October Event Part 2: Welcome to Sumit's Hollow

October Event - Welcome to Sumit’s Hollow

Note: Anypony who enters the caves cannot leave until the October event concludes!

Sword Dancer gathered all the volunteers together to report their findings. Most of the missing knights and refugees had been found and the canyon mapped. However, there was still a group of 5 refugees missing, as well as a single knight unaccounted for.

 

“He went to see if the refugees took shelter in the cave and said he’d meet back here,” reported a small squire. 

 

“Has anyone seen him?” Sword Dancer asked. Murmurs swept through the throng of ponies, but no one spoke up. Everypony seemed to know what this meant…they needed to investigate the cave.

 

“I’m going to explore the cave to find the missing ponies,” Announced Sword Dancer. “Anypony brave enough to come with me is welcome. Those of you staying behind, please tend to the refugees and knights we have recovered. Many of them are tired and some are injured. Those coming with me, gather supplies and we’ll head out shortly.”

 

Sword Dancer and her volunteers headed toward the mysterious cave. Locals said that the cave entrance had not been there prior to the earthquake. They had no idea what might be in there or how far the caverns might go. They needed to tread carefully. 

 

The light from the cave mouth only revealed their surroundings for about a minute before cold darkness took its place. Sword Dancer used her horn to light the way, but unease fell over many of the volunteers.

 

Suddenly there was an unsettling crunch, followed by a short scream. Sword Dancer was quick to bring the light to the startled pony to see what had happened. The pegasus had crunched something brittle under her hoof…it would have remained a mystery if there hadn’t been a distinctly pony shaped skull off to the side. Murmurs rippled through the volunteers. It wasn’t the bones that were frightening, but instead what could have put them there.

 

Just when everypony thought this was the worst discovery they could make, a stallion shouted from the edge of the group, “You need to see this! I think we’re going the right way!”

 

He led Sword Dancer to some tattered pale threads and splashes of blood. The amount was neither small nor large enough to indicate severity of injury, but one thing was for sure; the blood was fresh and the bones were not.

 

“I think we’re getting close…but everypony follow behind me,” Sword Dancer announced. Her voice was harsh and gave no room for argument. If there was danger, she would be the first to take it on.

 

The group became silent. Many felt claustrophobia creeping in as the echo of steady hooves and fast-beating hearts set a steady rhythm. Their dulled senses made them a bit like newborn foals wandering in the Everfree Forest. Even the knights were at distinct disadvantage.

 

After a while they came across a small pack with its contents spilled out across the hard stone. There were some clothes, a few pictures, and other personal belongings. It was likely from one of the missing refugees. While some of the ponies began to whisper about whether this was a good or bad sign, there was a thump just around the corner in the cavern corridor. Without hesitation, Sword Dancer sprung into action. She lept around the bend, brandishing her horn as a deadly weapon.

 

She was met by the screams of what, for a mere second, might have been mistaken for a normal pony. However, just as quickly, a set of leathery wings folded in front of the screaming figure as it cowered from the strike. 

 

“Please don’t!” Came another cry as Sword Dancer restrained her blow. A small earth pony popped into view and stood in front of the shaking figure. “Don’t hurt her! She and her friends helped us.”

 

Sword Dancer stood back and relaxed her posture. “Explain.”

 

“Some of us were hurt during the earthquake, so we took shelter here in the cave. None of us had a light or horn though, so it was very dark. At one point someone or…something attacked us. This bat pony and her friends intervened.” The earth pony’s ears drooped and her shoulders slumped. “I just came back to get my things. That's all I have left of my home.”

 

One of the volunteers helped to gather up the items and return them to the pack. Sword Dancer gestured between the earth pony refugee and the bat pony stranger, “Take us to the others.”

 

And so the group followed the bat pony deeper into the caverns. For many it felt as if they were lost in time, because everything looked the same in the dark to the average pony. But there was a more positive energy flowing through the group, a sense of purpose. The refugees were here! Even though it seemed something else was lurking in the dark as well.

 

Eventually they came across a small passage in the wall where a curtain made out of fine fabric was hung. The bat pony stopped, turned to face the crowd, then pulled the curtain aside. “We weren’t expecting visitors but…welcome to Sumit’s Hollow.”

Beyond was a larger cavern lit by starlight peeking through small skylights in the cave ceiling. It gave the space a dappled appearance of blue light and shadow, like being underwater. Within the cavern were other bat ponies of all shapes and sizes. They flew between cave entrances covered in more fine-fabric curtains both on the ground and among the pillars. A mirrored lake sat beneath the skylights and above it huge oversized baskets filled with honeyberry bushes were strung with a precarious sense of weight.

“Our village is actually spread out between a few large caverns, but this is the one where most of your friends should be…” The bat pony that had led them there trailed off, suddenly shifting her hooves in discomfort.

 

“Some?” Sword Dancer asked sharply. “What happened?”

 

The earth pony refugee put a comforting hoof on the bat pony and answered for her, “I said they saved me and the others and that’s mostly true. But the smallest of us, little Sun Shower, he and one of the bat ponies were taken.”

 

“Taken by whom?”

 

“Not whom…what.” Both the bat pony and earth pony shivered almost in unison. “It’s the same reason we haven’t been able to leave since the Wild Magic came. They web up the exits and lure us at night…The Moon Widow and her Star Spiders.”

 

End Part 2

 

Note: Anypony who enters the caves cannot leave until the October event concludes!

 

(Bat Ponies are now available as a species!

 

Depict your pony either:

• Staying behind to help the found knights and refugees.
• Reacting to the discovery of the bat pony village. This could be exploring the village, comforting the refugees, or even preparing to go after the Moon Widow and her Star Spiders.

 

Any response piece to this prompt will receive 20 additional Horseshoes and Progression Points.)