The cave mouth belched out a thunderous crash. The once-confident line of ponies faltered. Twilight gulped loudly, looking to her friends. They were all fidgeting, or outright cowering in the case of Fluttershy. She was clinging to one of Applejack's back legs. Applejack gave her leg a light shake, but Fluttershy only clung tighter in response.

"O-oh...what if there is a dragon in there...?" Fluttershy said shakily. Rainbow Dash clonked a hoof against her own forehead.

"Fluttershy, that was a joke! Ha-ha!" Dash said, giving what she thought was a reassuring laugh. "A stupid, stupid joke..." Her voice trailed off into gibberish until a sort of fire lit up in her eyes. She puffed out her chest, her wing beats confident. "I-I'm goin' in!" With that, she zoomed into the darkness, vanishing without a trace. Twilight threw out her hoof.

"No! Dash you can't just charge in like that!" the unicorn said, her eye twitching. "We should go in toget-"

"I like Dashie's idea!" Pinkie Pie said, speeding in after Rainbow Dash. "Hee, hee! Chaaaaaaaarge!" The pink blur disappeared as quickly as Dash had. Twilight called out to Pinkie as well, but was distracted by Fluttershy. She had released her grip on Applejack's leg to flew in after her two friends, although she was still shivering. Through clenched teeth, Twilight lobbed a levitation spell at Fluttershy. She missed by a mile.

"P-Pinkie! Rainbow Dash! Y-you're not thinking this through!" Fluttershy called, her tone hoarse with worry. Twilight slammed her eyes shut.

"None of you are thinking this through!" Twilight screamed at the cave mouth. "Get back here this instan-"

"Now, hold up there," Applejack said, trotting past Twilight. She gave her a befuddled look. "Didn't you just make a big ol' speech about puttin' a stop ta' whatever's goin' on? Better to get on goin' forward, yeah?" Applejack looked at Twilight, who didn't have an answer. Nodding, Applejack galloped after the others, leaving Twilight behind with her incredulous expression. "Wait up, y'all!" were the last words Applejack said before her voice faded. Twilight roared and stomped repeatedly, sending mud flying. When Twilight ended her venting, she looked around to be met with a very dirty Rarity. Her white coat was splattered with brown now, and her eyes narrowed to venomous slits. Twilight giggle bashfully, smiling big. Rarity only flicked some mud off her tail.

"Well then, shall we be on our way?" Rarity snooted. "Or are we having too much fun playing in the mud?" She started for the cave, her snout upturned. Mud dripped off her sides as she carefully stepped into the cave mouth, trying to maintain what little elegance she had left. Twilight gave a defeated sigh, now alone. She jumped, startled as the cave churned again with the force of an avalanche. Twilight hung her head, but advanced nonetheless.

"This is going to be a long night, isn't it...?" she said under her breath as she passed through the shadows, leaving the moonlit clearing behind.


As Twilight walked into cave, the darkness greedily enveloped her as though it had been awaiting new company. All sight was lost. Even the faintest bit of light from the clearing outside failed to spill into the cave. Twilight whirled around to check behind her. She saw nothing but black. Turning back around and grimacing, she continued aimlessly, hopelessly forward.

A pony's eyes would adjust to the dark eventually, even if they had poor vision. This had yet to happen to Twilight. The endless darkness still left her blind, denying her any clue as to where she was or where she was going. All she could hear was a faint wind whistling through her ears, which flattened with unease. Twilight's heart pounded, her breathing becoming short. She knew, just knew, that some noise like that crash from earlier was going to blare without warning and send her flying out of her skin. Even as she braced herself, no such sound arrived. At least, no unsubtle sound. Twilight swore she could hear faint moans.

As Twilight sped into a gallop, the floor gradually grew rougher, more tumble, all while retaining a treacherous slickness. Twilight nearly tripped over her own hooves more than once, but miraculously managed to keep her balance. The occasional faint moans and grunts were now constant, and certainly not a thing of the imagination. They only grew loader with each passing second, rapidly building into a maddening chorus of wails.

"A-applejack? Rarity? Pinkie Pie? Rainbow Dash? Fluttershy?" she kept calling out to everypony over and over again, praying for a response. The moans persisted. Like the darkness around her, the space in front of Twilight had been consistently empty. That is, until she ran into what must have been a writhing mass of flesh and fur. Twilight didn't even bother to cast some kind of spell, instead resorting to basic instincts. She neighed in horror, her legs kicking and thrusting senselessly. She her head spun and cracked as something very powerful and fast clocked her right in the face. Terrified but not stunned, Twilight feebly wiggled her legs, screaming and squirming. "What's there? Is anything there? What? What? What?"

"Hiya Twilight!" Pinkie's voice rang out from somewhere fairly close. It was in front of Twilight, that was certain. "See everypony? I told you it was her!"

"Pinkie! Th-thank goodness. Oh, thank goodness it's you!" Twilight practically screamed. She felt her eyes water as she flailed her legs around some more. This new bout of movement resulted in something very big and warm sliding on top of her. Rarity's voice squeaked from directly above Twilight. The wriggling body had jolted Twilight, but she quickly calmed down and began to put two and two together. "...I-is everypony here right now?"

"Yep! All piled up in a big old pony pile!" Pinkie said rather happily, given the situation. "But these worrywarts thought it was some monster when I told them you were on your way here! Pretty silly, huh?"

"It's not like she sounded like herself, Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash answered, her voice laden with discomfort. "This stupid darkness makes everything sound like it's some beastie creepin' around."

"Did I really not sound like me?" Twilight tried to say, but she ended up getting a lot of muddy fur in her mouth. She spluttered messily as Rarity cried out, her voice very high-pitched.

"T-t-twilight! Oh my g-goodness! Turn your head for goodness sake!" Rarity stammered, her voice squeaking with embarrassment. Twilight blinked, not sure of what to say. Rarity paused, but feeling that Twilight's snout hadn't moved, she squealed again. "Please! Your head is dangerously close to where it ought not to be, if you catch my meaning!" Twilight blinked again before realization hit her square in the nose. She hastily turned her head, cringing.

"S-sorry..."

"That's quite all right, th-thank you. A-hem...erm, crisis averted."

"Y-yeah..." Twilight said, the creeping heat in her face spreading down to her neck. She didn't dare move a muscle, even though she felt the back of her neck pillowed against something soft and furry. "S-so, Pinkie, you're sure everypony's here?"

"Come on! When have I ever lied about anything?" Pinkie Pie giggled. A muffled, completely unintelligible voice came from somewhere near Twilight. Something behind her neck shifted. Pinkie gave a very deep, obnoxious snort all of sudden, exhaling airily afterwards. Twilight heard incredulous stammering from Rainbow Dash. "And speaking of honesty, I'm gonna tell ya straight up Dashie. You smell really good! Mmm...sweeeeeet..."

"P-Pinkie Pie!" Dash coughed. "Is now really the time for you to go and say something like tha-" Dash's protests were interupted by a gentle sniff from Rarity. She gasped dramatically.

"Goodness! Why Pinkie Pie, you're absolutely right!" Rarity exclaimed. "Rainbow Dash, you smell positively heavenly!"

"Yo, stop saying what I said, only more fancy!" Pinkie grumbled. Dash blubbered as yet another, very quiet sniffle came from further away.

"Oh my...Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy said, somewhat muffled by the dank dark. "...You're...that's...oh, so nice...I never even noticed that you smelled so good..." Dash whimpered pathetically as the sniffing continued. Twilight gave an uncomfortable giggle as she felt a plethora of rustling and struggling motions.

"H-hey! Stop it...stop that!" Rainbow Dash said, her voice cracking several times. "I feel weird...! I mean, this! This is weird! You're all makin' me feel weird!" The sniff fest was put to an end by more completely unintelligible groaning. This time, it was louder and slightly angry.

"So, I'm guessing that's Applejack?" Twilight said. "She got stuck at the bottom somehow?"

"Don't ask me how!" Dash spat out. "I don't even know how we got in this mess!"

"Well we need to get out of it, post-haste!" Rarity said quickly, shuffling around blindly and failing to get off of Twilight.

"If only it weren't so dark..." Fluttershy lamented. Applejack's body shuddered below the piled up friends.

"MFFGEEC!" Applejack said, apparently. Nopony knew what to make of this.

"...Okay, so we need to move around so she can get out," Twilight said flatly. "Otherwise, we're never gonna hear what she's-"

"Oh! Oh! Can I say what I think she's saying?" Pinkie asked. Nopony responded, prompting her to giggle in delight. "All righty then! So, what she said just now was, "Gosh danggit, Rainbow! You smell right dee-liciou-"

"Would you stop?" Dash said sternly, smacking what she thought was the top of Pinkie's head. Instead of the expected yelp of pain, Pinkie Pie gave a sharp neigh, followed by a prolonged groan.

"Ooohhh...D-dashie..."

"Erk? Wh-what, I...? Umm..."

"MEEEFFFF-JEEEEEC!" Applejack roared with more rage than ever. Her words remained complete gibberish, despite her best efforts.

"Do you suppose she's having trouble breathing?" asked Rarity nonchalantly.

"Did somepony order the breath of liiiiiiiiiife?" Pinkie chimed in. She took in a monstrous gulp of air and latched onto the nearest target.

"P-pinkie wait! That's my...!" Dash shrieked before Pinkie blew with all her might. Dash moaned loudly for several, obscenely long seconds. "...Neck."

"Oopsy! Sorry, Dashie! But hey, you don't taste half bad either!" Pinkie Pie laughed. Dash shuddered weirdly at this, but Pinkie Pie's tone suddenly jumped to one of half concern. "Now what's poor Applejack gonna do?" Applejack answered Pinkie's question with brute force. Her patience truly tried, she emerged like an erupting volcano. The ponies went flying like struck every which way.

"MAGIC! FER PETE'S SAKE, SOMEPONY USE MAGIC!" Applejack bellowed furiously. Her exhausted, ragged panting was the only thing that broke through the silence, before she gave a long sigh. "Ya...y-ya know...so we can least see our noses...in front of our faces..." Simultaneously struck with understanding, Rarity and Twilight straightened up. Raising her horn, Twilight squinted, inwardly chastising herself for not thinking of this solution sooner. The faint magical light coming from the horns didn't do much to drive away the dominating shadows, but the unicorns could now at least make out their features.

A rogue beam of light jumped away from the aura surrounding Rarity's horn. The beam travelled to a corner of the cavern, bursting into an explosion of green sparkles. Twilight's head jerked in the direction of the sight. The ray had come into contact with what looked like a green crystal embedded in the craggy walls of the cavern. The crystal now produced its own merry green glow. The sparkles emanating from it gravitated to another, identical one. It too burst into a shower of different, red and blue sparks. This triggered the activation of even more crystal clusters gathered close by. The walls, ceilings and cobblestone ground lit up, rapidly chasing the darkness away and illuminating the cavern in a soft, yellow glow.

Twilight gazed at her scattered friends. Rarity had gotten up, captivated by the cramped walls of the cavern and gibbering joyously over the procession of bright crystals. Fluttershy was propped upside-down against the opposite, left wall of the cave. She looking dazed, her eyes adjusting to the light show. Meanwhile, a good distance from Twilight, Pinkie Pie had her front legs fastened tight against Rainbow Dash's neck. She snuggled it happily as Dash's face flushed pink and her wings spread wide. Pinkie Pie looked up, noticing Dash's discomfort.

"What? It's cold in here," Pinkie said innocently, loosening her hold and straightening up, shaking out her wet, chilly fur like a dog. Rainbow Dash also rose, hovering in the air in an effort to dodge Pinkie's water spray. She wiped some spittle off her neck and looked down further into the cave, and then back the way everypony had supposedly come from. Her gaze darted back and forth restlessly.

"Okay, so this might be me, but," she said, her voice breaking a little. "But did anypony else notice that there wasn't anything coming in from the outside? Y'know, like you stepped hoof in here and somepony shut a big door?" Applejack shook some water out of her fur. Not a trace of anger or frustration remained in her expression.

"Matter of fact, I do recall somethin' like that," Applejack said. She looked anxiously down the wall of glimmering crystals, and then back behind her. Both ways were identical, and there wasn't a cave mouth anywhere in sight. "Meanin'...well, hopin' it don't mean what ah'm thinkin'..." Fluttershy slumped over onto her back, shakily getting up and keeping her head low, her eyes quivering.

"Do you mean...we're t-trapped?" she whimpered, her whole body trembling as she looked over to Applejack. Seeing Fluttershy's fear, she shook her head strongly.

"Naw, naw! Didn't mean ta' imply that!" Applejack said, keeping an air of confidence. Fluttershy stood up slightly taller. "'Sides, we're not leavin' til' we're good an' done here, so why worry about gettin' out now?"

"Y-yes! Of course. You're absolutely right, Applejack," Twilight affirmed, her own eyes shifting quickly back to what she thought was the cave entrance. She laughed artificially, glancing helplessly from crystal the crystal and not making eye contact with anypony. "We should just be thankful we can see, right? At least now we can move."

"Well, I guess that's true..." Fluttershy reasoned. Twilight nodded and looked straight ahead.

"Applejack, what was that you said earlier?" Twilight asked. "Best be going forward? Something like that?"

"When you've got no idea where to go next, yeah," she replied, although her tone was a bit reluctant. "Cain't really go anywhere else right now, anyway." Twilight flicked a loose stone with her hoof.

"So let's go ahead! But, I believe we all learned a valuable lesson about staying together tonight, right?" Twilight said with angry emphasis, an exasperated smile on her face. Everypony except Rarity gave their own awkward nods. The gem-loving unicorn was too busy fawning over the crystals jutting from rocky bumps, with coos of "Gems, gems everywhere!" Her eyes were shining just as brightly as the objects of her desire.

It took quite a bit of effort to get to move her, requiring a combination of Rainbow Dash and Applejack pushing and pulling. She wouldn't stop complaining during the trip down the cavern, which showed no sign of ending.

"I'm more dirty and tired and thirsty than I ever have been!" Rarity groaned. "The least you all could do is let me, eh-heh, inspect these little beauties a bit more closely..."

"We're all tired and thirsty, Rare," Twilight said dully, eying the continuous, unorganized lines of crystals and rock formations. "But anypony who wants to lick the ground, be my guest..." She referred to the tiny veins of clear water rushing through the cracks in the cobblestone floor. Rarity gave a squeaky pout, unsatisfied.

"You forgot dirty, though! None of you are as dirty as I am!" Rarity said, as though it were a contest. She dragged her eyes away from the crystals to frown at her muddy, soggy coat . "Oh...! That's the worst part of this nonsense! Gems or no gems, this cave is such a bother!" Scowling, she glared at the crystals, as if they had personally wronged her.

"Save yer whinin' for when some baddies show up," Applejack said. "That's the only time it's got some use, sugar cube." Rarity fumed.

"Oh, and now you have to go and assume we're to be accosted at some point?" Rarity declared, her voice high. She had stopped cold, about-facing and upturning her snout. "Why, I've got half a mind to start looking for the exit now!"

"Don't think you've got to," Dash said, pointing a hoof directly ahead. She rubbed her head with her other free hoof. The restricting ceiling was peppered with discouraging stalactites, resulting in multiple bumps and bruises. "Urgh...think we have a winner?" The cave went on for a while longer, but at the end of the long tunnel was an abrupt change in light. The prismatic glow of the crystals suddenly vanished without explanation.

"Only one way to find out," Twilight said, galloping to the strange place. Everypony followed close behind, even the initially sluggish Rarity. The cave walls became spaced further and further apart as the ponies approached the unlit area. From a distance, the opening at the end of the passage might have been mistakable for a towering cave mouth, but things soon became apparent.

Upon reaching the new dark area, the ponies screeched to a grinding halt, hesitant to go any further. The shadows created a very noticeable boundary between the lit part of the cave and the portion veiled in black. Everypony looked at Twilight expectantly, and noticing their faces, she walked forward and cast a random spell. The result was the same as before. The once unknown and menacing bit of cave was set alight by a melange of fantastically colored crystals. The other ponies hurried into the well-lit room after Twilight, who smirked, pleased with her work. However, they had barely stepped one hoof into the new area before the same tremendous crash from earlier resounded. Rainbow Dash fell to the ground, unable to stay aloft as she covered her ears. The crashing didn't last, thankfully, fading to a dull rumble within mere seconds.

"It's the dragon!" Fluttershy whimpered, back to clinging onto Applejack. "And he's louder than before...oh no! Do you think this is his lair?" The room the ponies had entered was indeed much larger than the previous cramped tunnel. The ceiling arched up high, with huge bunches of crystals and stalactites hanging from it.

"Told you before Fluttershy. There is no dragon. Made him up, I swear," Dash tried once more to convince Fluttershy, who let Applejack's leg go. Fluttershy stuck to the ground, her bright yellow wings or hooves refusing to budge. Dash gave a short grunt and flew higher than before, glad to have her freedom back.

"Whoa-oh! Whaddya think that is?" Pinkie Pie said, returning to her usual hopping routine. Her tail twitched madly as she flung her hooves through the damp air. Twilight looked in the general direction that Pinkie had indicated, although it was a bit of a challenge considering the pony's front legs whipped everywhere. Across the rocky hills and crystals loomed a huge, jagged wall. A giant, pitch-black crevasse was slashed into it, stretching to the top of the room. Pinkie giggled as she hopped faster, making for it. "Heh, heh. Crack-a-lackin'!" She had nearly made it across the room before a fast brown streak shot at her. It slammed the ground, producing a sound like a gunshot. The force of the landing sent Pinkie Pie clean off her hooves, knocking her backwards. She tumbled like a rag doll, bouncing off incoming stalagmites and shattering several crystals with her flying body. She ended up at Twilight's hooves, her eyes swiveling.

Twilight stared across the room, her mouth gaping. She had managed to wrench her eyes away from Pinkie Pie to have a look at a dark brown pony that stood at the room's center. Her body was covered in a network of pink, fleshy lines that seemed to be cut into her, making their way to her chest where they formed a heart symbol. The mysterious pony's slick black mane fell into her equally black eyes, which were narrowed to confrontational slits. Her frame was lowered to the ground as she crooked her front leg and neighed softly.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Dash shouted at the brown pony. She tilted her head rigidly towards Rainbow Dash. Dash glanced at Pinkie, who writhed pathetically on the ground. "Y-you're gonna pay for that!" The pegasus seethed, looking as though steam were about to billow out her ears. She gave a loud cry and zipped through the air so fast that her wings seemed to slash the air apart. As Dash swooped down, the unidentified pony stretched out a hoof, stopping Rainbow Dash between the eyes and holding her in place. Dash beat her wings as hard as she could, but she failed to get anywhere. The brown pony pushed her front leg forward, propelling Dash into a wall. Dash crumpled to the ground, moaning as her vision became blurry. The brown pony jumped high into the air, landing in front of the crack in the wall with another powerful boom. She spat and whipped her mane around.

"More intruders..." she said. Her voice was an eerie, robotic monotone. "Nopony passes through..." Twilight tried using magic to get Pinkie Pie to her hooves. The dazed pony stood for a moment, and then fluttered over as though she were a cardboard cut-out.

"Guess that's where we're headed next," Twilight said, staring in anticipation at the brown pony and crevasse. She gulped. "I-if we can get past..." As she said this, Fluttershy rushed up from behind Applejack, flapping over to Pinkie Pie, who was still lying on the ground. A collection of large bumps peeked out of her thick mane as she stuttered incoherently. Fluttershy then looked over to Rainbow Dash, who was trying and failing to get up from way across the room. Her eyes went hectically from Pinkie to Rainbow Dash and then back to Pinkie, conflicted as to who she should help first. She finally settled on neither, instead resting her irate gaze upon the lone, brown pony far away from her. Her eyes twitched madly, their normal forgiving blue twisted hatefully icy. She slowly ascended, her body rippling with anger.

"How could you...do this? What did they do to you, huh?" Fluttershy screamed at the apathetic pony, who didn't so much as blink. "You mean, inconsiderate...! I can't believe you would resort to such behavior before anything else! Even if we don't belong here, how could you just attack us, without giving us a chance to...?" Fluttershy was right up in the pony's face now, spraying shout after indignant shout in her face. The guard responded not by cowering, but by raising a hoof, ready to swat the enraged Fluttershy out of the air. Fluttershy's eyes widened even further, out of shock this time. She fumbled trying to dodge, not expecting the pony to attack her mid-sentence. An instant before the guard's hit landed, Applejack burst out from behind. She bounded over a rocky hill, intercepting the brown pony's hoof and parrying the blow.

Fluttershy fell to the ground and edged away as Applejack aimed a swift kick at the attacking pony's chest. Her target ducked to the ground, reading Applejack's movements and responding with a charging headbutt. Applejack escaped by deftly moving to the side and didn't waste a moment to aim another kick at the brown pony, who dodged. The two ponies continued to trade blows, never actually hitting the other, until Rainbow Dash zig-zagged through the air, fully recovered. Flying high, Rainbow Dash fiercely dove at the brown pony, who leapt aside. The force of her hooves hitting hard rock sent a current of pain up Dash's legs, making them feel like jelly. She winced, unable to move properly and stumbling around. Applejack jumped over her stunned ally before the brown pony could close in. Applejack struck out with her front legs, sending the guard flying. However, she flipped in mid-air and landed flat on her hooves, looking none the worse for wear.

She reared up and gave a powerful stomp, sending out a quake that made Applejack falter. Rainbow Dash had just taken off, shaking off the pain from her failed attack. She wobbled precariously, shaken up by the temblor. The brown pony took this opportunity to rush over to Dash, biting her tail and swinging her around. With a sharp flick, the pony threw Rainbow Dash like a javelin, aiming directly at Applejack. The two ponies collided before either had a chance to swerve. They both found themselves far away from the guard pony, on top of one another and heaving violently out of fatigue. As they tried to catch their breath, they soon found themselves surrounded by everypony else. Trading glances, Applejack and Rainbow Dash shambled back up, dusting themselves off and glaring at the brown pony. She didn't pursue, instead returning to the crevasse and standing like a statue.

"I'm so sorry everypony. Applejack, Rainbow Dash...this is my fault..." Fluttershy blurted out as Applejack and Rainbow Dash took generous gulps of air. "I just don't want to solve this problem through violence! Nopony needs to get hurt, right? Not you, or whoever that pony is. I thought...well, things usually turn out okay when I decide to raise my voice at things..."

"Not...not yer fault, Fluttershy," Applejack panted. "It's just...it's just that lunkhead's too stubborn ta' listen ta' words, ah'm thinkin'. Know how that goes sometimes, myself...so, reckonin' fightins' gonna be the only way fer now. Jus' don't step outta line again, okay?" She gave a wry little grin, which turned to a grimace as she massaged her sore neck. "Ooh! Varmint really packs a whallop, though..."

"You're telling me," Dash agreed, cracking her back. "It's not...natural! It's like she knows what we're gonna do...b-before we even do it! Think she's cheating somehow...?"

"A brute like that excels in physical combat, obviously," Rarity said slyly. She winked at Twilight, who got her message. "But what can she do about magic, I wonder?"

"Duh! Why didn't we think of that earlier?" Twilight said, smirking. She cleared her throat, surveying the group. "So here's the plan! Rarity and I will trap her with magic, and everypony makes a beeline for the exit. Got it? Simple, right?"

"So simple yer thinkin' it cain't go wrong?" Applejack mumbled, clumsily crossing her front legs.

"More things can flip out if you've got lots of things planned, right?" Twilight reasoned. Applejack just shrugged. "So I fail to see how this could, well, fail!"

"Now that you've gone and said that, I'm gonna say it probably will!" Pinkie Pie said, her chipper tone not wavering in the slightest. Twilight ignored the peppy heckling and gestured for Rarity to stand next to her. The two got close to the pony guarding the crevasse, causing her to resume her low fighting stance. Twilight scoffed at this and nodded to Rarity. The pair shot binding levitation spells at the guard, lifting her high into the air to the point where the crevasse began to taper. Although the brown pony struggled to maul the magic engulfing her, she failed to get free. Twilight shook her head at her friends, fighting the burden of the resisting pony.

"G-Go, n-now!" she squeezed out between tightly clenched teeth. Merely speaking put a strain on her concentration, and the thrashing prisoner descended a couple of feet. Before the group of ponies could even trot hastily past her, Twilight felt a hideous, bubbling feeling take hold of her eyes. She watched her friends approach the crevasse, but she was losing her grip on the brown pony. The network of pink veins pulsed bright red, wreathing her in crimson. Twilight felt an explosion of magic as a sickening pop came from her eyes. She screamed in as a white-hot stinging ravaged her skull, forcing her to let go of her magic. Rarity cancelled her own spell, unable to hold the pony by herself. The brown pony fell right in front of the crevasse, hurrying to provide blockage once more. Everypony was more worried about Twilight, though, abandoning their escape long before the pony resumed guarding.

"Welp, back to square one again," Applejack sighed, before charging up to the brown pony and squaring off with her. "Let's knock her out the old-fashioned way!" The two swung at each other, both equally tired, their movements and reactions slower as a result. In the meantime, Fluttershy flew over to the collapsed Twilight and, with the help of Rarity, managed to get her standing again. Twilight heaved and watched the battling ponies helplessly, unable to cast spells through her tenacious migraine. Applejack threw kick after kick at the brown pony, who would backstep and try to ram her. In turn, Applejack would always move aside and ready another kick at her ribs. Rainbow Dash also circled above, flitting around and trying to get in cheap aerial shots whenever the brown pony looked vulnerable. However, she never got close enough to land a blow without risking hitting Applejack or getting plucked out of the air herself. Curiously, Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen, neither a part of the fight nor helping Twilight.

"Go Applejack! A-and Rainbow Dash! G-go get her! ...Yay," Fluttershy attempted to cheer. Twilight made an odd blubbering noise. The brief fit of searing pain had left her, but she couldn't shake that nasty feeling from earlier.

"That pony's not normal...somehow," Twilight breathed. Rarity and Fluttershy tore their eyes away from the skirmish to stare at Twilight. "She...she used magic...somehow..."

"But she's not a unicorn," Fluttershy said, eyes transfixed upon the whirling and darting brown pony, as though trying to spot a horn.

"Twilight, I felt something earlier too," Rarity assured. "It was faint, yes, but it was undoubtedly magical. There's no mistaking that..."

"I wonder...just what she is..." Twilight said. Rarity gave a dainty little cough. "I mean, she looks like a pony, that's for sure...but something's definitely up here..."

The brown pony slashed a front leg at Applejack's head, but she turned and responded with another quick kick. The two ponies were locked, struggling with each other's attack, trying to break through. Rainbow Dash took this opportunity to make a u-turn and bolt for the brown pony. She saw Dash flying for her out of the corner of her eye, ducking out of the struggle. Applejack lost her balance, forcing Rainbow Dash to dart upward and avoid another collision. The brown pony seized Applejack's moment of weakness and swept her front leg low, taking her bewildered opponent out at the legs. Applejack fell to the ground, her hat spinning off her head. She blinked repeatedly, looking up to see the reared up brown pony. Just as she smashed her legs down onto Applejack's head, Pinkie Pie ambushed her, wrapping around her neck and laughing crazily.

"Tickle powers, activate!" Pinkie Pie squealed, staying glued to the raving brown pony's neck. She snaked her fluffy tail to the brown pony's snout and wiggled it around like a feather duster. The pony reeled, her pupils shrunken as she sneezed uncontrollably. Applejack couldn't believe what she was seeing, but was unable to hold back her triumphant laughter. Pinkie jumped off the defenseless pony and hopped away. "All yours now, Applejack!"

"Thank ya kindly," Applejack said as she dove beneath the brown pony, who had recovered. However, it was too late for her to realize what had happened. Applejack lifted the hapless pony up onto her strong back before catapulting her. She called to Rainbow Dash, who launched herself off a wall to give a much-needed boost to her power and velocity. Dash smirked, the brown pony right in her sights.

"Kay, here's some payback for ya!" Dash roared before corkscrewing into her opponent's side with the strength of a launched missile. Flipping through the air, Dash landed perfectly flat on her hooves. Her enemy emitted a shrill cry before tumbling down to the ground with an oddly hollow clatter. She finally lay docile and silent, her now milky white eyes wide open in disbelief.

Applejack scooped up her hat, donning it and not looking for her friends. Pinkie Pie skipped happily in front of her as Dash flew overhead, landing near the crevasse. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight were gathered next to the dark opening. Before Pinkie, Applejack and Dash could even rejoin the group, Fluttershy had already broken her hold on Twilight's neck to try and embrace the three of them.

"I'm...we're so glad you're all right!" Fluttershy cried. Little tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. "We felt so...so..."

"S'all right, sugar cube," Applejack said, savoring her friend's warm embrace before looking to Twilight and smiling. "Simple plans cain't fail, eh?" Twilight just chuckled to herself.

"And when it comes down to it, you solved the problem by hitting it," she said. "Doesn't get much simpler than that! So you've got it right! Simple plans never fail..."

"Umm, excuse me," Dash cut in, wrestling with a happily squirming Fluttershy. "I believe I was the one who ended doing the hitting in the end!" Pinkie bounced around, out of Fluttershy's hug.

"Hey, hey! Remember when I tickled her?" Pinkie said. "Never underestimate the power of the tickle tail!" She snapped her trusty tail, producing a loud whip crack.

"I suppose even mundane tricks have their uses in sticky situations," Rarity said, beaming at Pinkie Pie. "But without that little intervention, Applejack might be a little less presentable than she is now..."

"Well, shucks. Ah'm right flattered that ya think ah' look presentable, after this lil' scrap," Applejack said sarcastically. "Cuz' gosh, that pony messin' up my hair'd be the worst thing that coulda' happened ta' me!" Rarity growled, slapping Applejack with a muddy tail. It didn't really do anything. "Seriously, though. Don't know what ah' woulda' done if Pinkie hadn't jumped in!"

"Yeah, Pinkie. You really saved...the...!" Twilight began before she made the mistake of looking back towards the brown pony. She was standing again, low to the ground as always, with different parts of her body twitching erratically. The lines covering her body throbbed a hideous dark red. Her face was screwed up in feral rage. Everypony turned slowly around to see her heaving and snorting. Twilight choked out just one, very fast word. "Run."

Everypony whirled around to face the crevasse. Before they could even step in the direction of escape, though, the pony tumbled out of nowhere, landing in front of the group with a giant thud. Various shrieks and yells issued from everypony as Twilight frantically looked around. The guard's impact was so strong that she ended up lodging her hooves in the rock. Huge cracks spread out from beneath her. Pulling her legs from the ground, she jumped again, all the way to the ceiling. Landing just behind the group this time, everypony felt the ground shake ominously below them. Rock fragments flew everywhere as the brown pony continued to jump and land, creating more cracks and craters.

"Wh-what's she doing?" Dash shouted, trying to take flight, but she was unable to push off from the rumbling ground. The stalactites and crystals up above shuddered like splinters of driftwood in a furious ocean. The entire cavern threatened to split apart as the flurry of impacts from the brown pony continued without end in sight. Huge chunks of debris sailed through the air every time her hooves met the ground, sending everypony scrambling to avoid them. The frightfully shaking foundation prevented anypony from reaching her, and the now falling crystal shards and stalactites pinned the group down even more. Chunks of the ceiling had crashed to the ground in front of crevasse, barring any escape. Sweating, Twilight and Rarity pelted levitation spell after levitation spell at more slabs of falling ceiling, working to protect everypony.

The brown pony made one last jump, landing in the direct center of the destroyed room. The only thing left intact at this point was the floor, and even that was scarred beyond repair by sharp cracks produced. The content guard smirked as she fell backward, her eyes going colorless.

"No...pony...passes...by..."

At these words, the faulty floor gave way. Everypony screamed in unbound terror. Dash and Fluttershy got ready to fly for their lives, but they were quickly stopped by commands from Twilight.

"N-no! Everypony group up!" Neither pegasus had time to complain, bunching together with Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Everypony had gathered in the middle of a steadily crumbling piece of floor. Everything had been collapsing, but Rarity aimed a levitation spell on the disintegrating slab of rock the group stood on. Twilight was doing her best to hold up a makeshift umbrella of fallen ceiling parts, attempting to shield her friends from the descending wreckage. Rarity was actually managing to lower the platform at a safe pace, while Twilight's improvised barrier successfully deterred the onslaught of rock.

Unable to see well in the collapsing room, Twilight didn't catch the incoming pillars of stone weaving through the gaps in her shield. The enormous hunks of debris hammered the floating platform, splintering it. Rarity's spell dissolved as everypony separated, unable to stay huddled. The piercing howls of grinding stone silenced six, horrified screams. Twilight panicked as she looked around, trying desperately to think up a plan, to assess the situation. Did Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy take flight? Whipping her head around, Twilight saw nopony near her. Maybe she could teleport to safety? What was the use, she thought. Was there even anywhere solid to go to? In this room that had been reduced to shambles? Twilight closed her eyes, whimpering as the wind swished around her, carrying her hopelessly down into the depths below.