Hey all, I'm going to be probably deleting my old chapters for LEBC (I'll keep them in storage) and starting anew with a slightly different storyline. Most of it will be the same but I want there to be more instances where our protagonist has a chance to prove himself.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter I

"Hey, come on this ain't funny guys!" I called out to a few of my friends, squinting and groping at any sign of light. It sure is dark in here, I thought to myself as the gloomy cave in which my friends had wanted to play hide and seek in was ever more unbecoming.

Yeah, I was scared like a little wuss. Needless to say I was going to have a strong talking to my friends when I find them. If I find them. This cave is huge.

"Why did we ever pick on a cave like this to play hide and seek, I wonder..." I thought aloud to myself as I then heard a few rocks shift about hundred feet in front of me. Aha, gotcha.

Silently I made my way to the pile of rocks where I heard the noise, only to be greeted by the sweet embrace of no one being there. Great.

"Okay guys, that's it. I give up. I can't find you and that's that, capice?" I chuckled at my own blunder on trying to find my friends, although I can't help but wonder if that was just a way to relieve my fear.

No response.

"I'm serious, I'm done playing games."

Again, no response.

Fear began to set in, which begot panic. Don't panic, James, just walk out the way you came. I told myself internally. Easier said than done, this cave was huge and dark. Very dark, and no I do not have a flashlight.

Wandering around for a while only made me realize that I couldn't find my way out. Panic of the situation doubled and I quickly found myself at a dead end, which nothing to accompany me but a large cliff which led even farther down into the Earth.

"Okay, well, definitely not going that way." I scoffed and grabbed a rock from the ground and tossed it down the cliff. I could faintly hear the rock hitting the ground or at least the wall of that expanse. I did not fancy my situation at all.

I squatted down by the cliff's edge and sighed, trying to figure out a plan to get out of here, which yielded no results.

"Damnit." I cursed while standing up quickly, unaware of what was about to hit me. As soon as I turned around, the footing of the cave floor gave away and I found myself on the edge of this cliff hanging on for my life.

"Shit!" I cursed again, trying to remedy my situation as I groped for more ground, finding nothing to help me from falling. After a few more moments I was haning on by one hand, and I could feel myself slipping.

I guess this was it for me, not how I'd imagined it.

"Nooo!" I screamed, my voice echoeing like something out of the climax of a movie, as I plumeted to what I thought was my death.

I hit the ground with a loud thud and a squish as my breath left my lungs instantly. I looked around the dark caverns, light apparently more plentiful here as I could see decently well.

I slowly scanned my surroundings before I made the obvious assumption that I fell into some kind of crystal deposit. Now that was cool!

"But I have to get out of here. Riches mean nothing to a dead man." I scoffed at myself again and began to move. Something was not permitting me to move my torso, as if it was being grabbed by something.

I looked down and saw a single but quite thin shard of crystal sticking out of my stomach near my waist. Panic set in quickly as my breathing and heartbeat skyrocketed. What could I've done against this happening? What could I do about patching this up?

I quickly realized, remembering my first aid training as a boy scout, and rolled my shirt up to asess the damage. Looked really bad if you asked me, but where it was didn't seem to hurt any vitals.

I realized what it was I needed to do, and I hated every second of it. I was going to have to snap this thing off and leave a piece in as a clot. I shivered at this thought and chuckled softly. No way James, you're not man enough to do that.

Would you rather lay here and die?

Yeah. I didn't think so.

After a quick recount of my enviroment, I realized that I'm going to need to do this. I never thought I'd ever need to do something like this but… I've no choice.

I gripped the top of the crystal and began to bend it my way, the pain shooting up and down my body as the adrenaline wore off. Screaming, I was almost ready to give up when I snapped a piece off and held onto the crystal. It was beautiful, aside from the blood.

I looked back to myself and began to move, slowly, as to not damage anything else. This place is a death trap! One slip and you're dead!

I was unsure of where to go, all I have to go by is the bloody mess I left and the little light this cave gave me. It was more than enough to walk around without any kinks.

Or so I thought.

Walking through the caverns, I began to see some of the crystals were either burned or what looked like bitten off.

That last thought didn't settle well with me at all. As if it wasn't enough I was stuck down here, there was something that may or may not live here and eat these things. I'm just screwed, aren't I?

Moving farther in, I was greeted, albeit unwelcomingly, by a noise. It was quite far away, I'd say about a few hundred feet in front of me.

I think? The noise seems to bounce off these crystals. Its as if the sound was all around me, which made me wonder if this noise was the cave dweller who's come looking for a mid-day snack. I could only hope it wasn't something that was going to eat me.

Upon closer inspection of the paths I was choosing, I noticed I was definitely going in one direction. The noise was louder now, and I could almost recognize it. It almost sounded light crying, and something else. I could be wrong. I hoped I was wrong, because that would be creepy as all hell, and I have enough heeby jeebies to worry about right now.

The closer I came to the source of the noise, however, the more I was convinced that whatever was "crying" was definitely ahead of me, and I suspected human. Then I made the connection:

It had to be one of my friends! There was no way I'd find anyone else down here and that made most of the sense I'd lost when I hit the dirt on the way down here.

"Hellooo?" I confidently called out to the voice who had been crying, wailing this entire time. It didn't help that the crying stopped without any warning and silence befell us both.

Uh oh.

Maybe I shouldn't have done that.

Yeah I really shouldn't have done that, or so I thought. I'd no idea what was over there and I made an assumption without decent proof it was one of my friends. But I had no choice now, did I?

I kept walking, lead in my feet as everything in my mind told me to get the hell out of here and away from whatever's over there. At the same time I felt curiously compelled, just like the cat before it dies.

That wasn't a good thing to remind myself of. I made my decision.

As much as I didn't want to get involved, my heart cried another passion. I was convinced I could help whatever was down here, even if it wasn't human. I wanted to help. I have a habit (might as well be an obsession) of helping others while tossing myself away in the process.

I guess this was the ultimate test to see whether or not I was the cat and that thing over there was curiosity.

"Whatever you are, I know you're out there. I could hear you." I squinted through, trying to see any movement at all. I refrained from telling whether or not I know what I heard, but I wasn't really worried about that either.

"Nathan? Carl? Jesse?" I called out the names of my friends. Nothing. Not a single mutter.

"Ich bin nicht hier, um dich zu verletzen." I told them in modern German, something I picked up in my spare time.

"Kannst du mich verstehen, ja?" I spoke again. I felt like maybe English would be better.

Walking closer to the sound I heard earlier, I began to notice pink reflections in the crystal, which was not the original color of these crystals. My first thought was that was nothing, but I realized instantly when the pink "shimmered" on the crystal, like the reflections were alive.

"Can you even understand me?" I called out, receiving nothing in reply.

"… yes." A small female voice said to me, weak, but most certainly alive. My heart stopped for a moment and my breath caught in my throat. The voice wasn't any of my friends, which meant two things: Someone else came down here recently or this was an alien and depending on that alien's diet I was either its next meal or… or not.

"Wow, how did you get down here?" I asked, perfectly fine with communicating with the alien/human/cave dweller that I was speaking to.

"I was knocked out and drug here against my will..." She, or it, croaked out. I honestly didn't believe her, which is unusual for me because I try and give the benefit of the doubt to everyone. I'd have to see her to believe her. Why am I referrnig to it as her? I guess its easier?

Truth be told, it was easier to trick myself into thinking I was okay.

"For real? That's harsh. What for?" I asked, making my way to the voice, with little luck.

"I was to be married, but… now I know that won't happen. My fiance is going to be marrying somepony else disguised as me." She cried out softly, her voice filled with sorrow.

Hold on… She said somepony… wait a second.

I had a thought, and this was far out, I mean farout. Corellating what I know now and what I've just heard I came to the somewhat sound conclusion that the person I was I talking to was not a person at all. I decided to chance this and put my money where my mouth was.

"You were to be married but someone got in the way of that. The Changlings, I assume?" I called out, laughing audibly as I shook my head.

"How did you know?" She replied, her voice wrought with confusion. My laugh then proceeded to be caught in my throat, and I choked on my own voice for a moment.

"Uhh…I-I'm not sure." I told her, my voice a bit shaky from my nervousness of the whole situation. Silence is all that followed what I said to her, as I could sense I was close to her.

"Can you come out? I've been looking for a way out and since I found someone else down here, I'd like to see in you in person."

"At this point I'm not sure who I can trust. I've been stuck down here for a long time… I'm not sure how long but at least a few days or so. No, I will not reveal myself to you. For all I know you could be a Changling in disguise come to-"

"Please. I know who you are. I know why you're down here, who's done this to you." I cut her off and stood in the middle of a large opening, the reflections of her pink body giving me the impression she was close.

"So you are here to keep an eye on me or something, I guaran-"

"If you could see me you'd understand that I'm not anything you've ever seen. And as it stands, I'm not doing so well." I admitted to her, my eyes outlining the areas in which she could be in.

I coughed a couple times, blood reguritating onto the floor as I took a knee to keep myself from falling.

"Alright, I'll come out. But if you're a Changling or anything less than friendly, I'll burn you to a crisp." She shot a hastly reply filled with anger but also a hint of fear. I bet this is some ellaborate dream I've conjured up when I fell down here.

I awaited her arrival, only the sound of her walking was accompanying me as she observed me. I looked behind me to see a figure in the shadows. I strained to see what it was, my eyes squinted as I cocked my head to the side slightly and took what I saw at face value.

It was hard to believe what I was looking at.

A good sized Alicorn with a bright pink coat of fur properly maintained, with bright violet eyes which mesmerized me with their richness. But above all, it was how beautiful she was as a whole. Sure, in the show she looked good, but seeing her like this is… shocking. Awe inspiring.

I stood up and studied her for a moment, her face unsure of her own sighting of me.

"I-I'm… sure you're about as shocked to see me as I am you." I broke the tension by speaking to her, as she then approached me slowly.

"You're a… human, aren't you?" I nodded at her reply and smirked warmly.

"Indeed I am, Miss Cadenza… I guess I'm a bit out of place here."

"Yes, yes you are… how do you know my name?" She asked, now only a couple feet away from me. Crap, James, think of something!

"I've heard about you. I've-"

"Don't lie." She demanded quickly. I'm a master of social engineering, lying for me is as easy as ever… how the hell did she spot that?

"Fine. Alright, I won't lie. I know who you are because… because I know who you are. I'm not sure how else to put it. You're one of the most famous people around, how can someone not know who you are?"

She studied me for a few moments, accepting what I said as true with a nod and a small smile. I nodded back and fell on one knee again, a bout of nausea hitting me down quickly.

"A-are you alright?" She put her hoof on my shoulder, a warm, fuzzy sensation giving me a slight worry. I looked into her eyes for a moment before reaching to touch her hoof. It was… very soft, warm, smooth like butter. I expected nothing less from someone so well kept.

"W-What are you doing?" She asked inquistively, my eyes never leaving her hoof as I was confused to my situation. Everything feels so real…

"Its uhh… just that I've never felt a hoof so soft before. Especially from an alicorn." Shocked, I managed out a small reply.

She smiled warmly, looking me over as a friend would until she found my waist, covered in blood from the large, half-inch wound I was suffering from.

"Oh my word, are you alright? Here, let me fix that for you!" She quickly assisted me towards a rock to sit down and she focused on my wound for a moment, her horn lighting up and sparks began to fly from them softly.

Her face contorted a bit as if straining to get a grip with her magic. After a few more moments of straining she stopped, out of breath.

"What in the world? I-I can't use my magic on you?" She cried out softly, obviously panicking inside as she trembled.

"M-My magic is gone?" Breathlessly spoken, she was on the verge of crying. This must've been detrimental to her.

"No no no, don't cry Miss Cadenza." I reached out and hugged her instinctively. In my family, hugs are pretty big with us.

"I've been trapped here for longer than should be possible for an Alicorn… I don't think I can make it out. A-Am I going to die here?"

"No you are not. Neither am I, not if I can help it. There's one thing that humans relish above all else and that is survival, no matter how hard. Life to us is more important than anything. I'm going to get us out of here, back to your fiance and I'm going to get home." I looked into her eyes sternly and stood up, her tears no longer flowing.

"W-Who are you?" She quipped softly at me as I held her in one arm and looked into her eyes again.

"I'm James Marble. You can call me James, or Jim for short."

"Alright… James. I'm Mi Amore Cadenza. Princess. You can call me Cadence if you want." She smiled warmly and a connection I wasn't ready for formed in her eyes. I'm not sure what I saw but I know it was there.

"Now lets see… there has to be a way out of here, or else people couldn't ever get here. This is a crystal cave, right?"

"Yes. Underneath the castle."

"Alright… the first order of business is establishing a starting point… where were you when you woke up?" I asked her. She showed me the way and we began our adventure to escape.

This is either the most elaborate dream, or I'm in for one big surprise.