Fluttershy Digs Deep

by MagicS

Mole Malarkey

Fluttershy woke up feeling rather woozy. Reaching a hoof to her head she realized two things: she wasn’t wearing her hardhat and she had a sizable and painful welt on her head.

“Ow!” Fluttershy winced as she accidentally ran her hoof over it. She frowned and sat where she was for a moment, still in darkness, and tried to collect herself. She remembered what had just happened but at least now she was a bit more calm since she wasn’t stuck. Although she still didn’t like not being able to see anything.

“Where’s the hardhat?” Fluttershy wondered as she began searching around the ground with her hooves. Even if the light was out she definitely still wanted it for her head. She carefully stood up and felt around to see how big the tunnel she was in was and was pleased to note that it was more than wide enough for her to walk easily in. The ceiling of it she wasn’t sure yet since she didn’t want to fly up, but she at least didn’t hit her head when standing so that was good enough for her for now.

It took her a bit of blindly flailing around but she did eventually find the hardhat. Unfortunately no matter how much she messed with the light it didn’t come back on. “Oh well...” Fluttershy sighed and put it on her head. Carefully since she didn’t want to nudge her bruise too badly.

Now she wasn’t sure if she was turned around either, so she had to figure out which way the air was flowing again. Sitting still she tested it again with a slightly saliva wetted hoof. Satisfied it was flowing in the direction she was facing, Fluttershy stood up and began slowly walking forward. Accidentally walking face first into a wall would not be pleasant. Because of that she really hoped another source of light would pop up for her soon. Whether it was some of that bioluminescent moss or otherwise. The air flow started to increase the further she walked, in a way where it actually felt a little windy and managed to make her mane blow around a bit. She was probably coming up to a large cavern where the air flowed much more freely.

To make sure she wasn’t just wandering off into a big open space, Fluttershy went over to the side of the tunnel and extended her wing, letting the feathers drag across the wall. With that and her hooves carefully feeling in front of her she at least knew she wasn’t going to fall off any treacherous cliff or anything like that. She kept her eyes wide open for any sign of light but for the moment it was still just utter blackness.

That’s when she felt the wall slightly curving at her feather tips. There was a turn in the tunnel.

“Good, please, please let me find something soon,” Fluttershy said to herself as she managed the curve.

And she was in luck. Dead ahead, maybe just a couple hundred feet at the most, was light. Now she was smart enough to not run directly at it but she still smiled widely and clasped her hooves to her chest for a moment. “Yay!”

Just knowing she actually had something to look forward to made her a lot happier. Knowing she wouldn’t be stuck in this dark cave forever was great. Fluttershy practically skipped along towards the light (but was still careful about where she stepped). When she got closer she saw the light split into a few different flickering points, and noticed the temperature was going up slightly. Flames? Closer still and she saw that the lights were a sequence of maybe about a dozen torches each lined up on both walls of the tunnel. Fluttershy withdrew her wing and walked into the center of the tunnel.

A different sort of sensation suddenly under her hooves caused her to look down. Instead of just the natural stone floor of the tunnel she was now walking across smooth cobblestone.

She had definitely come across something now.

And she could tell that the end of the tunnel was right beyond the last line of torches, it clearly opened up into a much larger cavern and Fluttershy was excited to see it. The snails and slugs had a real civilization down here but that was a bit miniature-sized for her. This was all looking more pony-sized. She didn’t know how big the moles were but she hoped this was their work she had stumbled upon.

Getting closer to exiting the tunnel, Fluttershy took a deep breath to steady herself. When that wasn’t enough she ended up stopping for a moment and taking a few more.

“Nothing to worry about, Fluttershy. The moles are going to be perfectly friendly. You’re going to find Angel and then you’re going to get out of here and go back home. Everything’s going to be okay,” she gulped. “I just wish my friends were here too right now.”

With a few more steps, Fluttershy stepped out of the tunnel and took a look around.

A cobblestone plaza spread out in front of her while buildings built on three different ascending levels lied to her right and left. Buildings may have been the wrong word though. It was more like the natural rock that had made up the cavern had been carved up, everything was still one big piece of rock, there just happened to be doors and windows, walking paths between the various levels, patios and balconies, and stairs going up and down them. Beyond this part of the “city”, past the plaza, she saw a large well in the center of the cavern that had multiple rope pulleys going into it, and past that on the far side of the cave were more carved out buildings and tunnels probably leading to more.

However there was something else. Fluttershy had to lean over a little bit to see it clearly past the well, but there was a structure built between the well and the far wall. Some kind of ziggurat by the looks of it. It was rectangular and rose up ten feet off the ground before sloping inwards and up ten more feet, leading to a flat top. There were large ceramic bowls placed at the four corners that had fires burning in them and a ramp leading from the bottom of the structure up to the very top. And at the very top of that structure there was a cage.

That had a little white figure inside it.

Fluttershy’s breath caught in her throat. “Angel!”

She ran now, ran across the cobblestone plaza, ran past the large well, ignoring everything else, and going straight for the ramp leading up the ziggurat. She looked up it and saw the most adorable and perfect rabbit friend staring at her from inside the cage and her face lit up with the biggest and warmest smile possible. Angel himself looked absolutely dumbstruck to see her here, his jaw dropped and he began trying to squeeze his way out of the cage.

“Don’t worry, Angel! I’m coming!” Fluttershy said and began to charge up the ramp.

“You may stop right zhere, creature!” A sharp and weaselly voice called out from behind her.

Fluttershy froze up and looked over her shoulder. Three creatures stood at the well, she hadn’t been able to see them from the other side. They were squat little things, squat and round and even though they stood on two legs they still weren’t as tall as Fluttershy. Two of them had short brown fur but the one in the middle had shaggy silver fur. And all three of them had beady little black eyes that did not look like they could see very well.

Naturally, Fluttershy thought they were kind of cute.

“Are you the moles? This is Moleville?” She asked them, fully turning to face them. She was doing her best to not let her natural shyness cripple her here. She had finally found Angel Bunny and she couldn’t fall apart now!

“Ve are, and you have zhe right of it,” the silver mole answered while his eyes narrowed at her. “And what are you?”

“Oh,” Fluttershy blinked, the accent he spoke with wasn’t too thick but it was still noticeable. “Well, I’m Fluttershy. A pony from Ponyville.”

“Fluttershy?”

“A pony from Ponyville?” The two other moles said to each other and then giggled.

Fluttershy didn’t frown, she smiled to show off her kindness. “Yes, that’s right.”

“And you vere about to steal zhe rabbit ve have captured,” the silver one said to her. “But, pony from Ponyville, ve knew you vere coming since before you entered our tunnel.”

He snapped his fingers and Fluttershy watched as all throughout Moleville, moles emerged from inside the carved out structures and homes. Dozens of them appeared on every level of the city, now all sticking their heads out and looking at her. And all around her on the plaza, stones on the ground slid away and moles came up from disguised holes. Forget dozens—there were hundreds of moles here now and all of them were watching Fluttershy.

“Oh dear...” Fluttershy gulped, a nervous and somewhat worried sweat breaking over her face. “There are a lot of you.”

“You are quite right about zhat. And yet you zhought you could just valk on in here and take our meal?” The silver one said.

“M-Meal?!” Fluttershy’s hooves shot up to her mouth in horror and she looked back up the ramp at the imprisoned Angel Bunny. “Y-You can’t possible mean-”

“Zhat is correct. Zhe rabbit shall soon become our food.”

“But why?! How could you do such a horrible and cruel thing! I know some animals and creatures need to eat meat but Angel is a thinking and feeling being! You can’t eat him! I know for a fact that moles like you are omnivores, you don’t need to do this!” Fluttershy wasn’t just afraid for her poor Angel Bunny, she was actually a little angry and she punctuated that with a hoof stomp on the ground.

“It’s none of your business! Ve have our reasons for vhy ve are eating that little rabbit you call Angel Bunny!” Silver Fur said.

Fluttershy grimaced and looked around at all the hundreds of moles that had emerged from the city. “But he’s just one rabbit, he can’t feed you all! What reason could you possibly have for eating my friend?”

“Bahahahaha!” Silver Fur laughed uproariously. “Foolish pony from Ponyville! Zhat rabbit will be made into rabbit stew! Our ceremonial feast vill commence vith him boiled and mixed in with a grand bowl of stew zhat shall feed every mole in Moleville!”

Fluttershy went green in the face and almost threw up. Up in the cage on top of the ziggurat, Angel’s ears drooped and he looked on with worry, hoping Fluttershy would save him somehow.

“T-There’s absolutely no way I can let you eat Angel,” Fluttershy said, finding her courage and shaking her head. “I-If you have some kind of big ceremony that you have to do well I’m sorry—you’re going to have to postpone it and find something else to eat.”

Up above, Angel enthusiastically nodded his head.

Silver Fur however was not so easily swayed. He and all the other moles Fluttershy could see shook their heads in unison.

“No, no, no, no, pony and rabbit. Ve shall not be giving up our prize from above so easily.”

“Prize! Prize!” The other moles all chorused.

“The prize delivered to us from the above world!” Another mole yelled from the crowd.

“We can not forsake what has been given to us in our time of need!” Another shouted.

“We shall have our stew! Stew! Stew! Stew!”

Fluttershy looked around in a panic as the moles all joined in. They were very adamant about this.

She then frowned and looked back at Silver Fur. “Wait, how come none of them have the same accent as you?”

“I bit my tongue earlier today.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy blinked and then shook her head. “Oh, that’s not important right now!”

“It does not matter vhat you zhink is important,” Silver Fur chortled. “Zhat rabbit fell into our vorld, right into our grasp at zhe perfect time. Vhen ve vere in need ve vere given an answer! He shall be the perfect sacrifice zhat will fix all of our problems!”

Fluttershy gulped but thought at the same time. Sacrifice? Time of need? Whatever was going on with these moles clearly wasn’t normal. “Y-You all are obviously dealing with something very problematic for you… b-but I certainly can’t condone behavior like this!” She turned slightly and lifted a hoof to point at Angel. “That rabbit up there is my precious friend and I know he didn’t do anything to deserve this. And now I would very much like it if you freed him and let the two of us go on our way. E-Even if you don’t want to do that I would be happy to peacefully talk things out with you, so long as you stop threatening to put him in a stew.”

Waves of agitated grumbling swept over the moles, they kept shaking their heads and she could see Silver Fur and the others around him spitting “no” out between breaths. It grew louder and louder until deafening shouts of no boomed across all of Moleville. They all swayed from side to side like a metronome, possessed with the desire to turn Angel Bunny into rabbit stew and utterly refusing to see reason.

“Rabbit stew!” Silver Fur shouted.

“Rabbit stew!” The city chorused.

“Rabbit soup!” Silver Fur cried.

“Rabbit soup!” The city echoed.

Silver Fur raised his stubby little arms up towards the cage atop the ziggurat. “Our ceremony shall nooooot beeeee stoooooped!”

Fluttershy quickly glanced around as it suddenly sounded like music was now being played. “Oh, more singing? Well that’s okay I suppose.” She raised an eyebrow.

We are here today for our glorious feast! Nothing else in Moleville matters but what we will eat!~
A once in a lifetime ceremony that can’t be missed! Fortune favors us, or why else would we have received this gift?~

Silver Fur sang the first two lines before he was joined in by the chorus of every other mole in Moleville.

Rabbit Stew! Rabbit Soup!~
Rabbit Stew! Rabbit Soup!~
The sacrifice for us!~
The ceremony for us!~

Silver Fur then again took center stage, all the other moles bowing down around him to make sure he had the spotlight. He let out a surprisingly deep bellow and an operatic voice emerged from his throat:

That rabbit from above fell right into our hands and now will be the centerpiece to deliver us from disaster!~
All of our troubles will be a thing from the past as now we have found what will save us!~
This is not some simple food or feast, this is what our city truly needs!~
There is nothing to do but prepare the bowl and prepare the ingredients and prepare the rabbit that was given to us!~

For Rabbit Stew and Rabbit Soup!~
For our city!~
For our ceremony!~
And for us!~

The chorus quieted down as Silver Fur waltzed right up to Fluttershy.

Some pony from Ponyville will not take our prize, the thing given to us to help stop our demise!~
We will boil the rabbit, stir the rabbit, eat the rabbit, and Moleville will be saved!~

Fluttershy’s hooves were trembling, but much to her own surprise she didn’t back down. She couldn’t back down. With a single glance back at Angel Bunny she knew what she had to do. So she steeled herself and took a deep breath:

So you moles just won’t listen?~
No not one little bit?~
Well let me tell you why that isn’t going to fit!~

Fluttershy stomped a hoof down on the ground.

My name is Fluttershy from Ponyville and some call me a pushover~
But that doesn’t mean I would let anyone eat my friend~
So I’m taking Angel Bunny and that. Is. The end!~

“Bahahaha!” Silver Fur laughed. “You vish to challenge us zhrough song? Very vell, zhe mole ceremonial song battle shall now take place and to the vinner goes zhe rabbit!”

“Fine!” Fluttershy said. “We’ll settle this through song! If I win you’ll keep your promise and let me leave with Angel Bunny.”

“Yes, pony. Ve vill not go back on our word,” Silver Fur chuckled.

Fluttershy took another deep breath. “Then I’ll start.” She looked back at Angel Bunny and smiled. “Don’t worry, Angel, I’m going to rescue you.” She turned back around and faced Silver Fur and all the other moles, putting on her best serious face.

There’s just too many things wrong with eating my friend~
Whether you’re in trouble or not you can’t gobble him down~
It wouldn’t be right at all and on this I will not bend!~
So that’s why Fluttershy from Ponyville is putting her hoof… down~

Fluttershy gulped, knowing that wasn’t the best.

Silver Fur smiled and sinisterly spat on the ground. “Rhyming down vith down? I’m afraid you’ll have to do better zhan zhat. Now it’s our turn.”

This is our sacred ceremony that will only happen once!~
Food, food, and food for all to make our problems go away!~
Nothing like this in Moleville has happened before, this is no mere farce!~
Special rabbit stew made in a way to save the day, we pray~

Fluttershy bit her lip but continued on.

So that first verse may not have been great, I’ll admit to that indeed~
But that doesn’t mean I’ll stop anytime soon, you better believe!~
When it comes to my friends there’s nothing I won’t do~
So you moles will just have to see that for Angel Bunny I’ll never let you make rabbit stew~

Waves of murmurs went through the moles while Silver Fur frowned, but it wasn’t over yet.

Well what matters to the pony doesn’t matter to the moles~
Here you are in Moleville so we’ll make you live by our rules~
This is more important to us than you could possibly know~
We will not give up our rabbit stew so soon you just have to go!~

Fluttershy shook her head.

That won’t work on me, I know how to be stubborn~
I have my friends to teach me and think about all the time~
So when it comes to helping someone you’ll see how hot I can burn~
Fluttershy is not a pushover and to be one now would be a crime!~

She didn’t stop there either, going right into another verse.

Angel Bunny is a sweet thing even though sometimes he can be sour~
The thought of you eating my precious friend makes me very dour~
It’s obvious you have problems right now and I’m very sorry to hear
And while I can’t let this ceremony commence I would still love to lend an ear~

Silver Fur clenched his hands into fists and grit his teeth.

Now look right here you pony outsider our problems are not yours to fix!~
We know what we need to do and you’re just getting in our way!~
No matter how you sing, no matter what you say, you aren’t getting that rabbit, just read my lips!~
If you think you can stop us and our feast, you might find yourself boiling too someday!~

All the moles cheered in response and more choruses of “Rabbit Stew” rang out.

Fluttershy however just huffed and flapped her wings, rising above Silver Fur and the moles.

Maybe you’ve forgotten this or never really learned~
But a little bit of kindness can go quite a long ways~
If you just give me a chance I can help you with what has you so dismayed~
The only thing you need to do is free Angel Bunny from this cage today!~

Silver Fur tried to sing some more but Fluttershy cut him off. She smiled as she now flew all over the crowd and around the buildings and the rest of Moleville while the moles looked on in wonder, listening to her song.

Down here in Moleville it may be dark but that doesn’t mean it can’t be bright and warm in your hearts~
I can teach you, I can help you, there’s no need to be afraid! Perhaps I’m the real gift for your time of need~
Angel Bunny doesn’t deserve this, he’s far too kind and sweet, making rabbit stew can’t be the only way, so please let me play my part~
I’m sorry about your ceremony and I’m sorry about your plans, but I will surely fix things for you so please just have faith in meeee~

Fluttershy sand as she came to a rest before Silver Fur and right in front of the ziggurat. She smiled, genuinely, at him.

“Well, what do you say?” She asked.

Silver Fur glowered for a second, clenching and unclenching his fists and grinding his teeth, he tried to look everywhere but at Fluttershy before finally giving up and sighing in defeat. “Very vell… you vin pony. Zhe song battle is over. You may take your rabbit back...”

Fluttershy however didn’t fly up to Angel immediately, she stepped forward and put a hoof on Silver Fur’s shoulder. “That’s not what I asked. Will you let me help you too?”

Up above, Angel Bunny gawked in disbelief and started squeaking up a storm, but Fluttershy did her best to ignore his angry ranting for now.

“You… you vould truly help us after ve almost cooked and ate your friend?” Silver Fur asked.

“Well, I can tell you must be going through some big problems, and everyone makes mistakes. Right now I’m just happy I got here before that happened. So let’s consider it as water under the bridge,” she smiled brightly at him and all the other moles.

“You are too kind, Fluttershy from Ponyville. Go and retrieve your friend now. Ve can talk when zhe two of you have caught up. Zhe cage is unlocked, zhe top is just two heavy for him to lift.”

“Thank you!” Fluttershy beamed and turned to run up there, but paused for a brief second and looked back over her shoulder at him. “Oh, and what’s your name?”

“Silver Fur.”

Fluttershy blinked. “Oh, there’s a nice coincidence.”

She then ran up the ziggurat’s ramp, bounding along on her hooves with a huge smile on her face as she looked up at Angel, who was stretching his tiny little arms through the gaps in the cage. Finally she reached the cage and pressed her cheek right up against the bars where he was. “Angel! I’m so glad to finally find you! You just don’t know how happy I am to see that you’re okay!”

He rolled his eyes and stomped his big foot a few times, pointing up to the top of the cage.

“Oh, right, of course,” Fluttershy sheepishly blushed and reached up, lifting open the top of the cage upon which Angel Bunny finally leaped out and stood right next to her.

Well Fluttershy didn’t let him just stand there for long. With a giddy laugh she swept him up into a big hug. “I was so worried when I heard what happened!”

Angel Bunny gagged exaggeratedly and pushed his way out of her grip. Back on the top platform of the ziggurat he angrily stomped his foot again and pointed at the moles, then pointed up at the ceiling of the huge cavern.

Fluttershy shook her head, a sad frown on her face. “No, Angel. I’m sorry but we can’t leave yet.”

Angel’s jaw dropped and he started squeaking in annoyance, gesturing again at the moles.

“I said I would help them and I meant it.”

He threw his arms out wide and mimed them tying him up and then started chomping at empty air.

“I know they were going to eat you and that was wrong of them. But they were desperate, I don’t think they’re really bad creatures.”

Angel Bunny groaned and threw himself onto his back.

“Something bad has clearly happened to them here and I want to find out what. It’s the right thing to do, Angel. I’m sorry but you know me, I can’t just leave creatures in need like this. We’re going to still be in these caves for a little while longer.”

Angel leaned his head up and glared at her before jumping up onto her hardhat. He thumped it with his foot a few times before sliding down onto her back and folding his little arms.

“Ow… you don’t need to be like that. But fine, I know you’ve been through a lot so I’ll carry you for now at least. I need to talk to Silver Fur again.”

Fluttershy trotted back down the ramp with Angel on her back (the bunny giving the evil eye to every mole that happened to be around) in an effort to speak with Silver Fur. The mole looked very bashful and guilty, as did the rest of the denizens of Moleville. Fluttershy however did her best to keep her kindest and most understanding smile on her face. She cleared her throat once she got to him and waited until he had found the spirit to look her in the eye.

“Would you please tell me what’s happened to you moles? I forgive you for trying to eat Angel and now all I want to do is help.”

From on her back, Angel snorted in annoyance.

“Your kindness is a special zhing to vitness… truly ve do not deserve your forgiveness, but zhank you for it. Ve have vronged you and your friend and zhere is no way for us to make amends,” Silver Fur glumly responded.

Fluttershy frowned and again put a sympathetic hoof on his shoulder. “That’s okay, you just have to pay it forward one day in the future. Remember to be kind to others and you’ll have done more than enough.” She smiled. “Does that sound okay?”

For once, a true smile appeared on Silver Fur’s face. “Yes. I believe ve moles can do zhat.”

“Yes! Yes!” Waves of agreement spread through the other moles.

Fluttershy clapped her hooves together and giggled. “I’m so happy to hear that!”

Angel rolled his eyes.

“And now...” Silver Fur started. “I shall tell you vhy zhis has all started in zhe first place. Vhy ve vere putting on such a ceremony.”

A more serious look appeared on Fluttershy’s face and she made a small gulp. “Please.”

Silver Fur sighed deeply, staring at the ground for a moment before looking imploringly back into her eyes. “Our food is… gone. You vere right about us being omnivores. Ve moles had a large farm in another cavern past zhe tunnels at zhe ozher end of zhis one. But only a few days ago… zhe ground opened up beneath it. Everyzhing shook all over, huge fissures and cracks appeared and swallowed up our crops! Zhe entire farm was destroyed! So many moles vere zhere vhile it happened and almost got swallowed up too!”

Fluttershy gasped and clasped her hooves over her mouth. “But why? How did that happen?”

“Zhe moles zhat vere zhere said zhat… somezhing emerged from below.”

“Something?”

Silver Fur nodded. “Creatures made of rocks. Living, moving rocks zhat tore apart zhe ground and came from zhese new tunnels and fissures. Zhey destroyed zhe farm and left just as quickly vith no explanation. All zhe moles zhere said zhey said nozhing and took nozhing. Zhey only destroyed and left. Even vhen my fellow moles screamed in terror zhe rocks did not care and nozhing was left as it vas vhen zhey vere done. All of our crops vere destroyed and zhe farmlands so ruined nozhing else could be planted. Zhe new tunnels zhat vere made by zhe rock monsters all collapsed in on zhemselves save for one or two. But ve did not dare to go searching in after zhem.”

“I’m so sorry about your farms,” Fluttershy sadly looked around at the moles. “And you have no idea why those rock monsters appeared or where they even came from?”

Silver Fur shook his head. “No. Ve had no idea zhere vas anyzhing below us. Our own caves and tunnels run no deeper zhan zhis.” Silver Fur frowned. “Ve zhought ve vere at zhe bottom of zhe world.”

Fluttershy could understand that. She had already gone deeper underground than she ever could imagine. But it sounded like there were more things even deeper. And if she wanted to help these moles and do the right thing… she was going to have to go down there.

“And so because of all that you went searching for food? But I still don’t understand what was so special about Angel.”

“It vas a calamity unlike any ozher zhat had befallen us. Ve zhought it vas zhe end times!” Silver Fur exclaimed. “Ve gazhered all zhe little remaining food ve had and placed it in a gigantic bowl inside our temple.” He gestured to the ziggurat. Fluttershy hadn’t seen any door or any way inside it but it must’ve been on the other side or hidden somewhere. “Ve zhought a big enough ceremony vith enough vorship could bring us our fortune back. And if nozhing else it vould at least be a grand meal ve could all partake in...”

“But why Angel?” Fluttershy repeated again, still not getting it.

"Ve vent foraging zhroughout zhe caves, finding anyzhing ve could to eat and add to zhe bowl. Zhe feast needed to be special! Once in a lifetime! No normal meager ingredients vould suffice, ve needed somezhing special to sacrifice to appease vhatever forces of chaos ve had angered...”

“And then Angel...”

“It vas like a miracle! Out close to zhe surface zhat ve never dare venture to! Zhe rabbit fell right into our grasp,” Silver Fur explained. “Ve could not pass it up… he truly looked like a gift from above for us to use in zhe ceremony...”

Fluttershy put a hoof on her chest and gave a sigh of relief. “Well I’m glad I could at least change your mind about that. Oh—but now I’m worried! How much food do you have left to last all of you?”

Silver Fur looked despondent. “Only a few days if ve ration. Vater ve have plenty of, food is almost gone but ve perhaps can scrounge more from zhe caves...”

“Oh dear… I know there are things like moss down here… and a very large flower field up the way I came. But I don’t know if it will be enough to feed all of you moles,” Fluttershy sadly said as she looked around at them. She bit her lip and mulled the conundrum over before giving a small nod to herself. “I can still help you though. After I find out what those rock monsters were and why this happened, Angel and I will get out of these caves and I’ll go to my friend Twilight Sparkle for help.”

“Vhat vill one more pony do for us?” Silver Fur raised an uncertain eyebrow.

Fluttershy smiled. “Don’t you worry, Twilight can do anything. She’s a Princess up above where I come from and she can definitely find a way to get the food you need and I even bet fix up your farms too. Even before she became a Princess she could do anything. Trust me, I’ll get her help and then everything will be okay!”

Silver Fur still looked a little unsure but he nodded. “Ve vill trust you, pony. At zhis point ve have no reason not to. Zhank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Fluttershy beamed. She took another breath as she realized what she had to do now. Something that she didn’t exactly want to do. But it was her duty. It was what she needed to do as a good and kind pony because she couldn’t live with herself otherwise. “O-Okay… may you please direct me to where the farm was? I want to find these tunnels so I can follow the rock monsters.”

She almost fainted hearing herself speak those words and Angel angrily started tugging on her mane.

“Yes, Angel, I know. Stop it.”

Angel Bunny grumbled but complied.

“Zhe biggest tunnel at zhe end of our Moleville cave vill take you to our destroyed farm. I shall show it to you, but ve moles dare not travel to it ourselves anymore.”

At that, Angel started squeaking in annoyance again and pointing at the moles.

“It’s perfectly okay of them to not want to go back there,” Fluttershy said to him. “They’re just afraid, I understand.”

Angel thumped on her back.

“Of course I’m a little scared too, but we have to do this.”

Angel gave up, throwing his arms out in disbelief and collapsing, draping himself over her back. Fluttershy gave him a little smile and then looked back at Silver Fur. “Let’s go, I’ll help get to the bottom of this.”

---

Fluttershy stepped out from the large tunnel and into a disaster zone. Piles of broken apart rocks and shattered ground greeted her in every direction. The faintest colors of green, yellow, and red from former happily growing vegetables were scattered all over, mostly buried underneath rubble and sickly rotting away. What was once a wide open cavern with the even and dependable ground needed to grow crops on was now a tumultuous and chaotic mess. The hours and molepower it would take just to move all the rocks and get things back in order was immense. And even then the soil looked so destroyed and ripped apart that nothing would grow here easily again. The one thing in the entire cavern that wasn’t destroyed was a gigantic torch hanging from the ceiling that lit it all up for her. And that wouldn’t help her when she found the tunnel she needed to enter to go even deeper and follow the rock monsters that did all this.

Some more aggravated thumping on her back made Fluttershy roll her eyes. “Yes, Angel. We’re still going to help them. I know it looks bad in here but… from what Silver Fur told me I think it may have all been accidental.”

More thumping.

“No, I’m not basing that on anything. It’s just a hunch. And, well, you know me. I just want to believe the best of everyone. And that includes rock monsters.”

Angel Bunny blew a raspberry in her ear and went back to pouting.

Fluttershy sighed and started walking over the destroyed farm. “Let’s just find a tunnel going down.”

The problem was that most of the newly made fissures and everything had caved in on themselves. Everything was just covered in dirt and rocks and the one small tunnel she did see in the ground only went a few feet deep before it too had collapsed on the bottom. Fluttershy flew up a little and looked around the walls of the cavern. A lot of it seemed close to collapsing too, she wouldn’t have been surprised if this whole place had a big cave-in soon. But as long as she could safely get to the tunnels below here where the rock monsters first emerged from then she should be okay. This land below Equestria was already a whole new world for her and now here she was about to enter a whole new world even below this.

And now with a bit of a vantage point she could spy just what she needed. Fluttershy peered over the rocks and torn up farm to see a tunnel that still looked preserved and stable. It was nestled at the junction of floor and wall of the cavern on the far side of the farm and she flew over to it immediately. Plopping down on her hooves, she took a more detailed appraisal of it. Big enough where numerous ponies could walk side by side in, and thanks to the torchlight she could tell it definitely sloped down.

How safe was it though? If it was made by the rock monsters they had torn through quite a lot to make it. Unlike the other tunnels it hadn’t collapsed either, so maybe it was okay?

Fluttershy licked her hoof and held it up, sure enough, she could feel air flowing into the tunnel.

“I think this is where we need to go, Angel.” Fluttershy smiled.

Angel tugged on her mane a little and pointed at her hardhat, specifically the light on it.

“Umm… actually, the light is out of juice. It won’t turn on anymore.”

Angel started bapping her cheek with a vein popping out of his forehead.

“Ow! Stop that! I know I probably should have said something earlier but it wasn’t exactly on my mind… um, I’m not sure how we’re going to get through a deep dark cave like this now. Maybe we can ask the moles for a torch?”

Her bunny friend squeaked and squeaked as he tried to convince her to just give up and ditch these moles.

“No, Angel. And I’m not going to say it again,” she frowned at him. “Besides, the way the both of us came in collapsed. So I don’t know how we’ll get back to the surface right this moment anyways.”

Angel Bunny groaned and shook his head, rubbing his face in his hands.

“Look on the bright side, Angel. I finally found you and we’re both okay! We’re together and you know I’ll do anything to make sure the both of us stay safe and sound. Things are definitely looking up.”

The moment she said that a rumbling sound came from above. Fluttershy and Angel both looked up as slightly above and to the left of the tunnel they were getting ready to go down, the cavern wall of rock and dirt started to crack. A second later the wall broke apart and a volume of dirt and rocks shot out, followed by a white pony. She fell with a thud onto the ground and wheezed in pain but before she could get up, another pink pony came flying out of the hole and landed on her with an oomph, finally one more gray pony came shooting out and landed on the both of them, causing the pink and white pony to groan together.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy whispered while Angel gawked.

Slowly and methodically, the very familiar gray earth pony picked herself up and stood off to the side, dusting off the frock she wore.

After that, the somewhat familiar pink unicorn got off the white unicorn she had landed on and took a seat on the ground, rubbing her back.

And lastly, the unfamiliar white unicorn with a bright yellow mane and tail and a black bow on her head stood up on shaky legs, her eyes swimming about in her head.

“That could’ve gone so much better,” Amethyst Star said as she stood up and looked around. “Maud? Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Maud replied in her usual monotone.

“I’m fine too, but nobody bother asking me,” the white unicorn said as she groaned and dusted herself off.

“Sorry, Daylight,” Amethyst Star winced. “Must’ve been bad being on the bottom...”

“It was,” Daylight Gleam frowned at her. “Just one more annoying occurrence I can blame on you.”

Amethyst Star now frowned right back at her. “Hey! This whole thing is your fault you know?”

“I disagree on that.”

“Excuse me-,” Maud interrupted their argument. “But we have company. Hi, Fluttershy.”

The other two looked over at Fluttershy and Angel while the pegasus in question blushed and waved back at them.

“Hi Maud, and hi… Amethyst Star, right?” She asked and then looked over at the white unicorn. “And Amethyst said you were Daylight?”

“Fluttershy?!” Amethyst Star shouted and ran right up to her before Daylight could respond. “What in Celestia’s name are you doing down here?”

“It’s...” Fluttershy looked back at Angel and giggled. “It’s a bit of a long story.”

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Will there be any Undertale references?

[GTthe4th]

Daylight? Maud? Amethyst Star?

...There's a story behind this, and I just know it'll be good.

[redmar]

I'm sure that this will be an interesting story. I like how stoic Maud is and that she noticed Fluttershy while the other two were bickering.

[RoboRed]

And here I was wondering how Daylight would make an appearance in this story. Suddenly, friends! Yay!

Also Angel Bunny acquired! Yay!