For some reason, the final tunnel felt a hundred times longer of a distance to walk than any of the other tunnels Irradiance’s friends had been at the end of. Running through the tunnel, Irradiance swore it would take a mere minute to get to the end. But after nearly ten minutes of walking, the group was growing tired.

“Are we nearing the end yet?” Cobalt groaned, steps heavy and tired.

“I don’t see any form of light on the other side. Just more tunnel,” Leviathan responded, voice also tired. No one was very positive at this point of the adventure. Could they call it that, anymore? It felt more like a chore now. If Irradiance was a bad friend, he’d turn around and try to find an exit originating at the main cave.

They kept walking. Irradiance’s hooves clicked on the ground. In all other instances, the sound would be soothing, but Irradiance himself was growing annoyed at the repetitive stepping. It just reminded him of how long he’d been walking. There was no possible way this tunnel could be this long! Was there?

“MARIGOLD!” Hibiscus called out into the tunnel, causing all the others to cease their movement at the sudden shout. Hibiscus looked around at her friends, who were staring with wide eyes, “What? Maybe she can meet us in the middle!”

“What if she’s not even at the end of the tunnel?” Cobalt suggested.

“What in Celestia’s name are you talking about?” Irradiance gawked, smiling in disbelief. “Why even suggest that? We’ve been walking for so long! If she isn’t at the end of this tunnel…” The Unicorn felt his heart rate pick up. What if Marigold wasn’t down the tunnel? What if it was a trick to get the group to further separate and buy more time for Luster Dawn to gain power and attack Princess Twilight?

“Hey,” Leviathan walked up against Irradiance, tapping him on the side with a hoof, “Are you okay?” Irradiance sighed heavily, shaking his head.

“I wish we didn’t keep getting into situations like this. What are the odds that both times all of us are together, we wind up having to face a huge evil?”

Leviathan chuckled, shaking his head in response. “It’s kind of cool if you think about it,” He flicked his ears as the group approached a lower ceiling within the tunnel. Cobalt was lowering his entire head a few steps back from the pair of stallions. Hibiscus and Irradiance could walk comfortably, though.

“Why is it cool? I’d say it’s stressful more than anything!”

Leviathan tilted his head in consideration before speaking, “I mean, we’re all together. We’re all helping each other and none of us are alone for this. Imagine if you had to do this alone, Irradiance. Could you?” The purple stallion didn’t respond, diverting his eyes from Leviathan’s, who sighed, “I know I couldn’t. I’m glad you’re here. I’m sure Marigold is fine and once we reach her, you’ll feel better.”

Irradiance smiled gratefully at his partner’s comforts, looking forward again into the dark tunnel, no end in sight.

“Do you think Marigold managed to find a way out on her own?” Hibiscus considered, still following alongside the group. The ceiling was growing lower and lower as the ponies continued onward.

“I hope. I also hope that the cave she’s in has a normal ceiling!” Cobalt complained, nearly crawling at this point! He was by far the tallest in the group and he was struggling to keep following.

“Up… ahead!” Irradiance pointed, squinting his eyes into the area beyond where his friends’ horns were illuminating. “It looks like the tunnel is finally getting wider again!” He squeezed through, now walking side by side with Hibiscus, who seemed quite uncomfortable with the little space she had now.

“Oh, thank Celestia!” Cobalt gasped, trying to push forward. “I was starting to think I’d get stuck in here!”

With a few last shoves through the tunnel, the four ponies pushed through into the wider exit, which gave way to an extravagant cavern, lined with trees and other flora from ceiling to floor.

“Woah,” Irradiance whispered, stepping out into the few rays of light that came in through the ceiling. Out of every cavern, this was the most extravagant and most welcoming. The stallion could swear he could hear birds chirping in the cave, too!

“Marigold?” Leviathan called out, fluttering his wings, stretching them out now that he had more space to do so. He looked around, taking flight once he was far enough from the others, getting a view from above. “I don’t see her!”

“I’m here!” A sweet voice called from inside of a log, clearly a fallen tree that had once bloomed beautifully in the cave but was now wilted. Everyone had stopped searching and Leviathan had touched down once more. Out of the log stepped a familiar apricot-colored mare, smiling happily.

“Marigold!” Hibiscus rushed forward, embracing the other pony. “Oh, we were worried we wouldn’t find you!” Marigold chuckled, holding a hoof up to her mouth as she did.

“Sorry! I had fallen asleep in the tree waiting for help. The tunnel you guys came through wasn’t there earlier, I swear!” Marigold defended after getting a funny look. Cobalt nodded and came up to the mare, laying a hoof on her shoulder.

“I believe you, don’t worry,” The blue Pegasus winked exaggeratedly at the yellow mare, who rolled her eyes. A small laugh was shared among the group before reality sunk in once more.

“Have you guys seen Amber?” Marigold asked, hugs all finished. Leviathan shook his head, his red eyes sad, and his ears pressed back against his head.

“Didn’t you see her when we fell?” The Changeling reminded the mare, who shook her own head in response.

“I was closing my eyes! I was scared I’d fall down here and get really hurt!” Marigold tucked her legs close to herself as she recalled the start of this tiring venture beneath the Everfree Forest.

“Well, she’s stuck above the cave system. We won’t be able to see her again until we can get out of here,” Leviathan finished, looking around for where the beams of light were coming from. Irradiance sighed, eyes turning toward him now.

“You mean if we can get out,” The purple Unicorn remarked, seating himself on the stone floor, exhausted.

“Irradiance!” Marigold gasped, prancing over to her friend, “What do you mean if? You have to be positive!” The Earth Pony turned to look at the rest of the group, who all shared similarly downturned expressions. Tapping a hoof on the stone floor and flicking her tail in confusion, “Why are you all so upset? Haven’t you been looking for a way out, too?”

Cobalt shuffled his hooves for a moment before responding, “We’ve… kind of all been dealing with these, uh, trials, I think Irradiance called them?” The blue stallion looked to the latter for confirmation, who shrugged. Irradiance couldn’t remember everything he’d said. Cobalt continued, “I think Luster Dawn has been messing with all of us individually. Testing us or something. She offered me a way out–”

Hibiscus gaped, interrupting her friend, “She what?” The pink mare shook her head in disbelief, “Did you take the offer?”

Cobalt’s face twisted, “No way! She wanted me to leave you guys here! I’d never leave my friends!”

“Maybe you should have,” Irradiance snapped, now lying on the floor of the cave. Leviathan approached his partner carefully, concerned. Irradiance turned away from him. “I have no idea how to get out of here. Even if we take Marigold and walk down that next tunnel,” He pointed a crystalline hoof toward the next tunnel entrance, “Luster Dawn is probably waiting. She’ll probably stop us with some other stupid trial and we’ll be stuck down here even longer!” Irradiance began coughing on the last word, causing concern to emanate from all his friends at once.

“Irradiance!” Marigold rushed forward, placing a hoof on his forehead, “Oh, darling, you’re warm! Are you feeling alright?”

Leviathan shuffled his hooves, “He’s been totally drained of his magic,” the Changeling explained, to the others’ devastation, “It’s probably getting close to Luster Dawn’s final form. Actual pony form, that is.”

“We should hurry, then,” Hibiscus grabbed Irradiance’s saddlebag off of his back, lightening the load so Leviathan could carry him out of the tunnel on his own back, “Marigold, maybe you should help keep up the positivity, okay?” The yellow mare smiled warmly.

“Sure thing. I dreamed of a couple of nice things while I was in the tree, anyway. Probably my head trying to distract me from the terrible fate we’re all dealing with now!”

Ignoring all possibility of Luster Dawn showing up while they were in Marigold’s cave, the group of ponies began the walk out, exiting through the newly-appeared tunnel before rocks blocked it off once they exited.

“Woah!” Marigold remarked, flinching back as she watched the boulders roll and block the exit.

“That happens every time,” Cobalt assured. Marigold didn’t look comforted.

Leviathan stepped forward out into the main cave, looking around once more for another exit. “Irradiance, this is where you woke up, right?” The stallion nodded.

“Luster Dawn spoke to me here. She took my magic and basically said there was nothing I could do to stop her!” Irradiance exclaimed, voice hoarse. His horn lacked even the slightest spark as he tried once more to use his magic. Uneasy looks were shared by everyone present.

“It’s okay!” Marigold assured. She’d been such a positive influence thus far in the cave. “We just need to find her now, right?”

Irradiance nodded from atop Leviathan, “Yeah. She hid the Element Tree down here somewhere. We just need to find where it is.”

“Maybe it’s hidden in plain sight!” Marigold suggested for the second time. “Like where I was! Maybe she put the Element Tree under some sort of spell to camouflage it!”

“That’s a good idea, but…” Hibiscus looked back toward the blocked-off entrance. Marigold wilted only slightly.

“Oh. Right.”

There was a silence that fell over the small group. There weren’t a lot of options, now. The “hidden in plain sight” method lacked support, there was no visible exit to the next cave system, and Irradiance was weakening by the second. Luster Dawn was likely close to becoming truly corporeal and attacking Twilight in Equestria. A breeze swept through the central cavern, blowing the ponies’ manes.

“Brr,” Cobalt shivered, “Why’d it get cold in here all of a sudden?”

“Probably Luster Dawn about to make an appearance,” Irradiance said lamely, resting his head on Leviathan’s shoulder lamely. He was lacking energy and his friends hated to see him at a weak point like this.

“But Luster Dawn isn’t here. Why would the wind happen if she wasn’t appearing here?” Leviathan countered, looking around at the others. Silence struck once more before Marigold lit up.

“Because she’s somewhere else!”

“What?” Cobalt tilted his head, golden eyes narrowed, “Obviously she’s not here, Marigold. Otherwise, we’d see her!”

The yellow pony shook her head, stepping in front of the group, braided tail waving as the wind breezed through again. “No, no! I mean wind travels through open spaces, not closed ones. If the wind is coming through here it means there is an exit!”

The other three standing ponies started looking around, watching as their manes blew in the wind. “Check which direction it’s coming from!” Leviathan said quickly, looking at Hibiscus, who nodded. Summoning magic from her horn, she highlighted the wind within the cave, watching as the moving segment of air headed toward a wall of the cave.

“What?” Cobalt walked up against the wall, where the magic just… stopped. “But there’s no exit here!”

“Maybe you just need to tap it, or something!” Marigold suggested, shrugging from a distance. Cobalt made a funny face before holding out a large hoof and shoving it through the wall.

“WOAH!”

“Cobalt!” The other four ponies exclaimed, even Irradiance raising his head as the blue Pegasus disappeared from sight. Silence and then a response came from the other side of the wall.

“Hey! I found the exit!” Cobalt called. A joint sigh left the ponies’ mouths. “Come through the wall! It’s just an illusion!”

Marigold grinned, running to the wall and leaping through, quickly followed by Hibiscus. Leviathan turned his head to look at Irradiance, who had hope in his eyes.

“Do you want to walk through on your own, or do you still need the support?” The Changeling looked at his partner with a gentle look. Irradiance smiled, appreciative. Slowly, the purple Unicorn stepped off of the former’s back, laying shaky legs on the stone floor.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Irradiance assured, green mane falling in his face as he watched his feet, steadying himself. “If Luster Dawn is behind that wall I’d hate to look weak as we fight her.”

“Needing help isn’t admitting weakness, Irradiance,” Leviathan assured with a look at the Unicorn.

“Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean.” Irradiance waved off his partner with a dark hoof. The pair stood for a moment before stepping through the wall together, falling down a step and nearly losing their balance completely.

“Woah!” Leviathan exclaimed, catching himself in flight as Irradiance tripped and fell onto the hard stone floor.

“Ouch…” The Unicorn uttered, slowly pushing himself up.

“Sorry, Irradiance!” Hibiscus helped up her friend, purple magic surrounding him to gain his balance back. “I meant to catch you with my magic when you guys stepped through, but I got distracted.”

“Distracted?” Irradiance raised an eyebrow, “Distracted by what?” Hibiscus pointed behind her.

A figure descended from the top of the cave, flapping its wings threateningly as it landed before the small group of ponies.

“By this,” The figure was illuminated by the light emanating from the tree behind it.

“Amber!” Leviathan cried, looking forward to the Dragon Lord Amber herself, who had an uneasy expression on her face.

“Hi, Leviathan. Hey, Irradiance,” A wave was exchanged between the latter and Amber. “You guys have been looking for this, haven’t you?”

Turning to look behind the yellow Dragon, Irradiance gasped as he was met with the image of the item that had cursed him all those years ago: The Element Tree.

Author's Note

trying to make longer chapters!!!!! i have the end sort of planned out and then a third book also planned.... we'll see how it goes :)