“And that’s what I’m doing here now. But what about the three of you? How did you all end up down here too?” Fluttershy asked the three ponies.
“You’ve certainly been through a far stranger sequence of events than we have,” Daylight Gleam said. “And-”
“We’ve pretty much just been getting lost in and falling through a bunch of tunnels!” Amethyst Star brightly exclaimed.
“Yes, and as I was going to say before I was rudely interrupted,” Daylight Gleam glared at Amethyst. “My whole name is Daylight Gleam and we’ve pretty much been stumbling around blindly underground for a few days now.”
Fluttershy tilted her head at the white unicorn. “Do I know you? You seem a little familiar to me.”
“Actually I believe we met a few nights ago at Applejack’s party,” Daylight Gleam smiled. “You must be a friend of hers, right?”
Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “Oh yes, Applejack is one of my best friends.”
“Well any friend of hers is a friend of mine,” Daylight winked.
“What about me?” Amethyst Star raised an eyebrow. “I’m friends with both of them, to a degree at least.”
Daylight Gleam rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but you’re also a bother. And you’re why we’re stuck down here.”
“No I’m not!” Amethyst Star stomped a hoof down. “I’m willing to admit when I’ve screwed up but this is totally your fault!”
Fluttershy grimaced as Angel Bunny breathed disinterestedly out his nose. She then walked over to Maud, who was just stoically standing around like her usual self. “Um, Maud? Can you explain what happened?”
Maud blinked and looked at her and for a minute Fluttershy wasn’t sure if she was going to say anything or not. But Maud soon opened up her mouth and began speaking. “You know I don’t like parties. So I wasn’t at Applejack’s like all of you were. I was in my home in the cavern Starlight and I found a while back that night. It was just me and boulder.”
Fluttershy was listening in intently and nodding along. Already this was just about more than she had ever heard Maud speak at one time.
“Then these two came in,” Maud’s eyes drifted over to Amethyst Star and Daylight Gleam. “The pink one was chasing the white one and they were arguing. They’ve been arguing a lot. Much like what they’re doing right now.”
Fluttershy looked over at the two unicorns still in a rather heated conversation. “What were they arguing about? And how did they end up down in your home to begin with?”
“It would be best to ask them,” Maud plainly replied.
Not the answer Fluttershy exactly wanted to hear but Maud was kind of right about that. Fluttershy gulped and walked up to the two unicorns, Amethyst Star she at least knew fairly well but Daylight Gleam was still a bit too much of a stranger for Fluttershy’s tastes. Of course she couldn’t really afford to be shy right now. But then again she couldn’t exactly willingly turn off that shyness whenever she wanted either. That’s not how it worked. She just had to try and get through it as best she could sometimes.
“Um, excuse me?” Fluttershy said to the two of them.
“And just so you know, I’ve changed a lot since we last met!” Amethyst yelled at Daylight.
“If anything you seem even more obnoxious,” Daylight frowned at her.
“You’re just a grump who sees the worst in ponies!”
“Am not! You’ve just never given me a reason to see anything good in you!”
“Excuse me!” Fluttershy said, much more loudly, finally getting both of the unicorns’ attention.
Their surprised faces swung over to Fluttershy and she had to blush, stepping back a little and hiding her face behind her mane momentarily. “Umm, I just had a couple of questions...”
“Sorry, we kind of got a little carried away,” Daylight said, grinning apologetically.
“Yeah, sorry Fluttershy,” Amethyst Star chuckled a little and rubbed the back of her head.
“It’s okay,” Fluttershy smiled. “I just wanted to ask you some questions.”
“What?” Daylight Gleam raised an eyebrow.
“Well...” Fluttershy looked back and forth between the two of them. “What are you arguing about? Maud said you two somehow ended up in her underground home but then how did you manage to get all the way down here? Did you two know each other from before Applejack’s party?”
Before Daylight could open her mouth, Amethyst cut in. “Look! I want to say this before she says anything and poisons your opinion about me. All I wanted was to apologize. That’s all I was trying to do but she wouldn’t have none of it!”
Daylight rolled her eyes. “After the last time we met maybe you can understand my apprehensiveness and lack of wanting to reunite with you.”
“So you two do know each other?” Fluttershy frowned worriedly between them.
“We met once a little while ago. It didn’t go well and I didn’t really want to speak to her again,” Daylight shrugged.
“And I just wanted to apologize and explain that I’ve changed. But you never even gave me the chance!” Amethyst Star pointed a hoof at her.
“And so you decided to harangue and chase after me all through the night,” Daylight Gleam slowly clapped her hooves together. “Bravo, that’s really something that would get me to accept your apology.”
“You could have just not been a jerk about it, you know?” Amethyst Star glared at her. “How difficult is it to just talk with somepony? But noooo, you had to run off like I was a monster chasing you.”
“All the monsters I’ve dealt with in my life haven’t been half as annoying as you.”
“Well no one forced you to be such a disagreeable grump. And if you had just talked to me back at Applejack’s party or anywhere else we wouldn’t have fallen down into Maud’s home and then we wouldn’t have fallen down that old collapsed tunnel either. It is so totally not my fault that this happened!”
“The two of you just accidentally fell down here?” Fluttershy asked, kind of confused.
Amethyst Star sheepishly looked away, wincing. “I kind of sort of chased her into the Everfree Forest and into the caves… but still! No one forced her to be so unfriendly!”
“No one forced you to chase after me!” Daylight Gleam glared at her before looking back over at Fluttershy. “And yes, we ended up where that pony lives.” She nodded back at Maud. “And the three of us essentially ended up running into each other and fell into an old, unstable, tunnel. We went tumbling for quite a while and it all collapsed and closed up above us. We couldn’t find a way back to the surface and we’ve been lost ever since, occasionally falling down some more and just ending up going deeper and further away from the surface...”
“There are a lot of subterranean caves and tunnels in this part of the world. Many are unstable and go quite deep,” Maud emotionlessly added in. “We have been unfortunate with getting repeatedly lost in them. But I’ve also enjoyed getting to study the geological makeup of the caverns down here.”
Amethyst Star and Daylight Gleam both rolled their eyes.
“It’s been… it’s been kind of stressful being stuck down here,” Amethyst Star said, dragging a hoof down her face.
“I envy your lack of company while you’ve been down here,” Daylight Gleam said.
Fluttershy grimaced and shared an uncertain look with Angel. These two were obviously not getting along well and Fluttershy felt she had to do something about that. I mean, it was a friendship problem after all, wasn’t it? Just the kind of thing she should be solving whenever she could.
“Well… now that things have settled down a bit, maybe the two of you can reconcile?” Fluttershy suggested.
Amethyst Star looked down sadly. “I don’t-”
“Now, now,” Fluttershy walked up and patted her on the shoulder. “You may find it surprising coming from me, but let’s try and not be too negative.” She took a deep breath and tilted Amethyst’s chin up so she could look the pink unicorn in the eyes. “Amethyst, it was very nice of you to want to apologize and makeup with Miss Daylight Gleam for whatever you did in the past. But at the same time you should’ve respected her boundaries and wishes. If she didn’t want to talk, then that’s okay, that’s her prerogative. You shouldn’t have kept chasing after and bothering her. In fact, I think you have something new to apologize to her for.”
Amethyst Star bit her lip and glanced down, clearly embarrassed and a little ashamed. Finally she lifted her gaze and looked at Daylight Gleam. “Uh… I’m sorry. For bothering you. Again. I didn’t really mean for something like this to happen.”
Daylight Gleam shrugged, also looking away a little and kind of embarrassed. “I mean, that’s okay...”
“She’s not the only one I have to talk to,” Fluttershy said and walked up to Daylight Gleam now. “Now, I don’t know what Amethyst Star did to make you dislike her in the past, but it’s clear she was earnestly and genuinely trying to apologize and makeup with you. You also could’ve been nicer and at least have heard her out.”
“I-I know… I’m sorry too. I just-” Daylight Gleam sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t really have an excuse for the way I acted. I was just being a jerk.”
Fluttershy smiled. “That’s okay, we all have times like that. But how about you two makeup now? Does that sound okay?”
Daylight Gleam and Amethyst Star both looked at each other and then back at Fluttershy.
Amethyst Star nodded. “Yeah, yeah that sounds pretty good actually.”
“I’d be happy with that,” Daylight Gleam smiled.
“Good!” Fluttershy giggled and clapped her hooves together. “Go and hug each other.”
“Hehe,” Amethyst Star and Daylight Gleam both blushed in embarrassment but did as Fluttershy asked. The two unicorns gave each other a warm hug before separating and fully apologized.
“Sorry.”
“Sorry.”
“I’m hoping you both can get along now,” Fluttershy said.
“You’re very talented at this, Fluttershy,” Maud droned. “May I also join in on the hugging?”
Amethyst Star and Daylight Gleam both weirdly looked at Maud but Fluttershy only giggled some more.
“It’s okay you two, that was just one of Maud’s jokes. She’s a big comedian.”
“I get more laughs than a dentist,” Maud said.
“Riiiight,” Daylight Gleam raised an eyebrow and then coughed into her hoof. “Anyways, what now?”
Angel Bunny thumped on Fluttershy’s back a few times and pointed up at the hole the three other ponies had come out of.
Fluttershy frowned at him. “No, Angel. I still have to go figure out what’s going on down here.”
“So you really are going to go looking for those rock monsters?” Amethyst Star asked, a hesitant and worried look on her face.
“Are you sure about that?” Daylight Gleam also asked.
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, it’s just the right thing to do.”
“Despite our previous goal being to find a way back to the surface, I would like to start accompanying you now, Fluttershy.” Maud said, blinking slowly. “I would really like to see these living rock monsters if they’re real.” Her voice may have had the barest hint of emotion to it when she said that.
“And we certainly weren’t getting anywhere anyways…” Daylight Gleam muttered and then shrugged. “Do you mind if I come with you too? I’d say exploring and looking for an answer to this rock monster question sounds a lot better than what we were doing, and now you’ll have some more company.”
Fluttershy smiled. “I don’t mind at all!”
All eyes then turned to Amethyst Star.
The pink unicorn gulped and started frantically waving her hooves in front of her face. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second. Exploring deep underground caves that nopony has ever been in before? Looking for living rock monster things that could be dangerous? Going somewhere where there’s almost definitely going to be some crazy stuff none of us are expecting?” Amethyst Star shook her head. “No way, absolutely no way. That sounds like an adventure. And I learned my lesson. Me and adventures don’t mix.” She pointed up at the hole. “Sorry, but I’m going to just try and get back to the surface and to Ponyville and sit in my house where I belong.”
“Alone?” Daylight Gleam raised an eyebrow at her. “The three of us working together were still lost but you’re saying you want to go searching your way through these caves all by yourself now?”
“Uhh...”
“Don’t worry, Amethyst. I don’t think I’m suited for adventures either but now with all of us together I’m sure it’ll be okay. With friends around everything is better,” Fluttershy reassured her.
“I’m being reassured by Fluttershy now of all ponies?” The fact was not lost on Amethyst Star. She bit her lip and thought for a moment longer, looking between the other ponies. “Uh, well, I guess you’re right. I’d probably be safer and closer to getting home by sticking with all of you. And I know you’ve saved the day plenty of times, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy blushed. “Not all on my own or anything though, it’s usually my friends who do that.”
“Can we get to the living rocks now?” Maud asked. “I assume we’re heading down this big tunnel?”
“Yes, we should start going soon,” Fluttershy said. Angel started yapping in her ear about just ditching the moles again but Fluttershy calmed him down with a few headpats. “I promise you I’ll get you the best carrots you’ve ever had once we get home, okay?”
Angel Bunny continued to grumble a little but he at least stopped harassing her for now.
“You gonna lead the way with that hardhat light?” Amethyst Star asked as she stared into the dark tunnel.
“Oh. Well, actually it’s out of power. I forgot that I was just thinking about that,” Fluttershy said as she too looked into the tunnel.
“Well that’s no problem at all,” Daylight Gleam said as she focused a little magic into her horn. At first a powder blue aura lit up around it before a glowing ball of light appeared at the end, acting like a lantern. “My specialty is light when it comes to magic but I’m sure even Amethyst Star can do a simple spell like this too.”
“Sure can!” Amethyst Star stated with a smug smile.
That then quickly fell off her face. “Hey wait-”
“Anyways,” Daylight Gleam chuckled. “Light won’t be a problem for us.”
Amethyst Star snorted but lit up her horn as well, she couldn’t create a little mini-light in the same way as Daylight could but the glow from her horn still provided a lot of illumination. Now the group was ready to go. Fluttershy had to admit though, as she stood before the tunnel, that even with having some real company she was still a little worried. After all you didn’t conquer your fears just like that. It felt good to have Angel and Maud around especially, since Fluttershy knew them well, but she’d feel even better if Twilight or Rainbow Dash was here too.
But they weren’t. And as strange as it seemed, Fluttershy felt like she had kind of been thrust into the leadership position of this little group of ponies. It was her adventure after all. She was the one who said she would help the moles and she was the one who wanted to discover what was up with the rock monsters. So as much as she thought it didn’t fit her, here she was leading things along.
“I suppose we can go in there now. I checked how the air was flowing down here and it seems to breeze right in,” Fluttershy said.
“Are we sure the tunnel actually goes down though?” Daylight Gleam asked as she stepped up to its mouth.
“Yes,” Maud answered. “The slight curvature in the tunnel’s walls tells me that it angels down to at least a small degree. It likely gets steeper at some point or will lead to other tunnels and holes that go straight down. That’s my observation from what I’ve seen from the rest of this subterranean area.”
“Well if that’s what Maud says...” Amethyst Star shrugged and started walking in, and then stopped. “Wait—hold on. I shouldn’t go first. I’m the type that would fall down a hole or walk right into something. I know that from experience. Can someone else go first? Or at least walk right next to me?”
Daylight Gleam rolled her eyes. “Let’s just walk together then, the tunnel is wide enough for all four of us to go side by side.”
“That sounds perfect to me,” Fluttershy smiled and walked on in, Angel Bunny sighing in annoyance on her back and Maud coming along too.
“Maybe Angel would like to hang out with Boulder? Do you think that would fix his mood?” Maud asked with a raised eyebrow as she walked next to Fluttershy. “I’m carrying Boulder in my pocket right now.”
“Umm… I think Angel would just like to ride on my back by himself right now,” Fluttershy grinned nervously. If Maud tried to get Angel to be friends with her pet rock he was liable to toss him somewhere, he was not exactly in such a friendly mood right now.
“Okay, just remember that Boulder is always up for making friends,” Maud said and returned her eyes to looking forward.
Angel Bunny snorted.
The group now all walked together into the dark tunnel. It was kind of quiet now that their introductions with each other were over and they didn’t have much else to talk about. The twin lights from the unicorns lit up everything ahead of them better than Fluttershy’s hardhat light could’ve done. It showed a mostly brown dirt and rock tunnel that Maud was carefully examining, although since she didn’t say anything Fluttershy assumed there was nothing special about the sediment around them. Daylight Gleam was focused on looking ahead for any holes or obstruction in the ground so they could avoid it and Amethyst Star was kind of blankly staring off into the distance. Fluttershy couldn’t tell what was going through her head, if anything at all.
It was kind of… not a very fun group right now. Despite Fluttershy’s belief that having all this company would make their adventuring so much better, no one really seemed like they wanted to talk or lighten the mood.
So Fluttershy decided to take that responsibility on her shoulders.
“Does anyone have anything they’d like to talk about while we walk?” Fluttershy asked.
“Not really,” Daylight Gleam said, a serious look still on her face.
“Eh,” Amethyst Star shrugged.
And Maud was silent while Angel Bunny still fumed.
“Well…” Fluttershy grimaced before getting a little more courage to speak up. “How about a song? If we sing it’ll pass the time and be a lot of fun too.”
“A song?” Daylight raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m sorry but I don’t think singing is really my thing.”
“Yeah I don’t know about that,” Amethyst Star nodded. “I just can’t picture us all singing a song down here right now.”
Two minutes later…
And so we’re off!~
Through the tunnel of friendship!~
Just some spelunkers having fun!~
“I never thought I’d be singing a song, it really aint my thing!~” Daylight Gleam said.
But that’s okay!~
We’re on an adventure!~
So why not do something new?~
“Like have a big sing-along with three other ponies you barely know?” Amethyst Star smiled.
Cause we’re friends now!~
Friends on an adventure~
No more dark tunnels and doubts for us!~
“This is the kind of thing that really helps with my insecurities and fears you know?” Fluttershy giggled.
Even Maud can’t stay quiet for long~
“I don’t sing. But when you’re done I would be happy to share some of my spoken word poetry with you.”
And that’s okay!~
Cause that’s just part of having fun too!~
Down here far below the ground!~
The three other ponies all chorused in unison.
Angel Bunny won’t be a grump all day either!~
There’s surely fun to come for him too!~
So stop pouting!~
And just have fun!
Down in this tunnel of friendship!~
All five of us friends spelunking!~
“Boulder is here too.”
Make that six!~
Six spelunkers who are just having fun!~
We’re not professionals!~
We’re not doing it by choice!~
But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it!~
Cause we’re all together!~
Together as a new group of friends!~