How did she keep getting dragged into these things?!
“Y’volunteered,” Applejack pointed out.
Come Monday morning, Twilight had been expecting nothing major to happen, besides maybe an unscheduled re-shelving day after Cheerilee’s school class was done putting them all back in the wrong order. She most definitely had not expected to be standing outside the schoolhouse early the next morning, very cold, wearing a lanyard that was very uncomfortable, and surrounded by hyperactive foals.
Yes, she’d volunteered; how couldn’t she? When an entire class of colts and fillies looks at you like that when their teacher asks you, how could you say no? Apparently, their last school trip, to Canterlot castle (a couple of days before Discord’s release) hadn’t been without its own incident, and that was with only eight of them. Cheerilee had been very unhappy when explaining why Apple Bloom had two black eyes, Sweetie Belle had a limp, why Scootaloo had to have a trip to the hospital for an emergency bucket removal, and why four of the others had detention. All three of the Crusaders had promptly been grounded. This time around, there were nineteen foals, and Cheerilee was understandably anxious to get some assistance for their trip to the Canterlot Marble Mines.
Why mines?! Why not a sweet factory, or a library, or something?! How would foals be interested in the mining of marble?!
“Hey, don’t diss marble! Marble’s a super-cool rock to work with! Also, did I tell you my sister’s name is Marble too?”
“Yeah, Pinks, you did.”
Train journey. Introduction. Split up into groups, do activities around the mines. Rotate activities. Meet up. Go home. Assign homework. That was the entirety of the schedule that Cheerilee had presented her four new assistants with. Twilight Sparkle, knowledgeable. Applejack, done with the applebucking season, responsible. Pinkie Pie, experienced in the area of mining/rock farming. Fluttershy… why?! It was a known phenomena that pegasi got very uncomfortable when underground!
“Oh, the marble mines are full of marble boring moles! It’s a valuable opportunity to see them in their natural habitat.”
Right. Of course. Silly Twilight.
“Silly Twilight!” Boop. Thanks, Pinkie. Thanks a lot.
Five adults with nineteen foals made four groups of four and one group of three, which was more manageable than one group of eight. Those would be sorted out when they got there. Until then…
After the trip to the museum, Applejack, predictably, had guessed that something was up. Twilight had shared the information about the prophecy spell with her (it would have been unfair just to leave her out, considering all her other closest friends knew) but neglected to mention the parts that implicated her impending… whatever it could be. Pinkie’s balloon, fortunately, hadn’t been a factor - Pinkie had immediately tried to get it out to go for a test flight and discovered a puncture, and had to send it away to get it fixed. As long as it was with the aeronautical repair ponies in Fillydelphia, nopony could go up in it and logically Applejack couldn’t fall out of it. Problem, well, not solved, just delayed.
In the meantime, nothing new had emerged regarding the contents of either prophecy, or if anything had, Twilight hadn’t been informed of it. No news of Trixie or the book, no noteworthy events regarding Hurricane, no major explosions in any major cities, nothing - at - all. It was a lull in the action, for which Twilight was grateful, but she’d come up with no further theories. That too, in its own way, was refreshing, and allowed her mind to concentrate on other things, such as why in Equestria she’d agreed to help on a school trip.
Cheerilee stepped out of the schoolhouse with her saddlebags strapped on tight, and locked the door. “Roll call!” Nineteen foals, each laden with their saddlebags, went silent, for the moment. The journey would be a nightmare, let alone the mine experience itself. Twilight was not overly optimistic about the day. “Apple Bloom!”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee!” (Apple Bloom had been looking forward to this, Applejack had told them. Another crusading opportunity, no doubt. Whoever got charged with minding the Crusaders - would the three-pony group be anything else? - would have their work cut out for them. She’d need an eye kept on her.)
“Aura!”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee!” (Mischief maker, ringleader, Foal Free Press reporter. Maybe won’t go as far as the Crusaders did, but still would do anything for news. Keep an eye on.)
“Berry Pinch!”
“Heeere, Miss Cheerileeeee!” (Hyped up on Phruit Phizz. Pinkie had been giving it out like candy yesterday. Keep an eye on.)
“Button Mash!”
Pause. “He’s over here, Miss Cheerilee!”
“Put the JoyBoy away, Button.”
“Sorry, Miss Cheerilee.” (Unlikely to concentrate on the trip. May have brought additional games. Keep an eye on.)
“Diamond Tiara!”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee…” (Didn’t want to come on the trip, but apparently coming anyway to make her father happy. Likely— no, will cause arguments. Keep an eye on.)
“Dinky Doo!”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee!” (Won a star for last week’s history homework. Some of the more competitive students were annoyed about that. Keep an eye on, but if necessary she can keep order just as well as the teacher can.)
“Featherweight!”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee!” (Editor-in-Chief of Foal Free Press. Not a hit with Diamond Tiara, not all that great on understanding privacy either. Pegasus, may get agitated. Keep an eye on.)
“Noi!”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee!” (Poster filly for the school clubs. Also not a hit with Diamond Tiara. Possibly a member of Aura’s prank gang. Keep an eye on.)
“Piña Colada!”
“Here—” cough “Miss Cheerilee!” (Recovering from a cold. Extra tissues provided if necessary. Keep an eye on, don’t let her sneeze on any of the more troublesome students.)
“Pipsqueak!”
“Over here, Miss Cheerilee!” (Small for his age, don’t let him fall down any holes, don’t let any of the jokers pick on him for said vertical challenge. Keep an eye on.)
“Rumble!”
“Herre, Missis Cheeriee!” (Also on the Phruit Phizz, also a pegasus. Will zoom off at the first sign of, well, anything, really. Keep an eye on.)
“Scootaloo!”
“…”
“Scootaloo?”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee…” (Sulking. Had her scooter confiscated again, and was apparently promised, by somepony unknown, that Rainbow Dash would be volunteering to assist Cheerilee. Of the rainbow-maned pegasus there was no sign at all. Likely to start an argument, probably with Diamond Tiara. Keep an eye on.)
“Shady Daze!”
Click. “Here, Miss Cheerilee!” (Foal Free Press photographer. Most expensive colt the school’s ever taught, he does not know how to be frugal with film. May take awkward pictures, be ready to confiscate the camera if necessary. Keep an eye on.)
“Camera away please, Shady. Silver Spoon!”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee!” (For some reason, just as eager as Apple Bloom. Also seen drinking Phruit Phizz, but seems unaffected, for now. Do not allow prolonged combination with Diamond Tiara. Keep an eye on, just in case any hyperactivity symptoms manifest.)
“Snails!”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee!” (Unlikely to be too much of a problem, as long as he doesn’t get left behind. Interactions with Snips okay if they don’t get any silly ideas. Keep an eye on.)
“Snips!”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee!” (Ditto.)
“Sweetie Belle!”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee!” (Rarity didn’t want her to come, but their parents insisted. Sweetie had no strong feelings either way. Should be fine, unless the other two Crusaders drag her into trouble. Keep an eye on though, just in case.)
“Truffle Shuffle!”
“Here, Miss Cheerilee!” (Very likely to have eaten his lunch before getting off the train. Could keep order if he tries hard, but his voice doesn’t have the oomph to it. Keep an eye on his saddlebags.)
“Twist!”
“Here, Misth Cheerilee!” (New braces, could get teased. Make sure her glasses don’t get broken. Keep an eye on.)
“That’s everypony!”
Great. Twilight silently groaned. All of them needed close supervision, with the possible exception of Dinky. Two, possibly three students under the effects of Phruit Phizz, two who didn’t want to be there, four pranksters, one sick, one who’d make a hefty dent in the school’s budget… But they were foals. Foals were like that. She herself had been very demanding of new books, something that can’t have been very light on her parents’ money either. She hadn’t needed to supervise herself in a mine, though.
With everypony’s bags checked and double checked, Diamond Tiara chided for pulling faces at the Crusaders, Shady Daze forced to put the camera away and Button Mash forced to put his game away, the group left for the station, in the manner that all foals would: loudly. It had been quieter in the middle of Canterlot’s marketplace on a Saturday afternoon. Foals had a lot more volume behind their voices. (Especially Berry and Rumble, who hadn’t stopped vibrating since they’d left.) Twilight could tolerate them, but she was very thankful not to be in Cheerilee’s horseshoes.
Even though the station wasn’t that far from the schoolhouse (okay, other side of town, but Ponyville wasn’t that big), there was still enough time for something peculiar to occur, which she noted as she kept pace to the right-hoof side of the group. Social boundaries were forming. The Crusaders were talking together along with Applejack who was bringing up the rear, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, Snips, Snails and Piña, Truffle Shuffle at the front talking to Cheerilee, Aura with Featherweight and Shady Daze… They were still a group, but there were visible divisions between smaller groups of the foals. Not being big on the social sciences, Twilight couldn’t properly analyze it, but she wished she could. That would make a fantastic study paper.
Station, conductor presented with 19 foal tickets and five adult tickets, Button Mash asked to put JoyBoy away, reserved coach on the Friendship Express as far as Mount Canterlot Junction. Coach, students asked to sit down and talk quietly amongst themselves, Shady Daze asked to put camera away, bubble gun confiscated from Pinkie Pie. It wasn’t looking good.
“Ah-choo!”
“Eww! Miss Cheerilee, Piña needs a tissue!”
Mount Canterlot Junction was one hour and two minutes from Ponyville, but to Twilight it felt like much, much longer, especially once the predicted argument had broken out between Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara. Fortunately for the teacher and her four assistants, all of the other foals decided to stay out of it, which rather deflated the proceedings when they sought backup, and both participants were successfully placated by the time the train pulled into the station. Cheerilee had taken charge of the camera; Button Mash had had two JoyBoys removed and Twilight suspected he had at least one more stuffed into the bottom of his bags.
A large group of foal students talking at the loudest possible volume was bound to draw a lot of attention, so urgency was placed on trying to move them on through the station as quickly as could be. Cheerilee did a quick headcount. “Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen… Aura’s over there… nineteen. That’s all of them,” she added, somewhat embarrassed, to the guard who was assisting her.
“No problem at all, ma’am.” The guard poked his head into the coach and had a quick look up and down to make sure. “Last call for the Friendship Express, non-stop up the mountain to Canterlot!”
Truffle Shuffle’s lunch had survived the journey, barely. It had actually been Pinkie who’d convinced him not to eat it, though it had been because she’d demanded that if he got to have lunch early then so did she. Other than that, and the argument, and the contending entry for biggest sneeze in Equestrian history from Piña, the entire trip so far wasn’t that bad by Ponyville standards; Cheerilee had related much worse stories over tea outside the town’s restaurant.
If Twilight remembered the quick once over of a book on the mines correctly, then there was a built-for-purpose classroom in the visitor’s centre where the foals could leave their bags safely while they were given the tour of the mine. Not that she minded learning more about it, she’d just rather do it without having to safeguard other ponies at the same time. The place was the origin of about eighty to eighty-five percent of all Equestria’s marble, the rest coming from smaller mines and a small amount from overseas, but Canterlot Marble specifically was more durable and better for building decoration. …There wasn’t much beyond that, really.
“Okay, class!” Once again, the foals immediately went silent; you had to admire Cheerilee’s control over her students in that respect. “In a few minutes, we’ll reach the mine’s visitor centre, where the foremare, Mrs Stone, will give us a short presentation on the mine’s history.” Even though she was standing near the back of the group, Twilight could sense that some of them had rolled their eyes. “After that, we’ll split up into groups, and there are different activities around the mine for you to have fun with, but I’ll explain more about that when we get there. Any questions?”
A hoof shot up. “Yes, Shady?”
“Can I have the camera back yet, Miss Cheerilee?”
“Not yet, Shady. Anypony else? No? Alright, let’s get moving!”
The foals exited the station, and their volume went right back up.
“I wonder what we’re gonna be doing?”
“I want to be in your group, Dinky!”
“Maybe we’ll get our cutie marks!”
“Don’t count on it.”
“That weren’t nice, Diamond Tiara.”
“Sorry, Miss Applejack.”
“Arewethereyet?”
“Not yet, Rumble… Rumble?”
“YessMiss?”
“Are you… feeling alright?”
“NeverbetterMiss!”
Pinkie Pie’s Phruit Phizz ought to have a large warning label on it, marked ‘unsuitable for foals’. Pinkie could drink it fine, she was Pinkie, and seemingly had an endless supply of energy already. These foals were still growing, and giving them ‘200% more energy’ (as the cartons proclaimed) wasn’t helping in the slightest. Eventually, they’d crash, and then Berry and Rumble would be out like lights. Silver Spoon still looked perfectly fine, but her sugar rush was probably a timebomb waiting to explode at the most inappropriate moment, and a foal bouncing around the inside of a mine was not what anypony wanted to supervise.
The pink pony had tried to bring more Phruit Phizz, but unanimously the others had told her to leave it at home.
Mrs Stone’s presentation went about as well as could be expected, what with half the foals not paying as much attention as was necessary. A few of the more well behaved ones took notes, sensible, seeing as Cheerilee intended to set them homework on what they’d learned. Twilight too had brought a notepad and a pencil, but was dismayed to hear that most of the presentation was a re-hash of what had been written in the textbook she’d already read. She wrote it down anyway, to show she appreciated the effort, but already the trip was going downhill.
“Thank you, Mrs Stone!” The few students who’d been paying attention clapped. “Now, as I mentioned, you’re now going to split up into five groups, and Mrs Stone has organized some fun things for you to do. You’ll rotate through each activity, so don’t worry about missing out on anything. Yes, Pipsqueak?”
“What are we going to be doing, Miss?”
“I’m glad you asked, Pipsqueak. Group one, which will be myself, Diamond Tiara, Noi, Rumble and Snails…” Diamond Tiara gave an audible gasp and looked heartbroken, or at least she tried to. “…will begin in here with Mrs Stone, who will be teaching us about famous ponies who use Canterlot Marble.”
It was very difficult to describe the multitude of expressions that were fighting for control over Diamond Tiara’s face. She was being split up from Silver Spoon - Cheerilee had picked up on Silver’s attentiveness and decided to gently keep them apart - and she was being placed into a group with Noi, who as a carrot farmer’s sister took some issue with the rich filly’s lifestyle. Oh, and the two colts in the group weren’t likely to bow to her influence either, what with Rumble on a sugar rush and Snails on the equivalent of the opposite. To say she was upset would be an understatement.
“Group two, who will be going with Fluttershy, are Dinky Doo, Featherweight, Piña Colada, and Pipsqueak, and you will be heading off to Marblela, the miners’ village, where you’re going to learn how the miners and their families live, and you’ll see if you’ve got what it takes to live as a marble miner.”
Pipsqueak looked somewhat relieved at that, and Twilight could understand why. For one, he’d taken a shine to Dinky, who’d shown him the ropes when he’d first arrived from Trottingham; and another, he hadn’t been grouped with any of the major mischief makers. Again, that was Cheerilee being sensible, allocating some non-problem students to Fluttershy, who could double as a nurse in case Piña’s nose decided to explode again. Starting Featherweight in a place where ponies actually lived sounded a bit fishy, but he was on good terms with Fluttershy after she’d looked after his pet hamster while it was sick. If anypony could convince him to respect privacy, it was her.
“Group three, that’s Aura, Shady Daze, Silver Spoon and Snips, you’ll be going with Applejack to the train yard, where you’ll see marble being shipped out to everywhere in Equestria, and you’ll meet the ponies who make sure that the marble that goes out is the best of the best. I believe…” Cheerilee inclined her head towards Mrs Stone “…that they’ll be having a go at loading a model train…?”
Mrs Stone nodded. “That’s right. We’ve got some scale equipment set up so they can try their hooves at marble sorting.”
Mixed feelings there. Applejack could keep Aura honest, but Aura and Snips weren’t the best possible combination; but it was better than some of the alternatives, like putting Aura with Diamond Tiara or Twist, or putting Noi in the group instead. Ever since she’d quit the Foal Free Press, Shady had been attempting a prank war with her, and much like with camera film, Shady didn’t pull his punches when it came to pranks.
“Group four will be Twilight Sparkle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle…” Oh, nuts “…and you will be starting with a hooves-on sculpting workshop just inside the mine proper, where you’ll have the chance to make your own marble sculpture to take home with you.”
Okay. She had the Crusaders. All three of the Crusaders. No, of course that wasn’t going to be a problem… How hard could it be? Twilight supposed it would have been more trouble to separate them that it was to keep them together. Virtually all of the other combinations presented potential problems, which would escalate until nopony was happy. To be honest, she would have preferred to swap with Applejack, but she had to admit she was interested in the sculpture workshop, and wondered if they’d let her have a go as well…
“That leaves group five to be Berry Pinch, Button Mash, Truffle Shuffle and Twist, and Pinkie Pie will be with you as you take a tour deep inside the mine, where you’ll talk to some of the miners and see just how the whole operation ticks. Won’t that be fun?”
Pinkie nodded so vigorously her head nearly came off. “Abso-dutely-utley!” No question, she was the one pony who’d have the most entertaining day. As she’d been willing to explain, multiple times, until Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainboom had come along rocks had been her entire life. Chances were, the foals under her jurisdiction would learn the most, providing Berry didn’t crash and Button could pay attention long enough.
“After a while on each activity, which depends on how long the mine tour lasts, each group will change activities, so group one will move to the village, group two to the rail yard, and so on, until everypony’s had a chance to do everything. You can leave your bags here in the meantime. Any questions?”
There were a few, mostly foals asking if they could change groups. Cheerilee said no. Truffle Shuffle asked if they could eat, not until lunchtime when the activities would pause and they’d return to the classroom in the visitor’s centre. If anypony got separated from their group, they were to make their way to the centre directly, and join up with the group there. Bathroom, also in the visitor’s centre. No problems should arise in terms of confusion. They would, but the precautions had been taken.
Twilight, Pinkie and their groups got an additional safety briefing at the entrance to the mine, only natural. Hard hats with firefly lamps to be worn at all times while underground, and each foal and adult was given a junior miner’s belt, which came equipped with a small bell in case the worst should happen and they get trapped behind a cave-in. Hard rule #1: Absolutely no wandering off while in the mine. (Which meant that at some point, a foal would wander off and get lost. Twilight promised herself not to let the Crusaders out of her sight.) Hard rule #2: In the unlikely (read: likely) event of actually getting lost, the tunnels were all fitted with ropes on their left-hoof side; keeping a rope to your right would eventually bring you to one of the main mining shafts, from where it was impossible to lose your way to the surface.
Hard rule #3: The minecarts are not for riding in. The foals were very disappointed about that.
Only a short way inside, the groups parted ways; the Crusaders were excitedly chattering about being Cutie Mark Crusader sculptors, while Pinkie was happily detailing her life’s story to the tour guide. Moments before she entered the activity workshop, Twilight glanced back; still talking. Maybe she’d have to take back what she’d thought about Pinkie’s group learning the most.
She’d never tried sculpting before, but then again, she was a student in terms of reading rather than physical activities. Long, long ago, before the Princess had withdrawn her from the main school classes in favor of exclusively private tutoring, she’d attended a gym class. It… hadn’t been pretty. She was pretty sure there were still trace amounts of exploded hoofball in the walls. Art classes, she couldn’t recall going to any. But then again, she and Rarity had examined her artistic sense, and found it to be practically nonexistent. If possible, she’d join in the workshop, but she was unlikely to produce anything that looked good.
“So… how does this work?” The Crusaders rightly recognized the hammers sitting on the marble blocks in front of them, but were completely baffled by the chisels.
The instructor showed them a quick example. “It helps,” she said, presenting a miniature rendition of Scootaloo’s face, “if you concentrate on what you want to sculpt, then remove anything from the block that doesn’t look like it.”
Three blank faces. “You mean… if Ah were to want to carve an apple…” Apple Bloom ventured, “Ah’d need to shave all the bits off that didn’t look like apples?”
“Exactly.”
Beat.
“I’m gonna carve Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed, almost attacking the marble block. “It’s gonna be the best sculpture of Rainbow Dash she’s ever seen!”
“Ah think it’d be the only sculpture of herself she’s ever seen, Scoots.” Apple Bloom cautiously examined the block from all sides. “Don’t look much like an apple, if’m honest…”
Twilight was going for a book. A little predictable, but, broken down, a book was just an oblong block, with some extra details on. Fortunately, four blocks had been prepared for each group, which left one spare with the single group of three. “What are you going to carve, Sweetie Belle?”
“Hmmm.” The little white unicorn sat back and stared at her block. “I was thinking, like an elephant or something?”
…
By the time Applejack’s group arrived (with a suspiciously filthy Aura), the results were… mixed. Twilight, it had to be said, hadn’t done too badly. It looked like a book. It’d never pass for one on a shelf, but it was pretty good for a first try. Sweetie Belle’s attempt too was passable, it could be an elephant, if you squinted. Apple Bloom’s block had disappeared into a pile of chips on the floor (“Nothin’ in it looked like an apple,” she’d explained), and Scootaloo’s rendition of Rainbow Dash, had, there was no kind way to put it, not come out very well at all.
“What is it?” Shady asked, using up another roll of film documenting the effort.
“Is it a… bird?” Silver Spoon asked.
“Is it a potato?” Aura asked.
“Is it Snails when he tried to do break-dancing yesterday?” Snips asked.
“It looks… great, Scootaloo,” said Applejack, having to strain herself just to tell a white lie.
“It kinda doesn’t, though.”
“You wanna start something, Aura?!”
“Girls, this isn’t the time or the place.” The last thing Twilight wanted to do was referee an argument here, of all places. “Come on, Crusaders, let’s go and find the tour guide.”
“You can pick up your sculptures in the visitor’s centre before you leave!” the instructor called after them, glad to be free at last from the torment.
...
“(What was Button going on about?)”
“(He was gibberin’ about creepers in the dark, or somethin’.)”
“(He’s weird.)”
“(You don’t think anything’s really down there, do you?)”
“(Nope. Hey, think we’ll get a chance at being Cutie Mark Crusader Marble Miners?)”
“(Fluttershy wouldn’t let us be coal miners…)”
“(That was last year, though.) Wow. (We’re older and wiser now.)”
“(Um…)”
“Cool. Are we gonna get a chance at doin’ some minin’?”
“Hmm… we’ll see, little ones.”
“(That’s grown-up speak for no.)”
“(Aargh, this helmet’s itchy!)”
“(I think the fireflies have escaped from mine…)”
“(Ah didn’t think it’d be this borin’… hey, Sweetie Belle, did they just say your name?)”
“Huh?! Yeah?!”
“No, no, Sweetie, Mr Axe was just saying how they use a system of bells and ropes to communicate with the miners down in the tunnels. Weren’t you listening?”
“Uh… I was listening! Honest!”
“Have any questions for me? Axe away!”
“…”
“…”
“(That was the worst joke Ah’ve heard in my life.)”
“(Can think of worse…)”
“Now, mine-d the gap as you step onto the elevator!”
“(Like that.)”
“(Y’know, Twilight didn’t seem that int’rested when we started…)”
“(She probably knows all of this stuff already.)”
“(This thing doesn’t feel very sa—) Whoa!”
“(Could’ve warned us…)”
“(Wonder how deep we’re goin’… Scoots? You okay?)”
“(I’m… fine.)”
“(Y’look kinda sick. You ain’t comin’ down with Piña’s cold, are ya?)”
“(Please don’t sneeze on me!)”
“(Look, I’m a pegasus! We’re supposed to be up in the sky, not underground! I don’t like it!)”
“(But you can’t—) Mmph!”
“(Not the best time for that, Sweetie.)”
“(I know, I know, I can’t fly yet. You don’t have to rub it in.)”
“(Sorry… I didn’t mean…)”
“(It’s okay, Sweetie Belle, real—) Ooph!”
“Sorry, it does stop rather suddenly.”
“(I think I’m blind.)”
“(Yer helmet’s over yer eyes.)”
“(Oh.)”
“Now, here we are at the bottom of Shaft C, the deepest of our four shafts in operation…”
“(Scootaloo?)”
“(Shut up, I’m trying not to think about it.)”
“(We’re here for you if you need us, Scoots.)”
“(And I’m sure if you ask Twilight, she’ll be happy to take you back outside.)”
“(Are you kidding? She looks like she’s having a dolphin of a time. What?)”
“(Ah’m not sure that’s right…)”
“(Isn’t it ‘whale’ of a time?)”
“(You know what I meant! She’ll probably think I’m looking for an excuse to get out of here. The sculpture thing was fun, but this isn’t. At all.)”
“(It’s gettin’ darker…)”
“(Sweetie?)”
“(Yeah?)”
“(Your fireflies. They have escaped.)”
“(I knew it.)”
“(Is it just me, or is my light goin’ out too?)”
“(It’s just you, Apple Bloom.)”
“(Um…)”
“(Okay, okay, it is, it is, I just didn’t want to admit it!)”
“(Scoots…?)”
“(I need something to take my mind off this!)”
“(Ah got it!)”
“(What?)”
“(Cutie Mark Crusaders Pot-holers, go!)”
“(Yay!)”
“(What’s pot-holing?)”
“(Isn’t that putting those little holes in flowerpots? We already tried that.)”
“(No no, it’s like cavin’. Y’know, explorin’ and stuff like that.)”
“(That’s not going to help, Apple Bloom! …Alright, fine, I’ll ask Twilight.) Twilight?”
…
“(Uh oh.)”
“Mr Axe?”
“(They were there a second ago…)”
“Anypony?!”
“(Weren’t we right behind ‘em?)”
“(Girls, are either of you going to join me in panicking?!)”
“(Panickin’ gets us nowhere, Scootaloo. What was it the lady at the entrance said about the ropes?)”
“(Left-hoof side, I think?)”
“(’Kay, Ah got it. So if we go this way, it’ll get us out of here.)”
“(Which way’s this way? I can’t see a thing.)”
“(Wait, when did my light go out?!)”
“(…We didn’t want to mention it in case you started to panic.)”
“(I’m panicking now!)”
“(Um, I can feel something on my back…)”
“(Yeah, that’s me. Can you feel where Scoots is?)”
“(I’m over here.)
“(Ouch!)”
“(Sorry.)”
“(Right. Ah got the rope. Stick together.)”
“(…)”
“(Apple Bloom?)”
“(Yeah, Sweetie Belle?)”
“(Are we supposed to be going downhill?)”
“(Wait, I see light up ahead!)”
“(S-Scootaloo, wait for us!)”
“(Surface, here I come!)”
“…What was that noise?”
“What noise?”
“Sounded kind of like…”
Crack.
“Yeah, like that.”
…
“Sweetie Belle, that weren’t me.”
“Scootaloo?”
“Come on, girls, I can’t stand to be down here any longaaaaaaaaaagh! Oof!”
“Scootaloo!”
“Where’d she go?!”
“Scootaloo!”
“…I’m okay, I think. Watch out for the drop.”
“What droooooooaaaaah!”
“Apple Blooooooooooom! Ouch!”
“That one.”
“Darn.”
“I… I think I cracked a hoof…”
“Now can we all panic?”
“Yeah.”
“Agreed.”
“Help!”
The cry echoed down the empty tunnels.
“What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?!”
“Stop panickin’, Twi. We’ll find ‘em.”
She should have noticed them missing sooner! Why hadn’t she recognised when three of the five lights disappeared?! It was all her fault! Twilight had been beside herself ever since she’d exited back into the shaft and suddenly realized the girls weren’t with her, and the presence of her friends, who’d been relieved from their supervision duties to help with the search effort, wasn’t helping. The alarm had been raised immediately, all available hooves were in the tunnels looking, the students had been corralled and returned to the visitor’s centre (along with the sculpting workshop and a couple of the tour guides, just so their trip wasn’t completely ruined), but no sign had yet been found of them. She was, genuinely, an irresponsible pony!
Applejack grabbed her and spun her on the spot. “Quit pacin’, Twilight. This could’ve happened to any of us.”
“But it didn’t!”
Up until the call had been spread about the missing Crusaders, the trip had actually been going fairly well. Applejack’s group had just about finished their sculptures, Pinkie’s had, with the exception of Button, been very attentive during the famous ponies talk, Fluttershy’s was very filthy but overjoyed with the trainyard demonstration, and Cheerilee’s was moving on from the mining village. Most of the problem students were fine; Shady had completely used up the camera film that had been brought, Rumble had (predictably) crashed, and Diamond Tiara hadn’t been very gracious to the village tour guide, but they were the minority. The others had been having a great time until Twilight’s inattentiveness had brought all of that to a screeching halt.
The Princess would find out about this. She’d find out that her student had lost three fillies in a dark, mazelike mine, and then… gulp… Twilight could wave goodbye to her exclusive tutoring.
“Twilight!” Thwack.
“Ouch!” Twilight rubbed her cheek where Applejack had slapped her. That was going to leave a mark. “What was that for?!”
“Sorry, but y’all were panickin’, and panickin’ gets us nowhere.”
“I think I can sense some more glums coming on…!”
“Pinkie, while I appreciate the sentiment, now is not the time.”
They’d already been up and down the tunnel that had been reserved for the guided tour a couple of times. In a remarkable feat of unobservantness, none of the miners they’d talked to had noticed the lack of foals following Twilight, so they’d gone missing before reaching the end, but there were several branches which each spiderwebbed off into an almost maze. Without knowing which one the fillies had gone down, accidentally or otherwise, locating them would be an incredibly difficult task.
What hadn’t helped was Pinkie presenting further cause for alarm; in the same place she stored away large party equipment like her cannon (which appeared to be thin air, but investigating it was impossible not to mention mind-destroying), she’d brought along an entire hot air balloon. It, so she claimed, was for the winner of the surprise sculpture contest that the foals were going to have before they left to ride in. (”(But it’s okay!)” she’d stage-whispered to Twilight, who’d already aroused Applejack’s suspicion with some very nervous glances, “(It’s not mine! I borrowed Cherry’s balloon!)” Twilight was not overly reassured by this, nor by Pinkie’s offer to blow the balloon up to help look. Inside.) There weren’t any large bodies of water in the mine, but the vehicle’s presence was enough to bring the prophecy back to life.
She did have to say though, she envied Applejack’s ability to cycle into and straight through Panic Mode. If she’d had a little sister lost in a deep mine, she would be out of her mind with worry, especially considering the… circumstances that surrounded the Apple family. Upon learning the news, Applejack had dropped everything, galloped over, nearly shaken the life out of the tour guide, then almost instantly calmed down. So many ponies were on the search that finding them, while tricky, would be guaranteed eventually. It was only a matter of time.
Still…
The Crusaders had been distracted, that’s all it had to be. She had noticed them whispering to each other, but ignored them, rather foolishly in hindsight. If they’d noticed at all while anywhere near the main path, they’d have shouted and/or rung their bells - they weren’t so catastrophically silly that they’d keep such a huge error to themselves. That lesson had been learned well during the Gabby Gums incident, where they’d gotten into such deep trouble that they’d found the only way up was to dig themselves out, rather than waiting for somepony else to find them. And they’d been present at the safety briefing, and they’d been told about the ropes, so either they’d not been listening then either, or they’d forgotten which side the ropes were on.
Miles underground, in the darkness with only headlamps and each other for company. This time, the Crusaders were really out of their depth.
There! A flicker of light, down a side tunnel! Twilight darted towards it, hopes rising, until they were dashed completely when the light turned out to be a single firefly. It spun around her head a few times before landing on Fluttershy’s nose.
“Really? Oh, goodness!”
Fluttershy communicated with animals on an entirely different level to everypony else. Whereas most ponies who worked with them learned through repeated exposure to body language and sounds, Fluttershy spoke with them as if they were using the same language. And, she’d told them, they were, in a language she called Natura. While this was dubious, as Twilight couldn’t find any books which brought up the subject (maybe that was something else Fluttershy could put in hers?), the result was still the same; the pegasus rarely misconstrued any meanings, though it sometimes took longer for her to understand a particular animal’s dialect. “What is it saying, Fluttershy?”
“He said…” the firefly relocated to Fluttershy’s mane “…that he and his brothers escaped from a crack in their lamp.” (While to any unfamiliar with the practice keeping fireflies in lamps would seem cruel, properly made lamps included simple enchantments that kept them healthy. Such magic was very easy to cast and never needed replacing, unlike the Light family of spells which were notoriously short-lived when they were added as enchantments rather than cast directly.) “They tried to follow the fillies, but this one got separated, poor thing.” She twitched one of her ears. “He says that he can lead back to where he last saw them.”
“Then what are we waiting for?!” Pinkie cried. “Follow that firefly!”
Chasing the firefly through the tunnel evoked familiar feelings for Twilight, only this time there was no chain of revealed gems to follow, only a speck of light that flew ahead of their own lamp beams. How similar this place was to the Diamond Dog caverns, which felt like an entire lifetime ago. No Diamond Dogs to block their way (hopefully) but still a friend, or three, at the end. All Rarity had suffered was a slight blow to her pride; with any luck, it would be the same for the Crusaders, though Fluttershy had brought along a first aid kit in case of the alternative.
Just how deep were they…?
“Whoawhoawhoawhoa!” In front of Twilight, Pinkie pinwheeled, and everypony behind her slammed on their brakes. “That was a close one!”
By the light of their lamps they could see what would otherwise have been hidden by the darkness; the floor of the cave had collapsed. Another firefly was spinning around an orange feather at the entrance of another tunnel below.
“Well,” assessed Applejack, craning her neck to see. “If we go down there, we ain’t comin’ back up this way. Any suggestions?”
Twilight had been trying to keep a mental map of the mine, to navigate them out safely in case there was a problem with the rope, but by now it was in tatters, so she threw it away. She did have another idea, though. “I ought to be able to teleport us out,” she said. She hoped. Four adults, three foals, that was seven individuals to a destination she couldn’t see. Possible, yes. Safe, probably not. Overcook your teleportation spell and you could end up… anywhere. Princess Celestia had once shared a story about ending up on a mountain several miles from her destination with her magic on cooldown and thirty minutes before she was expected at an extremely important meeting. One of Twilight’s own early teleports had nearly fried both herself and Spike.
“Are you sure, Twilight?” Fluttershy had every reason to sound worried.
“Positive.” No pressure.
The pegasus of the four was able to fly down, while the others had to resort to sliding down the steep incline. At the bottom, there was an additional sign of the foals, hidden by an outcropping - three helmets, each of their lamps completely empty. Just their luck it seemed they’d gotten three defective helmets. They were neatly stacked though, so they’d been removed and set aside safely ready to put back on. But where were the Crusaders themselves?
There was the barest whisper of a voice from the tunnel.
“Apple Bloom?!” Applejack called, cautiously entering. “Are you down there?”
A pause, and then— “Sis?!”
“Apple Bloom!”
“We’re down this way!”
“We found something cool!” added Sweetie’s voice. “Seriously, you gotta come see this!”
The ponies shared a glance before galloping into the almost-darkness. Please don’t let it be a lake, please don’t let it be a lake…
“But what is it?” Scootaloo’s voice, a short distance ahead. “It’s all… rusty.”
“No, Sweetie Belle don’t touch it—!”
Clank. A scream.
They reached the foals a moment later, unharmed but still huddled together and quaking in fear, in the shadow of… something… that was lit from behind by the rest of the fireflies. Applejack immediately scooped up her sister, while Fluttershy went to calming the other two. “Don’t ever do anythin’ like that again, y’hear?”
“Agh, we’re fine, sis, honestly.” Apple Bloom struggled to get out of her older sister’s grip. “We only got a little lost.”
“A little?!”
“Okay, a lot. But we’re still fine.”
“I cracked a hoof!”
“Apart from Sweetie Belle.”
Twilight was trying to be relieved, but at the same time, her curiosity about what the Crusaders had discovered was fighting to be noticed. It wasn’t a lake - thank Celestia for that - but…
“Sorry about the scream, heh,” Scootaloo giggled nervously. “Something fell off of it and I’m, like, über-nervous right now.”
Not being an archaeologist, Twilight couldn’t say much about whatever it was, but her eyes told her it was a spherical metal thing, with spindly rings around it, some of which had rusted through and broken off. It had definitely been there a while. The chamber it was sitting in too was spherical, almost perfectly so. She’d read about bubbles of molten magma leaving such holes in the earth, but Mount Canterlot was most definitely not a volcano, and it was far too cold besides. Had it been carved for this…? Her hoof brushed against something on the ground, probably the thing the Crusaders knocked off, and she picked it up to get a better look at it. Some sort of tube. Something reflected light inside. A lens?
“We tried gettin’ out, but the slope was too steep,” Apple Bloom was saying. “Then the fireflies turned up, and we decided if we weren’t gettin’ out that way we’d try goin’ the other way.”
Sensible, not quite as sensible as staying put, but the tunnel ended here anyway. There was something extremely off-putting about the entire device, something which was niggling at Twilight’s brain, a feeling she usually got when she’d seen something before. But she hadn’t had she? Maybe, in a book…
Oh. Oh, so that’s what it was. “Teleport accident.”
“Say what?”
Teleporting had the potential to be dangerous. A lot of magic did, that’s why there were safeguards. In particular, teleporting could be very hazardous if the destination was off by even a smidgeon, so there was a safety built into the spell that prevented unicorns from teleporting into the middle of walls and getting stuck. If you just missed the open space, and hit the edge of a wall, you’d get pushed back so you weren’t intersecting anything. If you were to, say, teleport into the middle of a mountain where there is no open space, you’d end up teleporting a bubble of air along with you. Somepony had teleported the thing, and teleported it into the middle of a mountain.
Why?!
She quickly waved off the questioning glances from her friends. “Don’t worry, just thinking out loud.” The device warranted further examination. Some cursive writing was engraved on its base, but it was faded and in a language she didn’t know. There was a tiny bell on the top, which wouldn’t move and was probably rusted solid or otherwise seized. Another lens with a tube, one that brought the word ‘eyepiece’ to mind, stuck out on the other side, but unlike the first one it refused to budge an inch. Peering into it revealed nothing but blackness inside; judging from the state of the metal, it probably had years worth of dirt and/or dust caked around the interior, if it even had an interior.
The feeling of familiarity persisted, so it hadn’t been the chamber. No, she had definitely seen this device before. But surely she’d remember such an unusual thing? Where—
“Twilight!”
Pinkie’s voice snapped her out of her trance. “Huh? Yes?”
“Don’t mean to be intrudin’ on your, uh, examination…” Applejack said, “But d’you think you can wrassle up a teleport and get us out of here? The miners need to know we’ve found the girls, and Ah’m sure this thing’ll still be here later.”
True, true. “Okay then, gather around me.” Here was the difficult part. Adding a passenger to a teleport was easy, the equivalent of tying a loop in the spell’s weave and latching it on to another pony’s unique magical signature. Add six, and the matrix would be stressed but okay to continue. Add a destination she could visualise - it would have been much trickier if she was trying to teleport to somewhere she’d never been before - the mine’s entrance would do, she could picture that.
Twilight Sparkle, Apple Bloom, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Scootaloo, Applejack, Sweetie Belle, seven loops, all check. Confirmed destination, check. Likelihood of ending up singed? Fairly high. One last check to make sure the weave was still holding, confirmed. Firing the spell.
…A teleport with seven shouldn’t use that much magic. Doing the math, that level was consistent with twelve. But there were only seven—
There was a light ringing noise as the bell on top of the device chimed.
Flash!