//------------------------------// // Day 3 // Story: Unearth // by Undermine //------------------------------// Day 3 Dawn breaks through the dense forest. The sunlight reflects off the shinning foliage, still wet from the dew. There is enough light to reflected to make visibility tolerable in the hole. Pinkie Pie wakes up. She sits up and stretches her back backward and forward before yawning. She walks over to the puddle in the middle of floor and carefully drinks from it, not wanting to waste any for the future. She walks back over to her saddlebag, which she has been using as a pillow. She takes from it her journal and her pen. She opens to a blank page and begins to write. Hello again, journal. I read back what I wrote yesterday. Yeah, I kinda got a little loopy. I'm sorry. I just didn't know how else to react. Everything just made me feel so angry inside. But, now I've chilled out a bit. I'm still not happy. I'm still in a hole, after all. Speaking of which, I think now is an appropriate time to explain my current situation. Today marks the third day of being down an abandoned mine hole. The hole is 10 meters deep. I got into this hole by accidentally slipping off a log on an unmarked trail. The last time I've had food was the day I fell down, and I had a bag of trail mix. Since then, I have no way of getting any form of food. I've tried eating the back pages of this journal, but paper, as it turns out, doesn't have any nutritional value. It's not gonna give any of the energy I'll need to keep going. I am famished to the point where the pain in my stomach is now numb. I do have water, thankfully. If I haven't mentioned before, there is a small puddle in the middle of my hole. Judging from the looks of it, it has been slowly collected over the years by moisture in the air condensing on the walls and collecting all in a single area. Because of this, the water has also picked up the iron residue from the mine, giving me a small bit of substantial energy. (Either that, or it's lead. Let's hope it's not lead.) The water will only last me for another day. And, because this hole is on an unmarked trail, any search party that looks for me will have to look through dozens of other abandoned mine holes. I've already screamed and yelled at anything I thought wasn't nature above to the point that my throat is hoarse and raw, but it always turned out to be a squirrel or bird or whatnot. Not that that really helps my chances of survival. (If you noticed, I intentionally used the word "hoarse" as a pun. Get it? I know it's weird that I would make jokes at a time like this, but what else am I supposed to do? I gotta at least keep some of my spirit up.) I've also devised a simple method when I need to go potty Nevermind. Too much information. Sorry. A warm glow fills the library from the morning light. Rarity looks around. Her friends are all laying close by her and Twilight, whom Rarity is still holding close to her. Sleep came to her in brief intervals, having been frequently interrupted by Twilight's cries of anguish. Rarity, however, chose to sacrifice sleep to keep her friend calm. She looks down at Twilight, eyes closed but full of grief. Her breathing is different from before; it is light, long, and rough. She places a hoof on her forehead, and feels a combination of warmth and sweat. "Girls," Rarity says, "girls, wake up." Fluttershy and Applejack raise their heads slowly. "What is it?" Applejack asks. "There's something wrong with Twilight." The two friends get up and approach Twilight and Rarity. Spike watches the group carefully from the top of the staircase. I've been doing some thinking, since my last entry. I've been trying to think of what I'll do if I get out of this. I looked back on my life, on the mistakes I've made, on the poor choices I created. If I get out, I wonder if I can change that. I mean, what if I promise to change myself. If I promise to be a bit more respectful to ponies. To look at life from their perspective. To make it a goal to help others rather than to just entertain them. To be more charitable. If I can be a different kind of role model. If I make those promises, will that help me get out of here? Will fate give me a second chance? Nothing's happened so far. Spike listens to the conversation outside of Twilight's door. "Will she be alright?" Rarity asks the doctor. "Yes, as long as she gets plenty of water and rest." He takes a glance through the door. He sees Rarity and the doctor the group called in front of Twilight. Twilight is laying in her bed, shivering, as Rarity levitates a cup of water slowly to her mouth. The doctor heads toward the door and Spike moves out of the way. He stops the doctor and says, "Will she be alright, doc?" "She's got a high fever and some fatigue, but there's nothing to worry about, little buddy. She's got a whole bunch of friends to help her get through this. Don't you worry your little heart." He trots down the stairs and heads toward the front door. Spike folds his arms. He thinks to himself for a minute or so before hearing Twilight cough loudly in her bedroom. He shakes his head and lets out a heavy sigh. He enters Twilight's room. Rarity looks at at Spike then back at Twilight. He approaches the two unicorns. "Here, Rarity," he says softly. "You go meet up with Applejack and the Air Force and help with the search party. I'll stay here and look after Twilight." Rarity, looking at Twilight, nods slowly. She turns from the bed, levitates her bag onto her back and walks out the door. Spike climbs up on the bed, next to the sick Twilight. "Hear that, Twily?" he says. "With the Air Force involved, there's now a whole lot of ponies looking for Pinkie Pie. You have nothing to worry about." Twilight opens her eyes weakly and stares at Spike. He looks at her, straight into her eyes, "It's not your fault, you know." Twilight closes her eyes again and whimpers. "Shh, it's okay," Spike says, holding the water to Twilight's mouth. He gingerly tips the cup as Twilight drinks. He sets the cup on the bed and places a claw carefully on Twilight's forehead. Twilight coughs again, making her tear up, and Spike places her hoof into his claw. "It's okay, Twily, it's gonna be okay," he says. "We'll find her. Everything will end up alright." So, I know it might sound crazy, but there still might be a way out of this. During the first day I was down here, I was playing with my saddlebag, throwing it up against the wall and catching it, when it almost got snagged on something. About halfway up, there is a thick tree root that is sticking out from the wall. If I could somehow get up there, it might be enough for me to jump and climb out. Now, as lucky as this may sound, it wasn't as easy to get up to that root as I thought. At first I tried jumping up to it, but obviously that didn't work. I tried climbing to it but the walls are way to slippery. My most recent attempt is trying to snag it with my poncho, but it isn't long enough as it is. But, I have a plan. I'll take the poncho, rip it up into long sections (grandma Pie isn't gonna be happy), tie them together into one really long section, and tie my saddle bag's belt harness on the end. If I can just get this to work, then maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get out. Hooves crossed. Fluttershy leans down and talks to the group of animals around her. "Now, you all be careful out there, ok? Make sure you all work as a team and stay together in pairs. And remember, if you do find Pinkie Pie let the Air Force know immediately. Clear?" The animals each give Fluttershy a salute. They scurry off into the forest as Fluttershy heads back into Ponyville. Suddenly she sees a large group of pegasi in uniform lift off from the center of town. "It's the Air Force!" she says to herself. She watches as they fly over her, towards the woods. She notices one of them isn't wearing any unifom. "Rainbow Dash?" She flies up just above the treeline. Sure enough, Rainbow is there, trailing behind the Air Force. "So, that's where she went." Fluttershy is about to fly back to the ground when she stops herself and looks back out towards the search party. Off in the distance, right behind the edge of the forest, was another supercell. It's raining again. Not that it bothers me anymore. It's been raining too frequently and too heavily for the last several days that I'm almost immune to it all. Luckily, I finished my "rope". I'm gonna give it a few throws before it gets any darker. If I don't make it up there now, I'll try it again when it stops raining. Rainbow Dash meets up with an Air Lieutenant. "Anything yet?" she yells over the sounds of the storm. "Not yet, miss! Our sweep search is becoming more and more difficult with the storm. We're gonna have to call everypony back in about half an hour!" "Oh, come on! You mean after all this time you numbskulls have only-" suddenly a red robin pops in front of Rainbow Dash. "Woah! What the-" The robin chips frantically before flying down back down to the trees. The lieutenant and Rainbow Dash stare at each other. "Does, uh, does it want us to follow it?" he asks. "I think so," she replies, equally confused. "Let's find out." They fly down below the dense forest. The robin is hovering over a mine hole. "Oh my gosh!" Rainbow Dash shouts. "Quick! Get down there!" The lieutenant descends into the hole. "I've found someone!" he shouts. "Is it Pinkie Pie?!" "...no. I-it's a stallion." Rainbow can feel her heart sink, but continues by saying, "Well, lucky day for him. What's his name?" A long silence follows before the lieutenant slowly rises from the hole. Rainbow looks at him, puzzled. "Well," she says. "did you get his name?" "N-no, miss. H-he's dead." In the hole, Pinkie can hear the intensity of the storm increase. She quickly resets her rope and throws again. Miss. A flash of lightning brightens the hole for a moment, and Pinkie repositions herself. She throws the rope again. Miss. And she throws the rope again. Miss. And she throws the rope again. Tug. Tug tug. OH MY GOODNESS! It caught the root! I can get out! YES! Ok, as soon as I get out, I'm gonna make a run back to my rock farm. It's a lot closer to here than Ponyville. Sorry journal, I'm gonna leave you behind for a while, but I'll be back with my friends to pick you up! I'M GETTING OUT! Pinkie steadies herself on the tree root. It was much smaller than she expected it to be. She looks up. The exit out the hole is closer than it ever has been. Pinkie feels giddy inside. She carefully un-snags the rope from the root and holds it in her hoof. She throws it up and over the log that covers half the hole and catches the end as it falls, nearly losing her balance. She ties the two ends of the rope together. She readies herself on the rope, takes in a deep breath, and swings out slowly underneath the exit of the hole. One swing forward. One swing backward. Rip. Pinkie and her rope fall down back to the bottom of the hole. Pinkie hits the ground with her back hooves first. A dull crack echoes around the hole. This time, it was no lightning crack. Pinkie screams in pain. She looks at her leg in horror, the fracture twisting it sideways. She reaches out to clutch it but the resulting pain causes her to roll over, screaming again. She is crying uncontrollably, holding herself in the fetal position, as the storm above rolls over. Rarity walks into Twilight's room. Spike is asleep at the foot of the bed, but Twilight is still awake. "Did you find her?" she asks. Rarity looks down. "No, darling. They couldn't find her yet." Twilight closes her eyes. "It's my fault, you know. We should've looked sooner. If I hadn't been so selfish, I-I, w-e, could've..." "Twilight, honey," Rarity says, now next to Twilight's bed. "You are not to blame for this. We all know that you love Pinkie Pie, and that you'd never want this to happen." Twilight coughs before saying, "Yeah, well, then who is to blame? Who's fault is it going to be if we can't find her?" Rarity thinks for moment. "I don't believe blame is an important factor. I've never enjoyed the idea of blame, especially in a time like this. But, I believe that what is important, right now, is to focus on finding Pinkie Pie. And we will, darling. We are going to find her." Twilight sobs again, and Rarity gives her a small kiss on the forehead. She turns out the lights and heads out the door before saying "Goodnight" to Twilight. Spike was listening to the entire conversation. I didn't make it I was so close I didn't make it I can't try again My leg is broken I am in pain I was so close Why Why please why Why is this my fate Please what did I do I am in pain Why Why Why END OF DAY 3