My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, its characters, setting, and story all belong to Hasbro, Lauren Faust, and present directors and artists. Please understand that much of the content of this work is due largely to their work and creative genius. I take very little credit for anything else besides storyline; consequently, if you enjoy this work, then I believe you should support the original masterpiece of the show tenfold, if not more.

Twilight hit the ground with a terrible thump. Echoes swirled down a narrow hall, carrying the howl father than the sound of her landing. A cold, damp air surrounded her as though she had stumbled into a freezer. As Twilight lie with the air knocked out of her lungs, she quickly noticed two things: first, that the cry that had echoed sounded like that of a deeper voice than hers; and second, that her landing felt unexpectedly cushioned. She was grateful as it possibly protected her from any severe injury.

“What was that?” came a feminine voice from the darkness nearby.

“Something... just fell... on top of me,” groaned a deeper voice, reverberating whatever it was Twilight had landed on.

Gasping for air, Twilight managed to whimper, “Vinyl? Pokey?”

“Twilight?” questioned Vinyl in wonder. Her hoofsteps against the compact soil drew closer, though the pattering of her steps suggested more wandering than drawing close. “Where'd you come from?”

“I don't know!” said Twilight after finally catching her breath and lifting herself off of Pokey. The scent of the earthy air filled her nose, which she did not mind in the moment. “I’m sorry, Pokey Pierce. First I was looking at the scroll on the doors outside, and next thing I know I was falling down-”

“Same with us!” Vinyl exclaimed. “What the hay is going on here?”

Twilight looked up in hopes of seeing exactly where she had fallen from. To her dismay nothing greeted her eyesight but the same blackness that encompassed her and her company.

“Do we have any clues about where we are?” Twilight inquired.

But the others stood in complete silence.

“Have you been able to look around?” she pursued.

Once again, no answers.

“You mean none of you know how to create a light with your horn or anything?” Twilight asked dully, feeling both confused and yet unsurprised. She continued, disgruntled, “All right, I'll do it.”

With a deep breath, Twilight focused on igniting a ball of light just at the tip of her horn. She remembered the exact spell – a very elementary one – and closed her eyes, focusing on it as best she could. After a moment she opened her eyes again and saw the figures of the others standing not a few hoofs’ reach away. Their faces turned away for a moment and returned, revealing heads lowered in shame and eyes heavy with fatigue.

Twilight’s nose crinkled as her eyes crossed to observe the light she created.

“Why isn't this brighter?” she murmured nervously. “Usually it's about as strong as any old torch.”

“You’re probably as worn out as the rest of us,” Vinyl said. “Our energy's runnin’ low from the trip and all. Let's just figure out how to get outta here.”

“Easier said than done,” said Stormchaser, revealing his cold, tenor voice.

“Well, we can't climb back out the way we came,” Twilight stated, to which the others gave unimpressed stares. Twilight tried to laugh to ease the tension, but saw that no spirits were lifted. “Have you guys explored the area at all?”

“In the dark?” Vinyl asked, which made Twilight blush. “It looks like the end of the line behind you, so there's only one way to go.”

Twilight took a moment to examine the space, noting the wide semicircular passage surrounded by tightly packed earth. She walked along its course and noted the wide gap beginning to narrow. After a minute of careful treading the group encountered faded grays and smooth surfaces of a pony-built corridor. The brickwork was basic and broken up, appearing similar to the dull rock that spotted the underground passageway.

It offered little in terms of comfort as the shabby tunnel seemed ready to collapse on itself. Rigid columns held the stone ceiling panels in place, though a number were chipped or altogether broken. The odors of the buried soils began mixing with ones far more foul. Twilight ceased breathing through her nostrils as much as she could to avoid the stench of something rotten. The stink became so heavy that it touched against her tongue, to which Twilight nearly gagged.

“What do you suppose all this is?” asked Pokey Pierce as he inspected the place. He seemed hardly affected by the reek.

Twilight shook her head slowly. “I don't know. Does the castle have a basement of some sort that we may have stumbled into?”

“Maybe Princess Luna knew that students would try and peek at the results, so she built this all as a trap!” Pokey conjectured.

The group stopped and stared at him for a moment, unsure if he was serious. When Pokey simply stared back, the others rolled their eyes and continued down the hall.

“Pokey, I really don't think Princess Luna would make some brand new tunnels look like this,” Twilight thought aloud.

Crunches reverberated through each pony's body as they began treading atop broken pieces of stone. Each one felt the unpleasant sensation of pebbles sticking to their hoofs. Piles of dust swam through the tunnel like grains of sand disturbed in water. It caused Twilight to cough after inhaling too much of the sooty air, and as a result she slowed her pace to follow behind the others at a slightly longer distance.

“Maybe this is part of the punishment,” added the Pokey Pierce suddenly. “It wouldn't be discipline if we just fell into a nice little hallway that led us back up into the castle.” He gasped. “What if it leads us straight to Princess Luna's chambers? We'll get kicked out of the academy for good!”

“In case you didn't realize, Pokey, we're already out past midnight,” Vinyl stated, “and we left the dormitory. I feel like we're in enough trouble already.”

“Look,” said Stormchaser.

His hoof pointed to the right wall. Twilight walked closer to reveal a vast collection of carvings in the stone. Faint words, large designs and simple drawings all contributed to the blend of etchings. They spread across the wall from the ceiling to the floor with a sparse number empty gaps in their midst. Twilight briefly aimed her light at the opposite wall to behold the exact same plethora of pictures. Twilight wished she had read a book on ancient symbology and carvings.

“What is all this?” Vinyl asked in awe. “Looks pretty cool.”

“And important,” Twilight said.

She paced along the walls, examining every feature possible with the limited time Twilight felt she could afford. Though she desired to examine every square inch, the cold discouraged her from staying put. In passing she saw rough depictions of ponies carrying out daily duties, of boats both sailing and docked, even of farming and giant harvests. Exactly where it all was taking place Twilight could not tell. There were no pictures of a large city or any notable landmarks. There was, however, one recurring setting of a small town near the water’s edge.

“Why aren't there any clues on here about where we are now!?” Twilight growled.

“A map,” Stormchaser uttered in the darkness behind her.

At some point during the group's stroll he had paused. Directly before his eyes was a picture of a crescent moon with jagged features carved all over it. The others retraced their steps and examined the image from top to bottom. Even Twilight could not understand most of the etches or symbols that scattered around the moon shape; however, a few things did stand out to her.

“Is this a map of the island?” Twilight asked. “It has the mountains, the forests, the tower to the south, and... Is that a town to the north?” When she looked closer, she could make out small words beneath the shapes of what looked like houses and ponies. “New... Trottingham?”

“Is that where we are?” Pokey asked as he nudged his way into the huddle examining the section of stone wall.

“I don't think so,” Twilight said. “It's hard to tell. The academy isn't drawn on here, but I think it currently sits a little to the-” Twilight stopped as she spotted strange symbols sitting directly where her hoof had pointed south of the collection of homes. “What's this?”

Everypony leaned in even further, their faces almost touching the stone. Right before their eyes were jagged lines crossing the central part of the island roughly where the academy resided. Other small carvings sat around these zig-zagging features. Among them Twilight spotted a distinctive crescent shape.

“Guys, I think that's a moon!” Twilight said. “If only we knew how old these carvings were... Do any of you know how long was it after Luna's creation of the academy that it was abandoned?”

She glanced at her companions, but each either shifted their eyes up and away or simply stared at the carvings some more.

“Psh, like we'd know,” Vinyl smirked. “We're not history buffs. That's your job, Twi.”

Twilight moaned, “If only somepony else were here to help me remember.” All of a sudden an idea struck her like lightning. “Of course! Why don't we just use a telepathic spell to communicate with one of the others?”

Vinyl looked at the two stallions, and then at Twilight. “And you expect one of us to know how to do that?”

Twilight dropped her head and grumbled, “Ugh, nevermind. I don't know it either. Lucky me, it was next on my checklist of spells to learn.”

“Couldn't you just teleport out of here?” Pokey Pierce asked.

“Okay Pokey, so far I've tried to be nice and consider your ideas, but now-” Twilight stopped mid-sentence. “Wait a minute... Pokey, that's brilliant! Of course! I'll just teleport back to the entrance and head for the dorms. I'll get the others to come help and we'll pull you guys out!” She dug her hoofs into the ground. “All right, try not to hurt yourselves or each other when I'm gone.”

Twilight’s ball of light diminished as her horn glowed a dark violet. The mare's focus went into the spell which she had practiced many times in Ponyville. She carefully formed the image the dormitory facade in her head. With a final lift of her head, she closed her eyes tightly and put her energy into teleporting out onto the lawn. The soft burst of magic sparks gave Twilight a tiny din of triumph.

But when she opened her eyes, it was still pitch black.

“So, she's gone, right?” came the voice of Pokey Pierce, still right next to Twilight. “What do we do now?”

“Find the way we fell in, I guess,” Vinyl answered. “Too bad we couldn't check out the walls more. They were pretty sick-looking.”

“Why didn’t she take us with her?” asked Windchaser.

Silence followed for a moment, interrupted by Pokey's quaking voice. “W-What if Twilight forgets about us? What if she gets selfish and takes the results to her room and just goes to sleep-?”

“First of all,” Twilight growled, “the scroll on the door didn't have any results. Secondly, I couldn't possible leave you all behind because I'M STILL HERE!”

A deep rumbling started to shake the tunnel. Twilight closed her mouth, surprised by what she thought was the power of her voice. Bits of rock from the wall and ceiling started to fall off and skip across the floor. A cacophony of broken stone showered the unicorns' ears like rain as pebbles abounding like drops of water continuously tapped against the floor and the ponies’ bodies. Above the clamor of the trembling arose a deep and menacing laugh.

“You thought you could escape that easily, did you little one?” questioned the rich, powerful voice of he who laughed. “Think again, pony wanderers, for your work here is not done.”

The quaking died down until the chamber was still and silent. Twilight hesitantly lit the tip of her horn again and braced herself for any unsightly things. The dull light revealed no such scares, but nonetheless the four backed into each other. Their flanks were safe at the very least.

Pokey gulped. “What was that?”

“Show yourself!” Twilight shouted.

No immediate answer came, but Twilight did not stop casting glances in every direction. At the end of her faint light’s reach she thought she saw the stone walls cracking and crumbling. After closer examination and boosting her magic light, the unicorn saw that the walls were not the only things falling apart. The pictures spread across them were frantically shaking and shifting as well.

The carvings of crowds of ponies moved about as though they were real. Some galloped about and grabbed their things while others carried on ignorantly with their activities. Some jumped off the wall and shattered into tiny pieces on the ground. Etched houses crumbled as the earth swallowed endless fields of crops. Ships on the sea began to submerge, followed by the collapsing of the waves themselves.

Twilight backtracked through the tunnel in search of the island map. When she stumbled upon it all of the features had fallen off, including the mountains and the houses, the tower and the forests. All that remained was the outline of the isle itself, a barren and unoccupied land. The earth’s shuddering began to die down, and the carvings on the walls turned into lifeless objects once more.

“You weren't looking at ancient history now, were you my young mare?” said the voice. “Come, follow the tunnel, and your minds you’d best prepare.”

Pokey asked in a witless whisper, “Why does he rhyme like that zebra back in Ponyville?”

Twilight withheld from answering. Instead she squinted to pierce the darkness ahead of them in search of more important answers. She peered down the length of the tunnel she had not yet dared to venture through but could not make anything out beyond a few paces ahead of her. A new layer of darkness lingered about as the dust and dirt that now sailed through the cold air obtruded the unicorns’ view.

“Guys, what should do we do?” Twilight asked.

“Gotta go with the flow, it seems,” Vinyl voiced. “I sure as hay don't wanna, but I think we have to.”

Twilight swallowed the rock inside her throat. She didn't want to begin imagining what awaited them. Nonetheless, with no other options, she started down the collapsing cave. Her eyes never once looked straight ahead, but instead distracted themselves by breezing over the walls countless times. A number of carvings still stood along the broken surfaces of the enclosures, though many broken like shattered clay pots.

But the farther the group pressed on, the greater the presence of whole images along the walls. Pictures of boats started to fill the walls, their enormous sizes spanning half the height of the wall and much longer. The interiors were visible, revealing the hull of each boat and the rooms inside. Some figures looked like the ones the group had seen seconds ago, while others looked as though they had slanted lines etched across them, crossing their bodies and faces.

Beyond the boats was a gap with spaced carvings in the stone. At one point long lines swirled and swam about, intersecting and ending at random spots. Deep holes were cut around them, sometimes along the deep, thick lines. Jagged shapes and hundreds of circles littered the stone canvass. No matter how long or hard Twilight stared in passing, she could not make sense of the giant mess.

Recognizable symbols and shapes gradually returned. They formed small clusters of scenery, from forests to plains to mountains. In each setting, like a picture book, the focus was around four different figures. Two seemed like regular ponies, while the other two were the creatures with the strange markings all over them. The figures were pictured in various landscapes, until suddenly they dangling in the middle as if hung from their front hoofs. To the sides Twilight could make out a lion’s paw and a bird's talons, ready to squish the suspended bodies between their claws.

After this picture was a break from all of the etchings, followed closely by a scene of a town similar to the one Twilight saw earlier. The entire set-up, though, was completely destroyed and abandoned. Everything lay in ruin, with plants and vehicles in disarray, homes picked apart and fields trampled. Not a single pony was pictured. As this disturbing image faded into the darkness, the walls lie completely bare.

Minutes passed and nothing else showed up on the walls. Twilight felt as though she were walking in circles, until something on the floor ahead caught her and the others’ attention. From afar it seemed like a few scattered lines, but up close they formed a single word:

RUN

Twilight felt her heart stop. It didn't even have the chance to skip a beat as the rumbling of the earth began anew.

“Make fast your advance, ponies, why do you dawdle about?” the deep voice teased. “Make haste right now and meet with me; perhaps I'll let you out.”

Twilight turned to her friends and saw the petrified looks on their faces as the tremor passed through as before.

“What do we do?” she asked, but not a single one seemed to notice she was speaking.

Okay, you can do this, Twilight. You've faced worse things before... right?

She lifted a hoof and stomped it onto the rocky floor. She started forward again into the darkness hoping the others were following her. She dared not look back to see frightened faces that would suck every last fiber of courage out of her.

The rumbling grew more severe until it felt shakier than the earth beneath a stampede. Twilight feared the tunnel would cave in, trapping her and her friends in the dense, cluttered earth. She tried to ponder the meaning of the word she saw, ‘run’, and how it could possibly help. They couldn't turn back, nor could they flee in any other direction. The only running they could do was toward the direction from which the voice bellowed.

A drop of light suddenly gleamed in the distance. It was a single light, soft and pale blue. Its reach did not stray from the single course it ran as it formed a beam of blue against an otherwise black backdrop.

“Guys! I think I see something!” Twilight yelled as the ground continued to grumble.

The ray of light grew longer as the ceiling began to rise. The tiny tunnel expanded into a taller, wider square as the dense air thinned out. A terrible chill hit the ponies like a wall, causing each to shudder and stumble.

As the group drew near to the radiance another blue blaze popped into view. The new light, more concentrated, hovered a ways off to the right. It glowed and spat like a hungry flame, growling like a raging wolf. Another lit, and then another, repeating until a circle of cobalt blazes encircled the group. The conflagrations snarled like a pack of wolves surrounding their prey, lighting up when fiercely snapping.

The quavering ceased suddenly, but an ensuing deep laughter kept the wanderer’s bones trembling.

“Welcome, my young ponies, to this dark and dreary cave,” said the stranger. “If you know what is good for you, then you had best behave. Cast no spells or you'll regret, for a second chance you will not get.”

“Who are you?” Twilight yelled. “Or, what are you?”

“Were you all to see me, you'd all surely freeze with fear; but know that I've been certainly awaiting for you here. I led you through to show the truth: those walls you saw displayed the proof.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight shouted as the riddle went in one ear and out the other. “What proof?”

“If I were a mighty owl, you'd be the tasty mice. Listen to me carefully for some small - but good - advice: only demise lingers on this isle. You'd best escape before things get vile.”

Twilight recalled the etched word on the floor. Her blood went as cold as ice.

“H-How are we supposed to leave when you've trapped us here?” Twilight questioned, her voice echoing faintly.

The voice replied, “I only wait for the time opportune. I expect that my visitor shall stop by soon. All things considered you four ponies really mean little to me; should my guest fail to show, it's the light of day you'll never again see.”

Twilight felt her limbs lock in place. There was nothing she could do, or so the voice said. Thoughts started to shoot across the sky of her mind like meteoroids in a meteor shower. She and her friends had overcome greater obstacles before; there had to be a key to escape.

An invisibility spell! If I can just reverse it, maybe we'll be able to see where and what it is...

Without thinking twice, Twilight put out the light of her horn and started a new spell.

“Twilight, what are you doing?” Vinyl berated.

Twilight whispered, “If we can just see whatever this thing is, maybe we can figure out an escape plan.”

Vinyl jumped over in front of Twilight to stop her. “Twi, he already warned us about trying to escape-”

But it was too late. A new light flashed from Twilight's horn, blinding the caster for a moment. Upon regaining her vision she glanced over at Vinyl and gasped. Her friend was staring straight at the ceiling of the cave, pale as a ghost; even her white coat appeared unnaturally bleached. She shook as though the earth beneath her shook her like a dice. A shriek drained her lungs through a wide-open mouth.

The deep voice chuckled. “You'd be better off not looking where your friend here dared to stare. Can't you see just what has come of this poor, careless mare? Don't turn back, with the stallions it is all quite the same: don't you regret breaking one of the rules of my little waiting game?”

Twilight kept wanting to glance upward, now more than ever, just to capture a glimpse of whatever it was she had revealed. Before she could, though, the image of Vinyl and her pallid state frightened her into staring at her own hoofs. The conflicting fear and curiosity left Twilight quivering like a leaf in autumn winds.

“You have til three to contemplate. It seems your friend might be too late,” the voice said. “I had really hoped that she would show, it's simply quite a shame. This just means I’ll have to extend our little cat-and-mouse game.”

“Who are you waiting for!?” Twilight cried as tears flowed in fear. “What do you want from us? We didn't do anything!”

“One! You ignored the walls, the life they show. Had you paid attention, even when running you'd know.” He chuckled to himself. “Two! It's nothing personal, I simply dislike your kind. Just seeing any ponies and such brings terrible thoughts to mind.”

A deep breath left the lips of the mysterious thing. Twilight could feel it from where she stood as the gust blew past her with great power. She clenched her teeth in preparation for whatever pain was to come; her cries could not save her, and her magic had reached the end of its line.

“Three.” He paused and roared at the cavern ceiling. “She hasn't come, that villain, she's nowhere in my sight. What a pity, so ignorant, your princess of the night-!”

A thunderous boom shook the chamber and a wave of air swept the scene. Twilight could not help herself any longer as she lifted her eyes upward. Her sights met a strange glowing swirl of violet and dark blue spinning in the middle of the cave. Like a black hole it sucked in her sight as it radiated a mystifying light. From it launched sparkles of navy and purple that flung themselves into patches of darkness, fading after shedding light in every corner.

The magical spheroid began to shrink until taking form in the blink of an eye. Twilight covered her face as it flashed, and then peeked out with caution. Her sights beheld a most familiar figure standing in the middle of the giant cave. Her wavy mane and tall figure were nothing but unique. Paired with a dark coat and lunar cutie mark, the individual was indistinguishable.

Princess Luna!

Next Chapter: Chapter 6 (Episode 1, Part 2): Cave In Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 10 Minutes