Now in complete darkness, Tom could do nothing more but scream as he felt himself slide down the chute, that gunbelt once more riding painfully against his back as he slid deeper into the ground. His scream died at some point, and he had no idea how much time had passed once he finally was ejected from the slide.

After what felt like an uncomfortably long time sliding down and around, and for one nauseating moment a full loop, he came to a stop in a pool of water, splashing down into its depths. There was no light, no up or down save for his own sense of gravity, mildly distorted as it was by the fluid.

Fighting against the urge to empty his stomach’s contents, Tom fought tooth and nail to find the surface of the water. His lungs were burning, and his mind was screaming, but he finally found air, gulping with a massive wheeze as the burning in his lungs was finally appeased. “F-fuck me…” he chattered, stomach still doing flips as the water all but ensured that anything electrical, such as his phone in his front pocket, would be toast. His flashlight as well, if he hadn’t lost it on the slide down. Treading water, he cleared the liquid from his eyes and took a few moments to catch his breath.

It was quite dark in the room, but not entirely. Soft green-blue light came from moss at the bottom of the fifteen-foot-deep pool, shedding a dim light into the vast cavern. A female voice called out, "That looked like a nasty fall. It's been so long since the last intruder fell in here." The source of the voice looked like a mermaid, but her front half was that of a pony, smiling coyly at Tom. "What's your name?"

“Tom,” he quietly squeaked in reply, staring rather blatantly at her in a mixture of awe and disbelief. Nope, he definitely wasn’t on Earth anymore, no doubt about it now, his brain quietly decided before filing that thought away for later processing. “I’m Tom.”

She smiled, exposing sharp teeth as she sat up on the side of the pool. "Hello, Tom. Come here." She patted a place beside her with a hoof. "Have all the ponies died? Are you the new creature that inhabits the land above?"

Wincing a bit, Tom swam to the pool’s edge, keeping a bit of distance between them as he got out of the water. Turning, he looked at her with confusion. “I… I’m pretty sure this isn’t my planet, so I don’t know?” he questioned, sitting down. “I’ve only seen a dragon, and you… what are you?”

She smiled. "My name is Tr'ol, the Softspoken. I was put here to watch over this place, and keep it free from robbers and raiders. Are you one of those?" She reached with a hoof, trying to touch Tom's chest. "You look a little lost to be one of those…"

Tom shook his head, not moving away from her. “N-no… I don’t even know where I am, or why I’m here… I just saw the dragon and ran, and then ended up here. I’d rather be back home,” he finished, remembering that ball that was in his pocket, its presence comforting him just a bit.

Tr'ol leaned in and gently nuzzled a cheek. "That's good. I have to do terrible things to naughty people who think they can take what's not theirs. This is a temple, built to gods long past, for ponies probably long dead. It's as forgotten as I am, but the rites sealed me in here very very well."

“Yeah, definitely not here to steal anything, promise,” he muttered quickly at her words, thinking about those teeth she sported, shivering at the thoughts of what she could do with them. The fur against his cheek felt a bit soft, and he shuffled a bit towards her, starting to shiver again as the cold water made the cool cave air feel even colder. “Do you know any way out of here?”

She shook her head lightly. "'Fraid not. If I knew a way, I'd use it myself, though you don't have magic holding you here, that's an advantage." She sat up, supporting herself on her hooves and powerful tail. "Maybe you could help me? It has to have been, what… a thousand? Three? A long time. Do you think I should still be stuck here?"

“How could I help you? I don’t even know anything about this… place.” Tom waved his arm around, motioning all around him. “I don’t see how I could be of any help, but… it sounds wrong for you to be stuck here.” Something in his mind clicked afterwards, and he opened his mouth halfway for a moment before he found the words. “And… you’ve been here for thousands of years? That’s…”

She shrugged softly. "Well, it's hard to keep track of time in this place. It's dark, or dark, with not much variation to work with, but I'm… fairly sure?" She raised a hoof. "I can't walk away, but you could carry me, like a knight right out of the stories." She exposed her fangs in a great smile. "I'll be sure to reward you for your chivalry."

“That’s a very long time… I’ll try to, if I can. No one deserves to be stuck somewhere for so long, I can’t even imagine being alone for a week, let alone millennia,” he firmly said, moving a hand behind him to support himself as he stood up. “I just have to carry you? If you don’t weigh too much, it shouldn’t be a problem.” Stretching a bit, he let out a small groan as he popped his neck.

She bobbed her head quickly. "Just so. And don't touch anything, me excluded. If you steal something, then I have to get down to the nasty things, and I'd rather reward you than punish you." She reared up on her tail and held out her hooves. "And don't call a mare fat, that's not nice."

He was taken slightly aback at her quip, breaking out into laughter for a few seconds at the sheer absurdity of it all before kneeling down. “I’ll keep that in mind. I enjoy breathing, and I’ve already been roughed up enough, more than I’d like to be honest… wrap your arms around my neck, and I’ll support your rear with my hands.” Tom held out his arms, waiting for her to move.

She gladly accepted his offer, wrapping her forelegs around his neck and snuggling against him. Her body was cool, but warmed quickly at his presence. "I could get used to this… Much nicer than chasing off thieves."

Wrapping both arms around her tightly, Tom grunted and got back to his feet, finding her weight not to be too bad, he could probably carry her for a short time. “Well, don’t get too used to it… I’ll be able to carry you for a bit, but not for too long… where do I need to go, Tr’ol?” he paused at her name, making sure he was pronouncing it correctly.

She perked an ear at him. "You got the name right on the first try, impressive." She tilted her head, then pointed a hoof down a corridor. "I can feel wind coming from there, it should lead outside, right?" She idly enjoyed the time, cuddling her would-be savior.

“Um… I can’t see anything that way,” Tom hesitantly remarked, following her hoof as he took a small half step. “Got anything that can help light the way? Cause I’ve got nothing at all.” The shivering was slowly stopping, her body heat helping to ward off the chill that had been present since his arrival.

A sly smirk developed on her face. "Yes, but at a small price. A kiss." She pucker her lips like any human might, despite her snout. "That isn't much to ask, is it Tom?"

Gulping just a bit, Tom shook his head. “I… guess not. It’s just, well, weird as fuck to me,” he honestly muttered, looking at her lips and then her as he paused a few seconds. Making up his mind, he closed his eyes and brought his lips to hers, picturing his last girlfriend’s face in his mind, rather than Tr’ol’s, as their lips met.

Tr'ol pressed into the exchange, seeming to warm against him as a soft tingle played across his lips, and spread up into his eyes, though nothing obviously happened with his eyes closed. She gave a soft noise of satisfaction, licking over his lips. "Maybe next time you'll give me the passion to go with it? You've paid your part, open your eyes, Tom."

His eyes opened back up, his previously rounded brown pupils now slit instead as he looked at Tr’ol. Tom nearly dropped her in surprise as he realized that not only could he clearly see her, but he could see their immediate surroundings as well, as if weak candles were lit all over. “Sorry,” he apologetically spoke in regards to almost dropping her as he took a step towards the way she’d pointed, looking between the cavern and her face. “It’s just, I’ve never kissed anything not human, not like that, anyways… thanks.”

She shot him a sour expression at almost being dropped, but recovered quickly. "Is that what you call yourself? We're talking, why not kiss? You're not a pony, and you didn't see me get all squeamish about it." She pointed off to the tunnel she had indicated before. "That way, and slowly. I'll try to keep my eyes open for traps. They get most of the intruders."

“Yes, I’m a human… and ponies back home, where I came from… they’re pretty dumb. As in, don’t talk at all. Then again, that’s the case for all but humans, really,” Tom explained, cautiously walking, not wanting to be subjected to another trap. “And don’t worry, I won’t be running through the halls.”

She guided Tom along the hallway, advising his steps at times. "No no, not that brick, that one, there we are, now two ahead, to the left…" It was slow going, but no traps went off, except one, a swinging blade coming down just behind Tom, nowhere close to hitting him, though if he had been going the other way…

“Who the fuck builds a temple with so many bloody traps?” Tom asked in exasperation, shaking his head for a moment as he carefully readjusted his grip on her rear. “This is like, right out of some movie or something, with how many there’ve been. Definitely wouldn’t be making it out without your help at all.”

Tr'ol tilted her head. "I don't know what a movie is, but this is where we are, and where I've been for a long, long time." She pointed at the skeletal remains of a pony. "I remember her. She screamed for hours about how unfair it was, and maybe it was, but the screaming didn't help her any. Look, she has a saddlebag."

Tom visibly winced at Tr’ol’s words. “That sounds… excruciating… and hopefully neither of us will be here for much longer.” Looking around for a moment, he sighed. “Is it safe to take a break here? I need a minute or two, and there might be something useful in those bags,” he explained, thankful that it was just bones… anything else would’ve left him retching and wanting to run away.

She pointed behind herself, ahead of Tom. "There's a room ahead, I can see it, and no traps, but before we go, take the bag. It didn't belong to the temple, so it doesn't count, and she might have had something useful. She can't use it now, right?"

“No, she can’t,” Tom quietly replied, feeling rather bad as he used his foot to hook the saddlebags. He winced rather heavily at the sound of the bones against the floor and each other, but he managed to snag it with a foot, slowly shuffling to the safe room ahead. Once they got inside, he let out a sigh and slumped down with his back against the wall, putting Tr’ol in his lap. “Well… guess we can take a look now?” he asked, grabbing it with a hand, noting how dusty it was.

She nuzzled warmly into his neck, looking quite cozy where he choose to place her. "Let's have a peek," she agreed as she reached with her hooves to help open it and peer into its depths. Inside was a moldy journal, some golden coins, a lantern, and some pitons. Whatever else might have been in there was rotted and gone. "Better than nothing. We're rich now." Next Chapter: 3 - One is the Loneliest Number Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 28 Minutes