Pinkie Pie was floating in a hazy white expanse beyond the universe as she knew it, dreamless, remembering nothing. The void was comfortable and she was at peace. This is a metaphor, of course. In truth, she was unconscious. There was no clouded void, nor was there any color the waking mind can see, merely the serenity of non-being.
“This is soooooo boring. When can I wake up, please?”
Who’s to say you will ever wake up? It’s quite possible that you’re dead.
“Oh, gosh. Is this one of those stories?”
I don’t know. Probably not.
Gradually, Pinkie regained consciousness, piece by piece. She heard something. Sharp, irregular breathing, sniffling. Sobbing. Her vision returned, blurry at first. She was on her side somewhere. The surface on which she lay felt colder and significantly less comfortable than her bed in Sugarcube Corner. A fuzzy blob of baby blue was dominating her view and as her vision cleared, she recognized it.
“Dashie!” she exclaimed. “Good morning!”
Rainbow Dash recoiled with a gasp.
“What’sa matter? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” As Pinkie got up and looked at her friend’s face, she noticed that Rainbow’s eyes were puffy and streaks of water were running down her cheeks. Rainbow turned away, wiping her eyes hurriedly.
“That’s not funny!” she yelled. “I thought you were d-dead!”
“Whaaaaat? That’s crazy! Why would you think that?”
Rainbow looked at the floor sullenly.
“You were cold, you weren’t breathing and you had no pulse,” she muttered.
“Oh.” Pinkie noticed that she did feel chilly, but that feeling was slowly melting away as the blood circulated in her body once more. “Yes. Good reasons. I’d have thought the same thing. But I’m not! Isn’t that great?” She sighed, feeling guilty. “Gee. Sorry for worrying you, Rainbow.”
Rainbow threw her forelegs around Pinkie wordlessly, holding her close. But there was a tightness in Pinkie’s throat, and it wasn’t there for the same reasons as it may have been in Rainbow’s.
“Ow, owwie, careful. My neck’s still bruised from when that white guy grabbed it.”
Rainbow Dash released her, surprised.
“White guy? What’re you talking about?” she asked. “Somepony grabbed you?
“Weeeeeeellllll, I dunno if somepony is the right word…”
“What happened?”
“Okay, so, I was on my way to buy some lights for Hearth’s Warming Eve when…” The whole story took less than a minute to recount. “…and then I woke up here with you!”
She looked around. This was ostensibly an office space. Several cushioned chairs were set beside a large, expensive-looking desk, which was laden with folders, loose sheets and one ancient-looking phone. A bookshelf stood behind the desk, filled with an assortment of dark-colored tomes. The outside wall bore a long, narrow aperture near the ceiling; a harsh light shone through this window, making the room appear otherworldly, transcendent. One must imagine the slot was once fitted with glass, but now grasses and other vegetation crawled through it, dangling freely over the waxen floor.
“That stranger…” Rainbow muttered to herself. Something stirred in her memory at Pinkie’s description of the monster. She could swear she saw something similar, just before leaving for her shift on the weather patrol the day before. “And from what you’re saying, maybe he took Twilight too…”
“Hey, what is this place?” Pinkie asked.
“It’s just the basement floor in some building somewhere,” Rainbow said dismissively. “I heard from Rarity earlier but we, uh, we got separated.”
“That’s no good!” declared Pinkie. “We should go find her! And all the others! If there are any others! Allons-y!”
“What’s that mean?”
“I dunno. I heard Time Turner say it once.”
As always, Pinkie Pie was taking everything in stride. She did not question her presence here or her earlier state of suspended animation as she deemed these things unimportant. While Rainbow was curious about how they were brought to this place and why, Pinkie’s enthusiasm proved to be infectious and, in no time at all, they set off to explore.
“I’m glad I found you,” Rainbow Dash confessed as they began their journey through the endless hallways. “I’ve been combing this place alone for hours. Really doesn’t help the mood, you know?”
“That’s okay!” Pinkie replied. “Y’gotta keep your head up! The trip’s only as bad as you make it! And it’s more fun with friends!”
They turned a corner and pushed through a set of double-doors.
“Yeah. I guess you’re right. I dunno what I’d do without you.”
The foundation screeched once more, sounding not unlike a poorly-tuned violin. They cringed. As the echo reverberated and faded, they could hear a new and mysterious sound. There was a buzzing in the distance, and it seemed to be drawing closer. Rainbow stopped, holding Pinkie back with an outstretched foreleg. They stood there, waiting silently for the source of the buzzing to come into view. The din grew louder each second, now building from behind them. The double-doors flew open and five large beetle-like insects zoomed through, catching the two ponies in their hungry eyes. They danced around the two, hovering just out of reach, waiting for them to make their move. Rainbow had not seen these creatures before, but even so, was filled with a sense of profound dread. As the two gazed fearfully at the insects, another three joined the squadron. The noise was attracting roaming beasts from the entire floor. Rainbow Dash was paralyzed, observing the building swarm to see just how large it could possibly get. The next instant, Pinkie’s voice rang out, breaking her out of her trance.
“Rainbow? Y’think we should maybe run?”
“Jump on my back, now.”
As Pinkie did so, Rainbow took one last look at the swarm. A score of rat-sized monstrosities bore down on the two of them, waiting patiently, daring the pegasus to try and outrun them.
She took off, though not as quickly as she would have liked. Pinkie clung tightly around her neck and she could not accelerate to her top speed for fear of losing her. The walls seemed to close in on them and she wondered if she was developing claustrophobia. She was not used to flying so fast inside enclosed spaces; a slight deviation from her path could result in broken bones. They burst through two more doors, the second of which flew off of its aged hinges completely. The buzzing behind them persisted; they weren’t making any headway in losing their pursuers. Searching for any way to slow down even a fraction of the insects, Rainbow made a sharp ninety degree turn into a side passage, almost throwing Pinkie off.
“Ack! A little warning would’ve been nice, I think!”
“My bad!”
This passage was a good deal narrower than the hallway. The tips of Rainbow’s wings nearly touched the walls flanking her. The passage ended in a distinctive jet-black gate that was coming up at an alarming speed.
“Uh, Dashie?” Pinkie yelled over the incessant buzzing of the insects. “That door looks a bit tougher than the other ones!”
“There’s no other way! Get ready!”
Before they could close the distance, a single straggler from the swarm grabbed hold of Rainbow’s left wing, surprising her and making her bank sharply to the side. The right wall leaned in close in a conspiratorial manner, clipping Rainbow’s side. She spun out of control, bouncing violently between the two sides of the tunnel. Pinkie, meanwhile, found herself airborne, but not quite in the same way that she had been previously. She landed several yards ahead of Rainbow Dash, facing the black doorway.
She stood up, her injuries barely registering in her brain. The mass of insects fell upon them both. Pinkie swatted them away in a futile gesture, trying to crawl to Rainbow’s side. The foul creatures obscured her vision, but she heard Rainbow’s strained voice over their victorious drone.
“Pinkie… You gotta… live.”
There was no reason to suspect that Pinkie Pie had a better chance of escaping this situation with her life than Rainbow. Pinkie did not think to point out Rainbow’s error in thinking however, and uttered something a bit more heroic.
“Not without you!”
She could feel the insects draining her strength, but her resolve to save her friend remained. She dug Rainbow Dash out of the squirming pile, and slung her over her back. Rainbow may have been unconscious by this point, as she did not protest. The creatures grabbed hold of Pinkie’s legs and piled onto her back, slowing her down, as though desperately trying to hold her in place. Absolute terror took hold of her heart as she realized that she would die here. But even so, she trudged closer to the jet-black gate, her tenacity fueled in part by burning curiosity for what lay beyond. She fumbled with the silver knob for a few seconds, barely finding the energy to turn it.
The gate swung inwards, revealing the room beyond. A black and white checkered floor stretched between walls of blood red, no, decadent crimson interspersed with gold. Miraculously, the vampiric insects began to disperse, as though repelled by the bright coloration of the crimson cell. As Pinkie Pie entered it, she felt Rainbow stir. Were she religious, Pinkie would take a moment to thank her deity. It would seem that they’d survive for a while longer.
Her ears popped as the last of the loathsome buzzing faded off into the distance. The silence was deafening in itself. The room was average-sized and mostly empty. Whereas the floor outside was in sore need of a mop, the checkered floors here were pristine, spotless, untouched by time. Pinkie examined some of the paintings that lined the walls. Strange figures were twisted around one another, locked in a carnal embrace, appearing at once torturous and obscene. She felt dirtier for having looked at them.
In the center of the cell stood a cylindrical pedestal, gear-shaped and bone white save for the teeth, which were painted red, matching the walls. Atop the altar sat a remarkable set of scales, whose sparkling silver dishes were designed in the shapes of skulls. Each skull was flat-faced and quite unlike the equine shape that Pinkie had gotten used to seeing in Twilight’s books on anatomy. Adding to the surreal appearance of the instrument were the clenched fists that held the wire from which the dishes were suspended. All in all, much like the paintings, Pinkie found the scales disturbing. Regrettably, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she might need them later.
Rainbow moved again.
“Hey. Pinkie? Are we alive?” she groaned.
“Yep, yep!”
“Awesome.” She carefully slid off Pinkie’s back, but wobbled and collapsed as soon as she tried to stand on her own. “How’d that happen?”
Pinkie helped Rainbow get into a comfortable position, leaning her against the altar.
“I opened the door and all the bugs flew away.”
“Why?”
“Beats me!”
Rainbow looked around the room, focusing in turn on the paintings and the scales behind her.
“This place looks kinda creepy. But… I guess if those things don’t like it here, maybe we could rest for a little while?”
“That’s a good idea!” Pinkie took a second to look her friend over. “Are you hurt, Rainbow? That crash was pretty bad.”
Rainbow gently stretched her wings and legs. “Just my pride; maybe a few bruises and a pulled muscle or two. But I think everything’s in one piece.”
“Great! I was worried for a while back there.”
They were both dealing with post-traumatic stress. The encounter with the vampiric beetles left them mentally and physically exhausted. Rainbow sat still, barely keeping herself awake. Next to her, Pinkie Pie was visibly trembling with a grin plastered across her face.
“Er. Pinkie? Why are you smiling like that?”
“I’m just so happy we’re both still okay. We were really lucky this room was here, you know!”
“I’ll say. I was starting to think this place was almost toying with me, before. But maybe… Nah. I’m just being paranoid.”
“I think we’re supposed to be here to take those scales that are sitting behind us,” Pinkie said.
“You sure that won’t trigger something even worse?” Rainbow asked.
“Not really! It’s just a feeling I have.”
“Okay.”
Pinkie looked at her quizzically. Rainbow shrugged.
“I trust your intuition,” she explained.
And so the silver scales, too, were lifted from their resting place.