“Where the hell are we?” Diamond Tiara exclaimed, looking around. The cave they woke up in was completely different from the tunnel she remembered from the previous day. It was much more regular; instead of uneven rocks, they were greeted by an octangular corridor made of some strange substance. It looked like grey stone, but upon touching it, it could easily fall apart to dust.
“It seems like burnt paper,” Rumble muttered, shaking dust off his hooves. He walked to the wall and punched it. His hoof stuck inside, but the wall didn’t fall apart completely. “There’s something harder behind it,” he muttered, retreating his hoof.
Boysenberry murmured something inaudible. Silver Spoon turned to her, but the filly didn’t say anything.
“I guess we should just go forward,” Scootaloo said. “I guess it’s what they want from us.”
“Yeah, right.” Diamond Tiara sighed. “Then they’ll just teleport us back here, or in some worse place, till only one stays.”
“I was wondering...” Rumble said. “What is beyond that portal?”
“I guess you go back to Equestria.” Silver Spoon shrugged. “Or maybe they have a lab there and dissect you to check how you survived.”
Scootaloo shuddered. “Thanks for the mental image...”
Boysenberry stood up, staring into the hole Rumble had made. She nodded and trotted down the tunnel.
“I’m not going with her,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “It always ends with somepony dying.”
“Just like staying with her.” Scootaloo looked at Silver Spoon. “How many ponies got killed saving her flank?”
“Shut up!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed, standing between Scootaloo and Silver Spoon. “It’s not her fault.”
Rumble cleared his throat. “We’d better go before Boysenberry gets lost... You can always talk about it later.”
“We can be dead later!” Diamond Tiara shouted.
Suddenly, they heard Boysenberry’s high-pitched squeal. The argument was promptly forgotten; they rushed up the tunnel, calling their friend’s name.
Boysenberry was standing in the middle of an octangular room, pointing at something on the floor and shuddering. Rumble trotted to her and looked at it.
A dead wasp was lying in the middle of the room. It was as big as a rat, with bright yellow and black stripes. One of its wings was broken. Its right side was smashed, with some greenish fluid oozing from between the cracks in chitin. It was lying on a small, round postument, surrounded by an inscription.
וְשָׁלַחְתִּי אֶת-הַצִּרְעָה, לְפָנֶיךָ; וְגֵרְשָׁה, אֶת-הַחִוִּי אֶת-הַכְּנַעֲנִי וְאֶת-הַחִתִּי--מִלְּפָנֶיךָ.
"I wonder what it says,” Rumble muttered. “Uwazi would probably know.”
“Well, I’d be more concerned by that bee,” Scootaloo said, watching the carcass with a mix of fascination and disgust.
“It’s a wasp.” Diamond Tiara blinked, trying to look closer. She could see better now, but small details were still escaping her. “Great, more bugs.”
“I think it’s a bee,” Scootaloo said.
“No way,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “Silver, tell her that it’s a– Silver?” She turned around to see that Silver Spoon had walked to the wall and stood there, shivering. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m allergic,” Silver Spoon replied. “If that thing stung me, I’d die. Also, it’s a hornet.” She looked around the room. “Do you know how this place looks like?”
“Well, it’s big, octangular and made of pa–” Scootaloo gulped. “Oh shit.”
“We’re in the middle of the nest,” Rumble muttered. “Strange that we didn’t meet more of these things.”
“Somehow, I don’t regret it,” Scootaloo said, looking at the ceiling. “How do you think, will it be better to go or to stay here?”
Boysenberry gave out a high-pitched groan.
“I don’t get it.” Diamond Tiara looked at Boysenberry. “Sorry, but I don’t understand your random wailing.”
“I think we should stay here,” Silver Spoon muttered. “Like, bees always attack when you wave your hooves, trying to fight them.”
“You said it was a hornet,” Scootaloo replied.
“Hornets do that too. Don’t pretend to be dumber than you are.” Silver Spoon shook her head. “Also, that’d be logical, don’t you think? They figured out that we prefer to walk, so they want to make us stay in one place.”
“This is not how logic works,” Scootaloo muttered. “Also, Featherweight kicked the bucket, but I see that his insane ideas still live.”
“Same could be said about Ruby and you.” Diamond Tiara chuckled. “From what Silver told me, you two really enjoyed each other’s company. Sweetie Belle would have something to say about that, huh?”
Rumble managed to catch Scootaloo just before she reached Diamond Tiara. However, Scootaloo wasn’t the only pony who attacked Diamond; Silver Spoon pushed her on the floor.
“I didn’t tell you that so you’d mock anyone!” Silver exclaimed.
Diamond Tiara exhaled loudly. “Then why? This maze is scary enough even without stories about ponies beating each other to death!”
“Shut up!”
Everypony looked at each other, not sure who interrupted the fight. Finally, they turned to Boysenberry – she was standing in the middle of the room, panting heavily and gritting her teeth.
“You... You talk...” Rumble muttered, staring in awe.
“She did before,” Scootaloo said.
“That’s not important now.” Boysenberry turned her head quickly, causing the sorry remains of her braid to smack Rumble. “Can’t you hear that?”
Now they noticed it too. A low-pitched buzzing was filling their ears like cotton. It was growing louder, assaulting their eardrums like a wave of pressurised gas.
“Don’t move,” Boysenberry muttered. “They can’t see anything that doesn’t move.”
Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened. “How do you–”
“I can see with their eyes...” Boysenberry hissed, her muscles stiffening suddenly. Her voice had an unpleasant tone – as if someone was rubbing two heavy metal plates against one another. She lowered her head, exhaling. “They can’t see us for now...”
A single hornet flew into the room, circling lazily above their heads. Silver Spoon shuddered, trying to make herself as small as possible. Another hornet joined the first one, almost tangling in Scootaloo’s mane.
“No...” Silver Spoon whispered, closing her eyes. “No, no, no...”
“Silver, shut up...” Diamond Tiara muttered, trying not to move.
“No...” Silver took half a step backwards. “No...”
“I said, shut the fuck up!” Diamond Tiara screamed, her voice cracking. The hornets dived towards her, missing when she darted towards Silver Spoon, tackling her.
The hornets turned, flying towards the place where they last saw movement, only to fly away, disoriented. A few more bugs joined them.
“I’m with you, Silver,” Diamond Tiara said, pinning her friend to the ground. “I won’t let them hurt you...”
“You okay there, Scootaloo?” Rumble asked. Scootaloo nodded, watching a hornet landing next to her and walking around on the floor.
Boysenberry stood in the middle, unfazed by the insects flying next to her, even when they were brushing against her mane or fur. She closed her eyes, focusing all her will on driving the hornets away. They started to fly in wider circles, but still didn’t want to leave the room.
Diamond Tiara’s hoof twitched. Laying on the floor in an uncomfortable position began to take its toll. She clenched her teeth, trying not to scream. Tears flowed down her face.
Suddenly, she felt Silver Spoon move and saw her friend looking at something, her mouth open in a silent scream. Slowly, Diamond Tiara turned back to see a hornet slowly climbing up her leg. Its legs were like six needles touching her skin – pressure wasn’t strong enough to pierce it, but the sensation was making her stomach twist and turn. Silver Spoon went limp in her hooves. Diamond Tiara envied her – the urge to move her leg and get rid of the insect was overwhelming.
The hornet left her leg and walked up her side, slowly crawling towards the neck. Diamond Tiara felt like her blood turned to ice. She tried not to move, but the clicking of the bug’s joint as it walked was chilling her to the bone. Holding her breath, Diamond Tiara focused on the vein pulsing on her neck – even though the movement was barely noticeable, she was sure that it was attracting the hornet.
However, the crawl continued. The mass of legs and chitin stepped on Diamond Tiara’s face. She could now easily see the multi-faceted eyes and every single vein in transparent wings. One of the legs was resting on her teeth and for a moment Diamond Tiara tried to imagine what’d happen if she bit it.
One of the legs stepped into her eye. Diamond Tiara hissed, blinking automatically. The hornet turned its head backwards and through half-lidded eye, Diamond Tiara saw its sting twitching, leaning closer to her cornea.
Suddenly, another hornet buzzed above Diamond Tiara’s face. The one sitting on her took off, joining its companion. Diamond Tiara retched, shuddering. The insects were still swarming above her, but their buzzing seemed like it was coming from a great distance. Slowly, Diamond Tiara lowered her head, her vision blurring, and lay down next to Silver Spoon.
Rumble gritted his teeth. A stray hornet wandered under his wing, tickling him. His muscles twitched, but he stood still, knowing that even a small move could result in a painful bite. He could see Scootaloo standing in an awkward position and Boysenberry, who was looking at the insects as if she wanted to fend them off. A large swarm was flying above Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but Rumble could still see the two fillies lying on the ground, motionless.
His wing twitched involuntarily when the hornet walked under it. Rumble felt sweat dripping from his forehead. The bug had accidentally hit the spot under Rumble’s wing, causing it to go numb. The colt gritted his teeth, trying not to move it, but the itch below his feathers was too much to handle.
Maybe I could run for it... Rumble thought, watching the swarm. Not far away, just to get rid of the hornet and lie down in a more comfortable position before they’d notice him. After all, Diamond Tiara managed to tackle Silver Spoon...
Rumble darted forward and took off, shaking the hornet off of his body. He took off, dodging the swarm flying towards him, and flew higher, almost reaching the ceiling.
Buzzing grew louder. Rumble saw a whole swarm flying towards him, but he was ready. He tucked his wings, falling down, and spread them just above the ground, gliding towards the wall.
“No!” Boysenberry screamed. Rumble turned back and saw a black cloud of chitin bodies rushing towards him. What was worse, similar swarms were approaching him from both sides, leaving only two ways to run away: up or down.
Rumble decided to go up. He flapped his wings and darted towards the ceiling.
A wave of pain paralysed him. He turned to see a hornet flying away from his hind leg, which immediately started to swell. His wings didn’t listen to him anymore; he dropped on the ground with a loud groan. The swarm overwhelmed him, getting into his eyes and mouth. Over the buzzing of their wings, he could faintly hear Scootaloo’s screams, but they were further and further away. Strong mandibles tore his flesh, but he couldn’t feel it – pain and poison caused his brain to shut down in a couple of seconds.
That was enough for the swarm. One by one, the hornets took off from the half-eaten body and flew away, disappearing as quickly as they’d appeared before.
Boysenberry was the first to move. She dropped on her knees, weeping. “Why did he move...” she whispered, rubbing her temples. “Why did you have to make him...”
Scootaloo walked to Boysenberry. “Who are you talking to?” she asked.
Boysenberry waved her hoof, but didn’t say anything. Trying not to look at Rumble’s remains, Scootaloo turned to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who were still lying in a tight embrace. “You alright?”
Diamond Tiara raised her head and blinked – one of her eyes was bloodshot. “What happened?” she whispered, looking around. She retched when her gaze rested on Rumble’s remains and she threw up on the floor.
“Why did you make him do that...” Boysenberry muttered. “That was cheating...”
“What are you talking about?” Scootaloo asked, approaching her. “Who was cheating?”
“I don’t know...” Boysenberry rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know... Don’t ask me!” She jumped back, standing with her head lowered, as if she was going to charge at Scootaloo. “Just... don’t...” she whispered, dropping on the ground and cowering.
“What’s going on?” Silver Spoon whispered, slowly opening her eyes. “What happened to me?”
“Shh...” Diamond Tiara hugged Silver. “Don’t look...”
Silver Spoon stood up abruptly, nearly fainting again. “W-who died?” she asked. “They flew away, s-so someone had to m-move...”
“Rumble,” Scootaloo whispered.
Silver Spoon gripped Diamond Tiara’s fur tightly and cried. Scootaloo watched them, wincing, before turning to Boysenberry.
“Do you think we can go?” Scootaloo asked. “Will they come back?”
“No,” Boysenberry whispered. “It’s much worse...”
“What’s much worse?” Diamond Tiara asked, her eyes widening.
“That.”
The floor collapsed. They fell down the dark well, made of the same substance as the room above. Scootaloo thrashed, trying to catch the uneven pieces of the wall, but they were falling apart under her hooves. She flapped her wings, but it was no use – she only managed to turn upside-down and slow herself down a bit.
At the bottom of the well, Scootaloo saw an opening portal. She screamed, but couldn’t stop Boysenberry, Silver Spoon, and Diamond Tiara from falling into it. Just after the last filly disappeared in it, the portal vanished in a blinding flash.
“No!” Scootaloo screamed, seeing that she was now falling into bottomless abyss. She spread her wings, trying to at least slow herself down.
Another portal opened right below her. Scootaloo closed her eyes and the green flash engulfed her.