Dungeons and Discords

“Woo-hoo!!” said Scootaloo, as she whipped around a bend in her raft.

“Your e-e-enjoying th-th-this?” asked Apple Bloom, as she bounced over a wave.

“You're not?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo curved around a corner, and saw a junction coming up. There were two ways to go: left, which had a sign displaying a green circle (easy), or right, which had a double black diamond (extremely difficult).

Scootaloo banked right.

“Are you outta your mind?!” yelled Apple Bloom.

Since the rafts were all tied together, Scootaloo turning right dragged the others right too. They dropped down, before zooming back up, and zigzagging back and forth sharply.

“This is awesome!!”

“This is terrifying!”

The fillies sped down a narrow stream, before entering a cave. It was pitch black at first, before they turned a bend, and slammed into a rock.

Scootaloo’s raft, being in front, took the brunt of the impact, popping, and jettisoning its rider. Sweetie Belle’s raft smacked into Apple Bloom’s, sending both rafts sideways.

Scootaloo crash landed in Apple Bloom’s raft, hitting something hard, and square. It fell out of the raft.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom yelled. “My book!”

“Owww,” said Scootaloo, but she reached out and snagged the book.

A light pierced the darkness. Sweetie Belle had found her backpack, and the flashlight in it. “Umm, we shouldn’t be going this way.” She pointed at a sign. It had splintered, probably whilst popping Scootaloo’s raft. The message was barely legible, even with the flashlight beam directly on it.

It read: DO NOT GO ←.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were going ←.

“Uh-oh,” said Apple Bloom. “This ain’t good.”

“Not at all,” Scootaloo agreed.

“Well it’s your fault!” Apple Bloom said suddenly. “You took us down a dangerous route!”

“It didn’t seem dangerous at first!” Scootaloo countered. “And I was thinking: the more dangerous it was, the better our chances of getting a cutie mark were!”

“Wow,” said Sweetie Belle.

The flashlight clicked off, but the light level didn’t seem to dim. All around them were crystals, of varying colors and sizes, ranging from small enough to hold in your hand, to big enough to carve a small house out of. The crystals seemed to be emitting light.

There was a bang, and the moment was shattered, as the raft that Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were in hit a gem, and was torn down the side.

“Catch hold!” shouted Sweetie Belle, quickly untying the rope that connected the two rafts, and throwing it to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom lunged forward and grabbed it.

Scootaloo swam after the raft, as Sweetie Belle pulled Apple Bloom up and into it.

The gems were growing sparser now, and Scootaloo was hearing the sounds of loud splashing and water movement. She strained to hear more and identify the origin of the sound–

“Scootaloo!” called Apple Bloom.

“Quiet!” Scootaloo called back. “I’m trying to–”

“Scootaloo!!!” yelled Sweetie Belle, her voice sounding distant.

Scootaloo looked forwards, and saw that the raft was now rather far away from her, and that it was heading straight for a–

“WATERFALL!!!” Scootaloo yelled. She started swimming after the raft. Using her wings to aid in her swimming, she was making good progress.

She still feared it wouldn’t be fast enough.

Scootaloo felt the pull of the waterfall yank her forwards, and she noticed a small opening to the right of the waterfall. She started angling towards it.

Apple Bloom noticed what she was doing, and started swirling the rope above her head like a lasso.

Scootaloo wasn’t going to make it to the boat in time.

The waterfall was right in front of her.

Apple Bloom released the lasso, and perfectly looped it around a stalagmite, yanking the raft towards the opening.

The raft slammed into the rock wall, and jounced back. Sweetie Belle didn't have time to react, and was tipped from the raft. The raft smacked Scootaloo, sending her underwater.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle emerged from the water, spitting and gulping down air. Scootaloo realized subconsciously that she’d lost the book during the crash. It was too late to go after it.

Apple Bloom yanked back on the lasso, and the raft stopped, before going the other way.

“We’re gonna have to ditch the raft,” said Apple Bloom, tying the lasso to the raft, and letting the raft float back towards the waterfall.

The swim to safety was long and strenuous, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders made it.

Sweetie Belle checked her flank. “No cutie mark,” she sighed.

“I have an idea!” said Scootaloo. “I bet our cutie mark is a skydiving cutie mark!”

“Yeah!” said Apple Bloom. “Let’s go.”