As the tunnel loomed in front of them, Twilight and the others prepared themselves to venture down to find the monster that was lurking its depths. Yet one question permeated their minds.
"So, who's going first?" Flash asked turning all eyes to him.
"I mean, if you're volunteering." Twilight said.
"I'm not volunteering, all I asked was who's going first, how is that volunteering?"
"Well you have the power to emit light from those flaps on your head." Shining Armor said.
"Yeah, but I can only do them in short bursts, not exactly that reliable for lighting the way through underground tunnels. Why can't Jagger send in his pack to scout the place out first?"
"A. I only brought four of my boys along for support. B. even if I did bring more we don't know how many paths those tunnels branch off into. And C. we don't know what's down there, it could be a Nakarkos for all we know. I'm not sending my boys down there alone, why not have one of the ponies lead the way, after they've got those magic horns don't they?"
"Well obviously it's because we're royalty." Chrysalis said.
"Wait so that just exempts us from danger?" Twilight asked.
"Well when your in charge of an entire city and or race, I would imagine it would be a bad idea to throw yourself into danger at the drop of a hat. Not that you'd know anything about it."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what you think it means Sparkle, you aren't qualified to rule a kingdom because you haven't needed to make any hard decisions."
"Yes I have. Remember when I gave up my magic to Tirek to free my friends, and you. That was one of the hardest decisions I had ever made, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't look down on me after I saved you."
Chrysalis was surprised by Twilights retort, and simply sighed in defeat. "Fine, so what don't you try and figure out how we should proceed."
"Alright just give me a moment." Twilight closed her eyes and raised a hoof to her lip, holding it there while she thought. "I've got it. Alright I'll go in first and light the way with magic, Jagger and Flash will follow behind me, while Shining, Chrysalis and the four Jagras will follow behind them. Is that alright with everyone?"
S- "Sure, Twilight."
C- "It's not like we have any other Ideas."
F- "As long as I'm not the one leading the way I'm fine with it."
J- "Same goes for me and my boys."
"Then it's decided, let's go gang."
As the group ventured down the path began to grow worn and broken with the well maintained stone of the entrance being replaced with cracked bricks and uneven cobblestone. Before long they came to a massive underground chamber with numerous pathways and bridges connecting the various levels of the ruins together. As Twilight stepped out of the tunnel a chilling wind blew and causes her to stop in her tracks.
"Brrrrh, What was that? Aren't we supposed to be underground."
"It's possible that some of these tunnels lead outside of the city itself." Chrysalis said. "The frozen tundra has a way of finding its way into warm places not protected by the crystal heart's power."
"What is this place?" Flash asked.
"Well from what we learned from the crystal ponies It used to be Sombra's main weapon forge." Shining said. "Apparently he had a dragon melt all the raw ore his slaves mined out into molten slag, then bathe in it to help shed its scales."
"How does a dragon taking a bath in liquid metal help make weapons? I mean, I know humans use monster parts to make their weapons stronger, but what does having a dragon bathe in metal actually do for it?"
"More than you'd think. The shed dragon scales became a part of the slag and the heat from the dragon's own body helped any pieces of metal that weren't fully melted yet integrate into the mixture, creating a specially alloy that hasn't been used for centuries. We call it dragonite."
Flash though a moment and asked, "Hey, did this dragonite have a specific color?"
"Yes, it was a dark purple metal, though certain conditions made it turn Red, Green, or Yellow. Why?
"Heh, well the funny thing is that in our world dragonite is a naturally occurring metal."
"Normally I wouldn't believe you, but considering where you come from I can't say I'm surprised."
"DOWN THERE." Jag shouted "I just saw something go into one of the tunnels down there."
"Did you get a good look at it?" Shining asked.
"No, All I saw is that it was white."
"Well we can't let it get away, come on." Twilight said as she used her create a bridge down to the tunnel where the creature had gone into. As the group chased the sound of the beast the ground became more and more icy causing one of the Jagras in front to slip and fall which triggered a massive pile-up in the ground. With no-one able to get their footing they slid down the tunnel until eventually ending up in a large open area that appeared to have been dug out.
"Is everyone okay." Twilight asked, prompting a small chorus of groans.
S: "What is this place?"
C: "Probably something the monster dug out for itself."
J: "I think it's kinda homie."
The group was interrupted by a scratching coming from the far wall. Twilight, Chrysalis, and Shining Armor focused the light from their horns towards the beast and as they did they were surprised at what stared back at them. It appeared to be a cross between a Rabbit and a Wombat with the a body the size of a bull elephant.
"That's it." Flash said in surprise and annoyance. "We came all the way down here to fight a Lagombi!"
"Wait, what's a Lagombi?" Twilight asked.
"That is. It's an herbivore monster from the old world. All it does is slide around on ice and eat roots."
"So its not dangerous."
"Of course not, look at it. The only thing dangerous about is its bite, and its copious about of weight. Other than that it's basically pretty tame."
"So what do we do about it?"
"I don't know, fight it, talk to it, leave it down here. You're the leader you decide."
"In that case I think we should just leave it for now."
"But what if it comes up to the surface again?" Shining asked.
"Its a giant bunny, the worst it will do is eat someone's garden. Now come, lets the back to the surface."
"Amen to that." Flash said as he started running up the tunnel the just came from, before suddenly slipping and sliding back down on his back. "This may take while."