//------------------------------//
// Another cave 
// Story: The Nightmare in the Moon 
// by Omega Dracomancer 
//------------------------------//

"Ancient... gemstone..." I said to myself, "Other than a lack of a map, how is this any different from the Dark Sphere?"

'It isn't at all, it seems.'

"Huh... Twilight? Twilight. Hey, Twilight."

"Hmm?" She ignored me and continued reading her book. I waved my hoof over it. "What is it?"

"Princess Celestia told me about this... thing called the Ancient Gemstone. Have you heard of it?"

"No, I haven't."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"She said that it's as powerful as the Elements of Harmony."

"Wow..."

"Yeah. I wanted to try to find it, but there's no information about it. She said that it may even be fake."

"Are you going treasure hunting?"

"I was planning on it."

"Alone?"

"As if. I'm not that brave."

"Sorry, but I can't come with. I have a lot to do. The Princess..."

"Well, good luck with that." I said, "I'll take Rainbow. She'll go."

"I think she's with Pinkie Pie right now. Be careful."

"Careful is my middle name. I'll see you later, Twilight. I need to get some things."

I got a bag and headed to the store, grabbing a few snacks. You think I'd go somewhere without snacks? You gotta be slapping a marsupial if you think that. Are you slapping a marsupial? Oh... Ok.

After putting them in my bag, I went to Sugarcube Corner. Sure enough, they were both there.

"Hey girls."

"Phil!" said Pinkie.

"What's going on?" asked Rainbow.

"Ya wanna go on a treasure hunt?" I asked, "Like a real treasure hunt, with a cave and everything."

"Treasure hunt?" she asked, "That sounds like it'll be fun."

"Oh-oh! I wanna go! I wanna go!" said Pinkie, bouncing around.

"Alright, you can come too."

"Aw, but I can't." she said, "I have to fillysit the cake twins today. Oh well."

"Bummer."

"Where are we hunting?"

"It's all the way in the Crystal Empire up north."

"Oh... wow... I can't get off work for that long. You're gonna have to find somepony else. Sorry."

"Oh, really? That sucks. Oh well. Somepony's bound to join me. Well, I'll see the two of you later."

"Bye Phil!"

"See ya."

I took off, thinking about who could join me. I can only keep myself calm for so long, even with Nightmare's encouragement. If I went for this alone, I'd probably go mentally insane. Worth it, though.

The rest of these mares weren't the exploring type, so I ruled them out. I didn't really know anypony who would come with.

'I could... take Shining Armor maybe... Hey, wait a minute... Lightning Dasher! That crazy guy went into the Everfree for a flower! I could take h... God damn it, where the fuck is he?'

I sighed, then I went to Fluttershy's house. She probably knows where he is.

Luckily, he was already there.

"Hey dude! What's up?"

"Oh, uh... Nothing."

"Alright, cool. Hello, Fluttershy."

"Hello."

"I still can't get over you being a pony." he said.

"Yeah, me either. Hey, you wanna help me with something?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"Celestia told me about this thing and I wanted to go look for it. I'll be gone for a few days, and I needed somepony else to come with."

"A few days?"

"Well, first we gotta go to the Crystal Empire. Prolly gonna talk to the Princess."

"Aw, sweet. Yeah, I'll come with you. This happening now?"

"Yeah. Well, first I gotta tell Celestia that I'm going. I'll just send her a letter. C'mon."

"Alright. I'll see you later, Fluttershy!"

"You two be careful."

"Yep."

"Of course."

We went to Twilight's place.

"So what are we looking for?"

"It's called the Ancient Gemstone. It's really powerful."

"Why?"

"'Cause it's cool. We gotta go through this gigantic cave, kinda like what happened last time."

"You got hurt last time."

"Yeah, well I'm not gonna get hurt this time. You still in?"

"Yeah."

"Suh-weet."

"Hey Spike, can you write a letter to Celestia for me?"

"Yeah, sure."

He got out a quill and a scroll.

"Tell her that me and Lightning Dasher here are going north to look for that gem."

"That's it?"

"Yep."

"Alright."

He wrote a few lines then sent it.

A few minutes later, we received a reply.

He handed it to me.

"Well that's nice of her." I said, pulling two train tickets from it.

"What's it say?"

"She said that Princess Cadance would be providing us with some exploration supplies. Damn straight. Well then, we better get goin' then. Thanks Spike. Lightning, you got a jacket?"

"No. I should get one."

"You go home and get something warm. I'll meet you at the station."

"Alright."

We caught our train, and sat next to each other. He had a bag with some things in it. Probably some cocaine or meth or something. Or maybe a jacket and a hat. Maybe. Either or.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Your wing."

"Oh. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Lemme see it." He turned so I could see where he got attacked. "Whoa... Cool. Man, you're lucky it didn't sever a muscle or anything. You need those things."

"Yeah I am."

"So how ya doin' with Fluttershy?" I asked.

"It's ok. I took her on a picnic like you said."

"And?"

"She really seemed to enjoy it."

"Alright, cool. I love it when things turn out."

"Hey, you gonna be ok with just a hoodie?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I went all last year with my old hoodie. I didn't wear a winter jacket once. I went outside at midnight in the middle of winter with that thing. Even when we got two feet of snow. That I had to shovel all on my own. Seriously, I had to shovel two feet of snow over... I think it's... 100 by... 10 feet. I... think. Long story short, my back hurt afterwards."

"That's a lot."

"It's gonna start snowing here soon. It's goin' get chilly. I love cold more than hot because you can just put on more layers. When it's hot, you can only take so much off, and ponies don't even wear clothes."

"I guess."

I got out my music. "Wanna listen?"

"Sure."

I gave him the headphones and turned it on.

"Hey, this is pretty nice. Who is this?"

"Dj-Pon3. Awesome artist."

The next day, we went to the castle. It was pretty cold already, but it didn't bother me much.

We were both looking around in awe. This place was beautiful, and the castle was absolutely awesome.

We were directed to the Princess when we arrived.

We both bowed to her. I got up first and said, "Hello, Princess Cadance."

"Hello. You must be Phil. My husband has told me so much about you. And you're Lightning Dasher, aren't you?"

"Y-yes." He cleared his throat. "Yes, Princess."

"You don't have to be nervous. It's quite alright."

"Calm down, buddy. Is it your first time meeting a Princess?"

"Actually... yes it is."

"Yeah... You never get used to it. Celestia said that you had supplies for us?"

"That's right. However, you probably shouldn't do this right after you just arrived. You should stay a while and rest beforehand. I've had rooms prepared for you already."

"Thank you, Princess."

We were shown to our rooms, then we met up again.

"I don't get how you do that."

"Do what?"

"Just... talk with the Princess like that."

"I just act like they're normal ponies because for the most part, they are. I can usually tell beforehand if somepony is cool with me acting normally as opposed to all fancy. Can you imagine me being fancy? It's sickening."

"I... guess. It just doesn't seem right to me."

"Yeah, well it's probably because I'm a human."

He shrugged.

"Don't know about you, but I'm too excited to rest. I saw a snowy patch to the north of here. I'm gonna start looking there. You coming?"

"Shouldn't we stay here for a while and rest like she said?"

"Well... not necessarily. I'm sure she won't mind if we take off. Regardless, I'm not going if you're not."

"Y... yeah, I'll go."

"Sweet. I'll tell Cadence. You wait outside with our things."

I went to her again.

"What is it?"

"We're going out early, Princess."

"Early? You should rest first."

"It's fine."

"That's not very wise."

"Yeah, well I'm not very wise either. Thanks again for the supplies."

She put her hoof up and was about to say something, but changed her mind. "Alright. I hope that you'll return safely."

I bowed my head, then left.

We walked north. It started to get breezy, making it even colder. Lightning put on his jacket and some other cold weather gear.

I put up my hood.

It was quite an abrupt change from grass to snow, like the ice and grass kingdom on Adventure Time. Well, former ice kingdom at least.

We walked across the snow. I pulled out some sunglasses and gave them to him, then put on my own pair.

We looked back at the city. It seemed so different from here. We sure as fuck ain't in Kansas no more.

"Is this even safe?" he asked.

"You're asking that now? Of course it's safe."

"Do you even know where it is?"

"Nope."

"Of course you don't."

The sun was still shining, but there was so much snow.

'Nightmare, can you sense anything?'

'No, nothing.'

'Mmm...'

It was just a flat sheet of snow for miles, populated only by a few snow-covered trees and rocks.

"There's nothing out here."

"Celestia told me that even she thought it was fake. It's really important that we find it, Lightning. Nightmare Moon is back, you know that."

"Yeah. It doesn't look good for us."

"That's right. This thing is said to match the Elements of Harmony, and you know how strong those are, don't ya?"

"Yeah, I know."

"They didn't work before, and they might not work now. This thing will keep everypony safe if we can find it. Plus, it'll impress Fluttershy."

"We gotta find this thing."

"That's the spirit! Although... admittedly, this was a bad idea. We might get lost out here."

"I can still see the city."

'We're being followed.'

'Really?'

'Two stallions. Probably guards.'

'Lets ignore them. They likely won't bother us.'

"Lightning."

"Yeah?"

"Fly around a little and try to find something."

"Good idea."

He hopped into the air and hovered above me. He paused, then went up again, and started flying around. He came back down after a minute.

"Dude, I didn't see anything."

"Damn..."

"Should we keep going? You might be right."

"I don't know. Fly north for a few minutes and... wait... can you take up into the air?"

"That's... a little weird, but I guess I can."

He crouched down a little and I hopped onto his back.

He took off into the air, and I fell off instantly.

"Alright?" he asked after a little laugh.

"Yeah. I gotta hold on next time."

I got on his back again and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

"Alright, mush!"

"Yeah, I don't do that."

"Sorry."

He hopped into the air again, and we soared further north. I looked back one last time as the city disappeared under the snowy horizon.

He eventually landed back on the ground. The snow was deeper out here, and it was hard to walk.

'Anything?'

'There may be something just a little further ahead. I think I can sense something.'

"Just a little further, Lightning. I can feel it in my gut."

"I hope you're right."

"I'm always right. It's getting colder."

"You should've brought something else."

"Eh... I'll just complain about it for a while and get over it. I always do."

'Stop.'

"Lightning, stop."

We stood where we were. Nightmare started casting a spell. The snow around us started to melt, revealing the ground below us. There wasn't any grass, just mud. I looked at the ground, and saw a small rock.

'Step on it.'

I pressed my hoof against the small stone. It went into the ground.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, then the ground started to shake.

"Whoa!"

I crouched down, and he hopped into the air.

A portion of the ground started to open. When it was about 6 feet across, the ground stopped shaking.

We both looked inside.

"Is this the place?"

"If not, then somepony wasted their budget."

We jumped inside. I used a spell to light the cave like a flashlight. "From here on, it's gonna get really dark. Stay close to me."

"Yeah, alright."

"Lets go."

We started walking. It got darker and darker.

"Creepy."

"Yeah."

I looked back at him. I could barely see him at all. I got closer.

"Have you noticed that it's just gotten darker and darker in here? Even with the light."

"Yeah, it's weird."

I pointed the light straight down the tunnel. Something blocked it for a second. "What the... You saw that too, right?"

"Yeah, I saw it."

"I don't trust this cave." I said.

I shined the light on the walls. Just normal cave walls. "I'm starting to get the impression that there isn't even any treasure."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch. You said that this place was huge. We probably haven't gone in far enough yet."

"Crap, what if it forks off somewhere?"

"We can split up."

"That's not a good idea. I don't think either of us are good with caves. Regardless... This is getting boring."

"Can't argue with you there."

I pointed it down and saw a drop that led deeper into the cave. The smell coming from it was terrible. "Finally, something exciting."

I saw claw marks on a slope going into the pit. I yelled down into it.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"I don't just want to slide into a bear or anything. I'd rather have them up here than down there."

We heard some growls, then some claw-on-stone sounds. "We should back up." I said, putting my hand on his back and getting rid of the light.

A few creatures climbed out of the pit. I couldn't tell what they were in the darkness. We backed to the wall.

"Think they're timberwolves?" I asked.

"Maybe. I thought they lived in the forest though. This isn't good."

"At least you can fly." I said. I heard them walk towards us. "I'm gonna flash the light at them. When I do, fly down into the pit. I'll be right behind you."

"Alright."

I waited until the creature got closer, then flashed the light right in its face. The light disoriented it and Lightning flew to the pit. I jumped on the slope they came up and slid down on my back.

"Run!" he shouted, seeing them follow us.

I started running while he flew alongside me.

I stopped, staring back down the tunnel we came from.

"What are you doing?"

"No way I'm outrunning these."

'Nightmare, could you...'

'Fine.'

She put up a shield blocking off the entire tunnel. They all ran into it, and broke apart.

They reformed themselves, and stared at us.

"Those aren't timberwolves." he said.

I took a closer look. They were made out of wood, but they were too big. Too... cat-like. "We should go."

We backed off slowly.

"That takes care of that." I said.

"Good job, Phil. That was pretty close.

"Yeah. That was dangerous. Those... timbertigers were huge. I thought big cats didn't live in caves like this. Then again, I know nothing about the outside world. And... how did they get down here, anyways? We had to open a secret door to get here. I took one last look back. "Getting out is gonna suck."

"There's probably a secret exit. There always is."

"That would be awesome. My back kinda hurts."

We started walking again. It was still very dark. We stayed closer together than before.

"How long have we been down here?" he asked.

"I have no idea. Like an hour or something."

The tunnel started to widen out into a large, circular room.

"Still no light." I said.

We kept walking straight ahead until we reached the wall. We walked around the room and noticed that it was a complete dead-end.

"Aw, man. This was a total waste of time!" I said.

I heard a loud, sharp noise, and we both jumped.

I looked at what made the noise. Just a rock that fell off of the ceiling.

"A rock. Where did it come from?" I asked, looking up with the light.

It was pretty high up. I didn't see where it could've came from where I was standing. "Fly up there and try to find out where it fell from."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Ok." He jumped into the air and looked at the ceiling. "Nothing!"

"Aw man, that sucks."

He flew back down. "Now what?"

"I don't know. Lets keep looking."

I heard a loud cracking noise. "What was that?"

I looked up at the ceiling, and a rock fell from it and hit Lightning right on the head. He fell to the ground, and more rocks started falling. I quickly pulled him out of the way and picked him up.

"You alright?!"

I heard another loud crack, then the floor started to collapse. I tried jumping away, but failed miserably, and joined the rubble.

The fall wasn't long, but it was terrifying. I landed directly on my side and blacked out.

When I woke back up, everything was quiet again. My chest hurt like hell, And there was a rock laying on my arm. Lightning was laying down a few feet away from me. I got on my knees, holding my hoof over my side.

"Son of a..." I coughed a few times. "Mother fuckin'..."

I crawled over to him and pushed on his side a little.

"Lightning... are you ok?" I asked, unable to speak loudly. He didn't react to me at all. 'This ain't good.'

I looked over his head for any bleeding or injuries. I didn't see any, so I slowly rolled him so he was laying on him back. His breathing was normal, and he didn't look all that bruised up.

'Wasn't there... Oh yeah.'

I opened one of his eyes and shined the light in it. His pupil contracted instantly. I took it away and breathed a sigh of relief, hurting myself in the process.

"Oh man..."

I looked at my side. There was a hole in my thick hoodie, and blood was dripping out where my ribs were hurt. It wasn't life threatening... probably.

I shined the light around. It flickered randomly. All I could see was a single tunnel. I moved slowly and put Lightning on my back, then started standing up. The added weight painfully bore down on me, but I wasn't leaving him here.

"This fuckin' hurts." I breathed out.

It wasn't until I started walking that I fully realized what all happened to me. My arms and legs were all sore. It was hard to walk normally. I had cuts all over my body. I probably had a concussion. And to top it all off, there was no way that my rib wasn't broken.

I limped down the tunnel. I lost all track of how long we've been down here. Maybe three hours. Maybe a whole day. I don't know, I was knocked out. Don't look at me like that. I'm not under question here. Am I?

Lightning still wasn't moving. He didn't seem hurt, but getting hit like that wouldn't just leave somepony completely fine.

I reached a wall that signified another dead-end. Nothing else was here.

I pushed on the wall a little to see if it would open. Not a chance. I started beating it with a hoof out of frustration. All I ended up doing was hurting myself some more.

I laid him down on the ground, then sat next to him. Hopefully Twilight or Cadence would find us. If not, I just got my friend killed.

'N... Nightmare? Are... you there? Answer me... Answer me! An... s...'