Rainbow led the way towards the gorge as the rest of the group followed close behind. The forest around them was quiet except for the occasional noises from the exotic creatures that lived there. Kelly carried his shirt, which in turn held the food they had gathered since this morning. Daniel also carried his own shirt filled with his and Kelly's other clothes. The aches that the boys experienced came in short waves but were none the less painful. Kelly had gotten used to walking on four legs after a short while. Daniel had as well, despite it taking him a bit longer. He was still not too fond of the aspect of being a pony and made it clear every so often.
"Being this short sucks!" He mumbled angrily.
"Quit whining, it could be worse." Kelly chuckled.
"Oh, screw you and your glass-half-full crap." Daniel retorted.
"You're not very nice, you know that?"
"Not to you." Daniel retorted with a smirk.
"You two squabblin' back there?" AJ turned her head.
"What better way to pass the time?" Kelly joked.
"Speaking of which; hey Rainbow, how much farther is this gorge?" Twilight called out.
"We should be there pretty soon."
"Hey, you guys wanna play a game?" Pinkie suggested bouncing happily.
"What kind of game, dear?" Rarity asked
"Well we could play I spy, or we could play the picnic game, aaaaaaand OH! We could also have a race, then we could get to the gorge faster! Though I guess Dashie would be able to beat us pretty easily soooooo..." Pinkie trailed off. "Ooh, I know I know, let's sing!"
"Let's not and say we did." Daniel quickly objected but Pinkie continued anyway.
"99 gallons of milk on the wall, 99 gallons of milk! Take one down, pass it around, 98 gallons of milk on the wall!" Pinkie noisily continued; her voice echoing through the trees occasionally scaring away a few critters. Daniel began to fake sob trying to cover his ears with his hooves. Kelly didn't let Pinkie's singing annoy him, instead he just pinned his ears back trying to reduce the noise. He snickered and looked back at Daniel.
"Being a stallion isn't so bad, look at what I can do." Kelly giggled childishly as he flopped his ears up and down.
"Just shoot me." Daniel cringed.
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It didn't take long for the dragon to lose interest and move on, allowing Celestia to remove the spell and continue forward. As her and her subjects trailed on, Luna caught up with her sister once again to talk.
"I informed Shining Armor of our plan."
"Good, once we find another place to rest, you and I will everypony else know as well."
"Sister..." Luna began another topic. "What shall we do about finding the elements and the humans?"
Celestia looked to her sister with a disheartened expression. "I don't know. For all we know they could be captured or seperated... or worse." Celestia lowered her head.
"But Tia, they could be okay! Perhaps they got away once you teleported us out of there."
"One can only hope." Celestia replied quietly. "Whatever the case, I pray that they're looking out for one another."
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"If you're happy and you know, clap your hooves! *clop clop* If you're happy and you know it, clap your hooves! *clop clop* If you're happy and you know it than your smile will surely show it, if you're happy and you know it clap your hooves! *clop clop*" Pinkie skipped to her own tune and hadn't let up for a couple of hours by now. She had sung everything from nursery rhymes to the song that never ends, and Daniel was at his breaking point. He crept up to Twilight, avoiding Pinkie as if she were on a manhunt for him.
"Please please please, for the sake of all that is good in the universe as well as my shriveled, dying sanity. Make. Her. Stop." Daniel pleaded.
"What do you want me to do?" Twilight asked.
"Anything!"
"Don't you worry Daniel, Ah'm on it." Applejack fell behind and reached into Kelly's basket-folded shirt. "Excuse me there, partner." She pulled out a sizeable apple and casually stuffed it in Pinkie's mouth. The hyper mare crunched the apple, and grinned.
"Mmmm. Thanks, Applejack." She said with a mouthful.
"No, thank you." AJ responded, relieved by the silence. Kelly smiled as he saw Fluttershy moving to walk with him.
"Hey, Fluttershy."
"Hi." She replied softly. "So, how are you holding up?"
"Can't complain." Kelly shrugged.
"Gotten use to your um... body yet?"
"For the most part, still I'd feel a lot more useful if I was human. I mean, I can't hold anything with my hooves, just walking took a while to get use to, and if for whatever reason we have to defend ourselves, using my mouth to swing my sword hasn't proven to be easy."
"Well... um... I think you look... nice." Fluttershy ever so slightly blushed upon saying so.
"Oh, well, thank you." Kelly glanced away, humbled by her compliment. He shook his head realizing he hadn't returned her concern. "So, how are you holding up?"
"I'm okay, I'm just worried and scared for everypony." Fluttershy frowned.
"I understand, but don't worry, Daniel and I are going to do all we can to help."
Fluttershy instantly brightened up. "Thank you. You and Daniel have been good friends since day one, I'm glad we can count on you guys." Kelly was happy to hear that from the shy pegasus but at the same time, a familiar guilty feeling ate away at him. He wondered if he should just tell her right now or wait until they had some time alone. He couldn't stand keeping this from her.
"Hey, Fluttershy?"
"Hm?"
Kelly bit his lip, completely unsure of how to begin. "Um... I... Daniel and I..."
"Hey! I think this is it!" Rainbow called out from the front as they finally emerged from the trees and found themselves staring out into a wide trench. With the sun directly overhead, everyone squinted to see what waited on the other side. The land wasn't as green and lush, but instead looked more like a vast savanna. "Once you guys get across, there should be a fresh water lake around there somewhere."
Daniel cautiously peered over the edge. A few pebbles shifted from the ground and tumbled down the side of the ravine. It took about ten seconds for them to reach the bottom, making Daniel gulp anxiously. Kelly walked up to his friend and smirked.
"Hey buddy, doing alright there?"
Daniel silently nodded.
"You're not scared are ya?" Kelly teased.
Daniel stepped away from the edge and puffed out his chest. "I ain't ever scared." He boldly proclaimed.
"Didn't think so, pal." Kelly chuckled. "C'mon, the sooner we find a way down, the sooner we can drink."
"Sure, assuming we don't fall to our death." Daniel whispered to himself.
Applejack walked along the edge while Rainbow hovered over the gap trying to find a trail down.
"Can you see anything?" AJ asked.
"There was a slope a little ways back, but it was much too steep." Rainbow answered and continued to scan the edge. After a few minutes, they found a narrow but stable trail that branched from the edge, allowing safe passage down.
"Ah think this might do the trick." Applejack nodded.
Twilight was the first to try it out. With enough patience and caution, this trail would work well enough to find their way to the bottom. "Okay everypony, watch your step and just take it slow."
Daniel followed behind her. "You know, just because I'm a horse now, it doesn't make that 'everypony' thing any less annoying." Applejack stepped onto the trail after Daniel, followed by Kelly, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Rainbow and Fluttershy hovered close to them as they made their way down. The trail itself was rigid but there was plenty of room from the wall of the gorge to walk casually. Pinkie snickered and stopped for a moment, then proceeded to stick her head out over the edge and drop a ball of spit. She watched in amusement as the saliva fell all the way to the bottom.
"Eeeeww, Pinkie." Rarity wore a disgusted look.
"Aw, c'mon, I couldn't resist." The group continued down as the trail zig-zagged and wound around, now heading in the opposite direction but still going downwards. After a few minutes, they were about halfway down. Kelly carefully moved past Applejack and Daniel to catch up with Twilight
"Hey, Twilight." He greeted. "So I figured, after we get water, what will be our next move?"
"Well if we can, we should try to figure out where we are exactly, then we can work on finding our way back to Equestria. After that, we should look for the Princesses."
"Alright, seems like a plan."
Daniel quickened his pace a little and smiled mischievously. He positioned himself between the wall and Kelly, and lightly bumped his friend. He immediately grabbed Kelly and pulled him back towards him yelling out. "Saved your life!"
Kelly could feel his heart nearly leap out of his chest as what felt like a miniature heart attack, made his blood freeze. "Jesus Christ, Daniel! Are you trying to kill me?!" Kelly glared.
"What are you talking about, I saved your life." Daniel snickered and did a light jog past Twilight.
"Someone's gonna need to save you here in a minute." Kelly squeezed past the unicorn, trying to catch his troublemaking friend.
"Guys, will you knock it off?!" Twilight shouted, but Kelly and Daniel ignored her. Daniel turned and grinned at Kelly backing away in a defensive stance.
"I'm warning you, back off." Daniel playfully threatened. With his attention on Kelly, Daniel stumbled on a large rock and into the opening of a large hole in the side of the trench.
"Whoa..." Kelly took his eyes off of Daniel and stared in amazement at the gaping cave. The ceiling was roughly twenty feet high. It didn't take long for Twilight and the others to catch up and find the massive cave as well.
"What a formation." Twilight keenly observed.
"My... What do you suppose could be in there?" Rarity stopped to gawk as well.
"In a deep, dark, scary cave? I'd rather not find out." Fluttershy spoke up.
Rainbow Dash peered hard into the blackness. Something about the shape of the cave was familiar. It wasn't until she spotted a pair of eyes and heard a faint hiss that she realized this cave was the same shape as the ones in ghastly gorge.
Her eyes shot wide open. "Get out of there! MOVE!" Dash shouted her warning as a large quarray eel crept from the opening and eyeballed the group hungrily.
"Oh... crap..." The boys said in unison.
"RUN!" Dash yelled again. The eel took a snap at Daniel who was the closest, but Daniel jumped backwards in surprise, stumbling over his hooves and back onto the trail. Kelly intinctly summoned his weapon, but Twilight urged him to move.
"You can't fight it, GO!" She yelled, convincing Kelly to dispell his weapon and help Daniel up. The eel lunged again, this time knocking Daniel and Kelly away from the trail and almost over the edge. The eel now seperated Twilight from Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie. It slithered toward Applejack while Kelly and Daniel struggled to pull themselves up. Rainbow distracted the beast with a swift buck in the face.
"C'mon, this way!" She taunted as she circled around. The eel hissed and snapped at the cyan pegasus, but Rainbow's agility was more than enough to outmaneuver the predator. Fluttershy took advantage of it's distraction to help Kelly up from the edge while Applejack hurried in aiding Daniel.
"Everypony, go!" Twilight ordered. Everyone except Rainbow Dash continued down the trail. Dash waited until her friends were at a safe distance from the eel, she then stuck her tounge out at it and followed them down.
Twilight slowed a bit and turned around. "Is everypony okay?" No one answered as a look of shock adorned their faces.
"Twilight, behind you!" Rarity yelled. Twilight turned to see yet another quarray eel poking it's crimson head out of it's nest. Her pupils shrank as the eel went in for the attack. Twilight's horn glowed brightly as her quick thinking saved her. She teleported out of the way and on the other side of the eel. The eel looked around momentarily in confusion, but soon spotted the rest of the group. Daniel summoned his weapon and stared the eel down, it wasn't long after that the eel lunged. Daniel jumped as high as his legs would allow, landing successfully on the predator's head and delivering a swift slash at the beast's face. The eel screeched in shock and pain and reared it's head back, allowing the others to move past.
Daniel had no way to grip the giant eel and was sent sprawling against the wall of the gorge and back over the edge.
"DANIEL!" Kelly sprinted over to the edge where his friend had dissapeared.
"Do ya see'em?!" Applejack looked as well.
"Down here!" Daniel called out from a lone branch that jutted from the rocky slope.
"I've got him, you guys just keep moving!" Dash zoomed to grab Daniel from the branch.
Rarity and Pinkie caught up with AJ and Kelly while Fluttershy assisted Rainbow in carrying Daniel. The eel screeched once more in frustration before eventually slithering back into it's nest. Dash and Fluttershy dropped Daniel off with everyone else and sat down to take a breather.
"Will y'all be more careful next time?!" AJ shoved Daniel. "Ya nearly went head over hooves all the way to the bottom!"
"It was all I could think of! Besides, we didn't have many options of getting past it!" Daniel defended himself.
"Everyone calm down." Kelly stepped between them. "We're all fine and we're nearly to the bottom anyway."
"Good, the sooner we can get out of this dingy chasm, the better." Rarity added, fixing her frizzled mane.
"I hope we get to do something like that again, that was fun!" Pinkie hopped around, unfazed by the recent event.
"Let's go, we shouldn't wait for too long since it's most likely well into the afternoon." Twilight stood and continued down the path. The group followed closely behind and was quiet for most of the journey. Kelly gasped in pain as another wave of agony rippled through him and Daniel did the same soon after.
"You guys okay?" Fluttershy asked.
"It's just the side effect, it'll pass." Kelly reassured her.
"We'll try to work on figuring out a way to get you two back to normal, but after we find a safer palce to do so." Twilight spoke up.
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Cadance had been leading the small group of ponies away from Ponyville since noon. With the recent rescue, there was no safe place near Ponyville where they could hide, so now they were traveling, uncertain of where to go or what to look for; all she knew was that they needed to keep moving if they wanted to ensure safety. Applebloom caught up with Cadance.
"Miss Cadance?"
"Please, just call me Cadance." She smiled to the filly.
"Um, Cadance, are we going to look for mah sister?"
Cadance frowned and looked ahead. "Applebloom, I... I don't know how we would, we don't know where she is."
"Well she wasn't in Ponyville when all this happened, so maybe she's with the Princess'." Applebloom tried to remain optimistic."
"I hope so, little one. If so, then we'll definitely keep an eye out for the Princess'. Just try not to worry too much" Cadance was having trouble taking her own advice as her thoguhts traveled to Twilight. Wherever they were, she hoped that they were safe and in good company.
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After another half an hour of treading the winding passage, the elements and the boys stepped onto the bottom of the rocky gorge. A strong draft howled along the walls and floor of the trench sending a chill up their spines.
"Alright, now we need to find a passage up the other side." Twilight trotted over to the opposite wall.
"Preferably one without quarray eel nests." Dash added. The group combed along the wall, searching for a stable trail up the side. Rainbow spotted a path and did a quick scan of it from bottom to top to make sure they wouldn't run into any trouble. She was ready to head back to the others when a lone figure standing on the path caught her attention. An equine like stranger stood peering at Rainbow, their robe covering most of their body and face. Dash noticed a black and white stripe pattern running along the stranger's lower legs near it's hooves. She slowly hovered over to the them.
"Zecora?" Dash addressed, wondering why her friend from the Everfree was all the way out here. Upon hearing that name, the stranger looked harder at the pegausus and spoke.
"Zecora! Unajua Zecora?" The stranger sounded similar to Dash's zebra friend but her tone was slightly lower. The stranger removed her hood and spoke again. "Je, umenisikia?" She spoke in her native tounge, but when Dash looked perplexed she tried again. "You are not from around here, are you?"
Now able to understand her, Rainbow shook her head. "No, my friends and I were trying to get to the lake that's on this side of the gorge. We were just about to head up."
"You mentioned the name Zecora, did you not?"
Rainbow simply nodded. "Yeah, are you friends with her?"
"I'll tell you what. Let's go meet your friends and I can take you all back to my hut. The lake isn't far from it and I wouldn't mind the company. Afterwards, we can get to know each other."
Dash was hesitant to agree, since, of course she didn't know much about this stranger.
"The reason is that it's not exactly safe here or in the savannah in particular." The zebra explained.
"...Okay, I suppose we could use some help." Dash reluctantly agreed.
"Oh, yes, my apologies. My name is Akili."
"Rainbow Dash, nice to meet you."