"Okay," Sweetie Belle said. "What ideas do you have? All I heard was bug catchers and explorers and I'm not going to be bug catcher."
Apple Bloom was disappointed.
"Well..." Scootaloo said, as she looked up at the ceiling at an angle, and rubbed her chin with one of her fore-hooves.
Apple Bloom opened right up.
"We're comin' up with ideas right now. We need yer help."
"Okay," Sweetie replied. "I like the explorers idea, but Rarity would kill me if I got too dirty. Also, what kind of explorers should we be? I mean, there are lots of different kinds of explorers."
At her comment, Scootaloo grinned.
"I know Rainbow Dash likes Daring Do," Scoots said. "She's an explorer. Maybe we could read one of her books to get some ideas."
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom shook their heads and dismissed the idea.
"No, this needs to be our adventure."
"Yeah and besides, I don't think Applejack would let me read them. They're adult books."
Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom with a disbelieving look on her face. Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement with Apple Bloom.
"Also, Daring Do is an archaeologist," Sweetie Belle said.
Apple Bloom was puzzled.
"Arch... Archae-"
She was cut off by Scootaloo.
"Archae what now!?"
Sweetie Belle face-hoofed.
"Archaeology is the study of artifacts and ancient architecture."
Scootaloo coughed, but it sounded a lot like 'Dictionary.' Applebloom tried to stifle a laugh and Sweetie Belle gave Scootaloo a nasty look, while the orange pegasus sat there smiling. Finally, Sweetie Belle broke the silence.
"Lets get back on track."
"Okay," Apple Bloom said. "How about this, Cutie Mark Crusaders Cave Explorers."
Sweetie Belle was doubtful.
"Cave explorers? Really?"
Scootaloo agreed with Apple Bloom.
"Sure, why not?" Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie Belle broke.
"Fine, but where are we going to find a cave around here?"
Apple Bloom started to respond, but was cut off by Sweetie Belle.
"No! I am not going into the Everfree Forest again."
Apple Bloom shook her head.
"I wasn't goin' 't say that. There's a cave here on Sweet Apple Acres."
Sweetie Belle was not convinced and Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.
"There's no cave on Sweet Apple Acres," Sweetie Belle said.
Apple Bloom was hesitant.
"Well, actually its more of a..."
She was cut off again by Scootaloo.
"Say no more Apple Bloom. Whatever it is it'll work."
Sweetie Belle was out-voted, so she pulled a crayon and a piece of paper out of her saddlebags and began to write. She wrote 'Explorers' across the top, and then about a quarter of the way down the page, she drew a check box and beside that, she wrote, 'Cave Explorers.' She set down the crayon to speak.
"Alright, today's topic is, exploring. Are there any more ideas?"
They sat for the better part of an hour tossing ideas around, before they decided to add a few more options to their list.
"Okay, Meet back here in an hour after everything is gathered up," Scootaloo said.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement. Then, the three friends split off in different directions. Apple Bloom went to get the flash lights, Scootaloo went to fetch their wagon, and Sweetie Belle went into town to get something which she said was a 'surprise.'
Scootaloo raced down the road, the wind flowing through her mane. She flapped her small wings, and leaned forward. There was a trailer sitting on the side of the road half-filled bushels of apples. She turned her scooter towards the cart, and drove up the angled bed. She leaped over the apples and did a three-sixty spin, before landing it perfectly.
Stunned by the success, she stopped and stared back at the cart and beamed. She heard a whistle coming from the fields next to the road, on the side that the apple cart was on. Applejack was standing there at the base of a tree with apple baskets at the base.
"Hey Applejack," said Scootaloo.
"Howdy Scoots," Applejack replied. "That was a mighty fine stunt ya pulled there. Where'd ya learn 't do somethin' like that?"
Scootaloo shrugged. "I dunno. Guess I've always been able to do it."
Applejack laughed. "You ever thought of entering a stunt show?"
Scootaloo paused. "Not really. I just find this sort of stuff fun. Why do you ask?"
Applejack just laughed again. "Just wonderin'. Say, you seen Apple Bloom anywhere? She's supposed to re-fill Winona's water bowl."
Scootaloo nodded. "Sure, she went back your house to get some flash lights. I'll tell her when I see her."
Applejack nodded back. "Thanks sugar cube."
Applejack leaned on her fore-hooves and her rear hooves shot out and struck the trunk of the tree she was standing under. Scootaloo shuddered as it sounded so painful. She saw every apple in the tree fall into the baskets that Applejack had set around it. Not a single one missed.
"Wow!" exclaimed Scootaloo.
Applejack looked up. "Awe, its nothin'."
Scootaloo shrugged. "Well, gotta fly."
Applejack waved as Scootaloo sped away. Scootaloo proceeded at a much slower pace than she had originally been. A thought crossed her mind. She said that all the time, 'gotta fly'. It was common for a pegasus to say that as a farewell. But, She wasn't a common pegasus. She couldn't fly. She thought about when she caught big air on her scooter. She loved the feeling. She wondered if that's what it felt like to fly. She felt free. She felt powerful.
She loved how the adrenaline pumped through her body. The momentary weightlessness was exhilarating.
Anyway, she knew her mission and she needed to get the wagon. Daydreams of flying would have to come after cave exploring. Rainbow Dash had always told her that even Spitfire's wings were too small when she was a filly, yet she turned out to be the strongest flyer in all of Equestria. Not only that, but she was the leader of the Wonderbolts! The greatest team of flyers in all of Equestria.
Maybe Scootaloo's talent was flying and she just wasn't old enough yet. Maybe when her wings grow in, she'll really be able to show Equestria what she can do. If her wings grow in, that is.
It was mid-afternoon by the time that all three of them met back up. Apple Bloom had the flashlights in her saddlebags and Scootaloo had brought the wagon. Sweetie Belle had brought three packs full of shovels, water, food, compasses, and other essential exploration equipment. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom watched as she dragged the three packs into their clearing in Sweet Apple Acres.
"There," said Sweetie Belle.
"What's all this stuff fer?" Apple Bloom asked with a dumbfounded look on her face.
"When we go caving of course," Sweetie Belle responded with a smile.
Scootaloo face-hoofed. "Why do we need all this stuff?"
"Yeah," Apple Bloom added. "The hole ain't THAT big."
"I wanted to be prepared. Besides it looks cool," said Sweetie Belle, still smiling.
"It does look cool," Scootaloo admitted.
They each began to put the packs on and they were ready to go. Apple Bloom paused.
"Wait, why'd I need 't go get flashlights while you had 'nuff time to get all this?"
"I don't have any flashlights," Sweetie Belle said with a shrug.
"Well I guess this explains why you're so late," Scootaloo said.
"I'm not late. I was only gone for forty five minutes."
Apple Bloom shook her head. "Hate 't break it to ya, but you've been gone way longer than that."
"I was watching the clock the whole time! How can I be late?"
"Which one?" asked Scootaloo.
"The one in the town square."
Scootaloo shook her head. "That one's broken."
Sweetie Belle was not convinced. "Broken? How is it broken?"
Scootaloo thought back to that night, after everypony had gone to bed and silence had fallen over ponyville. How had she ever thought that riding her scooter over the rooftops was a good idea. She remembered how she'd slipped while going around the town square, and smashed into the clock.
"Not important," Scootaloo said. "Apple Bloom, you said you knew of a cave?"
Finally they all moved on and got ready to go.
"Right that way," Apple Bloom said. "Its not far."
Scootaloo had been unable to get her pack on, so she threw it in the wagon. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom climbed in.
"Wooooaaaah!" They said as Scootaloo rush off upon her scooter before Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had sat down. Scootaloo looked back over her shoulder. "Sorry," she said.
The three of them passed through the orchard at a very fast pace. The trees were blurs as the scooter whizzed by. It wasn't long before they arrived at the base of a large apple tree, so big that it took up four spaces in the orchard that should go to individual trees.
Apple Bloom looked up at the massive tree. "This was planted by Granny Smith. It was the first tree on the farm."
Scootaloo saw the ground at the base of the tree, where there was a hole just barely big enough for a filly to fit. "Is that your cave?"
Apple Bloom gave an embarrassed smile and nodded.
"Its barely big enough to be a rabbit hole! How is this going to work?" Scootaloo complained.
Sweetie Belle intervened. "Maybe it opens up farther down. I can't exactly see the bottom."
Apple Bloom was relieved. "Yeah, who knows how far it goes."
They all nodded and Scootaloo and Apple Bloom began to pull out their flashlights. Sweetie Belle suddenly looked like her head was going to explode. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom stopped and stared at her.
"Are you alright?" asked Scootaloo.
Sweetie Belle let out a breath that she had been holding, and relaxed as her concentration faltered.
"I'm fine," she responded. "It's just that the last time I saw Twilight, I was able to finish the illumination spell."
"So..." said Scootaloo, impatiently.
"So, I may not need to use my flashlight. Maybe I can just use my horn."
Once again she slammed her eyes shut and held her breath. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged looks. When they looked back at Sweetie Belle, a few green sparks came from the tip of the horn. They fell to the ground and disappeared. Then suddenly, a bright light erupted from the horn. It was blinding at first. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom covered their eyes. The light dulled and Sweetie Belle lay panting on the ground, her legs thrown out from beneath her. A faint glow emitting from her head and around her horn.
She opened her eyes, dazed. "Did it work?"
She shook her head to clear it and looked up with her eyes, a huge smile crossed her face.
"That was awesome," exclaimed Scootaloo. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"Twilight time," Sweetie Belle said. She very proud of her accomplishment. "Are we ready to go?"
The three of them looked at the hole. "Who's first?" asked Apple Bloom.
"I'll go," said Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo at the same time.
The three ponies laughed, then Scootaloo made an 'after you' motion. Sweetie Belle nodded. They proceeded down into the hole. First Sweetie Belle, then Scootaloo, and finally Apple Bloom.
It was a single tunnel that went down at a fairly steep incline. The fillies almost had to crawl. The ceiling was so low, and someponies would easily get claustrophobic in it, as the root-filled damp walls brushed their flanks. After about ten minutes of continuous conditions, the ceiling began to rise and walls peel away.
The tunnel opened up into a small chamber. The ceiling was still low for a full-grown pony, and littered with tangling roots from the orchard. The walls, however, bore less roots as they came down. The ground was stone, ancient, and cold. Nopony had been here in a long time, if ever.
There were two other routes that the fillies could take. They both went to the ponies' right, but one went up, the other went down.
"What now?" asked Apple Bloom, whose hair bow was surprisingly unscathed.
"I say we go down," said Scootaloo. "I may not like tight spaces, but this is fun. Lets keep going."
Sweetie Belle shrugged. "If your mind is made up, then lets continue. We'll go down. Lead the way."
Scootaloo nodded, then disappeared down the lower path. This tunnel was easily twice the size of the initial entry route. And so, with Scootaloo leading them on, they proceeded into darkness.
The tunnel was dark, dank and would have been unnerving for anypony with any sense, but the Crusaders pushed on. For hundreds of feet, they traveled at a moderate pace. The silence hung over like a dark cloud and the tension it created could practically have been cut like a string. As such, the young adventurers were greatly on edge.
Scootaloo was getting nervous, they had to have been walking straight for at least two hours, or so it felt. Apple Bloom's teeth chattered as an unusual feeling of fear creeped upon her. Sweetie Belle, kept her mind off of the current situation, and tried to remember the route out. Suddenly, her glowing horn began to kind of blink, slowly. The magic would ease on, then ease off again. Twilight had told her that strange things can happen if spells overlap. Her illumination spell must be active in the same proximity to a separate spell.
"Hold on," she said.
Scootaloo looked back at her over her shoulder. "What?"
Sweetie Belle met her gaze. "I think there's a spell in here."
"W-what kinda spell?" asked Apple Bloom.
Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I dunno, but I think we walked right into a trap."
Scootaloo growled and stamped her hoof on the ground so hard, that a small cloud of dust appeared. "I knew this wasn't a good idea."
Apple Bloom paused for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face. "Awe ponyfeathers! what kinda spell is it?"
"Don't look at me," said Scootaloo. "I'm about as good with magic as I am at flying."
Sweetie Belle groaned. "Come on. What kind of spell would you put on a tunnel that a pony can barely fit through?"
They all put a hoof on their chins and began to brainstorm.
"A cave-in spell!" suggested Apple Bloom.
Sweetie Belle shook her head. "No, if you cave the tunnel in, then you can't go through it again."
Apple Bloom went back to her brainstorm pose.
"A levitation spell," proposed Scootaloo.
"Underground?" asked Apple Bloom. "Are you crazy?"
"You don't know!" snapped Scootaloo.
"I know there can't be a levitation spell underground!" Apple Bloom retorted.
"Why not?" asked Scoots.
"Beca-" Apple Bloom hesitated. " 'Cause there just can't"
Sweetie belle looked up at the ceiling. "Oh, Sweet Celestia."
"What?" Scootaloo and and Apple Bloom asked as they looked up.
"You two keep arguing and not helping. For all I know the spell could be leaking from the Everfree Forest. I don't even know if we are under the Everfree. We should be at this rate, but if we keep arguing, we'll never know!" ranted Sweetie Belle. Her voice cracked while she was yelling.
"We don't keep arguing!" Scootaloo protested. "Apple Bloom is just wrong. She's lost in the maze that is her head."
"lost..." Apple Bloom muttered.
Sweete Belle looked more offended than Apple Bloom. "You do argue! And how can you say such a thing about one of your closest friends?"
"Lost," said Apple Bloom, this time with more emphasis.
The two agitated fillies ignored her. "I can say such a thing, because its true." "Don't be such a dunder-head!" "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me things I don't know the meaning of?" The fighting duo continued.
"Lost!" Apple Bloom yelled, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle snapped their attention to Apple Bloom, shocked looks upon their faces.
"Yeah, I said you were lost," said Scootaloo.
"No no. What kind of spell would you put on a tunnel that's only the size of a pony? The answer's so obvious!" stated Apple Bloom, very excitedly.
Sweetie Belle followed her line of thought and her face lit up as well. She gasped and turned to Scootaloo, who was still clueless.
"Why, a lost spell! A spell that makes ponies lost." Smiled Apple Bloom.
She turned around and they all stared down the corridor in the direction they had been moving. Upon identification, the spell was lifted. The tunnel shimmered in their lights, and re-shaped to lead them onward. They glanced back over their shoulders to see the room that they were in about an hour ago.
"Hold on," said Apple Bloom and she raced back into the room. She returned a few moments later, trailing her rope behind her. It was looped through a hook on her pack, and was leaving a trail behind her. "In case we get lost again."
The fillies giggled. Scootaloo spoke up. "Alright, that's one puzzle down. Anything else this cave can throw at us, we'll be ready."
Sweetie Belle was curious. "Should there be any more traps?"
Scootaloo held a daring look on her face. "I think so, that lost spell was here for a reason. I think its here to protect something."
Sweetie Belle's eyes lit up and Apple Bloom could have sworn she saw diamonds in her eyes. "Maybe there's treasure!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"Maybe," said Scootaloo, as she rolled her eyes. "But we'll never find out standing here. We need to keep going."
"Cutie Mark Crusader Cavers" They all yelled as they high-hoofed each-other in the way that they do.
With that, with renewed vigor and energy, they bolted. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle following, with Scootaloo on point.
They slowed down soon, after Apple Bloom tripped dropped her light. They all laughed. It was pointless to run in a tunnel so small. They walked tighter together, their eyes peeled for anything that may be out of the ordinary, for a place that none of them had been before.
Suddenly, Scootaloo stopped.
"What's wrong?" asked Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo took a step back and took the light out of her mouth and held it in her hoof. "Don't you see them?"
"See what?" asked Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo was shaking in fear. Apple Bloom, also held her light in her hoof. "I see 'em too."
"T-t-t-timb..." Scootaloo stuttered.
"Timber-wolves!" yelled Apple Bloom.
Sweetie Belle's eyes also went wide, and she looked around. "Where? I don't see them!"
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom saw dozens of green eyes fill the tunnel in front of them. Three sets emerged, revealing three timber-wolves. The Crusaders backed against the wall. The wooden, magical wolf-like creatures slowly stalked towards them. The two fillies, eyes wide and shaking in terror, held each-other in an embrace. Sweetie Belle paced back and forth in a panic, she still didn't see them. Any normal pony would have fled.
"Goodbye Scootaloo!" cried Apple Bloom. "Goodbye Apple Bloom!" said Scootaloo, whose voice was very shaky. The timber-wolves pounced. They flew through the air, towards the shuddering fillies. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo cringed and slammed their eyes shut, and held their heads against each other's chests. But the teeth never came. After a few moments, Scootaloo opened her eyes, a timber-wolf was suspended in the air inches away from her nose, claws outstretched.
With one hoof she let go of Apple Bloom, who was still tense as a mouse in a tiger cage and had tears coming out of her eyes, and touched the nose of the timber-wolf. The wolves disappeared, as did the glowing eyes, leaving a very confused Unicorn, a terrified little earth-pony, and a smiling young Pegasus.
"They're gone!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
Apple Bloom didn't look up, but her crying stopped. "A-are ya sure?" Scootaloo nodded and let go of Apple Bloom. Still scared stiff, she stood shaking. Her head held low.
"What!?" exclaimed Sweetie Belle, her voice cracked. "Gone? What do you mean gone? I never saw anything!"
Scootaloo shrugged. "I dunno. All I know is that I saw them. They were here."
Apple Bloom was gradually regaining her composure. She was angry now, and short tempered. "How could ya n-not have seen 'em? They jumped right over ya." Scootaloo nodded in agreement.
Sweetie Belle sighed. "You know what? I'm leaving. This was a terrible idea! We're supposed to be Cutie Mark Crusader Cavers, not get into trouble with invisible monsters and magic."
Scootaloo challenged Sweetie's remark. "I don't know about you, but if those were real timber-wolves, they would have shredded us." Sweetie Belle met Scootaloo's gaze with squinted, doubting eyes. "What are you saying?"
Scootaloo was proud that she had Sweetie Belle's curiosity again. "They disappeared, and you didn't see them. They couldn't have been real. If anything, I bet it was another trap to keep ponies away from whatever is at the end of this cave."
Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. "Another trap? Then why didn't I see it, or if it was magic, why didn't I feel it?"
Scootaloo paused. "I don't know. Maybe it's because you're a unicorn. Ponies can make things happen without the help of magic, right? Remember Trixie? She made flashes of light and swirls of color without using her horn."
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "Magic doesn't work like that, you dodo. And Trixie used fireworks. That's not magic."
While they were arguing, Apple Bloom sat and shook her head. They were dead opposites, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. She got up and faced deeper into the cave. She let her friends fight for a moment longer, before looking back over her shoulder. "Are ya'll gonna sit there and fight all day? Or are we gonna see what's at the end of the cave?"
Again, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at her. They felt awkward.
"Well she started it," said Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo looked shocked. "Wha-!"
Apple Bloom gave them a threatening look. They looked down at their hooves in shame. "Sorry," Sweetie Belle said. "Sorry," Scootaloo repeated.
Apple Bloom held her head high. "Now," she began. She went and stood next to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, so that they were shoulder to shoulder. "We can't argue like this. We wanna earn our cutie marks, and it ain't gonna happen with us standing around here. So what are we waiting for? Lets go."
"Yeah!" said Scootaloo. They began go even deeper into the cave.
The deeper they went, the larger the tunnel seemed to grow. They made it about three and a half minutes, before Scootaloo broke their silence. "Do you think there are any more traps?" she asked.
"I don't know," said Sweetie Belle. "I was trying to not think about that, but maybe we've gotta expect more."
"What'd ya mean?" Scootaloo urged.
"I think yall're both wrong," said Apple Bloom.
"What?" said Scootaloo.
"Why?" said Sweetie Belle.
They both looked at her with curious expressions on their faces. "B'cause. We've hit a dead end." Apple Bloom pointed out. Sure enough, there was nowhere left to go. The cave, which was still moist, dank, and now almost completely stone, was rounded off. It opened up again, but there were no other ways out. The Cave had come to a very abrupt end.
Sweetie Belle's horn flashed again, and Scootaloo's and Apple Bloom's flashlights went out. The fillies looked at each-other for a moment. "You did use fresh batteries, right Apple Bloom?" asked Scootaloo, with an accusing look on her face.
"Wha! Why, of course I used fresh batteries, didn't ya see the way Sweetie Belle's horn flashed? We must be under another spell to stop flashlights from working."
Sweetie Belle, had been hesitant from the very beginning about this venture. Now, both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom stayed close to her, her horn the only light-source in the chamber.
She walked over to the wall, and began eyeing it closely. After a few minutes, Sweetie just shrugged. "Well girls," she said. "It looks like whatever treasure was here is gone now."
She made to walk back towards the exit, when she was stopped by Apple Bloom's voice. "Wait just one moment."
She went and examined a portion of the wall. It was flat and there were vertical lines going from the top, to the bottom. They had an arched line across the top. Sweetie Belle had seen them and come to the same conclusion that Apple Bloom was. She had just hoped that the others wouldn't notice.
"Now, just what d'ya reckon that is?" Apple Bloom asked, pointing out the formation to Scootaloo. A huge smile crossed her face.
"A door!" exclaimed Scootaloo. "The last trick! Wow, it's so hard to notice, it looks like part of the wall!"
Sweetie Belle turned around to face them. She sighed. "It's not a trick. It's just that time can turn wood to stone, or at least, almost."
Scootaloo nodded. "Okay, then how do we open it?" She walked up to it and pushed at hard as she could. It didn't budge. "Ugh. Its like trying to push a brick wall." She realized the concept of her comment right after she said it. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom laughed.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "You two got a better idea?" she asked.
"As a matter of fact I do." said Apple Bloom.
Scootaloo was curious, but she wouldn't show it. "Oh yeah? Lets see it."
"Hmmf," said Apple Bloom, while she held her head high and closed her eyes. She trotted past Scootaloo, looking prim and proper. In one fluid motion, she suddenly burst into a trot. Then, she planted her fore-hooves into the ground. Finally, she threw her flanks around and delivered a very powerful buck into the wall. The stone-covered door cracked and splintered, revealing ancient wood.
Scootaloo's and Sweetie Belle's jaws dropped as they gaped in amazement. The cloud of dust kicked up settled and Apple Bloom shook herself and twirled her mane. It fell even, as if she hadn't exerted any energy whatsoever.
"I've been practicing," she said.
The two stunned fillies shook themselves. "Alright Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo cheered. "That was so cool. Now, what're we standing around here for? Let's get inside!"
The fillies turned towards the entrance and what was revealed was not a treasure-trove of gold, diamonds, or ancient apple seeds. Sitting half-buried by stone and long forgotten by time, was a metal cylinder with some kind of antenna coming out of the top. A dull red light flashed on a dark green panel.
"What the hay is it?" asked Apple Bloom. Scootaloo reached out one fore-hoof and almost touched it.
"Don't touch it, you dolt!" scolded Sweetie Belle. "You don't know what it is!"
Scootaloo looked over her shoulder. "Thanks mom," she said with a roll of her eyes.
She pushed the button that was the glowing red light, and a mechanical sound came from ancient circuits and mechanisms within the device.
An automated female voice said, "Transport activated."
"Wha-" was all they said, before they found themselves being whisked away, a feeling that only Sweetie Belle recognized. A teleport.
I'm rewriting this fiction. It just didn't feel right, the way it was.
Enjoy, hopefully you like the changes.
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