RUN GIRL RUN

"But-"

"No!" Sunfire snapped back. "I'm not gonna make it without you, now come on!"

Thunder simply nodded, giving a sigh of annoyance in tandem. The two of them began to walk towards the aforementioned door, but they soon broke out into a sprint as whatever was outside pounded on the door a second time. Thunder wrapped his hoof around the door knob and jerked the crude wooden door wide open, scurrying Sunfire inside before following in himself. The door was slammed shut behind them as fast as it was opened. The darkness in the claustrophobic stone hallway seemed to put up a harder fight against the lantern light than the darkness before, making visibility even poorer.

The door in the other room buckled with an audible thump, starting to split as evidenced by the horrific cracking noises growing ever louder. The noise was startling, and it made the two move. They started running down the hallway as fast as they could manage, but it never seemed to end.

"Just a bit further!" Thunder said between ragged pants.

The two had been running for at least four minutes by the time they finally came across something new.

The incredibly tight hallway gave way to something of quite the opposite nature. They stepped into an enormous atrium enshrouded in darkness. There were windows at the top, giving off only a faint navy blue hue from the night sky above. The stone floor they were on stayed just as narrow as it jutted out into the darkness, providing nothing in the way of handholds. Thunder's lantern was beginning to give out, and barely penetrated five feet into the surrounding gloom. The two had to rely on their balance as they moved, slowly crawling along the narrow stone pathways that curved throughout the abyss. Sunfire had no idea where they were going, and could only place her faith in Thunder to lead her. It wasn't long before they came to a small circular platform, jutting out into three smaller stone paths. They were barely a foot across each, and would obviously require careful maneuvering to get over.

Thoom.

Both of them stopped on the platform and turned to face each other, opening their mouths to speak.

"What was that?" they both said in unison.

The air hung still, the tension rising as they were engulfed in silence.

Thoom.

The noise was closer, whatever was back at the cellar door was no longer there, but rather down here. Without speaking, Thunder instinctively grabbed one of the metal articles and started across the leftmost stone pathway. Bits of it crumbled under his weight, and he nearly lost his balance a few times, but it wasn't long before Sunfire was left in the dark. The only thing seen was his lantern light, faint in the distance.

Thoom.

Thunderhoof was standing on another small stone platform, this one home to some strange looking mechanical device that was about his height, thousands of tiny gears and dials were visible even from here, all of their functions unknown. There was an obvious hole in the middle of it rimmed with a faded green paint, of which Thunder hastily stuffed with the elaborately carved chunk of metal.

Thoom.

With a faintly audible whirring click, the machine started to breathe. The unsettling screech of rusted metal began to fill the room. One by one, the dials of the device lit up and it's gears began to spin. Sunfire simply stood, watching with anxiety as a spotlight shone down on the platform that Thunder was situated on. The illumination revealed that this mechanical device was in fact connected with hundreds of others boasting double the complexity, all with a series of metal plated tubes running from contraption to contraption.

Thoom.

For the first time, Thunderhoof looked worried. His eyes were wide and his hooves were shaky as he turned around and waved to Sunfire; a clear signal for her to place the next piece of metal. She nodded in response and without thinking, dropped one of the machine parts onto the stone platform beneath her hooves. She started running across the rightmost catwalk, struggling to keep her balance as she went, barely able to keep her eyes open as she moved throughout the darkness. Eventually she made it to the platform she was hoping for, and even though it was pitch black, she found the cold touch of her mechanical device, and its many moving parts. A terrifying thought struck her.

What if I grabbed the wrong one?!

She cursed herself for not thinking and grabbed ahold of the metal chunk, frantically searching for the access of the machine. It wasn't long before she found it, and subsequently jammed the object into it as fast as she could. She held her breath.

Thoom the room buckled.

With a small whirring click, an incredibly bright light began to shine down upon her. She smiled with relief upon confirmation that she had grabbed the correct piece. But that smile wouldn't last long.

THOOM.

"W-what is that?!""