John’s perspective:

I looked around and spotted one of our torches nearby. I quickly arose and trotted over. The rag was soaked with water and probably wouldn’t light right now. I looked to Brixie who was providing us with a light source.

I kept the torch handy, figuring it might be able to be lit after a little while. I looked to Daring who as sobbing. The others were all getting their bearings together. Billy and Brixie sorted through their things while Elijah searched Bear for any injuries. Luckily we were all in good shape. It could be a lot worse.

I trotted over to Daring and sat down beside her. I let out a sigh as I looked to the expanse of the dimly lit caverns and brought a hoof to my face and rubbed my eyes. “Okay… we need to get out of here.” I muttered but Daring continued to cry.

“John… we can’t get out. That floor has closed shut. We can’t get out the way we came. John… this is the place.” She whispered and I simply grabbed her and held her tight to me. She didn’t need to say anymore. I knew what she was talking about and she didn’t have to put it into words.

“Don’t worry Daring. We’ll find a way out. I know we will, we have to.” I told her with a tone of positivity. It didn’t do much to sooth her though. She continued to cry. I hugged her tightly but she simply sat there and looked blankly into the water.

“John… it’s coming for us… in a few minutes.” She muttered. I let out a sigh of defeat.

“Okay… so we get away from the water. Ray knows we’re here. He’ll come looking for us.” I said positively.

“John! Don’t you understand! This isn’t some stupid fantasy story that’s gonna end with sunshine and rainbows! This is real life! We’re going to die in this wretched cave and there’s nothing we can do!” She screamed and I looked down to the ground as my shyness overtook me… no, not this time.

“Daring… this isn’t you. You weren’t responsible for what happened to Lucky. I know that it hurts… to be back here… to have this happening. But Daring, I love you and I need you.” I told her sternly and she looked up to me, her pink eyes somehow gleamed despite the low level of lighting.

“You… you need me?” She asked and I nodded. Her eyes were still teary and she looked down to her front hooves as they shook. “I…” She trailed off but I brought my hoof up to her chin, bringing her face up so I as looking directly into those beautiful eyes of hers then… I planted my lips against hers.

We sat there and kissed for several moments before parting. “Daring… let’s find a way out of this shithole.” I said with the faintest of smiles. She returned my smile.

“Okay… I like your idea but… how?” She asked and I stood up then quickly observed the area. There had to be some kicker to this place, some… way out… or in.

I recalled my rather long exposure to the water… something was off about it and the cavern. It was now that I realized that water dripped from the ceiling of the caverns and plumeted into the cavern floor below. The faint water droplet sound echoed in the caverns as I tried to think what I was overseeing.

The water… something about the water. I trotted down to the water and poked at it. “Hey Brixie… can you come over here for a second?” I asked and the pale blue unicorn trotted over. As she got closer her light illuminated the clear water.

Daring trotted over to my side. “Okay… John, let’s hear your thoughts?” She asked.

“Got a bit?” I asked and she scrunched her nose.

“No, why?” She replied in the form of a question.

“You know, a bit for your thoughts.” I stated. Kind of a bad time to be cracking jokes but… well anyways. “Does anything about the water seem off to you?” I asked and they both shook their heads.

“Okay… so what are you thinking John?” Daring asked and I swirled my hoof around in the shimmering clear water. “Well?” Daring asked impatiently. Suddenly a pair of gleaming eyes flashed from the depths of the water. At first I thought it was just my imagination but after a moment of thinking it was just my imagination, a huge tentacle beast lurched from the water, slapping its numerous tentacles about in a violent fashion.

“OH SHIT!” I yelled as we all tried to back pedal. Daring and Brixie managed to get back in a flash but I stumbled on my hooves and the beast snatched my left hindleg with one of its tentacles and began to drag me back towards it.

“JOHN!” Daring screamed and rushed towards me. The beast saw her and simply swatted her away with another tentacle. I tried to grab something to stop it from pulling me any closer. Even if I did grab something I doubt that I’d be able to overpower it. Things were starting to look grim.

I reached behind my head and grabbed the stock of my shotgun and unslung it. The beast continued to pull me towards its main body mass. I cocked back the hammers on both barrels and prayed to goddess that the water hadn’t seeped through the shells and fouled the gunpowder.

I took aim to the tentacle that was holding me. I pulled the front trigger and the right barrel went off. KA-BOOM, the cavern was filled with the ear piercing gunshot from the shotgun. The beast howled in pain as it released its grip from around my hindleg and retracted its wounded tentacle.

I pulled the hind trigger. KA-BOOM, again the cavern was filled with the shattering echo of the thunderous shotgun. Christ these things were loud when fired indoors, or well inside anyways.

The creature screeched in pain but I took no time in scampering back to the others. Elijah stepped past the us. “Okay every-pony, step back. My time to shine.” He stated then let loose with the twin Maxim machineguns. As both guns chattered in the cavern, the place began to reflect the flashes of the muzzle flare. The water reflected the flashes and gave a nice lighting to the place.

The .303 rounds whizzed through the air at incredible speeds and maimed the beast further. The creature shielded its body with its tentacles. As Elijah continued to hose the beast with a spray of lead death, the creature swung one of its tentacles out and swatted Elijah away. Shit, well there goes our trump card.

The beast, now having nothing to fear, began to lurch towards us menacingly. I already loaded two fresh shells into the shotgun but I doubt that two shells would be able to take it down.

Billy readied his Lee Enfield rifle. Brixie leveled her 30-30 lever action rifle on the beast. Daring shakily held her ivory gripped .45LC Colt revolver up in both hooves. ‘Elijah… get your ass up!’ I thought to myself, not daring to glance back to look for him. Even if I did glance back, it wouldn’t change the matter at hoof.

The beast continued to surge towards us at a rather slow pace but it felt like it was moving quite fast due to its menacing size. Elijah trotted in front of us with a sizzling stick of dynamite.

“Hey slimy beast, say hello to ‘My little friend.’” Elijah quoted but right before he tossed it, Daring stopped him.

“No, don’t throw it at the beast. Throw it at the stalactites!” Daring ordered him as she pointed to the roof icicle looking things. Okay so those icicle looking things on the ceilings were called stalactites… guess you learn something every day.

Elijah looked down to his still sizzling stick of dynamite. “Okay, next time we chose the target before we light the dynamite.” He told her then heaved the stick hard towards the ceiling. It reached the ceiling but there was still a few seconds left of fuse to burn.

Brixie immediately grabbed the dynamite in a levitation spell and held it near a stalactite until it erupted. The dynamite let out a thunderous explosion. The large pointed stalactites near the explosion broke from the ceiling and fell to the depths far below.

Several of the sharp rock formations crashed into the beast which howled in pain as it was impaled in several spots. The beast wasn’t out however. It continued to thrash about and quickly regained its posture. We all opened fire and the beast howled as lead death overtook it. The cavern was filled with the deafening sound of gunfire. The muzzle flashes of our guns spattered about and smoking brass casings clattered to the stone floor of the cavern.

In seconds the creature collapsed into a bloody heap. We all trotted over to it. The beast whined in pain and Elijah went to finish it off. “No.” I told him and every-pony gave me a strange and curious look. I unholstered my custom black M1911 and handed it to Daring. “Face your fear.” I told her.

Daring took the pistol with her right hoof and brought it back towards the creature’s hideous face. Her hoof shook a little but she soon steadied herself. She squeezed back the trigger tightly and the gun let out a brief BANG, as it recoiled in her hooves and sent a .45ACP round right into the tentacle beast’s skull. The beast went limp and lay motionless in front of us. A still smoking brass cartridge from the pistol lay by Daring’s hooves.

She lowered the still smoking gun then handed it back to me as she let out a deep breath. I holstered my handgun then brought her in for a tight hug. She began to cry into my shoulder and I hushed her for several minutes, telling her it would be okay.

Brixie trotted up to us. “Sorry to interrupt but… what exactly did you have in mind?”

Author's Notes:

Well that's enough for one night... will probably have a nightmare about the future events of this story. See if you can figure out how they are going to escape. I'll leave you all to your wondering until tomorrow after I get home from work. By the way, thanks to all you readers still reading. I know I always say that but seriously, you guys and gals always make my day.