//------------------------------// // Chapter 24: Into the Deep // Story: Spiritus ex Machina // by wonderkid125 //------------------------------// The group of ponies continued making their way through the dark tunnel on their way to the cavern that apparently held the key to their freedom. Although they had ample sources of light between their three flashlights, Twilight and Glitterball’s horns, and the few lightbulbs hanging overhead, it was nigh impossible to see anything outside of their field of illumination. There were two walls of pitch blackness behind and in front of them, and they were more than a little unsettled as they walked further in. Before their claustrophobia could get any worse, the ceiling up ahead receded and another opening came into view. The ponies were ecstatic to see that they had finally reached their destination, so they picked up their pace. As they all flooded out of the opening and looked around, however, their jaws collectively dropped. They were currently standing in one of the largest caves they had ever been in. The ceiling was barely visible at the very edge of their vision, and they couldn’t even see an actual end to the cavern. There was a sharp drop off to their right a few feet away that looked like it descended into nothingness, though it was hard to see without getting closer. In front of the chasms, there were rope barriers anchored into the ground, apparently placed there by Cotton Swirl and his crew. The rope barriers wrapped around the entire island of ground around them, with a stone bridge ahead of them that looked like it connected to another section of solid ground across the black trench. Along with the rope fences, there were lights attached to poles stuck in the ground spaced throughout. These lights consisted of oil lanterns, however, there was one electrical light hanging near the mouth of the opening the ponies just left. Of course, none of the lanterns were lit, meaning that the majority of the area around them was utterly steeped in blackness. Pinkie Pie whistled while admiring the sheer size of the cavern. As the sound echoed around, a smile fell across her face. “Hellooooooo!” She called, taking a moment to see how far out the echo would travel. Judging from the sound alone, she gathered that there was much more to the cave than they were seeing. “Wow…” Twilight walked closer to one of the rope barriers while taking a look around. She focused more energy to her light spell, causing the sphere to extend and reveal more of her surroundings. “I wonder how far back this goes?” She asked nobody in particular while searching beyond the rope guidelines and into the rest of the expansive cavern. Meanwhile, the others were walking closer to the large stone bridge ahead of them. They paused near the edge, still looking around with awestruck expressions. Rainbow Dash stepped over to the edge of the bridge and peered over one of the rope fences. The empty blackness beneath her extended so far down that she couldn’t see a bottom, only a few rocky outcroppings on the face of the chasm walls. “Just how far down is the third circle of Tartarus?” Glitterball asked from beside the cyan mare. Rainbow looked over to see the unicorn staring into the abyss with some of the others. Her eyes were shaking slightly and she looked a little pale as she cautiously made sure her feet were planted. Rainbow Dash gathered a bit of saliva in her mouth and spit over the side. The ponies watched the ball of spit falling down past the edge of their vision and listened closely, hoping to hear it hit something solid. Even after several seconds, no noise came to indicate that the projectile had stopped falling. “I’d say really far.” Rainbow remarked while still glancing over the side. She looked up and saw the white unicorn looking like she was going to throw up. “Everyone… I think this goes without saying, but watch your step.” Sunspot announced while grabbing ahold of one of the rope barriers and giving it a test tug. The rope was frayed, and it creaked as if it were just barely holding onto the posts it was attached to. If anyone fell into one of them, it wouldn’t do much to stop them from hurtling over the edge. Tom took a step onto the stone bridge and pointed his flashlight forward and to the right, looking at what seemed like the only path available to them so far. “Looks like there’s only one way to go.” He observed. “We need to find that body before we can do anything else.” Glimmer Shine reminded while stepping onto the bridge with the human. He turned to the boy curiously. “Do you think you can feel where it is with your senses?” “Maybe… it is the source of the ghosts’ manifestations after all.” Tom replied while taking in a breath of stale cave air. As he exhaled, a high pitched hiss left his mouth along with a puff of blue mist. Just as suddenly as he made the attempt to use his senses, a brief fit of coughing overcame him. “Ugh… looks like the energy in here is just as jacked up as it was back in the resort. If anything, it seems like there’s more of it… unfortunately, I can’t get an exact read. I can only tell that there is a mass of energy behind us and in front of us.” He explained, mildly frustrated at his lack of success. “The energy behind us is probably from everything in the resort.” Sunspot inferred while glancing back at the tunnel behind the group. Glimmer Shine stared ahead and sighed. “And the energy in front of us is probably the thing we’re looking for.” He turned back to the others and stiffened his expression. “Come on, guys. We should get moving.” He motioned for everyone to follow him as he careful started walking across the bridge. The ponies followed the human and the yellow stallion as they headed for the other side of the chasm. Those with a fear of heights stayed in the center of the group, looking at their feet and trying to ignore the fact that they were walking above a seemingly bottomless pit. Twilight glanced over the side of the bridge uneasily as she heard the sound of pebbles moving and rock settling. Although there were rope barriers, and the bridge seemed stable enough to hold their weight, she still felt a little twinge of fear nipping at the back of her neck and making her hairs stand up. “H-hey… you guys would catch me if I fell, right?” Glitterball asked nervously while glancing to the three pegasi in the group. “Of course we would, Glitter.” Sunspot replied reassuringly. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy nodded as well. Glitter nodded shakily. “Ok… j-just had to check.” She chuckled nervously, trailing off as she glanced toward the sides of the bridge. “Don’t worry, sugarcube, we’ve got you. Just keep walkin’ and look at the floor.” Applejack said while putting a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder for assurance. Glitterball did as instructed and did her best to calm down as the group made it over the rest of the rocky walkway. The bridge sloped up slightly in the middle before leading down to more solid looking ground. There was a rounded face of rock ahead of them, with more of an open area to the right. The wall seemed to stretch from where they were all the way up to the ceiling far above. The stone floor wrapped around the wall and continued, with more drop offs and rope barriers along the edges. The group walked around the wall and spread out now that there was more ground beneath their feet. As they turned the corner and illuminated more of the area ahead, they noticed a few interesting features. Foremost of these features was a set of tents and tarps set up against the cave wall. A few boxes and tools could be seen through the openings of the tents. Further up ahead, the group could see the wall to their left giving way to another large open area. There was an arch formed by some of the rocks, and a wide path led under the arch and into a flat area that had three other paths branching off of it. There were more lanterns spaced around the area and a few far off rope fences that indicated more harrowing cliffs. The ponies immediately walked up to the three tents and examined them. Glimmer Shine and Tom went inside one, and Sunspot and Glitterball went inside another. Deciding to satisfy her curiosity, Twilight stepped into the leftmost tent and looked around. The tent was relatively small, most likely not meant to be used as shelter by anyone. No, the tent was most likely meant to be used for storage judging from the few boxes sitting up against the side. There was a portable oil lantern sitting on one of the boxes, and a few jars and pots on the tarped floor in front of them. Twilight picked up one of the jars with her magic and peered inside. There was a thick layer of dust caked along the walls of the container, with even more settled at the bottom. “Huh?” Twilight paused curiously as she noticed a small barrel next to the boxes. The barrel had black text emblazoned onto its side, and although it was faded, it could easily be made out to read “oil”. Twilight smiled softly with intrigue welling up inside of her and lifted the top of the barrel off. As she poked her head into the container, the thick smell of oil greeted her. Sure enough, there was still some of the viscous liquid sitting at the bottom of the barrel, with a layer of dust and debris floating on the surface. “Hey guys, I think I might have found something we can use.” The purple mare announced while turning back toward the tent opening. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were curiously watching her and looking around the tent themselves from outside, and the others were gathered nearby, still watching the other tents being searched. Everyone exited the other tents and gathered near where the purple unicorn was. Twilight smiled and eagerly pointed out her discovery to the others. “Wow… nice find, Twilight.” Tom said while inspecting the oil. “I’m sure we can use this for something.” Sunspot glanced toward the edge of the ground several feet away and noted the many lanterns hanging from posts. “If we’re going to be searching around, maybe it would be a good idea to light up some of these lanterns?” She suggested, looking around to see what the others were thinking. “Maybe so… and maybe we can use this area as a home base of sorts.” Glimmer Shine mused while scratching his chin and looking around. “Twilight, Glitter, see if you can put this oil into some containers for us. I’m going to go check some of the lanterns to see if they would even work.” Twilight and her fellow unicorn nodded and gathered around the barrel as the stallion exited the tent. The others watched as the pair levitated some of the empty jars and pots over to the barrel and started siphoning the oil out with their magic. Soon, the pair had amassed several containers full of oil, leaving the barrel nearly empty. They placed the last lids back on the jars and set them aside, offering each other a smirk of accomplishment for their job well done. The two mares walked outside of the tent with one jar each in tow. They looked ahead to see many of the others dotted around, some assisting with inspecting the lanterns, and some observing their surroundings. Glimmer Shine turned to see the unicorns walking up to him with their jars held beside them. They set the jars down next to a book of matches the stallion had found in one of the other tents and stepped back. “Do they look usable?” Glitterball asked curiously, turning to the lantern the stallion was fiddling with and inspecting it herself. “Aside from disuse, they seem like they are in good condition. Let’s get a few of them lit up here and move on.” Glimmer Shine said while pointing to some of the other lanterns around the area. The two unicorns nodded and took one of the oil jars with them as they walked over to the next lantern. The ponies managed to light three lanterns near the tents before they decided to move on. Depending on how big this place was and how long they would be searching, they needed to ration their oil, using it only on a few lanterns in each area they came across. Once they were gathered together again, everyone made their way toward the stone archway and the flat area beyond. They glanced up at the arch as they passed under it. There was a decently wide area near the top that looked like one could stand up there. There were also some rocky outcroppings near the left column that melded into the cave wall. If one were adventurous enough, they would be able to climb up to the top of the arch with relative ease. Further ahead, the ponies could see three more stone bridges to the sides and up ahead at the ends of the large flat area. The whole area looked like a circle of ground suspended among many pits and holes that seemed just as deep as anywhere else. The bridges led to other islands of rock of various shapes that went even further into the cave, with seemingly no end in sight. “Let’s split up and search around for a bit.” Glimmer Shine suggested while glancing around the area. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Fluttershy asked with a hint of uncertainty in her voice as she eyed around the vast cave around her. It seemed like any number of dangers could be lurking anywhere, ready to pounce on them at a moment’s notice. Glimmer Shine smiled confidently. “We’ll be fine as long as we stick in groups and don’t stray too far. We’ll meet back here if we find anything… or if we don’t find anything I suppose.” He explained, eyes still distant in thought as he scanned the three paths available to him. “I’ll take that way and work my way back.” He said while pointing to the right. There were two more directions beyond the stone bridge that skirted another wall, with one way going further into the cave and the other going back towards the direction of the entrance. “I’ll go with you.” Sunspot volunteered eagerly before catching herself. She softened her expression and looked to the stallion with hesitant eyes. Thankfully he didn’t seem too upset at the prospect of her joining him. However, he did sigh to himself quietly. “I’ll take the other direction by myself. We can cover more ground that way.” Tom suggested while looking to the other path across the right bridge. He seemed confident in his ability to take care of himself, and the others didn’t doubt him. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had grouped together, stepping toward the center bridge. “We’ll take this way.” The cyan pegasus pointed forward with a confident smirk. Applejack walked over to join the two mares. “I’ll head with you two.” She stated, assuming that there would be no objections. The other two ponies didn’t seem to mind the extra company. Twilight and Glitterball, along with Pinkie Pie and Sparkplug, glanced over to the left bridge. The way beyond seemed to only head in one path that stretched on for a while, so they would have a lot of ground to cover. “I guess that leaves us stuck with each other.” Twilight said while looking over at her three companions. The others smiled, eliciting a smile from her as well. Glimmer Shine faced the group while standing toward the right with Sunspot and Tom. The others stood around with their chosen search area to their rears, gathered in a partial square. “We’re looking for a dead body stuck in a mascot suit. We don’t know if it will be just lying around out in the open… or if it’s even somewhere reachable. If you can’t find anything, or feel lost, or run into any trouble, just run back here and wait for us.” He explained in a serious tone while shifting his gaze around at the lineup of ponies. Everyone nodded with varying degrees of confidence in their faces before breaking off and heading with their appointed groups. Twilight and her three companions walked over to the leftmost bridge and started crossing it. The purple mare paused and turned, watching her friends crossing their bridges and heading toward the darkness. Rainbow Dash’s group had one flashlight and one lantern, Tom had a flashlight, and Sunspot and Glimmer Shine had a flashlight and a lantern as well. “Come on, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie called from up ahead. Twilight turned and saw the others already near the other side waiting for her. “Coming!” She replied while hurrying her pace to catch up with the three mares. After parting ways with their human companion after crossing the rocky bridge, Sunspot and Glimmer Shine walked along in uncomfortable silence for minutes on end. The path they were taking skirted the edge of a chasm and narrowly avoided running into the cavern wall in places. Luckily the rope barriers in place made it so the pair never got too close to the edge. Glimmer Shine walked ahead of the orange mare, carrying the flashlight and staring ahead blankly. Meanwhile, his pegasus companion seemed more anxious than he was. Sunspot looked to the stallion with a hesitant frown as she thought back to their brief argument outside of the storage room. In the heat of the moment, she didn’t keep as close of a watch on her words as she should have, and things were said that she deeply regretted. The yellow pony seemed to be ignoring the obvious elephant in the cave, or at any rate, he wasn’t outwardly showing that he was thinking about it. “Glimmer…” Sunspot spoke up, straining to think of something to say. She looked to the floor and sighed while preparing to throw all sense of pride out the window for the sake of her friendship with the stallion. “Yeah?” Glimmer Shine asked flatly without even turning to face the pegasus. Judging from her unease, he could already tell what she was thinking. “I’ve been thinking about what happened earlier… and… umm,” Sunspot rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. “I just wanted to say that… I’m sorry. I crossed a line… and, I really wish I could take that back.” She frowned as she looked ahead to see the stallion still staring blankly into the distance. Suddenly, Glimmer Shine stopped walking and turned to her, making her avert her eyes sadly. “It’s ok… It’s no big deal.” Glimmer said, though he didn’t sound too sure of his words. “Huh?” Sunspot looked back to the yellow pony in confusion before shaking her head. “No… it’s not ok. I lost my temper, and I said some things that were really not cool.” She insisted. Glimmer Shine shrugged. “Don’t sweat it, Sunspot. Let’s just move on and get this job done.” He turned and started walking again, leaving the pegasus in stunned silence. “W-wait!” Sunspot trotted to catch up and walked alongside him. “You can’t just be ok with this! You’re the one who said we should talk about it later. Well… it’s later!” She had to take a moment to get her emotions under control before looking to the stallion with soft eyes. “Please talk to me… Say something to let me know how you feel. If you’re mad, or upset… I understand. You have every right to be livid with me. Just… don’t leave me hanging.” Glimmer Shine turned to face the orange mare. She was staring back at him, failing to hide the sadness in her eyes. He sighed before adopting a thoughtful expression. “Sunspot… can I ask you something?” He said in a matter of fact way, catching the other pony off guard slightly. “Umm… yeah, of course.” Sunspot replied with a confused nod. Glimmer briefly bit his lip and left his mouth agape, carefully thinking of how to put his next words. “Do you want to be here?” Sunspot was taken aback by the sudden question. She blinked rapidly, wondering if she misheard or misunderstood him. “W…w-what?” She shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand… what do you mean?” “Well, obviously I don’t mean right here… we’re in a haunted cave looking for dead bodies for crying out loud,” Glimmer chuckled with a hollow smile before shifting his expression back to a blank one. “I mean… do you want to be part of this team? You might not have meant everything you said earlier, but you seemed pretty upset. You know, you don’t need to stay with us. If you don’t like the way things are handled here, you’re more than free to go,” He explained without any anger present in his voice. “I don’t want you to work somewhere you’re constantly unhappy… and I definitely don’t want you to get yourself killed. If this isn’t working out for you… and it really doesn’t look like it is, then we can manage without you.” The stallion’s words hung in the air as the orange mare stood in silence. Sunspot was so shocked that she couldn’t even formulate a response. Initially, she was slightly offended by the question, but her expression softened and she looked down with uncertainty in her eyes as she gave her answer more thought. Of course, she loved being with Glitterball and even the yellow pony, but why was she having such a hard time with the stallion’s question if that were completely true? Perhaps sensing the mare’s hesitance to answer, Glimmer Shine smiled softly. “It’s ok… you don’t have to answer. Just think about it once we get out of here.” He nodded to the side, eager to keep moving. Sunspot nodded quietly while still looking to the floor. If she was troubled before, now she was downright upset at herself and the stallion’s words. The pair kept walking along the rocky path, waiting for something interesting or out of place to catch their eye. Finally, they could see the end of the cave coming into view. The entrance to the cavern was across a chasm off to the right, standing out amid the darkness due to the lights above the tunnel. And off to their left, the wall they had been following curved and went further ahead for a short ways before ending in another dead end. “Well, I guess there’s nothing over here.” Glimmer Shine shrugged while turning to the orange mare with a drained expression. “Should we head back?” Sunspot glanced back where they came from pensively. Glimmer nodded blankly. “Seems like the best option.” With their search turning up as a dead end, the two ponies made their way back toward the flat area where they were supposed to meet with everyone. They hoped that they wouldn’t find anyone there and that the others were having more luck with their searches. After a few minutes of walking, the lantern light of the circular area came into view up ahead. The pair could see the area was vacant, so they continued toward the stone bridge. They briefly looked toward where the human was searching, only to see nothing but a path leading further ahead. They contemplated going to help him with his search briefly, but decided that it would be for the best if they waited for the others to return instead. As they started crossing the bridge back to the flat circular area, something caught Sunspot’s eye amid the flickering light of the lanterns. The group hadn’t lit many of the lanterns in the flat area, having only brought one jar of oil and left it near the center. However, there was something on the ground beside the lone jar; something black and grimy looking. “Oh no…” Sunspot’s heart sank as she looked ahead at the black stains. She rushed ahead and finished crossing the rest of the bridge. Glimmer Shine started to call after the pegasus until he noticed what she had seen. His face paled and he trotted toward the unsettling sight along with the orange mare. Now that they were closer to the substance, they could immediately recognize it. It was a trail of inky blackness in the rough shape of paws. A faint disgusting odor wafted off of the goop. The two ponies followed it back with their lights to see that it came from the direction of the cave entrance. And as they followed it to see where it was heading, they converged on the bridge in the middle of the platform. “That’s not good.” Glimmer Shine muttered in a troubled tone while looking back to the orange mare. He put a hoof up to his ear and focused on his human friend. “Tom, get back to the meeting spot right now. I think an old friend of ours followed us into the cave.” He explained with a quiet sense of urgency. If the creature that the ponies knew made these footprints was heading toward Rainbow Dash’s group, then they were in grave danger. Twilight and her small troop continued cutting through the darkness and searching the vast cavern around them. The eerie silence was occasionally broken by a muffled and echoic noise around them that was usually just a rock falling or air moving. Occasionally, however, a particularly disconcerting noise would make the ponies pause and dart their heads around anxiously. The most interesting thing they had found thus far were some rock formations jutting up from the cave floor, sometimes large enough that they had to walk around. After a few more minutes of walking, however, something other than rocks and darkness came into view. Up ahead, embedded into the ground partially, was what appeared to be rotten pieces of wood and fabric. The pieces were scattered around at odd intervals and positions, like debris from an explosion. There were also some small flags posted into the ground near some of the areas with debris. These flags looked newer than the debris, but they were still old. “Woah… check that out.” Sparkplug pointed ahead to what looked like the broken, aged remains of a former building. The structure was little more than some broken pieces of wall frame that were still somehow together, but it was still impressive to behold. The pieces seemed out of place sitting in the cave, creating a very strange juxtaposition to the otherwise barren rocks and earthen sections of the cave they had seen up until now. Twilight craned her neck and examined one of the flags more closely. It had a faded number designation on its surface, and so did many of the others. “It looks like these were put here when Cotton Swirl explored the place.” She looked ahead, noticing more random bits and pieces of wood and metal at the end of her light’s reach. “I guess the park really did fall down here… at least partially.” Sparkplug sat down and picked up one of the smaller pieces of wood. The broken plank was nearly falling apart in her hooves. “It’s a wonder those mascot suits they pulled out of here were in such good shape.” Pinkie Pie perked up slightly at the gray mare’s statement. “You found some mascot suits from the old park? That sounds so cool!” She smiled eagerly as she pictured being able to see a part of the park’s history so closely. She wondered how Berry Swirl would react to seeing such artifacts from her family’s past. Sparkplug chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, it was pretty cool… until they started moving around and trying to kill us.” “Oh…” Pinkie deflated slightly, offering the gray mare a sympathetic expression. Twilight shrugged while standing back up and looking ahead. As interesting as their new surroundings were, they probably wouldn’t have what they were looking for. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything in the areas that Cotton Swirl explored. We should keep going and see if there’s a cutoff somewhere that he didn’t get to.” She suggested. The others seemed to agree with her reasoning, so they followed her as she pressed onwards. The further they went into the cavern, the more artifacts from the old amusement park they found. Most of the smaller items were absent, probably having been brought back to the resort by the crews that mapped out the area and set up the lanterns, rope barriers, and flag markers. However, there were a large number of ruined wood structures, pieces of torn and faded fabric that looked like they once belonged to a colorful flag or tent, and other solid pieces that looked like they belonged to rides and attractions. Pinkie Pie happened on a piece of a merry-go-round lying on the ground at an angle. The once colorful miniature carriage had broken sections of a pole sticking out of the top and bottom, and many of the smaller pieces of decoration were missing. While the pink mare found the piece to be a pleasant reminder of what it was like to be at a carnival, the others viewed it as a disquieting reminder of where they were, and what had happened in the past in this location. As they weaved around the many roped off areas and the rubble of buildings and rides, they suddenly found themselves in another wide open area. The guide ropes at the edges of the ruins led toward the right, where there was seemingly a dead end in the form of a rock face. Twilight scanned around the area with her light, trying to catch anything out of place amid the rocks and wreckage. As much as she entertained the bizarre and morbid idea of running into a yellow mascot suit with a corpse inside, she had no such luck. “Don’t tell me we’ve hit a dead end…” Twilight shrugged, scanning over the same areas over and over again in the hopes that she missed something. “Ok, I won’t.” Pinkie Pie said in a helpful tone before leaning in close to Sparkplug. “Hey… don’t tell Twilight, but I think we hit a dead end.” She whispered while holding a foreleg up to hide her conversation from the unicorn and eyeing off to the side to see if she was looking. Twilight rolled her eyes and groaned, kicking a rock in mild frustration. How many places could there be in a giant cave to hide a dead body? She wondered, though she didn’t really want to think about that question too much for fear of coming up with the obvious answer. “Hold up,” Glitterball paused curiously while focusing her light and shining it up ahead. Her eyes lit up joyfully as she happened across something promising. “Hey, I think I found something. Look over there!” She directed while waving her light over the area to draw the attention of her companions. Twilight and the others looked over to where the white pony was shining her light. She was directing them to an area beyond the rope barriers toward the wall in front of them. The rope guidelines weren’t snugged up against the cave wall. There was some space to walk around back there, and it seemed as though the area hadn’t fully been explored by the previous ponies to come through here. Up against the rocky wall, there was a decently sized hole that looked like it led somewhere else. Twilight chuckled softly and let a wide grin build on her face as she laid eyes on the opening. “Good work, Glitter!” She turned to her fellow unicorn with a congratulatory cheer. Glitterball seemed a little bashful about all of the sudden attention she was getting, but she smiled softly with a pleased expression on her face. The four mares made their way past the many piles of rubble and debris toward the back of the cave. They stepped over the rope barrier and walked up the slight incline until they were standing near the wall next to the opening. Twilight poked her head through the opening, discovering that it opened up a short ways in. It seemed like a hole that led from this side of the wall to the other, and there was a path they could take that would keep them moving forward. “I don’t see any signs that Cotton Swirl or anyone else has been through here.” Twilight reported, noting the distinct lack of rope barriers around a chasm to the right of the opening. There also weren’t any lanterns or flags, which were good signs that they might make some progress if they went this way. “You think we’ll find Dream Catcher in there somewhere?” Glitterball asked curiously, waiting for the purple mare to back out of the opening to get her opinion. Twilight smirked with a newly renewed feeling of determination welling up inside of her. “I think that is exactly what we will find in there.” She stated confidently. The three mares gathered around her smiled in return and prepared to venture where no pony had ever gone before. The purple unicorn craned her head and ducked under the low ceiling, stepping through to the other side. Pinkie Pie followed next, with Sparkplug going after her. Glitterball lingered outside of the opening for a moment and looked behind her. She wondered just how far they would be able to go into this cavern before getting lost, or possibly worse. Feeling a thick sense of anxious paranoia, the white mare quickly stepped through the opening and joined her friends. She definitely didn’t want to leave them alone in a place like this, and she definitely did not want to be alone either. Elsewhere in the cave, Rainbow Dash’s group was still out on their search. The three mares kept close together, with Applejack carrying a lit lantern in her mouth, and Fluttershy wielding a flashlight to illuminate further ahead. While her two companions didn’t seem particularly fazed by their surroundings, Fluttershy was not nearly as calm and collected. She had been on edge ever since she entered the cavern, but at least before she was in a large group with relatively good sources of light. Now she only had the dim flame of the lantern that her orange friend was holding and the beam of light provided by the flashlight clutched in her hoof. The only thing keeping her nerves in check was the fact that she wasn’t alone, and she had two of her bravest friends with her. Rainbow Dash and Applejack scanned their eyes around as their yellow companion shifted her flashlight beam around the area ahead. Although her movements were a tad bit shaky, Fluttershy was doing a fairly good job of checking everywhere to find anything that might have been of interest. In fact, she was doing a bit too good of a job as she trailed the light back and forth to the same places multiple times. “You doing ok, Fluttershy?” Applejack spoke through the lantern handle in her mouth, a hint of sympathetic concern in her muffled voice. Fluttershy took a quick breath and nodded. “Yeah… I think so. I just really don’t like it here.” She stated uneasily while trying her best to ignore the ambiance of echoed noises around her and the never ending darkness of the cavern. “Don’t sweat it, Flutters. We just need to check through here until we either hit a dead end or find what we’re looking for. After that, we can head back to the others. It’ll be nice and easy.” Rainbow Dash reassured the timid mare with a confident smirk as if things really were as easy as she made them out to be. “Right… right… nice and easy.” Fluttershy parroted the cyan pony’s words before taking another breath and trying to calm herself. She wasn’t doing too bad all things considered, but she could feel her muscles tensing from hesitation as she peered around the darkness. Suddenly, a noise from behind the group made the yellow pegasus pause in her tracks. Her ears perked up and the hairs on the back of her neck did the same. Fluttershy turned around and waved her flashlight along the ground to the rear, trying to find any sign of movement. Noticing the beam of the flashlight spinning around, the other two mares turned to see their friend staring off into the distance where they just came from, scrutinizing the shadows for some unseen threat. “Uh… Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash tapped the pegasus on the shoulder. Fluttershy briefly turned to see her friends looking at her with confused expressions. She quickly turned her head back and shifted her eyes around one last time. Did they not hear it…? She thought to herself while double checking to see if the area was still as empty as it seemed. She knew for certain that she heard something scuffling against a loose rock behind her. “Somfin wrong?” Applejack mumbled before briefly taking the lantern out of her mouth and looking down at it with an annoyed expression. Fluttershy sighed and looked to the ground in embarrassment. She had heard many things since walking through the cave. Rocks and loose dirt shifted around almost constantly. She wasn’t sure what had made that particular noise stand out to her. Perhaps she was getting too jumpy. “Sorry… must have been my imagination.” She explained regretfully, turning back around and pointing the flashlight forward like she was supposed to. She already felt bad for depriving the cyan pony of the light because she felt nervous, and now she felt like she was misusing one of their precious light sources. Rainbow Dash and Applejack didn’t seem at all upset with the frowning pegasus for slowing them down, in fact, they seemed sympathetic. Rainbow placed a reassuring hoof on her friend’s shoulder as the group started moving again. She only hoped that they could find what they were looking for soon so the yellow mare could get out of this cave. After a few minutes of continued walking, the trio started to notice a change in their surroundings. Bits of broken wood and metal could be seen littering the cave floor, with some of the pieces even hanging down from precarious ledges along the walls and some of the lower ceilings. Before anyone could comment on the strange objects, something in the darkness up ahead caught Rainbow Dash’s eye. “Hey, shine the light over there.” She said while directing the yellow mare with her foreleg. Fluttershy aimed the flashlight into the distance slightly to the left. There was a large chasm in that direction, with a narrow path leading over there off to the right. What most held their attention, however, was a large metallic structure that stood on the other side of the chasm. Judging from the odd design, the ponies could tell that the structure was a Ferris wheel, or at least what was left of one. The base of the wheel was snapped off partially, and the support poles weren’t anywhere to be seen. The wheel itself was broken in many places, with the metal frame and bars twisted beyond recognition. The entire thing was upside down, having been wedged into a crack in between two rocks. There were only two or three carriages left on the structure, and they looked like they were hanging on for dear life. One of the carriages was sitting at the bottom of the wheel, having snapped off of its supports. “Wow…” Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up with excitement as she gazed at the distant structure. “That is so cool!” Applejack whistled while taking in the sheer size of the wheel and how it somehow fit into the cave. “That sure is a sight to behold.” Fluttershy searched the area near the forgotten attraction with the flashlight. It seemed like there was a little alcove on the other side of the wheel. And although it was hard to see with part of the cave wall and the wheel itself being in the way, but she could just barely make out what looked to be the remnants of some broken buildings. “It looks like there’s some stuff over there. Maybe we should check it out?” Fluttershy suggested while turning to her two companions with a slight smile of intrigue. “Uh… yeah!” Rainbow Dash replied. “I’ve always wanted to see one of those things up close. Let’s go!” She urged the others forward with her excitedly. She probably would have already been there by now if she didn’t want to leave the others, whether it be for their light or their company. The three ponies walked down the incline and over to the only path that seemed to lead over to the Ferris wheel. The path in question was the one they had already been on, but it funneled inward until it reached the cave wall up ahead and became incredibly narrow, winding around until it broadened over on the left side where the wheel was. Applejack glanced over the edge of the ground as she saw how narrow it got up ahead. She gulped slightly as a black void met her gaze. Although she was confident that her two flying friends would rescue her if she slipped, the thought of falling alone made her legs a little weak. “Remmf mv agaf wh we nft o tak fhe lngffef?” Applejack attempted to speak through the buildup of spit that had formed between her mouth and the handle of the lantern. The understandably confused ponies ahead of her turned and looked at her with raised eyebrows. “AJ… I can’t understand a word you’re saying with that thing in your mouth.” Rainbow Dash pointed out. The orange mare groaned in annoyance while removing the obstruction from her mouth and carrying it beside her instead. “I said… remind me again why we need to take the long way?” She asked while nodding her head to the side. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked over and noticed what their friend was talking about. The curved ledge they were walking on to get around to the Ferris wheel was far from the most direct route considering that two of them had wings. And considering that the orange pony didn’t have wings, the narrow sliver of rock that they were walking on was probably more than a little unnerving. “Ok… I see your point. But let me ask you this, Applejack.” Rainbow turned back to the earth pony with a smug smirk. “Would you really want one of us to carry you over that?” She asked while pointing to the seemingly endless abyss beneath them. Applejack stared at the empty expanse that was still between them and the other section of land. It seemed like there was more hole than solid ground as far as the eye could see. She chuckled nervously as the corners of her mouth twitched. “Nevermind… the long way is good. A little walkin’ never hurt nobody.” The cyan mare held back a giggle as she watched the farmer gawking at the harrowing heights they were standing near. With everyone ready to go, some more than others, the trio slowly made their way toward the curved path that skirted the cave wall. The path was little more than a ledge, though two ponies could stand shoulder to shoulder if one of them was more adventurous and didn’t mind planting a hoof on the edge. There were no signs of this section of the cave being explored yet, which meant that there were no rope barriers. Even if the rope was so aged that it would probably snap if anyone actually fell, its absence made the drop-off at least twice as unnerving. Still, Applejack swallowed her apprehensions and pressed forward. While the two pegasi were a little more haphazard with their footing and how close they were to the edge, she made sure to be extra aware of where she was walking. As they slowly rounded the curve and started heading in the direction of the Ferris wheel, the ground started widening out again, much to the relief of the earth pony. Now that they were on solid ground again, the three mares turned their attention to the area ahead. The ruined Ferris wheel was up ahead to their left, cemented in place a little beneath the edge of the precipice that lined the ground. There were a couple of broken sections of buildings off to the right, and a little further back there was a dead end as the cave wall finished wrapping around. The ponies approached the little alcove next to the broken down wheel and looked around, intrigued by the wreckage around them. They shined their light up to admire the sheer size of the Ferris wheel and tried to picture how it looked in pristine condition. “Man… to think that this used to be up on the surface way back when.” Rainbow Dash stepped closer to the twisted frame of metal, staring up at it in wonderment. She spread her wings and jumped up, hovering and getting a better look at one of the broken carriages still hanging near the top. Meanwhile, while Fluttershy was watching her friend and providing light for her with the flashlight, Applejack stepped over to the side toward the rubble near the back. The orange mare peered in through some of the holes in the structures. It was hard to tell if they were originally meant to be windows or doors with how much they were bent out of shape. She wasn’t even sure if they were upside down or not. “Doesn’t look like there’s anythin’ here.” Applejack noted blankly while examining the other structures. There was only a mess of rocks and debris inside, so unless the body they were looking for was buried, then they would have to look elsewhere, and Applejack really hoped that the body wasn’t buried. Rainbow Dash landed with a slight frown on her face. She had genuinely hoped that they would find something over here, or at least that the others would find something while she got a look at the Ferris wheel. Rainbow sighed while walking over to join her two friends. “I guess we should head back, then.” She glanced across the chasm toward where they came from and mentally groaned with annoyance as she remembered how much walking through the empty and dull cavern they had done to get here. Fluttershy noted the disappointment on her friends’ faces and frowned slightly. “Cheer up. I’m sure the others have found something by now.” She suggested optimistically. “I sure hope so,” Applejack added. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m plum tired of bein’ in this cave… or underground at all for that matter.” She shook her head as she struggled to think of how long it must have been since she last saw the sun. Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. “I hear you there… Let’s get moving.” She motioned for the other two to follow her as she started back toward the path around the chasm. The trio walked at a steady pace up to the ledge they crossed before. Although they had already done it once, the narrow walkway and the steep drop still made at least one of them a little uneasy. However, the orange mare was confident that the crossing would have no problems now that she knew the ground was stable. As they were slowly trekking around the curved shelf of rock, the coldness of the cave started nipping at them with newfound intensity. In fact, it seemed to be much colder than they remembered it being just moments ago. Before anyone could comment on this strange finding, a soft breeze blew around them. Applejack paused and glanced down as the flame in her lantern was abruptly snuffed out. Although Fluttershy’s flashlight still provided light for her, the yellow mare was in front of her, leaving her feet in relative darkness. “What the hay? Oh, come on…” AJ muttered in annoyance while holding up the fancy paperweight she now had. Without any matches to re-ignite the flame, the lantern might as well have been useless. Rainbow Dash looked around with a wary expression. “That’s odd… there hasn’t been any wind in here since we got here.” Fluttershy stopped and looked behind her to see her two friends still occupied by the now extinguished lantern. She turned back and glanced down, noticing how close they were to the point where the ground widened out. “Come on guys, we’re almost there.” She suggested while motioning for the pair to press onward. As the other two looked ahead to their yellow friend, something startling happened. The flashlight Fluttershy was holding flickered once, briefly suspending them in complete darkness. The sudden event made the ponies’ hearts jump. It only happened once, and it was only for a split second, almost like it was meant to remind them just how precious their only remaining light source was. “What the hay was that?!” Rainbow Dash asked, her eyes wide in alarm. “Don’t tell me that thing is goin’ out now of all times!” Applejack exclaimed anxiously, watching the flashlight with a cringe. Fluttershy looked to the flashlight clutched in her hoof nervously. “M-maybe we should go… like... right now.” She started walking at a hurried pace. Rainbow Dash and Applejack nodded frantically and joined their friend. Once they left the narrow ledge and made it to solid ground, they started to pick up their speed. Before they could reach a galloping sprint, however, the flashlight beam flickered twice more, causing them to grind to a halt. “Uuahh… n-no… please no!” Fluttershy pleaded while gently holding her flashlight as if it were listening. Despite the yellow mare’s gentle persuasion, the only beam of light they had started violently flickering on and off at a steady pace. If the three ponies were nervous before, they were panicking now as they huddled together and watched the flashlight spiraling out of control. Every flicker of the beam would briefly leave the area pitch black. They were in the middle of a cave that they barely knew how to navigate without sight, and there were deep chasms nearly everywhere they turned. If the flashlight stopped working entirely, they were in serious trouble. The light started flickering at an irregular pace, ranging from a couple of second-long intervals to a series of rapid blinks. Along with the flickering, the trio started to notice something else that made the hairs on the back of their necks stand up. There was a faint whistling sound coming from somewhere out in the darkness. “Does anyone else hear that?” Applejack asked while perking her ears up. The other two turned their heads and looked ahead of them as the noise grew louder. It was slightly echoed, but there was definitely a shrill whistle drifting through the cave. It seemed much too defined, and it seemed to have a clear melody to it, so the ponies were fairly certain that it wasn’t the sound of wind flowing through the cavern. As it got louder, the hauntingly slow melody it was forming became easier to distinguish. It sounded like a song of some sort, but it was distorted by how slowly it was being whistled. Along with the constant eerie tune of the whistling, the three mares could hear the shuffling of feet approaching them from out in the darkness. Their hearts started racing as they backed up slowly and huddled together. Fluttershy pointed the flashlight ahead, but its flickering beam made it hard to see much of anything as she scanned around the many stalagmites in the distance, trying to find the source of the noise in a panic. The constant flickering of the light seemed to have some correlation to the whistling. Although the light didn’t follow the tune, it did happen in such a way that it didn’t seem to be a naturally failing battery. “Who’s there?!” Rainbow Dash called, making every attempt to hide the fear in her voice. “You better show yourself before I come over there and beat you up!” The melodic whistling grew louder until it seemed to be in their heads somehow. The sound of something shuffling against the cave floor was much fainter by comparison, but it sounded like it was getting a lot closer. All at once, the shuffling stopped and the flashlight beam died. Fluttershy squeaked fearfully and shook the light to no avail, desperately trying to get its life-saving beam to return. The last droning note of whatever song was being whistled faded into the darkness of the cave that now surrounded them. The air felt cold, and the ponies could feel their skin crawling from the intense feeling of dread and uneasiness coursing through them. “AH!” Fluttershy yelped as something touched her back. “It’s me, it’s me! Easy, Flutters…” Rainbow Dash spoke up softly, much to the relief of the yellow pegasus. “Try to stay together girls. I can’t see my own hoof in front of my face.” Applejack said from somewhere nearby. Rainbow Dash was keeping a foreleg planted on Fluttershy to keep track of her. The orange mare was somewhere to their right, most likely right next to them by all accounts, but it was nigh impossible to tell. “W-what was that noise? Is… is s-someone here with us?” Fluttershy asked nervously. The tense silence and darkness surrounding her was too much for her to handle. She clenched her eyes shut and tried to focus on the feeling of her friend touching her, and her own efforts at smacking life into the seemingly broken flashlight. “I don’t think one of the others would be messing with us like this.” Rainbow Dash darted her head around uneasily. She spun around, inspecting the area despite her inability to see. Fluttershy felt the cyan mare briefly letting go of her, but thankfully the sensation returned. Judging from how cold her hoof felt, she must have been incredibly nervous, not that Fluttershy blamed her. “But if it’s not one of the others… then that must mean that it’s one of the ghosts…” Applejack gulped nervously from roughly where she was previously. “Or… one of those inhuman spirit things.” She added, a palpable sense of dread in her voice. Fluttershy desperately smacked the flashlight against her other hoof in fearful frustration. “Come on… work you stupid thing!” She muttered through clenched teeth. She would be more vocal with her frustration, but she thought that whatever was making the whistling noise might hear her if she yelled any further. Miraculously, the light flickered on and remained steady at last. “Oh thank the princess!” The yellow mare sighed with relief. “F-Fluttershy…” Rainbow Dash spoke up in a hushed tone of utter terror, though her voice was a little further away than Fluttershy remembered. Fluttershy turned and shined her flashlight behind her, only to pause in stunned confusion. Rainbow Dash was standing a short distance away, staring back at her with wide eyes and a pale expression. Next to the cyan pony was Applejack, with a similar expression of fear on her face. Fluttershy was baffled by the sight before her. Both of her friends were there, but that couldn’t be right. She still felt the hoof on her back from earlier, which she assumed to be one of the two mares. As she trailed her eyes to the side, a cold chill firmly cemented itself in her spine. The flashlight beam revealed the person standing next to her, yellow lights catching and reflecting back at her. A pawed glove was resting on her back. …Hey… A deep voice echoed from right in front of her, shaking her to her core. …Want to see your head come off…?