//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15 
// Story: Forbidden Deeper 
// by SaltyJustice 
//------------------------------//

	We broke for what I guessed what lunch at this point, but it was never apparent what time it was, down here.  Luna remained mum as Gabby and Inkie ate the rest of the food they had packed.  The sandwiches looked soggy, but I'd kill for one right about now.  We had underestimated the distance we'd have to go and not packed enough, and it was wise of Luna and myself to abstain.  Unfortunately, you can have all the wisdom in the world and it won't fill your stomach.
The water in the river, however, was fresh enough to drink.  In fact it was much like tap water back home, whatever brine we had seen earlier had not contaminated it.  It was cool and delicious, and we all filled up.  Except Wedge.
"You're not going to take a drink?" I asked him, as we were preparing to go.
"I'm not thirsty ma'am," he said.
"Could be your last chance for a while," I said.
"I'll be all right.  How much further?" he asked.
Inkie, overhearing us, turned and motioned ahead.
"Can you hear that drumming sound?  There's a fall up ahead," she said.  Presumably that was the answer to our question.
The crystals now were as big as your head, green and gold and red clusters jutting out of the walls and ceiling.  It was a wonder the dogs had not extracted them, though perhaps there had been reasons why they did not venture down this way.  As we got closer to the falls, though, the crystals began to shrink, and then vanished entirely, leaving the rock bare.  Not even the mushrooms were growing here, despite the moisture.  The rock itself even seemed darker in the renewed light of Luna's horn.
At last we came upon the waterfall, roaring and billowing mist everywhere as it plunged off into endless darkness below.  The cavern opened up, going up so high I could not see a reflection off the ceiling, and down so low I could not hear the water crashing below.  To our left and right was a narrow path, barely even one pony wide, and in front, a chasm.  This was the Abyss.
"Do we go left or right?" Gabby asked, glancing and straining to see in the gloom.
"Neither, we go straight ahead," I said.
Luna shot her magic spell out ahead of us, and it flew for about a hundred yards before the light hit something and cast back a reflection.  A black, impenetrable cliff face.  I knew that no normal tool could break through it, save for explosives, but I had a plan for that.  There would be openings, but not physical ones.
"Luna, would you help carry Gabby?" I asked.  She tensed.
"Whoa hey, don't you get any ideas," Gabby said.
"It's the only way, trust me.  Now all I need to do is find a weak spot," I said.
I concentrated, despite the din of the waterfall, and waited for my sight to come about.  It did not, remaining stubbornly out of my reach.  Frustrating.  Now was a perfect time to fail, me.
"Here," Gabby said, walking over to me and touching her head to mine.  The sight slowly came to me and I looked across the way at the Ziristone wall.  Some distance up the cliff face was a green iridescent marking, in the shape of a circle on an otherwise black and empty universe.  I opened my eyes, keeping track of where the spot had been, and looked at Gabby, who was awkwardly stepping back.
"Whoa," she said.
"You'll lose it over time, it's not permanent," I said, trying to reassure her.
"Do you do that all the time?" she asked.
"It's my special gift," I said.
My gaze fell to Inkie Pie now.  Certainly she would not want to keep going.
"What are you looking at me for?" she asked.  She was checking her bags, making sure none of the flares were loose.
"I think we have no further need of a guide, unless you're going to claim you've been inside," I said.
"Inside what?  This is the farthest I've ever been down here," she said.
"Well then, I humbly thank you for your services.  You have performed admirably, and if we survive this, I'll see to it you get a medal.  Or maybe just a gift basket, if you're not one for ceremony," I said.
"You don't gotta give me nothin'.  I'm just happy to help," she said.  She looked much more confident now than she had when we met, near death experiences have a tendency to do that.  Or cause you to quake with fear, either or.  Depends on the pony.
"So now what?" she asked.
"We're going to fly across this chasm and enter the Abyss from the side.  We may not see you again, so please be careful," I said.
"Uh huh.  You think soldier-boy over here can carry me?" Inkie asked.
Wedge stood up at his tallest and flexed his foreleg.
"Please," he said.
"But he doesn't need to carry you," I said.  Oh please don't do this.
"You may think I'm some uncaring geologist, but you decided to neglect a few of the details and assume I wouldn't pick up on them.  Well, I knew the whole time," Inkie said.
"You did?" I asked.  I didn't know what she was talking about.
"Pinkie misses her visiting time with papa, then she goes missing completely, then two Princesses just happen to want to take a trip to a place that's been off limits since forever?  Don't tell me that's all a coincidence," she said.
"It isn't.  I take it she has told you about what she and her friends can do?" I asked.
"Yeah, and I'd be willing to bet she's in there.  Well if you're going in, I'm going with you.  So pony up and carry me across this here chasm, or I'll figure out some way to do it without your help," she said.
"And what was all that bluster earlier about being glad to be rid of us?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Pah, I'd have found a reason to stay even if you did know the way.  You're not getting rid of me that easily," she said.

"All right everypony, listen up.  I've never done anything like this before, so I don't know exactly what's going to happen," I said, addressing the whole group.
"What do you mean?  Haven't you been in there before?" Gabby asked.  Luna shot her a look, and I waved my hoof to indicate it was all right.  I hadn't told her, but she knew anyway.
"I have, but what we're going to be passing through is a gap in the outer wall.  Except it's not a real gap, it's a metaphysical one.  That means..." I said.  I thought for a moment.
I tapped my hoof on my chin.  Nothing.
"I have no idea what that means.  We'll have to meet up on the other side if we get split up," I said.
"Doesn't sound too difficult," Wedge said.
"It will be worse on the inside.  When we get in there, don't trust anything, even what seems real.  That place plays tricks on your head, and it fogs your memory.  Just focus on the fact that we're searching for the Elements of Harmony and, no matter what happens, it's not real," I said.
It was a peculiar speech to have to give, but it was all I could do to prepare them.  Their own instincts would have to guide them once we were in the Abyss proper,  I had only an inkling of what we would encounter.  No living pony had been down there in ten thousand years.
"All right then.  Luna, help me carry Gabs.  Wedge, you got Inkie," I said.  Gabby only fidgeted mildly as we picked her up and starting flying to the other side.  Unsurprisingly, Wedge and Inkie were much faster, and made their way off into the darkness, though I could see the reflection of Inkie's headlight on the distant wall.
There was no platform for us to land on, so I just hovered up as close to the spot I had seen as I could.  It looked the same as from a distance, but I could certainly feel something different here.  Hollow, something was flowing through the rock and out into the world, and I had no doubt that my friends could not feel it.  This was the source, after all, and gaps like these are how the attacks struck the world above.
I hovered as close as possible.  Instinctively, Gabby reached out to touch the wall with her hoof, and then, she was gone.  As though I had blinked and she wasn't there, she just vanished.  Luna looked as shocked as I did, quickly looking downwards to be sure she hadn't dropped her, before realizing what had happened.
"What happened?" Wedge asked, floating over towards us.
"Touch the wall, right here.  Inkie first," I said.  I made sure to keep my eyes on her as she did so.
The effect was the same, her little hoof touched and instantly she vanished.  Wedge tensed and relaxed.
"You next, Captain," I said.  He nodded.
"Been an honor, ma'am," he said.  He gave a crisp salute.
"You'll be fine.  I have confidence in you," Luna said.  Wedge smiled, and touched the wall, vanishing instantly.
Luna and I were all that was left.  I didn't want to go first, nor did she.
"After you," I said.
"Oh but I insist," she said.
"On three," I said.
"Wait, does that mean we go on three, or we count to three, then go?" she asked.
"It means we go on three," I said.
"One," we both said.
"Two," I said, Luna staying silent.
"Three"