//------------------------------//
// Until Death 
// Story: Eljunbyro 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

	"I don't know what's happening, but it's really loud!" Pilate yelled.

"Rainbow Dash!"  Belle shouted across the domed compartment full of levers and controls.  "Don't you think now would be a good time for us to find a way out of this thing?!"

"Way ahead of ya, Ding Dong!"  Rainbow Dash was in the middle of hooking a forelimb around Dalton's unconscious upper body.  As platinum beams of light sparked down the golden lengths of the machine, the room around them began vibrating harder and harder.  The platform below them threatened to rattle loose at any moment.  "Yeesh, did we stumble upon the migraine factory or what?!"

"Just what is all of this accomplishing?!" Pilate exclaimed.

"I'll bet you twenty bits it's gonna annoy the ever living snot out of those Lame-Oh-Martians!"

"I don't suppose ponies where you come from believe in making plans?"

"Not half as much as they believe in making cupcakes!"  Rainbow Dash reached out to Belle and Pilate.  "Alright, kiddies!  Grab ahold—"

But before Rainbow Dash could make contact, a flash of gold energy billowed through the room.  It was enough to wake Dalton with a frightening gasp.  It was also enough to make the floor give way with a sickening crack.

"Gaaaaah!" Belle shrieked.  Rainbow Dash, Dalton, and the wall of controls fell out of view.  All she knew was gravity, and gravity was devouring her one screaming second at a time.  "Aaaaah!" she wailed, her brown mane billowing as she peered into the mess of machinery through which she was plunging.  The unicorn was not alone; Pilate fell alongside her.  "Pilate!"

"Beloved!" he screamed.

In mid-fall, she kicked off a golden piston and flew into him.  Their bodies tackled together as one.  She hugged him with numb limbs, and the two found themselves sailing into a metal chute that led far into the thick of the world's metal bowels.  They slid and slid for an interminable period of shrieking, ultimately landing in a dark chamber.  A bed of metal filament and gold dust cushioned their fall.

A platinum cloud billowed around them, then settled.  Soon, the two were panting, sweating, clutching to each other in the claustrophobic space.  Belle sputtered and spat before finally clearing her mouth of sediment in order to speak.

"Pilate!  Pilate, talk to me!  Are you okay?"

"Yes... at l-least I think so!"  He coughed and winced, leaning into her.  "Where in Spark's name are we?"

"I... I don't know, Pilate.  It seems to be a small compartment of sorts..."

"How far did we fall?" he stammered.  "Where's Rainbow Dash?"

"She must not have been able to catch up with us! She was up in the control room last time I saw..."  Bellesmith's voice trailed off as her chestnut eyes traveled up.  Her lips quivered in shock.

Pilate gulped, his ears twitching anxiously from the silence.  "Belle?  Belle, what is it, honey?"

She bit her lip, trembling.  "Pilate...?"

"Yes, beloved?"

"The ceiling..."

"What about it?"

"It... It's..."  Belle's voice squeaked pathetically.  The room was getting smaller, and the golden light from beyond the chute that deposited them inside was fading.  "We have to get out of here."

Pilate didn't need to be told twice.  "Get on my shoulders, Belle!"

"Pilate—"

"Maybe you can reach the passageway we slid down—"

"It's too high!  We'd need four ponies standing on top of each other to reach it!"

Their voices echoed louder and louder as the ceiling slid gradually down, just a minute away from crushing them into mush.

"Wh-what if we use O.A.S.I.S.?!" Pilate exclaimed.  He fiddled with the manasphere on his choker.  "If I put it into maximum levitation, maybe it can fly back up the chute and alert Rainbow Dash as to where we are—"

"There's no time!  The sphere's too slow!  We have to try it the hard way!"  Belle then lifted her muzzle and shouted towards the collapsing ceiling.  "Rainbow Dash!"

"Rainbow!"

"Rainbow Dash, down here!"

"Help us!  Please!  There's very little time!"

Belle summoned the breath to scream again, but she floundered.  Up above, the ceiling was lowering past the chute.  Everything was absorbing their voices.  The world was nearly pitch dark.

"Rainbow!" Pilate shouted, his voice wavering as the air grew hot and compressed.  "Rainbow Dash, please!"

"Pilate..." Belle murmured.

"We're down here!  You have to hear us!"

"Pilate!"  Belle grasped the zebra's shoulders.  The two froze in each other's embrace.  Belle tried saying something, but as the grinding noise of the machine filled her ears, her face grimaced and she leaned forward.  Her eyes streamed with tears as she nuzzled Pilate's neck.

Pilate took a deep breath and held her back, rubbing his cheek against her neck.

"The Spark has done what was required of it..."  Belle murmured, sniffling.  "We are Eljunbyro.  Nothing less, nothing more."

"Do you think she will make the rest of the journey on her own?" Pilate breathed.

Belle hiccuped on a sob and shivered.  "I don't know, Pilate.  I don't know."

Pilate took several deep breaths.  His ears twitched as he felt the ceiling coming within a sneeze of their heads.  "Belle, darling, listen to me..."

She stifled her whimpers for a brief moment.

He lowered the two of them so that just their chins waded above the pool of filament.  He kissed her several times on the lips and murmured into her ear, "I would not trade a thousand lifetimes for the one that you alone have given me.  I love you, Belle.  Now and forever."

She sniffled and kissed his cheek, whispering, "And I love you too, Pilate.  Thank you for being in my life..."

The air hissed as the last sliver of space was eaten up by the crushing ceiling.

"Hold me tight, beloved," Pilate said, clutching Belle and bracing his back against the ceiling as the two plunged into the drowning dust.  "Don't l-let go..."

They submerged.  The ceiling closed after them.  All was dark; all was silent.