"Hey, you've got to get underground to get into an underground cave network!" Delta sighed, hopping down into the hole with a quick flutter of his wings.

Lily cast Twilight a sympathetic glance before following their guide down, grabbing at a ladder just inside the opening and sliding down.

Twilight took a deep breath, glanced back at Spike to confirm he was holding on tightly, and jumped down into the sewer, catching them with her magic a few inches off the ground. After inspecting that the walkways were still there, she let herself touch the ground beside Lily.

While not yet overflowing, the sewers were a raging river violently rushing through the channels that ran beneath Canterlot.

Delta was already walking down the tunnel, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that they were following. Twilight and Lily glanced at one another, shrugged, and began trotting to catch up.

"Now, watch yourselves, ladies!" Delta gestured to the flood surge powering through the sewer beneath them. "They bypassed the water processing plants to avoid flooding! If you fall in, that's a one-way trip out of the bottom of the Canterlot mountain! You'll find that it's a long way down!"

"So, got any ideas of how we're going to catch up to the Surprise? Or even find it once we do?" Lily asked, her horn glowing as she wrapped her long mane behind her in a tight bun.

"Well, my sources at the NLR DID get me one other important piece of information! I know where Pennington's supposed drop-off point is! If we start from there and follow the path of least resistance back into Equestria, we should be able to intercept them!"

"Those guys at the NLR sure know a lot of things that are supposed to be secret..." Spike muttered.

"Oh, we're VERY good at collecting top-secret data! For those who operate in darkness, we need to know as much about our enemies as we can!" He ran his hoof along the brick wall, as if looking for something. "If we don't know what we're doing, we can't do it, now can we?"

"For instance, we were well aware of the timing of Nightmare Moon's return! However..." He glanced back over his shoulder at Twilight, his expression sheepish. "We had no idea that she would arrive in Ponyville, rather than Canterlot! If you and your friends hadn't been there, she could very well have taken all of Equestria under her reign!"

He stopped short for a moment, leaning his head against the wall and tapping his hoof against one of the bricks. Shaking his head, he resumed walking after a few seconds.

"For another matter, due to their secretive nature and poor political negotiations, we used to know much less about changelings than we do now!" He continued along the wall, looking more and more concerned as what he was searching for seemed to evade him. "If we had known, we might have been able to infiltrate their ranks and discover their plan before they ever made it to Canterlot!"

He drew up short, eagerly pressing his ear against the wall again, tapping it in the same manner, this time with success.

"With the right information, we can prevent calamities, so that's what we pour resources into! Not like those headstrong solar idiots..." He leaned forward, pressing his hoof into the brick her had placed his ear on. With a satisfying click, it slid back into the wall, activating a spell in the wall. Magic energy began to leak from the mortar, floating up into the air and shaping itself into letters.

Each dog shall have their day.
Each star shall have its mirth.

Twilight tilted her head, confused. Lily, who was standing alongside her, shook her head and sighed.

The spell dissipated again, slipping away back into the mortar, which glowed for a moment with energy. After a second, the bricks separated, floating backwards and into the wall before moving aside along the wall of the tunnel within. A hole large enough for two ponies to comfortably pass through side by side had opened, revealing a dark hall of earth and stone behind it. Delta smiled, obviously pleased with himself.

"Well, tunnels like this ARE how the changelings got here! It even has the most recent passphrase!" He chuckled, making a sweeping motion with his hoof. "Ladies first?"

Twilight and Lily looked at one another, rolling their eyes with a pair of matching grins before stepping forward and passing through the entrance together. They both lit their horns as they heard Delta pass through behind them and the bricks quickly settle back into place.

The three of them were completely cut off from the world, and Twilight could feel it. The chaotic weather above gave no signs down here other than a musty, damp feel to the air, which was stale and old from lack of motion since the tunnel was last opened. The entire place was spooky, and the only thing fending off Twilight's heebie-jeebies as Spike's familiar weight on her back and the sound of the other hoofsteps beside her.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pennington took a deep breath. Here, in his "Scorching Quill" persona, he was standing in the center of the Royal Court of Canterlot, trying to keep calm as several night guards inspected him and his bags for any signs of subterfuge. His heart pounded in his chest with a mix of anxiety and excitement. He was not usually the type to get nervous, but he had no idea of whether or not he was ready for the task set before him.

"Oh, hey! My kid loves this book!" One of the guards chuckled to himself as he pulled a copy of "Daring Do and the Dangerous Descent Into the Dragon's Den" from Pennington's bag.

"Well, I would guess it's certainly lighter reading material than this..." another muttered, retrieving Pennington's copy of "The Tale of The Isle of Yggdraisa." "This one looks ancient!"

"It is. And VERY rare." Pennington muttered. "If we could please cut the commentary?"

The guards glanced at one another, then shrugged, placing the books back into his bag.

"Well, no weapons, no strange items, nothing worth being concerned over! You're cleared. We'll escort you, Mr. Quill."

Pennington nodded and followed after the first guard while two more flanked him from behind. The guards weren't the ones making Pennington nervous, nor was the familiar path to the Royal Archives they followed. What made Pennington's heart race was the fact of whom he was going to meet there.

Come on, Penn! Get a hold of yourself! If Yearling saw you this scared, she'd pull you off even the simplest of digs!

As they turned the corner into a small study area, the guards motioned for Pennington to sit at a small desk and wait. Pennington obeyed, happy to take the weight off his hooves.

A few minutes later, a pony entered the room. She was tall and slender, with a long, tapered horn and a pair of broad wings. Her coat was a dark, deep blue and her mane glittered with the stars of the night sky. She entered the room at a furious pace, casting angry glances at her guards. Stepping forward, she glanced at Pennington and cleared her throat.

"Mine sincerest apologies, Mr. Quill. However, despite what falsified circumstances mine sister may have ascribed, thine services are far from necessary!" She snorted angrily through her nostrils, turning to leave.

"If there be any need for reparations, ye may speak with mine guardians regarding the matter!"

Pennington was caught off-guard for a moment by Princess Luna's brevity. Thankfully, when Princess Celestia had contacted the New Lunar Republic, she had mentioned that Luna would most likely be reluctant about the idea of a speech tutor. Thankfully, he had spent the trip to Canterlot thinking on the subject.

"Welp, okie-dokie! Gotta say, it leaves me just positively tickled pink to have the chance to have this little tete-a-tete with you, your majesty!" Pennington hopped down out of his chair, approaching the princess and giving her a quick bow. "Whenever you make a quick jump on the 6 o'clock down to Ponyville, gimmie a ring and I'll raise a little hooplah! We'll have a real boot and rally of a time, you got my bits-back guarantee!"

I guess there ARE benefits to all of your extended family being country hicks!

Luna blinked, obviously confused. She tilted her head at first, then shook it, as though trying to shake off the confusion from his words. Pennington smiled knowingly and patted the seat next to him.

"Alternatively, your highness, you could stay, and I could explain exactly what it was that I just said."

Luna glanced at the seat, then back at her guards. Taking a deep breath, she took the seat next to him, glaring back at her guards.

"I suppose... That I have a few short moments that I may spare for thee and thy jargon..."

Pennington smiled, opening up his bag and retrieving "The Tale of The Isle of Yggdraisa."

"Wonderful. Then we can begin with something that I hope, perchance, you might be familiar with?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pennington's head was pounding when he woke up. Opening his eyes, he could feel the blood rushing into his head as he hung from the ceiling, suspended by the safety harness. The room was only lit by the flickering light of lightning coming in through a huge tear in the wall. In the unreliable light, he could make out Moonstone's unconscious body, still strapped tightly into her chair, though the room's sideways angle meant that she was now strapped down to the ground. Penn let out a soft grunt of effort as he reached down, unlocking his restraints. He landed on the ground with a loud thud, but uninjured. He made his way over to Moonstone, making a quick inspection of her.

She seemed to have been kept safe in her own restraints , just like he had. Noticing a painful-looking dent in the wall behind her head, he pried open her eyelids with magic, using the light of his horn to inspect her eyes.

He let out a sigh of relief. Both her pupils constricted evenly and appropriately to the light. There was no sign of a concussion.

"Ugh... Penn, get that thing out of my face..." Moonstone muttered, blinking and shielding her eyes from the light of Pennington's horn.

Pennington smiled and stepped back, letting Moonstone unbuckle her own harness and offering her a helping hoof up. As she rose to her feet, she glanced around the ruined cabin and let out a low whistle.

Pennington shrugged, stepping towards the gaping hole in the wall. "You know about as much as I do, I just woke up..."

As he poked his head outside, his eyes widened in shock. He was staring at a massive cliff face, a sheer ninety degree angle of uncut stone at least ten stories tall. Above that was what appeared to be a snow-capped mountain, with a massive blizzard raging above punctuated by gigantic forks of lightning striking violently at the peak, blasting off chunks of stone. He could barely make out several dark patches and large indents in the snow above, indicating where the Surprise had fallen and rolled down the mountain before presumably tumbling off the cliff above. Astounded at the fact that the entire ship hadn't flown to bits in the fall, he quietly returned inside the vessel.

"Don't call me Penny..." Pennington muttered, looking to their side. The doorway into the rest of the ship was open, as if inviting them deeper. "Anyway, I don't think this ship's going to run again..."

"That bad, huh?" Moonstone tapped her chin in thought. "We better check up on Glacier and Crankshaft."

"I was thinking the same thing." Pennington hopped up, grabbing onto the lower side of the horizontal doorway and pulling himself through to the other side. The hallway was completely dark aside from the light of his horn. Even the red emergency lights had gone dark. Pennington reached up with his magic, disengaging the lock on the door to the bridge. Moonstone jumped up into the air, beginning to fly inside, only for her eyes to widen and her to immediately drop back down to the ground. She rushed back past Pennington, shoving him to the side as she sprinted to the other end of the hallway, retching and vomiting violently in the far corner.

Pennington took a deep breath, bracing himself for the worst as he jumped up and climbed through.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight and Lily had fallen to the back, with Delta leading the way and Spike providing him with extra light whenever he needed it. Twilight had to admit that they were making good time. According to the map, they had already made it back to beneath Ponyville and beyond, currently somewhere beneath the Everfree forest. Delta was certainly keeping them moving at a fast pace, his light physique as a pegasus stopping him from tiring out quickly. She and Lily had managed to get him to stop for a break on three separate occasions, though he always seemed annoyed at their lack of endurance.

It was hard to accurately judge the passage of time in the dark, but eventually, Spike's incessant yawning told them that it was time to set up camp. Dinner was meager, at best, since they couldn't light a cooking fire in the confined tunnel. Lily had brought a wide array of mutigrain bars and a few jars of jam they used to keep themselves from gagging on the dense cardboard-tasting "food." The only one eating well was Spike, who had been constantly picking up small gems and jewels from the ground and walls. They were the more common types of gems, which explained why they hadn't been mined out with the rest of the tunnel, but now and then he'd find a ruby or diamond to nibble happily on.

Their beds were minimal, just a few blankets spread out on the ground. None of them had been able to find a store in Canterlot that hadn't sold out of sleeping bags, pillows, or other bedrolls, so they simply had to settle for what they could gather from inside Calalily's apartment. It was little more than a placebo measure, simply keeping her from rolling in the dirt, but she was grateful for it, anyway. She had fallen asleep in much more uncomfortable positions while studying herself to sleep, so she told herself that it couldn't be too hard to sleep on the ground.

Soon, all of the lights had been extinguished and the sound of the hurricane-like weather above finally made itself noticeable, a low rumbling of thunder and whistling of the winds passing over above the ground. This, however, was promptly blotted out by the sound of the two boys snoring. Twilight grinned and rolled her eyes, turning onto her side to try to get to sleep before the noise became unbearable.

Twilight turned back over, finding Lily facing her, her horn giving off just enough of a glow to illuminate her face.

"I just wanted to say... thank you. For coming, I mean." Lily glanced down at the ground, then back up, her eyes full of gratitude. "When I hear about Penn being in danger, I kind of tend to lose it and act without thinking. I know that this chase is probably going to be for nothing, but it means a lot to me that you came."

"It's no problem for me. I wanted to go with him to begin with to try to watch his back out there, anyway!" She began to chuckle near the end of her sentence, causing her voice to rise. Lily quickly placed her hoof against her lips, looking fearfully towards the two boys. After affirming that they were both still asleep, she let out a sigh of relief.

"There's one other thing that I wanted to ask you..." She glanced back nervously at Delta. "Does any of this seem strange to you?"

"What, the secret underground passage, or the total stranger coming out of nowhere knowing things about Penn's mission that no one else does?" Twilight sighed. The issue had been on her mind once they had been in the tunnel for a few hours. "I don't think Delta's telling us anything close to everything..."

"Not to mention the fact that Spike can't seem to send letters, any more!" Twilight closed her eyes, shaking her head. "If somepony's targeting us, we're already isolated and have no way of contacting the outside world." She frowned, liking the situation even less now that she had stated it out loud.

"Well, he did prove that he's a member of the New Lunar Republic when he passed that test to get in here... He knows the security phrases..."

"Pfft, please. Penn always fills me in on the newest passphrases when he gets them, and I'm not even in the NLR!" She paused, tapping her chin. "Although, that one must be REALLY new, because I've never heard it before..."

Twilight blinked in confusion. "You mean... he just sends you the passphrases?"

Lily laughed, turning onto her back. "Not nearly as close as we look... or as we used to be."

"He's lucky to have a friend like you..." Twilight mimicked her, feeling a small pang of jealousy of how close Lily was to Pennington. "You make sure he's okay, no matter what it costs to you, he confides all his big secrets in you, and when he doesn't even know he needs help, you're the first one to rush out the door to help him."

"He's way luckier to have a girlfriend like YOU! A pony who not only can keep up with him, but keep him in line? I heard from him about all the promises you force him to make, and he actually keeps them! That's more than I was ever able to get out of him when we were dating..." Lily rolled back to face her, letting out a long sigh.

"We shouldn't trust him blindly, but if I remember that map right, we're on the right track." She sighed. "Unfortunately, we have to do one of the only things Pennington can't." She turned over to give Lily a smug wink. "We're going to have to wait patiently and let that answer come to us."

This elicited a giggle from both mares, which caused Delta to groan and roll over, nearly waking up. Both girls quickly extinguished their lights, followed by more nervous giggling.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crankshaft's eyes fluttered open, her head pounding with excruciating pain. She could tell that she definitely wasn't inside the Surprise, any more. She cringed as her pain increased when she flicked her eyes up and down. She appeared to be inside some kind of cave, judging by the entrance she was facing. Her heart broke as she saw the mangled remains of the Surprise just outside, twisted nearly beyond recognition.

The memories began to slowly return to her. Glacier had misjudged an outcropping in the mountain that had broken underneath them. That had started an avalanche underneath them. The two of them had tried to outspeed it, but they were being pulled down with it. Glacier had gone for a jump to another safe part of the mountain, but only landed their front two tires. From there, they'd lost their grip and fallen down the mountain.

A small fire had been started in front of her, turning the cave from a frigid hole in the mountain to a cozy hideaway from the elements.

Looking up, she could see two figures entering the cave, each carrying several roughly-cut logs. However, upon seeing that she was awake, Pennington dropped the logs and rushed to her side, gently placing a hoof under her head and looking straight into her eyes, inspecting her for injury.

"Crankshaft! Oh, thank Luna you woke up!" He gave her a weak smile. "Don't try to move, you got hit pretty hard in there... I was worried that you might not wake up at all."

"Shh. Take it easy. Talk later, eat now." He reached over to the fire, retrieving a small pot near the edge she hadn't noticed. Steam flew up into his face as he pried off the cover with his magic. In the corner, his magic retrieved a spoon from his saddlebag. He fed a steaming spoonful of hot soup into her mouth. Crankshaft swallowed the soup, not even taking the time to chew the soft noodles.

She sighed with relief as she felt the hot liquid begin to warm her from the inside out.

"Wh- wh- wh-" She felt her words catch in her throat, her mouth refusing to for the words. Her brow furrowed, focusing on forming the words. "Whe- Where's G-G-G-Gla-"

Pennington's eyes filled with concern, and he glanced over at Moonstone, who stared back at him with a dower expression.

"Wha-wha- what's wr-wrong wi-wi-with m-m-me?" Crankshaft's heart began to race faster and faster in her chest as panic set in. Her mouth refused to form her words, and they seemed to catch in her throat.

"Well, I'm no doctor..." Pennington whispered, tears welling up in his eyes. "I think you got a concussion in the crash. You're lucky to be alive, being in the cockpit like that." It was only now that Crankshaft noticed that his fur on his back and his front hooves was matted with blood. As she stared, he looked away, staring into the fire.

"I'm... sorry." Tears began welling up in his eyes, and he was obviously trying not to stutter, himself. "Glacier didn't make it. It looks like she wasn't buckled in."

Crankshaft felt grief rising up in her throat and overwhelming her as she realized her best friend in the world was dead. She couldn't hold back the wail as she leaned her head against Pennington's chest. She couldn't even muster up the will to hold herself back as she completely lost all control of herself. Occasionally, she would try to eke out a few words, only to stumble and feel the grief well up inside her to the point she felt like she was going to explode, even with the single moment of blockage.

Pennington didn't move, letting her exhaust herself against him. As she cried, Moonstone added more fuel to the fire and took up a seat against her, leaning her warm body against Crankshaft's stomach to counteract the cold floor.

When she had finally exhausted herself, Crankshaft's head was pounding even more with splitting pain, but she ignored it. She didn't care, she was completely overwhelmed with her emotion. She could feel her heart breaking. Every time she thought she had started to calm down, it would hit her again that she had lost her ability to speak and her best friend in the same day.

Pennington let her cry, only taking the time to use his magic to retrieve his quill and a scroll from his bag. He passed them both to Moonstone, who gave him a curious tilt of her head. The two exchanged no words, but she quickly set herself to work scratching down a quick letter. After a matter of minutes, she passed it back to Pennington, who quickly glanced it over and nodded. Without so much ceremony as a ribbon, Moonstone folded the note and sent it away in a burst of lavender fire.

Eventually, almost an hour later, Crankshaft's exhaustion caught up with her. She quietly drifted off to sleep, still leaning against Pennington. The last thing she felt before she lost consciousness again was a firm hoof around her shoulder and a warm body pressed against her stomach as Pennington pulled a blanket over the three of them.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We're going to need an extraction. The Surprise is down, and the pilot dead. Her co-pilot has suffered a serious head injury that resulted in a disabling concussion. We appear to have crashed somewhere in the highest of the Macintosh Hills, more akin to mountains. Please send a retrieval team at the nearest opportunity. Pennington and I are prepared to continue the journey on hoof, but she is in no condition to be going anywhere.

Please hurry. She is in need of medical attention and, most likely, grief and trauma counseling.

Luna and Celestia cast anxious glances at one another. They had been forced to read the letter in silence because of the massive number of other refugees present in the dining hall.

"I don't understand..." Celestia sighed, shaking her head. "How could this have happened? Glacier and Crankshaft were two of the Solar Empire's best and brightest rays! I thought for certain that they would have been able to accomplish their mission with ease..."

Luna gave her sister a reassuring pat on the back. "There are risks to everything, dear sister. Sometimes, a pony's luck runs out at the worst of times."

Celestia nodded quietly, collecting herself. "I suppose we'll need to send somepony to retrieve Crankshaft..." She cast a worried glance out the window. "But with the storms getting worse and worse, I fear what may happen to any rescue team we send..."

Luna nodded. "I remember the area that they're speaking of. It usually isn't too difficult to pass by, but I would guess that the storms there have turned especially violent to be able to bring a vessel like that to ruin. We may not be able to send anypony until the weather has returned to normal."

Celestia sighed again. Things certainly weren't in their favor today. While many of her little ponies were lovely house guests, many more were unbearably inconsiderate, and even Canterlot Castle's massive stores were beginning to feel strain under the pressure. Even with everypony working together to make the situation bearable, it was beginning to truly wear at her. She had yet to hear from her faithful student or any of her friends, either. She thought that they might have at least had SOME questions for her regarding the progress with the weather. Eclipse had taken to hiding in his room, frightened by the massive influx of ponies into what was usually a very empty castle. While the reclusive draconequus had made great progress with his social anxiety with the staff of the castle, he was far from ready for meeting total strangers, and especially this many.

Celestia ran from the room, leaving her confused sister behind. She had an idea, though many would call it crazy. Thankfully, she had a friend who could make crazy happen.

Penn and Stone: Dynamic Duo

by Pennington Inkwell

Moving Down in the World