Tricks and Traps

Chapters

The Mercy Seat
Piknik na Obochine
Veins
United We Stand
Jammed
Them Bones
Light in the Darkness
The Others
Change
The Way Out
On the Fly
Nopony Has To Die
Corrosion
You Wake Up In a Room
Food For Thoughts
Shell

The Mercy Seat

Sweetie Belle sobbed. She didn’t remember much from what happened after Button’s death. A pair of strong hooves pulled her away from his body and forced her up. She wandered for some time barely seeing anything. Ponies were talking to her, but she didn’t hear what they were saying.

At least they finally found another door. The metal walls and floor disappeared, replaced by white, hospital-like tiles. There was also something written on the tiles, but Sweetie didn’t exactly remember what. The other foals also ignored the scribbling; yet another undecipherable string of strange symbols.

“Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom looked at her friend unsurely. Sweetie continued to walk, staring in the distance. “Sweetie!”

“What?” Sweetie blinked and looked at Apple Bloom.

“Umm...” Apple Bloom stared into Sweetie’s red, puffy eyes. “Are ya okay?”

“I’m not! Stop asking me that!” Sweetie exclaimed. “Don’t you get it? Somepony poisoned the food! What’d happen if more of us ate grapes?”

“Shut up, you two!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed.

“Her friend just died!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Don’t yell at her!”

“Diamond’s right, I think,” Tootsie Flute said. “You’re scarin’ Boysenberry...”

Snails shuddered. “What about scaring me? I’m not gonna eat anything in that maze again...”

“Great,” Ruby muttered. “Finally we’ll get rid of you.”

“Hey!” Snips shouted. He approached Ruby, but was stopped by Rumble.

“Chill out,” Rumble said. “We won’t get out of this place if we don’t stop arguing!”

“W-we will never get out...” Boysenberry cried. “We w-will all die...”

“Can I tell her to shut up or will you yell at me again?” Ruby asked, staring at the others. “One pony died and you’re already a bunch of paranoid morons.”

“Nopony will shout at anyone when I’m here,” Babs said. “Calm down, ponies. I feel we’re on a good way...”

“How do you know that?” Zippoorwhill asked.

“I just know, okay?” Without adding anything else, Babs trotted down the corridor. The rest of the foals followed her. Sweetie was walking slowly at the end of the group, together with Apple Bloom.

“You know...” Zipporwhill muttered. “I think we’re underwater...”

“What?” Shady Daze asked, looking at the wall. All the noises from behind it silenced, but somehow he felt that it was even worse; as if something was waiting for them to react.

“I don’t know,” Zipporwhill replied. “Just... A pegasus thing, I guess...”

“Maybe.” Shady Daze turned to Rumble who was flying behind him. “And how do you think, dude? Are we underwater?”

“No idea,” Rumble replied. “I don’t even know what would I feel if we were... You, Featherweight?”

“Maybe.” Featherweight shrugged. “But we can as well be in space... Miss Cheerilee said that there’s nothing in space, right? No air, no anything...”

“It’s called vacuum,” Truffle Shuffle said. “You can feel that?”

“Well, I can feel air currents and the changes of the weather...” Featherweight replied. “But here, I feel nothing. We may be in space, underwater, or deep underground... Somewhere where we can’t feel anything...”

“That’s strange, because I can feel something,” Scootaloo said, joining the group of pegasi. She looked at her right wing. “Like, just before the rainstorm...”

“That’s really weird...” Silver Spoon, who was walking before them, muttered. “Maybe your weather sense is as useless as your wings?”

“Somepony didn’t get enough beating recently...”

“Oh, so you’re now beating ponies with glasses, huh?” Diamond Tiara asked, turning to Scootaloo.

“I can start with you, if you like...” Scootaloo muttered, glaring at Diamond Tiara angrily.

“I can feel something too,” Tornado Bolt said, appearing above Diamond Tiara’s head. “Scoots may be right...”

“Get out of here!” Diamond Tiara groaned, trying to reach Tornado Bolt.

“Enough, girls...” Rumble said, running his hoof through his mane. “Really, we won’t get out of here, if you keep arguing...”

Boysenberry shuddered, panting heavily. She could barely see anything, except of walls getting closer to her, inch by inch. Her heart was pounding in her chest; she was resting herself against a pony guiding her. She wasn’t even sure who it was.

“Ya okay, Boysenberry?” Tootsie Flute asked.

Boysenberry said nothing, afraid that the smallest sound she’d made would be a beginning of a panic attack. Only a whimper escaped her lips.

“I take dat as ‘no’.” Tootsie Flute nodded. “Dinky, can ya help me wiff ‘er?”

“What?” Dinky asked, as if she just woke up from a slumber.

“I asked if ya could help me wiff ‘er.” Tootsie Flute sighed. “What’s goin’ on wiff ya?”

“I miss my mom,” Dinky said. “It’s just... I’m scared...”

“But still better than ‘er...” Tootsie Flute muttered. “Ya can help me as well...” She scratched her head. “My mom knows some spell to calm me down... I ain’t remember it...”

“I don’t know it either...” Dinky looked at Boysenberry and sighed. “My mom is a pegasus, you know... She used to sing me something when I had a bad dream or something...”

“Yeah... Still better dan Ruby... ‘Er mom throws bottles at ‘er, I guess... But dat’s ain’t a bad dream, I’m afraid...” Tootsie Flute said. “She keeps sayin’ we’re gonna be all brown bread...”

“What?” Dinky asked.

“Brown bread... dead,” Tootsie replied. “Okay, dat wasn’t funny... Wiff Button and all dat...” She looked at the ceiling.

“Brown bread?” Snips asked, joining them. “I’m hungry...”

Tootsie Flute groaned.

Babs stopped suddenly and raised her hoof, silencing all the talks. Before them, there was a large room. Babs thought that it looked like a hospital room, if somepony removed all the beds and equipment from it. The white tiles were so polished she could see her reflection in them. The room was spacious, warm, and, what was the most important, there was a table with food in the middle of it.

“I’m not going to eat that,” Diamond Tiara said. “Last time the grapes were poisoned. Who knows what is it this time?”

“I can’t see any grapes there.” Snails licked his lips. “No risk no fun...”

“Fun?” Sweetie Belle asked, shuddering. “This stopped to be fun when Button died!”

“It was never f-fun...” Pipsqueak muttered.

“It’s a trap, I’m tellin’ ya...” Tootsie Flute said to Dinky.

“I’m hungry, but...” Tornado Bolt sighed.

Ruby looked at her companions, rolled her eyes and shook her head. Before somepony could react, she walked forward, to the table. She methodically took a small bite of every food on the table and turned back to the rest of the foals, grinning maliciously.

“See, cunts?” Ruby said. “I’m still alive. You can stop shitting yourself and eat like normal ponies.”

“What if it starts to work later?” Apple Bloom asked.

“You can watch us eating and die of hunger, alone,” Ruby replied. Suddenly, she shuddered and collapsed on the floor, trying to catch her breath. Several foals screamed. Ruby rolled on her back, her eyes open wide. Dinky, Rumble, and Shady Daze ran to her. Boysenberry closed her eyes and sunk her face in Tootsie’s fur.

Suddenly, they heard laughter. Ruby stood up, cackling so hard tears were running down her face. “You should see yourselves now... That’s just too rich...”

Babs lowered her head and charged at Ruby. She pinned her to the ground and smacked her with her hoof. “What the fuck is wrong with ya?!” she shouted.

“Babs, stop it!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. She and Rumble grabbed Babs and pulled her away from Ruby, who stood up and wiped blood from her nose.

“Nice...” Ruby muttered. “All that talk about being reasonable? Bullshit, I’m telling you...” She shrugged and went back to the table, levitating a few apples from it. The rest of the foals followed her example. Sweetie Belle was standing still, staring at the food and shuddering.

“Oh, come on...” Apple Bloom muttered. “Ya won’t help Button by starvin’ herself to death...”

Sweetie nodded and sat with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Babs, who was still glaring at Ruby angrily.

“I’m a crappy leader, don’t ya think?” Babs muttered. “Can’t spend a day without gettin’ into a fight...”

“If ya didn’t, Ah’d do that,” Apple Bloom replied. “She’s really gettin’ on mah nerves...”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said. “I hope something kills her slowly and painfully...”

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“What?” Scootaloo shrugged and looked at Apple Bloom. “Honesty. That’s mah policy. And I hope Diamond and Silver will be next.”

“Ah know that they pissed ya off, but–” Apple Bloom paused, seeing that Scootaloo walked away to Rumble, who was sitting next to Dinky, Tootsie, and Boysenberry.

“She doesn’t want to eat,” Rumble said, pointing at Boysenberry. She was sitting on the floor, her eyes focused on the wall.

“C’mon...” Tootsie muttered. “We’ll soon get outta ‘ere...”

“I don’t get it,” Dinky said. “This room is quite spacious, why is she still like that?”

“You told her that we’re in space or underwater, no wonder she got scared...” Scootaloo gave Rumble a nasty glare.

“Me?” Rumble asked. “Zipporwhill started that...”

The light darkened a bit. Boysenberry raised her head and looked around. “It doesn’t like when we’re talking...” she said.

“What?” Dinky asked. “Who doesn’t like when we’re talking?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t wanna meet it...” Snails said in a higher voice than usual.

“Chill out, dude,” Snips said. “She’s nuts, that’s all...”

The light got darker again. They could barely see each other.

“The thing... Behind the wall...” Boysenberry muttered. “It is coming...”

Several ponies stood up, looking at the corridor entrances on both sides of the room. A gust of cold wind ruffled their manes. They moved out of its way, hiding behind the table. Dinky and Tootsie saw, to their horror, that Boysenberry stayed there, walking slowly into the dark corridor.

“We need to catch ‘er...” Tootsie said, shuddering.

“Not gonna do that...” Dinky replied. “W-what if it catches me too?”

“Oh, come on!” Tornado Bolt exclaimed, rolling her eyes. She spread her wings and flew across the room. Fighting against the wind, she tackled Boysenberry and pinned her to the floor. The earth filly didn’t resist when Tornado Bolt dragged her behind the table.

“See?” Tornado Bolt asked. “It’s just a wind and she’s nuts. Nothing supernatural here.”

At the same moment, the wind stopped blowing and the lights flickered and disappeared completely.

“I’m not gonna sleep tonight...” Truffle Shuffle muttered.

“Me neither...” Shady Daze said.

“I think we should go...” Diamond Tiara’s voice was barely recognisable. It was shaky and quiet; her self-confidence disappeared completely.

“Where?” Silver Spoon asked. “We’ll get lost in the darkness...”

Tootsie Flute woke up to realise that, despite their claims, everypony had fallen asleep. The light was on again. The foals were lying on the floor, rested against each other. Tootsie looked around and saw Dinky next to herself. She looked to the other side – Boysenberry wasn’t there.

“Boysenberry!” she called.

“I’m here...” Boysenberry replied, emerging from the corridor they’d arrived from. “I... I had to pee, so...” She blushed.

“Okay,” Tootsie muttered. “Y-ya went there alone?”

“Yeah,” Boysenberry said quietly. “I... I feel better now... What happened yesterday?”

“Dunno.” Tootsie shrugged. “Ya went totally marbles and conkers...”

Several other foals woke up, startled by Tootsie’s shout. They quickly counted themselves – nopony was missing. There were still nineteen of them, just like before.

“Let’s go,” Babs said when everypony awoke. “Everypony got some food?”

“Yes,” Apple Bloom replied.

“I don’t know why we bother,” Scootaloo said. “It’s not like this maze wants us to starve to death...”

“Who knows what spider-ducks and friends have in store for us...” Rumble replied. “It’s better to have some food, just in case...”

“Exactly,” Babs said. “Okay, everypony ready?” Hearing no protests, she guided the group through the new tunnel. It looked exactly the same as the room before – white tiles were covering the floor and the walls. There wasn’t a single scratch on them; Scootaloo was watching them, hoping for some scribbling or a message written on them, but she found none. She noticed that she wasn’t alone – Truffle Shuffle was also observing the walls and the ceiling.

“Looking for clues?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Truffle replied. “Something tells me that we weren’t the first ponies here...”

“Well, if there were others, somepony cleaned the whole facility after they got rid of them...” Scootaloo muttered.

“There were no others,” Ruby muttered, suddenly appearing behind Scootaloo. “It’s hard to find twenty morons like us in Equestria...”

“Shut up.” Scootaloo glared at Ruby angrily.

“Or what? You will beat me?” Ruby asked. “Wish me painful death?”

“Fuck off...”

“Shut up, all of ya!” Babs exclaimed. “Especially ya, Ruby...”

Ruby smirked and slowed down, hiding behind Shady Daze, Snips, and Snails.

Babs shook her head. She saw that the corridor before her was splitting into two. She stopped and turned to the rest of the group.

“Seems that we’ll have to decide again...” she said. “Unless ya have a better idea...”

Zippoorwhill flew into the right corridor and soon came back. “It ends with a wall, not far away from here,” she said.

Babs sighed with relief. One less occasion to argue. She turned to the left, leading the rest of the group there.

They didn’t even walk a hundred metres, when they saw that their path was blocked by a pair of massive metal doors. There were no symbols carved on them. Only a metallic surface and a black knob on each of the doors.

Babs approached them unsurely. “I hope it’s open,” she said. “It’s the only way anyway, if we don’t wanna go back...”

“I knew we should’ve chosen the other way...” Diamond Tiara muttered.

“Shut up, okay?” Babs said, putting her hoof on one of the knobs. “I don’t get ya, guys. Everytime somethin’ strange happens, ya all start to– Aaargh!” When she put her other hoof on the second knob, a sudden flash blinded all the foals temporarily. A loud snap could be heard, when Babs’ body was thrown back from the door and fell limply on the floor. The air smelled of ozone, faeces, and burnt flesh.

Apple Bloom stood there, her eyes wide, staring at the charred body of her cousin. Other foals joined her, speechless. Boysenberry started to cry. Pipsqueak threw up.

“W-what was that?” Silver Spoon asked, hyperventilating.

“Electricity...” Scootaloo muttered, her face pale. “The knobs were electrodes...”

“Stop staring at her, idiots!” Ruby exclaimed. “Look at the door!”

They listened to her. The doors were now open, but they were closing with every passing second.

“We need to go!” Ruby shouted.

“What about Babs?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Fuck her!” Ruby was already on the other side. “We need to go or somepony will have to open them again! Wanna be next?”

The foals rushed forward. One by one, they were passing through the door. Apple Bloom trotted behind them last. Before joining the rest, she looked back, catching the last glimpse of Babs’ lifeless body. The door closed with a metallic thud.

Apple Bloom turned back to see the new part of the maze: red, brick walls and lots of rusty pipes covering them. Several cogwheels were hanging here and there, but it seemed that they weren’t moved from ages. On the nearby wall, written in something that looked like soot, there was a new word; signs they’d learned to hate.

ܟܒܕܐ

Piknik na Obochine

“So,” Rumble said. “I think it is some kind of an experiment. They put us here and are testing our reactions to, umm... changes.”

“L-like death?” Pipsqueak asked, looking at the back of the group, where Scootaloo was trying, without an effect, to talk to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “Because, whoever did this, they... They just killed Button and Babs...”

“Maybe they are aliens,” Rumble replied. “They think we’re test subjects, like mice or rats... My brother once told me that–”

“Or maybe it’s a simulation,” Featherweight interrupted him. “Think about this, guys... Magic can make you fall in love, send you to the moon, turn you to stone... Maybe it’s all a dream – Luna cast a spell and we’re sleeping... Button and Babs simply woke up.”

“Luna would never do that!” Pipsqueak exclaimed.

Zippoorwhill landed next to them. “I don’t think it’s about who did it,” she said. “More like ‘why?’” She looked at Rumble and Featherweight. “Also, it’s a rather crappy dream. Or really weird aliens for that matter.”

Rumble looked around the corridor they were in. None of the things there looked alien. It was three days since Babs was killed and they were still surrounded by red, battered bricks and rusty pipes that didn’t seem to lead anywhere. The lights were dim and flickering. Unlike in the previous part, they didn’t gradually darken – they were simply going off and the end of the day.

Even though they were paying more attention to their surroundings, they still didn’t find anything that’d help them in getting out, or at least understanding what was going on.

Featherweight sighed and looked at Zippoorwhill askew. “So, what’s your theory?” he asked. “Why are we here?”

Zippoorwhill shrugged. “What if I told you that we all died in some terrible accident and are now in a purgatory, waiting whether we should go to Tartarus or Elysium?”

“Well...” Featherweight muttered. “That’s an interesting idea...”

“I just made it up.”

Featherweight ignored her. “I still think we’re in a dream. You see, it may be some kind of a test. Maybe in the end there’ll be six of us–”

“So, twelve more would die? Thank you very much.” Zippoorwhill shook her head and took off.

“And those six would be, like, a back-up Element Bearers,” Featherweight said.

“There are no Elements of Harmony anymore, remember?” Rumble looked at his friend and rolled his eyes.

“But we can still get them back, or use that magic from the box, or whatever...”

“As Ruby would say, bullshit.” Rumble shrugged. “Who do you think would become the Element Bearer? Diamond Tiara?”

Featherweight looked at Diamond Tiara, who, together with Silver Spoon, was in front of the group. He thought that after Babs died, Apple Bloom would become their leader, but she was too devastated to even think about it. She didn’t say anything when Diamond Tiara stood up and told them to follow her. Only Scootaloo tried to protest, but nopony listened to her.

“Who knows,” Featherweight said. “She’d be, like, the element of Honesty. Silver Spoon would be Loyalty... That leaves Laughter to you and Generosity to me...”

Rumble shook his head. “Yeah, right. What’s next? Ruby as Kindness?”

“What do you want from me, faggots?” Ruby asked, turning her head to them. “Got bored or what? Can’t fuck when we’re watching?”

“We were wondering who’d volunteer to open the next door we find,” Featherweight replied. “Since you were so eager to try the food...”

Ruby looked at him, her eyes half-closed. “Fuck off.”

“Is that what your mother says when you ask her for something?” Featherweight asked innocently.

Ruby gasped. Her horn started to glow and for a moment Rumble thought that she’d cast some spell on Featherweight. Ruby lowered her head, gritting her teeth, and slowly turned back. She then ran forward, bumping into a few foals.

“What’s wrong with her?” Featherweight asked.

“You shouldn’t have told her that,” Rumble replied. “Now she’ll strangle you in your sleep...”

“I’d like to see her try...” Featherweight muttered and looked at Diamond Tiara again. “I really need to get closer to Diamond...”

“You okay, Silver?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“Yeah,” Silver Spoon replied, wiping her glasses. “It’s just Babs...”

“Oh, come on.” Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “Don’t you remember what she did to us? She spent almost all her time in Ponyville with us and then–”

“She’s dead now,” Silver Spoon interrupted her. “We shouldn’t–”

“Yeah, right,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “Just because she got fried, we can only speak good things about her, right? Fine. I heard mud is good for your skin anyway.” She looked at the path in front of her and found out that the corridor was splitting into two. Without thinking, she turned into the right one.

“Hey!” Ruby exclaimed behind her. “Why did you choose that one?”

“Because I felt like,” Diamond Tiara replied, giving Ruby a nasty look. “If you need to, you may check what is in the other one. You don’t even have to come back.”

“When Babs was alive, we voted...” Snips said.

“Exactly,” Diamond Tiara replied. “When Babs was alive. Now she’s dead and we’re not voting. It didn’t do us any good so far.”

“I think we should vote,” Silver Spoon said. Diamond Tiara looked at her and sighed.

“I can check what is in the other one.” Zippoorwhill took off. “Tornado, will you go with me?”

“Sure,” Tornado Bolt replied. Ignoring Diamond Tiara, they flew back to the intersection and into the other corridor. For a while, the rest of the foals was listening for the slightest noise coming from behind the wall. It was silent, except of the background noise which, as they realised, wasn’t scratching anymore – it sounded like a low-pitched, droning hum.

A sudden scream caused them to freeze. They looked at each other unsurely.

“What happened to them?” Pipsqueak asked.

“I think we need to check that...” Rumble muttered.

“No!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. “Do you want to die too?”

“They’re okay!” Scootaloo shouted from the back of the group. Indeed, Zippoorwhill and Tornado Bolt flew above their heads and landed next to Diamond Tiara.

“What’s going on?” Diamond Tiara asked.

Tornado Bolt was the first to regain the ability speak. “T-there was a skeleton there...” she said with a whimper.

“What skeleton?” Truffle Shuffle asked, shifting his legs.

Zippoorwhill shuddered. “A pony’s skeleton... I don’t know whose... It was a foal, just like us.”

“Told you,” Diamond Tiara said. “It was a good idea to choose this corridor.”

“Maybe we should go and check it?” Shady Daze asked.

“Why?” Silver Spoon looked at Shady and sighed. “It’s just an old skeleton. Why’d you want to look at it?”

“Dunno, look for some clues?” Shady Daze looked around. The expressions of his companions didn’t seem very eager to follow him.

Featherweight grabbed Rumble’s wing and pulled him further from the rest of the group. “A skeleton...” he whispered. “Do you know what does it mean?”

“Somepony died here?” Rumble asked. “Nothing new, if you ask me...”

“We weren’t the first ponies here, moron,” Featherweight replied. “Wonder what killed them...”

“I’m not going to check that,” Rumble said quickly.

“Me neither.” Featherweight shrugged. “I think we’ll find more...”

“Skeletons,” Sweetie Belle muttered. “First Button, then Babs... And now those skeletons.”

“Meh.” Scootaloo sighed. “Have you seen them? I think Tornado and Zip are pulling a prank...”

“Mah cousin died!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “It’s not time for pullin’ pranks...”

“Like they care,” Scootaloo replied. “I don’t trust them. Ruby is the only one who says it aloud, but they are already thinking who will be next. You’ll see, when we reach the next door, Diamond will make somepony open it to see what happens.”

“Ruby is a nutjob,” Apple Bloom said. “And y’all are turnin’ into nutjobs too. Nopony wants to kill us, Scoots. Maybe except the spider-duck.”

“I’d rather see it,” Scootaloo muttered. “What’s going on with that? Lurking in the darkness, scratching the walls, making Boysenberry insane... Why doesn’t it face us?”

“Would you really want it to?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Maybe,” Scootaloo said with a sigh, looking at the brick walls. Several ponies from the group stopped to rest. “All that waiting is killing me.”

Silver Spoon looked at the entanglement of pipes on her right. They seem to be hastily repaired with pieces of wire and scrap metal. She looked at it closer. Some of the wires didn’t make sense – as if they were put there not to keep the whole thing together, but rather to form some complicated pattern out of it. One of the pipes was nearly completely eaten by rust; some blue fluid was dripping from it, evaporating almost immediately after hitting the floor.

Silver examined the whole thing closer. She saw a glimpse of something behind the pipes and raised her hoof to knock at it. Something rattled; Silver Spoon gasped and jumped back, seeing a skull that rolled from behind the pipe and hit the floor.

“What the hell are you doing?” Diamond Tiara asked, startled by a sudden noise.

“There’s a skull here!” Silver Spoon exclaimed, her voice higher than usual.

“What?” Diamond Tiara asked, trotting to her friend. “What skull?”

The rest of the foal surrounded them, staring at the skull. It looked like a normal pony’s skull, apart from a few dents near the eye socket. The jawbone and a few teeth were missing.

“Who could it be?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“No idea,” Ruby replied. “Who cares. At least it’s not me.”

“Too bad,” Diamond Tiara deadpanned.

“Don’t start it again!” Rumble exclaimed before Ruby could say anything. He approached the skull and took a closer look at it. Then he looked at the strange pattern made of pipes and wires where Silver Spoon had found it. “There are more bones here,” he said grimly. “Pieces of ribs, I think. And a feather.”

“So, it was some trap for pegasi?” Truffle Shuffle asked, staring at the pipes.

“No,” Rumble replied. “It’s more like... a trophy.”

“It sorta looks like a dream catcher,” Tootsie Flute muttered. “Made of pipes, wire, and pegasus’ bones.” She prodded a skull with her hoof. “Still better than da electric door...”

“Don’t do that!” Boysenberry exclaimed, when Tootsie poked the skull once more. “She doesn’t like it...”

“How can you tell it’s she?” Dinky asked. “And that she doesn’t like it?”

“Well,” Truffle Shuffle said. “You can guess that by the shape of the jaw... Which is missing. But if we found the pelvis–”

“I’m not going to look for any pelvis!” Dinky exclaimed. “This place is creepy enough without some old skulls that apparently don’t like being poked!” She shuddered and sat on the floor, crying. “I want to go home...”

Boysenberry walked to the skull and picked it up. “Sh-she was a pony, like us,” she said, her voice quivering. “You wouldn’t want somepony to kick you, would you?”

“Yeah, I guess not,” Tootsie Flute replied, looking at the skull unsurely. “Should I apologise?”

“I don’t think so,” Boysenberry said. “We just need to put it back here...”

“Okay,” Tootsie muttered. She went to still crying Dinky and wrapped her hoof around her.

“Let’s go,” Diamond Tiara said. “I don’t want to stay here with–” She looked at the pipes where Boysenberry put the skull. “–her.”

“Boysenberry?” Zippoorwhill asked, approaching the cream filly, who walked through the corridor trying to look only at ponies in front of her. “H-how did you know what... she was saying?”

“I don’t know,” Boysenberry replied. “It was like she appeared in my head for a second.” She looked at Zippoorwhill who shuddered when their eyes met. “She was sad.”

Zippoorwhill nodded. “Did she have a name?”

Boysenberry only shrugged.

The light went off. Just like every time that happened, they simply lay down wherever they were and fell asleep, hugging each other to keep warm despite the gusts of cold wind. Featherweight, however, opened his eyes and waited till they accustomed to darkness. He remembered that, just before the “night” started, they were close to a short side corridor. There were actually numerous side corridors along the way, but most of them were short and empty. This one, however, was different. Featherweight could swear that he saw something shiny in it.

He got up, trying not to wake Rumble up, and took off, thinking that his hoofsteps would probably attract someone’s attention. He almost hit the ceiling, so he lowered his flight a bit and, flying along the wall and touching it with one hoof, approached the side corridor.

Featherweight’s eyes widened. The corridor was indeed short, and the colt was surprised that none of his companions noticed what he saw. He landed on the floor and trotted to it, staring at it in awe. A large sphere, made of gold or a similar metal. Even though the corridor was dark, the sphere was perfectly visible. Featherweight kneeled before it and closed his eyes.

“I want to get out of here,” Featherweight said. “Save Silver Spoon and get out of here.”

He opened his eyes and realised that he was lying on the floor, between Rumble and Sweetie Belle. He waited till he could see something in the darkness and looked in the direction of the side corridor.

The only answer was scratching behind a brick wall.

Author's Note

18 (still)

Veins

“How is that possible?” Diamond Tiara asked. Silver Spoon shrugged. None of them could say how the corridor could change so much overnight.

When they’d fallen asleep, they were in a straight tunnel, with floor, ceiling, and walls made of red brick. Now, it was round, and resembled a tortuous pipe, leading downwards. It was still made of red brick, but it was dirtier, as if it was covered in ashes. On the floor, just under Diamond’s hooves, the ashes were forming another word: ܘܪܝܕܐ. Diamond Tiara shuddered and smeared the ashes.

Shady Daze looked around and scratched his mane. “I don’t know... Could the walls just change like that? How do you think, Featherweight?”

Featherweight didn’t notice him at first. “Dunno, maybe,” he muttered, not looking at his friend.

Ruby sighed and turned to Diamond. “You may be rich and shitting diamonds, but you know nothing about magic. We were teleported here.”

“But why?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“Not to mention that there’s nopony here who could have teleported us,” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah, except of all those things scratching at the walls.” Rumble knocked at the bricks. “If they put us here, they could as well move us wherever they want.”

“So, they can teleport us anywhere in this maze?” Sweetie Belle groaned. “We’ll never get out of here...”

“We must try,” Tootsie Flute said, standing up. “We can’t stand ‘ere, waitin’ for ‘em to let us go.”

“She’s right,” Dinky added, looking at Boysenberry who was shivering – the new corridor was narrower than the one they’d been in before. Without saying a word, Diamond Tiara trotted forward.

It was hard to walk through the new corridor. Maybe it was its unusual shape that was affecting their perception, or maybe it was a part of the tunnel’s magic, but they were constantly walking into the walls or bumping into each other. The sharp turns caused them to completely lose orientation. It was getting colder; even though there was no wind, they were shuddering and coughing.

“I don’t like this,” Truffle Shuffle said, staring at the wall.

“What exactly?” Snails asked. “What’s wrong with those bricks?”

“They are covered in something that looks like seaweeds. Do you know what does it mean?”

“Umm...” Snails looked at the rachitic plants on the wall. “We can eat them?”

Truffle Shuffle sighed. “There used to be water here...”

“Good.” Snails sniffed his coat. “Maybe we could wash ourselves...”

“Or drown,” Truffle Shuffle replied, shaking his head. “Maybe they teleported us here and are going to fill this place with water...”

“No way,” Featherweight said. “If they wanted to kill us all, they’d already do that...”

“You still think it’s some kind of test, don’t you?” Rumble asked.

“Of course,” Featherweight replied, looking somewhere into the darkness before them. “What else could it be?”

Rumble only sighed.

“Not this again...” Diamond Tiara muttered, walking from behind the corner and seeing the round, metal door in front of them. She looked at it closer, trying her best not to touch it. There wasn’t a single scratch or mark on it – just a round block of stainless steel with a black knob on the left.

“What are we gonna do?” Tornado Bolt asked. “Come back?”

Tootsie Flute approached the door and lit her horn. Her magic almost reached the door, but suddenly, it disappeared in a stream of sparks. “I can’t reach it,” she muttered.

“I’ll try,” Sweetie Belle said, walking to the door. She aimed her horn at it, only to find out that her magic disappeared with a loud snap when she tried to open it. One by one, the unicorns tried to open the door, but without any effect.

“This won’t do...” Diamond Tiara turned to the group and smirked menacingly. “Ruby...” she muttered. “Would you be so kind and open the door?”

“Would you be so kind and fuck off?” Ruby asked. Diamond Tiara approached her and put her hoof on her shoulder.

“It wasn’t a request...” Diamond Tiara hissed through gritted teeth. “Go to the door. Now.”

Ruby’s horn started to glow. She aimed it at Diamond Tiara. Before the earth filly could react, the spell struck her, throwing her at the wall. It wasn’t strong, but the air was filled with the smell of burnt hair. Ruby ran to Diamond, only to be tackled by Zippoorwhill, who screamed when Ruby bit her hoof.

Another spell echoed through the tunnel. Ruby cursed, rolling on the floor. Snips and Snails caught her, while Tootsie Flute lowered aimed her horn at her.

“Done?” she asked, panting. “Or should I bash ye ‘ead again?”

“You too?” Ruby asked, spitting some blood on the floor. “This may kill me...”

Tootsie nodded. “Since we landed ‘ere, ya’re behavin’ like a Berkeley Hunt...” she muttered. “But ya’re right. I’ll do dat.”

“No!” Dinkie shouted.

“Don’t even try,” Diamond Tiara blocked Tootsie’s path. “She attacked me and she’ll open this door.”

Tootsie approached Diamond Tiara, aiming her horn at her. “Try to stop me,” she said coldly. “I can hit ya harder dan Ruby...”

“You’re okay,” Diamond Tiara replied, sweating. “Why do you want to sacrifice for that scum? She doesn’t even want your help...”

Apple Bloom stepped between Tootsie and Diamond Tiara. “Stop it!” she exclaimed. “Ah think we should–”

“Or maybe you want to follow your cousin?” Diamond Tiara interrupted her. “I’m pretty sure you’d want to see her again–” She screamed when Apple Bloom tackled her. Silver Spoon rushed to help her, but Sweetie Belle pushed her at the wall. She fell down and lost her glasses.

“Stop it!” Scootaloo exclaimed, grabbing Apple Bloom’s tail. Tootsie and Dinky tried to levitate Diamond Tiara away, but their magic was too weak. Boysenberry screamed. Rumble and Shady Daze helped Scootaloo and pulled Apple Bloom away, while Tornado Bolt, Zippoorwhill, and Pipsqueak held Diamond Tiara who was bleeding from her nose. Tootsie Flute was resting herself against the wall, where she’d been accidentally pushed by Rumble.

“Don’t ever say that again...” Apple Bloom muttered, blinking and rubbing her black eye.

Silver Spoon picked up her glasses, put them on and gave Sweetie Belle a nasty look. She then looked at the rest of the group: Snips and Snails holding Ruby, and the crowd of ponies keeping Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara apart from each other. “Are you done?” she asked. “Because I’m going to do something we should’ve already done.” She approached the door and pushed it open. “See? Normal door. It’s never the same thing twice.”

Tootsie Flute hissed in pain when she got up. Everypony looked at her, but she only smashed something with her hoof. Ruby, Diamond Tiara, and Apple Bloom were released and the group trotted forward, led by Silver Spoon.

“It’s never the same thing twice,” Featherweight muttered to himself. “She also figured it out. Yeah, now I only have to wait...”

“What are you talking about?” Boysenberry asked, looking around and shuddering. Featherweight noticed that Dinky and Tootsie weren’t, as usual, walking with her.

“This place is not what it seems,” Featherweight said, checking if nopony was listening to them. “All those sounds...”

“You can hear that too?” Boysenberry asked. “T-they whisper to me all the time... I talked with Tootsie and Dinky, but for them it’s just a noise.”

“What do they say?” Featherweight looked at the filly curiously. He himself heard only scratching, but he’d never admit it to her.

“Our names,” Boysenberry replied. “They’re calling me... Sometimes they say words from languages I don’t know...”

Featherweight nodded. Of course, there was a possibility that Boysenberry went nuts, but if he wanted to survive, he had to know everything about the maze. “And how are you, in general?” he asked.

“Better,” Boysenberry replied. “Dinky and Tootsie help me a lot...”

“And where are they?” Featherweight asked, turning back. He saw Dinky talking to Zippoorwhill and Tootsie walking slowly at the back of the group, even behind Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle. “Tootsie?”

“I’m comin’...” Tootsie muttered. Featherweight waited for her and saw that her fur was drenched in sweat. She stopped next to him and rested herself against the wall, panting heavily.

“Are you okay?” Featherweight asked.

“Sure...” Tootsie’s voice was barely louder than a whisper. She took two steps and almost fell down, grabbing Featherweight’s wing.

“Somepony help!” Featherweight exclaimed.

The group stopped. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle trotted to them. “What’s goin’ on?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Something’s wrong with Tootsie,” Featherweight replied, pointing at the filly. Dinky joined them and gasped, seeing her friend barely able to stand on her own.

“I can walk...” Tootsie muttered. Dinky and Sweetie Belle approached her and she rested herself against them.

“What happened to you?” Dinky asked, when they walked slowly behind the rest. Several ponies looked back at them and shuddered, seeing Tootsie.

“Dunno,” Tootsie replied, her voice raspy. Sweetie Belle gave her some water from her food supplies. She drank it and continued, “When Silver opened da door... I felt someffin’ like a pin prick...”

Dinky froze. “You may have been poisoned...”

“I’ll be good,” Tootsie said. “I ain’t brown bread yet...”

“I think we should stop.” Scootaloo looked into Tootsie’s eyes and shivered. “You need rest.”

“I can manage.”

The rest of the group stopped anyway, listening to their conversation. Some of them started to whisper to each other, pointing at Tootsie.

“I ain’t dead!” Tootsie exclaimed and coughed. “Let’s go!” She took a step forward, but then the light suddenly went off.

“We’ll lie you down,” Sweetie Belle said. “Try not to fall asleep, okay?”

“Sure,” Tootsie replied as firmly as she could in her situation. “I ain’t gonna give up. Not like dat...”

“I’ll stay with you.” Dinky’s voice sounded as if she was at the verge of tears. “I can talk to you, you know...”

“Do what ya want,” Tootsie muttered and hissed.

“Something’s wrong?” Dinky asked.

“It hurts...”

“It’ll get better, I’m sure...” Dinky whispered. “You... You said it yourself, right? You didn’t die immediately, so there’s hope.”

“Mhm.” Tootsie sighed.

“Mom says that there’s always hope,” Dinky said. “Even when it’s dark and we’re scared, we shouldn’t give up... Because tomorrow there’ll be light again and... Tootsie? Tootsie!”

“Shut up!” Ruby shouted from some other part of the tunnel. “I wanna sleep!”

“Tootsie!” Dinky wept, trying to pierce the darkness with her gaze.

“I’m okay...” Tootsie muttered. “Just dozed off...” She coughed. “Y’know, dat’s funny... Hope. It’s like, we’re still together, right?” Something about her voice changed. “But it won’t last long. And it ain’t gonna be nice...”

“What?” Dinky asked. She managed to find Tootsie in the darkness and hugged her. Tootsie’s body was burning, as if she had a fever; her fur was drenched in sweat.

“Split... apart... Kill...” Tootsie’s speech became slurred.

“Tootsie!”

“What?” Tootsie asked, this time more clearly. “Did I fell asleep?”

“I’m not sure...” Dinky felt tears flowing down her face. She sunk her face in Tootsie’s coat and closed her eyes, hoping that her warmth would keep her friend alive.

“Well... I’m toast, ain’t I?” Tootsie asked soon after the lights were turned on. The look Dinky was giving her was a clear answer.

“The whites of your eyes...” Scootaloo muttered, joining Dinky. “They’re yellow...”

“How are you?” Pipsqueak asked, giving Tootsie some water. “Can you walk?”

“Like I was run down by a steamroller...” Tootsie whispered. “My bones... Burnin’...”

“We can’t go any further,” Dinky said, giving Diamond Tiara a pleading look. “She needs time to get better...”

“We need to find more food,” Diamond Tiara replied. She was far from her usual self; she couldn’t look into Tootsie’s eyes without shuddering. “I... I’d like to stay here too, but... We can all die...”

“Leave me,” Tootsie whispered. “I’m only a load... And soon I’m gonna count worms anyway...”

“No!” Dinky replied. “I... I can carry you...”

“Listen, Dinky...” Tootsie coughed. Her body twitched and for some time she couldn’t speak. “Look at me... Ya think I’m gonna get better? ‘Cause I feel I’m gonna shit myself and snuff it. End of story.”

“No...” Dinky muttered. “You must be strong...” She lifted Tootsie and put her on her back. Apple Bloom helped her and together they carried her to the front of the group. The rest of the foals followed them in silence. Even Ruby lowered her head and trotted behind weeping Silver Spoon. Zippoorwhill didn’t fly. Instead, she walked next to Boysenberry who looked into Tootsie’s eyes and cried.

“I... know... what ya meant...” Tootsie whispered a few hours later. When Dinky and Apple Bloom carried her, she was frequently losing consciousness and regaining it. A few times they thought that it was over, but Tootsie wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

Boysenberry looked at her unsurely. “What I meant when?”

“They’re callin’... us... me...”

“Don’t listen to them!” Boysenberry exclaimed. The group stopped. Dinky and Apple Bloom gently put Tootsie on the floor.

“My... time... H-he...” She reached her hoof, pointing somewhere. “He’ll be next...”

“Who?” Rumble asked, shuddering when Tootsie’s hoof landed on him for a moment, before moving to Snips, Pipsqueak, and Truffle Shuffle. Tootsie coughed and looked at the ceiling. Her hind legs twitched and her body finally went limp.

“No!!!” Dinky cried, hiding her face in her hooves. Boysenberry hugged Tootsie for the last time, while Apple Bloom closed her eyes.

“Let’s go,” said Diamond Tiara in silence, interrupted only by cries.

“And leave her?” Zippoorwhill asked.

“Oh come on...” Diamond Tiara muttered. “Are you going to carry her? We already left Button and Babs...”

“B-but we should do something for her...” Tornado Bolt said. “Like, a funeral...”

“Where are you going to bury her?” Silver Spoon asked with a sigh. “We can only put her here... I don’t know...” She lowered her head. “It’s all my fault...” she whispered quietly.

Diamond Tiara looked at her unsurely, but shrugged and went to Apple Bloom. Together, they moved Tootsie to the darker part of the tunnel and put her there, resting her head against the wall, so she looked as if she was asleep. The foals looked at her for some time, but none of them could think of any words to say.

“Goodbye, Tootsie Flute,” Boysenberry muttered under her breath, breaking the silence.

The foals slowly turned and walked deeper into the tunnel without looking back.

Author's Note

17.

United We Stand

“I killed her.”

Zippoorwhill blinked, staring at Silver Spoon. “Who?” she asked.

“Tootsie,” Silver Spoon replied, sobbing. “I... I opened the door... And then that needle poisoned her.”

“It’s not your fault,” Zippoorwhill said, wrapping her wing around Silver Spoon. “This could be anypony. I could be standing there...”

“But it was me who just had to open the door!” Silver Spoon shouted, shuddering and grabbing Zippoorwhill’s coat. “M-maybe if we came back instead of trying to get through it–”

“Zip is right,” Diamond Tiara muttered, turning to her friend. “You didn’t kill her, Silver. It just happened...”

“Everything in this place ‘just happens!’” Silver Spoon exclaimed, shaking Zippoorwhill’s wing off of her. “Button just got poisoned! Babs just got electrocuted! Tootsie...” She dropped on the ground, wailing. Zippoorwhill tried to help her up, but Diamond Tiara shook her head.

“Give her some time,” Diamond Tiara said, sitting next to Silver Spoon and patting her mane. “I’ll stay with her...”

Zippoorwhill nodded and looked at the others. They hadn’t walked much since Tootsie’s death. A few hours after they left her body in the tunnel, the lights went out and they had to stop. After they’d woken up, somehow none of them wanted to get up and walk further.

Dinky was lying on her back next to Boysenberry, trails of tears visible on her face. Boysenberry herself seemed to be unconscious. She was looking at the wall with glassy eyes, and only her breathing and some occasional sounds she was making were indicating that she was alive.

Zippoorwhill approached them and looked at Dinky. The unicorn stared back at her. “You were right,” Dinky said in an emotionless voice.

“What do you mean?” Zippoorwhill asked.

“We’re already dead,” Dinky replied. “This place... It’s Tartarus. We’ll stay here forever, tortured, having to watch everypony die...”

Zippoorwhill sighed. She ran her hoof through Dinky’s mane, saying, “Don’t lose hope, Dinky. How would we even get there? We’re still alive and we can get out of here.”

“Maybe we’re alive...” Dinky whimpered. “But for how long? You’ve heard what Tootsie said before she died... Somepony else will die soon.”

“Don’t say that...” Zippoorwhill muttered. Suddenly, she realised how quiet her voice sounded – it faltered and died down, suffocated by the silence of the maze. She sat next to Dinky and sighed.

Tornado Bolt stood up and flew to Zippoorhwill. “Oh, come on!” she exclaimed. “We’ll never get outta here if you all keep sitting on your flanks doing nothing. I don’t know how about you, but I’m leaving!” She flew up the corridor, above the heads of the rest.

“Wait,” Rumble said, taking off. “I’m going with you.”

“Me too.” Snips got up. Snails looked at the rest of the group unsurely and followed his friend.

Silver Spoon poked Diamond Tiara. “Come on,” she muttered. “You have to lead them...”

“Seems that Tornado already did,” Diamond Tiara replied, getting up reluctantly. One by one, the foals were forming the group and walking further into the dark tunnel. It led them up, the brick walls getting a bit closer to each other, as if they were trying to trap them.

“You know what?” Scootaloo asked, stopping suddenly. “It doesn’t make sense... We walk all the time and this corridor still looks the same...”

“What do you mean?” Apple Bloom asked. “All those walls look similar.”

“But it’s even the dirt on the walls...” Scootaloo pointed at the pattern formed by dust and debris on the brick wall. “It seems like something kept teleporting us to the beginning...”

“It’s impossible,” Sweetie Belle said. “We’d notice that...”

“Did we notice when they teleported us in our sleep?” Scootaloo sighed. “This may be trying to kill us, you know...”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “You just said that. In our sleep... We were sleeping and that’s why we didn’t see it. If there were some kind of portal here, I’d see that. And if I didn’t, Dinky or Ruby would see that too. Even Snips and Snails...”

“Notice what?” Snips asked, turning to them.

“That we’re in a seemingly endless loop created by putting a magical portal somewhere in that corridor that, when we enter it, teleports us to the beginning of the tunnel, so it gives us the impression that this corridor is absurdly long,” Snails replied. Snips and the Cutie Mark Crusaders gave him a weird look.

“Yeah, what he said,” Scootaloo muttered and looked at the wall. “Actually, nevermind. It hadn’t been so clean before...”

Apple Bloom followed Scootaloo’s gaze and saw that indeed, the wall got cleaner. She turned back and saw something shining behind them. When she blinked, it disappeared in the darkness.

“Ah think it may be trying to kill us...” Apple Bloom muttered.

“You too?” Sweetie Belle sighed and rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing there.”

“Shut up!” Tornado Bolt exclaimed. “There’s something written here...”

“It’s just another of those weird worms...” Pipsqueak pointed at the “ܠܒܐ” written on the floor. It looked as if it was deeply carved in the bricks. Behind it, there was an entrance to a large room with a low ceiling.

“Do you think we can go past it?” Zippoorwhill asked. So far, none of the foals went past the scribbling. “I’d rather not get killed.”

“Am I going to be your guinea pig again?” Ruby gave Zippoorwhill and Tornado Bolt a nasty look.

“Not really,” Tornado Bolt replied and flew behind the sign. Everypony held their breaths, waiting for something to happen.

“See?” Tornado Bolt asked. “It’s safe. And there’s food in here.”

The foals cheered loudly. Over the last few days they hadn’t found any food and their supplies were running low. They rushed into the room, got to the table and for a while they were devouring the food in silence. Even the sounds from behind the walls disappeared, or maybe they just tuned them out.

Scootaloo’s ears perked up. She listened for any noise and realised that indeed the things behind the walls were now silent. She wasn’t sure what to think about it – did it mean that they were close to the exit, or were they being watched? She looked at the ceiling and saw a black line in the middle of it. The line was also painted on the walls and floor, dividing the room in two.

“Have you seen this?” Scootaloo asked Truffle Shuffle, pointing at the line. “What do you think this is?”

“I have no idea,” Truffle replied, staring at the line. “Maybe it’s just some decoration?” He stood in the middle of the room, his front legs on the left side of the line and his hind legs on the other. “Nothing,” he muttered. “It’s just a line...”

Suddenly, the door to the room closed with a loud bang. Truffle looked at them, but before he could do something, the ceiling split along the line and another wall emerged from there, going down quickly.

“No!” Scootaloo shouted when the wall hit Truffle’s back. He fell down, thrashing when the wall pinned him to the floor. Silver Spoon barely avoided the similar fate; she was also in the middle of the room, but she rushed to the left side of it before the wall could hit her.

Truffle Shuffle screamed. The wall, meeting an unexpected resistance, pushed harder. Truffle tried to crawl from under it, but it was holding him firmly. He looked at the rest of the foals, his eyes bloodshot, and reach his hoof towards them.

With a terrible snap, his spine gave up. Blood flowed from his mouth, staining the floor. He thrashed a few times before finally going limp when the wall crushed him, dividing the room into two.

Scootaloo turned her gaze away from Truffle’s body and saw that about half of the group was missing. Apple Bloom was there, holding a crying Silver Spoon. Boysenberry and Dinky were sitting next to the wall, hugging each other and screaming. Rumble and Featherweight stood next to Scootaloo, silent, while Ruby was staring at Truffle, shuddering.

“Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo shouted. “Where are you?”

“I’m here!” Sweetie replied from behind the wall. “Is Apple Bloom there?”

“Yes,” Apple Bloom said. “Who’s there with ya?”

“Zippoorwhill, Tornado, Pipsqueak, Snips, Snails, Shady...”

“Diamond Tiara!” Silver Spoon exclaimed, freeing herself from Apple Bloom’s grasp.

“I’m here,” Diamond Tiara’s voice could barely be heard from behind the wall. “Are... Are you okay, Silver?”

“No,” Silver Spoon replied, shuddering. “I... I have enough...” She dropped on the floor. “I want to go...”

“It’s okay, Silver,” Diamond Tiara said. “I’ll try to do something... Do you think this wall will rise?”

“I don’t know,” Rumble said.

“Maybe it’s an experiment.” Featherweight looked at the wall. “They split us and now we’re going to–”

“Say something about ‘them’ one more time and I’ll beat the shit out of you...” Ruby muttered. Featherweight gave her a nasty glare.

Suddenly, they heard some grating sound behind them. They looked there and saw that a part of the outer wall of the room moved to the side, revealing another corridor.

“Some door opened on our side,” Sweetie Belle said. “Do you think we have to go there?”

“Same here,” Apple Bloom replied. “Ah guess ‘they’ suggest that...”

“Told you,” Featherweight muttered to Rumble and Ruby. “It’s an experiment...”

Ruby only shook her head.

“We’re going,” Diamond Tiara said. “Silver... I hope we’ll meet again, but... If we don’t make it, remember that I’ll always be your friend...”

“Yeah, right,” Scootaloo muttered.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom hissed. She walked to the wall. “Sweetie Belle... Ah promise we’ll find ya...”

One by one, the foals walked to the wall, muttering goodbyes to their friends on the other side. Finally, the time came. They turned to the opening of the new tunnel and disappeared in the darkness.

Author's Note

16.

Jammed

“Ah wonder what will happen to Sweetie Belle...” Apple Bloom muttered. It was two days since their group was split. They were wandering through the dark, narrow part of the maze, with walls covered in ashes so much that it was impossible to guess what they were made of. The floor was made of metal, ringing under their hooves. Under the ceiling, there was a set of pipes made of copper and rusty iron. Something was rustling in them almost constantly, driving Apple Bloom mad. She briefly considered asking someone to lift her and trying to unscrew one of the pipes. After a while, she thought that it’d probably be suicide.

“I’m afraid she won’t come back...” Scootaloo said. “What chances do they have?”

“What chances do we have?” Apple Bloom asked. “Even if we meet them... Will we live to see it?”

Ruby trotted to them, smirking. “I couldn’t care less,” she said. “I didn’t like any of them and I don’t like any of you. I won’t miss any of you and won’t be missed when I die.”

“At least ya’re honest about it,” Apple Bloom muttered. “Which doesn’t mean that Ah want to talk with ya.”

“Oh please,” Ruby rolled her eyes. “There are worse bitches than me here...” She pointed at Silver Spoon who was hiding somewhere between Featherweight and Rumble, staring at the floor. “Hey, you!” Ruby trotted to Silver Spoon. “Not so tough without that pink shit by your side?”

Silver Spoon muttered something incomprehensible, lowering her head even more.

“I’m talking to you!” Ruby exclaimed, pushing Silver at the wall.

“Enough!” Dinky exclaimed, standing between Ruby and Silver Spoon. “What did she do to you?”

“What did she do to me?” Ruby rolled her eyes. “To me, to them...” She pointed at Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. “Didn’t they laugh at your mother too?”

“Yes, but now we should stay together,” Dinky replied. She turned to Silver Spoon and helped her up. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Silver Spoon replied. Boysenberry walked to her and looked at her, shuddering.

“What’s going on?” Silver Spoon asked, looking at Boysenberry unsurely.

“I just saw...” Boysenberry rubbed her temples. “I don’t know.”

“Am I going to die?” Silver Spoon asked. “I... When Truffle Shuffle...”

“I don’t think so,” Boysenberry replied.

“Oh, come on,” Ruby muttered. “You’re predicting the future now, freak? What will you say about me?”

Boysenberry said nothing. Featherweight walked to Ruby. “Leave her and Silver alone,” he said. “Let’s go.”

“I wonder what will happen to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle muttered. They were walking through the maze of walls made of polished steel. Their reflections, garbled by the shiny metal, were staring back at them.

“They’ll be okay,” Zippoorwhill said. “Rumble’s with them.”

“He was with us all the time and you see what happened,” Sweetie Belle replied. “All those deaths... And now we’re split.”

“We’ll be okay,” Tornado Bolt said. “Though I’m worried about Boysenberry and Dinky. They had to stay with Ruby...”

“Stop talking!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. “We need to go!”

“And you think Ruby is the worst...” Sweetie Belle muttered, gritting her teeth. Their hoofsteps were echoing in the corridor, causing her head to ache.

“No wonder Diamond’s stressed,” Zippoorwhill said. “Remember about Silver Spoon...”

“Meh,” Sweetie replied. “I couldn’t care less about her.”

“Still, it’s like with you, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom,” Tornado Bolt said.

“Oh, come on...” Sweetie Belle sighed.

“Hey!” Snips exclaimed. “Diamond already told us to get faster, why are you doing that too?”

“I don’t,” Sweetie Belle replied and trotted faster to overtake Snips and Snails.

For a while, they were walking in silence.

“Seriously, though,” Snails muttered. “Why are we going that fast? It’s gonna get us no matter what pace we choose.”

“Shut up and walk.” Diamond Tiara groaned.

“We should save strength,” Snips said. “Like, who knows how long those tunnels are...”

“Fine!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. “I want to find Silver Spoon as fast as possible! I know that you, idiots, don’t get it, since you are so inseparable that you both somehow ended up here! You can go however you want, but at least stop talking!”

“For once I agree with you,” Sweetie Belle said. “Together, we have a bigger chance...”

“Exactly,” Pipsqueak muttered. “When there’s eight of us, the chance that someone walks into a trap is twice as big as when there were sixteen of us...”

“That’s not what I meant,” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“And our little math genius will now walk in front of me,” Diamond Tiara poked Pipsqueak. “How big is your chance of survival now?”

“Hey, I only pointed that out!” Pipsqueak exclaimed.

“Well, you shouldn’t have!” Diamond Tiara shouted.

“Enough!” Tornado Bolt flew between her companions. “You both behave like babies!” She landed and trotted forward. “Let’s go. I’ll guide you.”

“So, do you really think she sees the future?” Rumble asked.

“Of course,” Featherweight replied, staring at Boysenberry who was walking by Dinky’s side. “This maze... It does weird things to ponies.”

“Yeah, right...” Rumble muttered. “It’s not the maze. We witnessed four of our friends die and we got separated from the rest.”

“But who killed them? The maze!” Featherweight looked at Boysenberry once again, then moved his gaze to Silver Spoon and smirked.

Rumble sighed. “If you like this maze so much, why don’t you propose to it?” He shook his head. “Oh wait, you still think you will save Silver Spoon and leave the maze with her, don’t you?”

“How do you–”

“You talk in your sleep, genius,” Rumble replied. “I have a feeling that you think the maze gave you some superpowers or whatever.”

“Well, Boysenberry has visions of the future,” Featherweight said. “And such things happen, you know. I also had a vision and–”

“Frankly? I don’t give a shit,” Rumble muttered. “Unless one of your visions tells us how to get out of here, I’m not listening to it.” He trotted forward, joining Dinky, Silver Spoon, and Boysenberry.

“Hello,” Rumble said, turning to Boysenberry, who shuddered. “How’s the future?”

“She doesn’t see the future, Rumble,” Dinky muttered. “She’s just scared, like all of us.”

“Yeah.” Rumble nodded. “Just what I thought. Featherweight went crazy.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “You’d better watch out for him.”

Boysenberry nodded and looked at the floor, muttering something to herself.

Rumble turned to Dinky. “So, how are you doing?” he asked.

“Bad.” Dinky sighed. “I miss mom... Not to mention that Tootsie died, Zippy got separated... Boysenberry is my only friend left...” She stifled a sob.

Silver Spoon gave out a groan and wiped her eyes.

Rumble wrapped his hoof around Dinky. “Same with Pipsqueak and Shady...” he muttered. “Button died... And now I’m left with Featherweight, who thinks aliens put an antenna in his brain, allowing him to receive signals from space.”

Dinky smiled through tears. “Is it really that bad?”

“Worse.”

“Just what we needed...” Silver Spoon muttered. Dinky and Rumble looked at her. “What?” she asked. “I just don’t like the way he looks at me...”

“Yeah, I think he has a problem,” Rumble said, checking if Featherweight wasn’t within earshot. Luckily, Featherweight was currently talking about something with Apple Bloom. Judging by Scootaloo’s expression, it was something about the aliens from the maze.

“I was thinking, however,” Rumble said, “what exactly is going on with Boysenberry?”

“I have dreams,” Boysenberry replied in monotone. “Also, I’m still here, Rumble. You can speak to me when you want to ask for something. I have glimpses of the future but I don’t remember them after they’re over. That’s it.”

Rumble nodded. Suddenly, Boysenberry clenched her eyes shut and rubbed her temples, shuddering. The whole group stopped, looking at her.

“What happened?” Scootaloo asked when Boysenberry opened her eyes.

“I don’t know...” Boysenberry panted. “I don’t know!”

“Well, that’s something new,” Tornado Bolt muttered. The tunnel they were in suddenly changed into a large hall. Unlike other rooms they’d visited, it wasn’t empty. Numerous rusty devices were scattered on the floor or standing by the walls. Tornado picked up a cogwheel and looked at it before throwing it away. It was rusty and broken – the machine it was a part of had probably fallen to dust ages ago.

“You led us to a trash can,” Diamond Tiara muttered, staring at the screws, pistons, cogwheels, and cylinders littering the floor. “What the hell is that?”

“Well, guess all that stuff in this maze needs some maintenance,” Pipsqueak said.

“Yeah,” Snips muttered. “Wonder who changes the lightbulbs...”

“How many spider-ducks does it take to change a lightbulb?” Snails asked. He went silent seeing the look Diamond Tiara was giving him.

“Okay,” Tornado Bolt muttered, looking at her companions unsurely. “It’s just some scrap metal. No food here and I guess we won’t be comfortable sleeping here. Let’s go.”

“Right,” Zippoorwhill said. “It’s no use standing here, unless you want to suddenly collect scrap metal.”

“Who knows?” Pipsqueak picked up a sharp piece of iron. “Maybe it’ll be useful one day...”

“To think about it...” Zippoorwhill took a piece of copper pipe. “If any spider-duck comes to us, I’m gonna smash its head...”

“How do you know where its head is?” Snails asked. “Maybe it doesn’t have a head. Just legs to make noise in the darkness...”

“Stop sniffing glue,” Diamond Tiara muttered.

“Glue?” Snails looked around. “I can’t see any glue here...”

“Shut up,” Tornado Bolt muttered. “Are you done picking up souvenirs? Dunno how about you, but I’d rather look for some food.”

The group walked through the cemetery of long-destroyed machines, tripping over the scattered parts. They were walking slowly – knocking one piece of metal with a hoof usually meant triggering a domino of falling pipes, scraps of sheet iron, and metal cones. Each time something like that happened, they were stopping, waiting for it to calm down.

“I don’t like this,” Shady Daze muttered. “What if some of those machines are still alive?”

“Machines can’t be alive,” Pipsqueak replied.

“I know, but...” Shady scratched his mane. “You know, robots and stuff...”

“If those were robots, they’re inactive for ages,” Pipsqueak said. “Diamond Tiara is right. This place must be some kind of scrapyard or spare parts storage.”

“Maybe,” Shady Daze said.

Zippoorwhill looked at the large metal cube on her left unsurely. “I wonder what does it do?” she muttered.

“I don’t think it was ever doing something,” Tornado Bolt replied, poking the cube with her hoof. “It’s just a piece of junk. Wonder who and why needed it.”

“We’ll never know,” Zippoorwhill said. “Those things aren’t very talkative...”

“Somehow, I don’t want them to suddenly start to talk,” Tornado Bolt said. “Like... I’m not sure what would I hear from them. Maybe more than I’d like to know.”

“Like why they’re killing us?” Zippoorwhill asked.

“That’s something I’d like to know.”

For a moment they walked in silence, interrupted only but the sound of hooves hitting the metal elements and curses of the foals tripping. The room seemed to be endless – they could barely see the entrances of a few corridors on its other end, half-buried under the carcasses of mysterious devices.

Suddenly, they heard terrible screeching, as if one piece of rusty metal slid off another piece. They didn’t pay attention to that – in the pile of iron it was quite a normal sound.

Three explosions nearly deafened them. They fell down, but nothing more happened.

“What was that?” Shady Daze asked.

“This,” Pipsqueak replied, pointing at something that looked like an old sentry gun. It was dirty and so rusty that they wondered why it hadn’t fallen apart. An empty case was jammed in its ejection port, which was why it only fired three times.

“Everypony’s okay?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“N-no...” Zippoorwhill replied, shuddering and staring at the red blot on her fur. Tornado Bolt’s body was lying next to her, in a rapidly growing puddle of blood. A single wound was visible in the side of her chest.

“Shit...” Shady Daze muttered.

“We... we need to get out of this room...” Sweetie Belle muttered. Everypony looked at her. “I mean... We can’t help her and there may be more of those things here.”

“She’s right,” Pipsqueak muttered, looking at Tornado Bolt and shuddering. “Tornado wouldn’t want us to stay here.”

Zippoorwhill whimpered. She ran her hoof down Tornado’s mane and closed her eyes. Then she took a piece of sheet metal and covered her body with it. “That’s all we can do for her...” she muttered absent-mindedly. “Let’s go...”

They didn’t even pay attention which corridor to choose. They ran through the room and into the middle one, hoping to get as far from that room as possible.

Author's Note

15.

Them Bones

Apple Bloom shuddered hearing the buzzing somewhere before them. It wasn’t similar to anything they’d encountered in the maze before – not a continuous hum of unknown machinery or strange steps in the darkness, but rather an oscillating, low-pitched buzz, as if of some enormous lawn mower.

“What d’ya think it is?” she asked Scootaloo.

“Nothing safe, probably,” Scootaloo replied, staring at the ground beneath her hooves, littered with some rusty junk. “Maybe a woodchipper that only waits for someone to fall into it.” She shrugged. “Maybe we should let Silver Spoon go there first?”

“I heard that,” Dinky muttered, walking past them. “That wasn’t nice.”

“We’re nice to her,” Apple Bloom replied. “That doesn’t mean we have to think good of her.”

“It’d help much,” Dinky said, staring at Silver Spoon, who was trotting next to Boysenberry, carefully watching the ground before taking every step.

“Ah prefer the hard way,” Apple Bloom said coldly and trotted forward. “Let’s see yer woodchipper, Scootaloo.”

The group followed them, walking through the narrow corridor and entering a large room, full of rusty, scattered devices that were clanging under their hooves.

“The others were there...” Boysenberry muttered under her breath.

“How do you know?” Dinky asked. Suddenly, some terrible stench attacked her nostrils. She staggered, holding her stomach, and threw up, trembling.

Next to them, Ruby screamed, pointing at something. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo ran away, hiding behind some damaged machine. Only Featherweight walked to the corpse, tied to two rusty girders rested against the wall, and looked into the empty eye sockets. Some sophisticated symbol was painted in her blood on the wall behind it.

“It’s Tornado Bolt...” he whispered. “They cut her wings off...”

“Diamond Tiara went crazy...” Ruby muttered, raising her head to look at the body, surrounded by a swarm of flies buzzing loudly. “They made some fucking shrine and sacrificed her, or something...”

“She was shot,” Featherweight said in a strange, empty voice. “Look, there are wounds here...”

Nopony looked. Silver Spoon rested herself against Dinky and threw up too, crying and screaming.

“Whatever it was... They dissected her...” Rumble said, joining Featherweight. “Like in the movies... They took her organs.”

“But why did they leave her tied here?” Scootaloo asked, avoiding looking at the body.

“They’re checking our reactions,” Featherweight replied. “First they split us into two groups and now they want to know if we still care about the others...”

“Shut the fuck up...” Ruby muttered. “Just... shut up. I can’t take it anymore.”

“For once I–” Dinky started, but Ruby pushed her away and grabbed some metal pipe, throwing it at the wall.

“Get out of your holes, fuckers!” Ruby’s voice echoed through the room. “Come here and face us instead of murdering us one by one! Come on, cunts! Come here or just kill me!”

“Ruby... Chill out,” Scootaloo said, grabbing Ruby’s hoof. “Please...”

“I won’t!” Ruby exclaimed, firing her magic at the nearby pile of rubbish, sending it flying. “I want to know why!”

“It’s all a test,” Featherweight explained.

Ruby freed herself from Scootaloo’s grasp, ran to Featherweight and tackled him, punching him repeatedly before Rumble grabbed her and pulled her away.

“Let’s get outta here,” Apple Bloom whispered, looking at Tornado Bolt’s body.

Before they left, Scootaloo grabbed a rusty pipe and tucked her under her wing. “Just in case,” she muttered.

They turned right and walked through the room as quickly as possible, with Rumble still holding Ruby, and Dinky and Silver Spoon guiding each other. Boysenberry was walking behind them, turning back to look at Tornado Bolt from time to time. Featherweight was trotting next to her, limping and wiping blood from his nose.

The dark and narrow corridor was guiding them deeper and deeper. Scootaloo stomped on something that crunched under her hoof. She looked at it and realised that it was a bone – more exactly, a piece of pony’s jaw. She patted Apple Bloom’s back and pointed at it.

“Do you think it’s the other group again?” Scootaloo asked.

“No way,” Apple Bloom replied, pointing at other bones littering the floor. “At least Ah hope so...”

“At least those shits don’t make shrines out of them,” Ruby muttered. Trails of tears were still visible on her face.

Apple Bloom sighed. “Ah don’t think it was–”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Ruby said. “Just like I didn’t ask to be brought here with you.”

“Ruby...” Scootaloo whispered, but Ruby quickened her pace, going to the front of the group.

“Ah don’t get her,” Apple Bloom muttered.

“Maybe she’s a test subject,” Featherweight said, catching up with them. “Boysenberry sees the future... Maybe they tamper with her level of aggression...”

“Do you find it funny?” Scootaloo asked, glaring at him angrily. “Maybe I should smack you too?”

Silver Spoon stopped and turned to them. “Also, she was a sorry bitch even before that maze...” she said.

“Maybe because you were laughing at her mother?” Apple Bloom asked, walking closer to Silver Spoon. “Ah see that ya’re getting better... Dinky may protect you as long as she wants, but Ah know yer true colours...”

“Apple Bloom!” Dinky yelled.

“Ah’m only talking to her,” Apple Bloom said.

“I think we shouldn’t argue,” Dinky muttered, staring at the wall. “They want it.”

“Oh come on,” Scootaloo said. “Are you changing into Featherweight, or what?” She sighed. “This nutjob may be right, to think about it... Ruby’s more aggressive, you keep telling us not to argue...”

Dinky gave Apple Bloom a nasty look, but before she said something, Rumble stopped and turned to them.

“That’s something new,” he muttered.

In front of them, there was a small room. In the middle of it, there was a changeling – or rather, an empty chitin shell, covered by a thick layer of dust. It looked as if something dried it a long time ago.

“We’re not the only group here,” Featherweight said, flying to the body and poking it. “They also test changelings... Who knows, maybe zebras and griffons too?”

“Does any of the tests include murdering somepony?” Ruby asked.

“No,” Boysenberry replied in an emotionless voice. “But...” Suddenly, she shuddered and went silent.

“But what?” Ruby asked, but Boysenberry didn’t say anything, staring at the floor next to the changeling's body.

The foals walked around the chitin shell, trying not to touch it and left the room. Whatever managed to dry it could still be there. The scratching coming from behind the walls was also an indication that something was going on there. All the conversation stopped when they were walking through the tunnel, its walls covered by pipes. Something was gurgling and hissing in them constantly, making them stare at the pipes unsurely before quickening up.

“It’s like some kinda factory,” Apple Bloom whispered.

“I see,” Scootaloo replied, blinking. It was slowly getting darker. “Dinky, are you with us? How’s Boysenberry?”

“Not good,” Dinky muttered. Boysenberry was walking next to her, counting to ten under her breath.

“The corridor is getting wider,” Rumble said. Indeed, soon they could walk in pairs or in threes. There were still pipes by the walls, but they were bigger and not as rusty as before. The ceiling, however, was getting lower – in connection to growing darkness, it wasn’t making them feel better.

“I’d rather not sleep in that place,” Silver Spoon muttered, catching up with Apple Bloom. “Who knows what can happen here... Aargh!”

One of the pipes suddenly exploded, pipe hitting Silver Spoon who bumped into Apple Bloom. Somepony screamed. Scootaloo felt Boysenberry jumping and stomping on her. Ruby cursed loudly somewhere behind the vapour.

“Silver!” Dinky exclaimed. “Are you okay?”

“Again...” Silver Spoon muttered, rolling on the floor, hissing in pain. “I did it again?”

“Did what?” Featherweight asked. He’d ran to Silver Spoon as quickly as he could and helping her up. Dinky’s eyes widened when she saw burns on her side.

“I... I killed her...” Silver Spoon muttered. “Again... Pushed her...” She pointed at the floor between her and Scootaloo. A part of it was a trapdoor that was now closing slowly.

“Who?” Rumble asked. “It wasn’t your fault, Silver, it could’ve happened to anypony–”

“Oh no...” Scootaloo muttered. The steam evaporated and she was able to count her companions to see who was missing. “Apple Bloom!”

“Ah’m here...” Apple Bloom’s muffled voice came from below the floor. “It’s some kinda basement.”

“Can you walk out of it?” Scootaloo asked.

“Y’all would have to open that thingy...” Apple Bloom replied. “It’s not too big...”

Scootaloo pushed the now-closed trapdoor with her hoof, but nothing happened. “Don’t worry,” she said, her voice trembling. “We’ll find the way...”

“There’s a skeleton here,” Apple Bloom said. Boysenberry shuddered.

“Somepony from the other group?” Rumble asked.

“No... It’s too old...” Apple Bloom replied. They heard her moving in her cell. “There’s something scratched here...” A moment of silence, interrupted only by Scootaloo banging her hoof against the floor in a vain attempt to free her friend. “It says, ‘don’t blink’...”

“Is there something else there?” Featherweight asked. “Something, umm... alive?”

“There’s a bigger room there,” Apple Bloom replied. They heard the sound of her standing up, followed by a knock, as if she hit her head against the low ceiling. “Ah’m not gonna go there... There’s another skeleton there...” She gulped. “It looks... crushed.”

“Maybe you should try?” Dinky asked, holding crying Silver Spoon. “Maybe it’s another exit in there...”

They heard hoofsteps echoing under the floor. After a while, however, they ended. “Oh no...” Apple Bloom whispered. “Oh, sweet Celestia, no... No...”

“What?” Scootaloo asked, hitting the trapdoor so hard her hoof snapped.

“There’s... somethin’...” Apple Bloom muttered. “D-doesn’t move... Can’t blink... Ah can’t blink...”

“Don’t blink!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “I’m coming for you... Guys, help me!” She took a pipe she’d taken from the place where they’d found Tornado Bolt and tried to put it between the trapdoor and the floor. Rumble rushed to help her.

“It’s closer!” Apple Bloom screamed. “Ah... Ah blinked and it’s closer... It’s... It’s...” For a moment they could hear only her heavy breathing.

“What?” Featherweight asked. “How it’s like?”

“Shut up!” Ruby exclaimed, running to help Rumble and Scootaloo. The trapdoor was now slightly ajar.

With a loud clang, the pipe snapped in two. Scootaloo fell backwards, landing on Rumble and Ruby. Cursing her injured hoof, she ran forward, but the stump of the pipe slipped from between the tiles which locked again.

“Hold on, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

“Ah... can’t...” Apple Bloom muttered. “It’s...”

Suddenly, Apple Bloom screamed. Her scream mixed with the sound of scratching at the walls and the floor and changed into gurgle. Scootaloo fell to the floor, putting her hooves on her ears. Dinky closed her eyes and fell next to, cowering. Only Boysenberry remained standing, her legs shivering.

Everything went silent. Scootaloo ran to the trapdoor and banged her good hoof against it. “Apple Bloom!” she shouted, tears flowing down her face. “Apple Bloom!”

“She’s gone...” Rumble whispered. The corridor went dark.

“No!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Apple Bloom... Please...”

“Let’s go...” Ruby said, her voice barely audible. “I don’t care about the darkness, I don’t wanna stay here.”

“But... Apple Bloom...” Scootaloo whimpered.

“She’s dead, like Button, Tornado, and the others...” Ruby sighed. “Wanna be next?” She trotted forward, nearly bumping into Rumble.

Somepony touched Scootaloo’s mane. She lifted her head, blinking, and recognised Silver Spoon. “I’m so sorry...” Silver muttered.

“It wasn’t...” Scootaloo swallowed hard. Somehow, she couldn’t make the words “it wasn’t your fault” escape her lips. She took a deep breath, but Silver Spoon trotted forward, trying to catch up with the rest of the group.

“Wait for me!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “If... If we’re gonna walk now, we should hold each other... So nopony gets lost.”

“Right,” Rumble muttered. “And we should talk... So we always know if somepony’s missing...”

“Apple Bloom...” Featerweight said. “How do you think, what was that?”

Dinky shrugged. “I don’t know... But now it not only sets traps... It kills us too.”

Everypony went silent, despite Rumble’s orders. Not caring about the darkness, they slowly walked down the corridor, whispering pleas to Celestia or sharing memories of yet another fallen friend.

Author's Note

14.

Light in the Darkness

A drop of water hit the floor, the sound echoing through the corridor. Sweetie Belle shuddered, hearing a splash and feeling cold water on her hoof.

“Eww...” Pipsqueak muttered. “Where is all that water coming from?”

“I have no idea,” Shady Daze replied. The whole tunnel was flooded; a muddy, slightly fluorescent water was reaching their knees.

“Something touched my leg!” Snails exclaimed. “There’s something there! It has tentacles!”

“Shut up.” Diamond Tiara smacked Snails in the back of the head. “It’s that moss. The water is full of it.”

“Yeah...” Shady Daze looked into the water. “But... Should moss glow purple?”

“Should we be in here?” Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “Stop asking dumb questions. And you, stop flying here. You’re pissing me off.”

“Why?” Zippoorwhill asked. “Should I wet my hooves out of solidarity with you?” She flew deeper into the tunnel. “Nothing here.”

Sweetie Belle followed the pegasus with her gaze. She could now barely see her – even the cold light of the moss couldn’t pierce the darkness veiling them. Diamond Tiara was only few steps apart from her, yet Sweetie could hardly see her silhouette. “Is it me, or is it getting darker?”

“I don’t think so,” Pipsqueak replied, staring into the water and following Zippoorwhill slowly. His fur was wet and covered in mud – he was almost completely underwater. “It’s getting brighter...”

“In your head, maybe,” Shady Daze muttered. He trotted to Pipsqueak and shook him. “You okay there?”

“Sure,” Pipsqueak replied. “How about you?”

“I’m good,” Shady said. “How about the rest?”

“Warm water,” Snips said. “Could be worse, right?” He prodded Snails.

“Yeah...” Snails shuddered. “It could have drowned us all... Or maybe a monster would have emerged and swallow us alive...”

“Shut up,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “You’re not making it better...” She groaned when a large chunk of moss stuck to her hoof. “Let’s get out of here.”

They trotted faster. Zippoorwhill was still flying in front of them. Pipsqueak shrugged and started to swim, almost catching up with her. The water was now reaching Sweetie’s flanks. She imagined what’d Rarity say if she saw her. She’d probably have to get her fainting couch.

“Hey, Diamond...” Sweetie muttered. “It’s kinda like your swimming pool... Though with dirtier water and less sun.”

“Maybe,” Diamond Tiara replied, looking at Sweetie’s unsurely.

“I like Diamond’s swimming pool more,” Snips said. Just like Pipsqueak, he was now swimming.

“What were you doing in my swimming pool?” Diamond Tiara asked. “And when?”

“Long story.” Snips shrugged. “It was on the day when Snails got his cutie mark.”

“Do you want to know how I got my cutie mark?” Snails asked, smirking.

“No,” Diamond Tiara said, trying to get rid of the water soaking her mane.

“Yes,” Sweetie Belle replied, jumping forward and splashing water on Shady Daze.

Snails licked his lips. “So, it was when...”

“I keep wondering,” Shady Daze said. “How did you two get your cutie marks while Sweetie, her friends, and me are still blank flanks. That’s just strange. Especially since I think my special talent is connected to writing.”

“... and then I fell into that big hole...”

“You and writing?” Diamond Tiara shrugged.

“Well, I’m much better editor in chief than you were...” Shady smiled.

Diamond Tiara flipped her mane, almost losing her tiara. “I think the new issues lack some... personality...”

“... and then I met an old, wise snail that told me...”

“SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!” Zippoorwhill exclaimed, flying to them. “What is wrong with you?”

Sweetie Belle blinked. Only now she felt it – a constant buzzing in her ears and a strange sensation in her lungs. It seemed like the air was a heavy fluid she was trying to breathe it. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“Why were we talking about my swimming pool?” Diamond Tiara looked around groggily.

“I have no idea, but it’s just above the surface of the water,” Zippoorwhill said. “I don’t feel like getting crazy, unlike some of you.”

“Indeed,” Shady Daze muttered. “We’d better keep our heads high. Pipsqueak? Pipsqueak!?”

They looked around, but Pipsqueak was nowhere to be seen. Shady took a deep breath and took a look underwater. He was standing like that for some time, until Zippoorwhill flew to him and pulled him out.

“He’s not there,” Shady said, panting heavily. “Also, I saw the others...”

“What?” Sweetie exclaimed. “They drowned there?”

“No,” Shady replied. “It’s like... I saw Scootaloo, Rumble, and Ruby trying to open some hatch in the floor. I don’t know if they managed to do that, because Zip pulled me out...”

“One drowned pony is enough...” Zippoorwhill muttered.

“Do you think Pipsqueak drowned?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“He was the shortest and you were all tripping on whatever is in the water.” Zippoorwhill flew a bit higher, almost touching the ceiling with her head. “Hell, you could’ve even drowned him yourselves.”

“What?” Snails shuddered. “We’d never do that.”

“Well, if that thing if the water wanted you to do that...” Diamond Tiara shrugged. “Let’s go. The sooner we get out of this puddle the better.”

“And we’ll leave Pipsqueak like that?” Snails asked.

“This thing wanted him dead,” Diamond Tiara muttered in monotone. “I’d like to remind you that your friend is only slightly taller than Pipsqueak.”

Snips looked around and shivered. “We’d better go...” he muttered.

They trotted forward, slowly walking through the muddy water. Zippoorwhill was still flying in front of them, yelling at them from time to time, when she was noticing that their conversation was getting stranger.

“So... you saw Scootaloo there?” Sweetie Belle asked. “How was she?”

“I don’t know,” Shady muttered. “I think she was crying...”

Sweetie Belle stifled a sob. “I hope she and Apple Bloom are okay...”

“I haven’t seen Apple Bloom there.” Shady looked at the water. Its level was getting lower; it was now reaching their knees. Stone walls around them were covered in moss, which was also hanging from the ceiling.

Zippoorwhill landed on the floor and staggered towards them. “This place is some damn jungle...” she whispered and sneezed. “I don’t...” She lowered her head, panting heavily.

“I can see something there...” Diamond Tiara muttered, staring at the wall. “Pipsqueak?” She rushed forward blindly and rammed into Snips.

“Hey!” Snips exclaimed, smacking her. “What are you doing?”

“Pipsqueak... There...” Diamond Tiara whispered, spitting blood and getting up from the floor.

“Where?”

“Here.”

“I can’t see him,” Zippoorwhill muttered, staring in a different place than them. “You, Snails?”

“I’d eat something.”

“Me too,” Shady Daze said. “And no, I think I can see Pipsqueak. Over there. Also, Snails, remember that one time when we were in that place and we did that–”

“Stop it!” Sweetie Belle shouted, her voice cracking. Zippoorwhill looked at her groggily. “It’s that moss...”

“Is everypony here?” Diamond Tiara asked, counting her companions. “One, two, three, four, five... Okay, we’re all here.”

“We need to run,” Sweetie Belle muttered. “Run and sign so we don’t get lost...” She cleared her throat. “Ninety-nine buckets of oats on the wall...”

Her voice nearly drowned in silence; the moss on the walls was muffling all the echoes. All she could hear was strange ringing in her ears – a sign that she’d soon descent into madness again.

“Ninety-nine buckets of oats!” Diamond Tiara shouted rather than sung, her throat dry. One by one, other ponies joined them.

“Take one down, pass it around, you got ninety-eight buckets of oats on the wall!”

They rushed forward, singing as loudly as they could. Their hooves were hitting against the floor, giving a muffled sound.

“Take one down, pass it around, you got sixty-two buckets of oats on the wall!” Sweetie started to cough, but the song carried on. Next to her, Zippoorwhill was flapping her wings slower and slower. Shady Daze and Snips were barely able to sing, their voices strained after spending most of the day in a cold water.

“Fifty-nine buckets of oats!”

Sweetie felt a hard surface under her hoof. She looked at the walls and saw that the moss was gone, replaced by bare stones. She didn’t stop, however; she continued her gallop for some time before dropping on the floor, panting heavily.

Diamond Tiara collapsed next to her, followed by Zippoorwhill. Snips, Snails, and Shady joined them soon after. All of them were shuddering.

“What’s wrong with you?” Diamond Tiara asked. “You couldn’t catch up with us?”

“I...” Snails swallowed his saliva. “I felt like something was holding me there...”

“Me too,” Shady said.

“Same with me,” Snips added.

“I haven’t felt anything like that,” Diamond Tiara muttered and yawned. “We’d better go to sleep. Dunno how about you, but I’m tired of all that running, swimming, and singing...”

“Yeah...” Zippoorwhill muttered, curling into a foetal position. “Goodnight, guys.”

“Goodnight.”

Sweetie Belle opened one eye. Her right hoof was numb, so she turned, bumping into Diamond Tiara, who groaned in her sleep. Sweetie opened her other eye and looked around. The tunnel was completely dark. She could only hear the others’ snoring and a continuous hum in the background.

Suddenly, she saw something in the tunnel. She blinked and looked at it again: a pair of blue lights hanging in the air. She could swear she’d seen something like that before.

Sweetie reached her hoof to wake up somepony, but at the same moment, the lights blinked and disappeared. Sweetie looked once again at the place where they used to be and lit her horn. The faint, green light could barely pierce the darkness.

“What the hay...” Diamond Tiara muttered in her sleep.

Sweetie shrugged and lay down again. In a few minutes she was asleep.

A drop of water fell from the ceiling right on Sweetie’s face. She winced and turned on the floor, trying to run away from it. She bumped into Zippoorwhill and opened her eyes.

“How long did we sleep?” Zippoorwhill muttered and raised her head.

“I don’t know...” Sweetie stretched her hooves. Her whole body was stiff after lying on the floor.

“Hey...” Zippoorwhill looked into the corridor behind Sweetie. “Weren’t we further away from that moss?”

“What are you–” Sweetie turned back and saw that the moss was ending right behind Diamond Tiara. What was worse, Shady Daze wasn’t with them.

“Wake up, everypony!” Zippoorwhill shouted.

“What’s going on?” Snips asked groggily.

“We need to run!” Sweetie exclaimed. “This thing is chasing us!”

“What? How?” Diamond Tiara backed away from the moss.

“Where’s Shady?” Snails asked.

“He was sleeping next to me...” Diamond Tiara looked at the place where Shady used to be. The floor there was now completely covered in moss.

“We’ll all die!” Snails exclaimed. “This thing is going after colts...”

“Then you’re safe,” Diamond Tiara deadpanned. “Let’s get out of there.”

“What about Shady?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking into the corridor. It seemed a bit blurry, as if there was a mist there.

“Do you want to go there?” Diamond Tiara asked. “I don’t.” She trotted forward. Snips and Snails followed her, leaving Sweetie and Zippoorwhill alone.

“So...” Sweetie Belle looked at Zippoorwhill.

“I think we shouldn’t go there,” Zippoorwhill said. “You saw what this moss did to us when we were there... We wouldn’t be able to help Shady... We’d only die ourselves.”

Sweetie turned away from her and took a step towards the moss.

“Please...” Zippoorwhill muttered, flipping her glasses. “Do you want to leave Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?”

Sweetie Belle froze. She looked into the misty part of the tunnel again. It was tempting to go there and... And what? Sweetie shook her head and slowly turned back. “I’m sorry, Shady...” she whispered, following Zippoorwhill. “I’m so sorry...”

Author's Note

12.

The Others

“We’ll all die here...” Scootaloo whimpered, sinking her head in her hooves and resting herself against the wall.

It was two days since Apple Bloom’s death and they were still walking through a maze of narrow, moist corridors, all of them looking the same. Drops of water were falling from the ceiling, splashing in the puddles on the floor. Cold wind was blowing through the tunnels; most of the group was coughing and sneezing.

“Come on,” Rumble muttered. “There has to be a way out...”

“There is,” Scootaloo replied. “Just like Apple Bloom...”

“It wasn’t your fault, Scootaloo,” Rumble said. “And it wasn’t your fault, Silver,” he added quickly, seeing Silver Spoon shuddering.

“I bring death to everypony,” Silver Spoon muttered. “Each time somepony dies instead of me... This time it was Apple Bloom, but next time it can be any of you.” She looked into the dark corridor. “Maybe I should go...”

“No!” Rumble exclaimed. “No matter what happens, we’re staying together!”

“Exactly,” Dinky said, looking at Boysenberry, who was sitting on the floor, unfazed by the water, and staring at Scootaloo blankly. “There aren’t many of us left. We have a bigger chance as a group.”

Cold wind became stronger; Rumble shuddered, rubbing his wings against his body. Scootaloo finally stood up and started to walk slowly.

The group trotted through the tunnels, close to each other; scratching behind the walls intensified, urging them to walk faster. The sound changed a bit – instead of the claws trying to dig a hole in concrete it was more like something wet and soft was rubbing itself against the walls. There was also another sound – as if somepony was cleaning the wall with a gigantic brush.

“Strange,” Dinky muttered. “It looks like this tunnel has been flooded recently...”

“I hope nopony was inside when it happened,” Scootaloo said, thinking about Sweetie Belle.

“I’d rather hope it doesn’t happen again soon,” Ruby hissed, squinting her eyes. Everypony looked at her – she hadn’t spoken a word since Apple Bloom’s death. “What? Dunno about you, but I don’t like swimming.”

“I guess it happens periodically,” Rumble said. “Let’s go. I agree with Ruby on this one.”

They walked down the tunnel, carefully trying to avoid the puddles. Featherweight trotted to Ruby and patted her shoulder. She gave him a nasty look when she showed her to slow down.

“Bigger chance as a group...” he muttered when they stayed a bit behind. “I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked. “And don’t go all cryptic on me again or I’ll smack you.”

“Only one will get out of here,” Featherweight said. “I figured it out. Soon they will make us kill ourselves in order to progress.”

“Bullshit,” Ruby muttered. “Why’d they do that?”

“That’s the next step,” Featherweight replied, throwing glances around. “And I’m afraid that we’ll be first.”

“I’ll give you a piece of advice.” Ruby turned her head away from Featherweight. “Stand before the wall and hit your head against it a few times. Everypony will rejoice.”

Featherweight ignored her. “I’m sure there are ponies you’d like to get rid of...”

“Boysenberry,” Ruby whispered, staring at the rest of the group. “And Dinky.”

“Boysenberry...” Featherweight smirked. “That’s easy. She’s already a few sandwiches short of a picnic...”

“I want to get rid of her, but I’m not killing her,” Ruby said. “Fuck off.” She quickened up her pace, catching up with the rest of the group. Featherweight shrugged and followed her.

“Think about it,” he said.

Ruby didn’t reply. She looked forward and shuddered, seeing that something was lying by the wall. “What’s this?” she asked.

“The other...” Boysenberry whispered, staring at the dark object, casting large shadows on the nearby walls.

Rumble approached it and shuddered. “It’s a dead zebra...” he whispered.

“The other...” Boysenberry rested herself against Dinky and collapsed. “The other...”

“Shh...” Dinky patted Boysenberry’s mane and hugged her.

“What is a dead zebra doing here?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Maybe there was a group of zebras here too,” Scootaloo replied, staring at the body. It was a colt; he was wearing a leather vest and had a golden earring. His fur was still soaked in water.

Featherweight raised his head. “I wonder what happened to them... Maybe they found the way out...”

“Oh yeah...” Ruby grinned. “Maybe one of them got an idea that if he slaughters the rest, spider duck and friends will come to him and take him home?”

“What now?” Rumble asked.

“Nothing,” Ruby replied. “I was just thinking loudly. Zebras do such things, don’t they?”

“No, they don’t,” Featherweight muttered, blushing. “And that doesn’t bring us any closer to figuring out what happened to that zebra.”

“He drowned.” Dinky trotted forward. “Let’s get out of there before the same happens to us.”

They rushed down the corridor. The walls were covered in scribblings, but this time they were written in an alphabet they could understand. However, the language was different than their own.

“Maybe the zebras left them,” Scootaloo said, staring at the wall. “Maybe we should also write something here? In case the others find this place...”

Silver Spoon nodded. She picked up a piece of rock from the floor and scratched a short message on the grey, concrete wall.

Diamond, if you read this, I’m alive and well. If we’re never going to see each other again, remember that I’ll always love you.

Silver

Ruby sighed and shook her head. “Leave some place for the others, you sappy idiot,” she muttered, grabbing a rock. She then proceeded to write a few words about the mysterious beings that made the others blush.

Scootaloo shrugged and wrote a few words to Sweetie Belle, in case she found that place. She shuddered and almost dropped the stone when writing about Apple Bloom’s death.

Dinky’s message was short. Boysenberry and I are okay. Zippoorwhill, take care of yourself. Boysenberry looked at it and smiled, resting her hoof against the wall and leaving a wet hoofprint under the message. Rumble and Featherweight wrote a similar message, addressed to Pipsqueak, Snips, and Snails.

When they finished, they walked further. The walls there were also covered in scribblings. Scootaloo shuddered, seeing something that looked like dry blood over a message left by some unknown zebra; the letters were barely recognisable – someone had hit the rock against the wall a few times hastily, not bothering with calligraphy.

“I wonder what they say,” Rumble muttered. “That doesn’t look good...”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Probably something like, ‘a spider duck is coming to eat me, tell my mom that I loved her’ or similar bullshit. Let’s go.”

It was getting darker. The new corridor they’d found was dry, but they didn’t stop there. Their supplies were running low and they hoped to find some food before the night.

“What if they’re trying to starve us?” Featherweight asked Ruby. “Maybe they want to check if we’re gonna start to eat each other?”

Ruby groaned. “Can I know why are you still attached to me like a piece of shit to an old goat’s arse?”

“Maybe they want to see how long it’ll take and if we’ll start from the weakest, like Boysenberry,” Featherweight continued, not staring at Ruby.

“I’d start with you, but I’m afraid I’d catch being retarded from you,” Ruby muttered. “Also, you’re too bony. Not much would be left...”

“If it goes wrong, we can eat Silver. Nopony likes her.”

“Yeah, that’s what you want, huh?” Ruby made a gagging sound. “Get lost, little shit, or you’ll walk further with a broken leg. Maybe your friend spider duck will catch you and fry your brain.”

Featherweight shrugged. They took a turn and saw a small hall. In the middle of it there was a table with food – not as much as before, but still enough to feed them all. In the opposite wall there were openings of two tunnels.

“Where are we gonna go?” Dinky asked.

“We’ll think about it tomorrow,” Rumble replied, staring at the table. “I’m hungry...”

The rest of the group nodded. They gathered around the table, searching for traps, before grabbing food from it. They could barely see the walls from there – it was getting darker with every minute.

“Eat quickly and go to sleep,” Rumble said. “Scoots and I will take the first shift. Featherweight and Ruby will take the second.”

“Over my dead body,” Ruby muttered. Nopony listened to her – they were too busy eating.

Soon, it got dark completely. The foals huddled for warmth by the wall, while Scootaloo and Rumble sat in the middle of the room, watching the tunnels on both sides.

“How are you?” Rumble asked. The room was filled with steady breaths of sleeping foals.

Scootaloo thought for a moment before saying, “Babs and Apple Bloom are dead and Sweetie’s missing.” She swallowed her tears. “Try to guess.”

“Yeah...” Rumble sighed. For a while they were sitting in silence, before he said, “Do you think Featherweight is right? Only one of us will survive?”

“He’s nuts,” Scootaloo replied, leaning closer to Rumble. “But he spends a lot of time with Ruby. I don’t like that.”

“I don’t think they’re plotting something,” Rumble whispered. “Well, maybe she’s plotting his murder.”

“Maybe.” Scootaloo blinked. For a moment it seemed to her that she saw a pair of blue lights hanging in the darkness in front of her. However, after a second or so, the lights disappeared. Scootaloo heard familiar scratching against the wall. “They’re still here,” she muttered. “Spider ducks or something. Maybe they’re watching us?”

“They have a lot to watch,” Rumble replied. “So... zebras were here, right? We’re a group of ponies...”

“So, you also think it’s some scientific project, right?” Scootaloo asked. “Maybe there are other groups? Griffons, donkeys, mules, chan–”

“Shh,” Rumble whispered. “I can hear something.”

Now Scootaloo could hear that too – quick steps coming from one of the corridors. It wasn’t a splashing, irregular sound of spider ducks. Scootaloo could now clearly recognise the noise made by small hooves trotting on the concrete floor.

“Maybe it’s the other group?” Scootaloo asked. “Sweetie?”

“Shh...” Rumble put his hoof on Scootaloo’s mouth. “It may be a trap...”

They listened for a while, but the trotting soon stopped, replaced by whispers.

“I think I heard my name...”

“Watch out. It may be a trap.” There was something familiar about that voice. “Why are we even walking in the night?”

“We need to check that,” the third voice said. “Zip, go and fly there.”

“No way. I don’t wanna smash my head against the ceiling.”

Scootaloo stood up. “Sweetie?” she asked. “Zippoorwhill? Diamond Tiara?”

“Now I can hear it too!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. “Sounds like that other blank flank...”

“How can we know you’re not a spider duck?” Sweetie Belle asked. Her voice was accompanied by Diamond and Zippoorwhill’s groans.

“How can we know you are not spider ducks?” Rumble asked.

“That’s ridiculous,” Scootaloo muttered. “I’m gonna wake up Ruby and Dinky. We need some light here...”

She saw faint green light coming from the tunnel. Sweetie Belle approached them slowly, followed by Zippoorwhill and Diamond Tiara.

“What the fuck?” Ruby asked, when Scootaloo shook her. “If that’s the boss of this brothel...”

“It’s just us,” Diamond Tiara said.

“Diamond Tiara!” Silver Spoon exclaimed. She stood up and hugged her friend, who backpedalled. “You’re alive!”

“Where’s the rest?” Rumble asked. “We found Tornado Bolt, but–”

“Something took all the colts,” Zippoorwhill replied. “They just disappeared.”

“We saw changelings on the way,” Sweetie Belle said. “Just before Snips disappeared.”

“It wasn’t a changeling,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “There’s nopony here but us and those things...” She pointed at the place where the scratching could be heard.

“We found a dead zebra today,” Rumble said. “And traces of more of them...”

Sweetie Belle looked around, trying to make faint light of her horn brighter. “Where’s Apple Bloom?” she asked Scootaloo.

Scootaloo shuddered. “She’s dead. She... She fell through a trapdoor and...” She lowered her head. “She died.”

Sweetie Belle sobbed. She walked to Scootaloo and hugged her, weeping in her coat.

“Okay,” Diamond Tiara said. “Can we go? We need to find a way out...”

“Diamond!” Dinky exclaimed. “Let us sleep for a while. We can’t see anything anyway.”

“I think she’s right,” Zippoorwhill muttered, watching Boysenberry who looked at her and hissed like an annoyed cat. “We’d better rest for a while...”

“Yeah,” Rumble said. “So, Ruby and Featherweight... Your turn now.”

“Damn,” Ruby whispered.

Change

The next day saw the group of foals in a much better mood than before. Reuniting with Diamond Tiara, Zippoorwhill and Sweetie Belle caused most of them to wake up with new energy and hopes.

“What now, smartass?” Ruby asked. “Three of them came back. Not one.”

“Yeah,” Featherweight said. “But have you noticed that? One pegasus, one unicorn, and one earth pony. There’s something in that.”

“Unfortunately, that something is not your brain,” Ruby muttered. “This thing is completely random.”

“Then why did it take all the colts?”

Ruby thought for a moment, staring at the rest of their companions getting ready to set off. “Too bad it didn’t take you,” she muttered. “But I don’t lose hope.”

Featherweight said nothing, staring blankly at the wall. Ruby shrugged and joined the rest of the group.

“Where are we going?” Dinky asked. She turned to Diamond Tiara. “I think we should choose the tunnel other than the one you came from.”

“Why?” Diamond Tiara asked. “It’s a safe tunnel.”

“Colts disappear in it,” Rumble said. “I wouldn’t call it safe.”

“Also, it leads back to that chamber when we parted.” Scootaloo shuddered. “Also, remember what happened to Tornado Bolt?”

“I don’t want to go back there,” Sweetie Belle whispered.

Zippoorwhill stood up. “There was another tunnel there,” she said. “We didn’t choose it, but something tells me that we should’ve gone there. It looked... different.”

“Then why didn’t you choose it then?” Ruby asked. “I prefer the right tunnel. We weren’t there yet.” She grinned. “Who knows what wonderful adventure awaits us there? Will we be skinned? Gutted? Chewed, swallowed, and thrown up?”

“I’d rather choose the road we know,” Silver Spoon said, hugging Diamond Tiara. “If the exit is there...”

“Exactly,” Diamond Tiara replied, clinging closer to Silver. “We can either choose the road we know or some place where we can all die. Your choice.”

“Are you sure you know it?” Scootaloo asked. “Because it seemed to me like you were completely lost at night.”

“Oh, come on!” Zippoorwhill exclaimed. “We can’t stay here all day, arguing over which way to choose!”

“Right,” Dinky said. “We need to vote. Boysenberry?”

Boysenberry shuddered, staring at Diamond Tiara. She gulped, panting heavily.

“It’s okay,” Dinky muttered, patting Boysenberry’s mane. “Everypony who wants to choose the left corridor, raise your hooves.”

Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Zippoorwhill, and Ruby raised their hooves. Dinky opened her mouth, but before she could say something, she saw that Sweetie Belle also joined them.

“A draw, then,” Ruby muttered, squinting. “What are we going to do now?”

“Sweetie, you really wanna go back there?” Scootaloo asked.

“It’s not as risky,” Sweetie replied. “We already lost a half of our group. Not to mention Apple Bloom...” A tear flowed down her face.

“Okay,” Scootaloo said. “I choose the left corridor too.”

Dinky groaned, but stood up and walked with the rest of the group. Boysenberry trotted by her side, her eye twitching. Dinky looked at her unsurely. “Are you okay?”

Boysenberry shook her head. “I’m not okay since we’re here,” she whispered.

“I know, but... worse than before, or...” Dinky shrugged.

“Something’s going on.” Boysenberry looked blankly into the darkness before them.

“What?” Dinky asked, but Boysenberry didn’t reply; she walked forward automatically, as if her mind drifted away.

The corridor was getting narrower, leading them deeper into the maze. The concrete walls disappeared, replaced by irregularly-shaped rocks. In fact, it now looked like a cave, twisting and turning like bowels of some ancient, long-dead creature.

“D-did you walk here?” Scootaloo asked, shuddering.

“No,” Sweetie Belle replied. “We left that corridor an hour ago.”

“Talk about taking less risky roads,” Scootaloo muttered, staring at the nearby stalactites. “What if this stuff collapses at us?”

“Don’t worry,” Zippoorwhill said. “We must be close.”

“Close to what?” Ruby asked. “Sudden death? Road to freedom leads through an ocean of shit, apparently.”

Diamond Tiara stopped and turned to look at Ruby. “Nopony asked you to come with us. In fact, it was you who wanted to come here!”

“Because you told us it’s safe!” Ruby exclaimed. “You didn’t mention anything about caves!”

“Ruby, chill out,” Featherweight said, wrapping his hoof around her. “So far, nothing dangerous happened. It’s just a cave...”

“Says the pony who asked if I’d help him with murder,” Ruby replied, pushing Featherweight away.

“What?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Yes!” Ruby exclaimed, standing in the middle of the group and smiling triumphantly. “He wanted to kill you!” She poked Silver Spoon and walked to Boysenberry. “And you! He thinks that only one of us can survive and decided to help fate a little bit...”

“No way,” Rumble said. “Featherweight would never do that...”

“And how do you think, why was he still talking to me?” Ruby asked, kicking Featherweight. “He was trying to convince me to help him. He said that you’ll soon realise that this is the only way and kill me...” She tried hit Featherweight once more, but Diamond Tiara grabbed her hoof.

“May I ask you something?” Diamond Tiara pulled Ruby away from Featherweight. “Are you retarded or what? How long did you think before you made that up?”

“Fuck off,” Ruby muttered.

Silver Spoon smirked. “Well, knowing your mother, Diamond may be right about you being retarded...”

Ruby’s horn glowed. She levitated a rock and hit Diamond Tiara with it, freeing herself from her grasp.

Silver Spoon screamed when she saw green acid spilling around. Diamond Tiara backpedalled. A halo surrounded her. She hissed, spraying acid on Ruby, who ran away.

“Changeling!” Dinky exclaimed, watching the wounded black creature shooting green goo at Silver Spoon. Suddenly, Zippoorwhill hissed, transforming into another changeling, who tackled Dinky.

“No!” Featherweight screamed, seeing that Silver was almost completely covered in slime. He ran to the changeling and tackled it, grabbing a rock. The changeling jerked, baring its fangs and sinking them in Featherweight’s hoof.

Rumble ran forward, tripping over Scootaloo, who was trying to get the changeling off Dinky. He stood up, pushing the screaming Boysenberry away, grabbed a rock and hit the changeling fighting with Featherweight. The drone twitched, its legs moving erratically. Rumble hit it once more and it went limp next to Featherweight and Silver Spoon, half-tangled in a cocoon.

“Featherweight!” Rumble exclaimed.

Featherweight moved weakly and looked at Silver Spoon. There was a large gash in his hoof, surrounded by acid burns. Rumble could see shards of broken bones protruding from it. Black, tainted blood was sipping from it slowly.

“I want to get out of here,” Featherweight said. “Save Silver Spoon and get out of here.”

“You just did, I’m afraid...” Rumble muttered.

Featherweight smiled weakly and looked around. He could see Ruby and Scootaloo beating someone and Dinky shielding Boysenberry with her own body. “Golden sphere...” he whispered.

“What?” Rumble asked, but Featherweight didn’t reply. He was still looking at the fight with a smile forming on his lips, but he wasn’t there anymore.

Dinky’s scream woke Rumble up. He turned and saw her, panting heavily and staring at the changeling with one eye. Her other eye was missing, along with her cheek and a part of her mane – blood was flowing down her face, on a broken hoof.

The changeling that used to be Zippoorwhill charged at her. Rumble could swear that Dinky smiled, standing between the drone and Boysenberry, who was lying on the ground, covering her eyes.

Like in slow motion, Rumble saw Dinky charging her horn and lowering her head. He opened his mouth to shout, but his voice drowned in Dinky’s yell when she darted forward. Rumble shuddered, thinking of the stalactites and that the whole cave could collapse on them.

Dinky didn’t seem to care. When the changeling jumped, trying to tackle her again, she raised her head, jamming her horn between the chitin plates of its shell. The changeling hissed, spilling acid on her fur, but Dinky didn’t feel pain anymore. She closed her eyes and released a spell.

The air was filled with a stench of burning meat. The changeling’s outer shell cracked in a few places. Large pieces of it fell out, revealing a greenish, pulsating flesh that was blackening rapidly.

The drone screeched, collapsing on Dinky. Large gash opened in its side, pieces of tissue spraying around. It twitched, rolling off the filly’s crushed body and went limp next to its companion.

Scootaloo’s vision was blurry. The world was spinning around her. She staggered away from Ruby and threw up on the ground, her body twitching violently. Rumble trotted to her and pulled her away from the dead changelings.

“Scootaloo!” Rumble exclaimed. “C’mon...”

Scootaloo stared blankly at him. Rumble hesitated for a moment, before shaking her as gently as he could, calling her name again.

“What?” Scootaloo whispered, her throat dry.

“I need help with Silver,” Rumble replied.

They rushed to Silver Spoon and together started to pull apart the cocoon covering her.

“She loved Diamond, that’s why they targeted her...” Rumble muttered. After a few pulls, the cocoon gave up. Silver Spoon was shivering, but she was alive and conscious.

“D-diamond...” she muttered, catching a deep breath. “What happened...” Silver looked around and saw Featherweight’s body. “Sweet Celestia...” She burst into spasmodic cry.

“It’s okay...” Rumble muttered, hugging Silver Spoon. “How’s the rest?”

“Boysenberry’s alive,” Scootaloo replied in an emotionless tone, staring at Boysenberry, who was sitting above Dinky’s dead body, trying to wipe blood off her face. “Sweetie... Where’s she?” She looked around and saw Ruby standing over a white, limp body with a rock in her hoof.

Scootaloo shivered. She darted forward and pushed Ruby away from Sweetie’s body. “You killed her!” she exclaimed, punching Ruby. “Why?”

“Stop it!” Ruby exclaimed. “She was a changeling too, remember?”

“No, she wasn’t!” Scootaloo tried to hit Ruby again, but the unicorn blocked it. “Do you see her body changing back? I don’t!”

“Hey, chill out!” Ruby exclaimed, dodging Scootaloo’s blow. “You started it!”

“What?” Scootaloo stopped, staring at Ruby with wide eyes. She noticed bald patches on her fur in places where acid drops had fallen on her. “I’d never...”

“You shouted ‘she’s a changeling too!’ and started to beat her, so I joined...” Ruby said. “When changelings rip your friends apart, it’s better not to stand like an idiot...”

“You’re lying!” Scootaloo shouted. “I didn’t say that! And I’d never hit Sweetie Belle!”

“Yeah, right,” Ruby muttered. “You broke all her bones, I think. I only finished what you started.”

Scootaloo froze, panting heavily and staring at Ruby.

“Look at your hooves,” Ruby said. “It’s her blood.”

Scootaloo slowly lowered her head. Her stomach twisted and turned when she saw her hooves. She threw up again, collapsing on the floor.

Ruby watched her for a while with a blank expression. When Scootaloo stopped vomiting, she trotted to her and helped her up. “I know you wouldn’t kill her,” she said. “They must’ve put some spell on you.”

“Yeah. They must’ve...” Scootaloo whispered.

“Or maybe that shit was right.” Ruby looked at Featherweight’s body. “They put some gas here, which made us more aggressive. That’s why you suddenly decided to beat your friend to death.”

“Yeah. Maybe gas.” Scootaloo nodded.

Suddenly, they heard a raspy chuckle. They looked around to see that the changeling which used to be Diamond Tiara moved. Its eyes opened, faint blue light still present in them.

“Gas... Bullshit...” the changeling whispered.

“Y-you can talk?” Ruby asked, staring at the changeling unsurely.

“Of course,” the changeling replied, panting heavily. “How else would we be able to impersonate you?” He coughed. “You, ponies, think we’re all bloodthirsty monsters...”

Ruby pointed at the corpses of Dinky and Featherweight. “Well, this kinda confirms it...”

The changeling chuckled, shuddering. Green blood dripped from his lips. “Says the filly who smacked me with a rock... Anyway... There were twenty of us... I’m the last...”

“Sounds familiar,” Rumble muttered, trying not to look at the wounded changeling. He retched when his eyes focused on Boysenberry, who was holding Dinky in her hooves and talking to her in some gibberish.

“Yeah...” the changeling whispered. “Same will happen... to you... But...” He coughed, wheezing. “Those two... They are... still alive...”

“Who?” Silver Spoon exclaimed, standing up and running to the changeling. “Who is still alive?”

“The pink one... The one with glasses...” The changeling lowered his head. “In cocoons... If you go deeper into that cave...” The light in the changeling’s eyes faded.

“It’s a trap,” Ruby muttered. “There’s more of them and they’re waiting for us to come there.”

“We need to try,” Rumble said. “I... I don’t want to leave them behind...”

“We have to save Diamond!” Silver Spoon cried hysterically and rushed down the cave. Scootaloo ran behind her and grabbed her. Silver shuddered when blood-stained hoof touched her fur.

“We can’t charge in there blindly,” Scootaloo said.

“Don’t touch me!” Silver shouted, pushing Scootaloo away.

“Seems that we’ll have to go there no matter what we want,” Ruby muttered to Rumble. “Tell the little lunatic to stop talking with her dead friend and go with us before Silver gets herself killed.”

Rumble nodded. He looked at Featherweight’s body for the last time and pulled Boysenberry away from Dinky. Boysenberry groaned, freeing herself from his grasp. She trotted to Dinky and closed her remaining eye. She then covered the wound on her face with her mane and joined Ruby, Rumble, and Scootaloo.

“Not creepy at all,” Ruby muttered, rushing forward to catch up with Silver Spoon. “Wait a minute, idiot! You won’t save your buddy by getting yourself killed!”

“Diamond Tiara can’t wait,” Silver Spoon replied.

Author's Note

The Way Out

“So, how exactly did you end up here?” Rumble asked, watching Uwazi as he trotted through the rocky debris on the floor. The zebra kept poking the stones with the tip of his spear, watching the walls and the ceiling carefully.

“We woke up in a room,” Uwazi replied. “Twenty of us. Before the first night, two were killed. One burned by a fireball we accidentally unleashed, the other electrocuted by the door.”

“That’s how Babs died,” Scootaloo muttered. “We also got poisoned food which killed Button.”

“One by one, we were dying,” Uwazi said, staring into the distance. “Then the dreams started. Not the dreams of home, but rather of creatures that are behind the walls of this maze, mysterious watchers who–”

“Okay, we get it,” Ruby muttered. “You all went crazy like Boysenberry or that little shit Featherweight. Hell, if Boysenberry spoke more, she’d probably tell us the same story. Spider ducks were trying to contact you?”

“Spider ducks?” Uwazi asked. “That is how you call them? We called them Kusengenya, the whisperers. They built that maze and left the signs.”

“Signs? What signs?” Silver Spoon asked. She was holding Diamond Tiara, whose face was hidden in her fur.

Uwazi grabbed his spear and scratched a أمعاء غليظة on the wall. “Those are signs,” he said. “You could not have missed them.”

Scootaloo nodded. “There were a few on our way, but we eventually stopped paying attention to them. We couldn’t make any sense of them anyway. Maybe you know what they mean?”

Uwazi nodded. “This is the name of the place we are in now. Kusengenya find a great liking in the letters of ancient zebras, even though they know many alphabets. It says ‘large intestine’.”

“So, basically, we’re in the ass?” Ruby asked. “I knew it. We’re all gonna die and then this maze will shit us out. Charming.”

“There are other places,” Uwazi said. “We woke up in a room described as ‘head’. Then, somewhere around the ‘liver’, we found a place full of metal stuff... That’s where I made that spear.” He looked at the ponies gathered around him. “That reminds me... We found a pony there, tied to girders. A grey pegasus. Long dead.”

“Tornado Bolt,” Diamond Tiara whispered. “She got shot there...”

“And we later found her too, tied to those girders,” Scootaloo muttered.

“Tornado Bolt?” Zipporwhill asked. “So that was her name...” She tried to open her eyes and hissed, covering them with her hoof. Even the faint light of the corridor was too much for them after spending a few days in a cocoon.

“You don’t remember her?” Scootaloo asked.

Zipporwhill shrugged. “I don’t remember any of you. Or anything, in fact. Is there something outside this maze?”

“There’s Equestria,” Scootaloo replied. “Where you’re not trapped and nothing wants to kill you.”

“How do you know?” Zipporwhill shielded her eyes from the light and tried to open them. “Have you been there?”

“Of course we’ve been there.” Silver Spoon sighed. “For most of our lives.”

“I don’t remember that,” Zipporwhill said. “What if that’s where we lived all the time? Only now we woke up...”

“Oh please.” Ruby rolled her eyes. “That’s the dumbest theory I’ve heard and remember that this retard Featherweight used to think I’m his fan.” She scratched her mane. “Hey, maybe she’s yet another changeling? Or they changed her into one?” Ruby walked to Zipporwhill and pushed her. “Open your eyes. I want to see them.”

“I’d rather not.” Zipporwhill trembled, but her tone remained emotionless. “Exposing them to light may result in permanent blindness.”

“Open them!” Ruby shouted. “I don’t wanna wander around with yet another changeling in disguise!” She grabbed Zipporwhill’s hoof and pulled it away.

Slowly, Zipporwhill opened her eyes. Ruby looked into them and gasped, backing away.

Zipporwhill’s eyes werent like a changeling’s. In fact, one could call them normal pony eyes. However, their sclera were bloodshot – in fact, there wasn’t a single white place on them. There also seemed to be a small pool of blood inside of the iris, moving slightly when Zipporwhill squinted.

“What the fuck happened to your eyes?” Ruby exclaimed, shuddering.

“Too much pressure for a long time,” Zipporwhill replied, shrugging. “Maybe they’ll get better.”

Uwazi stood up and walked to her. “You’ll get some infection sooner. In this place, it’ll surely kill you.”

“So there’d be six of us.” Zipporwhill nodded. “What happens if only one stays?”

“Nothing,” Ruby muttered. “Look at our zebra friend. He’s still with us.”

“Maybe we should stick to him,” Scootaloo said. “What it something shows him the way out?”

“That’s impossible...” Diamond Tiara sobbed. “There’s no way out... Only death.”

“Shh...” Silver Spoon patted Diamond’s head. “We can’t lose hope now.”

Uwazi sighed and shook his head. “You know, I think we should go before you all decide to wait for death here.”

Slowly, they followed him down the tunnel. The lights started to flicker. The ponies’ moves looked unnatural, like an animation with missing frames. The shadows on the walls had a colourful halo around the edges.

“Hope nopony gets a seizure,” Ruby muttered. “That’d suck even more.”

“It would change our situation only slightly,” Zipporwhill replied. “Our mobility would worsen if we had to carry someone.”

“May I poke one of your eyes out?” Ruby asked, sighing. “They’re useless anyway and you’re pissing me off.”

“The chances of me getting an infection in such a situation would increase to–” Zipporwhill was interrupted by Ruby smacking her.

“Ruby!” Rumble exclaimed.

Ruby only sighed. “It would be easier if our striped friend didn’t lead us here.” She pointed at Boysenberry who stopped by the wall, laughing at her shadow. “Those lights are making the retard even more retarded.”

Rumble groaned. “Listen, Ruby...”

Ruby pushed Boysenberry away from the wall and hit her colourful shadow. To her surprise, nothing resisted her hoof. It simply punched a hole in the thin wall.

“Whoa...” Ruby backpedalled. “Hey, zebra! Come here and look at this!”

Uwazi trotted to them, spear in his hoof. “What did you do this time?” he asked.

“There’s some passage there,” Rumble muttered, staring into the hole.

“Let’s find out.” Scootaloo kicked the wall, causing more of it to collapse, revealing the entrance to another tunnel.

“Do you think it’s safe?” Silver Spoon asked. The new tunnel was also brightly-lit. Eerie flickering was making their heads hurt.

“No safer than the rest of this place,” Zipporwhill deadpanned.

“That doesn’t convince me.” Ruby winced, looking around. “This whole place looks like some disco club for retards.”

Boysenberry smiled and walked into the tunnel. She stood there and turned back to the rest of the group, waving at them.

“Okay, let’s go there,” Ruby said.

“What?” Rumble asked.

“Disco club for retards. She fits in here.” Ruby poked Zipporwhill. “I guess even our wannabe changeling agrees with that logic.”

“I can see a few flaws in that train of thoughts,” Zipporwhill muttered.

“Train?” Diamond Tiara asked. “A trainwreck! They hid this tunnel for some reason, right?”

“How is the tunnel hidden behind a wall worse than a tunnel in which most of our group died?” Scootaloo asked. “Maybe it’s some maintenance passage, without any traps?”

“Well, we can always meet the maintenance pony,” Uwazi said. “Which may or may not be a kusengenya.”

“We’ll never find out if we don’t try.” Ruby shrugged and pointed at Boysenberry. “Also, try to tell her that we’re not going there...”

Indeed, Boysenberry was already trotting down the tunnel. Ruby followed her, tripping over the stones. She could hear the others walking behind her; their voices were muffled, but she could figure out that they were calling her.

“Just follow me, dammit!” she yelled back. “Do you want to lose Boysenberry or what?”

“Diamond Tiara can’t go that fast,” Silver Spoon said, trotting to Ruby. “And Uwazi says–”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “I don’t care about what Uwazi says. I–” She tripped over the rock and fell.

She winced, hitting the ground. It didn’t exactly feel like a rock; it was soft and cold, as if it was covered in some peculiar kind of moss. Blinking, Ruby noticed a small gem lying on the ground in front of her.

“What the...” she whispered, reaching for the gem with her hoof.

The light flashed brightly. Ruby closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, she found herself in some room. She raised her eyebrows, looking around unsurely. The place looked exactly like the living room of her house.

Well, maybe not exactly, Ruby thought. Everything was much bigger than she remembered. If she wanted to sit on a chair, she’d have to climb on it. The room looked as if it was at least a mile long. Ruby looked around and saw her mother lying on the couch and snoring.

“Mommy?” Ruby asked. Her voice surprised her. It was much more high-pitched and less raspy. “Mommy?”

Berry Punch groaned and turned on the couch. “What’s going on?” she muttered.

Ruby trotted to her. “I missed you, mom,” she said.

Berry rubbed her temples, turning away from her daughter. “Be quiet Ruby,” she whispered. “Mommy’s tired.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. She climbed on the couch and sat next to her mother. “I had a terrible nightmare, mom. We were trapped in a maze and all the ponies from Ponyville di–”

“I SAID BE QUIET!” Berry yelled, waving her hoof blindly. The world before Ruby’s eyes flashed brightly. She felt a brief sensation of falling before hitting the soft and cold surface of the floor. She shook her head; she could feel some coppery taste in her mouth and hot fluid seeping into the back of her mane.

Berry Punch sat on the bed, her eyes wide. “I’m sorry Ruby...” she whispered, running to her. “I’m so sorry... I’m trying but... I’m a terrible mother!”

Ruby closed her eyes. The bright light flashed again.

“Zipporwhill, come here!” Rumble yelled, flying above the chasm. “I can’t hold them both!”

Zipporwhill stood at the edge of the chasm, staring blankly at Rumble, Silver Spoon and Ruby. Scootaloo was holding Diamond Tiara, stopping her from running towards Silver Spoon. On the other side of the chasm, Boysenberry was screaming hysterically, looking into the abyss that had opened in the floor just a few seconds before.

“Ruby stop thrashing,” Silver Spoon whispered through gritted teeth. She was holding Rumble while Ruby was holding her hind legs, flailing around.

Suddenly, Ruby opened her eyes. Her smirk and unnatural shining of her eyes made Silver Spoon cringe; she felt Ruby’s grip tightening around her legs, almost breaking her bones.

“You’re a terrible mother,” Ruby whispered before letting go off Silver Spoon.

“No!” Silver Spoon screamed, watching Ruby’s body disappearing in the darkness below them. She thrashed, trying to reach her, but Rumble grabbed her and flew with her to the other edge of the chasm.

“What was that...” Rumble whispered, holding Silver Spoon to stop her from running towards the edge. They heard a deafening noise, when a part of the ceiling collapsed, wedging in the chasm like a rocky bridge.

For a moment, nopony said anything. They were just staring at each other – Rumble, Boysenberry, and Silver Spoon on one side of the chasm, and Zipporwhill, Scootaloo, Uwazi, and Diamond Tiara on the other. The only sound was Silver Spoon’s crying – Boysenberry was again silent, sitting next to her.

Finally, Scootaloo spoke. “Do you think this bridge is safe?” She pointed at the large rock in front of them.

“It must be,” Uwazi whispered. “They usually take one.”

“I need to get to Silver,” Diamond Tiara said, wincing at her friend’s cry. “Somepony help me...”

Uwazi trotted to her and guided her through the bridge. It was shaking a bit, but the rock was firmly embedded between the edges of the chasms and didn’t break under their weight. As soon as Diamond Tiara reached the other edge, she rushed to Silver Spoon and hugged her.

“Let’s go,” Scootaloo said. Zipporwhill trotted with her across the bridge without saying a word. “May I ask you something?” Scootaloo turned to her.

Zipporwhill shrugged.

“Why didn’t you help them?”

“It was supposed to happen,” Zipporwhill replied.

Scootaloo raised her eyebrows, but Zipporwhill didn’t add anything else.

They were in the middle of the bridge. Scootaloo looked upwards, to see if the rock falling from the ceiling revealed something there. She felt a headrush – the dark void above her seemed as endless as the one below.

Finally, they joined the rest of the group. Uwazi was the only one standing. The rest were sitting or lying on the floor – the fact that they’d just lost another of their friends was slowly getting to them. Rumble was panting heavily next to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon who were still in a tight embrace. Boysenberry was staring at the floor, her face covered by her mane.

“So, where are we going now?” Diamond Tiara asked. “There’s no way we can survive...”

“That bridge seemed pretty convenient,” Zipporwhill said. “They’re showing us the way.”

“The way to death,” Scootaloo muttered. Silver Spoon cried louder.

“The way...” Uwazi whispered.

“What’s going on again?” Rumble asked, standing up. “Uwazi?”

The zebra looked into the narrow corridor in front of them. Rumble stood next to him and saw it too – a circle of bright light at the end of the corridor. The light was shifting softly, welcoming them.

“The way...” Uwazi whispered, trotting towards the light. Soon he was galloping to it, leaving his spear behind.

“It’s the way out!” Zipporwhill exclaimed. Even though she could barely see anything, she rushed forward, running behind the zebra.

“Zipporwhill, no!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

Uwazi was already close to the circle, which was slowly getting smaller. He jumped forward and disappeared in a flash. Zipporwhill screamed, tripping on the way. She tried to stand up, only to realise that something was holding her hind leg. She shook it in an attempt to get rid of the intruder, but another vines grabbed her remaining legs and wings.

“Zipporwhill!” Rumble exclaimed, watching as the vines pulled the filly’s limbs. A terrible snap echoed through the corridor, followed by a blood-curdling scream that ended in choking.

The portal disappeared and the lights went out. However, the terrible ripping sound was more than they needed to know about Zipporwhill’s fate. For a while they could still hear shallow breath, rattling, and wheezing. Then it all ended.

“It wasn’t her turn,” Boysenberry said in an otherworldly voice. A single light lit her from the floor, casting eerie shadows on her face. “Uwazi’s back.”

“What?” Scootaloo rushed to her. “What do you mean by that?” She shook Boysenberry, but when she looked into her face, she realised that it was no use – her stare was as blank as it had been since the day they ended up in the maze.

Groaning, Scootaloo dropped on the ground next to Boysenberry and cowered, weeping loudly.

On the Fly

“Where the hell are we?” Diamond Tiara exclaimed, looking around. The cave they woke up in was completely different from the tunnel she remembered from the previous day. It was much more regular; instead of uneven rocks, they were greeted by an octangular corridor made of some strange substance. It looked like grey stone, but upon touching it, it could easily fall apart to dust.

“It seems like burnt paper,” Rumble muttered, shaking dust off his hooves. He walked to the wall and punched it. His hoof stuck inside, but the wall didn’t fall apart completely. “There’s something harder behind it,” he muttered, retreating his hoof.

Boysenberry murmured something inaudible. Silver Spoon turned to her, but the filly didn’t say anything.

“I guess we should just go forward,” Scootaloo said. “I guess it’s what they want from us.”

“Yeah, right.” Diamond Tiara sighed. “Then they’ll just teleport us back here, or in some worse place, till only one stays.”

“I was wondering...” Rumble said. “What is beyond that portal?”

“I guess you go back to Equestria.” Silver Spoon shrugged. “Or maybe they have a lab there and dissect you to check how you survived.”

Scootaloo shuddered. “Thanks for the mental image...”

Boysenberry stood up, staring into the hole Rumble had made. She nodded and trotted down the tunnel.

“I’m not going with her,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “It always ends with somepony dying.”

“Just like staying with her.” Scootaloo looked at Silver Spoon. “How many ponies got killed saving her flank?”

“Shut up!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed, standing between Scootaloo and Silver Spoon. “It’s not her fault.”

Rumble cleared his throat. “We’d better go before Boysenberry gets lost... You can always talk about it later.”

“We can be dead later!” Diamond Tiara shouted.

Suddenly, they heard Boysenberry’s high-pitched squeal. The argument was promptly forgotten; they rushed up the tunnel, calling their friend’s name.

Boysenberry was standing in the middle of an octangular room, pointing at something on the floor and shuddering. Rumble trotted to her and looked at it.

A dead wasp was lying in the middle of the room. It was as big as a rat, with bright yellow and black stripes. One of its wings was broken. Its right side was smashed, with some greenish fluid oozing from between the cracks in chitin. It was lying on a small, round postument, surrounded by an inscription.

וְשָׁלַחְתִּי אֶת-הַצִּרְעָה, לְפָנֶיךָ; וְגֵרְשָׁה, אֶת-הַחִוִּי אֶת-הַכְּנַעֲנִי וְאֶת-הַחִתִּי--מִלְּפָנֶיךָ.

"I wonder what it says,” Rumble muttered. “Uwazi would probably know.”

“Well, I’d be more concerned by that bee,” Scootaloo said, watching the carcass with a mix of fascination and disgust.

“It’s a wasp.” Diamond Tiara blinked, trying to look closer. She could see better now, but small details were still escaping her. “Great, more bugs.”

“I think it’s a bee,” Scootaloo said.

“No way,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “Silver, tell her that it’s a– Silver?” She turned around to see that Silver Spoon had walked to the wall and stood there, shivering. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m allergic,” Silver Spoon replied. “If that thing stung me, I’d die. Also, it’s a hornet.” She looked around the room. “Do you know how this place looks like?”

“Well, it’s big, octangular and made of pa–” Scootaloo gulped. “Oh shit.”

“We’re in the middle of the nest,” Rumble muttered. “Strange that we didn’t meet more of these things.”

“Somehow, I don’t regret it,” Scootaloo said, looking at the ceiling. “How do you think, will it be better to go or to stay here?”

Boysenberry gave out a high-pitched groan.

“I don’t get it.” Diamond Tiara looked at Boysenberry. “Sorry, but I don’t understand your random wailing.”

“I think we should stay here,” Silver Spoon muttered. “Like, bees always attack when you wave your hooves, trying to fight them.”

“You said it was a hornet,” Scootaloo replied.

“Hornets do that too. Don’t pretend to be dumber than you are.” Silver Spoon shook her head. “Also, that’d be logical, don’t you think? They figured out that we prefer to walk, so they want to make us stay in one place.”

“This is not how logic works,” Scootaloo muttered. “Also, Featherweight kicked the bucket, but I see that his insane ideas still live.”

“Same could be said about Ruby and you.” Diamond Tiara chuckled. “From what Silver told me, you two really enjoyed each other’s company. Sweetie Belle would have something to say about that, huh?”

Rumble managed to catch Scootaloo just before she reached Diamond Tiara. However, Scootaloo wasn’t the only pony who attacked Diamond; Silver Spoon pushed her on the floor.

“I didn’t tell you that so you’d mock anyone!” Silver exclaimed.

Diamond Tiara exhaled loudly. “Then why? This maze is scary enough even without stories about ponies beating each other to death!”

“Shut up!”

Everypony looked at each other, not sure who interrupted the fight. Finally, they turned to Boysenberry – she was standing in the middle of the room, panting heavily and gritting her teeth.

“You... You talk...” Rumble muttered, staring in awe.

“She did before,” Scootaloo said.

“That’s not important now.” Boysenberry turned her head quickly, causing the sorry remains of her braid to smack Rumble. “Can’t you hear that?”

Now they noticed it too. A low-pitched buzzing was filling their ears like cotton. It was growing louder, assaulting their eardrums like a wave of pressurised gas.

“Don’t move,” Boysenberry muttered. “They can’t see anything that doesn’t move.”

Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened. “How do you–”

“I can see with their eyes...” Boysenberry hissed, her muscles stiffening suddenly. Her voice had an unpleasant tone – as if someone was rubbing two heavy metal plates against one another. She lowered her head, exhaling. “They can’t see us for now...”

A single hornet flew into the room, circling lazily above their heads. Silver Spoon shuddered, trying to make herself as small as possible. Another hornet joined the first one, almost tangling in Scootaloo’s mane.

“No...” Silver Spoon whispered, closing her eyes. “No, no, no...”

“Silver, shut up...” Diamond Tiara muttered, trying not to move.

“No...” Silver took half a step backwards. “No...”

“I said, shut the fuck up!” Diamond Tiara screamed, her voice cracking. The hornets dived towards her, missing when she darted towards Silver Spoon, tackling her.

The hornets turned, flying towards the place where they last saw movement, only to fly away, disoriented. A few more bugs joined them.

“I’m with you, Silver,” Diamond Tiara said, pinning her friend to the ground. “I won’t let them hurt you...”

“You okay there, Scootaloo?” Rumble asked. Scootaloo nodded, watching a hornet landing next to her and walking around on the floor.

Boysenberry stood in the middle, unfazed by the insects flying next to her, even when they were brushing against her mane or fur. She closed her eyes, focusing all her will on driving the hornets away. They started to fly in wider circles, but still didn’t want to leave the room.

Diamond Tiara’s hoof twitched. Laying on the floor in an uncomfortable position began to take its toll. She clenched her teeth, trying not to scream. Tears flowed down her face.

Suddenly, she felt Silver Spoon move and saw her friend looking at something, her mouth open in a silent scream. Slowly, Diamond Tiara turned back to see a hornet slowly climbing up her leg. Its legs were like six needles touching her skin – pressure wasn’t strong enough to pierce it, but the sensation was making her stomach twist and turn. Silver Spoon went limp in her hooves. Diamond Tiara envied her – the urge to move her leg and get rid of the insect was overwhelming.

The hornet left her leg and walked up her side, slowly crawling towards the neck. Diamond Tiara felt like her blood turned to ice. She tried not to move, but the clicking of the bug’s joint as it walked was chilling her to the bone. Holding her breath, Diamond Tiara focused on the vein pulsing on her neck – even though the movement was barely noticeable, she was sure that it was attracting the hornet.

However, the crawl continued. The mass of legs and chitin stepped on Diamond Tiara’s face. She could now easily see the multi-faceted eyes and every single vein in transparent wings. One of the legs was resting on her teeth and for a moment Diamond Tiara tried to imagine what’d happen if she bit it.

One of the legs stepped into her eye. Diamond Tiara hissed, blinking automatically. The hornet turned its head backwards and through half-lidded eye, Diamond Tiara saw its sting twitching, leaning closer to her cornea.

Suddenly, another hornet buzzed above Diamond Tiara’s face. The one sitting on her took off, joining its companion. Diamond Tiara retched, shuddering. The insects were still swarming above her, but their buzzing seemed like it was coming from a great distance. Slowly, Diamond Tiara lowered her head, her vision blurring, and lay down next to Silver Spoon.

Rumble gritted his teeth. A stray hornet wandered under his wing, tickling him. His muscles twitched, but he stood still, knowing that even a small move could result in a painful bite. He could see Scootaloo standing in an awkward position and Boysenberry, who was looking at the insects as if she wanted to fend them off. A large swarm was flying above Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but Rumble could still see the two fillies lying on the ground, motionless.

His wing twitched involuntarily when the hornet walked under it. Rumble felt sweat dripping from his forehead. The bug had accidentally hit the spot under Rumble’s wing, causing it to go numb. The colt gritted his teeth, trying not to move it, but the itch below his feathers was too much to handle.

Maybe I could run for it... Rumble thought, watching the swarm. Not far away, just to get rid of the hornet and lie down in a more comfortable position before they’d notice him. After all, Diamond Tiara managed to tackle Silver Spoon...

Rumble darted forward and took off, shaking the hornet off of his body. He took off, dodging the swarm flying towards him, and flew higher, almost reaching the ceiling.

Buzzing grew louder. Rumble saw a whole swarm flying towards him, but he was ready. He tucked his wings, falling down, and spread them just above the ground, gliding towards the wall.

“No!” Boysenberry screamed. Rumble turned back and saw a black cloud of chitin bodies rushing towards him. What was worse, similar swarms were approaching him from both sides, leaving only two ways to run away: up or down.

Rumble decided to go up. He flapped his wings and darted towards the ceiling.

A wave of pain paralysed him. He turned to see a hornet flying away from his hind leg, which immediately started to swell. His wings didn’t listen to him anymore; he dropped on the ground with a loud groan. The swarm overwhelmed him, getting into his eyes and mouth. Over the buzzing of their wings, he could faintly hear Scootaloo’s screams, but they were further and further away. Strong mandibles tore his flesh, but he couldn’t feel it – pain and poison caused his brain to shut down in a couple of seconds.

That was enough for the swarm. One by one, the hornets took off from the half-eaten body and flew away, disappearing as quickly as they’d appeared before.

Boysenberry was the first to move. She dropped on her knees, weeping. “Why did he move...” she whispered, rubbing her temples. “Why did you have to make him...”

Scootaloo walked to Boysenberry. “Who are you talking to?” she asked.

Boysenberry waved her hoof, but didn’t say anything. Trying not to look at Rumble’s remains, Scootaloo turned to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who were still lying in a tight embrace. “You alright?”

Diamond Tiara raised her head and blinked – one of her eyes was bloodshot. “What happened?” she whispered, looking around. She retched when her gaze rested on Rumble’s remains and she threw up on the floor.

“Why did you make him do that...” Boysenberry muttered. “That was cheating...”

“What are you talking about?” Scootaloo asked, approaching her. “Who was cheating?”

“I don’t know...” Boysenberry rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know... Don’t ask me!” She jumped back, standing with her head lowered, as if she was going to charge at Scootaloo. “Just... don’t...” she whispered, dropping on the ground and cowering.

“What’s going on?” Silver Spoon whispered, slowly opening her eyes. “What happened to me?”

“Shh...” Diamond Tiara hugged Silver. “Don’t look...”

Silver Spoon stood up abruptly, nearly fainting again. “W-who died?” she asked. “They flew away, s-so someone had to m-move...”

“Rumble,” Scootaloo whispered.

Silver Spoon gripped Diamond Tiara’s fur tightly and cried. Scootaloo watched them, wincing, before turning to Boysenberry.

“Do you think we can go?” Scootaloo asked. “Will they come back?”

“No,” Boysenberry whispered. “It’s much worse...”

“What’s much worse?” Diamond Tiara asked, her eyes widening.

“That.”

The floor collapsed. They fell down the dark well, made of the same substance as the room above. Scootaloo thrashed, trying to catch the uneven pieces of the wall, but they were falling apart under her hooves. She flapped her wings, but it was no use – she only managed to turn upside-down and slow herself down a bit.

At the bottom of the well, Scootaloo saw an opening portal. She screamed, but couldn’t stop Boysenberry, Silver Spoon, and Diamond Tiara from falling into it. Just after the last filly disappeared in it, the portal vanished in a blinding flash.

“No!” Scootaloo screamed, seeing that she was now falling into bottomless abyss. She spread her wings, trying to at least slow herself down.

Another portal opened right below her. Scootaloo closed her eyes and the green flash engulfed her.

Nopony Has To Die

Scootaloo blinked. She tried to move, but it felt like she was buried under concrete. Her head was aching and her vision was blurry. Not that there was much to see – metal ceiling above her was spinning slowly, small lights shining from it.

“Did I die?” Scootaloo muttered, trying to roll back on her hooves. It took her a few attempts, but finally she stood up and looked around.

The room was small and cosy. There was a desk at the wall, with a chair standing in front of it. On the desk, there was some kind of machine with several screens, as well as a few knobs. On the opposite side of the room, there was a door. Scootaloo trotted to it and pushed it, only to find out that the door was closed.

“Of course...” Scootaloo sighed, sitting by the door and rubbing her temples. “What’s going on? Did anyone else die?” She banged at the door, but nothing happened.

“Is anypony here?” Scootaloo asked. Her voice echoed through the room, but no other sound could be heard. “Is that some test? Answer me!”

One of the lights on the console under the screens lit up. Scootaloo looked at it unsurely and walked to it. She sat on the chair and focused on the small, red point in the middle of the desk. It looked normal, but Scootaloo was still looking at it askew.

After a while, Scootaloo looked at the ceiling again. “If I touch it, it’s gonna kill me, huh?”

No answer. Scootaloo shrugged and looked at the button again. There were some scratches around it, but nothing indicated that someone there died a cruel and painful death. It occurred to Scootaloo that even if someone did, she wouldn’t be able to recognise it anyway.

Scootaloo looked at her reflection in the screen in front of her – she was covered in a mixture of grease, sweat, dirt, and dry blood. Her ribs could be seen under her skin and her mane was a long and messy mass over her eyes. She reached to it and yanked a tuft of her hair out almost effortlessly. Her eyes were red; she looked down on her hooves and noticed a net of scratches and cuts. Some of them looked like they were infected.

“Okay, I’m gonna touch it.” Scootaloo muttered to herself. “Maybe it’ll be better to end it quickly.” She reached her hoof and pushed the button.

At first it seemed that nothing was going to happen. Then, the screens lit up, almost blinding Scootaloo. She groaned, lowering her head and rubbing her eyes. When she lifted her head, she saw that the screens were showing images from cameras placed in some corridor. She could see concrete walls and massive iron gates placed there for some reason. All of them were open, but she could imagine them closing with destructive force, crushing everything on their way.

Scootaloo saw some movement in the corridors. She turned to one of the screens and saw Silver Spoon standing in the corridor and looking at one of the gates, just a few metres in front of her.

“Silver?” Scootaloo asked. To her surprise, Silver Spoon lifted her head.

“Scootaloo? Where are you?” Silver Spoon’s voice was slightly distorted, but Scootaloo could hear it clearly.

“I don’t know,” Scootaloo replied. “It seems like some kind of control centre or something...”

“Maybe you can get us out of here?” Silver Spoon looked straight into the camera and Scootaloo realised that she was in the same condition as her – dirty, wounded, and sick. She started to wonder why she only noticed that now.

“Dunno,” Scootaloo replied. “Can you see the rest?”

“Oh, we can hear you,” Diamond Tiara’s voice joined them. Scootaloo looked at the screens and spotted Diamond Tiara at the bottom right one, standing in the corridor that seemed like a mirrored version of the one Silver Spoon was in.

“I’m next to some door,” Boysenberry said. “But I can’t open it.”

“Maybe that’s where I am,” Scootaloo muttered. She discovered that by manipulating the levers she could rotate cameras – soon she found Boysenberry, standing in front of a large door. A quick look was more than enough to see that it was the door to the room Scootaloo was in.

“Okay,” Scootaloo said. “I guess it’d be the best if you all went to Boysenberry... Maybe you’d find the way to open the door.”

Boysenberry rubbed her temples. “It won’t be that easy...” she muttered.

“Why?” Scootaloo asked. Suddenly, she felt cold. Frantically, she stared at the screens. Finally, she found it: a ball of magic appeared in the middle of the corridor and exploded, engulfing it in rapidly-spreading flames.

“Fire?” Scootaloo exclaimed, banging her hooves at the console. “How can it burn? There’s nothing but fucking concrete in there!”

She sighed, lowering her head. Suddenly, she saw that the lights on the console blinked, so she lifted her head.

The view on the middle screen was replaced by a map of the corridor. It had the shape of the letter T, with simplified pictures of ponies on it. Scootaloo shuddered, looking at them – they looked like the creature who drew them had a basic knowledge about ponies, but completely no idea how they behaved. The expressions were so wrong that if it wasn’t for the situation, Scootaloo would’ve laughed. Now, however, she looked at the plan, assessing the situation.

Boysenberry stood at the bottom of the T, far away from the fire burning in the middle of the letter. However, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were on both sides of the cross of it, much closer to the inferno.

“What am I supposed to do?!” Scootaloo yelled, watching as the fire slowly engulfed walls, spreading towards her friends.

One of the screens blinked. Scootaloo groaned and looked at it.

Fire on floor B3. One casualty unavoidable.

“What?” Scootaloo exclaimed. She looked at the plan of the floor again and saw that massive iron doors were also marked on it. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stood behind each of them.

“I can save you!” Scootaloo looked at the console in front of her. There were two knobs there, marked “Door A” and “Door B”. Next to them, there was a lever labelled “fire suppression system.”

“You’d better hurry!” Silver Spoon screamed, her voice almost unrecognisable. “I... I can smell the smoke from here!”

Scootaloo looked at the screen and saw Silver Spoon running away to the furthest point of the corridor. Without hesitation, she pulled a lever of fire suppression system.

Boysenberry’s scream filled the speakers. Scootaloo looked at the cameras and saw the water flooding the whole corridor on Boysenberry’s side – the filly was swimming in it, but the water was still coming, filling the hall almost to the ceiling.

Scootaloo cursed under her breath and turned off the fire suppression system. The water was drained almost as quickly as it appeared before. Boysenberry was sucked into the whirlpool, but soon emerged again, panting on the wet floor.

“Are you okay, Boysenberry?” Scootaloo asked. “First fire, now floods! That’s insane!”

“I’m soaked,” Boysenberry muttered. “But at least the fire doesn’t spread towards me anymore...”

“Then where it... Oh shit!” Scootaloo looked at the map and saw that the part she’d previously flooded was now marked in blue colour. However, the upper half of the T was getting red – the colour was creeping towards Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

“Close the door!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. “The fire is getting closer!”

Scootaloo pushed the knob marked as “Door A”. The door to the part where Silver Spoon was closed slowly, accompanied by the sound of rusty metal parts rubbing against each other. Scootaloo smirked and pushed the Door B.

The door closed... but at the same time, the first door opened again. After a few seconds, the second door also opened.

“What the–” Silver Spoon’s voice caused feedback in the speakers. “Close the door! Close the door, please!”

“I can’t...” Scootaloo’s voice faltered. “I... It seems that I can only close one door at a time...” She groaned. One casualty unavoidable. There was no other way.

“Well, that’s clear now,” Diamond Tiara said. “Close Silver’s door.”

“What? No!” Silver Spoon exclaimed. “S-so many ponies died because of me... You can’t be the next one, Diamond!”

“I couldn’t live with the thought that I killed you, Silver.” Diamond Tiara’s voice was loud and clear.

“What?” Silver Spoon shuddered visibly. Even on a small image from the camera Scootaloo could see her trembling. “I a-also don’t wanna live if y-you are dead, Diamond... Scootaloo, please... Save Diamond.”

Scootaloo’s hoof moved over the knobs. She looked at the screens – the red line was almost at the intersection of the T. Diamond Tiara was standing motionlessly at the end of the corridor, staring at the incoming fire. On the other side, Silver Spoon was cowering on the ground, her eyes closed.

“C’mon, Scootaloo,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “It’s getting hot in here and I don’t want Silver to get burned.”

“I... I can’t...” Scootaloo felt that her throat was dry. Even though she was far away from the fire, she was sweating profusely.

“If you don’t choose, we’ll both die!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Is that what you want? Come on! That’s your one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kill me! A chance Apple Bloom dreamed about!”

“She never wanted to kill you!” Scootaloo cried. “And I don’t want it too!”

“If you’re hesitating, then I’m walking out of here.” Diamond Tiara sighed. “That’ll make your choice easier.”

“No!” Silver Spoon shouted. “If you don’t save Diamond, I’ll kill myself too.” She walked to the door, staring at the cameras. “Please, Diamond, don’t do that... You... You have to live...”

“It’s you who has to live, Silver Spoon,” Diamond Tiara replied. “You’re a far better pony than I’ll ever be...”

“Me?” Silver Spoon asked. “There’s nopony better than you, Diamond.”

The fire roared between them – Scootaloo could hear it in the speakers. Some of the screens went blank after the cameras were burned, but she could still see Boysenberry standing helplessly in her spot, as well as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, standing by their doors.

“I can’t do that...” Scootaloo muttered, tears flowing from her eyes. “I... I just can’t choose...”

“You have to,” Boysenberry said, turning to the camera. “Please, don’t kill them both... They won’t like it.”

“Who?”

“They.” Boysenberry shuddered. “They don’t like when their experiments go wrong.”

“What if we mess with them on purpose and–” Scootaloo shivered. “What am I... There are Diamond and Silver there... If I mess with–” She looked at the cameras and bit her lips so hard that she felt the taste of blood in her mouth.

Slowly, Scootaloo lifted her hoof over the console. It trembled, stopping halfway through, between the two knobs. She looked at the screens, to see fire approaching Diamond and Silver. It seemed like the courage left them; they were both running away to the ends of their respective corridors.

Scootaloo closed her eyes. She inhaled sharply and raised her hoof. The chair fell backwards and Scootaloo landed on the desk, pushing one of the knobs. The sound of door closing caused her to open her eyes.

She looked at the small silhouette cowering in front of the roaring wall of fire.

She really wanted to turn her gaze away.

She blinked and opened her eyes. “Am I dead?” she muttered.

A touch of cold floor felt too real for her question to be true. She stood up slowly and looked at her body. It was still there, dirty, beaten, and emaciated. She shuddered, wondering why it didn’t break yet. Then she looked around.

The door was there, protecting her from the flames. At first she smirked, realising that she was safe.

The thought hit her suddenly, like a punch in the stomach. She fell down on her knees, retching. “No...” she muttered. “Scootaloo, what did you do...” She rushed to the door and hit it with her hoof. It was still hot, burning her leg, but she didn’t care. “Scootaloo, you killed her!”

There was no answer. She gave out a powerful cry, banging against the door. “Scootaloo, open it, or–” She fell on her knees, wailing. “W-why did you have to...”

She heard hissing coming from behind the door. Some steam seeped in through the gaps between the door and the walls and she realised that the fire was being extinguished. She crawled away from the door and rolled on her back, too tired to move.

After a few minutes that felt like centuries, the door opened. She stood up and darted out of the corridor, galloping to the other side. Her hoofsteps echoed through the empty spaces. The vein on her forehead was pulsating, giving her a headrush, but she didn’t care. Swallowing her tears, she kept running through wet halls.

It was where she thought it too be. After death it was oddly small. All the fur was gone, just like the mane and tail. Most of the muscles fell off, showing bare bones hidden under them. The whole body was black, stiff, and shrunken. It was also soaked in water from the fire suppression system.

She sobbed, hugging the body. Charred tissues fell apart under her touch, but she didn’t back off, holding the body tightly. Finally, she let it go and walked a few steps away, wiping tears and ashes from her fur.

She noticed something on the floor and picked it up. A shapeless mold of blue plastic was still warm, despite lying in a small puddle of water.

Diamond Tiara shuddered when she imagined Silver Spoon throwing her glasses away at the last moment so she couldn’t see the incoming doom.

Slowly and silently, Diamond Tiara walked down the corridor. The walls were scorched and the water was still dripping from the ceiling, but she couldn’t see it. Each step was taking her away from Silver Spoon. Blood was boiling in her veins; all she wanted was revenge.

Boysenberry was nowhere to be seen, but when Diamond Tiara reached the end of the corridor, she saw that the door was slightly ajar. Barely able to breathe, she pulled it and marched into the room.

“How could you?” Diamond Tiara yelled, kicking the chair which smashed against the wall. “I told you to spare her, but you–” She paused, staring at the corner of the room. Boysenberry was sitting there, holding Scootaloo in her hooves. “What happened to her?”

Boysenberry shrugged, pointing at Scootaloo. The pegasus was staring blankly at the wall, breathing quickly. When Boysenberry let go of her, she dropped on the ground numbly and cowered there.

“How convenient...” Diamond Tiara muttered. She walked to Scootaloo and smacked her in the face. Scootaloo rolled on the ground, but didn’t make even a faintest sound. Diamond Tiara raised her hoof again, but Boysenberry grabbed her.

“What?” Diamond Tiara shouted. “She killed my friend!”

Boysenberry held her firmly.

“You’re not talking again?” Diamond Tiara sighed. “What the fuck is wrong with all of you?” She pushed Boysenberry away, grabbed a piece of the chair and threw it at one of the screens. It broke, exploding in a torrent of sparkles. Diamond Tiara picked another fragment, but Boysenberry grabbed her hoof again.

“Wait,” Boysenberry said, pointing at one of the screens. The image from one of the few surviving cameras was showing a door that hadn’t been there just a few minutes ago.

“And what do you think awaits us there?” Diamond Tiara sobbed. “More death!” She lowered her head. “I’d rather stay here and die with Silver...”

“Whatever you want.” Boysenberry walked to Scootaloo and helped her up. Scootaloo still didn’t make a smallest move and Boysenberry had to practically drag her out of the room.

“What?” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. “You’re leaving me?”

“You wanted to stay here,” Boysenberry said. “They want us to stay together, but after that I’m done listening to them...” She groaned and rubbed her temples, almost dropping Scootaloo.

“Wait...” Diamond Tiara trotted to her. “I... I can’t stay here all alone... T-they can do something to you...”

“They’ll kill us anyway.” Boysenberry winced and closed her eyes.

“Yes, but...” Diamond Tiara lowered her gaze. “After Silver... I just want it to end quickly...”

Boysenberry only sighed and shook her head. Diamond Tiara grabbed Scootaloo’s other hoof and together they walked through the door and into the dark tunnel behind it.

Corrosion

“My name is Diamond Tiara and I’m on my way to die. Little food we had is nothing but a memory – maybe the last of the happy memories in my life.

“I’m talking to myself because, well, my two friends aren’t very talkative. The rest of us died in horrible circumstances and we’re the only ones left. I should consider myself lucky that I can still think clearly enough to say that. Even if no one hears me.

“Scratch that. I don’t feel lucky at all. At least those two don’t remember about all those things we’ve been through... About Silver Spoon’s body... Changelings... Whoever hears me now...

“I don’t want to be saved. Being saved would mean... It’d mean living with all this... I... I just...

“My name is Diamond Tiara and I just want this to end already.”

The last words echoed through the low, dark corridor. Diamond Tiara gave out a long cry and fell on the floor, panting heavily. Cold stones made her shudder, but she didn’t stand up; she curled into a ball and hid her face in her hooves.

Somepony touched her. She looked up and saw Boysenberry standing above her, her face emotionless. Diamond Tiara sobbed, seeing Scootaloo walking nearby in a completely erratic manner, hopping, punching the walls, and rolling on the floor.

“You want me to go further?” Diamond Tiara asked, her voice barely a whisper. “Leave me here... Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“Oh, I believe she heard pretty well,” Babs Seed said, staring at her burned hoof. “Just for your information, staying here means staying with me. But I guess you’ll like my company.”

“Well, who wouldn’t?” Button Mash asked, staring at the large mass of rotten flesh where his stomach used to be. “It’s not like they have anywhere to go... Not to mention that she’s hungry, dehydrated...” He tore off a bit of his flesh and sniffed it. “We have food.”

“Like, lots of food.” Featherweight muttered, staring at his body. There were bite marks around the wounds that killed him. Greenish liquid was oozing from them, staining his coat, which turned darker, each hair glued together with some kind of slime. “There’s still plenty.”

“No... No!” Diamond Tiara crawled back, retching. “I’d better go... Really, I’d–”

The taste of blood in her mouth brought her back to her senses. She blinked, realising that the ponies around her were gone. She raised her head and spat some shards of her teeth out.

“I’m sorry,” Boysenberry muttered. “That was the only way to bring you back.”

Diamond Tiara rubbed her temples. “H-how long...”

“A minute or so,” Boysenberry replied. “But it was much creepier when you did that for the first time. Scootaloo freaked out too and I thought it was over...”

Only now Diamond Tiara realised that she’d been hearing a happy song, distorted by echo and noises coming from behind the walls. Scootaloo spun in place and clapped her hooves, her eyes closed.

“Now that’s creepy,” Diamond Tiara muttered.

“Sure it is.” Silver Spoon patted her coat, which fell to ashes, revealing a layer of burnt flesh underneath. “She totally lost it.”

“I’m pretty sure we all did,” Diamond Tiara replied.

“Who are you talking to?” Boysenberry looked at Diamond Tiara unsurely. Diamond Tiara blinked and looked at the place where Silver Spoon used to be. There was no one there now, but she could swear that there was a small pile of ashes on the floor.

“C-could you punch me again?” Diamond Tiara asked, rubbing her temples. “I think I see things…”

“I don’t think this will help,” Boysenberry replied. “They’re giving us these visions…”

“I don’t know…” Diamond Tiara shook her head and looked at Scootaloo, who was trotting further away from them. “She’s already c-crazy… And I lost Silver…”

“Remember what happened to Uwazi?” Boysenberry asked. “There’s a way out from here…”

Diamond Tiara sighed. “And now you’re the reasonable one? We don’t know what was on the other side of that portal. It could’ve killed him right after he went there.”

Boysenberry gave Scootaloo a look and shook her head before turning back to speak to Diamond Tiara. “I feel that he’s in a better place now.”

“You know when I’ll be in a better place?” Diamond Tiara asked. “When I die.”

Boysenberry rolled her eyes. “We need to catch up with Scootaloo. I’ll drag you if I need to…”

“I’ll walk by myself,” Diamond Tiara replied, taking a step forward. It felt like ages passed before she put her hoof back on the ground. She staggered, resting herself against Boysenberry, but she moved forward anyway, gritting her teeth.

Suddenly, they heard Scootaloo’s groan. Diamond Tiara trotted faster, turning behind the corner.

“Well…” she muttered, stopping mid-step next to Scootaloo.

After spending so much time in narrow corridors, seeing such a big hall in front of her caused Diamond Tiara to nearly collapse. Her hooves trembled when she raised her head to see the ceiling. It was far above them; so far they could barely see it.

“Should we go there?” Diamond Tiara looked at Boysenberry, who shook her head.

“It doesn’t seem right,” Boysenberry replied. “See that button on the opposite wall?”

Diamond Tiara looked in the direction Boysenberry was pointing at, but she couldn’t see anything. She started to wonder if Boysenberry could really see it, or the overseers of the maze just told her about the button’s existence. Or maybe her own vision was giving up.

“Frankly, no.” Diamond Tiara shrugged. “What do you think it does?”

“I’d rather not push it to find out.” Boysenberry looked at Scootaloo, who kept staring at the wall, babbling something incoherent. Boysenberry shuddered, but ignored that and grabbed a pebble lying on the ground. She then turned back and threw it into the hall.

It seemed like forever before the pebble stopped rolling on the floor. It seemed that the hall was actually biggest than it seemed to them; at some points it seemed like the stone went faster than it should, as if it teleported a few inches before stopping. Boysenberry lifted her hoof, ready to take a step forward. Suddenly, something hissed, and a large drop of some green fluid fell on the pebble, foaming and hissing.

Boysenberry’s jaw dropped as she saw the rock slowly dissolving until there was nothing left but a quickly-evaporating puddle of the green fluid.

“Seems like we’ll have to push the button,” Diamond Tiara muttered.

Boysenberry rubbed her temples. “This…” She sighed, collapsing to her haunches. “There must be some other way…”

Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened. “There’s no other way, right?”

“Of course there’s not!” Boysenberry’s voice echoed across the hall. “They want us to go there!” She banged her hoof against the floor. “It’s their plan. An experiment.”

“I’m going,” Diamond Tiara said. “You don’t have much use of me anyway.”

“Are you crazy?” Boysenberry asked. “That’s what they want.”

“I don’t want to live anyway.” Diamond Tiara’s voice faltered and tears made another trail in her dirt-covered face. “And that’ll be faster than staying here to starve.”

“No.” Boysenberry stood up. “Too many ponies died so I could live. Now it’s time to make my sacrifice.” She took a step forward.

“Stop!” Diamond Tiara grabbed Boysenberry’s tail with her teeth. Several hairs fell out, but the rest held her firmly. “We… We can go together…”

“What about Scootaloo?” Boysenberry asked. “She can’t make it without one of us…”

“Maybe after we die, the portal will open and she’ll be taken out,” Diamond Tiara replied. “If we both go, we’ll have a bigger chance to reach that button so she can live…” She turned to look at Scootaloo, but she found out that the pegasus had left her spot by the wall.

“No…” Boysenberry froze, seeing Scootaloo trotting forward towards the hall. “No!”

Scootaloo, singing some song that made sense only to her, entered the hall. Boysenberry and Diamond Tiara rushed to her, but as soon as they reached the hall entrance, they felt a warm wave and they were thrown back into the corridor.

“Only one can go…” Boysenberry shook her head. “Fucking clever…”

The first drop of acid missed Scootaloo, who didn’t seem to notice it, still humming some tune without clear lyrics. Several small droplets landed on her, charring her fur as she went.

Boysenberry closed her eyes, but even then she could hear the gurgling scream accompanied by a loud hiss. She opened her eyes and saw Scootaloo lying in the middle of the hall, panting heavily. The acid burned a part of her flank and hind leg; the skin was almost completely gone, revealing the flesh underneath. Still screaming, Scootaloo darted forward, half-walking and half-crawling, dragging herself across.

The next drop hit her right wing, changing it into a limp pile of blackened bones that were quickly falling apart. Scootaloo gasped and fell on the floor, leaving a trace of blood as she crawled further towards the wall.

Diamond Tiara ran forward. She knew she’d be thrown back again, but she tried to join Scootaloo anyway. The magic blast threw her on the ground. Spitting blood, she stood up and looked into the chamber.

Scootaloo was nowhere to be seen. The acid began evaporating, forming yellowish-green clouds that obscured the view. Only after a while, Diamond Tiara saw some movement by the wall with the button. When she realised what was that, she trembled and fell to her haunches in a fit of nausea.

A barely pony-shaped lump propped itself against the wall, reaching its only remaining limb towards the button. Pressing it was, however, the last straw. Scootaloo shook and fell back on the floor, her body falling apart.

The interior filled with white smoke, clearing the room off the vapours of acid. After a while it escaped through small holes in the walls. Only then, the magical barrier disappeared.

“Let’s go.” Boysenberry touched Diamond Tiara’s arm. “We have to get out of here.”

Diamond Tiara said nothing, slowly standing up and moving forward in stiff motions. She shuddered, hearing the echo of her steps after entering the chamber. The acid could still be smelled in the air, making her stomach twist.

She followed Boysenberry, gritting her teeth and trying not to look at Scootaloo’s body – in fact, a small pile of black bones. When Boysenberry walked to them and poked one of it with her hoof, it fell apart like the remains of burnt paper.

“So, one of us is next?” Diamond Tiara muttered.

“I guess so,” Boysenberry replied. “And before you ask, they won’t allow us to do that ourselves.”

Diamond looked at Scootaloo’s body. “I figured as much. So, we have to keep on going?”

“Yes.” Boysenberry trotted towards the crack in the wall and examined it. “But at least it won’t last much longer…”

You Wake Up In a Room

“Where am I? What am I doing here? Leave me alone!”

“Shut up...” Scootaloo muttered, opening one eye. Her head was aching. Her joints were stiff and she realised that she’d probably spent a night lying on a cold floor. She couldn’t, however, recall why. The place she was in didn’t look like her home. She could hear some buzzing in her ears and any attempt to recall the past events was resulting in more pain.

Scootaloo groaned. She looked around and, in a dim light, she saw a yellow filly, screaming and banging her hooves against a plastic wall. Gritting her teeth, Scootaloo got up on her hooves and walked to her. “What are you doing?” she asked.

The filly gave her a brief look. Her large, purple eyes were wide open, but her pupils were narrow. “I... I’m scared...” she replied replied, trying to steady her breath. “Where are we?”

“We’re at...” Scootaloo paused, looking around. The grayish walls and floor weren’t giving her any hints. There were some scratches on the wall next to the yellow filly, along with some inscription slightly above them. Scootaloo moved her face closer to it, but it didn’t help much.

मृत्यु

Scootaloo looked back at the filly. She had a feeling that she’d seen her before. The violet, braided mane seemed familiar, yet she couldn’t put her hoof on it. “Who are you?”

“Boysenberry,” the filly replied, shuddering when her voice echoed through the corridor.

“Did you write this?” Scootaloo asked, pointing at the inscription.

“No,” Boysenberry replied. “Are those even letters?”

“Listen, Boysenberry...” Scootaloo muttered, looking around. “I don’t know what it is and where we are, but I’m sure we’ll get out of here...”

“Who’s there?”

They jumped, startled, when they heard the voice, coming from the darker part of the room. “It’s me, Scootaloo... and Boysenberry,” Scootaloo replied. “Who are you?”

“Scootaloo! It’s me, Pipsqueak. What’s going on?”

“I have no idea!” Scootaloo heard Pipsqueak trotting to them. It quickly stopped, replaced by a muffled groan.

“There’s somepony here!” Pipsqueak exclaimed. Scootaloo thought that she’d prefer him not doing this. Something about this place seemed off. For some reason, Scootaloo felt that it was better to be as quiet as possible.

Feeling a chill running down her spine, Scootaloo trotted in the direction where she’d last heard Pipsqueak’s voice, but soon she also tripped.

“What’s goin’ on?” a groggy yet familiar voice asked.

“Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo asked. “What happened to us? Where are we?”

“There’s somepony else here!” Boysenberry shouted. “It’s... It’s Diamond Tiara...”

They heard a colt’s scream. Scootaloo froze, wondering how many ponies could be with them in that dimly-lit room. More and more voices were joining the chorus of frantic questions, screams, and chaotic conversations. Scootaloo sat with Apple Bloom and Boysenberry, who was still sweating, throwing nervous glances around.

Soon, they were joined by Sweetie Belle, who yawned and scratched her mane. “Is it some prank?” she asked. “It looks like somepony locked us in some basement...”

“Ah don’t like this prank,” Apple Bloom muttered. “How many of us are here anyway?”

“Apple Bloom?” They heard another familiar voice behind them.

“Babs?” Apple Bloom asked. “What are ya doin’ here?”

“Stupid question, cuz...” Babs sighed. “Last thing I remember is sleepin’ in your room and now... What is this?” She looked at the ceiling, made of the same kind of old, grayish plastic as the walls.

“Maybe it’s some army facility,” a fat, grey colt not far from them muttered. “A bunker or something...”

“Maybe we were teleported here because it’s dangerous outside?” a grey pegasus filly whom Scootaloo recognised as Tornado Bolt asked. “Maybe dragons attacked Ponyville...”

“Or maybe some villain foalnapped us!” a brown colt exclaimed. “Your sister will soon come to us, Sweetie...”

“I hope so, Button...” Sweetie Belle said. “It’s scary in here...” She looked at the floor beneath her hooves. Scootaloo followed her gaze and saw another inscription there.

मन लागिरहेको छ

“Do you know what does it mean?” Scootaloo asked, pointing at it.

The grey colt looked at it. “I’ve never heard of any language like that... Maybe those are some symbols?”

As he said it, they heard some strange sound from behind the wall; like a droning buzz of some machinery. A cold wind ruffled their manes. Somewhere behind the wall, a screeching could be heard, like some rusty bearing coming back to life.

Apple Bloom cleared her throat, trying to remain calm. “Okay... How many of us is here? Can y’all say your names?”

“Truffle Shuffle,” the grey colt said.

“Pipsqueak.”

“Featherweight.”

Scootaloo started to count. Except of them, Boysenberry, Button, Truffle Shuffle, Babs, Pipsqueak, and Featherweight, there were eleven more ponies in the room. Snips, Snails, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Rumble, Zippoorwhill, Dinky Doo, Tootsie Flute, Shady Daze, Tornado Bolt, and Ruby Pinch.

“Twenty,” Babs muttered and hid her face in her hooves. “Why’d somepony lock the twenty of us in here?”

Nopony replied. The droning noise was now quieter, yet they could still hear it; or rather, they could sense it somewhere at the edge of their perception.

“Okay,” Diamond Tiara said, standing in the middle of the group. “That’s not important now. We have to get out of here.”

“But how?” Snips asked. “There’s no door in here…”

“There has to be some exit…” Silver Spoon muttered. “Can’t you feel the wind?”

Several ponies nodded. They looked in the direction of the air current and saw a small opening in the wall. Shady Daze approached it and leaned against the wall. He almost fell down when a panel moved, revealing a narrow, faintly-lit corridor. The wind became a bit weaker, but still it was enough to chill them to the bone.

“Told you,” Silver Spoon said.

“What if it’s a trap?” Tootsie Flute asked, watching the corridor unsurely. Unlike the room they were in, the walls were made of concrete rather than grayish plastic panels. At first they could find the source of light; Truffle Shuffle stepped forward and examined the nearby wall. It was covered in something that looked like soot and there were some holes in it, as if somepony banged their hooves against it a long time ago. Among those dents, they could still see remains of another inscription.

छली प्रकाश

“I don’t think it’s a trap,” Truffle Shuffle said. “It seems like some kind of a fluorescent lichen growing here...”

“What if it’s poisonous?” Boysenberry asked, shuddering.

“Oh, come on...” Ruby Pinch rolled her eyes. “It’s just a moss.”

“Technically, it’s a lichen,” Truffle Shuffle corrected.

Ruby Pinch glared at him angrily. “What’s the difference?” she spat. “It grows on walls. It shines. I ain’t need to know nothing more about it.”

Babs approached her. “Chill out, kids. We have to go, not watch the local flora.”

“You’re not gonna command me, mud pony...” Ruby paused when nine earth ponies glared at her angrily.

“It’s funny, you know?” Diamond Tiara smirked. “I always thought your mother was a mud pony. At least judging by how often she lies in her own vomit... And I wonder... Where’s your dignified unicorn father?”

Ruby’s face went red. “Fuck off,” she muttered, staring unblinkingly into Diamond Tiara’s eyes.

“Oh, what a clever answer.” Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. “Truly, there’s unicorn’s blood in your veins...”

Ruby darted forward only to be caught by Tornado Bolt and Zippoorwhill, who pulled her away from Silver Spoon. Babs watched the scene with a smug grin, her eyes half-closed. “Are ya done?” she asked. “Because I don’t wanna waste any more time here, with some ancient scribbles and you nutjobs.”

“Exactly.” Apple Bloom stood beside her cousin. “The sooner we get outta here the better.”

Everypony agreed. Tornado Bolt and Zippoorwhill released Ruby from their grasp. She glared at Silver Spoon angrily before Button Mash walked between them, parting them.

The sound of their hoofsteps echoed through the corridor. Scootaloo looked around, but the walls everywhere looked the same; there wasn’t a single crack in the concrete that’d differ one wall from another. From time to time her eyes were finding something that looked like another inscription, but when she examined it, it was usually some play of light or a scratch on the wall. Soon, she stopped caring about them. After all, she couldn’t read them, even if she could find them.

“Creepy,” Sweetie Belle muttered, shivering. “I hope Rarity is okay...”

“Yeah,” Button Mash said, looking at the wall. “Mom is probably worried sick... By the way, you know what that reminds me of?”

“If ya say that some game with monsters, Ah’ll buck ya to your mom and back,” Apple Bloom said. “This place is scary enough without ya tellin’ us about monsters...”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything!” Button exclaimed. Several foals looked at him.

“To think about it...” Zippoorwhill said. “Why do you all whisper?”

Scootaloo looked at her, noticing that, while there were five pegasi in their group, Zippoorwhill was the only one to fly instead of walking. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I guess it’s because this place looks...”

“Scary,” Dinky interrupted her. “The scribblings, the sounds, that moss...”

“Lichen,” Truffle Shuffle muttered.

Dinky ignored him. “I don’t like this light. And I want to see mommy again... I... I have a feeling like those walls were leaning towards us...”

Boysenberry wept, shuddering. Dinky looked at her and saw that she sat on the ground, her eyes closed. “What’s going on?”

“I... I’m afraid of...” Boysenberry’s whisper was barely audible. She cowered on the floor, resting her body against the wall.

“Claustrophobia?” Truffle Shuffle shook his head. “We really need to get out of here. She can’t stay in that place...”

“Yeah, and you talking about it will definitely help her,” Featherweight said with a sigh. He went to Boysenberry and helped her up. She opened her eyes and walked forward slowly like a sleepwalker, barely paying attention to her surroundings.

“Anypony else’s gonna cry for their mommy?” Ruby asked. “Because I’m getting sick of it, you know...”

“Nopony asks you for an opinion,” Sweetie Belle muttered.

Ruby was about to say something nasty, when Tootsie Flute, who walked in the front of the group, suddenly stopped and raised her hoof, silencing them. “Y’know... I don’t wanna make it worse, but... Can ya be silent for a while?”

Everypony stopped talking; some of them held their breaths.

“Am I da only one who ‘ears dat?” Tootsie Flute asked.

“It’s like a... heart...” Snips whispered, looking at the floor. “A really big heart...”

Now they heard that too: a rhythmic beating somewhere deep below them, causing the floor to resonate slightly. There was also rustling of some fluid coming from the walls, as if there were pipes behind them. The sound wasn’t continuous; it was stopping and starting again in the same rhythm as the ominous heartbeat.

Pipsqueak shuddered when he felt cold breeze ruffling his fur. The breeze ceased, but soon started again, coming from the opposite direction. Another pause, and the cold wind blown again from the same direction as before. “Is this corridor... breathing?” he asked.

“I don’t think so.” Scootaloo’s voice was unnaturally high. “I mean... It’s our imagination... right?”

“Twenty ponies imaginin’ the same thing?” Babs asked. “That’s not normal and remember that I live in Manehattan...”

Snails looked at Babs as if he saw her for the first time in his life. “Exactly, why are you the only one here not from Ponyville?”

“No idea,” Babs replied, glaring at Snails coldly. “I was visitin’ Apple Bloom... Maybe that’s why I’m here?”

“Ya’re talkin’, da corridor’s still breafin’...” Tootsie Flute muttered. “I ain’t no gonna stay ‘ere any longer.” She trotted forward. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon followed her. Dinky and Featherweight were walking with Boysenberry who was still looking at the floor beneath her hooves, her face pale. Babs shrugged and trotted behind them, accompanied by Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Button Mash. Ruby Pinch sighed and went down the corridor next to Truffle Shuffle, who kept trying to talk to her. Zippoorwhill soon flew at the front of the group, this time in the company of Rumble and Tornado Bolt. Snips and Snails were the rearguard, with Pipsqueak and Shady Daze in front of them.

They walked for a few hours, stopping from time to time to rest. It never lasted long; their hoofsteps were the only thing preventing them from thinking about the mysterious maze and the strange noises coming from behind the walls. During one of those stops, a sudden squeal, like the sound of a knife scratching the glass, caused them to run away from that place in a hurry. The narrow and tortuous corridor led them deeper underground. After a few turns, they completely lost orientation; none of them could say how to get back to the room with plastic walls, even though the road wasn’t complicated. Listening to the noises behind them, Scootaloo started to wonder if going back was even possible.

The light was getting dimmer. Soon, the unicorns lit their horns. Motley hues of their magic were casting eerie shadows on the walls. Scootaloo looked at them and shuddered, not sure if they all belonged to ponies. She looked at her companions unsurely, but it seemed that no one was missing.

She was not the only one. All the conversations died down. Only occasional whispers were breaking the silence. Pipsqueak was constantly looking behind, into the darkness. Even though nopony was saying anything, it was clear what they were thinking about. Who built that maze and why? How did they end up there?

Tootsie Flute tripped and Diamond Tiara nearly bumped into her. Zippoorwhill landed next to them and rubbed her wings. Tornado Bolt and Rumble had given up flying long time ago.

“I’m hungry,” Truffle Shuffle muttered. He sat on the ground, as close to the circle of a faint light of Ruby’s magic as possible.

“Who’d think?” Silver Spoon said. “Next time I wake up in such a place I’ll remember to take some food with me...” She rubbed her grumbling stomach.

“How do you think, how far we’re from the exit?” Tornado Bolt asked, massaging her stiff wing. “I hope we get out before we starve...”

“I don’t think we’re going towards exit...” Truffle Shuffle said. Several ponies looked at him, their eyes wide. “Unless we’re high above the ground...”

“What if we’re at the bottom of the sea?” Dinky asked. She couldn’t help but look into the darkness in front of them; the shadows were moving on the walls and she was sure it wasn’t all their shadows, or some flickering of the light of her horn. Something was there, watching them.

“No way,” Apple Bloom replied. “It’s far too dry in here... And how’d they build it?”

“With magic,” Shady Daze observed. “This place seems... alive.”

Even though most of them had managed to tune the sinister heartbeat out, now they heard it again. The rustling behind the wall was even louder than before. There was some additional note to it; a faint echo of something elastic moving slightly up and down. It felt like the invisible pipes weren’t made of metal; the sound was almost organic. The foals walked closer to each other, trying to stay as far from the walls as it was possible.

“Is somepony still walkin’?” Tootsie Flute asked. However, whatever was waddling down the corridor, it wasn’t a pony. The sound resembled wet duck feet walking on the concrete, in a rhythm different than any duck’s; the creature was bigger and probably had more than two legs. Suddenly the sound ceased, but soon started again, quickened and slowly dying down in the distance, before the sound of locking metal door, complete with a screech of iron rubbing against iron.

“I’d rather not go there,” Sweetie Belle muttered. Button Mash nodded, barely visible in flickering light of Tootsie’s horn. Tootsie was the only one who was still able to maintain her magic, but it was clear that it couldn’t last long.

“So, what are we gonna do now?” Ruby asked.

“Sleep,” Babs commanded. “You and you.” She pointed at Rumble and Featherweight. “Ya will guard us for a few hours, then somepony will change ya.” She looked at the faces of sleepy, tired foals. “We all need some sleep.”

“Yeah, and we won’t see that spider-duck thingy coming again...” Rumble muttered.

“That’s why ya’ll stay awake,” Babs said, lying on the floor next to Apple Bloom. “In case of any ducks comin’ here, you’ll ask them what they want.”

Tootsie Flute’s magic finally gave up and soon everything disappeared in darkness. Rumble looked in Featherweight’s general direction and sighed. “What did we get ourselves into?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Featherweight replied. “But I’d prefer to get out of here quickly...”

Author's Note

20.

Food For Thoughts

Silver Spoon rubbed her stomach, but it didn’t stop it from rumbling. She groaned and stretched her aching muscles. Her nostrils were filled with the smell of Diamond Tiara’s fur and she realised that she’d spent the night using her best friend as a pillow, while Tootsie Flute was resting herself against her.

Silver Spoon straightened her glasses and looked around. The fluorescent lichen was enlightening the corridor dimly; several other foals were also awake, trying to get their bearings. Zippoorwhill yawned, rubbing her eyes, while Sweetie Belle was trying to comb her mane with her hooves.

“How long are ya gonna lie here?” Babs’ voice startled Silver Spoon. “We need to go.”

“Chill out, Babs,” Apple Bloom muttered, approaching her cousin. “We’re hungry...”

“Well, I don’t see any food here, y’know?” Babs said, blowing her mane from her eyes. “And none of it will fall from the sky if we stay here. We need to go.”

“Just a few minutes...” Dinky groaned.

Ruby Pinch walked to Babs, wincing when her numb leg touched the floor. “Let’s go,” she said, moving it to regain sensation. “I’m sick of staying with you all. The sooner we get outta here, the better.”

“And why are you two telling us what to do?” Diamond Tiara asked, getting up, causing Silver Spoon’s head to slid off her flank and almost hit against the floor. “Did we, like, choose you to command us?”

“Shut up,” Babs spat, glaring at Diamond Tiara angrily. “Or I’ll tell ‘em about–”

“Enough!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. Her voice echoed through the corridor, causing everypony to cower. It seemed to them that it was still ringing in the air, along with some scratches behind the wall and something resembling rats pacing under the floor.

“Let’s go,” Scootaloo said in an emotionless voice when the echo finally ceased. “I really hate this place...”

“Whoa...” Babs muttered, raising her head. “That’s something new...”

They’d walked for about an hour. Until that moment, the corridor was leading them in only one direction. Now, however, there was a concrete wall in front of them. Babs looked around and saw two side tunnels with lower ceilings, both smelling faintly of stale air, disinfectants, and something barely noticeable which Babs associated with a dentist’s office. Above the left entrance, there was ܐܣܛܘܡܟܐ written in large, black symbols. The right entrance was similarly marked as ܡܘܚܐ.

“What are we going to do now?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Split up?”

“That’d be the worst thing to do,” Button Mash said. Everypony looked at him. “At least that’s what happens in games...”

“I don’t want to split up...” Boysenberry’s voice was only a bit louder than a whisper.

“Yeah, we should stick together...” Babs muttered. “But that means we’ll have to choose one...”

Apple Bloom walked to the left entrance and sniffed the air; then she did the same with the other one. “Ah’d go there,” she said, pointing at the left corridor. “It smells of apples, while the other one...” She looked at Babs. “Kinda like Manehattan on a sunny day...”

“That’s strange because for me they both smell the same,” Babs said. “How ‘bout ya?” She looked at the others.

Tootsie Flute winced when she looked into the darkness. “Dead cat.” She shuddered. “Da ovver one too...”

“I don’t get it.” Scootaloo also sniffed the air. “I can’t smell anything, but look at the walls there. Those on the right look like that room we woke up in. You know, plastic everywhere and so on... Those on the left and different. It’s made of metal, I think...”

Ruby sighed. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but does it mean that we’ll have to choose between going who the fuck knows where and going back where we started?”

“It seems so,” Button Mash said. “Unless it’s a coincidence...”

“I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle muttered. “Maybe we should go back?”

Babs smacked her hoof against her forehead. “Go back? What for? There’s nothin’ to eat there. Hell, there’s nothin’ there, but a spider-duck...” She chuckled bitterly. “I don’t know...”

“Oh...” Diamond Tiara clicked her tongue. “So you don’t know everything? What a surprise...”

“I think we should vote,” Pipsqueak said.

Babs glared at Diamond angrily, but quickly regained her composure. “I trust Apple Bloom. We should go to the left.”

“No way,” Diamond Tiara said. “We should go to the right.”

Silver Spoon nodded, agreeing with her. Ruby gave them a long look, then she stared at the Cutie Mark Crusaders as if they were something gross she’d stepped into. Finally, she spoke, “Let’s go to the left. I hate you less, guys.”

“I hate you less,” Diamond Tiara whispered theatrically. “Is that what your dad said to your mom when he had to choose between her and an old goat?”

Ruby’s face became bright red. She darted forward and was about to tackle Diamond Tiara when Rumble and Button caught her, pulling her away.

“Truth hurts, huh?” Diamond Tiara muttered through gritted teeth. Silver Spoon poked her and shook her head when Diamond Tiara looked at her. Diamond immediately stopped smirking.

“We should go to the left,” Button said, letting Ruby go and looking at Sweetie Belle.

Babs started to count the votes. Except Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, only Snips, Snails, and Featherweight wanted to go to the right. Babs nodded and took a step forward, leading the group into the left tunnel.

Just like Scootaloo had seen, the concrete floor and walls quickly changed into large sheets of metal covering all the surfaces. Pipsqueak trotted to one of the walls and knocked at it three times. A resonating clang told them that there was an empty space behind it.

Pipsqueak was just going to join the rest of the group, when he suddenly heard something knocking at the metal sheet from the other side – three times, exactly in the same rhythm as he did. “Was it any of you?” he asked, looking at the walls, his pupils shrunk.

“No,” Truffle Shuffle replied. He also looked at the wall and shuddered. “What could it be?”

“Our old friend, spider-duck,” Rumble replied. His chuckle quickly died down in a grave silence.

Ruby approached Pipsqueak and grabbed his ear with her magic. “Don’t do that anymore, runt,” she muttered through gritted teeth. “Ever.”

“Y-yes.” When Ruby let him go, Pipsqueak quickly ran forward to hide between Dinky and Boysenberry.

The metallic corridor was going slightly upwards. Their hooves were making lots of noise against the floor, but in spite of that they quickly realised that a new noise was filling their ears – a droning buzz and some clicks, as if there was some transmission with broken gears working nearby. The corridor wasn’t as straight as before; from time to time they had to choose between two or even three directions.

“I’m done,” Scootaloo muttered and collapsed on the ground. The corridor turned out to be a dead end. She couldn’t ignore rumbling in her stomach anymore. “I’m not gonna go back there again...”

“Chill out,” Babs said. “There has to be some exit here...”

“Where?” Zipporwhill asked. She wasn’t flying anymore; she lay on the ground next to Scootaloo, her wings twitching. “To another part of this dungeon?”

“You know, if you go along one of the walls of a labyrinth, sooner or later you get to the exit,” Truffle Shuffle said.

“And ya’re tellin’ me about it now, fat idiot?” Babs sighed. “We’d have to walk through all the maze anyway...”

“I knew that we should’ve gone to the right,” Diamond Tiara said. “Why did we even trust you?”

“Exactly!” Dinky exclaimed. “Maybe we’d already be home if–”

“Oh really?” Ruby muttered, putting her hoof on Dinky’s shoulder. “Because I don’t remember you protesting against going to the left...”

Dinky blushed and said nothing.

“Anyway.” Diamond Tiara glared at Babs. “I think we need to go and find some other way. Follow me.”

The foals slowly got up and walked behind Diamond. Scootaloo rolled on her back, cold metal numbing her wings. Lying there, she heard something strange, as if small claws were scratching at the floor. She looked around and saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, waiting for her. She got up and joined them.

“Just great,” Apple Bloom muttered. “Now everypony will listen to Diamond Tiara...”

“Not for long,” Sweetie Belle said. “If we don’t find food, they’ll start to argue again...”

“What will it change?” Scootaloo asked. “We argue anyway...” She looked at the ceiling. “It’s just... Is it that place which does that to us?”

“Ah don’t think so,” Apple Bloom replied. “Diamond, Silver, Ruby...”

Babs, who was walking slowly before them turned back to them, hearing Apple Bloom’s voice. “What’s wrong with that... Ruby?” she asked.

“Her mother,” Scootaloo replied quickly. “You know, if I had to listen to my drunk mother yelling at me almost every day, I’d be like that too...”

“Yeah...” Babs muttered. “Well, Diamond wasn’t exactly subtle with the clues...”

“But still, Ruby shouldn’t yell at everyone,” Apple Bloom said. “We need to stay together...” She looked at the ceiling. Scratching stopped for a moment and resumed when Apple Bloom moved her gaze off the ceiling.

Tootsie Flute looked back at Apple Bloom. “Y’know, it ain’t gonna do,” she said. “Dere are already groups formin’... If we ain’t get out soon, it’ll all be pony and trap...”

“I still wonder why somepony put us here.” Sweetie Belle sighed. “To imprison us or save us?”

“Use yer loaf,” Tootsie Flute muttered. “If dey wanted to save us, dey’d explain summfin’ to us, huh?”

“Maybe they died before they managed to?” Sweetie Belle asked and shuddered. “I hope somepony survived to save us...”

“My mom,” Button said. “She’s indestructible... And she always knows when I do something I shouldn’t. She’ll dig us from here in no time!”

“She’d better hurry,” said Tornado Bolt, who just landed next to them. “I’m hungry...”

“Who isn’t?” Scootaloo asked, glaring at Tornado Bolt’s wings and sighing. “I feel I could–”

“Ha!” They heard Diamond Tiara’s voice coming from the front of the group. “I knew where to go!”

“What’s goin’ on?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Silver Spoon found food!” Pipsqueak exclaimed. Apple Bloom trotted faster and saw that the corridor led to the large room, which, just like the rest of the maze, had metal-clad walls and floor. In the middle of it stood a large table full of apples, hay, bread, daffodils, cakes, and bottles of water and orange juice. Everypony ran to it, trying to catch as much food as they could. The pegasi took off, grabbing apples from the top of the stack.

Snails screamed. He levitated a piece of cake from under Featherweight’s nose and the pegasus colt tackled him, trying to get it back. Tornado Bolt shook her head and, together with Rumble, they pulled Featherweight away. Shady Daze, on the other hoof, was calm. She simply made a daffodil sandwich and sat next to Dinky to eat it. When Apple Bloom ate her first apple, she immediately stopped worrying. She didn’t even care about the fact that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were sitting next to her. They didn’t care about her either, too busy munching something.

“We’re saved,” Dinky said. “Somepony really put us here to protect us...”

“Or they need us alive,” Shady Daze observed. “Maybe we were foalnapped...”

“Then why’d they let us wander around here?” Zippoorwhill looked around. She could still hear some strange sounds coming from the walls, but she didn’t pay attention to them. It was much easier to ignore them with a full stomach.

“Maybe they have a weird sense of humour,” Button Mash said, eating a grape.

Suddenly, the rest of the grapes fell out of his hoof. His eyes widened. He coughed, struggling to catch a breath.

“Button!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, trotting to him. “I told you to not eat so fast or you will choke... Aaargh!” She screamed, when Button coughed again. A few drops of blood landed on her white coat. Button’s body twitched; he fell down on the floor, his face blue. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Babs ran to him, trying to help him. Sweetie Belle was still sitting in front of him, motionless, watching as he was struggling to catch a breath.

“What to do?” Scootaloo asked, looking at the rest of the ponies, her eyes wide.

“Ah have no idea!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, grabbing Button’s hoof and realising that it was getting colder. “What’s happenin’ to him?”

“It’s...” Babs shuddered. “Did anypony else had grapes?”

Tootsie Flute, who was holding some grapes in her magic field, dropped them immediately. Babs turned her gaze back to Button, who twitched once again before his body went limp, spilt grapes still lying on the floor next to him.

“Is he...” Silver Spoon paused, breathing heavily. The whole room was silent; even the noises from behind the walls disappeared. Everypony was looking at Sweetie Belle, who didn’t move an inch, her coat still covered in Button’s blood, and Apple Bloom, who held Button’s hoof, trying to find the pulse.

“He... he’s dead...” Apple Bloom said, lowering her head.

“What are we gonna do now?” Boysenberry asked, swallowing her tears.

Babs stood up, trying not to look at Button’s body, and walked slowly to Boysenberry. “We’ll go...” she said. “We can’t stay here...” She looked at the table with food. “We need to gather some of it,” she added.

Nopony moved.

“Yes, I know ya ain’t hungry...” Babs muttered. “But if we don’t wanna join him...” She looked at Scootaloo and Apple Bloom trying to help Sweetie Belle up and sighed.

Diamond Tiara stood up, forcing herself to stop shivering. “B-babs is right...” she whispered. “Let’s get out of here...”

Shell

Sweetie’s mouth opened. In a split second, her brain sent a signal to her tongue and other muscles. Speak! Tell them that you’re not a changeling! Sweetie inhaled; the air was moving slowly, dense like syrup. Oxygen didn’t get to her lungs; sticky substance filled them, cutting it off.

Tell them anything! Just to snap her out of that trance!

Sweetie coughed, trying to get rid of the substance; push it out of her system, run as far away from the vile traces on the floor. She felt cold wind on her face and for a moment it seemed to her that she’d be able to speak.

The punch threw her on the floor. Her head slammed against the rock. Sweetie looked around. The cave was turning around her, but she could see orange blur running towards her. Next punch nearly blinded her. All the sounds drowned in the ringing in her ears. Gathering the remains of her strength, she looked at the assailant.

Scootaloo was smirking. A bloody streak was running down her face. She raised her hoof again.

“No!” Scootaloo screamed, kicking the darkness blindly. She sat on the floor, panting heavily and shuddering. The image of her own face was still present in front of her eyes. She touched her fur, realising that blood was still there, stale and stinky.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Ruby asked. “You kicked me, idiot!”

Scootaloo didn’t reply. The stench was overwhelming. The water in the maze was scarce and the whole group was barely distinguishable from each other because of the layer of dirt. Decaying blood, however, was assaulting Scootaloo’s nostrils, causing her to retch violently.

“If you puke on me, I’ll kill you,” Ruby muttered.

Scootaloo sobbed, dropping on the floor.

“Don’t even say such things to her!” Rumble gave Ruby a nasty glare. “Last thing I want is another murder.”

“She started.” Ruby shrugged. “I’m going back to sleep. I’m tired of running through that fucking tunnel for the whole day.”

“We should go soon,” Silver Spoon said. “Diamond can’t wait...”

“It’s still dark,” Rumble replied. “We’ll go as soon as we can see something.”

Boysenberry cleared her throat. The sound echoed through the corridor like Scootaloo’s scream earlier. She stood up and trotted somewhere.

“Somepony stop her,” Ruby muttered. “That retard’s gonna bring some spider ducks to keep our company.

Boysenberry, however, turned back to the rest of the group, walked to Ruby and lifted her hoof to her face.

“I get it,” Ruby said, pushing Boysenberry’s hoof away. “You stink. We all do. Nopony gives a shit, except maybe Scootaloo and our little heartbroken Diamond Tiara’s pet.”

Silver Spoon trotted to Ruby. Before Ruby turned to face her, Silver raised her hoof and punched her, sending her tumbling on the floor. “Don’t call me that...” she whispered.

Boysenberry walked to Silver. “Slime,” she muttered, showing her hoof to her. Silver grabbed it and winced.

“There’s more on the floor,” Scootaloo said. It was slowly getting lighter and they could now see the glistening mess on the floor. It was still green in some place, but most of it was stale and greyish white.

“A wounded changeling was here,” Rumble said, staring at the trace leading down the corridor. “I wonder where it went...”

“Probably where this trace leads,” Ruby muttered, getting from the ground. “Or it just went to get a snack. A fat, pink one...”

Silver Spoon walked to Ruby. “Still not having enough?” she asked, clenching her hoof.

“Fuck off,” Ruby muttered. “I’ll go with you – guided by a retard down a path of changeling slime. Fucking adventure of my life.”

“Let’s go then,” Rumble said. “It’s getting lighter. We’d better hurry.”

Ruby shrugged and walked behind Boysenberry, who hopped down the corridor. Slime was everywhere – large spots were on the floor and once or twice they encountered a smear on the wall.

“The changeling was resting here,” Scootaloo muttered, pointing at the wall. Apart of slime, they found a symbol there, scratched in the wall.

“Do you think the guys who built that maze left it?” Silver Spoon asked, watching the symbol.

“No,” Rumble replied. “It looks like a changeling queen to me. Not to mention that there’s chitin here, in the scratches. The changelings did it.”

“I wonder what they meant by that,” Scootaloo said. “Queen save us?”

Boysenberry stood in front of the sign and nodded. “Just as we put our hopes in Celestia, they put theirs in their queen.”

“And we’re equally fucked.” Ruby shrugged. “Well, at least they have better food.”

Silver Spoon shuddered and trotted further down the corridor.

The tunnel was getting more narrow, its ceiling barely above their heads. Scootaloo looked around and sighed. She thought of Sweetie Belle’s body lying where they’d left it, next to Dinky, Featherweight, and the changelings. She felt a chill running down her spine – just like many pegasi, she didn’t like closed spaces.

“Few more days in here and I’ll be like Boysenberry...” Scootaloo muttered to herself.

“What did you say?” Ruby asked. “Don’t even dare to be like that idiot. Who’ll kill our next enemy?”

Scootaloo stopped and looked at Ruby. “I kinda feel like following Silver Spoon. Don’t make me do that.”

“Bitch,” Ruby muttered. “Yeah, beat me all because you can. I don’t mind anymore. Or maybe you’ll kill me, just like you did to Sweetie Belle?”

Scootaloo raised her hoof, but lowered it. “You’re right,” she said, lowering her head. “I won’t be like you...” She walked away from Ruby.

“Are you done?” Rumble asked. “Let’s go.”

The corridor seemed to have no end. It wasn’t perfectly circular – it resembled a narrow oval, causing their eyes to mislead them. After each turn, they usually found themselves trying to walk onto the wall. It seemed to spiral slightly downwards, although they soon found that walking through it was tiring, as if they were climbing.

Occasionally, the could see the greenish spots of changeling’s slime on the floor and walls. They were getting smaller the longer they walked. Most of them were old – green was slowly being replaced by grey and the surface below them was blackened by acid.

“Seems that this changeling bled out,” Silver Spoon muttered.

“Or it got better,” Rumble added. “What if it’s still alive?”

“We’ll fight it,” Silver Spoon replied, glaring into the dark tunnel.

“Two changelings, three ponies.” Boysenberry’s monotone voice caused Silver Spoon’s heart to stop for a moment. “One changeling... One and half pony.”

“What are you talking about?” Scootaloo asked, poking Boysenberry. Boysenberry didn’t react.

“It’s simple.” Ruby smirked. “Retard tries to say we killed two changelings, but three of us died. If we kill one more, one and half of us will died.” She shrugged. “Hope that by ‘half’ Retard means herself.”

“Ruby!” Scootaloo exclaimed. Ruby only shrugged.

Suddenly, the corridor ended, widening into a large cave. Gems were shining in the walls, filling it with otherworldly light. Several stalactites were hanging from the ceiling. The walls were covered with a thin layer of ice.

In the middle of the cave, there was a changeling. It was lying on its side, fangs barred. Its eyes were devoid of their shine; grey and faded, they were barely distinguishable from the changeling’s chitin cover.

“Is it dead?” Silver Spoon asked, walking through the cave. A large gash could be seen in the changeling’s side, torn muscles and some strange tubes visible in it.

“It looks like it,” Ruby whispered, walking as far from the changeling as possible. “Those things should be, like, inside. But I wouldn’t touch it.”

“Wonder what happened to it,” Rumble muttered. “I wouldn’t want to meet it.”

“Not only us fought back,” Boysenberry said in monotone, walking to the changeling and pointing at something stuck in one of the holes in its hoof. Rumble trotted to her and, shuddering, reached for it.

The changeling didn’t move. Rumble retched and backed away. Only when he was far from the corpse, he saw that he was holding a piece of brown leather. Some black and white hair had stuck to it. It smelled of sweat, blood, and changeling’s slime.

“Someone killed it,” Rumble said. “Someone wearing leather outfit.”

“Hope they didn’t get killed too,” Scootaloo added, watching the piece of leather. “Maybe it was a zebra?”

“Looks like it.” Silver Spoon nodded.

Ruby trotted to the other end of the cave and looked at the rest of the group. “Before you start to chase imaginary zebras, maybe you’d concern yourselves with those?” she asked, pointing at the dark shapes hanging from the cave’s ceiling.

The rest of the group looked in that direction. Two irregularly-shaped cocoons made of dark green substance were hanging there, dangling slightly in the draught.

Silver Spoon’s face paled. She gulped before saying, “Do you think it could be...”

“There’s only one way to know.” Rumble spread his wings and flew to the cocoons. He saw that they were made of two layers of thick, leather-like substance. Between them, a green fluid was flowing lazily, like molasses. Both the walls and the fluid were slightly transparent; Rumble could see some dark outline inside.

“We need to free them!” Rumble exclaimed, grabbing the cocoon and trying to tear it off the ceiling. It gave up surprisingly easily, causing him to lose balance and drop to the cave floor in an uncoordinated manner.

“You okay, Rumble?” Scootaloo asked, running to him.

Rumble nodded and grabbed a sharp piece of rock. He hit the cocoon with it, but his hoof bounced off it without making any harm to the leathery envelope. Scootaloo joined him, banging at it with her hooves and all the rocks she could find. Silver Spoon kicked it with her hind legs. They bounced off, causing her to fall on her face.

“You’re doing it wrong,” Ruby muttered, charging her horn. A beam of magic cut a large gash in the envelope. Green fluid flowed from it, smoking slightly and blackening the stones. The foals tore the envelope to get to the inner layer, tightly binding the pony inside. It was much thinner and Silver Spoon tore it off with ease.

Diamond Tiara rolled from the remains of the envelope. Her eyes were closed and her coat was soaked in the strange substance that had been filling the cocoon. She lay on the ground motionless.

“Diamond Tiara!” Silver Spoon ran to her.

Diamond Tiara shuddered and screamed, suddenly losing control over her bladder. She opened her bloodshot eyes for a moment, only to scream again and shield them with her hooves. Silver Spoon hugged her. Diamond Tiara’s hooves clenched around her; she buried her face in Silver’s fur, screaming and wailing.

“Are you okay, Diamond?” Rumble asked.

“She can’t see.” Boysenberry shrugged. “Not much light inside.”

“The... fluid...” Diamond Tiara moaned, panting heavily. “Draining... Zip... longer...”

“Let me handle it,” Ruby muttered, trotting to the second cocoon. She hit it with her magic, rupturing it and causing a vaguely pony-shaped lump to fall from it. She grabbed it with her magic and put it on the floor.

“Zipporwhill!” Scootaloo trotted to the pegasus filly. Boysenberry followed her.

Unlike Diamond Tiara, Zipporwhill wasn’t thrashing or screaming. She was lying on the floor, motionless, breathing quickly. Her wings were spread limply. Her eyes were closed; bent frame of her glasses was covering them. The lenses were missing, save from a few shards of glass still in the frame.

“Don’t open your eyes,” Scootaloo muttered, patting Zipporwhill’s mane. “Do you remember anything?”

Zipporwhill didn’t reply.

Diamond Tiara’s spasmodic breath calmed down a bit. “They caught us,” she said, still holding Silver Spoon tightly. “The changelings...” Tears flowed down her face. “That fluid... It was slowly draining... everything from us.” She coughed and threw up some of the green slime. Silver Spoon held her mane as she was retching.

“What do you mean by everything?” Rumble asked, looking at Zipporwhill unsurely.

“E-emotions,” Diamond Tiara replied, sobbing. “Force... magic... I don’t know. T-they were f-feeding on her more...”

“Indeed.” Zipporwhill said in an emotionless voice. Everypony froze, hearing it. “But Sweetie ran away.”

“I– I was hoping she’d find you,” Diamond Tiara said. “I can’t hear her... Where’s she?”

The whole cave went silent. “She’s dead,” Ruby whispered after a while.

Diamond Tiara sobbed loudly, sinking her face in Silver Spoon’s coat.

“So, there are only seven of us now,” Zipporwhill stated simply, trying to get on her hooves. “Somepony needs to guide me till I can see again. Where are we going?”

Scootaloo looked at her unsurely. “Are you okay, Zip?”

“What do you mean?” Zipporwhill asked. “I was always like that.”

“Diamond Tiara can’t walk yet.” Silver Spoon stood up. “We were running to save you... We need some rest.”

Zipporwhill stood for a moment, scratching her mane. “I will wait.”

“If I were you, I would not stay here,” a voice echoed through the cave.

They looked around. Silver Spoon shielded Diamond Tiara with her body, while Rumble and Scootaloo stood on both sides of Boysenberry, ready for everything.

A tall zebra colt emerged from a narrow tunnel behind the place where the cocoons had been hanging. He stretched his legs and looked at the seven ponies, smirking. He was wearing a torn leather vest with a spear strapped to his back.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My name is Uwazi. I see that there is still lots of you... And I would not stay here because those stalactites can sometimes fall on your head. That is how we lost Uvumilivu.”

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked, aiming her horn at him. “How did you get there?”

Uwazi lowered his head. “There were twenty of us here,” he muttered. “I am the last one.”

Author's Note

And one.