Blank Equestria

Scootaloo trudged through the strange underground place, exhausted from feeling nothing but cold metal under her hooves. She tried to exterminate the recent scene of Applebloom's quick death she had seen from her mind, but she couldn't do it all. Everytime she remembered it, tears gushed out of her eyes, and she had to rest for a few minutes to cry herself out. It didn't help that all she heard was the sound of metal fans scraping against the walls and spinning in the windows.

Frustration unexpectedly surged through Scootaloo. She trembled, then her hooves took her over to a wall. In a bout of anger, she kicked it furiously, creating no more than a small and weak dent. She dropped her hooves, feeling pain, but she didn't care. She gave the wall another kick as her hind hooves rose again. Slam. More pain flew through her hooves, but her anger still made her whole body feel numb.

The crusader panted, putting down her hooves again. She continued to trot through the endless and dull hall, her ears being filled with unpleasant scraping noises. Her metallic surroundings seemed like it was actually trying to make her break mentally, and possibly physically too if she encountered anymore things. Then, as if this place had found out her thoughts, a stallion slowly rounded the corner, dragging a larger axe than the one that the mare had.

Scootaloo caught a glimpse of the pony, then jumped into a small, convenient hole that was the perfect size for her. The stallion, who appeared to be wearing a miner's suit just like the mare, slowly trotted past the hole, not even stopping to check it. Scootaloo was holding her breath, though.

Finally, the stallion was gone, disappearing into the eerie shadows. Scootaloo looked around for a moment as she abandoned the opening in the wall and sped away. The hard floor made her hooves hurt, just like before.

"Who and why would they be in here?" Scootaloo asked in a hushed voice as she glanced at the direction behind her. The stallion was out of sight. She cautiously looked back and hurried off.

Gentle sobbing abruptly caught Scootaloo's attention. She looked around rapidly, then she trotted to a rusty door nearby. It was half open and almost broken down, and it was covered in dents. Scootaloo looked around the edge of it and saw a mare restrained. She was tied onto a rack, her entire body lacking scars. She didn't even have duct tape on, only ropes tying her to the board.

Scootaloo slowly approached the mare. "Who are you?" she asked sharply.

The mare jumped slightly, then her head turned towards Scootaloo, revealing her tear-filled eyes. "Please, just help me," she begged sorrowfully.

"You're from Ponyville?" Scootaloo asked again, starting to slowly untie the mare's hooves.

"Yes," the mare said. "Can I trust you?"

"Yes. My friend was killed in front of me, and my other friend is...injured. I'm looking for every Ponyville pony that went missing," Scootaloo explained as she quickened her pace in untying the mare's hooves.

"Oh...weren't you one of those three fillies always running around?" the mare asked, calming down but still breathing quickly.

"Yes, the cutie mark crusaders," Scootaloo said as she untied the pony's last two hooves.

After Scootaloo finished freeing the mare, she slid off of the rack and headed towards the door. Scootaloo looked at the board, then back at the mare.

"Nopony's here, let's go," the mare said.

The two ponies softly galloped into the hall and up ahead. Scootaloo struggled a little bit with keeping up with the mare, but when she flapped her wings she was right at the pony's side.

"Who are you?" Scootaloo said, repeating her first question.

The mare looked at her, then went faster as she looked back in front of her. "Lyra Heartstrings."

Scootaloo suddenly felt like she knew this mare. How did she not recognize her? "I'm Scootaloo."

Their trip continued in silence, Lyra slowing down every few minutes due to exhaustion. Scootaloo also slowed down, not wanting to leave behind this mare. But she abruptly remembered the ponies lurking in this hell.

"Hide," Scootaloo said.

"There's nopony here, though," Lyra repeated, but she was still worried.

Scootaloo looked around. "There's ponies walking around, I saw a stallion and a mare before, now come on." She slipped into a nearby room that was empty with Lyra. There were only torture devices inside, no ponies here.

After they were both in the room, Scootaloo pushed the door back to close it. It was awfully heavy, but Scootaloo knew it was metal.

Lyra stared fearfully at the door as Scootaloo trotted away from it, looking at the scattered objects on the floor. "Nothing here," Scootaloo sighed sadly.

Lyra sat down on the floor, not facing Scootaloo. "Did you see Bon Bon?" she questioned suddenly.

Scootaloo remembered the cheerful mare who always avoided Lyra's conversations about humans. "Your best friend?" Scootaloo said as she looked past a pile of crates, broken crowbars, and guns with no ammo. The crates were empty, so the empty guns couldn't work.

"Yes," Lyra said after some time. She got up and galloped over to the torture device. It was a wheel. Lyra avoided staring at it in fear.

"What kind of place is this?" Scootaloo queried, her fury returning.

Lyra finally faced the filly and approached her side. "Oh, it's the Pure Asylum."

"The Pure Asylum?" Scootaloo echoed, giving Lyra a bewildered look.

"It's a secret place where a group of ponies kills others to make Equestria...pure. It's only in Ponyville for now," Lyra explained, sighing. She was clearly distressed. "They have so many ways of torture, and so many ponies to kill."

Scootaloo backed away from the pile of items. "They're damned," she said harshly, her voice shaking as she grew more furious.

"They are," Lyra agreed. "Their sins won't go unpunished."

"Will you help me kill them?" Scootaloo asked. "I want to get revenge."

"Yes," Lyra said. "But first, we have to find weapons."

"There's nothing here."

"Damn it."

Lyra opened the door with great strength. There were still no ponies around, only the dark shadows that loomed over them as the two ponies stepped out.

"What happened to you?" Scootaloo abruptly asked.

"They tied me up, they said they would return, but they didn't. At least, they didn't return before you came. It was only a stallion that tied me up, but he had an axe."

Scootaloo remembered the stallion in the hall, wearing the miner's suit and holding the massive, bloody axe. "I saw a stallion with an axe. He might be looking for you," she warned.

"Should we run, then?"

Scootaloo thought for a moment. They might die, but if they stayed in the room they could be cornered and killed by those ponies. She nodded at Lyra. "Yes," she confirmed. But she knew it was a massive risk for them to take.

Lyra grinned slightly, but she still looked sorrowful. Scootaloo smiled back at the unicorn, and headed outside first. Lyra hesitated, then reluctantly followed her, her smile already fading. Scootaloo frowned as the hall appeared to be darker than before.

"Run," she choked out.

Lyra looked confused, but she sped off first anyways. Scootaloo hurried away after her, looking behind her. There were no ponies nearby. She still raced down the hall with Lyra, hoping to get out of this place alive, along with the, hopefully still living, missing ponies.