halo around each other and their foal companions.

"Ooh!"

The tunnel dropped steeply down. As they made their way inside, the floor leveled off and widened. Each step brought something new to wonder at. The walls glittered with crystal fragments, some sharp, others smooth.

Pulse walked up to one of those crystals and reared up to run their hooves over the surface. "There are some of these inside me." He laughed and continued on with his friends. "It's pretty here."

A foal pointed at Beat and Pulse, calling attention to the metal companions. "You're living dolls, right? Can you see in the dark?"

Beat and Pulse looked at each other and nodded. Beat answered. "Yes. We are different from organic ponies, but we can see very well." Beat pointed at his head, and his glowing eyes. "We can make our own light."

He looked around, sending the arc of his light dancing with the movement. "And we can share it with you."

The foals glanced at one another with excitement.

"What do you mean? Do you have magic powers?" One filly stepped forward.

Beat giggled. "We're unicorns. So yes. But, um, the eyes aren't unicorn magic. They're doll magic!" Beat clapped her hooves, proud of what she was. "We have both kinds of magic, unicorn and doll."

Pulse bounced on his hooves. "Sis can shoot magic lasers and make things float. I can touch things and know a lot about them."

The foals gave appreciative noises at that. One raised a hoof. "That's unicorn stuff, but how do you just touch stuff and know about them?"

Pulse tried to think of how to explain it. "Um, unicorn magic is more like throwing the stuff around, right? Making things fly or float or push? That's their magic." He nodded to himself. "Doll magic is all in the inside." He twirled in place. "It's how we were made. Our parents worked hard to make us full of neat stuff."

"Okay, that's weird." A foal put their hooves to their hips. "What's so neat about you?"

Beat peered at Pulse a moment, letting him take this one. Pulse scampered forward and pounced a crystal. "Mmm, this one was above ground a long time ago. A groundshake brought it underground. Um, when it was up there, a crystal pony used to like sitting next to it and doing poetry, aw."

Pulse withdrew with a shrug. "We can tell where things come from, how old they are, what they're made of. Stuff like that." He laughed and touched a wall. "Crystals like these can speak to me, in their own way."

Beat snickered softly. "That is a 'Pulse' trick. I can't do that. I have my own tricks." She walked ahead along the tunnel. "Let's keep going!"

The little group of foals gathered up and advanced as one, Beat and Pulse helping their friends see where they were going. The foals were all earth crystal ponies, so they had no little horns to light the way. It was good fortune for them they had two glowing dolls to bring along, allowing them to penetrate the cave further than they usually dared.

Their voices echoed with giggles and laughter, and not just from the foals. Beat and Pulse both kept pace with the others, but moved slowly enough that they didn't get too far ahead. Beat jumped as a big drop of water landed on her from above. She glanced up to see another dotting Pulse.

Beat stopped and blinked. "You've been down here before, right?"

"Of course." The leader laughed and bounded along, joining the rest of the group. "Maybe not this far though." They let out a tense laugh even as they struggled to look brave about it.

Pulse stopped at his sister's side, the foals still pushing ahead. He shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, then let's keep going."

Beat watched him run on, considering that drop of water and what she had felt. "Stay together." She walked with the other foals, trying to nudge them closer to one another. "Just in case we need to be in a group."

The foals perked at that. Their expressions changed as the joy of adventure changed to a flicker of worry. One asked in a small voice, "Why would we need to be a group?"

Beat considered. "Well, if something surprising happens, you'll be happy to have friends right there." She swept her hooves around. "These tunnels are old. The ground shakes sometimes, and parts fall down." She nudged a loose stone away with her hoof. "Even a little place like this can be dangerous."

One colt squeaked. "Oh! Um, can we go back?"

Their leader, the filly, scoffed. "Don't be a little wimp. We're seeing whole new parts of this cave! It's exciting, not scary!"

Beat took a deep breath, looking between the colts and fillies around her. She couldn't see Pulse. "Did Pulse go ahead? Pulse, please return to within sight."

Pulse turned a corner up ahead. "Why? There's so much to see. Like this. It's an old story. Hm, about— Ooh, fighting, and living underground." He was feeling along a little crystal formation. "Ooo. Did you know there used to be underground creatures?"

The foals started pushing through the little tunnel to reach him. Beat walked at the back, letting them take the lead. One of the fillies paused, looking back at Beat. "Aren't you coming?"

"I am coming. I am protecting your backsides." She glanced about, clearly on guard. "And keeping an eye out for any surprises."

The colt with her called back, "Thanks! We've never gone this far in before."

Beat turned a hoof to the ceiling, watching as another droplet of water formed on a crystal there. "Warning, danger detected." Their voice was artificial and forced. "Odds of incident increasing."

One filly from the lead called back. "What? What are you talking about?"

Beat stood tall as she strolled forward, hearing the rocks shift above them. "It's going to—"

The tunnel shook as something rattled, followed by a rockfall from ahead. The rocks were only the start, water flooding down with them. In an instant, the tunnel went from dry to entirely submerged. The foals in front screamed as they dove under the rushing water. They lost one another, panicking as their world had become nothing but frantic swimming, thrashing legs and tails, and scrambling hooves.

Beat found a colt and hugged them close as she walked through the water. Her heavy metal body wasn't good at swimming, but it also kept her anchored to the floor as she walked purposefully.

Pulse grabbed the tail of another foal, doing much the same thing. Both were trying to walk against the flow where they hoped there would be air for their friends.

The tunnel ahead was filled with foals clawing for purchase, scrabbling along the ceiling as they looked for any crack or pocket that might allow them to breath. The sound of them drowning echoed in the metal ears of the dolls.

Beat released the colt she had gotten that far. "Protection program." She began to unfold, brilliant light scattering from her as she reared back. With a great forward punch of a hoof, she struck the ceiling. The stone gave way in a terrific explosion. Brilliant shards of crystal flew away from her attack. The falling water twisted and scattered into mist.

Pulse leapt up behind her, bodily throwing himself onto the hole she had made, smashing it wider and deeper until he could stick his head up into it. Light spilled down around him, proving they had found the exit. He waved to his friends. "Come on! I'll pull you up!"

Beat recovered from her first attack. She turned about as the foals followed Pulse up through the hole she had made. She saw a filly, the leader, not moving. She grabbed her and carried her up and through the hole. As soon as all the foals were accounted for, she sank to her haunches. "Are there any injuries?"

The foals huddled together, soaking wet but still alive. Their bodies shivered, but they pulled in breaths. Some looked at their hooves or legs. "Ow."

One colt gazed down the hole they had emerged from. "We almost drowned!"

Another laughed. "That was cool."

The first swatted them, initiating a wrestling bout over the matter.

Pulse arrived, approaching Beat. "I didn't know you could do that."

Beat brushed water off her body with a grunt. "That wasn't doll magic. That was golem magic. We can only do it to protect something precious."

Pulse waved at the recovering foals. "Our new friends count. I'm glad you did it." The two met, forehead to forehead, in a moment of quiet.

Beat smiled at him. "We couldn't let them drown. I'm glad they're okay."

Pulse pointed back at the hole they had escaped through. "Um, I hope this doesn't mess up our underground adventures."

The leader filly shook her head. "Pretty sure that's the last time we're doing that. I almost, um, we're not doing that again." She stood tall with a stubborn smile. "But I bet we've been farther underground than any other pony."

One colt bounced around. "And Beat punched the ceiling open! That was so cool!"

An adult pony arrived on the scene. "What was that boom?!" She spotted the foals. "Why are you wet?"

The foals waved as if nothing was wrong. "We went too far down, but then Beat broke us out! It was super cool!"

The adult glanced at the two metal foals, but the attention was largely on the others, as wet and haggard as they looked. "Let's get you all dry. This way."

Author's Note

What brave, and foalish, foals. At least none of them got hurt in any lasting fashion. Beat showed she can go into defense mode like momma.

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