It had been a few hours of rest for Piglet. It was refreshing and well earned, seeing as the team went almost a whole day without rest or nourishment. He walked out of the cave yawning and stretching. The area was still covered in heavy fog as Piglet wondered out into the open. That's when a feeling of dread starting to seep through his entire body. He turned back towards the cave and his eyes widened in fear.
"Oh, dear." Piglet wailed, flailing his arms.
Pooh, Rabbit, and Twilight were all woken up from what sounded like panicking gibberish.
"What's going on?" The sleepy alicorn asked.
"Piglet?" Pooh called out to his friend.
Piglet was running about in a full-blown panic. The three came up to him only from Piglet to jump onto Pooh's arm, trying to say something.
"Skuh-skuh-skuh-skuh-skuh-skuh..." He stammered.
"Try to be specific." Rabbit chided.
As Piglet desperately tried to speak coherently enough the get his point across, the rest of the group walked out of the cave half-asleep.
"Ugh, can't a mare get any proper sleep around here." Rainbow grumbled angrily.
"What's gotten into ya, Piglet?" Applejack asked tiredly.
"Skuh-skuh-skuh...Skull." Piglet finally said, pointing to the cave.
The others turned to see why Piglet was pointing at the cave. Fear and apprehension struck each and every one of them. They all held onto each other, shrieking as the realization set in. The cave they had been resting in was the skull-shaped cave Owl had wrote on the map and the one Christopher Robin was allegedly in.
"Christopher Robin's in the eye of that thing?" Tigger asked in disbelief.
"We were there...the whole time." Spike quivered.
"Well, on the bright side, at least we weren't actually lost, Rabbit." Twilight said.
"Now is not the time for sugarcoatin', Twi." Applejack interjected.
"How we gonna get way up there?" Tigger asked fearfully.
"By flying up. Duh." Rainbow declared.
"Only three of us here can fly, Rainbow." Twilight clarified. "How is everypony else going to get up there."
She pointed up at the eye-shaped holes on the top of the cave.
"By going...in...there." Pooh stared into the pitch-black nothingness of the cave's inner passageway.
"Oooo. So this is what Maud must feel when entering a cave." Pinkie said to herself.
"Y-You can't be serious." Rarity trembled.
"But it's dark." Tigger said nervously.
"And f-f-f-frightful." Piglet shakily added.
"It's...terrifying in there." Fluttershy said, her face was drained on color.
"And we have no idea what we'll find." Rabbit said.
To make matters worse, an all too familiar growling echoed out in the distance.
"Oh, no." Spike whimpered.
"But we know what's gonna find us." Eeyore galloped into the cave.
"The Skullasaurus." Piglet wailed.
"Go, go go!" Twilight panicked.
With that, the rest of the gang all ran into the cave.
It had not been long after the group first made there way into the cave. As they walked deeper in, it became much more creepy. Stalactites hung from the ceiling and stalagmites protruded from the ground. Pools of water littered the floor, created from years of water dripping down from the large, stone spikes. Not only that, the temperature became lower and lower the farther they went. For Spike, it was potentially dangerous. To keep him as warm as possible, Twilight put him on her back. She could feel the baby dragon nestling against her fur to keep himself from freezing to death. They had to find Christopher Robin soon.
The gang of friends found a small entrance hole that led to another part of the cave. They crawled through it, ducking to avoid hitting their heads.
"How much further?" Rainbow complained.
" Ah'm afraid we might now know." Applejack stated.
The passage that they were travelling on branched out into five separate paths. Each going in a completely different direction.
"N-n-now which way to the eye of the skull?" Piglet asked.
"Well that's just great." The colorful pegasus said sarcastically. "As if this mission wasn't complicated already."
The others turned to Rabbit, expecting an answer of some kind.
"Don't look at me." He scrunched the map in his hands.
"Oh, bother." Pooh handed the honeypot to Piglet and put a hand to his head. "Think, think."
Well. There's only one way to do this." Twilight stated.
"If each of us went where the other one hasn't...Think." Pooh walked over to Rabbit. "And one were where another wasn't. By which I mean to say...perhaps we should split up."
"There ya go, Sugarcube." Applejack commended.
"Why, Pooh Bear, I believe that's a very smart idea." Rabbit praised.
"I'm so glad you liked it." Pooh chuckled. "Whatever...it...was."
"Let's just take the paths." Twilight sighed.
"Decent with the smarts, but not good with the memory." Rainbow teased.
"I volunteer to go with Eeyore." Pinkie put the donkey in a bone-crushing hug. "Now is the perfect opportunity to show you all the great things of putting on a smile."
Eeyore had a look of irritation on his face, but said nothing as the pink mare pulled him onto one of the paths.
Rainbow went with Tigger and Rarity paired up with Rabbit.
Pooh and Piglet had to go separate paths which meant being apart from each other. Piglet was resistant at first.
"Just stay with us, sugarcube. We'll let nothin' happen to ya." Applejack comforted.
"Yeah, I take care of a lot of animals at home. We'll make sure to keep you safe." Fluttershy added.
"...okay, then." Piglet relented and the three went down their designated path.
"That's just leaves us with you, Pooh." Twilight said.
Pooh, Twilight, and Spike went down the remaining path. With the gang all split up, it made the cave mission a lot more frightening. Each team found themselves in an isolated part of the cave all on their lonesome. But, they had little to no choice but to press on.
"Christopher Robin." Rabbit's shaky voice echoed throughout the speleothem-filled cavern.
"If you can here us, darling, please say something." Rarity trembled.
In another part of the cave system, Piglet, Applejack, and Fluttershy carefully ventured down the path. It had formed into a ledge that hugged a vine-covered wall and overlooked a smokey abyss below.
"Doin' okay, Piglet?" Applejack asked with concern.
Piglet nodded feebly and called out. "C-C-Christopher Robin."
Growling thundered throughout the cave. The piglet and ponies turned but only saw streams of steam dancing against the cave walls. Applejack could've sworn for a second that the steam formed into an scary face.
"Let's just keep goin'." She gulped.
Meanwhile, Pinkie and Eeyore were crossing a land bridge.
"I even did a whole song about smiling, but, he still wouldn't. Y'know, now that I think about it, You and Crankey are a lot alike except he's more cranky and you're more depressed. But, that's gonna change soon. I have the perfect solution..." Pinkie rambled on and on about happiness and whatnot. Eeyore ignored her and called out.
"Christopher Robin. Yoo-hoo."
Suddenly the part of the bridge he was walking over gave way. Eeyore plummeted into the darkness below, screaming in fear.
"Hey, wait for me." Pinkie jumped after him. "Weeeeee!"
Eeyore's screaming and Pinkie's cheers of joy could be heard throughout the entire cave.
"What's that?" Rabbit turned, looking all over the place.
"Oh, Celestia, why now?" Rarity shrieked.
"Oh, d-dear." Piglet ran for his life.
"Piglet, wait!" Fluttershy and Applejack galloped after him.
Eeyore landed on a vine that sent him flying onto a hand-shaped root that hoisted him up into a gnarly-looking root. He opened his eyes, unsure of what to do.
"Weeeee!" Pinkie landed on the same hand-shaped root.
She looked up and spotted the donkey hanging precariously.
"Hey, Eeyore. How's it "hanging." She joked and began to laugh.
Meanwhile Rabbit and Rarity were still paranoid of the screaming. They walked backwards in fear.
"Oh, who's gonna take care of my boutique if I die." Rarity whined.
Rabbit nervously chuckled.
"There's nothing to be afraid of, it's just the wind. That's right, i-i-it's nothing. Nothing at all."
Since they were both walking backwards, they couldn't see the large hole that lay behind them. They both dropped into the hole. Rarity gave out a blood-curdling scream as they disappeared into the dark.
"Rabbit?" Pooh asked out loud in another part of the cave. He could here the screaming of two of his friends.
"Is that Rarity, too?" Spike wondered. "Should we head back?"
"Perhaps we should." Pooh said.
"Wait, we already gotten this far and they get be anywhere in this place." Twilight debated "I'm sure they're taking care of themselves just fine."
Unknown to them, Rabbit and Rarity were currently tumbling through a long tunnel that the hole lead to.
At the same time, Tigger and Rainbow Dash were searching through piles of jagged slate trying to find the lost boy.
"Christopher Robin." Tigger shouted from behind a rock mound. "Christopher Robin."
"Is it just me or does is this place starting to look more unnatural." Rainbow looked around the walls and holes in the floor.
"Maybe Christopher Robin is in one of those." Tigger peered down on of the holes. "Come out, come out, wherever you aren't."
Instead of Christopher Robin, a horde of bats shot out of the hole and began screeching and squealing at the striped feline. Tigger panicked and ran as far away as he could. The bats then surrounded Rainbow.
"Hey! No! Get away from me." The blue pegasus flew after Tigger.
"Tigger?" Pooh said.
"I can hear Rainbow, too." Twilight added. "What is going on?"
Rabbit and Rarity were still tumbling through the tunnel.
As for Piglet, while he was too distracted with looking back at Applejack and Fluttershy, he didn't notice the multitude of pebbles strewn across the path. Piglet began to slip on the rocks and he couldn't get himself to stop.
"Ooh! Aahh!" Piglet panicked.
"Piglet?" Pooh wondered as the three continued toward another entrance of another part of the cave.
The bear and alicorn turned to each other with looks of confusion.
"Hang on, Piglet, we're comin'." Applejack called out to her friend.
Piglet slid closer to the end of the path. He slipped and grabbed a hold of the ledge, but he couldn't hold on.
"Oh, no!" Fluttershy took off an flew toward Piglet to grab him.
It was too late. Piglet slipped off the ledge and fell. However, his fall was short-lived when he landed on Eeyore who was still hanging from the monstrous root. Applejack and Pinkie looked over the ledge. there they saw Piglet, Eeyore, and Pinkie.
"Hi, Applejack. Hi, Fluttershy." Pinkie greeted, laying on the hand-shaped root.
"Hey...Pinkie." Applejack said warily. "This is where you and Eeyore have been this whole time?"
"Yessirey." Pinkie replied.
Just then, the gnarly root broke free from the wall and the donkey and piglet fell onto another pathway. When Piglet landed on his back, Eeyore thought it was something trying to attack him. He shrieked and ran off down the path.
"Wait, Eeyore. It's just us." Applejack, along with Fluttershy, jumped from the ledge. The three mares galloped after the panicking donkey.
Piglet had his eyes covered as Eeyore ran down the path. When he opened them, all he could see was Eeyore's shadow. But, because Eeyore still hard the large root over his head, it made his shadow look like monster chasing after Piglet. frightened, Piglet covered his eyes and head.
"Eeyore." Pooh called out.
He, as well as Twilight and Spike, had found themselves in a large opening that was filled with giant, crystal structures.
"Wow." Twilight said in astonishment. "This place reminds me of the Crystal Empire."
"Yeah." Spike agreed, just as astonished.
The three walked along behind a wall of crystals. Their reflection looked disfigured and disproportionate from the distorted lighting. Unaware to any of them, Rabbit and Rarity finally tumbled out of the end of the tunnel and landed on the smooth floor. The map came with, bonking both in the head.
"I hate this place." The white unicorn growled.
Meanwhile, Eeyore was still racing down the path when he saw another entranceway. He grinded his feet against the ground in a vain effort to stop. The trail of dust he left behind blinded Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy.
"Where is everypony?" Pinkie wondered.
The three mares then collided into the back of Eeyore as they entered the tunnel, shattering Eeyore's root in the process.
"Ugh, where in Tartarus are we now?" Rarity asked irritably.
"I don't know." Rabbit got up.
"Help!" A voice echoed from a nearby path.
It was Tigger, who was running in a panic and spouting gibberish, too frightened to realize where he was going. Rainbow flew right behind him, eyes covered up.
"Get away, get away, get away!" She still thought the bats were chasing them.
And they were heading right for them.
"Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no." Rarity stepped back.
"Gain way!" A southern-accented voice yelled.
Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Piglet, and Eeyore shot out from another tunnel, shrieking in fear.
There was no time to do another. The three groups collided into each other with a cartoonish crash. They all lay pile of themselves, dazed.
"Tigger! Rabbit! Eeyore!" Piglet exclaimed joyfully.
"Thanks for noticing." Eeyore muttered.
"Woohoo! That was fun." Pinkie realized she was sitting in something soft and looked down. "Oh, Hiya, Rarity."
"Hello, to you, too, Pinkie." The snow white unicorn sighed. "Now get off me!"
"Do mah eyes deceive me or did ah actually see Rainbow panickin' alongside Tigger." Applejack teased.
"No!" Rainbow sputtered, a blush forming on her face. "I was just...making sure the bats weren't follow us."
"Wait. Where's Twilight, Spike, and Pooh?" Fluttershy asked.
Just then, the familiar growling echoed throughout the cavern. The gang went wide-eyed and got to there feet. Rabbit was the first to notice.
"There it is! There it is!" He pointed up.
The others turned to see what they were dreading to see the moment the journey started. Among the crystal walls was a giant figure in yellow and red and with a terrifying face.
"It's the terribibblist skullasaurus I've ever seen!" Tigger exclaimed. "Not to mention the only one."
The large figure's face contorted into what look like a wicked smile.
"Weird. It looks a lot like..." Before Rainbow finish her sentence, the giant being stomped toward them.
Panic ensured the the gang all ran for a nearby tunnel. However, the creature in question was nothing more than Pooh's distorted reflection against the wall of crystals. He slowly walked out from behind the wall.
"Did someone say..."Skullasaurus?" He said, inching backward.
He didn't see the naturally-made slide behind him.
Pooh, look out!" Twilight warned, but it was too late.
The bear slipped and slid down the incline. Grabbing Spike, Twilight took off into the air and flew after Pooh. While that was going on, the rest of the gang ran down the tunnel. That's when the saw the dead end ahead. A dead end that ended with a cliff. They tried to stop, but the smooth floor caused them to slip and slide down the corridor and closer to the edge.
"This is not good. This is not good!" Rarity panicked.
The gang grabbed hold of the ledge and vines hanging off from the edge. Finally getting themselves to stop. Rabbit, however, slid to far off. Thinking quickly, Rainbow grabbed his hand. The sudden change in weight forced the pegasus into an awkward flying position. Her wings flapped hard to lift Rabbit back to the ledge. From there Tigger grabbed Rabbit's other hand as Rainbow landed.
"Argh." She yelled.
"You okay, RD?" Applejack asked worriedly.
"I think I pulled a flight muscle." The pegasus hissed in pain.
Pooh gasped when he saw that the slide in a half-arch. He rode up the slide was sent sailing through the air with the honeypot and Twilight following behind. He wailed out in fear as a soared across an abyss.
"Oh, gosh!" Twilight yelled.
The gang all heard Pooh's wails and Twilight's panicky words.
"Did you hear that? The skullasaurus. He got Pooh." Tigger whimpered.
"That means it got Twilight and Spike, too." Fluttershy began to tear up.
"No. No, that can't be!" Rarity said in dsibelief.
The Main 5 began to tear up.
"It should've been me. Not them." Rainbow pounded the ground with her hooves.
"T-That monster." Pinkie whimpered.
Luckily, Pooh, nor Twilight or Spike, were eaten by the skullasaurus. However, Pooh landed right into a crystal wall. His body was now wedged within the minerals. The honeypot soon landed on his back.
"Oh, dear. Oh, this is bad." Twilight tried to push Pooh through to the other side, but he wouldn't budge.
"What do we do now?" Spike asked.
"I...don't know." Twilight responded.
She didn't want to risk leaving Pooh and looking for the others. She would risk getting herself lost and even if she did find them, she wasn't sure if she would remember where to find Pooh again. She tried pulling him out, but that didn't work either.
"Pooh! Pooh, can you hear me?" Twilight yelled. But, the wall of blue crystal made it impossible for her voice to get to him.
"Pigwet." Pooh called out. The crystal smushed against his face making it hard to shout or even speak properly. "Wabbit! Tigger!"
far down below, the rest of the team struggled with the supposed loss of their friends, unable to hears Pooh's calls.
"I'm gonna miss that bear." Tigger sniffled, pulling Rabbit up onto the ledge.
"Oh, Pooh. Twilight." Piglet lowered his head.
"Oh, Spikey-wikey. I'm so sorry." Rarity sobbed. Fluttershy came to her friend's side and gave her a comforting hug.
That was when distant growling echoed across the cave. Sadness was replace with rage for the Main 5.
"Where are you, you monster?! I'll send you to Tarturus!" Rainbow yelled furiously.
"You'll pay for eatin' our friends! Mark mah words!" Applejack hollered with rage.
"I may be a lady, but that doesn't mean I won’t RIP YOU TO PIECES!" Rarity screeched.
"Girls, please calm down." Fluttershy spoke softly in an effort to quell her friends' anger.
"Now it sounds like the beastly creature is...(gasp) Look there." Rabbit pointed up toward a giant, circular hole in the cave wall. "The eye of the skull."
"So that's where that monstrous varmint lives?" Applejack growled.
"Whatever will we do?" Piglet asked in despair.
"Well, we could get the kid out of there. If anybody has any ideas how to get up there, that is." Eeyore said.
"That monster's mine." Rainbow began to fly over to the hole. The her wing tense up and she hissed in pain.
"Rainbow, wait! You're hurt, you're in no condition to fly." Applejack said firmly. "Besides, how is everypony else s'posed to get up there?"
"I'm fine, AJ." The rainbow-maned pegasus said within gritted teeth. "I'll just carry you all there."
"At the same time?" The country mare asked skeptically.
"Just watch." Rainbow grabbed onto Rarity and Eeyore, but found that she could barely lift them off the ground.
She heaved and struggled to get back into the air. Finally she gave up when the pain became to great.
"You need to lose some weight." Rainbow sneered.
"I do hope you're referring to Eeyore, Rainbow. Because if you aren't, I am going to smite you!" Rarity yelled.
"Let's just try and think of another way up there." Applejack said.
"But, what other way is there?" Fluttershy asked.
"Maybe Pinkie can jump high enough up there." Rainbow joked.
"Oh, I wanna give it a shot." Pinkie said excitedly.
"No, Pinkie, darling. Let's not risk getting yourself killed." Rarity interjected. "Any other ideas?"
"The map! What's it say." Tigger shoved the two map pieces to Rabbit's face.
Rabbit surveyed the map and came to a startling conclusion.
"Oh, my. I-It's useless." He said. "There's nothing in here about how to get up there. Why, why, I'd have to figure it out all by myself, from scratch. I...I...Can I do that?"
"Yeah, can he do that?" Tigger turned to the others.
Applejack rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Rabbit. You're smarter than...most of us..."
"Hey!" Rainbow shouted.
"...If anypony, er, any-rabbit can do it, it's you."
Rabbit gave it some thought.
"I could try. For Pooh, Twilight, and Spike." Rabbit clasped his hands together.
"Fank you, Wabbit." Pooh said. While they couldn't hear him, Pooh could hear them.
Rabbit brainstormed for ideas. He walked around, smacked his head, and sat down on a flat rock. He looked up with a quizzical look. That's when he noticed a long vine coiled up around a giant root. Then he remembered what Rainbow Dash said earlier.
"Maybe Pinkie can jump high enough up there."
"Woo-hoo! I have it!" Rabbit jumped for joy.
"What's the plan, Rabbit?" Rainbow asked fervently.
"Tigger, you can bounce Piglet to that ledge up there. And, Piglet, you can toss that long viney thing to us down here. And we'll shimmy on up and rescue Christopher Robin together." Rabbit explained.
"Now that's a good idea." Applejack said.
"I have to admit, that was pretty good." Rainbow agreed.
"Me? Make a bounce like that? With a rickety old tail like this?" Tigger asked incredulously. "Oh, Au-contrariwise."
"Tigger. Now is that time to be strong. You're pretty much are only hope sense Fluttershy doesn't seem very...interested in making the flight over." Rainbow looked over to her pegasus friend who stared into the deep, dark abyss with a blanched expression.
"Well, I guess I could try." Tigger complied. "If it'd make Pooh or Twilight happy."
"Vewy, vewy happy." Pooh said.
On the other side of the wall, however...
"But I can't leave you to just go out into the cave all alone. I don't want to lose you!" Twilight exclaimed.
"But, Twilight, were not accomplishing anything by just staying right here." Spike argued.
Meanwhile, Piglet had his own doubts.
"It's a...rather high place for a...a very small animals." He gulped. "But I'll be brave for Pooh Bear."
"Now you're talkin." Rainbow cheered.
With a confident smile, Tigger placed Piglet on his back went for a bouncing start.
"One for the money, two for the show, three because uh...uh...it comes before four."
"Yeah, we'll go with that." Rarity said.
"And here we go." Tigger bounced once, then twice, and third one launched him right for the hole.
He sailed through the air, but he ran out of momentum just before he could grabbed a large vine hanging off the ledge. The others gasped and Pooh looked on. Tigger pushed his body slightly farther up, making him look like he was swimming in midair. With not an inch to spare, he threw his arms over the vine. Piglet swirled down his body but managed to hold tight to Tigger's tail. Tigger climbed into the hole and lifted his tail onto the ground. Piglet opened his eyes and felt the ground beneath him. He smiled and look back at Tigger who smiled back.
"Yee-haw. That's how it's done." Applejack cheered.
"Marvelous, darlings. Simply marvelous." Rarity congrulated.
"Yippee! Party time!" Pinkie yelled excited.
Now it was time for the next part of the plan. Piglet carefully walked across the giant root that held the coil of vine. He swayed and stumbled, trying to keep his balance. He stepped forward then tripped. The others gasped as Piglet soared forward. Luckily, he held onto the end of the vine, but now he stared straight into the black depths of the abyss below. Panic overcame Piglet and instinctively covered his eyes with both his ears and his hands.
"Come on, squirt. Show us how brave you are." Rainbow encouraged.
Piglet cranked his hands back and smiled with delight, but realized his still couldn't see. He lifted his ears off his eyes, but found that they were closed. Finally, he forced his eyelids apart allowing him to see. He smiled at his accomplishment. His found the coiled vine and pushed with all his might. the vine slid off and unraveled itself. Piglet, however overcorrected and began to slide down the vine. The end of the vine plopped right next to the gang. Piglet closed his eyes as he coasted down the vine. He came to a stop when his snout bumped against Rabbit's nose.
"He did." Fluttershy said quietly.
"You did it!" Pooh said excitedly. “Hooray!"
Pooh, unknowingly pushed backward in celebration. The strain was enough for him to pop out of the wall and collide into Twilight and Spike. The three landed on a slippery edge.
"Ouch!" Twilight wailed as Pooh landed right on top of her.
The bear, pony, and dragon slid down another slide. Their screams echoed all through the cave system.
Rabbit helped Piglet down to the ground.
"Now that took some bravery. Ah'm proud of ya, Piglet." Applejack said tenderly.
"Thanks, Applejack." Piglet chuckled. "You know,...for a moment, I almost thought I could hear Pooh, Twilight, and Spike, cheering us on."
"Now that you mention it, I thought I heard something like that." Fluttershy confirmed.
"I…guess they must be with us in spirit." Rarity concluded.
Rabbit nodded gingerly.
Pooh, Twilight, and Spike finally came to a rest at the bottom of the slide. The floor was smooth, the walls were curved, and smooth crystals sprouted out here and there. Immediately, Spike was at Twilight's side.
"Twilight, are you okay?" He asked worriedly.
"Ugh. My right wing. I think it's sprained." Twilight whimpered.
"Wait for me, Piglet." Pooh teetered back and tried to run up the walls.
The walls were too steep and Pooh slipped and slid back to the ground like a hockey puck, right next to Twilight and Spike.
"Hold on, Eeyore." Pooh tried again, but slipped and slid back. He knocked into his honeypot causing the pot to slide up the wall a little then slide back down, bumping the bear’s nose.
Pooh looked at the jar of honey, then around the isolated cavern.
"Oh, bother. I believe if there is no way out, then we shall have to stay...in." Pooh said sadly.
"No, there's got to be a way out. We just need to look." Twilight tried to stay positive.
"How?"
Twilight turned to see Spike with his head down, more than that she could see tears starting to flow down his cheeks.
"Spike, it's okay. We just-"
"This whole adventure has been nothing but a nightmare!" Spike wailed in anguish. "We've gotten lost, hung from a cliff and hunted by a monster. We're separated from our friends, they probably think we're dead now. You can't fly us out and there is NOTHING here that can get us out of this chasm. And worse of all, we still haven't found Christopher Robin!"
Spike fell to his knees and began to cry.
"I just want to go home. I'm tired of living in fear and loneliness. I just want this nightmare to end." He sobbed.
Twilight looked at her surrogate brother. She wanted to say that everything was going to be alright. That she could fix this, but, she couldn't. They were stuck, alone in a cave away from there friends. Tears began to leak from her eyes. The purple alicorn wrapped her hooves around the sobbing dragon.
"I'm sorry. I want this to end, too." Twilight sniffled.
Brother and sister. It was the relationship she and Spike had for the longest time. But, as of recently, Twilight began to see him as more of her own child. The sibling love they share grew into mother-son bond. And right now, Twilight felt like a terrible mother. She cradled Spike, letting his tears soke into her barrel.
"I'm sorry I failed you, Spike." Twilight wept. "I'm sorry that we have no choice but to be in here."
"With no more friends." Pooh added solemnly. "No more Christopher Robin. No more...we."
An unknown amount of time had past for the three friends as the stayed stuck in the chasm. Pooh depressingly meandered around while Twilight still held Spike in her embrace. The crying had died down, but they tears and snot still lingered. Pooh sat down next to the two with the honeypot in hand.
"If only I hadn't forgotten what he asked me to remember." He lamented. "Oh, Christopher Robin, if you just could have seen Piglet. He was so much braver than he believes."
Pooh stood up with a smile on his face. Twilight and Spike looked up at him.
"And Tigger was stronger than he seems. And Rabbit smarter than he thinks."
"Wait, you mean you saw them?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, And they had this amazing plan. Your friends are very supportive, might I add." Pooh said.
"Yeah, they are." Twilight chuckled.
"Even if we're apart I'll always be with you."
The three could hear a echoing voice all around them. It sounded like a familiar boy to them.
"Christopher Robin?" Pooh called out.
"Always be with you."
"Where is that coming from?" Spike sniffled.
The three looked around the cavern, but there was nothing around them. Pooh's eyes fell on the bright, blue honeypot. He held it in front of his face. He shook it a bit and put an ear against it's side.
"Always be with you."
The whispering voice said again.
"Hmm." Pooh thought to himself.
"Is Christopher Robin here or is he not?" Twilight wondered out loud.
"It's a rather puzzlesome thing, but, it's almost as if you had never left me." Pooh looked under his arms. "But that can't be, can it? Or can it?"
"Did you just say "puzzlesome?" Twilight asked.
"Read the room, Twilight." Spike grumbled.
Pooh, lifted the lid off of the jar and gazed into the pool of golden, gooey liquid inside. He could see his reflection off the honey. The realization then hit him and a smile formed on his face.
"Perhaps you are here. So, even though we're apart...we really are together." Pooh lifted his shirt up a little and put his hands to where his heart was. "Then perhaps Owl was mistaken all along."
Pooh sat back down.
"Perhaps the place where you are...is not on a map." He chuckled warmly.
Tears were in Spike and Twilight's eyes, but this time, they were tears of comfort and warmth.
"That was beautiful, Pooh." Twilight said.
"We may not be in the best situation right now, but, at least our friends, even Christopher Robin, are still with us. In spirit." Spike said.
The three hugged each other in comfort.
Pooh closed his eyes in content. "How very nice for...us."
To be continued.