Hollowed Ruins (Dunder, Andifferous, Winter, Sturmmann, and Phil the Time Wizard)

[Dunder]

"No!" Dunder said to Dusty as he shot out his foreleg out in front of Dusty to prevent him from taking off. He thought he heard something in the hole... It had to be Muggo', it couldn't be anything else. He noticed the sun shifting, it shone light down into the square hole.

Down below, Dunder could see Muggo' laying on a ledge, the ledge didn't seem natural like the rest of this strange cave. His heart filled with joy as he saw Muggo' wasn't dead. As Muggo' explained he wasn't okay, Dunder started to get worried. All of the injuries were on his hooves, even if they weren't his fault. Though they were his responsibility to take care of. "Muggo, the only thing I'm going to tell anypony at the pub is that you're so fat you nearly got yourself killed!" He said. He was glad that Muggo' was okay. He did kind of freak out when Muggo' fell.

As Dunder was quickly reflecting on what just happened, he remembered. Midnight had spoken of a daughter, but did she say anything about a husband? He knew something was missing... he feared what he thought was true. He decided not to talk about it anymore after this, unless Midnight brought it up. "Thank you for not slapping me for freaking out... and for taking over..." Dunder said to Midnight. "And I hope for the best in yours and your daughter's future." He said with a smile, his tear mark was already dried up.

Dunder turned to Winter when he started to feed down the rope, "No! We can't bring him up, he is hurt, we need to go down there." Dunder said. No way was he letting any of his squad mates get more injured than the need to be, or risk getting injured. Dunder grabbed the rope away, "Dusty, fly Midnight down there with some sort of light. Winter, fly me down there." Dunder said. His wing was still not treated.

[Andifferous]

Dusty frowned a little as he was blocked, but didn't argue. Dunder was probably right, better to not rush in blindly in a situation like this. Thankfully It seemed that Muggo wasn't too far down there, and still conscious. Still, an injured leg would make travel rather Nodding a bit in response to Dunder's order, he walked over to midnight, "Ready when you are Miss Midnight." he said.

Once she was ready with a light, he took a deep breath before taking flight, scooping her up under the forelegs and beginning a descent into the hole. "Alright lets see what the situation is down here." he said, wings beating at a slow steady rate to keep the descent easy and slow.

[RarityDash]

Midnight smiled just slightly at Dunder's comments to her. She appreciated his sincerity and willingness to allow her her space with these difficult to discuss things.

"You're the leader here, but the least I can do is give my support when I see the need for it," Midnight said in a solemn, straightforward way. "And I thank you. Your words mean a lot."

Midnight went quiet as she moved toward Dusty. Using one of Dunder's matches, she lit a torch and stood near the pegasus. "Okay. I'm ready," she said.

Dusty got a hold of her, Midnight making sure to hold the torch away from him as he did. He wasn't a very strong pegasus, so she could tell that her full body weight was a bit of a strain on him, but nevertheless they started to descend into the hole.

[Snowshoe]

"Dunder, don't make me climb out o' this pit an' douse ya 'cross the snout, b'y." Muggo' Ale called up when he was called fat. He wasn't fat, he was just an Earth pony. He didn't know how bad his leg was injured, but it felt like just a sprain. However, his old adventure with his friends out to the griffon lands told him that a simple sprain could be a lot worse. So he lay there, on his back, his back left leg outstretched to not hurt it too much.

"I'm not hurt that bad, b'y. An' I don't know if this ledge can hold all of ya." he said, not having seen what the others did when the light shifted. He was still looking right up at the entrance.

Muggo' watched as his fellow Earth pony and one of the pegasi, Dusty, flew down to meet him, carrying with them the flickering light of a torch. "Welcome down to me hole. Trust ya had a pleasant flight?" he asked casually, not wanting to straighten up until he had a splint on his leg.

"Before anypony else comes on down, somepony get one of them fire logs. Might need to make me a splint." he called up.

[Winter]

Winter looked over at Dunder surprised and indignant. He just took the rope away! Not fair! He was about to speak up when Dunder explained his reasoning. "Alright... Probably best that way, anyways... I was just doing what he asked me too..." He watched as Dunder gave new orders and was more than a little daunted by the task. Dunder was a big pegasus... He slowly grabbed hold of Dunder around the waste, then thought better of it and moved into a cradle position. Hearing Muggo' from the hole below, he was more than happy to oblige grabbing a splint. He picked up the firewood and gave it to Dunder. "Here, hold this while I carry you down... Come on, down you go big guy." He slowly descended down the hole, trying to get a hoof hold for his rear legs as much as he could to help support them. Celestia knew how deep down it went... He didn't want to be the pony that ran out of strength and left both of them tumbling down to the bottom. When they finally reached the ledge level with Muggo', Winter breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, we're here for you, Muggo'."

[Dunder]

Dunder Blust smiled to Midnight before she walked away. She seemed to be lightening up, which was a good thing. He couldn't say his mission was accomplished yet, she wasn't laughing or telling jokes. Maybe it just wasn't in her personality.

He quickly ran off to get a log He carried it in his forelegs before coming back to Winter. "Alright. I'm ready." Dunder said as he prepared to get airlifted down to Muggo'. The flight down wasn't too bad... besides the fear of the skinny pegasus dropping him.

Dunder put the log beside Muggo', "Alright, man, we're going to get you off this ledge thing..." Dunder said as he looked down beside Muggo' There, the torch lit up an entrance to an open cave right next to them. He didn't trust any of the ledges, or the fall down the hole being much smaller. "Alright, everypony in the cave," Dunder said as he grabbed Muggo's forelegs and started to drag him inside.

[Andifferous]

Dusty nodded. He wasn't having nearly as much trouble with Midnight as he had holding up Dunder, but then Dunder was also at least as big as he was. The cave was a good sign and as soon as Dunder gave the word he flew in, setting down Midnight. Curiously he began to look around, although in the dim light provided by the torch he couldn't really see too much of his surroundings.

Once they were all in the cave he came over to see if he could help out at all with Muggo's injuries, although beyond bandaging it up he wasn't really sure what he would be able to provide.

[RarityDash]

Midnight gave a nod to Dusty as he set her down in the cave. She didn't trust dark caves. Too often they were home to beasts. Setting her torch aside a moment, she retrieved her weapons and attached them to her front hooves. She also took the time to dress herself in her cloak to make use of what small amount of protection it might offer her.

"We should proceed carefully once his splint is in place," she said as she stared ahead into the darkness. "I don't trust this place."

Looking upward she had a thought. "Did we leave anything behind?" she asked. They had just displayed all their belongings when this had suddenly happened, and as it might be a while before they managed to break back through into sunlight, they needed all they had. "If so, I suggest one of you two flying back up to retrieve it, just to be safe."

[Snowshoe]

Muggo', still lying on his back and looking up at the light of the torch circling down, grinned wryly. "Why hello there." he said casually. "How good of ya to join me in me hole." he said casually, chuckling. He was nervous that the weight of all of them could damage or collapse the ledge, but the feeling was unfounded, and within moments everypony was crowding around. He felt a tug and looked up at Dunder dragging him. "I can walk, b'y, I just need help gettin' up so I don't put weight on me leg." he explained with a laugh.

"I don't think we left anythin. I packed meself up before comin' to look at this hole." he said, taking the piece of wood they'd brought down. He pulled some rope from his pack, tying the log, which thankfully wasn't all that big compared to the others, along his injured leg. With a grunt and a bit of an awkward series of motions, he managed to stand without using his injured leg, and let it rest, hoof on the ground but all his weight on his other three hooves.

"There, that should be good." he said, looking around at the cave and giving a low whistle.

"It's dark." he said uselessly.

[Winter]

"Er, I left my pack up there... I thought Dunder was heavy enough already!" Winter said comically, laughing to himself. "I'll go up and grab my own and anypony else's... Shouldn't take long!" With that he dashed up to the surface, much faster without the weight of Dunder slowing him down. Winter looked around for a second or two before locating his bag, right where he left it. It picked it up and decided it would be best to put on his flight goggles, just in case. He put them on over his head, not covering his eyes. Then, he scanned for any other bag sitting around. Content that he had found everything in his quick glance around, he picked up his own bag and all the other left behind items he could find and flew back down the hole. Landing on the ledge, he called out to the ponies around, "Alright, I got my bag... If there were more, I'm sorry... I didn't see any. You must have hid them too well!"

[Dunder]

"Dusty, check if we left anything behind." Dunder said after Midnight had spoken up. It was a good idea. Leaving anything behind could be disastrous. He was actually glad to have Midnight around to make sure to fill in anything he had missed. Though, Winter had already taken off. "Scratch that, Dusty. And Midnight," He said as he looked at the green mare. "stay close , we should have only 1 torch lit at a time to maximize usage. It could be dangerous, but if we tread softly, we should be okay." He said. He hoped they would be. The Ruins were eerie.

"You need dragging so we can get you off this ledge fast. I don't trust these things ever since your fatness broke the last one." He said with a laugh. He was glad that Muggo' was okay enough to still be making jokes. "Also, let's call the scares even? Actually, no. You owe me some free food and some beers for a fall like that." Dunder said as he finished dragging Muggo inside the cave.

[Andifferous]

Dusty was about to take off, but seeing Winter was already off he held back, opting to continue looking around, He stayed close though, well within reach of the torchlight. He was pleased when Winter brought his vest back, quickly shrugging into it, although it took him a minute to get his wings through the crudely cut slits he had made for them.

"Thats better." he said, adjusting the vest a little bit, He chuckled softly at the banter between Dunder and Muggo'; it seemed like the fall hadn't really damaged the larger pony's spirits.

[RarityDash]

Midnight nodded to Dunder's order. It was logical, and a good call. As a former leader, and a current loner, she might have drifted ahead naturally without the warning. Now she'd make a conscious effort to stay in the middle of the pack.

Apparently they had all their items, and Muggo's splint was in place, and they had returned to making with the diverting quips. She gave a nod. "Okay. Everypony ready? Let's start moving deeper in..." she started, staring ahead into the darkness past where her torch's light would reach.

[Snowshoe]

"Aye, let's call the scares even before one of us ends up with a heart attack." Muggo' agreed. Although nearly falling off the edge after being hit by a thrown stone was different than falling down a deep hole and crashing against a ledge halfway down. He made sure his gear was set properly on his back and flanks, then limped over to take his position at the back of the group. "Don't worry, I'm not hurt that bad as to slow ya all down." he assured the group. He set his hat back firmly on his head, feeling back in control, and grinned at Midnight.

"Aye. Wind's at our backs, let's get a move on." he said.

[Winter]

"Alright... A dark scary cave... Good thing none of us are scared of the dark, right?" Winter asked rhetorically, trying to try to keep up the party's morale. "It is a good thing you aren't too hurt, Muggo'. You really worried us back there..." The air in the cave was killing his eyes, so he flipped down the flight goggles. Hopefully they would keep all of the dust and grime out of his eyes so he could pay attention to what is going on around him better. No pony wants to step in something unpleasant or ram into something painful, and he intended to keep his watch and avoid both.

[Dunder]

Dunder Blust thought about tit for a moment, "Midnight, stay behind me, I'm vanguarding." Dunder said as he looked back at everyone. "I'll be in the middle, then Midnight behind me, Dusty to my left, Winter to my right, and Muggo' behind him." Dunder said, "It's a semicircle around Midnight who is now designated torch-bearer." He said, glancing back down the cave. The ominousness of the cave reminded him.

"Also, any weapons you have, have them on the ready. Be on high-alert. Whatever threw that rock at me may be here... and we don't know what did so we have to watch out for traps. Tread lightly." He said.

Dunder thought about it... something didn't add up. The researcher willing to find the ruins alone, but not actually finding them and instead sending a team... There was something missing, but Dunder didn't know what.

"Alright, be quiet and move. forward." Dunder said softly to all of them before trotting off down the cave.

[Andifferous]

Dusty walked along quietly, his attention focused on keeping track of where they were. As they walked along he looked along his side of the cave, although he regularly looked around, eyes playing over the interior of the tunnel. To an unobservant pony it might seem like he wasn't paying attention, simply looking around like an inattentive child, but in his head he was piecing together a mental map of the cave, every rock that stuck out, every unusual shaped crack in the stone, anything that could be used as a navigational cue was noted.

[RarityDash]

Midnight just nodded to Dunder. She got into position right behind the pony, her weapons at the ready. Being at the heart of a formation was odd to her; in her career she had already been at the front or on the edges, but she could understand Dunder's reasoning. At the same time, she was ready to jump outside of formation at the first sight of danger.

As they started to move, Winter made idle chatter to keep things from getting too tense while Dusty seemed to be studying the cave walls closely. Midnight remained quiet, observing the darkness ahead. It was hard to see very far with just the single dim torch. The cave had an ominous feel to it. The earth pony didn't trust it. She hoped for a change of scenery soon.

[Snowshoe]

"S'gunna take more than a bit of a tumble to take me out, b'y." Muggo' Ale assured Winter Bolt, grinning. Yeah, it had hurt, but hopefully by the time they set up camp that evening, or stopped at some point for a rest and a quick bite to eat, he'd be good to walk on his leg again. He looked at Dunder and nodded, assuming his position in the formation behind Winter. His "weapon", if you could call his utility knife that, was close at hand: he could draw it quickly if need be. IT was probably going to get a lot more use, given that his back leg was injured...bucking with it might hurt it more.

After only a few moments in the cave, Muggo' could no longer suppress a shudder. This was so...wrong. He was too used to the openness of the outdoors, especially around Fillydelphia. Being in this cave...it was very oppressive. He voiced that feeling. "Celestia t'underin' this cave...it don't feel natural, like the darkness is somethin' physical." he commented in a very quiet voice, not wanting to have it carry too far ahead of them and give away their position more than the flickering light did. "Like it be pushin' down on us."

[Winter]

"Haha, good to hear you are okay, Muggo'!" Winter responded before taking his place in line. He was to the right of Dunder, a spot he felt would be important. Maybe a little bit scary, but still a spot that Winter liked. He began to feel the cave wasn't exactly right, being positioned at the bottom of a hole against a ledge and all... Maybe it was a trap! Winter felt a shiver grow down his spine. No, if this was a trap, somepony would spot the trigger or whatever it was that set it off, right? Muggo's comments about the darkness came in then, and Winter couldn't agree more. This was not a fun place to be.

[Dunder]

The cave seemed to be gradually constricting more and more, making the formation needing to get tighter and tighter. "Gah! The freaking cave... but, hold on... we'll get to a bigger space soon enough." Dunder said, not at all sure about it. He didn't want to look back in fear that they would all be disproving of his abilities... though it wasn't his fault.

Suddenly the cave started to go up in a staircase, it was so small that the torch started to flicker from lack of oxygen. Dunder started to wheeze from the smoke the torch was giving off, "Dang it..." He said then coughed again, "Keep it on, the smoke should rise easier with the incline." He said as he started to walk up the staircase. "Everypony, just get through this place, we don't need a formation." He said as he started to scale the staircase.

At the top, it opened up into a flat ridge on the left, a cliff face, on the right, a steep cliff overlooking a path down under the cliff. Something about this place made him feel uncomfortable... the path looked so familiar. Suddenly, it hit him like a rock. He looked back at the other ponies. "This is where whatever threw the rocks down at us." Dunder said in a grave tone.

[Andifferous]

Dusty shook his head a bit, trying to clear the dizziness from the lack of fresh air in that narrow tunnel. Out into the open air he took a couple of deep breaths, blinking a few times to let his vision clear.

Huh.. Well what do you make of that?" he asked to nobody in particular, looking around. The map in his mind made sense enough, although it was still strange that the cave would lead up here like this. What would they have found had they gone further down? That seemed like it would be a question for later though. At the moment it was good to be able to stretch his wings and look around.

[RarityDash]

The mare followed Dunder closely, struggling to keep the torch lit as they passed through the tight cavern, which ultimately lead to a stair case. These stairs lead up to an opening.

Midnight frowned as she looked down upon the path from the cliff they found themselves upon. "It's definitely disconcerting," she said in a low voice. It was definitely the path from before and they were definitely now standing where the rock thrower had been moments ago.

She looked backward, staring down at the stairs. "Not to mention, staircases aren't exactly a natural feature for a cave. Something about this place just doesn't feel right..."

[Snowshoe]

The smoke from the torch was starting to make Muggo' feel uncomfortable. Mix in the shadows he kept seeing from the poor, flickering light given off by the torch, and he wondered if maybe adventuring wasn't such a hot idea after all.

Then they got to the ledge, and Muggo' was very thankful for the fresh air. He took in a few deep breaths before speaking. He looked down from the cliff at the path below, keeping well away from the edge having learned his lesson, and then looked back.

"Whatever it was, it had wings." he stated with a certainty to his voice. "That cave back there was 'bout as narrow as an alley, an' I'm sure we woulda bumped into whoever was in there, had they turned back." he pointed out. "Even if they did, they'd have to fly outta the hole...unless we missed a side passage somewhere back."

[Winter]

Winter coughed and coughed in the tunnel, clearly wishing to be in open air again. Sure, he loved the tighter spaces while flying, but this was *too* tight. Underground and in a tunnel was just not the place for Winter. As they reached the opening and stepped out into the light, he sighed in relief and took in a huge breath of air, holding it until Dunder mentioned the location of the cliff. His air shot out of his lungs and his head darted forward in surprise. He looked around, dumbfounded, before realizing the implications. "Great, it can take on griffon soldiers and fly..." Winter said sarcastically. "Does anypony have any idea what is going on here? I mean... I haven't heard of anything like this." He stated, hoping for some input on what is going on. Something dangerous was certainly lurking about, and Winter intended to figure out what it was.