Jagged walls crawl by, flashing green as I pass. Underground rivers, long since dried, have carved out a network of passages. Their twisting, sinuous forms feel almost organic. Like we’re crawling through the veins of some fossilised giant.
The floor - where there is a floor - is broken and uneven. In other places the ground simply sinks out of sight, lost down some abyssal crevice. We’re forced to clamber along the sides of the tunnel, scrambling for hoofholds. Hoping the stone doesn’t give way. Hoping nothing comes crawling up out of the darkness.
A flicker of movement. I snap to face it, sword floating at the ready.
A cave spider - tiny, translucent - skitters away. Disappears down a hairline crack.
I exhale. Try to slow my heart rate. It’s hard to breathe down here.
I am Sergeant Glacier, and I am jumping at shadows. To be fair, there’s a lot of them to jump at.
Darkness reigns down here. My feeble horn-light pushes it back, a little, but it’s always waiting. Pressing in around us. Ahead, only our next few steps are visible. Behind, our path is quickly lost. Swallowed by the pursuing void.
A few twinkling lights still mark our trail. Veins of magicite, embedded in the walls and floor. But my magic is dim; I’ve been conserving my energy, casting just enough light to see by. The crystals glow only weakly in response. Not enough to dispel the dark, but at least we have a clear path to the exit.
With no horizon, among interchangeable stretches of cave, it would be all too easy to get turned around down here. An unexpected tumble, or a sudden sandipede ambush; just a few moments’ distraction, and we’d have no idea which way is forward and which is back.
Thankfully, we haven’t encountered anything worse than a few bats and some cave insects. Anon was particularly freaked out by the latter. (Much to my amusement). My own deeply held fear of humans - these legendary monsters from The List - is rapidly dwindling. Hard to take them seriously after hearing Anon’s squeals of panic.
I suppress a chuckle. I shouldn’t be making fun of him. He’s clearly having a much harder time down here than me. For several reasons.
I turn to check on my friend. The lanky creature is clambering a few paces behind me. The jagged ceiling isn’t quite tall enough for him, forcing him into an uncomfortable crouch. He uses his long arms to grab onto walls and stalagmites, anchoring himself as he passes. With the way his limbs curl in on himself, then suddenly stretch out alarming distances, he seems rather like a spider himself.
I give my spider-friend a hoof over the last few rocks. It’s a bit tricky with my injured leg, and with him balancing our last water jar, but we manage. Anon scrambles to my side, panting. Breath visible in the frigid air. Up close, I can make out the streaks of dirt and sweat staining his hide. (I don’t even want to think about what my own coat looks like.)
The human gives a thankful nod, and moves to keep going. I wave him to a stop. He glances around, instantly alert. When nothing manifests from the darkness to attack, he turns to me with a questioning look. In answer, I levitate up his canteen and float it to his lips. He catches it in surprise, while I take a swig from my own bottle. Anon spends a few more seconds looking around, before allowing himself a quick sip.
He’s clearly anxious to keep moving. So am I. But I know better than to rush into some monster’s den blindly. We can’t risk running into danger while exhausted. We need to pace ourselves. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Besides, there’s something else bothering me.
I take a step towards my human, inspecting him more closely. He barely seems to notice me. Too busy glancing over his shoulder. We’ve both been on edge since entering the mine. But for me, this is a familiar, almost routine feeling. I’ve plenty of experience dealing with caves, climbing, and monsters. As Punch would say, this ain’t my first rodeo. If anything, the tension is helping me stay focused. Anon, however… Now that I'm really looking, I see just how bad he’s become. Shallow, rapid breaths, even as we rest. Hands shaking, white knuckled, as he grips his spear. Eyes wide, darting at every shadow.
I feel a pang of guilt. The poor creature’s terrified! Expecting to be attacked at any moment. The stress is visibly wearing him down. Turning the tireless hunter - the predator who pursued me halfway across the desert - into a nervous wreck.
With a sigh, I sit down on a rock ledge.
Of course he’s terrified! Anycreature would be, after what he’s been through. He nearly lost an arm down here! A good leader - a good friend - would have noticed this earlier.
Well, I’ve noticed now. But what can I do to help?
Anon continues to stand at the ready, spear in hand. Anxiously peering into the gloom.
Hmm. Well, that’s one thing I can help with.
I set my sword down. Then, with a bit of effort, push more power through my horn. The light around me intensifies, driving the shadows back. I keep the magic flowing, ignoring the growing headache. Only once the scattered swirls of magicite start glowing as brightly as my horn do I let the spell drop.
Sitting back, panting a little, I take a moment to admire my handiwork. The tunnel is lit up bright as day. A thousand shining gems illuminate the cave, leaving not a single shadow for monsters to lurk in. True, we can only see a dozen metres in either direction before the passage curves out of sight. But for the first time since entering, we can be confident that nothing’s sneaking up on us.
Anon blinks in surprise. Looks around the newly visible cave, before looking at me curiously. I smile up at him.
“Anon. Sit.”
I pat the stone next to me. Looking almost dazed, the human complies.
Using hooves this time, I raise his canteen again and press it towards him. He takes the hint, taking a longer, slower drought. Allowing himself to relax a little.
Rummaging through one of his pouches, I retrieve the last of his dried vegetables. Nothing like a snack to raise one’s spirits. I more or less shove the food down his mouth. He half chokes, half chuckles at my assertive ministrations. I pout.
“Ok, fine, so I’m not cut out to be a nurse. Shut up.”
He grins, ruffling my mane as he allows himself to be fed. Once I'm satisfied he’s eating his greens, I sit back and wonder what to do next. I vaguely recall something about how bonding with your teammates is good for morale. One of my previous sergeants would set me aside now and again to have a nice, long chat. Another sergeant bonded with my team by constantly making bad jokes. There was a third one who kept making passes at the mares in his squad, buuut I'm pretty sure that got him fired, so I'd better stick with the first two options.
“So, er… Anon: why did the cockatrice cross the road?”
I look at Anon expectantly. He pauses mid-chew. Raises an eyebrow.
“Because it was trying to catch the chicken!”
Eyebrow raises higher.
“That’s, ha, some classic Parks and Wilderness humour for you. Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s pretty terrible. Ok, cards on the table: for a moment there I kinda forgot you have no idea what I’m saying. Heheh. Guess I look pretty silly right about now, huh?”
I certainly feel pretty silly right about now. Anon resumes chewing. Slowly. Eyebrow still poised aggressively.
“Ah, who cares. You can’t understand me. There’s no-one else here to listen to me. I might as well just ramble on. Maybe it’ll do some good, somehow.”
I shrug.
“I don’t know, it all seems pretty silly to me. To be honest, I never really got the hang of this “bonding” stuff. Not much of a pony-person, I guess. Seems like a pretty major flaw for a squad leader, right?"
Leaning back against the wall, I let my eyes droop. Feel the cold, rough surface against my fur. Absently watch as my breath mists in front of me.
"You want to know a secret? I'm not actually a sergeant. At least, not yet. I’ve done most of the training. But I’m not due for a promotion for another few weeks. The LT just gave me an early field promotion before sending me off to Tranquility. So that the local Guard wouldn’t be bossed around by a mere corporal. Pff, can you imagine? But the paperwork couldn’t have gone through by now, so, yeah. I’m still technically just Corporal Glacier.”
There’s warmth by my side. Anon leans back against the wall, snuggling up next to me. At some point he’s started stroking my mane.
“Honestly, I still don’t know if I even want to be a sergeant. It seems like a lot of responsibility. But… I suppose I didn’t mind looking after Fruit Punch. And I don’t really mind looking after you either, you big weirdo. If being a leader is just looking after your ponies, then… I guess it’s not so bad?”
I’ve somehow ended up with my chin on Anon's lap, his arm draped over my shoulders. I'm not entirely sure who’s comforting who, but at least Anon seems to have calmed down. I can feel his pulse slowing, hear his breath steadying. He’s even set down his spear, using both hands for dual petting action.
I’d normally protest, but this is rather relaxing. Er, for Anon. Yes, this is all for Anon’s sake. I'm only letting him brush my mane because it’s my duty as a leader. Mostly.
Oh, whatever! Five more minutes won’t hurt.
Five minutes pass. Then rather more than five. But eventually the two of us resume our journey.
This time it's Anon's turn to be talkative. He keeps up a steady stream of chatter as we scramble through the darkness. It's a pity I can't understand him - it would be fascinating to learn more about humans. But just being here to listen to him seems to be doing him good. It must have been a long time since he’s had somepony to talk to. And it seems to be keeping his mind off potential cave monsters.
Of course, the chatter also makes it harder to hear potential cave monsters. I’ll just have to be extra alert to make up for it. I'm not going to shush him now that he's feeling better!
Luckily, it’s not too long before we reach the mine proper. (Thank Celestia! With all this armour on, my injured leg is starting to give out.) The haphazard series of caves and grottoes end abruptly, opening onto a smooth, straight passage. Wooden beams hold up the ceiling, while iron rail tracks line the floor. Dusty unicorn lamps - basically just magicite in a bottle - hang from the walls.
The sight of equine civilisation is hugely reassuring. I turn to Anon with a grin, but pause - there's something odd here.
Scattered around our hooves are a number of broken planks. Not part of the supports holding up the ceiling, thankfully. Something else.
Sifting through them like a giant jigsaw puzzle, I quickly realise they're the remains of a wall or barricade. Probably blocking access to the tunnel we just came through. But many of the planks have been shattered, deep gouges slashed into them. From the way the pieces seem to spill inwards, it’s likely something forced its way into the mine. Something with very big claws.
A hint of writing peeks out amongst the wreckage. Fishing it out, I see it's the remains of a signpost. The words “Badlands Emergency Exit” have been crossed out. Over the top, in red letters, is simply written “DANGER”.
I gulp.
Right. We’re not out of the woods yet. In fact, it was near the exit on this side that Anon was attacked.
This is it, then. The final hurdle. If we can get through the next fifteen minutes, then we’re practically home free.
I float out my map of the mines - the one Anon found near the entrance. A quick glance confirms the route I’d memorised earlier. A few more lefts, a few more rights. Then, hopefully, Equestria.
A giddy thrill runs through me. We’re so close! But I squash the feeling down. Now’s not the time to get careless.
I quickly go over my equipment. Sword floating at the ready. Dagger in its sheath. Enchanted gem pouch at the top of my left saddlebag. First aid kit in the right. Then I turn to Anon, inspecting him like a soldier on parade. He’s sensed the change in atmosphere, too, and has gone quiet. Not panicking, like he was before. But tense.
One hand holds his trusty spear. It’s no longer shaking, I note with approval. Dangling from his other hand is our one remaining water jar. We'd started our journey with two, but we finished off the first jar a while ago, and so left it behind. I briefly consider leaving this jar, too. It would free up a hand for climbing or fighting. Ultimately I decide against it. He can drop the jar easily enough if there’s an emergency. And once we've made it back to Equestria, we still have to contend with the desert. Water isn’t something to abandon lightly.
Just to be safe, I quickly top up both our canteens from the jar. And with that, we’re ready to go.
I give Anon a reassuring pat on the hip. He ruffles my mane - carefully - with his spear hand. Then, together, we set off into the dark.