"Ten bits we're not going to make it out alive." Rainbow Dash murmured, shifting her weight from side to side as she stared warily into the oppressive darkness of the cave directly in front of us.
"Make it a hundred, since I'm inclined to agree with you on this one, Rainbow." I sigh, there's no point in denying it to anypony, we're likely not coming out of this cave whole. "Why are we going into a terrifying cave in the middle of the night again?"
"Twilight says there's a powerful artifact relatively deep in the cave, she says that Empress Celestia's crown ended up in the cave somehow. Pssh, like some ancient legend's crown would end up anywhere else but in the hooves of greedy nobles."
Despite my best efforts I let out a soft huff of laughter, casting Astraea's enhanced magelight spell to illuminate the cave in front of me slightly. "Or she could've hidden her crown in the cave for a reason, to protect it from falling into the wrong hooves maybe?"
"Eh.."
"Legends do say that she and her sister held their power in their crowns, so it'd make sense that she'd have it well hidden to make it impossible for ponies to just.. stumble upon it."
"You're such an egghead Sunset. I still think that Celestia and Luna are myths, nopony has ever been that powerful and if the sun and moon had to be moved by somepony then why are they moving on their own?"
I roll my eyes, and step towards the cave tentatively. My ears are swiveling and my eyes are peeled, quite frankly this cave freaks me out; it might've simply been my claustrophobia screaming at me to stay away but the whole cave's vibe seems off. "You sure you don't wanna come back when it's daylight? We can head back to camp and-"
"You're scared."
"I'm not!" I protest weakly, my ears folding back slightly due to Rainbow Dash correctly pointing it out. She could be infuriatingly observant at times. "I'm being cautious is all, Rainbow Dash. It's not exactly normal to go caving in the middle of the night to retrieve an artifact that may or may not even exist."
"Well duh, that's obvious but we're already here and camp's about a two mile hike back and I'd rather not have to come back here tomorrow. I wouldn't mind if we were both pegasai Sunset but-"
"I'm a unicorn and I can't 'just teleport us to the cave and back' like you'd hoped." I finish for her, looking over at the mare. "We'd gone over this several times already. I suppose you're right though, we already have a map of the cave and know where the crown is rumored to be but I hoped the cave would be less.. er.. unsettling."
"Bad vibes?" She asked, causing me to halt my advance for a moment.
"No, not necessarily bad, but definitely off." I stop and turn to face her fully, I could tell she was a little scared as well just from her body language. Her muscles were taut, her ears were perked and swiveling near constantly, and her wings twitched slightly at her sides. "You ever get that feeling like somepony's watching you and they're not happy you're there?"
No response from Rainbow, so I continue; occasionally glancing over my shoulder at the entrance to the cave to make sure nothing's coming at us. "I'm getting the same feeling from this cave but increased greatly, the feeling's so strong I'm starting to think a charm or hex has been cast on this cave to prevent wanderers from drawing near since there are several spells capable of providing such strong feelings."
"Soooo.. You think somepony cast a spell on this cave to keep ponies out?"
"Precisely. At least that's what I'm starting to suspect."
"Whaddya say we do now?" She tilted her head to the side curiously, I can see it in her eyes, that stubborn look that means she wants to push through the discomfort and continue searching for Celestia's crown. "You don't wanna go back to camp after we'd come so far, do ya?"
"I do, if there are spells involved- especially if it may be ancient magic- we need to be careful, we should go back to camp and I'll send a letter to Astraea or Daydream tomorrow asking for their help."
"Aw c'mon professor, we've come s-"
"No." My tone is harsher than I intended, I hold up a forehoof as a gesture for her to not open her mouth further. "No. If it is ancient magic I'm not willing to take unnecessary risks-" I sit down on my haunches and run my raised forehoof through my tangled, messy mane. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap, but this cave isn't normal and I really don't think it's a good idea to go in right now."
Rainbow doesn't respond right away and I start to feel guilty for what I said, she can be stubborn and a little too confident that it borders on arrogant at times but she is a good mare. "It's fine, I get what you mean Sunset."
I don't bother to reply, pushing myself off my haunches I take several steps away from the cave's entrance. I start the two mile trek back to camp, glancing over my shoulder to make sure my partner's still there every so often out of.. paranoia perhaps? If the Whispering Hollow is eerie in broad daylight then it's absolutely terrifying at night, a layer of mist clings to the forest floor as we walk; the whole forest has a melancholic air about it as if the trees have seen unspeakable things that they long to tell somepony about yet can't.
"Sunset Shimmer?"
I halt mid step, my forehoof still raised slightly as I crane my neck to look at Rainbow Dash slightly behind me. "Hm?"
"Do you hear that?"
My brows furrow and I swivel my ears to try to hear what's caught her attention. "No. I don't."
"Exactly." Her ears droop significantly and it's then I realize what's spooking her. The forest is dead silent, there's not a single sound, not even the wind rustling the leaves of the trees.
I suck in air through my teeth and attempt to steady my now shaky breathing, the forest wasn't this silent five minutes ago and if I were going to be completely honest with anypony: Rainbow and I are woefully unprepared for a confrontation, if something is out there looking for a fight we will be fighting essentially blind. "Let's go." I don't give her time to protest, I break out into a trot towards the safety of the camp and our friends.
Rainbow falls into step beside me, the only sounds I hear in the forest around us are our rapid hoofbeats on the forest floor, the snapping of twigs and crunching of leaves underhoof, and our heavy breathing. As much as we both want to gallop back to camp, we have to keep our bearings; if we get lost in the forest it'll definitely end in tragedy.
I don't know how much time had passed when we made it to camp, but the moment I saw our friends I let out a shaky sigh of relief and slowed down to allow myself time to catch my breath.
"Fillies! What happened to you darlings? You both look absolutely dreadful." Rarity was the first to speak up, followed by a chorus of agreement from the others and worried looks from everypony.
"We should sit down around the fire, I'll get us some water." I glance over at Dash who didn't need to be told twice. My attention returns to Rarity who looks horrified, whether by my dirtied coat and messy mane or genuine worry I can't tell. With a hoof I gesture towards the fire. "It'd be best if we're all sitting and warm for this, it's not really a long story but it's a rather confusing one."
Once I'd got both myself and Rainbow some water, I head to the fire and sit down next to Applejack and Fluttershy while I telekinetically levitate the filled flask to my adventure buddy. "Alright fillies, you all know how Rainbow Dash and I earlier went to attempt to retrieve the crown, well we did locate the cave." Twilight opened her mouth and I held a forehoof up to stop her. "However there appears to be hexes and charms placed upon it to prevent wanderers from drawing too near which may prove one of two things: one, the crown is indeed in the cave and an ancient had done it to protect the crown from falling into the wrong hooves, or two, there is something else in the cave that somepony doesn't want found and is willing to use rather powerful magic to protect."
"Professor?"
My ears flick and my gaze lands on Twilight Sparkle who looks like she has a lot on her mind. "Yes Twilight?"
"You didn't go into the cave did you?"
"Nope." Rainbow Dash piped up from next to Rarity, holding her forehooves over the fire to warm them. "Sunset made us both go back and said she'll send a letter to Astraea or Daydream in the morning."
"Y'Think that some smugglers might be hidin' their goods in that cave?"
"Oh nonsense Applejack, why would they hide their.. 'Goods' in a cave far away from any civilization?" The alabaster mare attempted to answer Applejack's question, causing me to think more into the matter.
"Could be used as a base of operations. Not a storage cave but a hideaway." Fluttershy stood up to get another log for the slowly dying fire, walking over to the wood pile and picking up two or three wood pieces.
"We're getting off topic, we'll find out when we do go into the cave. Professor Shimmer is probably right, I'd like to go study the charm in the morning if that's okay with you professor."
I was staring into the fire, when I heard my name my ears perked up and I looked to Twilight who was looking at me with hopeful eyes. "Always hungry for knowledge, aren't you Miss Sparkle?" My lips quirk upwards, I couldn't help but lightly tease my student. "I think that'll be a good idea, we'll set off again in the morning after I send my letter to Astraea and Daydream."
"Who even are they, Twi?" Applejack asked.
"Two of my other professors at Canterlot's School for Gifted Unicorns. Astraea teaches alchemy and Daydream teaches hexes and curses, Professor Shimmer teaches spellcrafting and casting and was the mare I went to first when Emperor Blueblood requested I find the artifacts."
"I do think I'm useful if I do say so myself." My lips curled into a slight smile and a breathless chuckle escaped, I always do my best to be a decent teacher for all of my students and knowing that I'm trusted enough with such a serious matter is heartwarming. "I'm honored you trust me enough for me to be the first pony you go to when you needed help."
"Eugh, get a room you two. Your mushiness is making me sick." Rainbow Dash mock gagged obnoxiously loud, earning giggles from the whole group besides Fluttershy.
"Rainbow Dash!" She chastised, giving the prismatic maned mare a disapproving glare. "That was rude."
I pay no mind to her dramatics, it'd been a long day and my exhaustion was finally catching up to me, or maybe it was the adrenaline from earlier wearing off and I was too tired to necessarily care about her comment. I yawn and get up off of my haunches, doing a little shake to get anything that was sticking to my fur off, "Alright everypony, I'm going to bed." as I walk towards the tent I share with Pinkie Pie I hear a chorus of 'good night!' and 'night!' from the mares still around the campfire, I push the tent flap aside and zip it up once I'm inside. Pinkie's conked out on her sleeping bag and I settle into mine, my eyes close and I'm asleep almost instantly.
Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.
Author's Note
I'm baaaaack~
This is just a bit of practice plus I've had this idea bouncing around in my head for a while, questions, comments, and constructive criticism very much appreciated! 
Life's been busy recently and I've had a lack of motivation, but hey I'm getting back into writing so that's fun!
