//------------------------------// // Beauty Without Brains // Story: Chrysbloom // by SwiperTheFox //------------------------------// Applebloom walked on. Although the signs had scared her a bit at first, the constant appearance of blank sign after blank sign turned dull pretty fast. Are these going to say something at some point? I guess I'd probably be sorry if I asked. She walked further and further, with things lighting up, but she didn't see anything new. The same dingy floor and walls looked clearer. Some kind of dark liquid still churned far beneath her, under floor after floor. "Something's got to happen. I know it," she said. She paused, wondering if she even wanted to go. "I have to. My friends could be anywhere." She took one more step. As she did, a new sign appeared next to her. She glanced over, and she froze. What motivates you? "What a crazy question," Applebloom commented. She found herself shivering a little as she stepped a bit more, looking over at the next sign. You want crazy? I can give you crazy. Going up against Princess Celestia and surviving gives you some perspective on things, my little lovely one. "Is the bucking sign flirting with me?" She whispered. She rubbed her hooves against the floor. "No, I don't want crazy." She raised her voice to normal, even though she still couldn't hear herself talk. "No thanks, please. Just help me help my friends." Oh, goodness, what am I supposed to say to this... this... magical wall? Answer the first question. What motivates me? Isn't it clear? I need to help my friends, to find them. She drooped her head a little bit, feeling a deep, guilty lump inside her stomach. It's all my fault. I talked them into taking that book, running that spell... I have a moral responsiblity. Just like my sister always said, "you fix what you break". She walked to the next sign. Answer the first question. "But I just..." She suddenly smiled, sitting down on the grating. Oh, that's interesting. You can't read my thoughts anymore, whomever you are. You fought Celestia... Discord? Nightmare Moon? Wait a moment, the Princess as the protector of the kingdom has fought so many monsters. "Well, it's pretty clear. I guess it's like Applejack would say, 'your friends make you the pony that you are.' And, of course, I'm not going to leave them behind in this... place..." Applebloom kept on. You love them, right? "Yeh, ah love 'em!" Applebloom called out, shaking her mane over her face as her accent came out strong. "Like mah own hooves." I can feel that love. Just like your long, fluffy red mane or your smooth, pretty yellow body, it's delicious. Applebloom felt as if she had bugs crawling up her skin, barely able to breathe. "I'm d-d-d-delicious?" She fantasized about bucking the sign with all her strength for a moment. She pictured cowering with her hooves over her head in the middle of the floor right afterwards. "Ah don't... ah can't..." But what good is beauty without brains? "Brains, well-- mister of misses mysterious creeper-- I can show you brains," Applebloom retorted. She immediately wished that she hadn't, hearing the liquid far below her start to whirl and slosh with sudden speed. Let's see about that. After all, it'll be fun. Applebloom took a gulp, walking forwards. Her hooves shivered like never before with each step. By that I mean, fun for myself. ^licks^ The filly collapsed on the floor. She shut her eyes tight and let out a groan, feeling something cold and slimy curling up her backside. She wiggled, hooves frozen still as if they had been encased in ice. The rubbery slurps tickled across her fur as they moved up to her neck. After the longest ten seconds of her life, she snapped back upwards. "No, no, no!" Applebloom cried. She reached over and ran a hoof along her back. Somehow, despite everything that she had felt, her back was totally dry. She blinked, trying to calm her breathing. A determined look going over her face, she stepped on forwards. => "What on earth?" ====> "It's an--" She paused in mid-sentence. "Oh, of course." Applebloom flipped around and faced back the exact other direction. I'm getting rather tired of being toyed with like this! She headed back the way that she had came. Get me out of these circles and back around to my friends! Not too bright, are we? I guess I'll just have to see. She took a gulp, and she walked on. Press this sign. "Like I have a choice," Applebloom muttered. She rubbed her big bow on her mane, and she tried to stand up straight. With a deep feeling of determination coursing through her body, she pushed the sign. *Clang!* Applebloom half fell forwards, feeling something oddly soft and grainy below her hooves. She blinked. She looked back, seeing empty air behind her. Everything had a gray haze around it, and she could hardly even see where she stood. She made out an array of brown and light-brown strips and pellets, laid around haphazardly. "Oh, please, what is it now?" She stepped forwards. The mist seemed to clear. She immediately spotted a box in front of her. Applebloom paused, eyeing the nondescript pink box. It looked like something Rarity would wrap a hat inside. She reached out with her hooves, taking a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing." She yanked the lid off, throwing her body backwards into the ground. She laid down with her hooves facing up. Nothing happened. She finally leaned over and peeked into the box. Do you really think I'd go for a cheap scare like that? I don't do cheap scares. Alright then... She picked up the huge paper card from the box. She ran her eyes around it, looking no different than a notice that would get pasted into the window at Rarity's botique. She threw it behind her, looking at the next card. Take a look around. Applebloom stared forwards. Her eyes grew wide as dinner plates. Row after row of doors stretched out around her. I'm in some kind of dome, or a ballroom, or something like that? It seemed to be as large as a stadium or a theater to house hundreds of ponies. She looked up, and she these rows going right over to the ceiling. She squinted, seeing some kind of symbols on some of the doors. She stepped forwards a little, and she realized that the doors had numbers. 1, 2, 3, 4, and it goes on. She made out a number one thousand and fifty three up around where the ceiling began. She also saw the oddest things around the room. Three gigantic wood poles, each arranged at different heights, were far above her. Various other objects from a massive metal bell to a huge plastic ring to a large blue box coated with mirrors hovered from the ceiling as well. A white mass, looking almost like a shell from some kind of immense beach or a big white piece of soap, stuck to part of the wall. "Where have I seen these things before?" Applebloom asked. She looked over across at the flooring. Pieces of grey print stuck out at certain spots. She leaned down, brushing some of the brown stuff out of the way. She stared at an enormous letter E. Am I standing on a ripped out page from a book? Or newspaper pages? "This... this.. it can't be!" *Squak!* Applebloom looked up. An bird of some kind flew up out of nowhere, perching herself upon one of the wooden poles. "Gilda? Is that you?" She cried. How did she get to be so big? What's the meaning of all this? She trotted over to the box, pulling out another card. I strongly advise staying away from her. "What? Why?" She hasn't taken to my removal of her brains very well, sadly. "You... removed... her..." Applebloom couldn't finish the sentence. Her hooves curled up around her temples as her ears drooped. Don't worry, you're too pretty and cutsey to ruin by taking a scalpel to you. "Okay," she murmured. She fought back tears. If this monster did that to Gilda, what would he or she do to my friends, even if I get out okay? Are you ready for your test? "Test? What's the test?" She felt like picking up the box and bucking it right into the wall, biting her lip in frustration. ^Knock Knock^ Applebloom slowly looked up as Door #1 swung open by itself. She saw a solid pane of glass behind it, filled with water. It's like opening the door to a fishtank. She stepped over to the door, waiting with baited breath for something to happen and pushing the box along. She suddenly spotted something. She screamed. To Be Continued...