Twilight hit the ground hard and let out a cough as dust around her began to settle. She opened her eyes and began to look around, but could not see anything due to the ground above them having caved in. To her surprise they were not completely buried, but she attributed that to Sigma not actually wanting to kill them.
"Is everypony alright?" Twilight asked.
"Yes." Rarity and Fluttershy said together.
"Me too!" Pinkie coughed. "Whoever lived here needs to hire a maid."
"I think I'm alright, something broke my fall."
"Where the hell is Tucker so I can kick his ass?" Tex asked.
"Ow, who stepped on my tail?" Rarity asked.
"Sorry Rarity, I think that might have been me." Pinkie giggled. "Wow it sure is dark in here! I can't even see my hooves in front of my face. Hey who bumped into me?"
"Sorry Pinkie, I-I didn't mean to." Fluttershy stuttered, beginning to grow fearful of the darkness. "Twilight can you p-please make it lighter in here?"
"Give me a second." Twilight said as she began to concentrate.
"Is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked.
"Something is interfering with my magic. Rarity can you do anything?"
"Give me a moment, I think I chipped my hoof." Rarity moaned quietly.
"Anything?" Twilight asked after a few seconds.
"I cannot use my magic either."
"Hang on, I got this." Spike grunted as he felt around the area. He picked up a root and blew fire onto it, creating a green-flamed torch.
"Good job Spike." Rarity said with a smile.
"I guess I'll have to thank Delta for telling me to take you." Twilight nodded. "Where's Tucker?"
"Getting sat on." Tucker muffled.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that." Rainbow Dash said quickly, hopping to her hooves.
"Sure you didn't." Tucker said with a sly wink. "Don't worry, I'm sure that won't be the only time that'll happen to us."
"You can't tell me that he doesn't get on your nerves all the time." Tex grunted.
"Yeah he does, but he's fun to have around." Rainbow Dash said with a rough laugh. "And when he does make me angry I just hit him."
"You know, maybe you aren't that bad." Tex said with a cruel laugh.
"Holy shit, did Tex just compliment someone?" Tucker asked with genuine surprise.
"Hey jackass, why didn't you try flying away when you started to fall?"
"Fuck you, that's why."
"Hey I told you not to move." Tex grunted as she hit Tucker on the back of his head. "Sigma couldn't have dug this up this fast, could he?"
"No, this tunnel seems natural." Twilight said as she inspected the walls. "Even so, we should be careful. Since he made it so we fell in here there are probably even more traps down here."
"I do not think that I like this Sigma pony." Rarity said as she wiped the dust off of her mane. "He ruined my hooficure and made an absolute mess out of my mane."
"So, uh, what do we do now?" Tucker asked.
"Well since we can't fly or use magic I guess we'll just have to walk. Spike do you think you could make us a few more torches?" Twilight asked.
"Sure!" Spike said enthusiastically as he ran around, tearing out loose roots in the ground. "Who wants one?"
"I'll take one." Tex said.
Spike quickly set the tip of the root aflame and gave it to Tex, who gave a small nod to him.
"Ooh ooh, can you make mine pink?" Pinkie asked.
Spike turned to Twilight who was making large hoof gestures for him to tell her off.
"Sorry Pinkie, my fire isn't pink. Guess that means you don't get one."
"Aw." Pinkie pouted, before smiling and hopping next to Tex. "That's okay, I'll just share with Alli- I mean Tex!"
"Nu-uh." Tex said, pulling her hoof away from Pinkie. "That's not going to fly."
"Of course it isn't silly, it doesn't have any wings!"
"You remind me a lot of Caboose..." Tex muttered.
"Really?" Pinkie gasped. "Ohmygoodness, we haven't thrown you a party yet!"
Tex shook her head in disbelief. Could she really be as stupid as him?
"Which way are we going to go?" Tucker asked as he grabbed a torch from Spike. "How about this way?"
Tucker stepped on a large rock and it quickly sank into the ground. Rainbow Dash grabbed Tucker by the tail and pulled him back just as a spike shot out of a hole in the wall right next to where Tucker was standing.
"Watch where you're going, idiot." Tex grunted.
"Okay, seriously, what the fuck? I can't be the only one wondering how the fuck he set all this up?"
"This wasn't set up by Sigma." Twilight said nervously.
"How do you know that?"
"Look at the wooden spike. It's covered in dust and cobwebs. Whoever set this up set it up a while ago." Twilight said as she observed the spike. Something about it caught her eye and she tore it out of the wall to examine it further.
"Stop wasting time, we need to get out of here." Tex said as she began to walk further down that path.
"Wait." Twilight muttered. She turned to Fluttershy and pointed the spike at her, causing her to go on her knees and cover her eyes. "Fluttershy, look."
"What?" Fluttershy peeped as she shakily lifted her hoof to look at it. There was a small shine to the tip and it looked mucus green. She hesitantly took the spike out of Twilight's hoof. "What is it?"
"Think back about a month or so ago."
"A month?"
"With Grif."
"O-okay." Fluttershy said, staring curiously at it. her eyes widened after a few seconds and gasped.
"What is it?" Tucker asked.
"The traps appear to be coated with the secretion that the timberwolves have on their teeth."
"Secretion?" Tex asked.
"It's a bacteria that the timberwolves have on their teeth that give them a poisonous bite that eventually turns you into a tree."
"Why the hell didn't mention this when I went to fight them?" Tex asked angrily.
"You told me not to help you and to stay out of your way, so that's what I did. I thought that's what you wanted Allison." Twilight said, putting an emphasis on her name with a smirk.
"Hey guess what, you don't have your magic down here to help you, so if you want to stay alive I suggest you stop being a bitch. It's not like you would do anything with your weak ass horn anyways considering you're a coward."
"Excuse me?" Twilight snapped. "The only reason I haven't done anything about your attitude is because Church loves you and I don't want to see him get hurt more than he already has. You're the one who is a coward."
"Me, a coward?" Tex scoffed.
"Yes, you're a coward. Church deserves so much better than you."
"I knew that's what this is about." Tex laughed, taking a step towards Twilight. "You're jealous of me."
"What?" Twilight yelled.
"Yeah, I can tell by that tone. You like Church and I bet it just burns you up that he loves me, doesn't it? Well guess what, he doesn't love you and he never will, so why don't you be a good little girl and step down. You're useless here and we need someone to lead us that isn't completely defenseless."
Twilight brought back her hoof and punched Tex in the face. Tex crashed to the ground and glared at Twilight, who was wearing a smirk on her muzzle.
"I may not have my magic, but don't think that makes me defenseless." Twilight said defensively. "And the only feeling I have towards you is not that of jealousy, but that of pity. I pity you Allison."
"Ooh, I like this new you." Tex chuckled as she got to her hooves and cracked her neck. "Now it's my turn."