Author's Notes:

This is a very long story that changes tune and writing style many times. Enjoy!

Also did a little editing. 4/3/18

Barren, desolate, cold, boring and isolated. This cave was just one more cave in Equestria, one more dry, empty hole that had lacked any and all charm. To another set of eyes however it was fascinating; a world to explore, a yet uncharted (mostly) wilderness of wonder.

At least that is the way she saw caves and mines, any deep, dark hole really, it was also why she was here, Shadow Wing was overjoyed at the prospect of finding out what lay deep within, maybe a long forgotten dragons hoard? Maybe a part of the long forgotten Diamond Dog kingdom that fell from greed and internal fighting a millennia ago?

It did not matter to her, but what DID matter was that this cave was... Special. A DANGEROUS kind of special, the kind that kept anypony from ever daring to set foot in it after what had happened a century ago. The map clutched in her hands was the last proof of this, the only remaining memory of what had transpired in this cave: a simple well worn parchment map. It had belonged to her grandfather, an explorer for his unfortunate... Accident.

Whatever happened down there had scarred him horribly, both mentally and physically, his back had one hell of a scar to prove it. Everyone figured he had woken up some beast down below while not paying attention to where he was going, got attacked, fled, died huddled in a ball decades later still sobbing about it. Still, whenever he was lucid she loved listening to his stories, especially about caves, he had even drawn a complete map for her from memory after the original disappeared. Unlike her grandfather though, she was ready!

Like the rest of her species she could see VERY well in the dark, she had brought plenty of iron rations, water and a solid spear to defend herself with though she had no idea how to use it. Then again, it did not really matter, just point the sharp end at the target and let the charging monster impale itself, that or keep poking with the sharp point till it fled.

Years had she dreamed of this and now with one step she would be following the same trail he had, retracing his steps and going deeper than he ever had! Taking one last solid breath of fresh, forest air Shadow took one hooved step forward into the dark cave and started a journey that would take her farther than she ever expected as a pair of eyes watched quietly.

Two or three days? Her wind up watch ticked so loudly in the tunnel it made her nervous, she was dangerously close now to where her grandfather had left off, she had detoured around that area, well tried too... Unfortunately the system all joined at that one point, she would have to pass through it to go deeper. Well, hopefully whatever had BEEN there was now gone, easy, easy, unless it WAS a dragon that nearly got him so long ago.

Then again... Dragons did not burrow THIS deep into the earth, not unless it was a particularly large hidden hoard? Buried deep so no others would find it... Eh, oh well. Picking her pack back up she lazily flapped her wings and floated down the tunnel again, walking when her wings were tired or flying when her legs got tired... It had been a while since she had needed a torch though, the first day the caved had been utterly barren, pitch black, only her screeing helped her find the way without a torch. Here however, the cave had started to become... Glowy?

All around her strange fungi and moss grew in little patches giving off and eerie light, with her heightened senses though it made seeing in the dark much easier for her, still, she had never heard nor read about anything like this. Studying caves was a passion of hers, what critters lived below, plants (if any and what few did were VERY few) and so on. In all her years nothing came close to what these strange little fungi and mosses were.

Two things she DID make out clearly though without having to guess about it was a very clear cutting, clawing mark on the wall and a blood splatter, this must be where he was attacked. She immediately stopped, readied her spear and slowly began to inch her way forward, tufted ears perked catching the reverberations of her low screeing as she stalked forward. Nothing had happened, nothing at all, maybe whatever was here had left long ago, but be damned if she was going to drop her guard.

Inching forward she entered a narrower tunnel, to low for her to fly but narrow enough that anything that moved would be unable to get around her. Down and down past the strange glowing mosses till she entered and a small chamber, still to low to fly but another tunnel lay directly ahead. "This must have been that creatures nest" was all she could think though there were no signs of a nest of any kind in the cave. Oh well, onward. Entering the far tunnel she suddenly regretted entering this cave network.

"Demon from Tartarus" was all that came to mind, she was too caught up with looking around the cave as she was leaving it and failed to look ahead, from a small alcove a monster from the depths of hell had stepped out. All little Shadow could do was look up at it, at all over 6' 2" the thing loomed over her, claws, fangs, wings, red glowing eyes and... Made of stone?

Must be the odd light, but that no longer mattered, it moved forward and she moved back. Remembering her spear she leveled it and began to wonder just how effective a bronze spear would actually BE against a stone demon. With a heavy flick of its stone hand the spearhead was snapped from the shaft and it silently stalked forward at a quicker pace. Pray. That was all she could do, pray to all the sacred fruit trees of the world and the holy mango and plum trees that when she bolted for the far exit there would NOT be another one blocking the way.

Giving out a loud scree to find out if anything was behind her she readied to bolt when the monstrosity did something unexpected. It reached an arm up and began dragging its claws on the stone ceiling, the resulting screech mad her ears hurt and lay tightly against her head as she flinched. Well, that was it, best to just run like hell and keep praying.

Flapping her wings to propel herself backwards quickly she spun quickly and made to run like hell was on her hooves for it was. All this accomplished was a harsh stop and a grunt as something grabbed and threw her to the cave floor.

A figure sat in a chair holding a crystal with its eyes closed. This was interesting, a little bat pony had once again tried to infiltrate the cave network, strangely enough following exactly the same path as one had many decades ago. Since then new precautions had been taken, the last one got away, this one would not be so lucky. The last he needed was the outside world taking an undue interest in the caves and its goings on.

Still, better safe than sorry, last time he had elected to allow his stone guardians to deal with things themselves... That did not go so well, they were mighty useful but without a brain they... Well without a brain they could only do so much, this was why that last one escaped. Best to block off the exit, just in case and best to do it himself.

The little pony had passed right past him not a moment ago, a real pretty little thing too, midnight blue fur, slightly glowing blue eyes and some kind of dark purplish mane and tail with a light blue stripe, strange but it suited her lithe figure. Shame though, in a few moments she would be dead. Waiting till she was well down the tunnel and almost to the prepared chamber did he enter the tunnel after her and quietly walk along, arms almost folded in his robes.

A terrified shriek pierced the gloom, she must have run into the gargoyle, there was no sound of ripping flesh so she must have been able to avoid it in time. Oh well, this was EXACTLY why he had come along and also placed additional security, with a wave another gargoyle slid from a hidden side compartment and blocked the only exit, ordered to not move but to block the way he quickened his pace.

In his mind he could see her poking with her spear till the construct batted the spearhead off, followed by her sudden screeing. A smile came to his face quickly and with a thought the gargoyle cut off her screeing with its claws raking the ceiling. She was a smart one, he gave her that, using her screech to "look" behind her before turning on an enemy. Wings flaring out she beat the air rapidly and spun to escape launching her body across the chamber rapidly but unfortunately for her... Straight into his waiting hand, in an instant he had ripped her "staff" away and slammed her into the wall and watched as she slid to the floor dazed.

Her pack had taken the bulk of the impact, exploding and sending papers and other things flying. Tossing away the shaft he beckoned to the now waiting gargoyle to finish the job, it began moving forward from the far side of the room as he willed one of her papers into the air to get a better look at it. A map, a very FAMILIAR map...

Pain. Pain, dizziness and oh damn there were two of them now! Her senses quickly returned as adrenaline pounded through her small frame, eyes snapping up to the figure standing over her she realized this was NOT the same demon but a different one, robes, tall, hunched over her a little... Oh damn the other one is coming over, why is it taking my map? Curiosity died quickly as a clawed hand reached for her throat, one razor sharp claw extended, she started sobbing.

Scanning the map as the gargoyle reached down the sudden sobbing brought his mind back to reality, a quick mental command changed its orders and instead of slashing her throat it grabbed her and roughly hoisted her up for him to get a better look at her. As she dangled from its grip he opened his mouth and slowly began speaking.

"Where did you get this map?"

Well that took it all, almost die, survive, almost die again and now here she was dangling in the air, sobbing, knowing that as soon as it lost interest she was going to die a horrible death. The robed figure asked something but she could not make out anything over her sobbing and all she could mutter was "please dont kill me." It stared at her a minute, waiting before asking in a clear deep voice the same question. "My grandpa" was all she could squeek out.

Damn it all.

Quietly cursing in his mind he kept staring at her, that map had been taken and now sat in his collection, been a hell of a task tracking that crazy bat down and getting the map. Somehow, it had managed to make another and pass it on to family for some reason. The only reason he spared the gibbering wreck was because he WAS a gibbering wreck. No one believed him!

Killing him would have drawn too much attention. But now, in his caves was one of his progeny, carrying an exact copy, sobbing, begging for her life. Glaring into her eyes and letting out a small snarl words left his mouth that honestly she could not understand why he was asking: "WHY?!"

Not dead yet and that counts for something, it even bothered to ask WHY so that must mean there is at least some tiny, itty bitty chance of getting out of this alive. "I wont tell anyone! I swear by the moon and all the fruit of the world I wont tell a soul! Ever!"

A laugh was what she got and the monster holding her tightened its grip. "Killing you would silence you NOW and I would never have to give it a second thought."

"Others might come looking for me!" Well that was true, others might, she was young, obviously had family, the ponies were a very "homogeneous" group with large families and herds... "I can always just seal this entrance with magic and no one will ever know this tunnel network existed."

Now what the hell could she say to that? Her mind raced wildly before she blurted out "You would have done that already after my grandpa was here, so this path MUST be important!" Not the best choice of words she had to admit, in fact saying that would probably mean she WAS going to die, saying that made it sound like she was a scout for some army.

His mouth twitched at hearing that, smart girl this one. Maybe too smart, then again he was starting to enjoy this pointless banter, it had been... Well... Quite some TIME since he had talked to anyone. Lets see what happens when I really PUSH her...

"That just means I have all the more reason to kill you bat, turn you to ash on the spot and leave not a trace! I can just kill whoever else comes, hell I can even put a giant pony eating lizard down here and have it eat anyone who tries to follow! No one would know the difference!"

Still not dead, that means she still has a chance! "Yes but that would draw attention! Others would come to kill the lizard to keep ponies safe! Ponies will be CRAWLING through this cave with magic and weapons!"

"I will collapse the damned cave then and just dig a new one!"

"Your probably too lazy to do that!" Oh crap that was not what she wanted to say.

She was right, he was too lazy to do that, all that damned bother... The skeleton crews that would be needed, tools, oversight, the decades it would take... "I could always erase your memory..."

"If you did that then other ponies would know someone did it! My family would come looking for me and find out!"

"I could always stage your death outside in the forest..."

Well he had her on that one, but still, he kept talking so there must be SOME reason he was keeping her alive, was he amused? Toying with her? She was considerably calmer now that the immediate threat of death had passed. She had even stopped to just stare at this giant brute that was glaring at her.

Strange beast, bearded, blue eyed and sickly pale white flesh. It must have been down here a LOONNNGGG time... Its patience seemed to run out and the stone thing tightened its grip more and in a rush to stave off death by strangulation little Shadow blurted out words that she knew she would regret for the rest of her short, horrible life: "I'll be your slave!"