Tyto and Strix were dealing with a rather nasty tunnel collapse. In a particularly soggy section of an old subterranean alehouse, the pair had stumbled across one of the few remaining wood floors in the kingdom. Unfortunately, they had found out why most of the wood floors were gone when the rotten planks gave way and dropped them into a small pit under the alehouse. The pit seemed to be full of discarded dishes and bones and had likely been the alehouse's in home garbage dump. The pair scrambled out of the trash pit, their pets trying their best to help. Phosphor the wisp was trying its hardest to push on Strix's rump to shove him out of the pit, while Oracle the owl did a splendid job of flapping around in erratic circles above the pit.
After finally emerging from the pit, and exiting the alehouse in a bit of a hurry, the horses took some time to rest and catch their breath. "Well, there's another of these buildings over in the next tunnel but I am not watching you fall through the floor like that again," Strix said, looking over his shoulder at the wheezing Tyto. "I'm fine. I promise. There's nothing of use in these places. The danger isn't worth it," Tyto responded as his breathing leveled out. "Let's head back to camp and have something to eat. We still have some of that dried algae that merchant sold us," Strix said, shaking his mane to dislodge some bits of rotten wood. Tyto nodded and made the little lip smacking sound that told his owl to perch on the courser's pack. The two began the long walk back to camp.
After moving down several tunnels, the two finally reached the entrance of the chamber they had set up camp in. The room seemed to have been some kind of communal meeting ground for humans, as it contained large doorways leading to several long tunnels. The torches the two had left were still burning and lit the room in a dim glow. The light caught something moving against the back wall. There were two large somethings. They seemed to be horses and they seemed to be trying their best to kick Strix's supply chest open.
Rushing ahead and stomping his hooves on the cracked floor tiles, strix bellowed, "Hey, that isn't yours. None of this is yours, even if it looks like you've assumed as much. I'd advise you to leave and drop anything you've picked up." One of the strangers turned and moved into the torch light, tilting its head at Strix. The horse seemed to be mostly covered in a coat of glistening pink opal stone, with peeks of pink and maroon showing through holes in the shimmering light pink appaloosa marking. The horse perked up at seeing that Strix wasn't weilding any weapons or other nasty surprises. The stranger sighed and looked over their shoulder at their companion, who was also staring at Strix now.
"I told you it wasn't abandoned, Charm. You never listen when I tell you things. Put that potion down," the sparkling pink horse said, her voice a jovial and light feminine tone. The other horse audibly sighed and set down a small bottle she'd been holding in her mouth. The second stranger stepped into the light and her bright green coat flared into life. Sparkling gold studs on her back caught the torch light and her gleaming gold hooves shone like tiny flames. The horse, who had been identified as Charm, spoke in a deeper voice with a strange whimsical accent, "I guess they were alive after all. Think that's the first camp we've hit in days that wasn't abandoned."
The pink sparkle horse looked to Strix, her ears back slightly as she tried to put on an apologetic, humble expression. "Sorry about that, buddy. You see, we've sorta got control of these tunnels and we know how to get through em without losing a leg. Nobody else seems to make it out when they come around here, so there's lots of abandoned camps. We figure, we might as well put all those lonely items to good use," the stranger said. "Me and Taffy don't hurt anyone. We never rob people, if that's what you think. I mean, you obviously do. We don't take from the living," Charm said, flicking her emerald tail. The pink horse, now identified as Taffy, nodded, her candy striped mane flapping with the motion. "Look see, we don't steal from the living but we do require a payment if folks wanna survive here," Taffy said, lifting her head to look at Strix with a side eye. She glanced over at Tyto, who was awkwardly staring down at Charm's sparkling hooves. Charm spoke up, giving Tyto a bit of a dirty look, "We gotta come with you while you're here and we gotta take half of what you find."
Strix snorted and stomped his front hoof. The audacity of such a demand was damn near offensive. As Strix opened his mouth to protest it, Tyto spoke. "Yeah that sounds fair. We fell into a hole earlier. Can you keep us safe?" Tyto spoke in a timid voice, clearly struggling to get the words out. Taffy looked to Charm and the two nodded in unison. Strix shook his head and frowned, keeping quiet for Tyto's sake. This would not turn out well.