//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Angelswift // by Nevel //------------------------------// “Th-This is it?” Cherry looked up at the mouth of the cave. Long vines hung around the edges and large rocks surrounded the front of the entrance blocking it off, they each looked like they had fallen from the cliff above. The top of the cliff couldn’t be seen, it went up beyond the tops of the trees and the leaves obscured the view. The other three fillies climbed up onto the rocks then Scootaloo looked back to Cherry who was waiting behind, still looking at the mouth of the cave. “Come on, Cherry! This is what you wanted right?” Scootaloo held out a hoof and helped Cherry climb onto the large rock. “I -ugh- hope it’s not too dark in there.” Cherry said as she climbed onto the rock and then they both slid down into the cave entrance. “Don’t worry,” said Sweetie Belle. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders have packed everything we'd ever need.” Sweetie Belle reached into her white saddle bag she was wearing and pulled out a small lantern which she held in her teeth by the handle. Inside the lantern a small group of fireflies flew around casting a light all around, they didn't seem too bright but as they went into the dark cave it made all the difference in the world. They walked inside and looked around the large cave, rocks were lying everywhere in large piles and some spread out across the floor, small ones, large ones, but everything mostly looked the same. It was grey, dull and dirty. “Why are we in here again?” Cherry’s voice echoed in the cave and a squeak was heard from above, the four of them stopped and looked around, the ceiling of the cave was in complete darkness, Sweetie Belle held the lantern up as high as she could and then they saw them, yellow eyes looked down upon them from above, there was a scream and then about fifty black winged creatures swooped down upon them. They each screamed loudly and Sweetie Belle dropped the lantern as she dove for the floor. Cherry waved her fore-hooves in her mane, trying to keep the bats off her. All the bats flew out the entrance leaving the four fillies in the cave with Cherry still swatting at her mane screaming, Applebloom moved over to Cherry and grabbed her hooves. “They’re all gone now!” Cherry looked around the cave, it was all silent again except the sound of whimpering coming from somewhere in the cave room they were in. They looked over to Sweetie Belle who was just picking up the lantern from the floor, the sound wasn't coming from her. They all stood next to each other looking for the noise, it seemed to be behind them. They all walked over to a large boulder in the corner where the noise was coming from, right by the entrance of the cave. The three fillies looked behind it and saw Scootaloo cowering down with her forelegs over her head, Applebloom leaned down close to Scootaloo who was still making whimpering noises, then she quickly brushed her hoof against Scootaloo’s mane and she jumped up screaming. The three fillies laughed as Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes and looked around seeing no bats, only her friends right next to her and Applebloom had a big smile on her face. “That wasn’t funny!” Scootaloo looked angry at Applebloom. “Haha, yeah it was. Now let’s get moving.” Applebloom put the cooking pot on Scootaloo’s head and then the four of them headed deeper into the cave. * * * Lance was quickly walking through Ponyville with Fluttershy, they were heading to Sweet Apple Acers but decided to cut through town first just in case they saw Cherry there. “She better not of gotten herself in trouble again. I swear, I dunno what’s gotten into that filly latley.” Lance said. Fluttershy remained silent for a moment and then turned to Lance. “Well umm… she told me it’s because of you getting angry with her.” “What?!” Lance snapped his head around to look at Fluttershy. She didn’t meet his eyes. “I-I’m sorry, but it’s because of things like that. You sometimes get really angry and you scare her, and you also threatened to take everything she loves away from her.” Lance came to a stop and then Fluttershy stopped just ahead of him. “You can't be too angry with her, you know how sensitive she is." "I can't let her run wild either! She said-" He stopped mid-sentence as Fluttershy turned to look at Lance, she had a very somber look on her face, like she was struggling with something she didn't wanna talk about. "She… She told me about your mother as well.” Lance looked away from Fluttershy. His mother was the only positive pony in his life until she died. He took over for her, following the example she had left for him. Looking after his sister became his life. “I…” Lance couldn’t think of anything to say, the words got stuck in his throat. “I’m really sorry about what happened to her, but Cherry Blossom needs you. You’re not just her big brother, you’re the closest thing she’ll ever have to a father figure. You've got to be strong for her, protect her, you can’t just destroy her life when things aren’t going the way you want them.” Fluttershy was right. Lance knew he was wrong and he’d repeatedly tried to say he was sorry, but that wasn’t enough. “Fluttershy… I almost died yesterday trying to save her from that forest. I found a hydra in the swamp and I barely escaped from it.” Lance turned to show the large bruise on his back leg where the beast had clamped down tight on it, she gasped and took a closer look. “I think I might have some-“ Lance cut her off. “It’s fine, that’s not what hurt. The monster could have killed me, and then who would look after Cherry? She’d have to go back home to her father, and without me to protect her I can only imagine the worst.” They both stood in silence. Lance had the best intentions for Cherry but was also handling the problems in the worst way. By being over protective of her, he was hurting her. “Hey guys!” Pinkie Pie jumped out from a door beside the pair of them. “What’s going on? I heard you both out here but you weren’t coming in. Don’t tell me you forgot to use a door sillies.” Pinkie's randomness completely changed the atmosphere that had surrounded both Lance and Fluttershy. They had stopped right outside Sugarcube Corner and now Pinkie was bouncing out to meet them. “Pinkie, have you seen Cherry Blossom or her friends around here recently?” Lance asked. “Hmm, I saw her friends this morning. They were wearing some really funny looking hats!” “Where’d they go? Do you know?” “I have no idea!” Pinkie smiled as if she was proud of herself for what little information she had to share. Lance let out an exhausted sigh. His headache slowly banged against the side of his skull making it hard for him to think. “Cherry’s gone missing,” Fluttershy said to Pinkie Pie. “and we’re trying to find her. If she’s not with her friends then…” “Maybe she’s looking for her friends. OH! It’s like hide and seek all over again, I’ll go and check all the best spots!” Pinkie then ran off, Lance really hoped her crazy speed helped them find his sister. “Let’s keep going Lance, she might still be heading to the farm.” Fluttershy turned and led the way. Lance rubbed the side of his head groaning and then followed after her. * * * The cave got much darker as they went deeper, Cherry was grateful Sweetie Belle brought the lantern, it would be impossible to see without it. They were in a larger part of the cave where a small pool of water ran through the middle of it and going around a corner, the water was reflecting the light from the lantern to brighten up the cave a lot more. Stalagmites and stalactites covered the cave and some were just solid from top to bottom like large pillars. Every rock and wall seemed to be wet and looked very slimy. “Well, where do we go from here?” -from here? -from here? Scootaloo’s voice echoed through the cave, it was like another pony was asking back the same question repeatedly. “Ah dunno,” Said Applebloom a little more softly to stop the echo. “I reckon we should see what’s on the other side.” “I- Is it deep?” Cherry asked quietly. “Don’t tell me you can’t swim!” -can’t swim! -can’t swim! Scootaloo's last two words echoed off the walls, Cherry looked down at her hooves and shook her head, she'd never been swimming or anything before. Scootaloo hit herself in the forehead with her hoof, Sweetie Belle put the lantern she was carrying in her mouth down gently on the floor. “We can’t swim over anyway, how would we get the light across?” Sweetie Belle pointed out. “Well what are we supposed to do then? It’s too long to walk around and we don’t even know what’s around that corner.” “Isn’t that why we're down here?” Asked Sweetie Belle. “To explore?” “Yeah, what’s wrong, ya chicken?” Applebloom smiled as she walked passed Scootaloo. “I’m not a CHICKEN!” -CHICKEN! -CHICKEN! -CHICKEN! The cave rumbled from the echo, slowly rocks started to fall down and the four fillies screamed as the loudest crack sounded from above them, one of the stalagmites cracked and fell down next to them, as it hit the floor it fell over into the water and sent a huge wave of water over the fillies. The shaking stopped shortly after that and they each opened their eyes. They were wet and cold, each of them tried to shake themselves dry, but just ended up getting the pony next to them soaked. “Hey, watch it.” said Applebloom quietly. “Sorry.” Whispered Scootaloo making sure to keep her voice down from now on, Cherry walked over to the fallen Stalagmite and noticed that it reached all the way to the over side. “Hey,” She called out quietly. “We can cross over now.” “That’s... convenient.” Sweetie Belle said with a raised eyebrow, looking over at the suddenly made rock bridge. “Ha, I knew that would happen.” Bragged Scootaloo. The other three fillies just watched her with a look of disbelief as she jumped onto the fallen stalagmite and began to cross it. Sweetie Belle looked at the lantern and saw that although it had gotten wet, the fireflies inside were completely fine. Picking it up in her mouth she followed Scootaloo over the new bridge and made it to the other side. “After you.” Applebloom said to Cherry. Even after watching her friends cross it, Cherry was still a little worried, she gingerly put one hoof on it and then another, she took a little while but managed to cross it with Applebloom right behind her, on the other side it didn’t seem much different except for a small narrow tunnel that lead deeper into the cave. The fillies all looked at Sweetie Belle since she had there only light source and she slowly stepped forward poking her head inside. It was very dark and narrow, they’d have to walk single file, Sweetie Belle pointed it out that if she was going to lead, the pony behind would have to look over her back and call out if they saw anything. Applebloom volunteered and stood behind Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo suggested that Cherry go ahead of her since out of the four of them she was the smallest and Scootaloo still felt like it was her responsibility to make sure nothing happened to her. The four fillies walked single file and went down into the tunnel. * * * Applejack was carrying two baskets full of apples on either side of her and she was taking them to the barn, it was way past lunchtime and she couldn’t wait to take a break and finally get something to eat. She could smell the delicious apple pie Granny Smith was baking and could almost taste it. Over in the distance Applejack could see two ponies walking down the path towards the farm, one of which she recognised as Fluttershy but while the other one looked familiar, she couldn’t quite recall his name, Applejack dropped off the apples next to the barn door and went over to greet her visitors. “Hey Fluttershy, how do’ partner?” She addressed Lance with a tip of her hat. “Hello Applejack,” said Fluttershy. “Is Applebloom home?” “We think that my sister may have come here to see her.” Lance looked around to see if he could spot her. The farm was huge and there were all kinds of buildings all over it, the farmhouse itself looked like it was in the shape of a barn, and later Lance would find out that it really was a barn attached to their house. Apple trees covered most of the farm all the way into the distance and it was impossible to see the end of it. “Well, I ain’t seen the youngern since this morning, she was wearing one of Granny Smith’s old cooking pots on her head. Shoot, I told that filly to put them back but she just ran off towards their little clubhouse.” “Where is the clubhouse? Could you take us there?” Lance asked Applejack, hopefully Cherry would be there. “Well, I was just about ta have lunch and-“ “Please Applejack.” Pleaded Fluttershy. “We have to find Cherry Blossom, we think she’s run away.” “Cherry Blossom? Wait a second, that little pink filly is your sister?” She asked looking at Lance. “You’ve seen her?” “Not today, but I seen her on the farm a few times with the other crusaders. I tell ya, they’ve been getting along like a haystack on fire. Gonna have ta keep an eye on ‘em else they might destroy all of Ponyville.” Applejack laughed and then started walking towards the apple trees. “Ya’ll just follow me, I’ll take ya to the clubhouse. * * * The narrow tunnel grew wider as they went deeper down, their hoofsteps echoed off the walls around them and the tunnel itself was slowly becoming more jagged, the ceiling looked like any rocks could come falling down with the slightest vibration. “Umm, maybe we should go back.” Said Cherry as she looked around the tunnel, Scootaloo whispered from behind her. “Hey, don’t get scared now, we’re just getting to the good part.” Cherry didn’t know what Scootaloo considered a good part and was about to ask before Sweetie Belle stopped and Cherry walked right into the back of Applebloom, causing them both to fall over. “Ow. Careful there,” Said Applebloom as she got up then turned to help pick Cherry up. “Don’t wanna hurt yourself again, do ya?” “We’ve got a choice to make here,” Sweetie Belle said back to the others behind her. “Left or right?” The tunnel split off into two separate directions, both way looked exactly the same and Cherry guessed it didn't really matter which way they went, so long as they remembered the way back. At that thought she started to get worried, the deeper into the cave they went, the more chance they had of getting lost. “Well,” Piped up Scootaloo. “I say we go to the right.” Applebloom agreed with a nod, Cherry looked at her friends and although she wanted to go back and leave she wasn’t going to ruin this for them. She’d insisted on coming in the first place to prove a point. Cherry straightened up and looked down the tunnel, she was here to prove that she wasn’t a baby that needed to be constantly looked after, she could look after herself and intended to prove it. “Let’s go right then.” Cherry gave a determined smile and the four fillies took the tunnel to the right. They travelled for another five minutes in silence, each step seemed like it was getting louder and louder, and the walls began to be narrow again as they went down a slight slope that curled to the right, they headed down with Sweetie Belle still in front with the light and they reached the bottom. The tunnel went a little further and they all noticed that the walls were very old down here and there were many holes in the walls where things had been removed. “Ya’ll reckon they were digging for fossils?” Asked Applebloom. “Why would any pony dig a small narrow tunnel like this for old bones?” Said Scootaloo, calling over Cherry’s head. “Well, how you reckon these tunnels were made?” Retorted Applebloom. “Well…” Scootaloo slyly smiled to herself. “I heard it was a giant worm that dug its way down, burrowing into the walls feasting on little creatures within. Some ponies say that very worm is still here, lurking around in the dark, waiting to jump through the walls at its next prey!” -prey! -prey! The tunnel echoed with the sound of Scootaloo’s voice, Cherry shook her head. “That was the worst monster story ever.” Cherry giggled then turned around, Sweetie Belle had stopped and was looking up at the wall ahead of them. It was a dead end. She placed the lantern of the floor and turned to the others. Applebloom was the first to speak up. “I guess we’re going back then.” “Can we just go home?” Sweetie Belle asked. “My legs are killing me and I’m tired of carrying this thing.” Indicating the lantern. “But we havn’t gotten our cutie marks yet.” Whinned Scootaloo. “Well, I’m not sure I even want a cutie mark of a cave on my flank anyway. It’s not even that fun down here. “Yeah, I gotta agree with Sweetie Belle,” Said Applebloom. ”We’ve accomplished nothing down here other then get attacked by bats and get soaking wet.” Cherry nodded in agreement with the other two then Scootaloo sighed and gave in, Applebloom offered to carry the lantern for Sweetie Belle and stood in the front with Sweetie Belle standing behind her, Cherry went to stand in their single file formation when she saw something in the wall ahead, She walked up to it and saw a red gemstone, it was beautiful and Cherry thought that it might make a nice gift for Fluttershy. The gem looked like that if Cherry hit it hard enough, it could be broken lose. “Cherry? What are you doing?” Scootaloo called over to her, the other fillies looked too and saw what she was about to do. “NO!” They each shouted but she had already kicked the wall, the red gemstone came loose and fell at her hooves. The shout of the three fillies echoed down the tunnel and up the long slope. They were silent for a moment as Cherry looked at her friends wondering what she had done wrong. Then there was the sound of cracking and then a rumbling, where Cherry had kicked out the ruby a few small cracks started to spread upwards, which became large ones spreading into the top of the tunnel. The cracks split wide and the entire tunnel began collapsing on them, the fillies all screamed and Cherry felt somepony jump on top on her, pinning her to the ground. The ceiling collapsed around her and she closed her eyes, not daring to open them even after hearing a loud metallic sound just over her head followed by a loud thud just an inch from her nose. She waited without daring to move as the sounds came to a deafening silence.