//------------------------------// // Delve Deeper // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Rarity widened her stance and let magic surge along her horn. She could feel the invisible fingers of reality summoned forth by her mana grasp at the rough and stony edges of the cracked and crumbling door in front of her. With a thought, a grunt, and a little bit of effort, she pulled back on the door, rewarded with the sound of stone scraping across stone. Thankfully, unlike the other door, this one stayed in one piece and didn’t crumble or break when she tried to open it. Together with Ball Bearings, she managed to force the pair of doors open wide enough for a pony to slide through before she released her telekinetic grip. What she revealed on the other side with the light from her horn was a small room with a hole in the center of the floor. Upon closer examination, she saw it was a tight and narrow staircase descending into the earth at a sharp angle, and the light from her horn glittered across gently rippling water  at the bottom. Somewhere down that staircase, water dripped and made eerie echoes, and something would occasionally make a little splash. No matter how much she brightened her horn, she could not see the bottom through the murky standing water below. But there was something else surprising about the room they stood in. Instead of another depiction of the moon god, a statue of the sun god with his wings outstretched stood over the hole descending into the water below. The pegasus also wore full battle regalia with decorative wooden armor along with a spear in one wing and a curved sword held in the other. The statue’s face was stern and damning, as if he would condemn anypony who decided to venture under his gaze and down the hole to the water below. Rarity suddenly had a worry about what exactly this statue could be protecting. The more she saw of this place, the less it seemed like a tomb and the more it seemed like a vault or a prison for something, like the Ponynesian version of Tartarus. And there was still no sign of the unicorn statuette. Rainbow Dash advanced on the stairs in the floor and whistled. “That goes down for a bit,” she casually observed. “I don’t know how deep the water is, but it’s definitely higher than knee-deep.” “Hopefully nothing is living down there,” Rarity said. “It would be just our luck that there was a shark or some other monstrosity making its home in those waters.” “At least we’ve got guns,” Rainbow said, snatching one in her wing. “Even with Esses and the others carrying a bunch, we’ve got enough weapons of our own to defend ourselves.” “And these things will work even when the powder is wet?” Rarity asked, holding up the one she’d carried with her throughout the night. Though she knew they were supposed to be functional with the fire gem embedded in the side, she could never have enough reassurances about their reliability. “Yeah, we loaded them when it was dry,” Rainbow said. “The bullet forms a seal with the barrel so water can’t get behind it, and the fire gem in the side will make it shoot even if the gun is sopping wet. I could probably shoot this thing underwater if I needed to.” “It wouldn’t be too effective, but yeah,” Ball Bearings said. “Just be careful with it. We’ve only got one each, and then the swords.” “Hopefully Soft Step and the others won’t need any extra weapons,” Rarity said. “They might encounter pirates up there after your rainboom, Rainbow.” “They’ve been fighting the pirates for a month now,” Rainbow said. “More than that. They know what they’re doing, and they’re armed. So long as they stay low and out of sight they’ll be fine.” Then, turning her attention back to the hole in the ground, she swallowed and took the first step. “Right. Let’s get started on this, I guess.” Step by step, Rainbow descended into the dark abyss below them, her eyes darting every which way to try and peer through the darkness. Rarity followed close behind to provide a light, and as soon as her head dipped beneath the floor and into open air of the chamber below them, she allowed her horn to brighten and illuminate as much of the tomb as she possibly could. Rainbow stopped and her eyes widened as Rarity’s horn brightened more and more and more of the complex around them. “Holy crap,” she whispered to herself as the walls of the tomb just seemed to keep going. “This place is… friggin’ huge!” Rarity would have called ‘huge’ an understatement. The staircase seemed to come down right into the middle of a vast open area that almost seemed endless. Her and Rainbow stood above a central chamber than stretched out in front of them and was swallowed up by the darkness behind them. Rarity’s horn light illuminated corners and edges of walls, allowing them to pick out huge halls that branched off of the main space to the left and the right. For as bright as Rarity tried to make her horn, the illumination it provided didn’t reach the ends of the monstrous cavern they found themselves in. “Ponies couldn’t possibly have made this,” Rarity said. “It’s too enormous. There’s no way!” “They made that sun temple on the mountain,” Rainbow said, “and the shrine beneath our island. They seem like they were pretty good builders.” Stargazer and Ball Bearings slowly came down the stairs after them. After some time to look around and observe the stone, Stargazer pointed a wing at the far walls. “The walls aren’t regularly cut like the tomb above,” he said. “They’re more roughly hewn. I think most of this place was naturally formed.” “That makes sense,” Rainbow said. “I thought this place looked like a volcano that blew up from above. This might have been a magma chamber a long time ago, and the Ponynesians just found it.” “It would certainly explain the obsidian altar we found in a shrine attached to these ruins,” Rarity said. “It would also mean that this chamber could be nearly endless…” Rainbow Dash walked down the last of the steps, grimacing as the tepid water trapped in the chamber rose up to her belly. “Well, it’s not too deep,” she said, and immediately took wing to avoid having to wade through the water. Rivulets of briny water fell off her coat and into the pool around her, causing it to ripple and send a cascade of dripping echoes bouncing off the soggy walls of the cavern. “I’m not gonna bother walking around in it, though,” she said. “I’d rather fly.” Rarity sighed and stuck her hoof in the water, shivering at its chilling touch. “I suppose Ball Bearings and I have to suffer through this, then.” “I’d carry you, but I don’t have my stamina and strength back yet,” Rainbow said. “Besides, you’ll be fine. It’s just a bit of water. I’d watch out for any holes or dips in the floor, though, depending on how much the Ponynesians might have smoothed it out or not.” “Hardly a pleasant thought,” Rarity muttered aloud. Shivering, she stepped into the water and waded through it to stand next to where Rainbow hovered. “If I slip beneath the waves screaming, you will rescue me, won’t you?” “I’ll do my best,” Rainbow said, winking at Rarity. Then the pegasus looked down the long halls stretching out in either direction and sighed. “Friggin’ crap, this place is gonna take us forever to explore. We’ll run out of moonlight if we aren’t careful.” “Maybe we should split up and cover more ground,” Stargazer suggested. “If we can find an end to this chamber, then we can start to orient ourselves better.” “Good idea,” Rainbow said. “Let’s do that, but don’t go opening anything yet. We’ll meet back at these stairs in about an hour and then we’ll go from there. We want to do this the smart way.” Rarity scoffed. “I didn’t imagine you suggesting we do things the smart way.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Sometimes the smart way is the awesome way because then you don’t die. You can’t be awesome if you’re dead.” “I suppose in that regard you are correct.” Rarity shook her head and looked down the long, dark corridor ahead of her. “Then it’s best if we get started and see what horrible surprises are in store for us through the darkness…”