The Skeleton King Part Two
written by Tabby


Tabby watched in dismay as the skeleton pony king tightly slammed the door shut of the tiny cell he had thrown her into. She heard his footsteps as he continued to walk down the underground hallway.

"I have got to get out of here!" Tabby said to herself. She inspected the cell closely. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all brown, packed-down dirt. "But what else would you expect underground?"

Tabby then focused all her attention on the door. The thick wooden slab was held tightly onto the wall with tarnished hinges. She tried the handle, but, not surprisingly, is was locked. She noticed, however, that there was a fairly large gap at the bottom of the door, but still not nearly big enough for her to squeeze through.

"If only I was a cat," Tabby thought mournfully. Suddenly, she remembered her unicorn magic-- the ability to change into any living thing.

"Perfect!" she exclaimed as she changed into a sleek, majestic Siamese. She agilely slipped under the door and into the dark, dank tunnel.



Meanwhile, Sugarberry, Clever Clover, and Friendly were still gazing down the hole that had seen the skeleton king pull Tabby down into.

"Tabby's gone!" Sugarberry wailed. "What'll we do?"

"Go back to Paradise Estate?" Friendly suggested helpfully.

"Would that help her any?" Clever Clover wondered.

"I don't know; would it?" Sugarberry asked.

"Down tunnel?" Friendly suggested again.

"I think that'd be best," Sugarberry said a bit fearfully.

Clever Clover nodded in agreement.

Friendly hopped into the hole and the other two followed him down into the dark.

They surveyed the scene. A tunnel ran to the left and right of them.

"Which way?" Clever Clover asked.

Sugarberry paused in thought for a moment. "Right!"

"Yeah, yeah," Friendly agreed.

They moved off down the tunnel.



Tabby in her cat form slowly peeked around a corner of the tunnel and drew in her breath. The skeleton king was walking right toward her, still carrying Princess Starburst's wand! She quickly glanced around for a place to hide. Luckily, there was a small crevice in the dirt wall next to her. She quickly compacted herself into it and hoped he wouldn't see her.

The skeleton king turned the corner and walked right by Tabby without noticing her.

Whew! Tabby thought. After he was out of sight, she went around the corner, only to see Friendly, Clever Clover, and Sugarberry!

Tabby ran toward them. "It's me! Tabby!"

"Tabby's a unicorn," Sugarberry said skeptically.

"I turned into a cat for now. That is my magic power, remember?" Tabby said.

"Okay." The other three nodded. They seemed to accept it was a valid reason.

"Have you seen the skeleton?" Tabby questioned them.

"We were following him!" Clever Clover exclaimed.

"We must get the wand away from him! He derives his power from it!" Tabby quickly explained.

"How'll we do that?" Sugarberry asked.

"I have not yet figured that out," Tabby said.

Suddenly, Sugarberry's eyes opened wide and she screamed, "Oh, no!"

Tabby whirled her head around. The skeleton was back!

"There's no escape now!" the skeleton king said evilly, advancing toward them. "This is what you get for disturbing a grave!"

"It was not our fault; it was that wand!" Tabby objected. "If it had not fallen on your grave, you would still be dead and would not have cared we were digging it up!"

"Nonsense!" the skeleton said. "If it hadn't been for the wand, I wouldn't be able to punish you!"

"I think we better run," Sugarberry suggested.

With that, Sugarberry, Clever Clover, Friendly, and Tabby took off down the tunnel. The skeleton king chased after.

The skeleton started to gain on them. Tabby realized this and worriedly glanced back.

At that moment, the skeleton tripped! He had failed to notice a giant tree root running across the floor of the underground tunnel that the others had just skimmed over. The wand went flying from his hooves.

Tabby, still a cat, reacted quickly. She gracefully leaped up and caught the wand in midair.

Now without the wand, the skeleton quickly changed back to a dry, lifeless pile of bones.

"All right!" Clever Clover cheered.

"Yeah, yeah!" Friendly agreed.

Tabby grinned. "That was a close call!"

"But let's get out of here," Sugarberry said. "These tunnels are still spooky."

The four weary adventurers searched for the way out. They soon found it, and climbed back aboveground.

Tabby changed back into her original pink unicorn form. "Let's fill in this hole, then get back to Royal Paradise to give Princess Starburst her wand back."

"She better appreciate it!" Clever Clover remarked as they pushed dirt back into the hole.
"Yeah, we almost got ourselves killed!" Sugarberry exclaimed.

Tabby giggled at a thought. "The skeleton didn't even realize I was a cat instead of a pony! I guess skeletons do not have good memories."

Finished filling the hole in, the group headed out of the clearing and back into the Dark Forest. Out of the radius of the Well of Confusion, their intelligence levels returned to normal.

"So who's wand is it that we're returning, again?" Tabby wondered as they neared Royal Paradise.

Sugarberry laughed. "That proves we're back to normal!"


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