Bastion sped up as the cavern opened up before him into a straight run, the moss-lined stone floor beneath him clicking with each slam of his hooves. The moist air of the cavern whipped by him, very still and humid in a way that caused his mane to frizzle out at the very ends. The walls stretched out in large swathes of greenery beside him, seemingly iridescent in the low light as various ridges created shadowy edges. Holes in the wall called to his attention, but they all looked shallow, and Bastion wasn’t interested in tiny trinkets.

He wanted something worth stopping his full sprint for.

A dark shadow loomed ahead of him, and Bastion slid into a hard stop as the obstacle interrupted his run. Dust flew up in a cloud behind him as he came to a full stop, and his tail flicked up and down as he stared up at the boulder. It was smooth and round, but as he examined it closer, the texture wasn’t quite right for a rock…

“Wait, is that a shell for-”

“- a snail?” finished a voice from beneath Bastion. As he looked down, two eye stalks poked out from underneath the rim of the large shell, staring up at him sleepily.

“Oh!” Bastion said, gasping. “My apologies. Could you be a dear and please move? I have business beyond your, ah, shell.”

The eye stalks rose up as the rest of the snail’s head came out, and it peered more intently at Bastion.

“And why should I move for you?” the snail said, eyes narrowing at the Dungeon Courser.

“Ah, I see!” Bastion said, standing up a little straighter and flicking his mane so it swooped over his neck. “You don’t know me. I’m Bastion, from a long, long line of royal Dungeon Coursers. You see, this area is part of our domain, and as such, you must move to let me through so I can continue my job.”

“Never heard of you,” the snail replied.

“Why I never!” Bastion said, stomping one hoof down onto the stone floor. “All of the land should know of us! We are that important-”

The snail suddenly shot out the rest of its body and pushed forward, sighing as it squeezed past Bastion.

“Oh brother!” It snorted on its way out, leaving behind a slimy, glistening trail of goop.. “I’ll move just so you’ll shut up.”