My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Starlight, Starbright

Chapter 20

Journeys though the Cave

Glade hit against the rubble that formed a wall between him and freedom with his right shoulder. He would’ve used his magic but he was too tired from the barrier spell he cast, protecting him and his soldiers and Screw Ball.

“Come on!” he grunted, hitting against the rubble. “Come on!”

Nobody wanted to tell him but it was looking like a losing battle against the inevitable. Screw Ball sighed in defeat and walked over to him. “Glade… give it up. We’re trapped in here. There’s no way for us to get out.”

Glade ignored her and continued to slam against the rubble. He wasn’t going to give up; not by a long shot.

“Glade…”

“no. I’m not going to give up.” he grunted as he continued his actions. “my friends and family are with that Chaos freak and I am not going to let them be with him.”

he hit against the rubble again, this time wincing in pain. He fell to his knees, holding his right shoulder in pain. “oh my gosh. Glade!” Screw Ball ran over to his side, beating his top lieutenant to him. “are you okay?”

“Ah! My… my shoulder. I think it’s busted.” he tried to look but his neck hurt whenever he tried to look.

Screw Ball moved his hoof to take a look. It wasn’t just busted; it was pierced by a icicle, all the way down to the bone. Screw Ball winced and pretended to feel his pain. “Ow!”

“What?”

“eh… it’s… it’s nothing. Hehe. I’m un…” she gulped and turned back to the guards. “um… anyone know any healing and/or extraction spells?”

Glade adopted a freaked out look. Healing and extraction? Exactly what’s wrong with his shoulder?

Starlight walked on ahead, trying to use her magic to find a way out. She was using a spell her mother taught her that would get her un-lost by leading her out. A ’injured’ Chaos Gun and Bass followed not far behind, both keeping an eye on the other, making sure the other didn’t try anything stupid.

“Are we out yet?” Bass asked, whining like a little kid.

“you’re really gonna pull that?” Starlight asked, not losing her stride.

“Just figured I’d try to lighten things up. Geez.”

Chaos Gun gave a scoffing chuckle. “wow.”

Bass angrily snarled. “what?” Chaos Gun ignored him and walked ahead of him. Bass angrily frowned at him. What does this guy want? He’s up to something; he has to be.

Chaos trotted up to Starlight, who was still leading the way. “find a way out yet?”

“Does it look like I found a way out yet?” she snapped.

“Whoa. Testy. What, is it that time of the month?” Without losing focus on what she was doing, Starlight used her magic to summon up a hand that slapped him in the back of his head. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Faust, don’t you ever shut up?!” Bass asked.

“zip it, you dumb colt.”

“DUMB?!”

“will you two just SHUT UP!?” Starlight yelled. She has had enough of their arguments and isn’t going to listen to more anymore. “like it or not, we’re trapped in here and the only way out is if we work together, so I suggest the two of you make nice before I bash someone’s head in with a sharp block of ice!”

That sudden outburst shut the two of them up. They certainly weren’t expecting that from Starlight; she’s usually mellow. “o-okay.” they both said.

Starlight sighed and shook her head. “sorry. I’m just ornery, what with the monster, the cave-in, Glade pursuing me, and you two arguing. A-all I wanted was to find my father and I wasn’t expecting all these set-backs.”

Bass knew how she felt. He had a number of set-backs himself over his life. “Starlight… I-I’m sorry, I forgot.” he looked back to their ‘companion’. he didn’t say anything to him; he just gave Chaos Gun a mean scowl.

If that was to scare him, it failed miserably. Chaos Gun had no feelings and couldn’t be shocked by things like that. But if he has no feelings, then why is the image of that mint-green mare still in his head?

Speaking of said mare, Sweet Song and her friends made their way though another part of the collapsed cavern, trying to find the exit to either the north or to Baltimare. Easier said then done.

“We’re lost, aren’t we?” Peppy asked.

“yep.” Electronic Symphony bluntly said.

“Sym!”

“What? I’m just speaking the truth. There’s no telling what part of the cave we’re in now.”

“and it just got worse.” Pumpkin said.

The group had reached a fork in the road; something they didn’t expect to come across. It split into 7 different routes, each heading in a different direction.

“Great. Now what?” Woona asked. “Either route would take us outside… or death.”

This was a bit of a problem, but nothing they couldn’t fix, if they put their minds to it. Which Goldie did. Having Twilight for a mother can be hellish at times, what with her obsession for every little detail and wanting her kids to be as smart as her, but they’ll admit that some of her learned skills came in handy from time to time. Unfortunately, the trick she had in mind required magic and she was a Pegasus.

“How about we send two ponies down each passageway?” Fire Ruby suggested. “have them scope each route before we head in further?”

It was better then just standing around. “hmm… that’s a good idea.” Pound said. “but how we divide?” he asked Erys. She shrugged, not sure how.

Woona eyed the passages and counted them out. “hmm… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 passages. What if we split up into groups of 2 and each one goes down each passage?”

The gang all looked at each other. Better then standing around. “how do you want to split us up?” Marian asked.

Woona thought about that. “hmm… ah.” she flew up to the ceiling and snapped off one of the icicles. “anyone familiar with spin the bottle?”

“you mean that lame game we played when we were fillies?” Season’s Edge asked.

“yep.” she set it down on the ground. “here’s how this is going to work: the first two picked by ‘spin the icicle’ will be group 1, then the next two will be group 2, and so on and so forth. And…” she pulled a crayon out of Fire Ruby’s saddle bags and marked all the paths with numbers. “each path will correspond with each group; 1, 2, 3...”

Windancer blinked in surprise. “wow. That… actually made sense. And it came from Woona.”

Woona chuckled like a idiot. “well, I had to get one right eventually.” she used her magic to put the icicle on the floor of the cave.

Glade yelled in pain and agony as the unicorns used their magic to pull the icicle out of his shoulder. “OH, FAUST, THAT HURT!”

“Sorry, Sir. We had no painkillers.” one of his soldiers, a male hazel unicorn said.

“Could’ve knocked me unconscious!” Glade snarled.

Screw Ball sighed and rolled her eyes. “well, what’s passed is passed.” she reached into one of the soldiers saddle-bags and pulled out some bandages, a needle, and thread.

Glade was a bit nervous to let her near his wound but he was in too much pain to argue. Screw Ball had one of the soldiers use her magic to put the thread though the needle. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” he nervously asked.

“I was born and raised in a hospital- I know what I’m doing.” Screw Ball said in confidence.

“Technically, you were raised in a psych ward.” Glade commented.

Screw Ball ignored him and went to work stitching up his wound. He winced in pain with the needle going in and out but eventually grew numb to it. He looked back to see her work. She knows what she’s doing, so what was he worried about?

After a couple dozen spins, the groups and their routes have been decided. Electronic Symphony & Golden Day are going down route 1, Marian & Windancer are going down route 2, Woona & Cotton down route 3, Eris Shine & Pumpkin Cake down route 4, Erys & Pound Cake down route 5, Peppy & Soarin‘ Cloud down route 6, and Season’s Edge & Filigree down route 7. That leaves one 3 person team of Sweet Song, Fire Ruby, and Goldie going back the way they came to see if they missed anything. The group then split up and went their separate ways but not after Marian used a spell to give them all orbs that act like walkie-talkies that activate whenever someone touches it.

Sym yawned as he and Golden Day walked down their route. “This is boring.”

Golden Day rolled her eyes and sighed. “Sym… do you have to be so lazy?”

“Who said I was lazy? I’m just tired. I feel like we’ve been walking for hours.”

Golden Day reached into her bags and pulled out a watch. “we’ve only been walking for 4 minutes.”

“hours? minutes? What’s the difference? All I know is that I’m bored and I want to do something about it.”

Golden Day sighed again. He is hopeless. Just absolutely hopeless.

Marian walked along the ground while Windancer took to the air a few feet above her. The brown Pegasus saw what she did back then and tried to find the words to ask. “Marian… Why did you try to kill Bass?”

Marian went wide-eyed at first then gave a rasping laugh. “w-what? What are you talking about; I didn’t try to kill him.”

Windancer flew down in front of her. “yes, I did. I saw you fire a beam at a icicle directly above him, which also lead to this entire cave-in. the question is why.”

The dressed-up unicorn gulped in fear. She was hoping nobody had noticed. “un… un… I un… I attacked that icicle in hopes it would kill the monster. Guess I, Hehehe, mis-calculated.”

Windancer wasn’t buying it. “mis-calculated? Really?”

“yeah.” Marian chuckled nervously. “s-s-s-s-so come on. Let’s find us a exit.” she ducked underneath the Pegasus and kept on walking. Once she was a good distance away, she silently breathed a sigh of relief. Windancer is asking a lot of questions and she didn’t like that.

Her Alicorn Amulet took it to mean kill her and softly glowed.

“wow wow wow! This is the first time I’ve been in a cave-in.” the hyper Cotton said, bouncing up and down like her mother. Guess some traits are genetic.

“Same here.” a out-of-place Woona said. She was surprisingly calm during all this, which is completely out of character for her. “Just hope we get out of here alive.”

Cotton stopped bouncing and walked along side her. She noticed that Woona was feeling depressed and was showing it on her face. “you okay, Woona?”

“yeah, just… scared.”

“scared?”

Woona sighed. “I never told anyone this, but… I’m afraid about dying.”

Cotton went ‘Pbbt’. “every ponie’s afraid of dying. It’s a part of life.”

“Not me.”

That got Cotton to calm down. “what? How so?”

Woona kept quiet. She didn’t want to talk about it. Instead, she spread her wings and flew ahead.

“GLADE!” Eris Shine and Pumpkin Cake called out. “GLADE! STARLIGHT!?”

Eris gave up and sighed. “what if we don’t find a way out; what if we’re trapped forever?”

Pumpkin patted the nervous Pegasus on the back. “we’re not gonna be trapped in here forever. We’re gonna find a way out. You’ll see.”

“What if we don’t? what if we die trying to find a way out?”

Pumpkin gently nuzzled her friend. “then we make the best of it. You’ll see. My mom told me that behind every horrid event, there‘s always a silver lining.”

Eris sighed. “I sure hope so. I really hope so.”

Erys and Pound Cake walked down their route; Pound busy trying to find a way out, Erys trying to work up the courage to tell him her feelings.

“(come on, Erys. Come on, Erys. You can tell him how you feel. It’s like pulling off a band-aid; quick and painless. Besides, the worst he can say is no.)” Erys took a shaky breath and steeled herself. She gained speed to reach and tell him how she feels when…

“AHH!” Erys fell to her knees, holding her head in pain. Pound heard her yell and ran back to her.

“Erys!” Pound ran to her side. “Erys, you okay?”

“No.” she said with a groan. “no, I’m… AH!”

“What’s wrong?”

“AH! Headache… very bad headache. They come and go! AH! Mostly coming. Getting more painful every time!”

The unicorn gulped out of fear, not sure what to do for her. He had no first hand medical experience so he had no clue what to do. “un… un… w-what do I do?”

Erys whined as the pain increased. “Hold my hoof.” she whined. “help me though this.” Pound did just that and held her hoof. This was her most painful ordeal, this time adding pains in her stomach.

“{Come on. Let me out! I want to live my own life!}”

Peppy and Soarin’ Cloud… un… they weren’t exploring their route. Instead, they were exploring… each other. Their passionate moans filled their route, them being careful not to be too loud.

They stopped for a moment and looked in each other’s eyes.

“why didn’t we do this before?” a panting Peppy asked.

“because Sweet Song would kill you!” a equally panting Soarin’ said.

“Ah. Right. She has a crush on you.”

The two went back to their… horizontal tango.

Filigree and Season’s Edge reached the end of their route, the Dragon/Pony hybrid feeling despaired.

“Well, that’s just great.” Season’s Edge snapped. “just great. *sigh* better hope the others have had better luck.”

Filigree chuckled. Her fine-tuned hearing picked up the last couple’s heated exchange. “oh, someone’s getting lucky.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing, Season. Nothing.” Filigree rested on a bench-like piece of rubble and sighed. “sometimes, I wonder if I’ll ever find a boy who’s good to me.” she looked at the Changeling/Pony hybrid. “you ever think about finding the perfect girl?”

The moody teen scoffed and sat down on the other side. “not really. I don’t really care about stuff like that.”

“really? Not a thing?”

“nope.” Season sat back and rested his head on a loose rock. The rock moved inward, surprising him. He quickly got back up and looked back to what he had pushed. Their route began to shake and rumble.

“uh-oh.” they both said.

The last group; Fire Ruby, Sweet Song, and Goldie, and the phoenix Peewee, walked back down the way they came to see if they missed anything. What the fillies had to deal with, however, was Sweet Song go on and on about Soarin’ Cloud.

“…and he’s so strong and passionate and kind and caring and lovely and cool and…”

Fire Ruby yelled out in agony. “doesn’t she stop?” she whined to Goldie, holding her ears shut.

“You’re talking about Sweet Song!” the filly replied, holding her ears shut as well. “She’s never going to stop.”

All 3 of them yelped when a voice came though their orb. “Hey guys!” Filigree said though hers. “We found a way out!”

Bass groaned, wanting to stop walking. This was pure agony. When Chaos Gun and Starlight were tired with walking, they took to the air with their wings. Something he’s not able to do. Thanks to that, however, he was able to spot something the fliers didn’t; a glint of light coming though a break in the rock.

“Hello, sweet freedom!” he chuckled. He looked to the Alicorns and whistled, getting their attention. “WSSSSSSSSSST! Who want’s freedom?”

Screw Ball bit down on the thread, cutting it off from Glade’s sewed up wound. Glade looked at her handiwork. “nice job.”

“Thanks.” not sure what to do with the dirty needle, she tossed it to a unused part of their bubble. She grabbed the bandages and began dressing his wound.

Glade blinked up to his soldiers, who just looked at him and shrugged. “Un… so. What’s it like living in a mental hospital?” Screw Ball gave him a scowl. “un. Just asking. I’ve never been to one in my life.”

Screw Ball sighed, knowing his soldiers are now curious as well. “well, it’s never boring. There’s always someone new coming in with some insane disorder.” she stopped bandaging as she thought back. “I think the craziest one would have to be my mom. She was just so hyper, it’s scary.”

“how did she go insane in the first place?”

Screw Ball thought back to that as well. “you know, I never bothered to ask. I think one of the nurses told me she was turned insane by Discord; had a propeller hat and everything. When he was sealed and everything went back to normal, mom… didn’t. she was sent to the Baltimare mental ward. And 2 years later, I came along. Around the same time those humans arrived.”

Glade lightly chuckled, not at the mental ward but at the humans. Seems they’re well know even in a mental institute. He barely remembers them; only knowing what they looked like though the murals in the Throne Room and the Elements of Harmony resting place. All he does remember physically was a purple-haired sage fighting to save equines she once hated. He also remembers he was named after her; Yggdrasill.

He was so busy reminiscing, he didn’t notice when Screw Ball finished bandaging his shoulder. “there. All better.”

Glade looked to his shoulder and flexed it. Much better. “Thank you. Feels better. Nice work, Screw Ball.”

S.B. hated that name. it reminds her of her insane mother. “Screw Loose.”

“huh?”

“my real name is… Screw Loose. The doctors called me Screw Ball to remind me of where I came from. It’s a horrid nickname and I just… I hate it.”

Glade got up and tried out his shoulder. “still, thanks… Screw Loose.” the earth pony mare lightly chuckled and smiled. Someone actually called her by her real name. someone really cared about her for her. “now… how do we get out of here?”

His response came with a deep rumble in the earth, following by a roar. “uh-oh.” all 9 of them said.

The top of their little dome was tore off when the giant red Wyrm dug overhead and though the rubble, making his way to the other side and towards his pray. He didn‘t even notice them.

One of the soldiers stuck her head up and watched the monster dig away. “Think we have our way out.”

Glade and his Pegasi spread his wings and flew out. The Pegasi grabbed the Unicorns and flew on ahead. Glade offered his hoof to Screw Loose. “You coming, Screw Loose?”

The mare gave him a playful look. “like you have to ask.” she reached up and took it, glad to finally have someone who treated her for her.

Author's Notes:

ugh. don't you hate it when monsters just won't die? god.

and keep an eye on those couples i chose. a VERY close eye.