They emerged from the gateway at an alarming speed. Flying upwards through the hole Twilight had jumped down just a few hours before. As they reached the top, a stone slab slid out of the side of the hole, closing it up for them to land on. They collapsed in a heap on it still screaming. They were both so weak they could barely move, but forced themselves to crawl off of the new slab as it began to pull itself back in to allow for others to exit Y’ha-nthlei.
They drug themselves through the still open wall and past the statues. Twilight raised herself back up, aching as she did so, and kicked with all the strength she had at the Cthulhu statue, smashing it to pieces, the door behind the slamming shut as a mechanism from the statue broke. Feint voices could be heard yelling from the other side shortly afterward.
“We can’t stay here. They’ll send more after us. The deep ones can probably swim out of the bubble rooms.” Twilight said through her gasping. “We might be able to take that boat they brought you here on. Just push yourself a little further.”
They slowly made their way back down the path to where the boat was tied up. The tide had risen considerably and the sun begun rising. They untied the boat and began rowing towards the distant shore just outside of Innsmareth. About halfway to the shore, they looked back and saw large figures on top of the reef, apparently searching for them. Twilight rowed faster, fighting against her aching muscles and burning wounds. Rainbow Dash seemed to have passed out.
They reached the shore and Twilight woke Rainbow Dash up, insisting they get further away from that horrible seaside village. Rainbow Dash reluctantly agreed and they forced themselves to move through the edge of the Everfree Forest near Innsmareth. No matter what they might find in the Everfree Forest, it couldn’t be any worse than anything in Innsmareth. They continued working their way through the forest for an hour until Rainbow Dash collapsed and couldn’t walk any further. Twilight laid down beside her, and then passed out herself.
Rainbow Dash awoke late in the day and saw Twilight awake next to her. Twilight, seeing her friend awake at last, nuzzled Dash, crying tears of joy, but also sorrow for how much they had been through.
“Come on, we need to get moving. The road isn’t far, we’ll follow it from a distance in case they’re searching it for us.”
Dash weakly picked herself off of the ground, forcing her legs to carry her. They both slowly walked along the road from a distance until they found themselves at Hoofington. They were grateful to see that the Innsmareth carriage wasn’t in town and they found the nearest restaurant to eat at. They recounted parts of their tale to the curious ponies who asked them about their horrendous condition and it became general consensus that no pony was to show any hospitality to Innsmareth ponies that traveled through town again. A kind pony even volunteered to pull them to Ponyville in his apple cart. After a heavy meal and lots of tears, they left to ride in the kind colt’s cart.
When they arrived in Ponyville they noticed missing signs with Rainbow Dash’ picture on them posted around town, and were greeted with the warmest of welcomes when their friends saw them. They recounted the events of the previous night to their friends. Twilight told them all of the Shoggoth and the fish ponies. They explained Rainbow Dash’s condition and that she had a sister. The conversation was very somber and everypony expressed lots of worry. None of them had any answers or explanations. They could only offer their sympathy. They all decided to stay for the night at Twilight’s Library to comfort the two battered ponies.
Twilight left the group to care for Rainbow Dash for a while so she could write to the Princess about these events.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I write to you with disturbing news. I spent the past night in a small fishing village called Innsmareth. I am lucky to have survived the night, and Rainbow Dash is luckier still. I went to dispel the rumors everypony told me, only to find out that the truth was even worse than the rumors. I encountered a creature I overheard was called a shoggoth, I saw deep ones and learned how they are created from ponies, and I took the life of three partial deep ones. More than that, I discovered that my close friend, Rainbow Dash will be turning into a Deep One as well, and that she also has a younger sister that’s also turning into a deep one. They lured her there because some one named Dapon needs her. I don’t know what to do, and I know they will come looking for us. Please help.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
She finished writing the letter and had Spike send it. Within twenty minutes she received a reply.
Dear Twilight,
That is grave news indeed. I knew this day would eventually come, but I hoped to be more prepared. I have much to do and to think about right now. I will come help if I am ever needed, and if you learn anything more about things related to these events, or have any strange dreams, let me know. As for your friend, Rainbow Dash, I may know a way to help...