//------------------------------// // Chapter the Fourth: Faux Pas // Story: Mountain of Misfortune // by Kiernan //------------------------------// Sam picked up the rope and wrapped it around their shoulders. They’d hoped to use it for setting up camp, and wondered if it was even possible to do so after this. After all, this line was made to hold the weight of a tarpaulin, not a pony. Or two, if they managed to find Art, as well. They shook the thought from their head. “Come on, Sam, they need you,” they whispered, turning back into the darkness. It would be better if there had been another movable lantern, or a flashlight that could either harness to the chest or strap to the forehead. Having to hold it was awful. Still, it would have to do. Back into the cave they went, flashlight between their teeth, rope around their shoulders, and, just in case, a first aid kit on their back. It was possible that Abi had been injured in the shift, and had been too shocked to notice it. It was also possible that the rock had shifted again. In either scenario, it would be a good idea to have it. In the event that they didn’t need it, they could carry it back together. It wasn’t long at all before Sam realised that this wasn’t the right tunnel. Opting to turn back and leave, they found their supplies right where they’d been left, and opted for a new expedition, taking careful note of what turns they made. The second time, it ended in a dead end. “Okay, something’s up with this mountain,” they sighed. Setting down the flashlight, they closed their eyes and took a deep breath. This had to have been a recent development, as the caves changing should have been a big enough red flag as to stop any rational park ranger from putting a campsite nearby. They opened their eyes. The cave had changed again, without making a noise. This time, however, the path back led to some kind of light. Sam was sceptical. Walking down a dark tunnel towards a light seemed like it would be a bad idea, as it was oft associated with death. Sam wasn’t wanting to die, but given that Art and Abi were equally trapped, if not worse, there was little point in fighting the mountain. The light turned out to be the setting sun, and the end of the tunnel was literally a path out of the cave. They could even see the entrance they’d set up in nearby, and this was very odd because Sam had looked for other cave entrances and not seen this one. Skidding down the muddy path back to the entrance they’d been resting in, Sam thought to try again. They knew this was theirs, as their bag had their name and cutie mark embroidered on the front pocket. Unless there was somepony else named Cucumber Sandwich with two friends named Art and Abi, where Art liked snacks and Abi liked books, this was the same place. But it couldn’t be. Every expedition into the cave had always taken a right turn. Art had gone to the right, Abi had gone to the right, and Sam had gone to the right. So why was it that now, the only way to go was left? The paths were changing. There could be no other explanation. Sam sighed. “To the left it is…” The path started off smooth enough. It gave Sam a bit of time to reflect on their actions. Yeah, if the caves were shifting, that was a dangerous turn of events that could lead to their death, but what else was there to do? Sam couldn’t just leave the others here. Then again, what if this was a prank? Art was known for his japes and jests, but he wasn’t malicious. Anything that would inconvenience him, too, would be quite a stretch, and even if it was him, he’d have grown bored of it by now. At least his jokes would be more exciting than walking in circles in a cave. If this was a joke, it wasn’t one of his. But then, who would do this? Abi would never. Aside from just not liking pranks, even if this were hers, she’d never wilfully cause damage, especially to herself. Risking becoming lost in a cave was too far, especially without something to occupy her time. She didn’t do this. So then, who did? Earth ponies like Sam couldn’t do magic like Art and Abi. That ruled out any pegasi that might have been flying around, too. They didn’t like it, but Sam could not deny the possibility that some unicorn had happened upon them in the caves and was trying to destroy them. Some old hermit who’d been in here since the days before Luna’s return, angry that they’d disturbed the silence of the caves. No, that was crazy, even as conspiracy theories were concerned. Sam shook the thought from their head just as quickly as it had arisen. There was no hermit in these caves out to destroy them. If there were, he’d have at least come forward and told them to leave before resorting to killing them. They didn’t look remotely threatening, except perhaps Abi when she was angry. What one unicorn would even have that much power, let alone enough to move the rock silently? Even Celestia, as much as she liked pranks, wouldn’t endanger them. Diamond dogs? No, this was way outside of their territory. Giant rock-eating worms? Then who was closing the tunnels behind them? None of this made sense. Not seeing a rock in the path, being too deep in thought, Sam tripped and cascaded down a previously-unseen pile of gravel. The stones were all smooth, but that didn’t stop them from striking them as they rolled down above them, pinching their skin as they dragged them under, and smacking them as they tumbled down. When the pebbles finally stopped, Sam felt as if they were lying on a bed of marbles. They turned and looked at the path they’d just come from, inspecting it with the flashlight. Unfortunately, the wall they’d just slid down seemed to be only loosely connected pieces of stone. Any shifting they did would just cause more of it to collapse, and the rocks nearby were too loose and round to build any kind of stairway. Sam thought back to Abi, who was waiting for a rope to pull her out. Unfortunately for Sam, the rope was around their shoulders, not tied to a sturdy anchor at the top of the pit. “Fuck,” sighed Sam. “I can’t believe I’m stuck down here.” Thankfully, they seemed to be uninjured, as the first aid kit had burst open and landed in a pool of mud. All of the sterile bandages were now ruined with a thick layer of muck. They waved their flashlight around a bit, looking for a place to sit against the wall. They needed time to think, and that would probably be easier if they were sitting, because they’d be pacing, otherwise. One of the walls, a large flat one, seemed to be covered in coloured moss, so to avoid spores, Sam opted for the opposite wall to lean against. “Okay, Sam, breathe,” they said, closing their eyes. “Let’s think this through. First and foremost, you can’t return back the way you came, because that path’s blocked off by rubble. Even if you could, the caves…” They froze for a second and shined the flashlight over the way they’d just come from. No path existed. “Okay, you still can’t go back that way… but maybe that way won’t be that way for very long. I can look away, and soon, there will be another way to go.” Taking a deep breath, Sam closed their eyes and waited a minute before looking back to the wall. Unfortunately, it was still just a wall, for once completely unchanged. Sam took another deep breath, trying not to panic. So far, the walls had been changing, but this time, nothing. They turned back to the flat wall, and the moss hadn’t moved, either. Even the other end of the room seemed sealed off. As they turned back, however, they managed to catch a look at the flat wall again. With the wall covered in so many colours of mosses, there could at least be some interesting patterns. In fact, why was there even moss growing down here with no light? Upon closer inspection, however, it wasn’t moss at all. The various different colours were put there intentionally, because this was some kind of crude paint. Sam immediately moved as far away from the wall as they could so that the flashlight would shine as widely as possible. It wasn’t two steps before the splotches began to form shapes, and then recognizable figures. At the top were what appeared to be bat ponies, creatures often considered to be relatives of the pegasi. In fact, Sam thought at first that they were pegasi, but the wing shape of the largest one, possibly the leader, was clearly modelled after the wings of a bat, and they had sharp teeth poking out from their lips. Below them, at first, Sam thought were earth ponies, but they turned out to more closely resemble crystal ponies. That, or the paint was only chipping off on them, and they weren’t meant to be transparent. Oddly enough, there didn’t seem to be any unicorns, though. Sam went through the entire crop of crystal ponies working on the farms, wearing leashes with no collars, some incomplete, and could not find a horn on any of them. Even looking into the skies above through the layers of clouds, there were no unicorns or alicorns there, either. Where could they be? As Sam’s flashlight scanned the wall, it came across an opening. It was actually door-shaped, like a carved archway. That hadn’t been there before. Through the archway, Sam noted that the wall was only about two metres thick, and on the other side, was still flat, and covered in paint. This one actually showed the unicorns, and hearkened back to the tale of Hearth’s Warming. With that thought in mind, the bat pony at the centre of the first mural was similar to how Commander Hurricane had been described, except as a bat pony. Granted, every pageant came with its own iteration of what he looked like, often even played by a mare, but in books, he was always shown with a firm jawline, violet eyes and a cream coat, as was the big pegasus on the first wall. If that was the case, then the first wall depicted an ideal world for the pegasi of old. Those leashes holding the earth ponies were actually whips, and were being used to drive the enslaved race to work harder. That meant that this mural was showing some battle between the unicorns and the pegasi of old. The unicorns were firing blast after blast into the sky, and the pegasi were dodging them and slashing and stabbing with their weapons. The excessive use of red in this painting made it very clear that this was a very bloody skirmish, and a line running through the painting starting blue and turning red as it went meant that this was likely the battle of Red River. There was something off about this mural with the unicorns, too. Every one had two horns, rather than one. It was too consistent to possibly be a mistake. This was done intentionally. For some reason, the pony who painted this thought that unicorns had two horns. Then again, they thought that Commander Hurricane was a bat pony, and that earth ponies, such as Sam themselves, were not valuable enough to fill in. Something wasn’t right about this. The pegasi were clearly the main focus, as they were most often depicted as being superior. That in itself meant that whoever painted this thought that the pegasi from that era should have won. Granted, Sam thought that the harmonious union was the best possible outcome, but the reason their second choice was earth ponies winning was not due to any racial pride, but a dislike for the concept of slavery. “Hello?” called Sam, turning around. “Why do you want me to see this? What do you want from me? What do you want from us?” No answer returned, no door was made available. In fact, the one Sam had just come through was now blocked off. Rather, it was a flat wall, as if the path had never existed. It was just more of the same painting. Sam looked at the painting again, more closely. The unicorns… or rather, the bicorns, as they would be, seemed to be losing the fight, as the pegasi were the ones crossing the river. This was counter to what was taught in the schools, that being that the unicorns attacked first. It was said that this battle, like several others before and after, ended in a stalemate. Sam had always wondered why there were so many stalemates, but any research into the subject was full of contradictions. The only thing anypony was sure about was that no one was sure what happened. A clattering rock drew Sam’s attention, and they turned around, drawing their flashlight along the back wall. The rock was still spinning, but a pathway just behind it had opened up. Only a single rock had clattered, when otherwise, the path had opened by itself silently, as an entire wall had given way. It was odd that this tiny loose stone was the only thing that moved and made a sound. Something wanted Sam to go this way. There was no other explanation. Whatever was blocking off paths and opening new ones, whatever force was controlling their actions, it wanted them to go down this path. Well, Sam wasn’t a coward. If something was trying to challenge them, Sam would meet it head-on. Whatever it was, it was intelligent enough to notify them of changes after they occurred, but only if it wanted them to know, creative enough to put these murals together, and fast enough to not be seen so far. That meant it wasn’t bears, though there could still be bears in the mix somewhere. It was too soon to tell. “I know you can hear me,” called Sam, their brow furrowing. “I’m coming for you. It’s best if you decide now whether or not this whole show is what it’s cracked up to be. If you give me back my friends with no harm, I promise to leave no lasting harm on you.” The tunnel shifted before Sam’s eyes, turning into a stairwell leading up. “Thank you for your cooperation,” they smiled as they started up the stairs. “I promise you, whoever you are, that we mean you no harm. All we wanted was a place out of the rain, and now that the rain is over, we’re happy to leave you be. Or stay and chat, if that’s what you want, but it seems you’re not interested in talking back.” The path shifted again, turning left and bending back the way they had come, but this time going up. “Let me be clear, though. I don’t take kindly to anypony hurting my friends. If they’re injured already, I’ll forgive only so much. Try not to test my patience…”