"The boxes take up a lot of space," Night Watch muttered as she walked behind Echo.
"Hey, we might as well as keep them. They may come in handy," Echo remarked, pausing to adjust her crystal. The two of them marched forward, both of them sporting a light crystal in one of their front pockets. "It will be awhile—it was kind of a trek to get to you."
They came to the first fork that led them to the statue room, and Echo took a turn to the left. Water continued to drip from the ceiling down the many stalagmites, puddling onto the floor. For some stretches of the tunnel, the whole floor was covered in a thin layer of water. Eventually, they came upon the sarcophagus room, but continued onwards towards the next fork.
"The others... how do you think they're doing?" Night Watch asked through the silence. Echo paused her breathing briefly, surprised at the sudden question.
"Well... I'm not sure. I wasn't expecting to find one of us so soon, to be honest," Echo said. Night Watch hummed in agreement.
"Hey, the tunnels seem wide enough, now. Let's walk side by side?" Night Watch said, coming up beside Echo before giving her a half-lidded grin. "Not that I don't mind walking behind you." Echo sighed. "Seriously, you've got some flanks—"
"I just hope they're all okay. This kind of is a test for us, as a group," Echo cut in. Night Watch chuckled at the change of topic.
"Since when did you become serious? You were always the light-hearted one." Echo blushed.
"It, well... this is kind of serious. It's the Trials," she responded. Night Watch looked at her with an incredulous look.
"The Trials are serious, but something else seems to be bothering you," Night Watch said. Echo gave a defeated sigh.
"I... I just feel like this will make or break me, really," she admitted, shaking her head uneasily.
"Hey, even if we fail, we'll still hold our position as night guards," Night Watch reassured.
"I know. But that won't keep Midnight Blossom from scolding me, one way or another.”
Night Watch sighed. "Look, I know she means well—"
"But why, me? She's always singling me out."
"We're at war, Echo," Night Watch asserted, but her face told Echo that she seemed unconvinced.
"I still don't see, why me? I'm not the best fighter, I'm not the smartest, the best leader..." Echo trailed off, plunging the conversation into silence for several minutes. The echoes of their hoof-steps pierced the air between them.
They came upon a puddle on Night Watch's side, who stomped into it as they walked by. Echo turned her head to meet Night Watch's concerned gaze.
"It's not about any of those, yeah? I think she sees you as a good team player." Echo rolled her eyes. "You might not be the best leader, but among us, you might. You're always keeping us together."
Echo turned her head forward and looked down as she walked. "I hope the others are alright. We'll need them," she said quietly.
Night Watch slowly nodded. "I hope we find them, soon. It was a miracle we had your light crystal, back there." Both of them shivered. "At least we know those... things, can be hurt by our weapons. I managed to stab it, once."
Finally, the two of them met the fork Echo was talking about. They paused while Echo scanned the room. Standing near the opening to the left path was the tall stalagmite she remembered. Beyond, they could hear the faint sound of moving water.
"It's that way," Echo said, pointing to the stalagmite. She took a deep breath as they crested the tunnel's entrance. Once again, they were in unknown territory.
"I think the rest will be fine. I know they can all hold their own," Night Watch piped up.
"Yeah. Maybe they found each other like we did, as well," Echo said.
"I should hope so."
As they walked, the water dripping from the ceiling seemed to drop in larger amount the further they travelled. It got to the point where the floor they walked on was just an endless puddle of water.
"I wonder where all this water is coming from," Night said as she wearily looked at the ceiling.
Before Echo could respond, a platform made out of wood came into view in front of them. It was above the water on the floor and seemed fairly dry, and beyond it, wooden stairs led upwards into the darkness. The tunnel seemed to steeply go uphill from there.
"Huh... stairs. I guess we're going up," Night Watch remarked. It was narrow, forcing her to fall behind Echo, again.
Echo stepped onto the wooden steps wearily. It seemed sturdy enough, but that didn't stop her from wincing at the loud creak that followed. Flimsy wooden railings lined the sides, nearly hugging Echo's wings as she climbed. The ceiling hung low, dissuading her from taking flight instead.
Flowing downwards to the right of the stairs was a small, clear stream of water. "I think all of this water is uphill, somewhere. A spring, or something," Echo thought out loud, carefully making her way up. Night Watch nodded, following every step.
After what felt like half an hour of climbing, Echo finally found the end of the stairs. It flattened out to a wooden platform, leading to a fairly levelled stone ground of a short tunnel. Beyond that, a dim, blue light awaited them from what looked like a large room. The stream to the right seemed to trickle out from it.
Standing side by side again, Echo gave Night Watch a nod as they both trotted forwards. As the room came into view, Echo exhaled a large breath.
It was enormous, the ceiling reaching some fifty feet above them. Instinctively, Echo took flight, hovering off the ground a little to scan the room. A large, underground lake stretched out before them, its water clear. The pool was fairly deep, the light not penetrating far enough for her to see the bottom.
Lining the edge of the lake was a wooden railing, going around the hundred foot room. It ended at the other side of the lake on a fairly wide stone platform, sloping into a shore that led into the clear lake.
What had Echo's gaze the most, however, was the luminescent crystals that hung from the ceilings and protruded from some corners of the room. They gave off a dim, blue light, bathing the whole room with a greyish-blue aura.
"Look!" Night Watch suddenly exclaimed, poking Echo and pointing to the shore at the other side of the lake.
The form of a pony with the distinct shape of bat-like wings stood there, looking straight at them. A gleam of light confirmed that they were wearing glasses.