You are a small, purple-blue Earth filly named Raisin. One day at school, you get dismissed for lunchtime recess when you realize that you forgot to bring a lunch. Your mom packed it and everything, but in your haste to get to class, you must have left it on the kitchen table. Hungry, you spend a few miserable minutes pouting over your misfortune.
A small yellow Earth filly with a red bow in her mane comes over to see what's the matter. When you tell her that you're without a lunch, she immediately offers you half of her lunch; a delicious red apple. You take it and offer your most sincere thanks in reply. She introduces herself as Applebloom, a filly one year ahead of you. As you talk, you end up finding out that you have a lot in common. A friendship is forged.
After school, on your way home, she flags you down and introduces you to two of her friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. The little pegasus complains to Applebloom that you're way too young and uncool to be hanging with their crew, but Applebloom convinces her to let you stick around.
As the 4 of you head to your homes, Applebloom recommends that you should join their 'secret club', the Cutie Mark Crusaders... seeing as you're without a cutie mark and all. Before you can answer, both of her friends vehemently reject the proposal. They say that you have to earn your place in their group. The only way to do this is to prove you're not a wussy; you must crusade with them into the Everfree Forest. Applebloom nods her head in agreement and tells you to meet them near Fluttershy's house at 9:00pm. She's confident that you'll impress her friends.
With very few other details, you head home and wait until the fated hour. Excited but cautious, you look around your house to see what kind of supplies you might have lying around. With only a few minutes to go until you leave for your adventure, you've managed to sneak around the house and gather a pile of useful items: a candle lantern, 2 candles, a bundle of rope (made it yourself), a 'stompstarter' (crushable firestarter), a can of blackpowder, a bottle rocket, a box of thumbtacks, a big horseshoe magnet, a fishbowl, a boomerang, a bag of flour, a tin of assorted candy, and your saddlebags. You can only carry 4 items, however; your saddlebags are relatively small.
Your parents don't have any idea what you've got planned and there's just 5 minutes left of preparation.
You decide to take the lantern, the candles, the rope, and the firestarter. After packing your saddlebags, you sneak out the back door and trot down the road as quietly as possible. Your parents have no idea that you've even left the house.
As you gallop down a lonely road, you spot something glimmering in the moonlight. It appears to be the remains of a broken wicker basket. Inside, there is a comb, a handful of gems, and a jewelry box.
You look over the curious items once more before deciding that they probably won't help you on your adventure. You shrug your shoulders and continue onwards.
Eventually, you see the familiar red bow of Applebloom off in the distance right outside of Fluttershy's cottage. Her lights are off; she must not know that your new friends are crusading. Sweetie Belle is holding a small glowing bottle that illuminates them enough to allow you to see them from a distance. Applebloom motions you over.
The 4 of you sit huddled in a tight little circle. You don't have many details for this journey yet, but the other three fillies seem to know exactly what they're about to do. Now, you figure, might be a good time to ask questions.
Q&A
"What did you guys bring with you?"
Scootaloo starts off by saying that she's got her cape and a small, impact detonated smoke bomb she got from the local bullies. Sweetie Belle smiles and holds up a glowing blue perfume bottle; it's providing a decent amount of light. She says that the potion will only last for a few hours, though... Applebloom has a cracked baseball bat and a saddlebag full of apples.
"What's the plan?"
Scootaloo starts going on and on about a story that Cheerilee was telling in class a few days ago. She says that there is a secret orb called the Orion Crystal hidden deep within the Ursa cave. Apparently, the crystal gives ponies the ability to see into the future, but only once. They plan to use it to see what their cutie marks are going to be.
"The Orion Crystal? Does it do anything else?"
Scootaloo simply shrugs her shoulders. She says that all Cheerilee told them about in class and she didn't bother to ask any other ponies about it. Sweetie Belle mentions that it probably would have been a good idea to talk to Twilight about it, but her comment goes ignored.
"How long will this be? I don't want to miss 'My Little Humans' tomorrow morning."
The crusader's faces light up as you mention their favorite show. They all nod, agreeing that it is a great show and they do not want to miss a second of it.
Applebloom assures you that the crusade, pending everything goes well, should conclude in a matter of hours. The orb shouldn't be TOO deep into the cave.
You tell the three experienced crusaders that you are ready for your first crusade. They nod and turn toward the darkened entrance of the foreboding woods. They say that since you're the new filly in the group, you must prove your adventuring prowess and pick the path they should all take.
Before you lie 3 paths; left, center, and right, each appearing to be equally terrifying. They stand slightly behind you, waiting for your decision.
You tilt your head side to side for a moment before settling on your decision. You point to the left and affirm that it's the way to go. Scootaloo disagrees, saying that the group should go right, but Applebloom and Sweetie Belle stick to your decision. Begrudgingly, Scootaloo follows you on the left path.
Up above and all around, there is almost nothing but darkness. Sweetie's potion lights the way, but casts an eerie blue glow on everything as you pass through the thick forest.
Suddenly, you hear a noise in the bushes on the right. Sweetie shrieks, fumbling her little potion. It rolls into the bushes, but is well within reach. None of the crusaders want to go near the bush.
You can still see the subtle blue glow of the potion under the bush leaves. Carefully, you begin your approach. Sneaking up hoof by hoof, you near the bush until you can just barely reach under it. Slowly, you edge your hoof toward the faint, blue light...
SHHSHSHHSSHHH!
The bushes erupt and a ring tailed critter comes flying out. In a harmony of discordant screams, the CMC shriek as the raccoon scares everyone senseless. You watch the little ball of fluff take off down the trail towards Fluttershy's cottage. Scootaloo pretends that she didn't make a peep.
With the curious creature gone, you pick up the potion and hand it back to Sweetie Belle. She breathes a sigh of relief as the other two commend you for your bravery.
You continue down the path, eventually reaching the stony entrance of a dark, quietly howling cave. The CMC huddle up to pow-wow their next course of action.
Sweetie Belle clutches the small potion in her mouth, shaking her head. She says that you have a perfectly good torch; if you're going to go ahead of them, leave them the soft light and get your torch lit.
Applebloom pulls out her cracked bat and grips it in her mouth. She says that she'll follow behind you, watching your back. Scootaloo and Sweetie note the courage you two are showing and say that they'll come along with you; Scootaloo arms herself with her smokebomb.
You start heading into the cave, Sweetie's potion lighting the way. You notice all sorts of coloration’s on the floor and an eerie howling noise coming from deep inside the cave. It sounds like a great, low wind that never ceases.
As you traverse the right wall, you notice what appears to be a pair of red, glowing eyes in the distance.
You immediately seize up as the eyes become more intense. They refuse to move, seeming to start you down. You and the girls crouch near some stalactites. Sweetie brings the light in close so that you can all see each others faces.
Scootaloo thinks that it's probably nothing; it's probably just the weird light playing tricks on your eyes. Applebloom and Sweetie are convinced that it must be some sort of monster.
You sit huddled, hearing a soft breathe compliment the eerie cave howling.
You quickly search the ground and pick up a pebble, telling the others to stay put. Scootaloo sees what you're doing and also grabs a rock. As you look over the stalactites you were hiding behind, you cannot see anything in the darkness up ahead.
Regardless, you chuck a rock up ahead in the general direction of the eyes. It clacks against the stone floor and echoes in the cave.
Without Sweetie's light aimed up ahead, it's nearly impossible to see anything. Scootaloo squints into the darkness, rock in her mouth.
As you sit in the dark, ear towards the direction of the rock you threw, you slowly move forward, blind in the darkness of the cavern. Sweetie slowly peeks over the stalactite with her light potion in mouth, watching as you enter the black nothingness ahead. You immediately notice Scootaloo's eyes grow big. She throws the rock as hard as she can up ahead and ducks behind the stalactite, covering her eyes.
You turn your head and are greeted with the same pair of distant, shimmering red eyes. Sweetie remains frozen, shaking in terror as you stare the unwavering eyes down.
You turn your head back, asking Sweetie for her light. She doesn't respond; she just stares at the red eyes. You look back, noticing that the eyes are twinkle ever so slightly with Sweetie's quivering form.
Scootaloo reaches over the stalactite formation and pulls you back, saying that you must be out of your mind. She's convinced that it must be a monster.
Applebloom forces Sweetie to duck down again as you sit and make up a new game plan. Again, you ask for the light. Sweetie reluctantly hands it over to you, allowing you to carry it.
The bottle tastes like fresh roses.
You put the bottle in your hooves for a moment and comment on the peculiar taste. Sweetie says that Rarity made rose petal soup for dinner...
You shake your head, deciding that you have nothing to lose. You roll the potion towards the eyes, much to the absolute horror of your friends. They gasp as the glass bottle rolls precariously over the rocks and closer to the ever more brilliant red eyes.
As it approaches, you see that the 'eyes' are set in the rock. To the left, you see the faint shimmer of 3 blue gems embedded into a large column of rock.
The bottle continues rolling, then smashes into a stalactite. The potion spills out over the floor, illuminating the one spot in a brilliant blue glow. Sweetie gets some tears in her eyes.
Scootaloo and Applebloom comment on the findings, saying that the eyes were just some crummy old gems. They wander closer to the pool of spilled blue light potion.
You follow the trio over to the spilled potion and look at the magnificent gems. Sweetie wipes some of the tears out of her eyes and says that they look just like the ones her sister was using earlier that morning. She comments that Rarity probably won't be too upset with her losing the perfume bottle if she can get a few.
Unfortunately, you can't seem to pry the little gems from the column. They're nearly cemented in.
Applebloom mentions that rolling the potion was a pretty good idea; at least they know the 'eyes' were really just gemstones. The light shines strong in the entrance of this massive cave. Above the 'eyes' you see a ledge with a stalactite sticking out of it. Up ahead is a wide open area where the soft, eerie noise seems to be coming from.
The CMC are ready to venture ahead. Scootaloo grabs your lantern and asks you to light it up for her.
You light the small torch for Scootaloo. She starts to trot ahead, but keeps cautious. The cave lights up with tons of gems; the torch light is powerful enough to light the cave incredibly well. You can see wall to wall; the darkness is now a comfortable distance ahead.
You see that the ledge is quite a ways up; it's far too high to reach by simply climbing up on your friends' backs. It looks like it leads along a path that follows the right most wall of the cave.
Scootaloo and Applebloom insist that you continue ahead into the cave. Cutie marks await!
She stops, giving you a sour look. Applebloom snickers to herself, but takes notice of the ledge. She stops and asks Scootaloo to shine her light up above.
The high road seems to lead the same way into the cave and around a bend up ahead. It doesn't seem too remarkable.
You swivel your head out of curiosity. A shadow is standing at the entrance of the cave. You watch it crouch down low to the floor.
Stark with fear, you watch the featureless blob glue itself to the floor. Whatever it is, it appears to have wings.
The CMC are still busy looking up at the ledge.
You urge the trio to move deeper into the cave. They nod their heads, mentioning that this place is giving them the creeps. You delve deeper into the cave, taking a turn around the bend.
As you look back once more, you can no longer see the shadowy form. It has vanished.
Up ahead of you is more darkness, some stalactites... and what appears to be an elaborate cluster of gemstones gleaming in the light of your torch.
"Hey guys? I think somepony is following us."
The CMC freeze in their tracks. They get a little worried, thinking that one of the adults might have found out what they were planning.
They immediately scold you, thinking that you snitched on them. You swear that nobody knows, though they believe otherwise.
You decide to venture deeper into the cave and closer to the 'gemstones'. As your lantern approaches the sparkly objects, you see the blue outline of some transparent beast up ahead. Scootaloo immediately stops.
It's eyes are closed as it snores, filling up a good portion of the path ahead. To its left, along the wall, is a small, thin ledge with a chasm under it.
To the right, it hugs the wall too tightly to travel passed it, but the ledge up above seems to continue along, no creature obstructions whatsoever.
You mention that you have to go back and give the ledge a shot; there's no other way to get around the Ursa that's in your way. The CMC agree with you, knowing that the only safe route now would be to try and find a way up above.
As you start heading back, you see a pair of red eyes along the bend. Scootaloo trots on ahead.
She looks over her shoulder, telling you not to worry. She says that it's just the gems again. They remain frozen in place up ahead, but you see them disappear and reappear quickly, all the while having light shone in that direction.
She continues on, not giving the strange red glares a second thought.
Against your better judgment, you press ahead, walking straight toward the 'gems'. As they get a little larger, you watch them zig zag back and forth. The CMC stops cold in their tracks, terrified.
Suddenly, Scootaloo turns into a stone sculpture, frozen in place with the lantern stuck in her mouth. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom panic, running toward the Ursa Minor. Applebloom skids to a stop and screams back for you to hurry; they'll save Scootaloo later.
She grabs her bat and shuts her eyes, running away from the horrible Cockatrice you just walked up to.
You call Applebloom back, demanding that she keep her eyes shut. You feel scales slither up along your back and feathers brush against your ear; quickly, two red eyes come into your peripheral.
With a loud crack, you watch Applebloom smack the Cocaktrice with the bat over the head. Her bat snaps in two, lying on the floor. The Cockatrice doesn't seem too bothered by this. You buck it in the stomach a few times; your earth pony legs don't seem to be doing much to it.
Applebloom reiterates that you should run. The feathery foe starts to coil around you.
You slam your head back, smashing the Cockatrice in the jaw. It loosens up its grip for just a moment as you slip free and high tail it behind Applebloom. As you run, you realize that Scootaloo still has the torch in her mouth. The darkness of the cave envelopes you as you approach the starry pattern of the incredibly dangerous Ursa.
Applebloom bumps into you and wraps her forelegs around you, saying that you're going to need to stick together. She can't find Sweetie Belle, so it's just you two at the moment.
You hear the Cockatrice call just a few feet away. It seems to be keeping its distance, its red eyes swaying in the air nearby.
You push the small, scared filly away for a moment as you withdraw a candle from your saddlebag. You bring out the stompstarter, but look back over your shoulder at the Ursa sleeping just a few feet from your back. The stompstarter tends to make a bit of noise...
You ask Applebloom if she can make a lasso. She says that Applejack taught her how to, so she probably can... but not in the complete, pitch black.
You decide to stomp on the stompstarter to get a flame going. As you lean over to light your candle, you hear the creature behind you grumble. Applebloom asks you what you just did... and if you have a plan.
The Ursa starts to pick up and shift about, careful not to roll off the ledge to its side. It looks ahead, noticing the candle you just lit. The Cockatrice seems to have all but disappeared from sight.
Applebloom wraps her trembling forelegs around you again, unsure of what you planned to do after waking the Ursa and scaring the Cockatrice away.
The candle doesn't do anything to reveal any other pony in the cave. Sweetie cannot be seen anywhere nearby.
You send the molten candle up towards its head, managing to splatter the wax against its chest. It looks down then back to the two desperate fillies ahead. He sneers, annoyed and grumpy that he's been so rudely awakened.
As the bear glares at you, you fasten the rope to your waist.
"Hang on, baby!"
You grab the red bow wearing filly up in your hooves, realizing that she weighs more than you do. You sling the other end of the rope to a stalactite overhead, miraculously getting a hold on it. Surprised, you proceed to step 2 of your brilliant plan.
You jump off the ledge, hoping that the rope over head holds. The Ursa watches you curiously.
Only a few feet from your jump, the rope slips off the overhead stalactite. You plummet into the dark void below, the combination of you and Appleblooms terrified screams echoing into silence.
(WISE FWOM YO GWAVE)
You hear a very odd backwards sound effects kind of noise. You find yourself next to the Ursa Minor again, but now the whole group is together again. You look around, feeling your coat to see if everything is real. Applebloom asks if you're okay, to which you respond "I think so..."
With a small ledge on the left over a chasm and a safe path up above, but no way to attach any rope to a stalactite to get up there, you consider your options with the CMC.
Behind you, back around the bend, you see a pair of red eyes hovering in the darkness, unwavering and still.
You point out that there is a very thin walkway to the left of the chasm. Sweetie immediately shakes her head, not wanting to travel that path. She suggests that the group head back and try to find a way to the safe path up above. Applebloom seems to be willing to give this route a shot, but agrees if there's any way to the wide path above, she'd be willing to take it.
Scootaloo is already sliding across the wall, shuffling her hooves together to traverse the chasm path. Holding the lantern, you watch the little light source travel across the dangerous chasm path.
"Come on, I thought you guys were crusaders. Scootaloo's not afraid and she's a chicken."
You follow Scoots lead, hugging the wall. Immediately, you notice how deep the chasm below really goes. A low, resounding noise passes up from the deep darkness; nothing can be seen below. You slide across, trying to catch up with Scoots. She's already standing on solid ground, boasting of her accomplishment quietly.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle soon follow, though Sweetie Belle is really shaky. As they are halfway across, the ground gives way under Sweetie's hoof. She slips a little bit, catching the side of the ledge. She dangles precariously over the pit, whimpering softly in terror.
She looks to you and the others. They're panicking a little, unsure of what to do.
You shuffle back along the wall, though Applebloom stands between you and the endangered filly. She's already reaching over to give Sweetie a hoof back up, but she's afraid she'll lose her balance and fall.
Scootaloo shuffles back onto the ledge, approaching you three as Sweetie loses her grip on the thin ledge.
You motion for Applebloom to grab the struggling unicorn. Just as Applebloom grabs for her, Sweetie loses her grip. In the absolute nick of time, Applebloom catches her, though finds herself falling fowards fast. You instinctively bite onto Applebloom's tail, though the weight of the two fillies takes a toll on your balance. Amazingly, you're able to hold onto the rock wall by bracing yourself against two pits in the wall.
Scootaloo panics, reaching through your bag for the rope. She brings it up in her mouth, but cannot find anything nearby to fasten it to. Grip slipping, you need to act fast.
There's a stalactite up above and an outcropping of crystals on the other side of the chasm, next to where Scootaloo was standing previously.
Scootaloo sees what you're getting at. She shuffles back over and glides to the small outcropping. Tying the rope off, she throws the other end over to you. The rope flies through the air; you must take a chance if you hope to catch it.
If you loosen your grip, however, you may find yourself plummeting into the darkness. The two fillies aren't getting any lighter, either; it's impossible to pull them back up. You strain, but they sink lower with every passing moment.
You let the long rope travel a ways passed your body before taking a leap of faith and grabbing on. Sweetie screams wildly as you all go airborne over the black pit. Everything seems to disappear into the darkness for a moment, but Scoots brings the torch over the crystals above your head. Amazingly, the impact into the stony wall hasn't loosened the grip of your comrades.
The two fillies grab onto the rope as well. Applebloom's is oriented backwards on the rope, her butt facing up. She's hardly in an ideal climbing position.
Above you, you hear a very faint crackling noise.
You climb up the rope, pulling Applebloom up with you. Scootaloo is already helping pull the rope up as if she had read your mind; she pushes a hoof against the crystal for a brace and helps pull you three up to safety.
You hear a distinct crackling noise above you.
You strain to turn your head under the weight of Applebloom, but cannot see anything. You near Scootaloo's hooves as she pulls you up to firm ground. Sweetie Belle is on her way up the rope still...
You see part of the crystal shatter under Scootaloo's hooves. She doesn't take notice, too concerned with pulling up her friend.
You swing over to the ledge, pulling yourself up. Through sheer earth pony strength, you manage to pull Applebloom up onto the ledge with your teeth. Immediately, you warn Scoots about the crystal. By the time she looks down, the crystal starts falling apart. Sweetie again screams out and frantically climbs up, trying to reach the ledge before she falls.
Scootaloo starts sliding forward... and the Ursa is now stirring.
You grab onto Scoots tail as the crystal completely gives way. She holds fast onto the rope, keeping Sweetie safely in her grasp. Applebloom follows your lead, dragging you and her friends up the stony ledge and onto safe ground.
You all watch as the Ursa starts to clamber around. It's facing away from you, but you decide it best to duck behind a small crop of stones.
As the Ursa seems to fall back asleep, there's a round of hugs and sighs of relief. The trio can't believe they just survived the ordeal.
The lantern is still back by the ledge, though it is safe. Next to it is the rope with a chunk of crystal still lasso'd in it.
You and Applebloom sneak back over to the lantern and rope. She grabs the lantern and you grab the rope, dragging its catch behind. Beyond the chasm, far back to the small bend, you see the red eyes again, though they blink and move back towards the cave entrance.
Pressing forward, you light up another deep, dark passageway. The cave seems to get more humid as you come to a split. Seeing as you've been leading pretty well, the CMC leaves the choice of direction up to their promising new recruit; left or right?
On the left, you hear nothing but the solemn echo of the caverns. The low, eerie noise seems to resonate from this direction.
On the right, you smell a distinct moldy odor... and hear what seems to be running water.
Scratching your chin briefly, you look above and notice the higher path continues on the right. You point down the right tunnel and continue onward. The CMC seem confident with your direction picking ability; so far, it hasn't led them to certain death.
As you come upon the next room, the sound of rushing water becomes almost deafening. The lantern catches a rolling, cool mist in the room, making it hard to see ahead.
You see a faint doorway way off in the distance... it looks like ponies may have built it.
You attempt to light your second candle, but the stompstarter clicks without producing a flame. The mist drowns out the fire.
The room is dark, but there is a very faint light by the door. As you approach, the watery noise becomes louder. The CMC complain that they can't see anything; Applebloom starts prodding the air with her hoof.
You throw your lasso'd crystal up ahead. Strangely, it seems to plummet through the floor. It feels like it's going to be yanked out of your mouth.
You pull your crystal back, noticing that it and the rope are soaked. You yell to the CMC to stop; you've found the river. Still unable to see anything but the faint door glowing up ahead, you begin casting your crystal out like a small floor detector.
Applebloom nudges your flank as you explore the darkness with your rope. She sounds scared, looking back toward the entrance of this room.
The current sounds absolutely thunderous. You can feel the spritz of the water below as it roars passed, smashing into the trench walls below.
The mist pools around your ankles as thick as clouds.
You turn your head back over your shoulder, noticing a pair of red, glowing eyes at the entrance. Sweetie Belle grabs for Applebloom's cracked bat, readying it in her mouth. Having only a smoke bomb for protection, Scootaloo decides to help you search the floor for the pit.
She says that she thinks she found a path.
You cautiously maneuver backwards towards Scoots barely audible voice. You gently bite onto Applebloom's tail. She bites on to Sweetie's as you back up, Scoots guiding you along. Suddenly, you feel your back leg plummet. Thankfully, because you were moving slow, you clip the side of the ledge.
The girls in front of you are still backing up.
You flail your hooves into Applebloom's behind. She stops immediately, dropping Sweetie's tail. She asks what's wrong and you tell her that there's no path.
Scootaloo immediately walks over to you, clearly standing on what seems to be a path. She says that you must have missed it somehow as she lifts you up. She places your rear over the path, though you fall through it. She feels that you're hanging on to the edge of the stony platform, the cold river water stinging your flank.
Without much time to act, you need to formulate a game plan.
You pull yourself up, saying that noone else can walk the 'path' because they're not pegasi. Scootaloo rolls her eyes, realizing that the mist is what's letting her walk across freely.
You survey the area in the complete darkness. The eyes don't feel like they've moved, but they're larger. They blink as you look at the sides of them. You look toward the door and notice, from this angle, something is obstructing the light.
She leads the rope over to the door to check as you requested, but the door seems to be shut. She feels around, looking for anything to jam the crystal end into. She remarks that the rope seems to have snagged on something, but she can't see.
The Cockatrice hisses as it cautiously approaches.
You tell Scoots to attract the Cockathingie over to her so that it'll fall into the river. Applebloom leads you and Sweetie Belle out of the way very slowly and cautiously, testing each step to make sure that they don't go tumbling into the rapids themselves.
Scootaloo starts singing an 80's song she heard Dash singing at one point in time. The Cockatrice shuts its eyes and screeches. Scootaloo sounds likes she's moving around a bunch, though it's impossible to see her.
The cockatrice seems to be getting very angry. You watch the red eyes march over to Scootaloo's position. Suddenly, they vanish from sight.
To your side, in the chasm, you hear something smash into the rocky wall below. It's barely audible and only lasts a moment. Scootaloo is laughing hysterically.
Your immediate surroundings are nearly pitch black. You can hear and feel the roar of the mighty river flowing to your side and see the faint glow of a pony constructed doorway across the mist.
You ask Scoots to go and look at the door. She agrees and starts prodding around the edges. She says that she feels several different buttons around the outside edge of the door... but can't see what they say or what they do.
You tell everyone that you should all go back a room, out of the mist, and relight the lantern. The CMC agrees, seeing as the room is currently pitch black and unnavigable.
As you exit the room, soaking wet from the mist, you pull out your stompstarter. It's dripping wet.
You shake the stompstarter off to try and dry it. You don't have anything dry to wipe it off on and the stony floor doesn't seem to remove much water at all.
Your saddlebag is completely soaked, just like you. You can feel that your normally bouncy hair is stuck to your forehead and ears. The other girls look around for something dry, but can't seem to find anything to dry the little device off on.
Sweetie Belle suggests that the Ursa Minor's coat is dry. If you're extremely careful, you might be able to get away with drying it off on the massive, scary bear.
Scootaloo thinks it's ballsy, but agrees. Anything is better than complete darkness. Applebloom is aversive to the idea, thinking it to be far too dangerous.
You decide to go a little further back to the fork in the path. You still hear the echo of the river filling the cave with it's eerie voice. Soaking wet, the 4 of you are shivering cold as you head down this other path, completely surrounded by darkness. You cannot see your hoof in front of your face.
You continue into the darkness, unable to see anything. Each filly nibbles on the other's tail in order to keep themselves from getting lost.
You ask if, since Sweetie's a unicorn, if she can make her horn glow. She shakes her head; you can feel your tail pulled side to side as you lead on very carefully.
You take very careful steps, but can feel the CMC pushing behind you ever so gently. The darkness seems to be scaring them a bit.
You step on something mushy.
An extremely vulgar smell permeates your nostrils. You're on the verge of gagging, but definitely feel sick. You think you might have stepped on a rotten mushroom of some sort, but cannot see exactly what it is. You immediately start feeling ill.
After nearly puking, you back up the filly train to where you think the fork in the path is. You can see the starry glow of the Ursa off in the distance as you reconsider Sweetie Belle's plan.
You hand Scootaloo the stompstarter, asking her to quickly dry it off on the massive bear. You try to control your urge to throw up.
She runs up to the massive bear, carefully wiping the device against the bears coat. It doesn't seem to notice her at all. Scootaloo whispers through the darkness that she thinks she's got it dried off.
Scootaloo rushes over to the group. She throws the starter down and gives it a smash, kicking up a small flame. It lights the candle with ease as you put it back in the lantern.
You see what you've stepped in. A fungus looking mold is rapidly spreading up your leg. Applebloom panics, saying that it's Moldrot; you need to wash it off immediately.
The crusaders carry the light and get you to the river immediately. You can now see the raging rapids down below through the light of the covered lantern; they look far more treacherous than you imagined. There's a group of pointy rocks sticking up in the water. You see feathers stuck to the wall down stream; the water seems to be flushing out of a very small hole.
You can't reach the water, but the spray is able to get some of the spore off.
You search the floor for a small pool of water. You're lucky enough to see one small basin by the river's edge.
Quickly, you scrub the remaining mushroom spores from your hoof. Though you still feel ill, the crawling mold is no longer scaling your leg.
The room looks a lot more brilliant now that it is lit. you can see that the chasm has no safe connection point, but a pillar stands up across the room. It looks like it could fall at any moment.
You ask Scootaloo to wander up to the buttons and see what they say. With torch in mouth, she looks at a series of seven different buttons arranged in the shape of the Orion constellation. Each one has an odd symbol on it, something that she can't describe.
She asks you if you want her to try and press any of them or if she should wait until you can come over for a better look.
Scootaloo nods, walking away from the buttons. You toss her a loop of the rope. In a flash, she ties a hokey knot around the pillar.
She looks up to the ceiling, noticing that cracks run around the pillar's top. She lets you know about them before cinching the knot tight.
With the help of Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, the three of you are able to loose the pillar from its base and send it crashing down over the chasm. The ceiling above the pillar leaks profusely, dripping a thick, bluish goop. Scootaloo comments about how weird it is, but doesn't question it any further.
Seeing a path, you instinctively follow it on over to get a good look at the door. The symbols look like nothing you've ever seen before... the each have different colored horseshoes upon them.
There are seven colors; violet, orange, red, blue, yellow, purple and green.
You push the buttons in the order of the rainbow. With a great quaking noise, you watch the door in front of you ooze a brilliant blue liquid. Smoke arises from the door only inches from your face.
You stand back from the door and watch it ooze. Overhead, you hear what sounds like gears turning. As they do, the spot above the pillar starts to leak the deeper blue hue of liquid through the cracks. It starts to rapidly melt away the ceiling, causing more of the ooze to dribble down.
The door seems to be melting, but so does everything else.
"WHO BUILDS THIS THINGS?"
You let out a common sentiment among the CMC as you all seem to say this phrase at the exact same time.
You watch the door sink into the ground, but a curtain of blue goop moves toward the doors rapidly. Scootaloo looks around and offers a way back; seeing that the bridge has fallen into the rapids, she stretches herself over the chasm, laying on the mist.
She tells you all to run across her quick to safety. The water should keep the goo from getting you guys.
You use Scootaloo as a bridge back across. One by one, you, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle high tail it across Scoot's back and onto the safe side of the chasm. The ceiling finally fails, drenching the floor in the sticky, burning gel.
Most of it washes into the river, splashing up into the mist. Ahead, through the melted door, you see an orb sitting on an altar.
The floor is still drenched in the goop. The mist has taken on a glimmering blue shine as well... it hasn't reached you yet, but it is spreading.
Inventory check:
Unfortunately, as you look at the rope and the crystal orb, even if you could lasso it, you'd pull it through the goop and possibly destroy it.
In a fit of desperation, you take some of Applebloom's apples and start throwing them at the goop. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are confused while Applebloom is legitimately upset about it. As the delicious food gets absorbed into the goop, the stuff appears to turn into water and run off into the river channel.
Your throwing has created a straight path to the orb chamber.
You use Scootaloo as a makeshift bridge again. You accidentally step on her head; she bops you for it when you're all on the other side of the chasm. You take care not to touch any of the extremely caustic jelly; you roll a few apples into the doorway to clear it up.
Finally, after all of your questing, you've successfully found the mystic orb, the Orion Crystal, that Cheerilee was teaching about in class. The CMC marvel at the stormy sphere; it appears to contain a hurricane within it. All around on the floor are star patterns with Orion marked out in red.
You keep your distance, all of you mesmerized by the intense crystal.
As you mention that you should keep your heads up, you see a clear floor above containing a mass amount of the goop overhead. There seems to be a small, pointy ended hammer connected by wires to the floor positioned right above the orb.
You get Applebloom to tie a lasso into the free end of your rope, but it doesn't look like it'll be of much help. The Orb is caged and secured to the altar; if you were standing right next to it, it's highly unlikely you'd be able to even physically touch it.
The hammer has a spiky tip and seems to be pulled up toward the ceiling when triggered. Something must release a weight behind the wall and pull the hammer through the ceiling above, causing the alkaline goop to drip on down.
The hammer doesn't look like it's held in by much, but dicking with it might cause it to activate. You mull over the thought of destroying it when you see Scootaloo reaching a hoof out towards one of the floor plates. She says that they might as well try to get to the orb.
You give Scootaloo an ol' fashion AJ tailbite and pull her back to safety. You mention that it's called Orion's Crystal, so keeping to Orion constellation plates would probably be safest.
You reach out and push one. You watch the hammer up above wiggle a little bit and hear a click, but nothing happens.
As you creep along each Orion plate, Sweetie Belle follows close behind, mirroring your steps. She says that she can probably help with getting the orb off the altar.
Each Orion plate causes a slightly more violent reaction with the hammer, followed by a click.
You continue along the Orion tiles, letting them lead you closer to the intricate orb altar. As you tap the last Orion tile, you see the hammer stress all the way back and start to hear a ticking noise. It continues as you step off the final tile. Sweetie follows you up the non-booby trapped ground to the altar face.
You see a set of small holes evenly spaced and close together. Sweetie Belle scratches her chin, unsure of what could possibly go in any of these tiny holes.
You examine the holes closer. They appear to be long, empty cylinders, circular in shape. None of your current items look like a good match...
In a last ditch effort, you take the apples you had remaining and try jamming the stems in the holes. Only one stem seems long enough to hit the switch in the bottom of one hole.
Sweetie takes another look over the holes.
"You know, a comb would fit perfectly in there, I bet."
Realizing that there's no way to unlock the altar because you don't have a comb to use as the key, you jump down from the altar and shout 'RUN!!' The ticking just concludes; the hammer smashes into the ceiling up above. Sweetie runs through the door and follows you across the Scootabridge.
You race towards the entrance of the cave, lantern in Scootaloo's mouth. As you run, you notice that the Ursa is gone; the path is open.
As you round the corner to the entrance, a pair of crystal red eyes glimmer on the left wall. You ignore them, booking it toward the sunlight.
Epilogue:
You escape the dark, muggy Ursa cave. You're greeted by the creepy Everfree forest, though the rising sun lights your way back to Ponyville easily. The CMC laugh together with you as you tear off to Fluttershy's cottage, not believing the horrifically dangerous quest you just went on and barely survived.
They formally invite you to be a CMC; for a little kid, you're a badass. To not be in their secret club would be an absolute shame.
You ended up making 3 new friends you held on to for life... though you would always wonder, from that moment on...
What would you have seen in that sphere?
You leave the small group at Fluttershy's cottage, amazed that you're still alive. As you trot back into Ponyville, you notice a lot of the adults are already up and about. Surely, you reckon, if they see you, everyone's gonna know that you were out the night previous.
You decide to play it cool; though you're dirty as a frog from the swamp, you're pretty sure you can play it off as a morning jog gone wrong.
You pass your first adult. They don't so much as notice you, what with you being all super casual and all. As you pass the next adult... Berry...
She looks you over closely, noticing that you're absolutely filthy. She stops you in your tracks, wondering why.
She stops you from power-trotting away.
"Fell in some mud? And what, rolled in it too? You're absolutely filthy, Raisin! Does your mother know you've been out this morning? I thought you watched My Little Human on Saturday..." She goes on and on, chastising you for, apparently, being filthy. It eventually ends with her offering to give you a bath before you get home.
She gives you a peculiar look and turns you loose.
"Tell your grandma Prune that her punch is ready for pickup."
You trot away, barely evading her motherly hospitality. You start to feel kind of bad for Ruby; she must always get babied like this.
You make a break for the back door of your house... though you immediately notice a problem. The back door seems to have been either recently opened or left opened from the night previous. Your parents could already be in the kitchen, getting their coffee. Seeing as they always wake up before you and not seeing you leave your room, this could be a problem.
You peek in through the crack in the door. You don't immediately notice either parent; by a stroke of chance, it turns out you must have just left the door open from the night previous.
You zip on in, but immediately hear the calm, collected voice of your dad. "Raisin... there you are. When did you go outside?"
You keep sneaking by, pretending like he didn't see you. He just shakes his head. "Fillies..."
You sneak into bed before your mom figures out you were gone; though you feel like sleeping, your eyes can't stay shut. The thrill of new friends and adventure is overwhelming. You lay awake, wondering what the new day will bring.