Chapter 8: The Tunnel

Time was lost to those below ground. Even so, the group felt like they had been walking for countless hours on end. The tunnel was beginning to feel smothering even though the passage was clearly large enough for many ponies to walk abreast. Fluttershy had managed to squeeze herself between her friends, where she felt safer, but the dim tunnel wouldn’t let her fears subside.

“What was that?” she gasped and looked behind her.

“Your shadow,” mumbled Rainbow Dash who was behind the frightened pegasus.

“Oh…right.”

As the group pressed through the dark tunnel, a quiet scratching sound would periodically reach their ears.

“What was that?” Fluttershy asked and turned her head back around.

“That’s just the echo from us walking,” grumped Dash, the cyan pegasus had to constantly urge her yellow friend forward.

But every now and then something undeniably spooky would reach their ears. It was the muffled voices of other ponies arguing. This noise echoed from a good distance in front of the Royal Treasure Seekers. But never once did they stumble across the source of this sound and it unnerved even the toughest in the group.

“Rainbow, could you not beat your wings so loudly?” sputtered Fluttershy. “It kind of scares me.”

“Fluttershy, I’m on the ground and my wings aren’t out. How could I be flapping them?”

“But I h-heard some flapping behind me.”

“That’s crazy! There’s nopony behind us, just watch.” Rainbow Dash turned around and shouted down the dimly lit tunnel, “Hello! Anypony down there?!”

The sound bounced and echoed off the walls, but no other noise came back.

“You see? Nothing. Now come on, we’re falling behind.”

Fluttershy continued down the tunnel with the group but, nevertheless, the sound of flapping wings and scratching on rock could be heard from behind her.

The Royal Treasure Seekers walked down the passage until; at last, they came to a large carved room. At the far end of the room were three separate tunnels, each leading in a different direction. The friends quickly moved to the center of this room. When the did so, their ruby sputtered into life. The image of Sun Cloak appeared before them, pacing between the three separate passageways.

“You have braved the tunnel and found yourselves here,” he said, “but the hardest challenge is yet to come. There is a choice you must make. So listen to my advice, pick the right one.”

Sun Cloak disappeared with a wry grin on his face, leaving the group dumbfounded.

“Pick the right one?” Applejack insisted grumpily, “Ya’ got any more nuggets of wisdom for us, Sun Cloak?”

The others were left with mouths hanging open. Applejack was right; Sun Cloak really hadn’t seemed to help much, but Pinkie Pie didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.

“Okie dokie lokie!” she declared happily.

She skipped over to the passage the furthermost to the right and waited for her friends to join her.

“You can’t be serious,” Twilight said. “There’s no way it could be that literal.”

“You’ll never know until you try,” sang the happy-go-lucky equine.

“Oh, why not?” Rarity shrugged. “It beats sitting around and arguing.”

“That’s the spirit! Come on!” Pinkie waved for the others to join her as she bounded happily down the tunnel.

The others followed nervously behind.

* * * * * * * * *

The tunnel curved and zigzagged in what seemed to be no particular order. Fluttershy still thought that she could hear wings flapping gently behind her, but every time she looked down the dim passageway nopony could be seen. The hushed voices the group heard earlier had no longer been heard ever since they moved into this new tunnel, which seemed to be leading nowhere, but Pinkie Pie kept the group going forward with her unquenchably optimistic spirit.

At long last, the group came to what appeared to be a dead end. Before them sat a large grey boulder which blocked their way forward.

“Oh great!” grumbled Rainbow Dash, “A dead end! Now we’ll have to go all the way back and try another tunnel.”

“But Rainbow Dash, look!” Fluttershy pointed at an indent in the stone.

Of course, it was the exact same shape as their ruby. Spike whipped out their crystal and placed it firmly into the hole. A now familiar hum and glow erupted from within the jewel and Sun Cloak appeared once again in their midst.

“The challenge beyond this wall is difficult,” he warned sternly, “Therefore, I have one word of advice that you must obey should you want to leave these tunnels: Follow the guiding light and listen for my voice. Do not stray from the path, one way or the other. Simply follow the guiding light and listen for my voice and I promise that you will succeed.”

When these words had been said, the boulder shot the ruby out. Spike picked it up and the stone rolled itself into the wall, revealing a dark passage beyond. The group walked forward found themselves in pitch black darkness. There was no light to guide them and no voice.

“Is this some kind of joke?” asked Rainbow. “I don’t see any light.”

Suddenly, the stone closed behind them and they were trapped in the inky blackness of the tunnel. Fluttershy whimpered and Spike began screaming while running in circles until he bumped into Fluttershy who also started to scream.

“Calm down,” demanded Twilight, silencing the screams. “We need to keep our heads about us and figure out what Sun Cloak meant if we ever want to get out of here.”

Just then, the ruby began to glow softly. A mysterious red orb materialized from within the gemstone and floated out until it shone brightly before the Royal Treasure Seekers. They all watched as it danced and flew playfully around them. Pinkie giggled at it. The orb then slowly moved down the passageway. It jumped and bobbed in the air to indicate that it wished to be followed.

“Twilight, what is that?” asked Rarity.

“I think it’s the guiding light.”

The party followed the orb down the passage. It wasn’t hard to keep up with the red ball as it gleefully pranced around the mazelike tunnel system, but something peculiar started to happen. A second orb appeared down a different tunnel, but this one was blue. It too danced around the friends and silently begged for them to follow it. Still yet another light, this one yellow, appeared in another path and then a green one also appeared. Each orb led down different passageways and each playfully asked the party to follow it as guide.

“Which one do we follow?” asked Spike as he spun around, looking at each of the different confusing lights.

“The green one looks simply divine. I want to follow that one,” stated Rarity.

“The yellow one gives off more light. It would be easier for us to see if we follow it,” commented Applejack.

“The blue one looks like fun!” giggled Pinkie.

“But we started with the red one,” Fluttershy reminded, “I think we need to follow it as the guiding light.”

“Whichever one we choose, we’d better do it quickly,” Twilight urged. “They’re all moving away from us.”

Each orb was headed in a different direction, down a different tunnel, and if the ponies didn’t decide quickly, they would be left in the dark without a light to guide them.

“Alright then, I’ll decide for us,” Rainbow Dash spoke up. “If we started with the red one, we’ll stick with the red one. Now come on! We’d better catch up.”

The group followed after Dash and soon found themselves back with the slow moving red light, but the other orbs wouldn’t leave them alone. The green one would appear around a bend, the yellow one would show up down a passage, and the blue one would pass by in the opposite direction. Each light pestered and flew around the group. They had no clue of what was happening.

“Don’t get distracted!” yelled Rainbow. “The other orbs just want to lead us away from the real guiding light.”

“But they look so fun!” pleaded Pinkie Pie.

“And maybe they’ll stop pestering us if we follow them!” Rarity added as the yellow light flew right in front of her face and blinded her for a second.

“No! We’re sticking with this one no matter what. I don’t represent the Element of Loyalty for nothing.”

As they followed the red sphere even more strange things began to happen. They started to hear sounds of little foals laughing down one tunnel or the heavy breathing of a dragon down another. The orbs also flew down passages with these noises. Some of birthday parties or the musical genius of a beautiful orchestra, but always the red light went down tunnels with dreadful sounds. Iron striking rock would clang from the passage the kindly red ball would lead or even the sounds of a cackling fire, burning wood to ashes. But the source of these noises was never perceivable and each time the group would brave the noises, they would find nothing but more dark passages and their red orb.

“I really don’t like this,” whimpered Fluttershy.

“Me neither. It’s enough to give anypony the hee-bee jee-bees,” murmured Applejack.

Still, the party persisted following the red dot. After what seemed a very long walk down the dark and noisy passages, the red orb stopped at a dead end. Then the light did something completely unexpected, it danced straight through a wall and left the party alone in the dark.

“Shoot! Well what now?” asked Applejack.

“I-I don’t understand. That was the guiding light!” screamed Rainbow in agitation.

“Hold on girls, maybe there’s a way through the wall,” suggested Twilight.

The ponies began pushing and shoving at the solid wall, but to no avail.

“I can’t even see my own hoof in front of my face!” commented Rarity. “We’ll never figure this out if we can’t see.”

“Not to worry girls, I’ve got the light covered,” said Twilight cheerfully.

The purple unicorn’s horn began to glow as soft lavender light spilled into the passages, but it didn’t last long. Soon a strange, black mist covered the glowing horn and the light was put out.

“Well that’s just great!” Rainbow Dash shouted in irritation. “Not only can we not move this wall, but we can’t see either!”

“But,” Spike spoke his piece, “the other lights and even the noises all went away as soon as we came here. There isn’t anywhere else we can go.”

The ponies and dragon began to argue amongst themselves about what to do. Fluttershy, however, remained quiet. She was shivering in fear; unable to speak.

“Here,” a warm voice said softly.

Fluttershy looked around, but couldn’t make out where it had come from, but it sounded familiar.

“Here,” it whispered again.

This time Fluttershy knew the speaker, it was Sun Cloak. But where was he hiding?

“Here,” the unicorn spoke again.

Then, the scared pony found the source. Just around a darkened corner was standing the transparent visage of the stallion. Fluttershy carefully crept up to the image and, for the first time, truly looked at him. This pony, the one who always wore that shimmering cloak, was here to save her. She giggled a little when she noticed how his hair fell comically over one eye and he tried to blow it away, only for it to fall back over his eye.

She gazed into his translucent hazel eyes and saw something she had never seen before. For the briefest of moments the pegasus saw a spark of wisdom in his ancient eyes, but mingled with his wisdom she also noticed a deep sadness. However, there was more in his kind stare, something that baffled her. She found that there was something which drown out his sadness, it was a mysterious joy which blazed like dragon fire. Then, the moment was over.

Sun Cloak’s warm smile and kindly eyes made her feel at ease even in this dark place. He was pointing his hoof at a place on the wall and whispering, “Here.”

Fluttershy remembered the last part of the unicorn’s riddle, “…and listen for my voice.”

“I solved the puzzle!” she shouted excitedly. “Everypony! The answer is over here!”

The group didn’t appear to notice, however, so she waltzed up to them and did something very un-Fluttershy for a brief moment.

“I’ve figured it out! The answer is right over there!” she flapped her hooves and waved excitedly.

The others, quite taken by surprise, quieted down.

“What’s over there?” asked Spike.

“Don’t you see Sun Cloak?” she asked, but when they turned to look, he was gone. “I-I’m serious. He was there just a second ago.”

“Fluttershy’s not one to make somethin’ up,” said Applejack. “If she says it, I’ll give it a chance.”

The rest were in agreement and went over to look at the place Fluttershy had suggested. They felt along the cold stone wall and eventually ran across a small hole, the perfect size for their gem. Spike placed the ruby snuggly into the fissure. Behind the group, a large slab of stone rolled away from the wall to reveal their small red orb. The guiding light had not led them wrong after all.

“Well, would ya’ looky there! It’s the light!” Applejack was stunned.

“I knew it wouldn’t lead us wrong.” Rainbow Dash smiled.

Spike plucked the crystal from its resting place and the party continued after the red ball. Soon, the new tunnel they entered began to be etched with the dim glowing lines from earlier. With the soft green light now urging them on, they finally came to another wide room. The red orb dissipated and their ruby glowed and hummed. Sun Cloak appeared once again before the exhausted group.

“My most hearty congratulations to you. You have braved the dark tunnels and did not stray from the guiding light. Even when all hope seemed lost you quieted yourself and listened for my voice. Well done! You have shown remarkable determination in the face of confusion and fear. My second riddle is now complete and you may hear the third one anytime you so wish, simply ask the crystal.

Now, in this room you will find a set of three golden rings, each of a different size. You will need these to complete my next challenge. When you are ready to leave, place your crystal in the wall at the far end of this chamber.”

The unicorn’s image faded away and the friends walked over to a small stone table placed in the center of the room. As suspected, the rings were lying, untouched, on top of the cold stone slab. They picked the golden circles up and admired them for a few moments when suddenly a blur of black feathers snatched the rings away and flew into the air. A bright flash accompanied the blur and momentarily blinded the ponies. A shriek of pain echoed through the cavern while a large mass collided with the hard floor.

“There shall be no cheating so long as I can help it!” Sun Cloak’s voice thundered through the cavern.

Next Chapter: Chapter 9: The Warning Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 24 Minutes