//------------------------------//
// Scootaloo and the Boredom of the Crystal Dull (Read It and Weep) 
// Story: Scootaloo Dies a Bunch 
// by alexmagnet 
//------------------------------//

	Light from the torch flickered against the ancient stone walls, slick with moss and other slimy substances Scootaloo didn't want to imagine the origins of. She moved the torch a bit to the left, casting the fire's glow across some indecipherable etchings marked into the wall. She leaned in a little closer, trying to get a better view of them. Suddenly a hoof shot out and stopped her. Scootaloo glanced to the side and saw Rainbow Dash shaking her head. She nodded to a certain portion of the wall Scootaloo had almost rested her hoof on.

"Keep your hooves off everything," Rainbow muttered. "You almost hit that pressure plate and killed both of us, squirt."

Scootaloo gulped. She nodded furiously. "Okey dokey, Dr. Rainbow." Taking a short step back, Scootaloo held up the torch again. "Can you read what it says?"

Her eyes narrowing, Rainbow Dash bit her lip as she focused on the wall. "It says," she started off slowly, "'Beware those who enter here, for nothing save death awaits you. Lord Sombra's will be done.'"

Scootaloo let out a slow whistle. "Whoa... ominous, huh? Is that really what it says?"

"Eh? Oh, no, no," said Rainbow as she waved her hoof dismissively, chuckling. "Nah, it says something about crop yields, or something. I dunno, I can barely read this junk. I just thought it'd sound cooler the other way."

"Oh," said Scootaloo, sounding slightly disappointed. "Well, I guess that's good, right? It means there's probably not any deadly traps... right?"

Rainbow laughed harder than before. "Of course there's deadly traps, Scoot. Haven't you ever explored ancient ruins? This place is probably full of 'em. Heck, I bet you're standing on one right now!"

Scootaloo’s eyes shot down towards her hooves. She scanned around but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. "Aaaaaaanyway, what are we doing here, again? I think we were trying to find something, right?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Yeah, I dunno, it's, like, some kinda crystal cup or something. I think it was the one Sombra drank from or something."

Scootaloo frowned, leaning up against the wall. "That's it? Why couldn't it be something more exciting, like--Aah!"

A trap door suddenly opened beneath them, causing both ponies to plummet downwards rapidly. They free fell for half a second, and then felt a bump.as they landed on a stone slide. Soon they were hurtling down into the abyss, their torches dropped when they fell. Darkness pervaded on all sides, and the only sensation they could feel was the inertia of speeding up as the slide angled downwards. Then, when it seemed like it couldn't get any darker, a faint red glow appeared at the end of the tunnel. It grew brighter and brighter as they approached.

Scootaloo gasped. "Is that lava!?"

Grimacing, Rainbow Dash groaned, "Lava... why'd it have to be lava?"

Faster and faster they rocketed down the slide, the glow from the lava now lighting everything and its heat started to make them both sweat. With the drop off rapidly approaching, Scootaloo’s mind raced. 

"Rainbow, open your wings!"

"What? Oof!"

Scootaloo kicked as hard as she could, sending Rainbow soaring across the cavernous room and over the deadly lava. She, meanwhile, fell like a rock into the fiery pool. As soon as Rainbow landed safely on the other side, she turned back around just in time to see Scootaloo splash into the lava. As she began to sink below the surface, she held out her hoof, giving a thumbs up. Unfortunately, due to a distinct lack of thumbs, it really just looked like she was holding her hoof out for help, which just served to confuse Rainbow Dash even more.

Rainbow frowned. "Uhh... I coulda just flown us both to safety, y'know? I do have wings."





Scootaloo's eyes flashed open as she sat bolt upright in bed. She looked around and saw she wasn't surrounded lava. With a heavy sigh, Scootaloo said, "Man... even in my dreams I die."