Mountain of Misfortune

by Kiernan

Chapter the Third: Misstep

The rain began to lighten up, and the clouds began to drift away. Sam smiled at the turn of events. “Look at that. Weather’s permitting us exit soon, hopefully. Rain’s stopping, clouds are clearing… We’ll be able to leave soon.”

“Good,” replied Abi tersely. “I really didn’t want to spend all night in these caves. Especially not with my brother.”

Sam turned around. “Where is Art, anyway?”

Abi pinched her book shut so quickly that it sounded like she had slammed it. “He went to take a leak, remember?”

“Yes, I remember. What I mean is, why isn’t he back yet?”

“Oh. How long has he been gone?”

“Longer than it takes to piss, I’ll say that much.” Sam stood up and dusted off their elbows. “Come on, let’s go find him.”

“And walk in on him leaving a puddle on the cave walls? No thank you.”

“Abi, he could be lost, or trapped.”

“Or he could be trying to scare us. Disappear into the dark, then hide behind a stone wall and turn out his lantern, then wait for one of us to approach and then jump out and shout “Boogidy boogidy!” That’s just like him.”

Sam glared at Abi, grabbing her by the wrist. “What if there actually was a bear? Hm? What if he couldn’t make it out to warn us? I agree with you, he’s a pain in the arse, but he’s your family, damn it!”

Abi shrank down a bit. “Well, when you put it like that…”

“This isn’t about pranks. This is about safety. Come on, we need to go look for him.”

Abi nodded and stood up. “You’re right.”

“And if he does pop out from behind a corner and scare us, you can hit him. Hard.”

Abi smiled as she took Sam’s hoof. Levitating the lantern in front of her and hanging it from her horn, the two made their way into the cavern, keeping to the right wall as they’d told Art to do. The path swayed back and forth, so it was pretty obvious that they wouldn’t be able to see Art’s lantern. There were no straightaways, just corner after corner.

“I don’t understand how he ended up lost,” huffed Abi. “There’s been one split so far, right at the beginning. How could he have lost his way in such an easy maze? There’s one path here, and one path back.”

“He could have turned the other way,” offered Sam. “Maybe we should go back and see?”

Abi nodded. “One thing before we go, though?”

“What’s that?”

“ART!! CALL BACK IF YOU CAN HEAR US!!”

After the echo died down, the two stood, silently waiting for a reply. When none came after a few moments, Sam shrugged. “He’s not this way. Now we know.”

“Alright,” sighed Abi. “Let’s go baaAAA–!!”

As she turned around, the ground beneath her hooves gave way, and she slipped down into a hole. It wasn’t super deep, but it was a good four metres. As she fell, the lantern tipped over and went out, cloaking the area in darkness.

“Are you okay?!” asked Sam, as soon as the rubble stopped shifting. They’d scurried backward as soon as the rocks had separated, and were well out of the damage.

“A bit scraped, I think,” called Abi back. “Can you hear me?”

“I can. Hold on…” There was a click, and Sam was bathed in the reflected light from a flashlight that rested between their teeth. They moved over to the hole gently and slowly, shining the light down on Abi. “How’sh it look ong your eng?”

“I’ll live,” answered Abi, picking herself up. The rubble hadn’t crushed her, though it seemed to have tried. Luckily, the lantern was okay, it just needed to be relit. “This looks pretty steep. I don’t know if I can climb out.”

“I have some rope in my bag,” replied Sam, holding the flashlight between their shoulder and ear. “I’ll lower it down and pull you out. Wait right there, and make sure you aren’t actually injured.”

“Okay.”

As Sam ran off to grab their rope, Abi stood up and inspected herself. It had been a nasty collapse, but she only had a few minor scrapes. If anything, she was only angry at Art for suggesting they all come out and do this. It wasn’t something that she really wanted to do, and now that she was injured, this whole trip was ruined for her.

“Abi?”

Hearing the faintest whisper of her name, Abi called back. “ART?!”

“Abi!”

“ART!! WHERE ARE YOU!?”

“Abi, help!”

Abi took a few deep breaths. She had to help, but she couldn’t just leave. Sam wouldn’t be able to follow. And what if she couldn’t find her way back? But… she had to help him. He was an arse, and he’d ruined what was supposed to be her time to relax, but he was still her brother.

“I’M COMING, ART!!” She set up her lantern on the ground and lit up her horn, following the tunnel in the direction she’d heard him coming from. Her horn wasn’t as bright as the lantern, but it was bright enough to see in front of her.

“Abi, where are you?”

“I’M ON MY WAY, ART!!” she shouted back. “I never thought I’d say this, but KEEP TALKING!!”

“Abi!”

Abi followed the voice for well over a hundred metres before taking note that it wasn’t growing any louder. If it wasn’t growing in volume, could she know if she was coming any closer?

“ART, WHERE ARE YOU!?”

“Abi!”

She took a deep breath. “ART! I’M LEAVING! FOLLOW THE SOUND OF MY VOICE!”

As she turned around, the voice came back. “Abi, I’m stuck! Please, help me!”

Damn her unwillingness to be responsible for his death. With a sigh, she took off at a brisk run, chasing after where she’d just heard his voice coming from. She knew she’d have to explain herself to Sam, but it was worth the hassle.

When she came to a fork, she closed her eyes. “TALK TO ME, ART!! I DON’T KNOW WHICH WAY YOU WENT!!”

No response echoed back.

“ART!!”

Silence. Was he dead? If so, whatever had killed him would have heard her, and would be following her now.

“ART!!” she called one final time, to no response.

He was gone. And if she were smart, she’d be gone, too. She turned back the way she came. Luckily, she’d been smart enough to leave the lantern behind and lit up, so she just had to follow the trail back to where it was.

And yet, as far as she could tell, the path had been straight. She should have been able to see the lantern. But outside of the glow of her horn, there was no light. She had to hope that it’d just gone out, because the alternative was another cave-in, and that would mean Sam couldn’t find her.

She took a deep breath. This was no time to panic. She had to remain calm. If she was trapped, she would run out of air and suffocate. If not, she knew that Sam was coming back for her.

Suddenly, a door appeared on the cave wall. It was a wooden plate with rusted hinges and a latch that didn’t lock. Such a latch could only mean that it was made to keep out either lesser minds, or the mindless. A dog could probably open it, but not a pile of sand, a deft wind or a splash of water.

She had to admit, curiosity had her by the hoof. If there was a door down here, and the wood hadn’t rotted clear through, that meant somepony had to have put it here some time within the last fifty to a hundred years.

She rapped her hoof on the door, and part of it shattered away. This wood was older than she thought. Despite the lack of sun and with how dry the stone was, this wood must have been ancient to be this decrepit.

“Hello?!” she called out. “Is anypony there?”

She didn’t expect a response. If this door was this old, she probably couldn’t open it without breaking it. Not that she would try to break it, it’d just crumble in her hooves.

And yet, a response came. “Abi! Is that you?”

It was Art, and he was louder than ever. “ART!! ARE YOU IN THERE?!”

“Help me, Abi! I’m stuck!”

Disregarding how Art was able to open and close the door without breaking it, Abi wrenched the entire door off the wall with almost no effort. Behind the door was a stone stairwell headed down, and she would follow.

Taking a few steps down, she called out one more time. “Art! Are you down here!? These stairs don’t look saaAAA–!!!”

Without warning, one of the stone steps crumbled under her hoof and she found herself sliding down, down, down into the mountain at an alarming rate. She wailed a deafening shriek, which echoed out around her as she tried to stop, or at least slow her descent.

She shone her horn a little brighter, at the cost of more energy, and what she saw was a dead end. She covered her head, knowing that soon, she was going to hit the wall far harder than she could walk away from.