//------------------------------//
// Descent 
// Story: The Night of the Trotters 
// by Strongbolt Stonewing 
//------------------------------//

	When his vision was clear again, Dice realized that the balloon was no longer in the middle of the storm, neither was it in Ponyville: they were about a mile away from the town. The balloon no longer flailed and shook in the wind of the storm, everything was quite and motionless. Laura lay unconscious in the basket, Derpy was struggling to keep herself up and Roseluck still hung underneath, clutching the rope and shivering. For a moment, Whooves was nowhere to be seen, then he emerged on top of the balloon, he was covered in soot. 
He looked up at Dice, his expression was dark. "We may have a problem." He shouted.
"What? What is it?" Dice shouted back.
"The lightning, although it was absorbed, partially ruptured the fabric of the..."
A huge gust of wind burst out from the top of the balloon, knocking Whooves straight off, Roseluck caught him as he fell with her spare hoof, however, the balloon still spewed out hot air. They shot downwards towards the earth at a rate much faster than falling.
"Derpy! Pull up!" Dice yelped.
Derpy nodded sleepily, she tried to lift herself up but the weight of the balloon dragged her down. Only Dice was left, frantically flapping his wings trying to lift the balloon. We're still moving too quickly, his mind told him, if we don't pull up soon we'll be crushed!
"Dice!" Whooves called over the wind. "Catch!" He threw the screwdriver, Dice caught it between his teeth and dropped it into his hoof. "Point it at us and think of somewhere safe! We've got enough power for maybe two more teleports!"
Dice did as instructed, he aimed at Whooves and Roseluck and thought of a safe place for them to land: a nearby lake. There was a blue flash, and they were gone.
"Derpy! Detach!" Dice called. Derpy nodded again and released the rope, she floated lightly away. "Your turn Laura." Dice continued. He aimed the screwdriver and fired, the magic missed Laura and instead coated the entire balloon, it vanished leaving Laura falling aimlessly.
"Damn!" Dice flew towards her, he had about ten seconds before they hit the unforgiving earth. At the last moment he swooped in and pulled her up, he flew over to the lake where he had dropped of the others. He lay Laura on the floor and helped Roseluck and Whooves out of the lake.
Derpy landed elegantly beside Laura. "Nap time." She yawned and fell asleep on the grass.
"Phew." Whooves breathed. "For a moment there, I thought you weren't going to make it." He plucked his screwdriver from Dice's hoof and examined it. "Yeah, we're out of power completely. How's Laura?"
"Alive. Just really, really worn out. Levitating a pony isn't easy, I'd imagine she'll be out cold for a while."
"Well, we're two ponies down and without magic, any ideas?"
Dice analysed the area around the lake, a few trees and flowers occupied the edge of the water, reeds and lily pads covered most of the space on the lake. Dice could see a forest in the distance, a few mountains behind them and, of course, Ponyville on their left, however, the land was fairly bare. There were no signs of zombies, or anything moving for that matter, just a vast plain of sickly green grass all around them, rustling in the wind.
"We... we have to... we have to get to shelter." Roseluck panted, she was completely exhausted. She toppled to the right but Whooves caught her.
"We better think fast or we'll be three ponies down, Dice."
"The forest would be no good, too dark and dangerous, we can't stay out in the open and we certainly can't go back to Ponyville." Dice thought aloud. "The only other option is..." He turned towards the mountains.
"That's at least a mile walk from here, we can't move that far in this state." Whooves explained.
"Alright, how about we rest here for an hour or two, then when everypony's ready we'll head off."
"Sounds good." Roseluck breathed. She slumped on the floor like a sack of rocks and began snoring lightly.
"Well," Whooves yawned, "you want to stand guard and we'll switch later?"
"Sure, go get some shut-eye." Dice sighed.
Whooves sat down slowly and proceeded to lay on his side. "Wake me up when you feel like it. Oh, and thanks, for earlier."
"Whatever you say."

Dice sat with his back against a nearby boulder and his hooves behind his head. He was growing tiresome, but he knew he could not sleep. He was not sure if he could even trust the other ponies, it was survival of the fittest now. Dice had never had many accomplices, he worked alone and he always had. But something about these ponies made him feel safer, he had no clue why, he had barely known them for more than a few hours. 
Laura stretched out her hooves and her eyes blinked open. "How long... was I out?" She muttered.
Dice checked his watch. "About an hour."
"Uh..." She grumbled. "My head..." She put her hoof on her forehead and winced. "I'm sorry... I have... I have little experience with... certain."
"Don't worry about it. You saved us back there, or you saved Whooves at least."
Laura got up slowly with one hoof still pressed against her head. To Dice, she looked a lot more scruffy than she had earlier: her mane and tail looked frizzier, her white dress was torn slightly and she looked generally paler. Dice knew that he was not anything too awe-inspiring either, his previously white shirt was now red and brown with patches of blood and dirt, and he had acquired a few bruises. The others were fairly worn down too, Whooves and Roseluck were spotted with soot and burns. Only Derpy, who ironically seemed to be the most normal in appearance, had escaped looking no different.
"Earlier you said you were waiting," said Dice, "what were you waiting for?"
"For you." Laura replied softly.
"For me to do what?" 
"Wake up."
"What do you..."
Someone screamed and Roseluck shot up shivering. She looked around, utterly terrified, breathing heavily.
"Roseluck!" Dice called.
"No, no, no. Please no." Roseluck muttered, she did not notice Dice or Laura.
Dice touched her shoulder, she screamed again. "No! Please! No!" She started crying.
"Roseluck!" Whooves got up and ran to her. "Roseluck, it's me! Roseluck, look at me." She stared at him, her eyes were filled with tears. "You're alright," he hugged her, "I promise. You're alright."
She struggled to form words. "I... I... N-Nightmares. I... I don't want to... I don't want to..."
"It's okay. You're okay now. Nothing is going to hurt you, I promise. I swear." Whooves reassured her.
Poor Roseluck, Dice thought, she's too young to be caught up in all of this.
"No..." Roseluck stammered. "You... I don't want to... not alone... not again..."
"You're not alone, I'm here, we're all here."
"Not again... please... not again..." Roseluck mumbled, still shivering.
"Dice." Whooves said firmly. "We're getting her to somewhere safe. The cave, now."
"The cave?" Derpy asked, she had woken up and joined the group.
"Over there." Dice pointed his hoof at the base of the mountain in the distance. "We'll be safe there."
Derpy nodded, Laura still held her forehead, and Roseluck clutched the Doctor tightly. Dice took that as  a "we're ready" and walked off towards the mountain.

The group wandered in the dim light of the moon, which still had not moved. In the distance the storm around Ponyville finally began to clear, the town was plunged into total darkness. Roseluck could almost still hear the horrifying moaning of the zombies in her ears. She knew she was not the bravest of ponies, however, she never expected herself to break down after one measly dream. She still remembered the dark figure's words: You will be alone again. 
She whimpered, Whooves patted her on her shoulder. Only one can save you, the figure had said. She groaned silently, she did not want to be alone, not again. The Doctor and her were trailing behind the group.
"Listen," the Doctor said calmly, "I'm always here, if you need me."
Roseluck nodded and moved closer to him. "Thank you." She whispered.
"We're here." Dice called to them.
Roseluck looked up, a huge stone wall stood in front of them. Protruding from the ground around it were jagged rocks and worn pathways. A pitch black cave opened like a mouth at the bottom of the mountain, like Dice had said.
"We'll be safe in here." Dice stated. "There isn't one pony for miles around."
Laura whispered something to Dice, Roseluck could not hear it clearly, but, it sounded like "I hope."
Whooves approached them, Roseluck staggered alongside him. "Let's get settled then." He said.
The ponies trotted into the cave, it was pitch black, Laura illuminated her horn. The cave was bare, just three rocky walls, a stalactite covered ceiling and a rough floor. Whooves lay Roseluck down gently, she released her grip on his shoulder. He stared at her sympathetically.
He turned to Dice, who was examining the area. "She can't sleep here."
"What can I do? Magic up some pillows and a mattress? Can't your glowing blue pen do something?"
"It doesn't work like that. And it's a screwdriver."
Dice held up his hooves. "I'm sorry, I can't help you."
"It's fine." Roseluck said suddenly. "I'll be fine."
Whooves just looked at her for a moment, he opened his mouth to protest, but shut it again and nodded.
"Well, I ain't sure about you," Dice said, "but I'm ready to hit the hay." He walked over to a corner of the cave and lay back against the wall. Laura and Derpy sat down and lent back against the cave wall. Whooves looked out of the cave entrance one final time, then sluggishly walked to the opposite wall.
"Wait." Laura murmured. Whooves turned back to her, she shifted aside slightly. "Could you... I mean... you can sleep, um, over here, if you want."
"Sure." Whooves agreed, he stumbled back to her sleepily and lay by her side. "Sleep well."
Roseluck rested her head on the smooth wall, she shut her eyes and drifted off into sleep.

"Darkness is upon us," the figure hissed, "you must end the eternal night. Fear holds you back, only one can save you, you will be alone, again."
"No, not again!" Roseluck cried. The darkness enclosed on her, the figure turned and trotted away. "Wait! Please! Not again!"
She curled up on the cold floor and shut her eyes tightly. "Not again." She whispered.