Our plan sucked. Walking sucked. This adventure sucks.
"Spark, your pessimism really sucks." Hmm, it must be contagious.
"We need a new plan, Star. Do we even know if there is any civilization out here? We haven't found anything yet."
"Of course we haven't found anything yet. We have only been walking for five minutes."
Ok, maybe I was a little impatient, but our plan didn't give me any hope. I guess all I can do is follow it though. We walked for another hour or so, and I was hating our plan more and more. I decided to fly up to get a better view of the landscape around us, but there was nothing. No civilization anywhere around. Just a huge dust cloud to our right and a huge mountain to our left.
The dust cloud did look more interesting, under closer inspection. It looked almost like it was headed our way.
I flew down to the ground and mentioned it to Star.
"What!? A dust cloud? And it is moving towards us?"
"Well, Star, that is what I just said."
"We have to go, now." Star sounded worried. "Those dust clouds are caused by stampeding buffalo, and they don't stop for anything. In fact, lately they have been reported to actually chase travelers they find, and stampede over them."
"Why would they do that?"
"The world seems to be getting more and more harsh, more deadly. Ever since the day the clouds, sun, and moon started moving on their own the world just keeps getting worse. We need to get away from that dust cloud."
"There is a mountain to our left." I figured that would be safer from the stampede.
"Good, start galloping, now!" We started running and after a few minutes, we could se the dust cloud from the ground. It was getting closer. We could also see the mountain rising up in front of us. As we got closer, we saw a huge cave in the side of a cliff. "Get in the cave!" Star yelled, even though I was right next to her. She was panicking.
I looked behind us and found out why. We could see buffalo now. Hundreds of them. I realized I could feel the ground rumbling beneath me. We needed to hurry.
The shaking in the ground was causing some rocks to fall on the mountain. It was getting dangerous just being near the cliff.
I looked back and realized the buffalo were quickly closing in on us. I looked at the cave. It was about 50 yards away. We were going to make it! I galloped as fast as I could and leaped into the cave. Star got in about a second after me. We collapsed on the ground, out of breath. I turned to look at the buffalo and was relieved to see them turning.
I turned to Star to ask if she was Ok, and saw her running towards me. I felt myself be tackled to the ground as a boulder fell where I had just been standing. I looked over the entrance of the cave and stared in horror as the rumbling in the ground caused more boulders to fall. They were falling from higher up on the mountain too, piling up at the entrance. Finally, the entire entrance collapsed and I watched the last beam of light disappear behind the rocks.
I closed my eyes to stop the dust it kicked up from getting into them. I opened them and saw no difference. I blinked a few times and saw (or figured due to by lack of seeing anything) that there was no light at all. It was darker than I had ever seen before. Then, a small glow appeared from right next to me.
I looked at Star's, now glowing, horn and let out a sigh of relief. We could now see. The cave walls were mostly black, with a blueish glow due to Star's horn. The walls were also surprisingly smooth. Star walked over to a wall and put her hoof on it.
"This cave was carved with magic. That doesn't make any sense. It would be much easier to use tools to cut through this rock, it would take too much energy using magic."
"I don't think it matters if this cave was carved by magic or tools, that won't get us out of here."
"You're right. We need to do something to find a way out. But we won't be able to get through that mound of rock, so our only option is to go deeper into the cave. Time to do some exploring."
We started walking. This seemed too much like our last plan: we stopped planning after the walking part.
The cave didn't seem to go down, only straight into the mountain. That was good, it meant we should come out the other side of the mountain any time now, right? Wrong. It just kept going. After half an hour of boredom, (a.k.a. walking) the walls started to become more jagged, like they were carved using tools, like Star said they should have been. The walls also seemed to have some sort of ore in them.
The ore reflected the glow from Star's horn, like they were bits of mirrors, scattered along the walls, floor, and ceiling. The cave itself started to give off an oppressive feeling. Something inside me kept telling me I had to get out, get away from this cave.
Before the panic that had started to creep into me could form, the cave opened up into a large cavern. There were about five different caves leading out of the cavern, including the one we came from, and a small shack in one corner of the cavern. While Star walked around examining the caves, I started investigating the shack. The door creaked when I opened it, causing Star to flinch, then shoot me an annoyed look. Apparently the cave was making her as nervous as it was making me.
The inside of the shack was lit up by a small, but strangely bright, candle. There was no way it could have been burning the entire time. Must be unicorn magic. I noticed a few papers on a table with writing on them. Wow, being able to read actually is useful. They looked old. Very old. I walked over and read the dates at the top of the pages. They were a little out of order, but I soon fixed that. After blowing off the dust, I started to read the earliest one.
Today is the first day we begin mining the ore. I was given the position of managing this operation, which means I get all the credit for this, all I have to do is document what we find. This is too easy.
About 2 weeks ago, we were working on another mining operation about 10 miles south of here. One night there was a meteor shower, and some meteors actually fell to the ground! One hit right near our mining operation. Drifter went to check it out, and came back with a shining blue stone. (His name isn't actually Drifter, we just call him that cause he is always wondering around, looking for excuses to take a break, not to mention his actual name is pretty weird.) Anyway, the blue ore was soft, and we could easily shape it, but when we tried melting it, it just hardened. It became even harder than the iron we were mining for here.
This new metal was far superior to the iron we were currently mining, so we tried to gather more of the star metal. We have been able to make multiple tools and weapons from it.
A few nights later, there was another meteor shower, and this time we saw an enormous meteor fall and hit the ground to the north. It felt like an earthquake had hit. We hiked over to the meteor and found it was the size of a mountain! We started to dig into it and eventually created a small base of operations here. We have found loads of this new ore. Finding this meteor is going to make us all rich!
I called Star to tell her about what I had found. "Star, I found something!"
"Well, what does it say?" Star looked at me curiously as she entered the room.
"You aren't going to believe this. We are inside a meteorite."
"What!?"
"These papers are some documentation from some miners who discovered the blue ore we saw in the walls."
"Let me see those." Star walked over and looked at the dates. "These are from hundreds of years ago! They might even be from before the world went wrong."
I looked at them again. Wow, they really were old. But that blue ore sounded interesting.
"You keep reading those reports, I'll search around a bit more." Star left the room and I continued reading. The next paper was dated a few weeks after the first.
We are making major progress. We have created a few more tunnels searching for large pockets of the ore. We even built a forge in here and I have been experimenting with the star metal. It doesn't work like usual metal does. You have to shape it when it is just the ore. Then you just heat it up, and it hardens. But, once you harden it, it is impossible to reshape. We tried to bend it by wedging it in a crevice and pushing on the handle, but it's no use. This is the strongest metal I have ever heard of.
However, it hasn't been quite normal around here lately. Drifter has been less focused on work than usual, and that is a hard feat to accomplish. Also, nopony will go anywhere alone. Thinking about it, I wouldn't want to either. There is something uncanny about this cave, but it doesn't matter. Once we finish this job we will be set for life. We won't have to go into another cave ever again.
This is operation leader Stonehart signing out.
Well, it looks like Star and I weren't the only ones to find this cave a little weird. I decided to read the next paper.
We have found more of the ore. It is just so abundant in this cave. We hardly have to dig for more than a minute or so and we find more of the ore. We have piles of it in the main cavern.
We also haven't been outside in a few weeks now, and I think it is getting to some of us. Most of the ponies here are in a bad mood constantly now. It's been hard enough just trying to get them up. I have to pull literally Drifter off his bed he made out of the ore. I just can't imagine how he can sleep on that stuff, but Drifter always was quite odd.
Well, it is time to get some sleep. I must say, it's strange to not even know if it is night when we are sleeping now.
The reports seemed to be getting shorter and shorter. I was beginning to wonder if there was anything useful in them, but they had told us that we were in a meteorite. That was somewhat useful. Also, we found out about this blue ore. That could be useful. I guess they might get more interesting eventually. I decided to continue reading and the next one was a few weeks after the last one.
That damn Drifter, he needs to learn his place. He has been wanting some of the ore now, as payment. Some of the other workers are joining him too. They are saying that their pay isn't high enough and that they should get some of the ore as well as being payed. I already told them, the ore is mine.
First Drifter started making a pile of the ore on one side of the cavern and stated that it was his portion. Some of the other miners thought it was a good idea too and started making their own piles. When I got back to the cavern they all had piles up to their heads. They want my ore, but it is mine! All mine!
I haven't been able to document in a while due to all these damn greedy workers. Can't wait for this job to be done so I can never see them again.
Wow, what happened in that week? They seemed to be pretty fine the week before. I decided to just check the next paper. It was dated a whole month later.
Things are different around here. I can't turn my back on any of the workers, or my ore. None of us have slept in days, and I won't be the one to break that trend. The moment I go to sleep, they will all just take my ore and run. I just know it. And they all just guard their piles of ore like they own them. Ha, they think they own my ore? Well, I'll show them.
But, the lack of sleep is getting to me. The other workers don't look like they used to. I hardly recognize Drifter. But, its all just hallucinations. It must be.
The sooner I get out of this cave, the better. I can't sleep here with these ponies, eyeing my ore like hawks. As soon as they all fall asleep, I know they will, I will take my ore, including the ore they stole from me, and run. I get out of this accursed meteor and find somewhere else to live. I don't have much time, though. We are almost out of food. We still have a couple days, at most.
I will hopefully never need to write these damn reports again. I will be gone.
Hmm, that's strange, because there were still a few more reports here. The next one was dated the next day.
This meteor really is cursed. I didn't realize how true my words were last night. None of us can eat anymore. The food doesn't stay down. We can't sleep either. And some of us have really begun to change. I am sure it is not just hallucinations anymore.
Silverdust has it the worst. Her eyes have begun to shrink inside her skull. Her tail swelled up and burst, the bones and blood getting everywhere. Also, one of her legs started to curl up like a dead spider's legs do.
Others of us have strange things happening too. Drifter has got these humps on his back, and one of his ears grew much longer and became very spiky and solid. I would be surprised if any of us survive.
I suddenly felt the urge to get out of this cave as fast as possible, the panic from earlier back as strong as ever. I rushed out to the main cavern to look for Star, but she was gone. And so was any light.
"Star?" I said, quietly. I was beginning to get the feeling something was watching us. I kept turning around quickly, not wanting to leave my back facing one way too long, but it didn't help not being able to see. When I turned to my left, A flash of blue light burst out right in front of me. I nearly hit the top of the cave when I jumped.
I looked down and saw Star rolling on the ground, laughing.
"Really?" I asked, extremely annoyed.
"I couldn't help it. You seemed so paranoid, it was the perfect opportunity." Suddenly, Star's eyes went wide as she looked behind me, a look of terror on her face. Yeah, right, like I was going to fall for that. I turned around, expecting to see a dull wall, but I certainly didn't.
A blob of pulsing, silver and red flesh, about the size of three ponies, was slithering toward us. It had the resemblance of an eye, more like a hole in it's skull with some white ooze in it, in the upper right corner off it's 'face,' if you can call it that. I suddenly thought of Silverdust. It's (or her i guess) mouth opened to reveal a few organs spilling out and a circle of sharp teeth.
I turned to run, but tripped over Star. It took us a few seconds to get up, then we ran. We took the first exit we saw out of the cavern. We were just hoping it would be a way out. As we turned a corner, I looked back and saw that somehow that thing was almost as fast as we were. It was getting farther behind though, and I let out a sigh of relief, just as I tripped over something very squishy.
I looked over at it and saw the remains of what seemed like a mix between a pony and a fish. The change obviously hadn't gone well. I looked up to see the thing coming around the corner, eyes locked on me. I looked at the pony-fish thing and noticed a blue sword in it's mouth. Perfect!
I reached my head over and yanked on the sword, by the blade. It cut my mouth, but I was desperate. Unfortunately, the pony-like head was still biting down on the blade, even after it looked like it was dead. What was this place? I slammed the head on the ground a few times and noticed the silver blob-thing open it's mouth again and charge towards me. I finally got the head loose from the sword and swung it at the silver thing.
It sliced a huge gash in the thing's front, but it just ignored it. It was about to sink it's teeth into me, when it was covered in a blue glow. It floated up in the air and a blade covered in a similar blue glow flew towards it. The blade cut right through the thing, and Star cut off the levitation. But the thing just ignored the blood gushing out of it.
It then charged Star, who had a horrified look on her face. I rushed over and started to swing the sword at it, again and again, but it just turned to me and opened it's mouth. One chance. I lunged at the thing and stuck the sword right into it's mouth. I aimed for a very important looking organ hanging about 3 inches from the opening of it's mouth. It squealed this time and started thrashing about. I was thrown against the wall, still holding the sword.
I watched as it slowly stopped moving. I looked to Star, who still had the horrified look on her face. I walked over to her and started pushing her. "Come, on. Let's get out of here. Now."
She nodded and we started to run the same way we were going. I almost cried when I saw a ray of light from the outside. I dove onto the ground and started rolling in the grass. I loved the outside.
It was a while before Star spoke, but she finally turned to me and asked "Spark? What did those reports say?"
I explained them to her as best I could and waited as she seemed to be thinking.
"You said that there were more reports there that you hadn't read?"
"Yeah, but I am not going back in there just to see what they say. There was a whole crew if workers in there and we only found 2. I don't want to know what happened to the rest of them, especially if any more are still alive."
"Well, I guess you found a good sword, Spark."
I looked over to the blue sword laying on the ground where I had dropped it when we got out of the cave. "Yeah, at least we got one good thing out of that hellhole."
"So, where do we go now?" I asked, greatly hoping it would be nothing like our last few plans.
"Well, the first thing I want to do is get away from this cave."
"Agreed."
So we started walking... again.