Epic Spelunking Adventure in the mountains near Ponyville![Closed]

[DrMaxwell]

OOC Info:

List of ponies attending, and their role:

Pierce: Spelunking Leader

Silver Heart: Assistant Spelunker

Jade: Spelunker Security

Cloudchaser: Spelunker

Geary Twist: Spelunker

Herbal Cure: Spelunker

Ironmane: Spelunker

Insight: Spelunker

Dunder Blust: Spelunker Security

Here is the map of the explored tunnels.

Basic Descriptions

Basic Cave Description:

The cavern runs deep into the hills east of ponyville. The rock in the outer caverns is mostly limestone, with streaks of granite, quartz, and various other igneous rock. There is a narrow, shallow stream flowing out of the cavern before snaking its way through the forest.

Basic Description of each cave section:

Entry tunnel: The entry tunnel is rather smooth compared to deeper in, due to exposure to the elements.

Bat Cave: Just past the entrance to the caverns, on the right, is a short, low tunnel leading to a small, round chamber. This area is home to a rather unusual breed of bat, with yellow stripes on them. Not much else of interest here.

The Hub: The hub, as its name describes, is the central chamber of the caverns, if not the largest. The first noticeable feature of the hub upon entering it is the massive limestone column in the center of the chamber. Dotting the walls are tunnels of varying size. The stream is wrapped along the south side of the hub, before going down a side tunnel and into the wall. There are several stalagmites and stalactites scattered around the room, with one being nestled happily in the center of a small pool of water, where the stream had widened.

The Crystal Hall: The large tunnel connecting to the north-east wall of the hub leads to the Crystal Hall. As the tunnel gets further away from the hub, the limestone gives way to solid granite, streaked with precious metals. About halfway down the tunnel is a massive violet crystal embedded in the wall. Upon close inspection, the crystal is emitting a faint glow, somewhat reminiscent of moonlight. Further down the tunnel, the pale light bleeds into the tunnel, from a more intense source.

Upon entering the Hall proper, you can see there are crystals of all shapes and sizes jutting from the walls, floor and ceiling. There is a single granite pillar near the entrance. In the center of the hall is a lake, with a small island in the center of it. On this island is a gigantic crystal, at least 30 feet tall, and ten feet across. It pulses with a slow, irregular rhythm. Almost too quiet to hear, a low hum permeates the air.

The lake surrounding the crystal is perfectly clear, and is as clean as can be. It seems to be fed from an aquifer, but the lake is to deep to tell, it fades to black, rendering the bottom invisible.

The Pit of Doom: The pit is a section of tunnel in the south area of the cavern, accessible from the hub. The room itself is dotted with columns, stalagmites, and stalactites, and is mostly limestone, with streaks of iron and other metals

Various side tunnels: There are a number of side tunnels, most of them are only partially mapped, and branch out into further tunnels. Two of them are dead ends, though one is due to a cave-in. While some of the tunnels seem to have formed from erosion, most of the tunnels deeper in seem to have formed when the rock contracted, splitting along fissure lines and weak points.

~~~~

Pierce meandered his way to the east border of ponyville not long after the sun rose, where everypony agreed to meet before today's adventure. He was somewhat excited about the prospect, but also a little bit worried about taking so many others down into the caves with him.

He shook his head a few times to clear his thoughts, nearly dislodging the goggles perched on his forehead. Putting a hoof up readjust them, he settled down under the large old oak they decided on as the meeting point. Being he had some time before everypony arrived, Pierce opened his saddlebag and took out a small journal, and settled down to wait.

[ZXC]

Silver was used to waking up at the crack of dawn, truth be told. When you were in school and had to work on the side, sleep wasn't always a luxury one could afford. Even then, back in Stalliongrad, she was up with the sun to help with chores. Here in Ponyville was no different, really. The only difference was that today she had an important job to do. Quiet hooves crossed the floor to where her saddlebags were already ready; they contained anything that they might need. Food, water, some medical supplies, a source of light, some matches, and an assortment of other survival gear. She liked to make sure she was ready for anything when she went on trips like this.

Grasping her newsboy cap in her teeth, she flipped it up onto her head before putting on her saddlebags and quietly leaving the house; she did not want to wake her exchange family, after all. The walk was a quiet and relaxing one. Silver always liked walking either early in the morning or during the night, simply because it was somewhat chilly and quiet. A playful breeze attempted to lift her cap from her head, but she smiled softly as nature gave up. Even her hat was as stubborn as she was.

It wasn't long before she saw the old Oak tree, and the pony they had all agreed to meet sitting under it. She was early, quite early, but that was just her style. She made sure to approach quietly so as not to disturb him, but offered a gentlemanly nod of her head in greeting before sitting a small ways from him. Silver didn't speak up and wish him good morning, or ask how he was doing, or pester him with a million other questions. That wasn't her style; she was a quiet filly, almost silent at times. Instead of wasting her breath on questions she knew the others would probably ask when they got here, Silver simply sat, eyes closed, enjoying the slight breeze.

[ShadowStorm88]

Geary Twist galloped as fast as his legs could take him, eager to get to these caves. If their was one thing that he was looking forward to, it was adventuring this time around since it would help make more of a stallion outta him. Looking over the equipment he had brought for this trip, he hopped that it didnt look like he was overdoing it or nothing. The last thing that he needed was to show that he was over doing it or something. Shaking his head in dismay, he thought "Okay let's see, flash light, rope and hook, food, water, some of my inventions incase of danger; shock bang's...hmm, probably wont need any others" he thought as he turned back towards where the ponies were most lilkely waiting. He had no idea what was really waiting for him in these caves, but he hopped that whatever it was that it would go a long way towards helping him become more braver, which was somewhat humours enough. He was actually really well built from all of the crafting, and constant moving around of equipment for his inventions; yet he could be rather timid. He just hopped that would change with this trip. Spotting some of the other ponies, Geary grinned as he galloped up to them, eager to introduce himself and make some friends!! "Greetings" he smiled as he offered a hoof to the ponies. "Geary Twist, inventor/craftspony" he nodded in greetings.

[RarityDash]

Cloudchaser had finished work only a couple hours ago, but she still had a day of high adventure ahead of her. Ponyville was a pretty laid back town, which suited Chaser just great, yet sometimes she missed the wild excitement of living in a place like Las Pegaus. She wasn't going to find the cloud surfing and other resort activities of her birth town here, but some times it seemed there were fun little events planned. To her, that's what this spelunking thing was about. She was just planning tp have a fun time!

Chaser didn't know much about spelunking save that saying the word aloud made her laugh, but she was eager to learn and try something new. It was also a good opportunity to meet some new ponies. She was still a fairly fresh face around Ponyville. Sure, she had met some firm friends like Flitter, and she had met a number of the local pegasi while training to create the tornado, but being that she worked the late night weather pony shift, there were still a lot of ponies she had never met. She was rather looking forward to it.

The spiky-maned pegasus mare continued to fly off toward the edge of town. In the distance she could see the big oak tree that was set to be the meeting spot. She could see a number of ponies already gathered there. As she got closer, she looked them over. One was an older colt with a black pelt and green mane; he seemed to have a lot of gear on him, like big bags of the stuff. This gave rise to some concern, as Chaser hadn't brought anything herself; no food, no nothing, not even a single saddle bag. She had just assumed stuff would be provided for them. There was also a silver gray pony wearing a cap and glasses and a gray unicorn stallion with some cool goggles.

Chaser smiled as she landed in front of him. "Heya guys! What's up?" she started with some energy.

"This is the right place for the whole spelunking thing, right?" she said, giggling afterwards. "I'm Cloudchaser!"

[Xiee]

This has been at least the third time Insight had the pleasure of visiting Ponyville. His research was taking too slow and unfruitful lately that a colleague of his suggested he took a break from it all. There was news of a cave near Ponyville that was a potential source of magical crystals. Studying the properties of these crystals could prove a healthy diversion from his stressful research and so he considered it. It wasn't long that he'd heard of a tour guide that took groups of ponies to the cave and so he signed up.

As he made his way to the supposed meeting place, an old oak tree by the edge of town, there were already a few ponies waiting. It must be his group. He fixed his glasses and introduced himself.

"Good morning everypony." He said nervously. "I'm Insight, a scholar from Canterlot University. Pleased to meet you all."

He was usually a loner and didn't know how to interact with other ponies since he was always preoccupied with his studies and research. He felt awkward and was beginning to think that going on this trip was a bad idea.

[DrMaxwell]

Pierce finished reading over his notes on the caverns, when he looked up to find Silver Heart sitting near him, he hadn't heard her arrive. Noting that she was content with just waiting, he decided not to bother her, and waited quietly for the other ponies to arrive. Bored, he readjusted his goggles, then resumed browsing his journal.

He didn't have to wait very long, three more ponies quickly arrived one after another. Pierce nodded to each of them in turn, looking them over before speaking. He noticed that the green pegasus had bulging saddlebags, he couldn't fathom what the pony could possibly have stuffed in them. There was an also a cute looking pegasus mare with a spiky mane, and while she was bright and energetic, she had no saddlebags, which would have irked him had it been a rougher venture. The most recent to arrive was a unicorn stallion, though he seemed a bit awkward introducing himself.

After taking a moment to compose his thoughts, Pierce said in his slow tone, "Well, it seems like not everypony is here yet. I guess this would be as good a time as any to give you your maps. They wont really be necessary, its more like a souvenir than anything else." As he finished talking, Pierce opened his saddlebags, stashing his journal and taking out a pile of hoof drawn maps, handing one to each pony. "They aren't perfect, but they're close enough."

[ZXC]

Silver Heart nodded to each pony in turn as they arrived, taking mental notes on each of them. Geary Twist, as he had introduced himself, was black with a green mane and had saddlebags full to the bursting point. He seemed almost shy to her, but with a drive to better himself. Nothing wrong with that. The next to arrive was another Pegasus. This one was female with a pleasant faded violet coat and a strangely styled mane that spiked up everywhere. She was pleasant, energetic, but had no gear. That wasn't TOO much of a problem, but she should have brought at least something. Before Silver actually thought about it, she began to rummage into one of her saddlebags. She split some of her provisions like food, water, and some basic survival stuff, and put it in a much smaller bag; it wasn't a saddlebag, and the thin strap meant that it wouldn't get in the way if Cloudchaser chose to fly. Without a word, Silver approached the pale Pegasus, nodded her head in greetings, and gently draped the small bag of provisions over her shoulders, careful not to have the strap catch on her wings. It had been more of a natural reaction than a kind gesture, but giving was giving, right? The boyish looking pony returned to her seat under the Oak tree, content to listen to Pierce's words.

The maps were, though Pierce claimed they were more souvenirs than anything, impressive. They looked hoof-drawn, but the amount of detail and care that went into them was again impressive. Perhaps the miner pony was just being modest. Silver immediately made herself familiar with the dangerous parts of the caverns, such as the pits and the water. Nopony was going to fall to their doom down a pit or drown on her watch. The Batcave had her a tad on edge as well; what kind of bat? Were they aggressive? Were they dangerous? And these side tunnels... some of them appeared to be dead ends, and she was sure at least one of them was probably due to a cave in. They would have to be careful with the amount of noise they made inside the caves. The last thing they wanted was a cave in...

Silver came back to reality as Pierce spoke again of the imperfections of his map. Silver shook her head, her somewhat low voice speaking for the first time since the ponies had gathered under the tree.

"The map looks great, Pierce."

True to her thoughts, the map would help a lot in traversing terrain that might be dangerous. A map was always better than no map, assuming it was correct.... and Silver felt that Pierce was not only capable, but knew what he was doing. Taking a look around at the other ponies, she figured she would wait until everyone had arrived before she introduced herself; she didn't much care to repeat herself.

[ShadowStorm88]

(Geary is actually a green maned, black pelt colt)

Geary blinked as he slowly looked around, eyeing and viewing each and every member of this new team. He had to admit that he was surprised by some of them actually. The pony Silver seemed unusally calm to Geary, having only spoken once about how great the map was. From what he could gather, the pony seemed to keep her thoughts mainly to herself, and only really spoke whenever she felt it was nessacary or wanting to add some quip. This made Geary abit nervous as he didnt feel like he should up alot himself. True had just gone and introduce himself. BUt it was mainly to try and impress ponies, and give an impression that he wasnt quiet what they thought he was.

Shaking his head, he moved onto the next pony as he glanced idealy at CloudChaser. He was blown away for a moment at the amount of energy that was radiating off of her, that it caused him to a take a step back in an intimidation. She definatly had the confidence, and means to say whatever it was she was flying at the moment, and just say it! That, and she actually looked quiet beautiful with her rockish, wild mane and...lovely voice.

Feeling his cheeks go red at the very thought, he forciblly looked away as from him before looking at the final pony apart from their team leader, Insight. Letting out a sight, Geary thought to himself "Well, at lest Im not gonna feel like Im alone or anything due to the fact that he looks as nervous as I do". Insight looked like he wanted to run away just from standing their, and Geary himself couldnt help but feel similar. After all, in a group of ponies; no idea who who was and wanting to make a great impressions so that others could like him. Yeah, he knew exactly how that felt, and felt an immiedate kinship towards Insight as he smiled encourangliny towards him. Finally, his eyes stopped on thier team leader Pierce. He could feel an air of power coming from him, as he noted the seriousness in his eyes when he readjusted his goggles. Well, it certaintly felt like Geary could trust their leader since he himself didnt really know awhole lot about where they were going, only that they'd be gone for quiet some time. Hopefully once they got back, he would be a much braver pony like these guys!!

Smiling weakly to everypony, he than glanced down at his hooves shyly.

[RarityDash]

Immediately after Cloudchaser arrived, another pony showed up. He was a unicorn with a gray mane and white coat who introduced himself as Insight, a scholar. He seemed visibly nervous. Cloudchaser decided to approach him.

"Nice to meet you, dude," she said as she raised a hoof to pat him on the back. "You can chill out a little, this is gonna be totally fun!"

"At least I'm pretty sure it is," she said, looking up inquisitively. "I'm still not really sure how it works and all that."

It was about then that the goggle pony, who she guessed was the leader and all that, handed out some kind of map. Cloudchaser looked at it for a moment, but it didn't really make a lot of sense to her. She had never really been all that good at reading maps. They kind of confused her a little. She didn't say anything though, she just gave the stallion a toothy grin and a resounding "Thanks!"

After she was given the map, the pony in the cap approached her and wordlessly gave her a bag of stuff. She wasn't entirely sure why, or what it was, but she always liked the feeling of getting free stuff. She smiled at this pony, who looked to her to be an older colt, and nodded. "Wow, thanks dude. To be just giving me stuff like that... you're totally a nice guy," She giggled mischievously before adding. "And you're kind of cute too!"

The other colt didn't say anything to her, but she did catch him looking her way a few times. He seemed pretty nervous too come to think of it. She couldn't have that! She decided to wait until she saw him look her way and flashed him her best and brightest reassuring smile, confident it would only help his nerves.

[Xiee]

Insight was concentrated on the map given out by Pierce and studied it intently. The crystal formations that were drawn on the map seemed a bit confusing. If they were that big then it would be something worth studying, especially if any of them contained any inert magical properties. Right now he was more intrigued on the contents of the map rather than the whole group getting together and making introductions. He approached Pierce with a question in tow.

"Uh, Pierce..." he said trying not to interrupt the others. "I just have a question about this map if you don't mind? Are the crystal formations really that big as you claim in your maps?"

[ThunderBrony]

The crashing noises and frightened yells could only signal one thing in that small clinic, Herbal Cure had slept in. After packing his saddle bags with different sorts of antiseptic and serums he rushed out his door and down the road before coming to a screeching halt. He forgot to lock the clinic! Running back and shutting the door before running back towards the meetings area.

Seeing a familiar group of ponies waiting about "I'm so sorry everyone! I slept in! Please forgive me!" He declared shakily while still trying to catch his breath. The idea of wandering a mysterious cave was somewhat frightening to him. Yet he couldn't deny a chance to help out in anyway, you never know when you could use a doctor.

[Dunder]

Dunder Blust couldn't tell if he was running late or not. The posters he saw that detailed the information of a spelunking adventure near Ponyville weren't very detailed. Anyway, he had woken up late, gotten ready slowly, and was indecisive of winch sword to bring, so he just brought two. He also had to fly slowly because he didn't want to drop anything on any of the unsuspecting citizens of Ponyville.

He had only gone spelunking once, and that ended up pretty bad. Just as a precaution, he was ready with all the equipment of his own and anything he needed for himself, not knowing how many supplies the others had brought, it couldn't help to bring a little extra just in case. Matches, flint and steel, daily rations, water, and some bright orange markers was enough for Dunder. He was traveling heavy as it was and he didn't really want to get weighed down too much.

When he saw the oak tree that was their rendevous point, he flew a little faster until he finally approached and landed heavily on the ground, his saddlebags and swords clanking a bit. He looked around at the other ponies and didn't recognize any of them, except one. "Hey! It's you!" He said to Cloudchaser, he remembered her from winter wrap-up. "Cloudcahser, if I am not mistaken." He said to her.

[shreddedpegasus]

Ironmane ran his hoof through his mane checking for imperfections. Sighing, he stopped in his tracks and fixed his mane a bit till it was back to it's original state of elegance. "Mmph, such a hasty move.. Hopefully this .. "spelunking" will help to calm my nerves.. after all a lot of ponies from this region are different from back in Stalliongrad.." Ironmane proceeded to mutter to himself. Looking at his hoof watch he starting contemplating whether he was late or not. Not really giving it much thought after that picked up his pace a bit whilst fixing his REA branded beret.

Seeing a grouping of ponies gathering under a tree Ironmane decided that must be the group for this little.. 'spelunking' adventure. Approaching the group, he recognised the pony in charge based off the description he was given. Ironmane stopped short of said pony. "Pierce, right?" he said whilst extending a hoof out.

[ZXC]

Dude. Nice guy. Kind of cute. Silver Heart mulled over the Pegasus' words for a moment as the others talked. It appeared to have happened again. No matter where she went, who she talked to, at least one pony got the wrong idea. It wasn't really their fault though, and it didn't offend her either. She did have a ridiculously square muzzle for a filly, her voice wasn't exactly high pitched and girly, and her mannerisms were boyish at best. It was a pretty natural occurrence for other ponies to mistake her as a colt; she didn't really hold it against them. She simply shook her head gently and a small grin appeared on her face.

Three other ponies arrived in quick succession. One of them had swords... what did he expect to run into down there? The way he carried himself, Silver got the idea that this wasn't his first foray into the unknown depths underground; she made a mental note to watch him carefully. Another pony was apologizing for sleeping in. He seemed somewhat nervous, sort of like the scholar pony, but something was off with this one. One quick sniff told her what it was. He smelled of antiseptics and sterility, of hospitals and medicine. Perhaps he was a doctor of sorts? That would definitely be good news for them, especially if this crazy journey turned out to be more than any of them bargained for. The last pony to arrive of the three seemed.... rather aloof to her. He was elegant and somewhat refined, but something about him seemed familiar. Was he from Ponyville? She didn't know, but something was off and she couldn't quite place a hoof on it as to why. Silver guessed she would have to figure it out later.

As the others talked amongst themselves, Silver looked about at their numbers. There seemed to be a strangely high number of ponies going on a trip such as this one. If she wasn't mistaken, there should be one more joining them. Inwardly, she hoped they wouldn't have to leave without that last pony before they got here. Silver waited for a slight lull in the conversation before standing up and clearing her throat gently. Shoulders squared, standing straight, she introduced herself properly, one leg and hoof dipping slightly so that her head and shoulders lowered in a gentle bow. She shot a small yet kind smile to Cloudchaser.

"Silver Heart. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

Proper introductions and manners were important. She was generally silent, but very polite. Without another word, Silver sat back down and returned to listening to the rest of the gathered group. She wasn't much for conversation unless she was actively involved in it, or she was with ponies she truly trusted. It was much more her style to listen, wait, and react.