Blackhoof Mountain

by DeskManiac

Chapter 5: Adrenaline (7 hours Until Dawn) Part 1

12:00 a.m.
~ 7 Hours Until Dawn

Drops of water fell from the ceiling, forming little pools on the base of the cave. Spike and Starlight trudged on, occasionally stepping in said pools of water. Spike looked around quickly to check that they weren’t being followed. Luckily, all that was behind them were the markers made by Starlight using her magic.

Reacting to the nervous chill down his spine, Spike piped up, “Hey, are we gonna find some clues soon? I really want to get out of here.”

Starlight stopped and turned around. She knew that feeling had to have gotten to him sooner or later. But it’s too late to turn back now. They either find some clues or spend the entire night in the mines. Hopefully the former came first.

“Spike, we can’t just go back empty handed. We’ve already gotten so far. I feel like the next clue could be right under our hooves.”

Spike frowned and replied with a grunt.

Starlight watched as Spike continued to drag his feet through the caves, kicking every stone that came his way, unable to stay focus anymore. Starlight felt sympathetic for his poor little feet. They had been walking for an hour now. Plus he had to chase her down to the mine before this. He didn’t say it, but his feet must be killing him. She entertained the thought of going back but decided better to stay with the current plan. There was only one thing to do.

Spike felt himself being lifted up. He was put onto Starlight’s back, who gave him a tired smile.

“You rest up here and keep a look out for clues, ok?” Starlight said to him, her smile weakening as she kept moving.

“But- wait! I can still walk! Just let me!” Spike felt uncomfortable receiving such a friendly gesture, especially from his friend.

“Nah Spike,” Starlight said, “You deserve a rest. Just promise me you won’t fall asleep.”

Spike frowned. He didn’t want to be a burden, but his feet were getting really sore, what with all that running and what not. He decided to take up Starlight’s offer and continue to do the best he can. He tried to pay close attention to every corner in the tunnel whilst riding Starlight, even though he could barely see anything with the little light they had.

The group eventually came to a cross-section. They could continue forward, or take a left turn. Spike notice something glimmering in the tunnel to the left, so he got off to investigate.

“Gems!” Spike exclaimed, approaching the precious minerals embedded in the soil. Starlight followed, illuminating the rest of the tunnel which was also covered with sparkling gems.

Guess they used to mine gems here too. She made a mental note.

Further down, Starlight noticed a wooden wall with a doorway in the middle.

“Spike!” Starlight hurried her companion.

“Coming!” Spike shouted back, digging out the last gem and scrambling to his feet.

Starlight stood at the doorway. She breathed the calm and stale air. She couldn’t see anything past the doorframe but she could tell there was something on the other side. After such a tiring night, it was about time they found some real clues. After making sure that Spike was with her, they went inside together.

It was vacant space mostly, and the duo had to grope in darkness for some time. For a while, Starlight’s eyes hurt from her own light and she contemplated abandoning this would be empty cave. Between her body telling her it’s time to move on and her dying motivation to continue this fruitless search, Starlight was on the brink of giving up this place. But she couldn’t just leave without a proper search. A clue could be lying right under their hooves.

Shining her light closer to the edges of the cave, she finally saw an outline of something. A desk. Filled with hope again, Starlight began frantically searching through the desk for items and clues, but it was of no avail. Starlight felt the rest of her enthusiasm left her completely. What did she expect? Tonight’s disappointments seem to never end.

Meanwhile, Spike had eaten the last of his gems and was starting to miss the sweet taste on his tongue.

“Hey Starlight? Think I can go gem hunting again? It’ll be quick, I promise.”

Perhaps it was the wrong time to ask because Starlight stared him down with utter frustration.

Spike gulped and asked again, “Pretty please?”

Starlight rolled her eyes and told him, “You need a light source if you want to go out there on your own. And I’m the only light you have for now.”

Starlight hoped that this would put an end to his unimportant request. But this only gave Spike the intuition to find a loophole in her short statement. He quickly picked up a wooden stick from the floor and grinned at Starlight. “Well if you light this piece of wood for me, I’ll have a light of my own!”

Starlight only gave him a disgruntled look. She realized at this stage she had to grant Spike’s wish, no matter how stupid it was. She hadn’t understand why she would make such a decision, maybe it was out of frustration and lethargy, or maybe she just didn’t want to be bothered by him anymore, all she knew was that she really didn’t want to look at him right now.

With a glow of her horn, Spike’s stick caught fire, earning a bigger grin from the dragon. “Thanks Starlight! I’ll be back as soon as possible.” And he ran off to find his precious gems.

Once he left, Starlight slammed the drawer and face-hooved the desk. Tonight has been a disaster. Not only did they not fix the generator, they’ve also missed the one who had tampered with it. At this rate the only thing they’ll find tonight will be Spike’s gems. Starlight laid her face on the side as she thought of her dragon friend. He was always hungry for gems, and seemed to have no self-control of his appetite. His cravings were usually cute, but right now he was just being a burden. He should have just went back. Starlight groaned.

As Starlight was about to lose all hope on finding leads, she noticed an outline of another desk in the direction she was facing. Starlight lifted her head and approached it.

Probably another empty one. She smirked. But upon reaching the table, she saw something more. A bullet board, hung on the wall of the cave. And on the board, was what she assumed was the map of the mountaintop. But it wasn’t the map that fascinated her, it was what was on top of the map.

Scattered across the board were pictures of her friends, all who were present in the lodge tonight. The pictures were pinned in different locations on the map, and each had a number written on top of it in red. It took her some time to analyze each location properly. But after some time she was able to piece it together:

1) Rainbow Dash – The Woods
2) Spike – The Mines
3) Starlight – The Generator
4) Pinkie Pie – The Shed
5) Applejack – The Shed
6) Discord – The Cliff
7) Fluttershy – The Lodge
8) Twilight – Radio Tower
9) Rarity – Cable Car Station

A drop of cold sweat flowed down her side. She was both glad and shocked to have made that discovery, and she wasn’t sure how to react. Until now she thought that this entire thing was just a case of severe vandalism by some unruly pony, but now she was starting to realize how dire the situation really is. A killer was on this mountain. It would make sense why someone would want to tamper with the generator in the first place. Without electricity, everyone was vulnerable to attacks.

She had no time to lose. Whoever lives down here plans to kill off each of her friends tonight in a specific order according to the map.

And the first one on the list was Rainbow Dash.

“Spike? Spike, we need to get out of here. Our friends are in danger!” She turned around but beyond the doorframe, all she saw was darkness.

“Spike?!”

“STARLIGHT!!!!!!”

Starlight ran through the doorway into a dark empty tunnel. Spike cried out again and Starlight bolted towards the direction of sound. Many things raced through her mind, and one of them was how she could have left Spike alone in the first place. Cursing her own stupidity, Starlight ran faster, hoping it wasn’t too late to save Spike.

As she ran, she began to have a sinking feeling. Spike was second on the list. Does that mean Rainbow’s been taken?

She shook the thoughts out of her head. She had to focus on saving Spike now, even if they were behind the killer’s tracks.

Another sharp turn and Starlight found herself facing a junction.

“SPIKE?” Starlight called out again.

“Starlight!!!”

The sound came from the left, and she headed there.

She continued to shout at Spike and his response continued to echo through the tunnels. But his voice was growing faint by the second. She was losing him, and she knew it.

One more turn and she called out, but she couldn’t hear him anymore. In desperation, she took whichever direction seemed fitting and rushed blindly into the darkness, frantically calling out Spike’s name, hoping he would answer. But tunnel after tunnel, turn after turn, she could no longer hear Spike.

Starlight slowed until she came to a stop. Her knees grew weak. Her body felt limp. She fell to the floor and wept.

She let her best friend get taken away by a serial killer.

After moments of crying she lifted her chin. Silence and darkness surrounded her. Trying her best to hold it in, she couldn’t help but break into tears again. She was lost in the mines. In her plight, she had forgotten to lay down any markers. Because of her, not only did she lose her best friend, she was about to lose everyone else as well.

Author's Note:

I'm glad I finally have time to write again. My semester's coming to an end and I'm finally loosening on the workload. This chapter might be split into 3 parts, depending on length of the rest of this chapter. Hopefully I'll be writing soon.

Comments

[OminousBrony]

I am wondering how this fic can work with the chosen Character Tags as Discord is a God, or Demi-God at the very least, who can warp reality to suit his whims, Twilight is an Alicorn and still have all her tricks from being a Unicorn and then some, including Teleportation. Starlight is a fairly powerful Unicorn who can use her magic to Fly, the Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy who can fly from danger if needed, Applejack who is probably the most vulnerable but if she is anywhere near as strong as Big Mac can likely kick an enemy hard enough to launch them into Orbit, and Pinkie Pie... which there is enough said just by saying her name alone as well all know what she is capable of. The two I'd be most worried about is Spike and Rarity. Though Spike could just send a Letter to Celestia and have the entire Royal Guard, the Wonderbolts and at least Celestia and Luna there before dawn. Rarity... well she is likely fucked.

[DeskManiac]

7916377 Something I had to ponder over some time. But I manage to find ways to work around their supernatural abilities. It's true they are hard to kill, especially Twilight, Discord and Starlight. There's no way you can take them down by fighting. And the "killer" knows that. The "killer" knows he/she has to be sly and exploit their weaknesses to take them down.