//------------------------------// // Chapter 26: Digging a Tunnel. // Story: A Walking Chestnut // by Netap //------------------------------// Digging a tunnel is hard, you need to make the tunnel itself big enough to make room for the digging equipment while still keeping it stable enough so the tunnel won't collapse on itself, burying everything inside under tons and tons of rocks and stones. Digging using the Pokemon move Dig is way easier. It's tiring, sure, Digging upwards in an incline that will make it possible for someone else to crawl up is still hard. You need to make sure the tunnel has enough room for the person behind you, make sure you won't get stuck and need a rescue mission, and overall you need to keep digging in the same direction. One of the worse things that can happen when you're lost is to walk in a circle without realizing it. Take being lost in the desert for example. You spend hours looking for some indication of where you are, you spot a landmark in the distance, let's say a large rock of some kind, you approach it only to find that you already approached that same rock from a different direction and you have just been walking around the desert for hours, no closer to a rescue than you were when you started. That might not be the greatest example of walking in circles, I know that being lost in the desert has bigger problems than walking towards nothing, but It's the example I came up with so It's the one I'm using. Where was I? Oh yes, The Pokemon move Dig. Dig in the games was a ground type move that allowed the user to dig underground, making them avoid a large number of attacks, and a turn later pop up and deal a fairly high amount of damage. In the Television series, the Move Dig is shown to allow the pokemon using it to burrow into the ground and move under it at normal walking or running speeds, depending on the pokemon using Dig at the time, of course. Right now, I am digging at a slow pace of two meters per ten minute. For a walking speed, that is very slow and you might need to see a doctor. For a rodent, I Have no idea the average digging speed is for a creature like a mole, But I'm sure two meters every 600 seconds is extremely fast. I could be going faster, I could simply dig upwards at a higher incline and reach the surface sooner, saving myself. I know I could be digging farther every ten minutes. I simply haven't used Dig in almost a month, neglecting it in order to improve Vine Whip and Rollout instead. Another reason for the slow process is that I'm digging through the same area three times, I need to make the tunnel big enough for not only myself, but also Princess Moonbeam Twinkletail to fit through. I also am making slight turns when I reach really tough rocks, digging around them is faster than through them. It's a slow and steady pace, I've been digging for a while now, Don't know how long, but the tunnel is looking good so far. Sure, Moonbeam will need to crawl on all fours to get through it, but at least she won't be pressed between the ceiling and floor. 35 meters of tunnel down. Depending on how deep we are, I might need to spend an entire day digging. A day that we don't exactly have, as Lycanroc proclaimed he will execute Moonbeam come sunset. Hopefully Blueblood and Cadance will find a way to salvage this mess of a situation. Crawling back to the cave where Moonbeam and the Stone Turtle are, I lean on the wall, obscuring my tunnel behind me in case somebody walks in and spots it. It's been a long day, A Very long day. And the Adrenaline is finally starting to run out, I really need to sleep. Hopefully I'll have enough time to escape when I wake up... The Carbunkappa watched as Chespin closed his eyes before he walked closer to the cave the Human dug. Looking into it, and then looking back at the two sleeping mammals in the cave with him, The young Carbunkappa nods his head before walking towards a small, barely noticeable crack in the wall and squeezes through it. His new friends need help, Even if one of them is grumpy and the other can't understand his words, He's going to help them. Because it's never wrong to help somebody in need. And with these nice, if naive, thoughts in his head, the Rock Turtle marched forward. "Boss, A Note just came in." A Diamond Dog said as he entered a room where two of some of the most important Dogs of modern Politics are sitting at. "Is it another request for security? Place it with the others, we'll read through them in a bit" Rex Rockefeller said as he signed a paper with his signature and placed it on top of a large pile of documents. "It's from the castle sir" The Messenger Dog spoke again. "Is Katherina giving us the kingdom? If not then throw it in away." Jeremy Anderson said while leaning back on a large crate filled with oranges and similar citrus fruits. Peeling one of the fruits in his claws before squeezing the juice into a bowel and throwing the pulp and skin into another. "It's actually from Jennino Lanternlight's castle, She's proclaimed herself queen and is threatening to kill us all if we don't return princess Moonbeam unharmed." The Dog spoke again, quickly having the note snatched from his paws by Sir Rockefeller. "She WHAT?!" I wake up to the pitter patter of small rocks rolling on the floor. I Open my eyes to see that the tunnel I've spent hours digging yesterday is having it's walls chewed. By green rock turtles. "Oh, you woke up mister. I brought my friends and family over to help you dig this tunnel. They were hungry and had nothing better to do. Do you like it?" The young Turtle from before asked me as he walked towards me. "I- I don't- Why? Why would you help me dig? You don't even know where I need to go? Why are you doing this?" I pick myself up from the ground and ask the turtle. He looks into my eyes with his young, obsidian orbs, a twinkle of playfulness flashes in them before he speaks. "You two look like you needed help, So I brought help. You obviously want to go home, you said so when you were sleep talking-" That's a problem I'll need to fix somehow "-And since you and the great enchantress Moonbeam are both mammals, that means you live on the surface." Did he call the princess the Greta Enchantress? How does he know I'm a mammal? Did he- Never mind, I need to see how far he's dug. "Thanks kid, you're a huge help" I say before I enter into the tunnel and walk to the far end of it. Seeing all the rock turtles digging (or should I say eating?) the tunnel, I can see that even though they're a lot slower than my speed, the overall number of them means that they are actually digging the tunnel faster than I did. "I'm going to dig ahead, See how much longer we need to go" I call out behind me, Getting a few groans and grunts from the turtles before I once more use Dig and the stone I touch crumbles into dust. Now that I can simply dig for myself, without having to go through the same spot several times, I manage to dig two meters in a single minute! Sure, That's closer to the speed of a crawling Chespin, trying to walk on all four of his short stubby limbs, But two meters per minute is insanely fast for digging. After ten minutes of digging the stone turns into soil, and that is when I start speeding up. Turns out, It's easier to dig through dirt than it is to dig through solid rock. Who Would've guessed? Another minute passes before I find myself popping out of the side of a hill outside of Dimondia. Looking down at the length of the tunnel remaining, I make the simple calculation that at the current speed of digging, It will take maybe two hours before the tunnel is ready for Moonbeam to cross through. A lot can happen in two hours, but at the very least I managed to exit. Now I should maybe get Blueblood and Cadance to start digging from this side of the tunnel, meet up in the middle. Or maybe go back and look after Princess Moonbeam? Personal Safety or The Life of another. Save a Mostly innocent girl who hasn't done anything to earn the treatment she's receiving or myself? Looking back at the tunnel I've dug and then at the city of Dimondia in the distance. I come to an easy conclusion. One that I made back on that damned ship, sitting on a table with Blueblood, planning Operation Get Raven Inkwell Fired. "I'm sorry Jenn, But I don't think I can keep your sister safe." I say out loud before looking at Dimondia in the distance "It's just that I need to be alive in order to return home, and seeing my dad is much more important to me than the success or safety of the royal family" I use Rollout and head towards the City of Dimondia.