• Published 13th May 2012
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Austraeoh - Imploding Colon

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The red glow from Rainbow's pendant was swallowed by an immense darkness as she emerged from the thin corridor. She realized that the chamber was not only large, but it was naturally formed. The minotaurs only dug a path straight to it.

She felt a coldness settling about the place. She shivered slightly, gazing all around as her pendant's glow wafted across the vast cavern. There was no telling which was was north or south. As much as she could imagine, a pegasus could fly in any direction down there and not find anything.

“Hmmm...” She clenched her jaw and hovered, dead still. “This has gotta lead somewhere. What's the point of the tunnel that brought us here if not to—”

She stopped in mid-speech upon hearing something. It was the sound of trickling water, almost like an entire stream was bubbling beneath her.

Gazing down, she aimed the pendant towards the earth's core. Its rosy light glittered off a solid body of water. It was an underground river—amazingly wide and deep—and it was leading towards the right of the corridor exit. She realized that she wasn't the first to discover it, for upon closer inspection she spotted an abandoned camp full of mining tools, wooden boxes, metal supplies, and even a dock. The pier stretched twenty feet into the river, and two large boats made of oak planks were moored to the thing.

“Heh... Well, that's ubertastical.” She smirked.

“What is it, Miss Dash?” Astral's voice called from the corridor's exit. “What do you see?”

“You guys can come out now!” She shouted back. “It's safe! Also, you won't believe what I've found!”

Slowly, the group trotted down the steep hill of rock until all twenty-nine of them were gathered beneath Rainbow's hovering feature.

“Unless it's a buffet table of roasted squirrel, I'm not sure I'm gonna be impressed,” Red Turnip Sr remarked.

“Huh? What?” Rocktrot woke with an adorable yawn. “Is it breakfast time?”

“No, son, it's inexplicable underground river time.”

“Oh.” The foal blinked from atop his dad's spine. “Well, that's cool too.”

“Undoubtedly the minotaurs left these boats behind,” Astral said. “We can definitely make use out of the tools and maybe dig our way out of here—”

“Dude! Is the horn the only part of your head that's bright?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with a heavy shrug. “We should make use out of their boats instead!”

The unicorns glanced at each other. One of them looked up. “What for?”

“Think about it!” Rainbow Dash pointed. “Those things are made of oak! That's some heavy lumber to be carrying all the way down here just to go hunting for crawfish!”

“You think there's something way down there?” Red Turnip Sr pointed down the flowing river. “Another camp, perhaps?”

“Seems stupid of them to dig so deep without making another route out of this place!” Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

“What are you proposing we do?” Astral asked.

“What else?” She toutched down on the pier and started undoing the ropes that moored the boats in place. “How are your sea legs?”

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