Canterlot Peril in the Crystal Mines (PM to Join)

[tacobob]

"Flakey..", the filly whispered with a hint of a growl in her voice, "Please stop yelling. If you make enough noise, who knows what you'll bring down on our heads? More of those staggy-lights or even some nasty bats?". Wind Walker was trying her very best to be brave, but she couldn't help but shake the feeling that this was no place for a Pegasi to be. Entrapped under a zillion rocks in the darkness with no way out with the possible chance of running into more of those very large bears who probably need to eat when awoken from their nap. And what would taste better than some filly-fricassee? She tried to push away all these thoughts from her head! She knew she needed to be brave for both Flakey and Bebop. She had to be the rock that..... 'Ugh', the little pony thought to herself as even her little internal pep talks were starting to scare her.

As they managed to make their way out of the chilly cavern water, Wind Walker found a suitable spot and shook off the excess water from her coat, making sure not to get the others wet. As she made her way back towards the others, she noticed her silent unicorn friend looked completely miserable, more so than she should have. "Bebop, please don't cry. We're gonna get out of here, I swear it.", it took her a moment before she realized Bebop was missing the little notebook she had used to communicate with the others. The book probably fell out of her pack while they were tumbling through the caverns and probably got wet. "I'm sorry Bebop, but we're going to need to keep moving.", she eyeballed the strange glowing area and started to make her way towards it, "There's bound to be a path out of here."

[Bellosh]

"...We're going to need to keep moving. There's bound to be a path out of here."

Wind Walker was smart not to whisper her frustrated rant about Flakey Shards out loud, for the crystal pony’s incessant complaining drowned it out. Otherwise, Flakey would have triggered a counterproductive argument out of spite. By the time Flakey took a breather, the little pegasus was already playing the role of leader, claiming she knew where to go. Of course, Flakey just had to be a difficult child. “What makes you so sure you’re going the right way?” she challenged, pointing randomly to the right of her; “How will glowy stuff help us find our way back? Do you even know anything about cave exploring?” Only now could Flakey see the luminescent patch up ahead, and yet hope remained in short supply in the brat’s heart.

[Pretzelparty]

"Bebop, please don't cry. We're gonna get out of here, I swear it."

"I'm sorry Bebop, but we're going to need to keep moving. There's bound to be a path out of here."

The little filly gulped and nodded to the blue pegasus. She may be broken-hearted over the loss of her beloved notebook, but she wasn't going to be a burden on her friend because she was feeling gloomy.The filly picked herself up off her haunches and gave the depths of the lake one last sad look before she wiped away some of tears still in her big orange eyes. The fillies ear's perked a bit as she thought she heard something, her eyes quickly darting over to a rock that she thought she saw something moving near... however she saw nothing. With a sigh she thought to herself it must have been her mind playing tricks on her.

“What makes you so sure you’re going the right way? How will glowy stuff help us find our way back? Do you even know anything about cave exploring?”

Flakey's tone was already getting annoying. If that baby blue filly had any better idea she'd love to hear it. For obvious reasons though, Bebop couldn't tell her that to her face now... and that only brought that sad mood back down upon the blonde maned unicorn. While the three ponies walked towards the light source that Wind was leading them, Bebop could have sworn she heard some faint skittering sound around them. The sound only grew louder the closer they came to the light source windy was leading them to.

When the three fillies arrived at the light it turned out to be the a hole covered by a thick web like substance. This very substance being the glowing source that lured them over. At this point the skittering sound was all around them but suddenly it stopped in it's tracks. Suddenly the area above them was host to multiply glowing areas... but soon each of those glowing lights fell down on to the floor... and one on Bebop's blonde head!

Upon closer inspection the lights are actually glowing spider... made of Crystals!

[tacobob]

Although she wanted to, Wind Walker did not want to get mad at Flakey. She was just scared, and she did have a point. The little Pegasi knew next to nothing about cave exploration beyond what she had read in her favorite books. She really did not like this place at all. It was just a dark hole in the ground. Not only did they need to watch where they were going, there was a chance that there was no way to get back up, still they needed to keep moving or they would never leave this place. "If you have any ideas Flakey, please don't be afraid to share them. We need to keep moving or we're never going to get out of here!", she glanced around into the darkness before making her way towards the light. She was starting to regret her decision to down an entire Super-Duper Sized 'Bouncy Bubble Beverage' before starting on this little field-trip.

"Hold still for a second.", the filly scooped up the spider with her right wing from the little unicorn's hair and set it down, "Strange little critter, but it's alive, and it looks like it's made of rock, or even crystal. Glowing crystal. How weird. Wonder where they're coming from?", making sure not to step on the little creatures, Wind Walker slowly made her way up the path the creatures were scurrying away from, "Hey, I see a tunnel-ledge thing up ahead. It's small, but we could probably get up in one by one. I won't be able to fly up there without crashing into the edges, I'll go first unless one of you want to.", she turned to both Bebop and Flakey.

[Bellosh]

Eww, crystal spiders! Whose bright idea was it to create crystal spiders that glowed in the dark? And they were all over the cave floor, eww eww eww! Every step she took through the area, Flakey Shards trembled, fearing that a spider would drop from the ceiling on a web and bite her. Or maybe all those creatures on the ground would gang up on her and cover her entire body. She REALLY hated caves, and she’ll hate them all forever!!!

Flakey however lived to whine another day, begrudgingly accepting the reality that Wind Walker served as de facto leader of the group of lost fillies. Windy with her keen eyes spotted a tunnel or something like that, wide enough for only one kid. But what if there was something nasty on the other side? Well, that was for another girl to find out. “By all means go ahead,” Flakey adopted an artificially-saccharine affliction in her voice; “It’s obvious you’re the best pony there is to scout out danger for the rest of us. Well...” the crystal filly wavered; “Unless Bebop wants another shot at playing hero. I’m just fine following you girls, though.”

[Pretzelparty]

"Hold still for a second. Strange little critter, but it's alive, and it looks like it's made of rock, or even crystal. Glowing crystal. How weird. Wonder where they're coming from?"

"Hey, I see a tunnel-ledge thing up ahead. It's small, but we could probably get up in one by one. I won't be able to fly up there without crashing into the edges, I'll go first unless one of you want to.", she turned to both Bebop and Flakey.

Bebop looked up at the strange crystalline arachnid on her head. Most times when a spider landed on her head she would have been petrified in fear, but something about these little creatures was a bit more welcoming. The little creatures were seemingly inspecting the trio for the time being, some of them scuttling around them as they tried to get a good look at the three intruders. Most of the cave dwelling spiders seemed to have a distinct pale blue coloration to them.

Once her friend scooped the creature off her mane the, filly nodded to her to express her thanks. It's really a shame that she lost her notepad as she actually had a theory as to why these spiders may look this way. Bebop was thinking that it might have been some kind of evolutionary trait to let them blend in with the plentiful crystal outcroppings over the cave walls... perhaps as a defense mechanism against predators? But that raised an interesting question, what other creatures were living in this cavern and would they pose a threat for the three young fillies?

“By all means go ahead,” Flakey adopted an artificially-saccharine affliction in her voice; “It’s obvious you’re the best pony there is to scout out danger for the rest of us. Well...” the crystal filly wavered; “Unless Bebop wants another shot at playing hero. I’m just fine following you girls, though.”

The silent filly gave flakey a flat look and sighed. The blonde filly raised a hoof to show she volunteered to go. Since light down here was still scarce the chances that either Flakey or Windy would be able to see much if they went alone was miniscule. Bebop, however would be able to see much more since she had her magic to light the way, thanks to coltfriend back in ponyville she'd learned some helpful light spells that were good for just this situation.

While she waited to hear Wind's thoughts on this, she couldn't help but notice that the crystalline arachnids underhoof were beginning to circle around Flakey... it seemed all the spiders around the crystal pony shared her coloration. Before Flakey knew it the mob of spiders swarmed her and soon made themselves at home in her mane, all of the cuddling happily on top of the bratty filly's head.

[tacobob]

"Hey Bebop, I better go first. If I encounter something nasty, I can call down to you two. Then you'll go next, followed by Flakey", Wind started to make her way towards the ledge, "This doesn't look too hard to climb. It's no Mount Everfrost.", she rubbed her two front hooves together, but out of instinct, she turned to see if the other fillies were getting ready. "Actually, Bebop, before we go up, I was wondering about something." The filly stood her ground as she spoke, but kept her eyes on the surrounding area, "Is there anyway you can make a sound with your magic? Maybe a series of bings, pings and dings? Maybe different sounds for different things? Like a different sound for danger, or if you find something? Another if you need help..er..."

Speaking of help, apparently the strange spiders all decided to gang up on the little crystal filly. "For pony's sake.", Wind grumbled as she turned away from the ledge and slowly made her way towards Flakey, "Please. Whatever you do, don't move an inch.", the little Pegasi was not sure what sort of spiders they were. Were they poisonous? While she had considered blowing the crystal arthropods away with a strong gust from her wings, there was a very good chance of harming both the spiders, and Flakey if one was able to sting her as they were pushed off. And if the filly had panicked, there was a chance she could fall into a hole or cause an avalanche. "We'll figure out a way to remove all those little buggers..."

[Bellosh]

While Bebop and Wind Walker discussed who’d take the lead (even if Bebop couldn’t really discuss anything herself), Flakey Shards started feeling creeping sensations all over her. They seemed especially prominent in her mane for some reason. Eager to dismiss such feelings as lame cave trickery, the crystal filly wanted nothing more than to move on.

Which was why it was especially upsetting when Wind ordered Flakey to freeze. “What’s the big idea now?” Flakey angrily challenged, only to receive the last answer she wanted to hear right now. “Little buggers?” Hesitantly, the brat looked down at her body, witnessing a horde of icky crystal spiders scurrying about on her. Instantly, Flakey froze up in fear and shivered; “H-h-h-he-he-hel-help m-m-me-me.......” SOMEPONY, GET RID OF THOSE SPIDERS NOW! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!