Chapter 13

Dave was thrown from his bunk and landed on the hard wooden floor, Twilight and Pinkie Pie soon crashed on top of him, looking around Dave saw everypony else being thrown around the cartridge from one side to the other

Dave pushed the ponies off himself and headed for the door leading towards the engine, as he walked he noticed the cartridge was tilted to one side and then tilted the other, using the beds to support him he finally reached the door and he pulled it open, a rush of wind greeted him

Dave saw the driver trying to reach the breaks but got thrown to one side before he could reach it, Dave climbed over the coal cartridge towards the driver but stopped, looking around at the train, he saw it continuously roll one side then the other, each rotation threatening to derail the train completely

“What’s happening?” Dave called to the driver

“The ground started shaking and I lost control!” the driver replied as the train hit a bump sending him into Dave causing them both to go crashing into the coal “We need to stop the train to regain balance!”

“I don’t think we have time!” Dave looked at the front of the train as it began to roll to the right

“Well we’ve got to do something!” The driver panicked as he saw the tracks bend to the left ahead “and we better do it fast or we will completely go off the rails”

“I have an idea” Dave got to a crouched position “Do you mind?”

“Just do it already!” the driver called out as the train began to fully tip to the right

Dave jumped forwards and brought his feet onto the left side of the engine’s floor, denting it and forcing it downwards just as they reached the bend

As the train was forced onto the tracks by Dave and off them by the bend, it evened out and they regained balance

“Did it work?” Dave asked as the driver rushed forwards and slammed on the brakes, he had his eyes shut the entire time. The train screeched to a halt and Dave was thrown forwards and landed in a heap in front of the driver

The driver climbed off the train and looked down the row of cartridges, in some of the cartridges ponies had stuck their heads out to look at what was going on “well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle, you did it”

“I did?” Dave climbed to his feet and joined the driver “what happened anyway?” Dave looked down at his coal-covered clothes ‘Again? Really?’

The driver wiped some sweat from his brow “I don’t know, earthquake maybe” he looked over at Dave “So long as we take it slow we can still make it to Appleoosa in about an hour”

Dave climbed back onto the train with the driver ‘it could have something to do with the cave’ he thought as he looked around at the new scenery

It looked like a desert with cactus doted around and long sandy plains, a small blur in the distance suggested that they weren't far from Appleoosa or this mysterious cave, the sun itself beat down on the ground furiously

“Well I’ll start the train up at a slow pace while I go see if everypony is alright” the driver turned the brakes off and set the train at a low speed while he cautiously walked through to the cartridges

Dave meanwhile looked at his new surroundings one more time before walking back to see if his friends were ok

As he walked in, he saw Pinkie and Dash had their heads out of the window, Fluttershy was treating a bruise on Applejacks head while Twilight and Rarity both sat a table

Spike ran over to Dave “what’s going on?” he asked quickly as Dave shut the door

“There was an earthquake I think,” Dave walked over to Applejack “Are you alright?” he asked worriedly

Applejack looked up at him as Fluttershy rubbed some ointment into her head “I’m alright sugarcube just fell on my head is all” She put a hoof on Dave’s shoulder “Thanks for saving the train”

“Wait how did you know I did anything?”

Applejack shrugged “Well I saw ya run out and then the train stopped so…” she smiled at him, “I guessed”

Dave returned the smile “Well I couldn’t let anypony get hurt could I?” He looked round at the others “Everypony else ok?”

They all nodded and Applejack replaced her hat to cover her bruise “thank ya kindly Fluttershy”

Fluttershy smiled as she replaced the ointment bottle inside her bag “you’re welcome” She whispered

The door leading to the next cartridge opened and the driver walked through “Everypony is ok, I am just gonna speed up a bit” the driver left through the other door and the train slowly lurched forwards as it regained some lost time

Dave sat down at the table that Twilight and Rarity was not using and rubbed his face ‘another display of physical power’ he thought to himself as the ponies that weren’t sitting all took a place at a table ‘is this why Celestia asked me?’

Twilight helped confirm Dave‘s suspicions “Well we can see why Princess Celestia chose you for the task” Twilight commented as she made room for Fluttershy

“Yeah I just hope this cave doesn’t collapse on me” Dave chuckled as Spike sat next to him

Spike looked around at the ponies that all agreed, “Wait aren’t we going with you?”

“Well… I don’t know, I thought the Princess asked me so I could go in alone” Dave looked at the shaken ponies “I think I should in case anything happens”

Rainbow Dash sat down opposite him “no way are we letting you have all the fun” she hit him playfully on the shoulder “we got your back”

Dave smirked at the enthusiastic Pegasus “Fine when we get to town we will get some pony to take us to this cave”

Applejack sat down next to Rainbow Dash “I think we are meeting my cousin, Braeburn” She rubbed her bruise slightly “he can take us”

Dave looked at the bruise on Applejack’s head “I think you should stay behind, no offence but that bruise looks quite nasty”

“It’ll take more than a bruise to keep me down” Applejack assured him “I’m going into that cave with ya”

The ponies all talked about what could be in this cave while Dave stared out the window, he saw the desert roll by only to see some apple trees spring up in the distance ‘Applejack’s cousin’s farm I assume’ Dave thought to himself as the train slowed down and pulled into a station

The group all climbed off and immediately all walked over to a blond stallion that wore a hat similar to Applejack’s

“Well howdy y’all!” he happily cheered, obviously unaware of the drama that just unfolded “how is everypony?” Applejack began to explain what happened but the stallion’s attention was turned to Dave “Ah you must be the thing sent here to investigate the freaky cave”

Dave shook the stallions hoof “Yes… I guess I am” Dave put on a smile “My name’s Dave”

“Well howdy Dave, the name’s Braeburn” The stallion stood on his hind legs and kicked his front ones into the air “and welcome ta aaaaappleoosa!” he cheered

“Well thanks for the warm greetings and all but I would like to help with this cave before looking around” Dave watched Braeburn nod in agreement

“Why of course, we need to get there faster than ya can say YEEHAAW” Braeburn began to lead Dave over to a small peddle cart “All aboard”

The ponies all looked at the rusting piece of metal “your kidding right?” Dash asked tapping it with a hoof

“Well I was told Dave here is the only one going inside the cave” Braeburn pushed Dave onto the cart before tuning back to the ponies “It’s too dangerous for anypony to enter”

“We will be fine Braeburn, we can handle ourselves” Twilight started to walk onto the cart but Braeburn’s hoof, stopped her

“I’m serious, even the guards sat outside to keep watch have moved away from the opening” Braeburn twitched his head towards Dave “Apparently the will only let him in, order of the Princess”

Dave dropped his bag onto the cart and grabbed one of the handles as Braeburn stood at the other end “sorry, but orders are orders” Dave began to lift his end of the lever

Rarity quickly dived in front of the cart to stop it moving “well can we at least wait by the entrance with the guards?”

Braeburn adjusted his hat nervously “well I suppose there is a small cart we could attach ta this ya could all sit in” Braeburn looked at Dave “But it means we will have ta work harder”

Dave grinned at the stallion “Don’t worry about that, I can work pretty hard”

Braeburn finally agreed and attached a large, wooden cart which everypony could fit into and took his position opposite Dave again “Ya ready?” he asked nervously

“Oh yeah” Dave said confidently as he quickly slammed his side of the lever down forcing the carts to jolt suddenly forwards

Dash, Pinkie and Spike all raised their arms in the air, laughing as the cart quickly gained speed and tore down the track, all the other ponies held on for their lives as the cart threatened to match the speed of the train

Braeburn managed to open his eyes as he held onto his end of the lever “We should be getting close” He looked at Dave who had a cheeky smile “Please stop us gently” he pleaded

Dave moved to the front of the cart, sat down at the edge and took his shoes off “I’ll try” he chuckled as he pressed his feet onto the metal tracks forcing the carts to lose speed rapidly

As the carts came to a stop Dave and Spike looked around at the ponies and broke into fits of laughter, Braeburn’s hat was firmly attached to his head and all the girls manes were blown backwards by the wind

Rarity used some magic to force her hair back before she allowed anypony to get a good look while everypony else all looked at each other with mixed responses, Pinkie broke into laughter while all the other ponies began to quickly sort their manes with their hooves

Dave apologised and helped everypony out of the cart before putting his shoes back on his feet “well we were in a rush” he giggled slightly as he received a disapproving stare from Twilight

He turned to see two white, muscular unicorns standing before him, they both had some royal armour around their necks obviously they had removed the rest due to the heat from the sun “are you Dave?” one of them asked

“Yes I am and I um… am here to look at this cave” Dave followed the guards as they turned and walked over a small hill

As they reached the top Dave noticed a large cliff face about a kilometre away with a large hole in the side “There is the cave” one of the guards explained as he led Dave, Spike and the ponies down to a small campsite “your friends will have to stay here and you may leave belongings as well”

“Why are we so far away?” Dave asked as he dropped his bag down

“We were next to the cave originally but we were forced to move to a safe distance as the cave began to release very hot gases” the guard took a drink from a canteen “and it is hot enough”

The other guard took a drink from his canteen as well “There was a small water source by the entrance but we can’t access it any more so we have had to rely on water that Braeburn brings us”

Braeburn walked over and dropped four canteens, the sound of water moving around inside “Not a problem” He took some empty canteens and took them back to the cart before returning

Dave looked at the cave in the distance “but what exactly has been…” Dave was cut off as him and the rest of the group at the campsite covered their ears as a loud noise invaded their heads, it sounded like a loud foghorn and was followed by the ground shaking so violently that Dave struggled to keep his balance

“What the hay was that?!” Applejack yelled after being partially deafened by the noise

“That was the cave!” a guard had to yell as everypony rubbed their ears “Now get in there!”

Dave nodded in agreement and started his long walk towards the cave, alone

“Will he be ok?” Fluttershy asked as Dave walked away

“What did you say?” Dash asked, ears still hurting

“Will he be ok?” She asked in her usual quiet voice

“Can you say it louder?” Dash asked as she leaned an ear toward her

Fluttershy inhaled deeply “will he be ok?” she asked quietly again

Dash shrugged “I can’t hear you! Can it wait? I am sure Dave will be back soon so ask us when we leave” She partially yelled

Dave meanwhile was beginning to understand what the guards meant by the cave was releasing heat, he was parched already and his eyes began to sting as he reached the opening

He looked up at the large arching opening, that towered above him and down into the dark cave as it gently curved downwards into the cliff, he noticed a small body of water sitting just inside the rock opening ‘ah finally I can have a nice refreshing WHAT THE HELL’

Dave quickly pulled his hands out of the scolding hot water “WHY ARE YOU HOT?” he screamed at the water but his yell was drowned out by another outburst form the cave and he slammed his hands over his ears “AND YOU CAN SHUT UP!”

He was already beginning to regret going inside the cave as he slowly made his way into the dark depths, slowly climbing down the steady slope leading deeper down into the ground

As Dave descended slowly, the amount of light decreased rapidly and soon Dave was, walking blind into the darkness “stupid cave making stupid noises” Another roar came from ahead and was soon followed by a wave of intense heat

Dave continued, covering his eyes with his hands to protect himself, not realising that the cave began to get brighter as the heat tore past him

He staggered around in the dark, blindly using one hand to steady himself every time the ground shook until he walked something wooden and fell on his back

“Ow” Dave opened his eyes and found the area to be strangely well lit “What the hell?” Dave looked up at the dirty train cartridge

Dave walked up to one of the dirty windows and wiped some of the dirt away, the bright reflection of gold and gems almost blinded him

“Wow jackpot… how did this get down here?” Dave scratched his head as he gazed at the riches before him “What could shake grounds? Produce heat? Very loud noises?”

A loud roar from another large tunnel to Dave’s right caught his attention as he turned away from the cartridge full of treasures and walked through the next tunnel

As he walked the cave opened up massively and the light revealed entire walls made of gems, the tunnels must have descended far under the cliff to make space for the large cave

Dave looked around at the walls and pulled a Ruby the size of his fist out of the wall “Heh Spike would be in heaven right now” Dave stopped as he noticed a fire near where he was standing

The more he looked around the more fire he could see ‘wait… fire, heat, shaking, roaring, gems’ Dave’s mind pieced the puzzle together as he heard a low growl coming from the centre “Big Spike” he gasped nervously

A giant emerald green dragon turned its head and brought its large orange eye to look at the strange creature

“Umm… hello” Dave smiled weakly at the eye that was the same as him “Good dragon”

The dragon snorted at turned its head back to the wall and began to claw at it, Dave walked around the dragon to try and see what it was clawing at

Dave tapped the dragon on its hind leg “Excuse me” the dragon turned again “oh my… anyway I am here to investigate the problem that has been causing a disturbance for a nearby town”

The dragon brought its large head to Dave “leave” it commanded in a deep, loud voice

“Well can you stop causing earthquakes?” Dave watched as the dragon punched a piece of rock off the wall and placed its arm back into a crack in the wall

Dave poked the dragon again “is there anything I can do to make you l…” He was cut short by the dragon swatting him away with its large tail

Dave crashed into the wall and fell to the floor “I will leave when I get MY gem” the dragon reached into the crack

Dave got to his feet “Listen if I help you get this gem will you leave?” Dave watched as the dragon roared at him

“IT IS MINE!” the dragon opened its mouth and fire engulfed Dave in flames “NONE SHALL HAVE IT BUT ME!”

Dave writhed in pain as the flames tore at his body, burning him alive, he screamed as his skin turned to ash, the dragon turned back to his task and continued to dig

Dave screamed as he finally fell to the floor again, his burnt flesh exposed “I… didn’t” his burnt eyes closed “Just… wanted to… help”

The final flames on Dave’s body burnt out after a few minutes ‘oh get up’

Dave felt pain rush through him again as the burnt flesh fell to the floor as new parts replaced them “I…” He took a step towards the dragon as his eyes reformed “Am…” His skin rolled over his body and hair sprouted from his head “Pissed”

Dave grabbed the dragon’s tail and pulled sharply, dragging the large reptile to the floor

The dragon swung its large horned head around to bite Dave but instead received a fist to his bottom jaw, swatting his entire head away

Dave grabbed one of the large spikes attached to the dragon’s head and pulled it to the ground “Now you listen here you scaled arsehole” Dave pointed his finger at the dragons eye “I don’t want your stupid rock”

The dragon tried to lift its head but Dave forced it to the ground again “what do you want?” the dragon asked in its booming voice

“I want you to leave” Dave released the dragon “And I am going to get that gem for you so you don’t have to stay, everyone is happy”

The dragon looked at Dave’s face “you get me my gem and I’ll go” he agreed, “You are interesting”

Dave headed for the large crack “yeah how so?”

“I have been alive for thousands of centuries, but have only seen that once” the dragon leaned down to the crack

“Whatever” Dave reached the crack “So what am I… HOLY SHIT”

At the far end of the crack was a large diamond, easily twice as tall as Dave and three times as wide “it’s magnificent” the dragon stated

“no wonder you want it so badly” Dave climbed on top of it and pulled it slightly towards the dragon “alright I will pull as far as I can and then you grab it” he commanded the dragon

“Just be quick” the dragon responded as it readied a claw

Dave pulled the gem as hard as he could, grinding it against the gemstone walls. As he pulled it further, the dragon’s arm grabbed it and ripped it strait out from the crack along with Dave and a cloud of dust

The dragon caressed the diamond like a long lost lover before Dave interrupted him “excuse me?” Dave tapped his foot “Are we going now?”

The dragon reached around the tunnel and dragged the train cartridge full of riches into the open clearing, he broke the top off as if it was his own personal treasure chest and tried to place the diamond inside

The dragon growled angrily as it removed three normal chests from the cartridge and dropped them onto the floor, he then placed the diamond where the chests were and closed the cartridge again

Dave walked over to the large chests the dragon dropped “What are you doing with these?”

The dragon began to climb up the tunnels with the train cart held between it’s front two claws “I can not carry them, so you keep them” the dragon turned an eye to Dave “Don’t say I was ever nice… it would ruin my reputation” and with that the dragon disappeared from Dave’s view

Dave chuckled as he looked at the chests, red paint flaking off and a large silver lock on each “Dave the treasure hunter” he chuckled to himself as he picked up the chests by their large bronze handles “wait until Celestia hears about this!”

Meanwhile…

Spike watched the opening of the cave like a hawk for any movement, Dave went in about twenty minutes ago

One of the guards decided to try and make a move on Rarity who was sitting alone “hey there” he put on a confident attitude

“Hello” Rarity said blankly as she continued to look at the entrance to the cave

The confident stallion sat down “I like your mane”

“Why thank you darling” Rarity replied “yours needs a bit of a clean”

The stallion turned this insult to his advantage “well I have been a bit busy recently with some dangerous work” he flexed a hoof “it’s tough being a guard, very lonely”

“I can only imagine” Rarity could have sworn she heard something as her ears twitched forwards, all her friends noticed it too as they turned their heads to listen

“Well,” the guard put a hoof around Rarity “I can think of a few things that could make my job a bit easier”

Rarity was about to smack the guard but a loud roar from the cave followed by a dragon stepping out of it with a train cartridge between its claws stopped her

“What in Equestria is a dragon doing there?” Braeburn asked as his jaw hit the floor

Spike and the female ponies had a different concern “Dave?” they all mumbled to themselves in unison

The dragon spread its wide wings and the sand below them were bathed in a green glow from its scales as it took flight and flew towards the horizon, still clutching the cartridge

Everypony ran for the cave entrance as soon as the dragon was in the air and they all stopped as they reached the opening

“Dave?” Spike called down into the cave and his voice echoed down

There were a few moments of silence but it was broken when a large chest flew over their heads, quickly followed by another and they both landed in the sand behind the group

“Hey everypony” Dave said happily as the groups attention was brought back to him, clutching the final chest

“DAVE!” Spike and the girls cheered as the gathered around him

“I think I'm done here,” Dave saw the dragon in the distance “and I have a story to tell you all about that guy” he released the chest with one hand and pointed to the dragon

Dave received a collective gasp by the girl ponies and they all went red in the face

“What?” Dave looked down at them and then where they were looking “oh about that” the chest was taken away as Dave attempted to replace it out of embarrassment “the dragon burnt my clothes, gimme a break”