It was a simple matter for the players to make the trip down to the Crater on the lift. Along the way they removed their thick, wintery coats so they didn’t arrive half cooked and redressed in their normal adventurer’s attire. From there they hopped on one of the automated mine carts and rode it to the entrance of Spider Caves. They’d considered dropping in on Kiera, but decided such an interruption might lead them to the business end of her and Shant’s eco gun.

“Before we go any further, I’d just like to point out that I’m not the biggest fan of spiders,” Silver informed stiffly.

“Same,” added Honey. “Anythin’ with that many legs just doesn’t seem nat’ral.”

“That said,” Silver continued, holding Luna close for comfort, “I’m curious of what exactly we can expect from a place with the word ‘Spider’ in the name.”

Before answering, Thomas shared a look with Luna, silently asking for her take. The mare-turned-ottsel nodded her understanding before closing her eyes and making the changes.

Silver and Honey were not aracnophobic, per se, but the fear did run deep, stemming from foalhood experiences. Luna was no psychologist, for the school of thought did not fully blossom in Equestria until after her fall. However, she did have real world experience in dealing with fears of all sorts. Within her carefully sculpted dreams, the trick was to empower the dreamer, to give them that extra little nudge to face their fears on their own. Even if the dream was forgotten, as dreams so often were, the sense of courage would remain embedded within the now awoken dreamer. In this case, the best way for Silver and Honey to face their fears would be to beat the ever loving tar out of ‘em.

“Originally there were actually just a few spider spawn places,” Thomas explained. He and the others had exited the cart and were making the slow descent down the tunnel. Large crystals in the walls glowed a pale blue light and even the mushrooms had a faint bioluminescence to them, keeping the dark at bay. “They hung down from threats and shot blasts at you, occasionally spawning dog sized babies.” He watched as the silver and green women tensed at his explanation, both putting on brave faces as their breaths grew heavy. Thomas hoped Luna was successful in whatever she’d elected to do, but decided it would be a disservice to not give them a heads up on the cave’s other threats. “There’s also big centipedes and some mining lurkers, but the big threat is just how much dark eco is all over the place. It’s like the whole cave’s been flooded.”

Moonlight frowned. “If there’s so much, why haven’t Maia and Gol extracted it already?”

“That’s a valid point,” agreed Silver, breathing heavily and choosing to focus on the discussion to distract herself. “If I wanted to study dark eco, I’d petition the red sage to allow me access to the caves, acquiring as much as I could peacefully before beginning hostilities.”

“Leave it ta the Prench ta plan somethin’ sneaky like that,” remarked Honey.

Silver grinned maliciously. “I’d like to remind the busty country girl that her shirt is rather thin and I’m at the perfect height to reach her nipples.” She accented her threat with a click of her teeth.

Honey took a large step back and fearfully covered her tender baby feeders. The women glared at one another for a short while before breaking out in grins.

Soon the players emerged into a large, open chamber. Torches were added to the natural light of the mushrooms and crystals, fully illuminating the chamber and all that crawled within. The ground in the center of the chamber had been completely flooded with dark eco, leaving only a smattering of islands here and there to hop across. The walls were lined in scaffolding and stone pillars acting as support beams looked half eaten by the giant centipedes that scurried along their surface. Giant spiders looked up from their webs, but most could not be bothered to ignore the rather sizable silken cocoons they were eating, likely lurkers. Several winged beetles hopped from rock to rock, occasionally ensnaring themselves in a spider web and demonstrating that there was a genuine ecosystem within the caves that went beyond just predators.

“There’s a vent over there.” Moonlight pointed across the chamber at the small tower of shimmering yellow. “I suggest we neutralize as many enemies as we can from there before exploring further.”

“Good call,” chirped Surprise, and they made the necessary jumps to their destination.

“Oh no. Not you!” Honey chided as she yanked Thomas back before he could step into the vent.

“Hey. Why not?”

“The blimp,” Honey deadpanned.

“… oh.”

“Ah ain’t lettin’ ya risk a cave in with another of those ‘kame-ha’ things. Ya’ll can stand over ‘ere with me while Moonlight shoots the buggers,” she said matter-of-factly, fixing her hand on the man’s shoulder in a way that said he wasn’t going anywhere.

Surprise walked up alongside Moonlight. Apparently all it took to channel an infinite amount of long range death was to keep one foot in the vent at all times. The women shared a nod and proceeded to unleash yellow hell upon the hapless creepy crawlers who gave the cave its namesake.

The remaining players were not idle, however, for a number of vile arachnids were making a slow approach from where Surprise and Moonlight could not easily aim. Although large, their forms were devoid of many of the features that made spiders so skin-crawlingly repulsive.

Luna watched carefully as Honey and Silver absorbed the expression of their foes, more surprised than afraid at the arachnids’ more cartoonish appearances. These were the sort of monsters most ideal to practice on, but that extra push was still needed. Turning to Thomas, Luna smiled and gestured with her head at the approaching enemy.

“Hey guys. I’ll take the five on the right,” he announced, assuming a fighting stance. “Honey, you take the five on the left. Silver, you can stay here and look pretty.”

“Now that hardly seems fair,” Silver said as she moved up beside Thomas, her protective instincts activated. “Why can I not fight and look pretty?”

“Best do as he says,” advised Honey as she came up to Thomas’ other side. “Wouldn’t wanna dirty them manicured hands on varmint clearin’. That’s a real mare’s job.”

“Real?” Silver snorted, incensed. “I’ll show you who’s real when I slay more than you.”

“Yer free ta try, skinny buns,” mocked the larger woman, shaking her own assets for good measure.

Thomas flinched, his time in Equestria having taught him that one could not expect to insult a mare’s backside without some measure of repercussions.

“Oh! It. Is. ON!”

Thomas smiled as he elected to hang back as the women charged forward, feeling no guilt at letting them work out their emotions with a little physical therapy. “You’re idea?” he whispered as Luna climbed up his side and took perch on his shoulder.

“More or less,” she conceded. She watched the two women let out guttural roars as they unleashed their merciless fury upon their hapless enemies, all while the scout flies remained noticeably absent from the fray, feeling just a smidgen of pride in herself for her craft.

“Hey. Wanna try something fun?” Surprise asked. She and Moonlight were still working from the vent.

“Sure. What did you have in mind?”

Beaming with murderous glee, Surprise grabbed the smaller woman and told her to keep her body straight. Angling Moonlight’s head at a distant spider, the white woman grabbed the unicorn’s tail, which wasn’t there a minute ago, and cranked it like a lever. The resulting blast from where Moonlight’s horn was meant to be was almost twice the size of the regular fist blasts, incinerating the spider, it’s web, and its egg sacks in a single glorious burst.

“It works!” cheered the chipper woman as she took aim and fired again, and again, and again. “Get-some, get-some, get-some!” she challenged as bugs of all sorts went scurrying for their lives. “Mwahahahaha!”

“Oh dear,” gasped Silver. She and Honey had finished with their own victims, only to pause at the new onslaught being unleashed. “That doesn’t look good.”

“No kidding,” snapped Thomas worriedly. “Now she’s the one who might start a cave in.”

“Not that,” Silver corrected. “That.” She pointed at Moonlight’s face, which was currently scrunched up in discomfort. “I don’t think this much destructive eco is agreeing with her.”

“‘Tis not the eco,” Luna stated. At the confused expressions of the others, she pointed back at Moonlight. “Notice the way Surprise is pulling on her tail.”

“Oh!” was the uniform response from Silver and Honey.

“Tail?” Thomas wondered out loud. His eyes darted from what Surprise was using as a trigger to Moonlight’s face, back to the trigger, and then again to Moonlight’s face. The unicorn’s expression was a familiar one, which he finally recognized as something other than simple discomfort. “Oh!”

“Don’t run! Don’t run! I wanna be your friend!” taunted Surprise as the last of the bugs disappeared into the many crevices of the caverns. When the walls were finally free of all movement, the untapped arsonist panting with manic glee finally lowered her ‘weapon’ as yellow flames continued to shimmer around them. “Aww. They ran away,” she whined like a child before setting Moonlight upright outside of the vent.

“You okay?” Thomas asked the orange woman, running up to make sure she was well.

Moonlight wobbled a bit, clenching her thighs together as a mulling moan escaped her lips. She held onto Thomas for balance, nodded, but knew she was not yet in a fit state to use words. Her nostrils flared as she turned back to look at Surprise, the white woman performing some rudimentary stretches while showing no overt signs of what Moonlight was certain had been a brief lapse into pure, raw madness.

No more words were said on the matter as the players cleared the chamber of all valuables and moved on to the next one, giving Moonlight plenty of time to calm down.

“Well that certainly looks ominous,” Silver remarked at the large, dark eco crystal on a ledge across a pool of the stuff.

“Looks explodey,” added Surprise. “Is it explodey?”

“Nail on the head,” Thomas answered, pointing at the Precursor platforms hovering across the pool of liquid death. “We just have to hop across these, touch the crystal, and it’ll-what are you doing?”

“Me?” Honey asked idly as she picked up a boulder the size of her own head, testing its weight. “Jus’ checkin’ somethin’.” With no further explanation, the green woman assumed a pitcher’s stance, took aim, and chucked the boulder as hard as she could at the crystal. It went off in a rumble that shook the cavern, leaving only a black mist that soon settled into the surrounding stone.

“Yay! Explodey!”

Honey smirked and tossed her mane back, hoping she looked cool. Thomas led the muted applause congratulating his friend for her accomplishment.

They ventured on a ways further, Honey making use of the many idle stones to take out enemies from a far until they arrived at a new chamber. At the center of the scaffolding was a massive metal construct, half buried within the stone. An army of lurkers armed with drills and picks chipped away at the stone from every angle and height. The construct, the women realized, bore a striking resemblance to the Oracles they’d come across on their travels.

“Is that supposed to be a Precursor?” Silver asked.

“It’s how the Precursors choose to present themselves, but the real guys look a lot different,” Thomas answered. “Very unimpressive.”

“What is the purpose of excavating this statue?” Luna asked.

“It’s a robot, not a statue,” Thomas corrected. “It’s actually the linchpin for the entire plan. They’re gonna haul the thing out of here, probably in pieces, and then put it back together with a bunch more artifacts and tech to make it work. That’s how they’ll open the silos.”

“With a giant robot?” Surprise asked.

“With a giant robot,” affirmed Thomas.

The white woman grinned from ear to ear and applauded eagerly. “Classic!”

“Then why don’t we end this now?” Moonlight asked. “If the enemy desires this machine for evil, why not cause a cave in and seal this place shut?”

“A sound strategy,” Luna began, folding her arms, “but I think not.”

“Luna?”

“If the robot is so important to the enemy’s plan, then its loss would drive them to go into hiding, fleeing with their remaining army to parts we cannot reach. Such has been my experience with mad wizards. ‘Tis better to fight them now, finishing them and denying them the chance to come back with a more nefarious plan.”

Moonlight’s ears drooped and she pursed her lips in a pout.

“However, do not mistake my dismissal as a declaration of idleness,” Luna continued, smirking. “We shall let the enemy choose their field of battle, but it shall be fought on our terms,” she purred. “Kiera!”

“Yeah?”

“I have a request. Do you think it possible to sabotage this robot in such a way as it would not be easily recognized by the enemy before they use it?”

“Hold on.” One of the scout flies flew up to the top of the robot and began circling around the head. “Give me a minute.”

“Do not feel down,” Luna said to Moonlight, hopping to her shoulder. “‘Twas a fine plan to seal up the weapon before it can be used. However, as I am beginning to learn, sealing threats away is rarely a permanent solution.”

Moonlight smiled and gave a halfhearted chuckle, nuzzling the ottsel. She considered pointing out that she wasn’t actually feeling bad about her idea being shot down, but that would mean losing precious nose-to-nose time with Luna, which she decided would be the true tragedy she could never live down.

While waiting for Kiera’s assessment of the robot, the players split up and began thinning the ranks of the miners. It was a most curious question why the lurkers had arranged for so many sizable gaps in the planks, or all the poles sticking out of the walls that served no other purpose than providing the players a chance to practice gymnastics, but no answers were to be found. The remaining scout flies aided in weakening the lurkers and picking up orbs and cells to save the party the trouble. Once the chamber had been cleared, the scout fly that had gone to examine the robot made its return.

“My scans show several areas where structural integrity has been compromised,” Kiera informed excitedly. “Pretty sure I could make the repairs with enough materials, so it’s a safe bet Gol and Maia are covered there. However, I’m thinking I could squeeze a few scout flies into the main structure and keep them hidden until the time is right.”

“Taking it down from the inside!” cheered Moonlight, sounding equally excited. “Brilliant!”

“Aww. So the giant robot battle’s really off?” whined Surprise.

“That’s what it sounds like,” confirmed Thomas.

Pouting, Surprise stuck her hands into her pockets and callously vented her frustrations upon a poor rock who never did anything worse than stub a few toes. “Phoey!”

“Keep in mind,” Kiera continued, “that this means you won’t have any more scout fly help until I can make the necessary upgrades. You sure you want me to do this?”

“Thomas?” Luna asked.

He thought about it a moment, but eventually nodded. “Yeah. Better to invest in giant robot death than stun the underlings. Think we could still keep one scout fly, though?”

“Afraid not,” Kiera replied. “Precursors built things to last. Even with damage as extensive as it is, the right amount of welding will make this bad boy good as new. It’ll take every modded scout fly I’ve got to do the job. All or nothing, guys. What’ll it be?”

It didn’t take Thomas long to decide. “All! Let’s tear this sucker down.”

“You got it!” And with that, the small swarm of scout flies abandoned their posts around the party and began circling the robot. The one in the lead made a small incision near the robot’s eye, allowing the blue optic to be removed and for the other flies to enter, closing the door behind them. “At least you’ve still got the communicators,” she added as the devices made their return.

The final chamber, much to the chagrin of the players, was devoid of bioluminescent fungus or torches, leaving everything in pitch black darkness.

“It looks to me like the spiders were not very accommodating of the lurkers traipsing about their territory,” Silver noted as her eyes roamed across the seemingly impenetrable darkness, observing the remains of the arachnid’s slaughter from the safety of the light.

“How can you-” began Moonlight, only to slap her forehead as she recalled. “Oh right. Bat pony. “You want to take point?”

“Do I want to be the first to step in spider leavings, alerting the repulsive creatures to target me as an intruder? No,” Silver answered flatly, her vigor from the earlier clash having significantly diminished. “Will I, for the good of the mission?” She paused, weighing her decision. “Just this once, but only if Luna comes with me.”

Smiling kindly, Luna hopped to Silver’s shoulder and gave the little woman an affectionate nuzzle, calming her instantly. Emboldened, the pair made slow but steady progress through the chamber. The scaffolding was sturdy enough, with lifts left running on automation in absence of operators. There were only a few spider webs along the wood and rope, suggesting the spider attack hadn’t been that long ago.

Silver looked at the cocooned bodies and was thankful she didn’t see any of them move. A few times she had to stop to hyperventilate, but Luna was always there to sooth her with gentle caresses and a sweet song whenever the fear started to take hold.

Similarly, Honey was carrying Thomas bridal style so that he could do the same for her. He told her the story of Johnny Appleseed, a scrawny, unassuming human who ventured out into the wilds without what others considered proper protection, relying entirely on neighborly goodness as he granted the land the gift of apple trees. Besides being a welcome distraction, Honey found she loved the story for its own merits. The simple, neighborly kindness of Johnny just seemed to embody everything she’d been taught about what made the Apple clan so respected and renowned. She knew, as soon as she woke up, she’d be passing this story along to her herd, urging them to get the word out to the entire clan. She could not afford to overlook advertising this good.

This left Moonlight and Surprise to act as defense against oncoming crawlers. They were aided by luminescent bits of crystal broken off by Honey and tied around their bodies and limbs to make sure they didn’t take a wrong step.

“I’m getting a creepy-crawly feeling in my tail,” Surprise informed.

“Good. Glad I’m not imagining things,” Moonlight replied, sparing a glance at Surprise’s lack of tail. Rather, it was the whole of her bottom that was shaking in a most peculiar way.

“What’s going on?” Silver asked.

“Not enough spiders,” Moonlight stated. “We’ve tripped enough alarms that they know we’re here, but they’re not coming out in force. They’re holding back for some reason.”

“Shoot. Is that what Ah’m feelin’?” complained Honey. “Ah was hopin’ that was jus’ gas.”

“I sense it, too. A dweller of the dark has set her sights upon us,” Luna ominously declared.

“Boss battle,” Thomas grumbled under his breath.

“I don’t see anything,” stated Silver, looking around nervously. “A-are you sure?” she asked in the futile hope this was all just a prank.

“Your tribe has always been blessed with night vision, young one. However, there is some darkness so deep that even your kind do not dare even observe.” As Luna spoke, her eyes remained fixed upon a singular point off in the distance.

Eight red eyes beamed in the darkness, seen only by the wizened vision of the alicorn. The ancient beings glared at one another, Luna recognizing the accursed monster as one irreparably twisted by the powers of darkness. All of the lesser spiders the players had slaughtered were her children, and the abomination was infuriated. Worse, the terrible creature did not act on blind rage, suggesting patience. Spiders were naturally patient predators, willing to wait indefinitely until their prey fell into the trap.

Further, it occurred to the woman that she was responsible for this creature’s birth. Not just her, but everyone. The fear of the aracnophobic women had been pushed to the forefront of their thoughts, forging the monster’s concept even as they fought her children. They were smart ones, figuring out exactly what Luna had done for them in creating obstacles they could overcome, but in so doing had subconsciously desired for even greater obstacles. Such desires were no doubt amplified by Moonlight and Surprise, the latter taking an especially intense pleasure in spider explosions. Thomas, also, had likely been thinking that it had been too long since they encountered a proper enemy boss, and her own experiences with such creatures had played the final straw in its creation.

Yet despite knowing all this, that she was in part responsible for creating such an abomination, Luna could not help but smirk at her foe. She’d faced off against nightmares with teeth the size of this bug’s legs and come out on top. Even diminished as she was, Luna felt pity for the poor sin against nature, for soon it would meet the fate its kind deserved. More importantly, although her beloveds were afraid at the moment, and it hurt to know she was the cause, Luna did not let the guilt consume her thoughts; as she had very nearly done before Thomas’ intervention. He had given her the strength to face her personal demons, a strength she would now pass on to the others.

This was a monster they had made together. As such, it was their collective responsibility to unmake it.

The players marched on, hopping from platform to platform like usual, all while Luna surveyed their surroundings for the inevitable trap. “The spiders linger where the darkness is at its thickest. They spin finely thin webs, but I cannot discern to what end.”

“Don’t-wanna-be-here. Don’t-wanna-be-here. Don’t-wanna-be-here,” Honey muttered, not appreciating Luna’s play-by-play. Thomas was doing his best to ease her nerves, but it was no longer working. Silver wasn’t much better off.

Frowning at her distressed friends, Surprise took a good, long look at the crystals adorning herself and Moonlight. She stared, licking her lips in thought, before she suddenly held one of the crystals directly over her head and declared, “Ding!”

“Idea?” asked Moonlight.

“E’yup,” drawled Surprise.

“A good one?”

The slightly chubby woman shrugged and admitted, “Maybe.” Surprise’s idea, as it turned out, was to untie one of the larger crystals adorning her body and, with all of her strength, smash the thing into pieces with her fist, spraying the fragments out in a wide array of glittery, collateral damage. The gratifying sounds of wet squelches and cries from spiders filled the chamber as a considerable spread of glowing crystals was left embedded in the wall.

“There. Now it’s not so dark,” Surprise informed matter-of-factly.

“Surprise…” gasped Moonlight. “You’re brilliant!”

“So I’ve been told,” she admitted as she idly examined her hand. There was a bit of bruising where her knuckles had impacted the crystal, but the looks of relief on her friends’ faces were well worth it.

The pair of defenders repeated the action and littered the walls with crystal fragments, leaving just enough for themselves. The collective glow of the many fragments somehow managed to build off of itself in pushing the dark away, leaving much of the cave pleasantly illuminated. All was going well, until Moonlight sent the last burst of fragments flying. A guttural shriek caused the entire cave network to shake as the embedded shards started to move.

“… Oops.”

“Luna’s tits, that’s a big bugger!” Honey exclaimed, backing up from the edge of the scaffolding.

“Indeed,” Luna stoically agreed, never blinking as her eyes followed the monster’s movements along the cave floor. “We need weapons of some sort.”

“There!” Thomas pointed up from Honey’s arms. “Stalagmites. Or is it stalactites?”

“It’s big bug smashin’ rocks!” Honey answered succinctly and set Thomas down beside her. “Gi’me somethin’ ta chuck!” she demanded, looking around her immediate vicinity.

“Oh. Ohohohoh! I got something,” Surprise said and fished out, of all things, an anvil from her mane. “Will this work?”

Honey took the sculpted metal, tested its weight a second, and then grinned. “Yeah. This oughtta do it.”

“Aim for that one there,” Silver urged, pointing up. “The one shaped like a griffon’s beak.”

“You sure, sugar?”

“She’s right. The monster has been moving in a pattern,” Luna affirmed. “The griffon rock is the largest in its path.”

“If you say so.” Resigned to whatever may come, Honey heaped the anvil into ideal chucking position and waited for the signal while the others watched the scurrying affront to nature.

Thomas stood there a moment, feeling useless as the others all moved into position. Surprise and Moonlight were chucking rocks at any smaller spiders that came their way while Luna and Silver stood as look outs. His eyes darted to and fro, searching for something that might ease the little niggling at the back of his mind. The proposed strategy seemed sound, but at the same time came across as too easy. His inner gamer screamed at him that there must be some other element, some mechanic worked into the system. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it.

“Hey. There’s a crystal fragment that keeps flashing. See. It’s about where the griffon’s eye is.” He pointed urgently.

“Ah see it!”

“Aim for that. I bet it’s the weak point.”

“If’n ya’ll say so,” Honey agreed, sounding a little less sure than before.

“Wait for it,” cautioned Silver as she stared intently at the heinous mass that likely made up an entomologist’s nightmares. “Wait for it.”

“Ah’m waitin’,” Honey grunted. The anvil was heavy and her strength was giving out.

“Wait for it,” Silver said again, drawing out the last syllable. “Aaand… Now!”

With all of her might, Honey threw the anvil up at the griffon-shaped stalactite. There was a whoosh as it flew through the air, and then a thud when it hit the stone. At first nothing happened. Butt holes collectively clenched in fear that the strategy had failed. The smaller spiders gave a shrill scream, as if they understood the players’ plight and were mocking their failure. To add insult to injury, the giant spider came to a stop directly below the stalactite, turned, and gave a sadistic grin to its intended prey.

Then there was a crackle. Everyone and everything stopped to listen. They looked this way and that as the eco of the cavern made the sound hard to pinpoint. Then there was a second crackle, and a third. All looked up. Even in the dark, a very distinct line was forming along the stalactite, right where the anvil remained imbedded. The crack grew and grew, shaking dust and tiny pebbles from the larger stone. There was an audible gulp from down below, drawing Luna’s attention to the fact that the spider was using one hairy leg to draw a cross over itself.

With the chipping of one last insignificant pebble, the great stone fell, crashing to the ground with a thunderous thud and a sickening splat. A small splash of green guts spread over the cavern floor, coating many spiders in the liquid remains of their queen. Gazing at her formerly heinous majesty, the once fearless swarm sounded the call for retreat and scampered into the deepest darkest crevices, never to return.

When all went quiet, once the ground and walls stopped crawling, there was a loud gasp as the players unleashed the breaths they’d been holding.

“That. Was. Awesome!” cheered Surprise, bouncing in delight. “The spider was like ‘grrrr.’ And then I was like ‘oh no!’ And then Honey was all-”

“W-we did it,” Honey stated, sounding like she didn’t entirely believe her own words as Surprise continued her rambling. “We did it, right?”

In answer, a power cell shot up from the giant spider’s corpse and landed neatly at the green woman’s feet.

“I’d say so,” answered Moonlight cautiously.

The entirety of Spider Caves erupted in a cry of joy as the players celebrated their victory over the dreaded menace.

And that was Spider Caves. I sort of surprised myself by writing in the boss battle, but this one needed a couple rewrites to make the fear experienced by the mares less intense. The feeling I went for was one of triumph, where everyone is really getting into the spirit of the game and thus get an opportunity to shine.