Isolation
"Hello?" Scootaloo called through tears in the everlasting darkness. "Hello?" The filly couldn't see three feet in front of her in the dark Changeling dungeon. She had no idea where she was...or what was lurking in the darkness with her. The only thing the terrified pegasus knew was that she was chained to a hard stone wall. The shackle dug into the skin on her back leg, creating unbearably uncomfortable friction on her soft, furred skin. Scootaloo's heart leaped inside her chest ever time she'd hear a drop of water, or a hoofstep. Things were moving out there in the darkness, some of them even sounding like they were getting closer and closer to her; and every time Scootaloo would think this was the end for her, the noises would stop and she'd continue sitting still and scared in the dungeon.
She'd been here for what seemed like days, but she was sure it couldn't have been more than one. Once Chrysalis had brought her and Rainbow Dash into the Everfree, the evil Queen casted a sleeping spell on Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash certainly hadn't needed it. The darkness of her slumber was nothing compared to the darkness she faced now, with all it's noises and fears. The filly sat back for a moment and felt tears come to her eyes. A sob escaped her throat as she slumped where she was, letting her head droop down. The tears ran down her face and off of her nose as she cried. The liquid on her face was yet another discomfort to add to her ever growing list, but she didn't care. The filly let out a wail of despair as her body slowly sunk to the wet ground. Scootaloo hated to cry. Rainbow Dash wouldn't be crying right now. She'd be trying to find some way to escape. But Scootaloo couldn't help it. She was locked up in a dark dungeon in a place she knew to be far away from home and her idol Rainbow Dash was probably dead or worse. She continued to cry for what seemed like a half an hour before she pulled herself back together once more.
Scootaloo sighed to herself and resolved to not give up. For the sake of her friends and for the sake of Rainbow Dash, she wouldn't give up. She'd try...at least she'd try...to find her way out of this dungeon. The filly looked back at the shackle on her back leg and inspected the lock closely. Scootaloo had to squint her eyes hard to actually see it in the darkness. It appeared to have a rather large keyhole, which could fit any assortment of things. With a small, short breath, Scootaloo began to look around the expanse of the area the shackle allowed her to move. Small rocks of all shapes and sizes littered the area around her, so taking great time and great care, Scootaloo began to examine all the different kinds of rocks and pebbles. She found a lot of robust round rocks, which obviously couldn't help her, but she eventually found a long, thin rock that looked as if it might have been able to be put into the keyhole. Scootaloo sighed.
"Well..." She whispered to herself. "It's worth a shot."
The filly picked up the rock and began to push it into the keyhole. With a small jolt of elation, Scootaloo realized that the rock fit. She continued to move the rock around in the lock for a while before she began to hear many hoofsteps approaching her cell. She couldn't see who exactly was coming but it sounded like at least three individuals. A small noise caught her ear as she backed away from the source of the noise, whatever it was. The noise was groaning...a feminine voice groaning. It sounded familiar. Several dark husks could be made out by Scootaloo at her cell door. It was opened quickly and forward stepped two of the husks while one stayed behind. One of the individuals appeared to be basically dragging the other on the floor. At this point, Scootaloo could recognize the shadows to be a changeling and a pony. The changeling roughly threw the pony into the wall right next to Scootaloo, and the filly gasped with horror at what she saw. It was Rainbow Dash, beaten and bloody. Her wings seemed to be back in place, albeit still swollen horribly, and her face definitely looked as if she'd been beaten senseless. She groaned as she attempted to get up off the floor.
"Stay down or I'll punch you in your wing again." The changeling hissed evilly. Rainbow, looking up at the changeling in hatred, lowered herself back down onto the ground. Scootaloo looked up at the changeling with tears in her eyes.
"Why are you doing this?!" Scootaloo cried out. "What did we ever do to you?!" The changeling promptly slapped her across the face, making the filly cry out in pain.
"You will speak when spoken to." He growled angrily. Scootaloo sobbed as she looked up at him. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash lunged at the changeling and loosed a hoof into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. He coughed roughly for a moment and kicked the pegasus in the ribs, making her cry out and sending her back to the floor.
"Throw 'em the cups!" He yelled at the other changeling at the door of the cell as he chained Rainbow Dash to the wall beside Scootaloo. The other changeling threw the cups, one of them landing next to Scootaloo and the other hitting Rainbow Dash in the side. She just continued to lay still on the floor. He looked at Scootaloo. "They're for the water."
"Wh-where's the water?" Scootaloo asked the changeling before he lit a torch on the wall. The light exposed a puddle of water that had dripped from the ceiling of the dungeon three feet to Scootaloo's right.
"You might want to give her some." He said as he nodded his head back at Rainbow Dash with an evil grin. "She might just need it." He left them in the cell, torch still burning. Scootaloo immediately grabbed both of the mugs and moved to the puddle, wincing at the shackle digging into her flesh. She filled the cups full of water and took them over to Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow Dash...look at me." Scootaloo said softly, prompting Rainbow to move her face from the floor and look up at the filly. What she saw made Scootaloo's eyes brim with tears instantly. "H-Here...Drink." Scootaloo gave Rainbow Dash a cup of water, which she hungrily gulped down. Rainbow breathed heavily as she looked at the second cup.
"A-Aren't you gonna drink that one?" Rainbow asked as she trembled violently.
"No. I'll have some later. You drink it." Scootaloo said softly as she brought the cup to Rainbow's lips. Rainbow drank that cup and continued to breathe heavily on the floor.
"What did they do to you?" Scootaloo asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Well a-at first t-they were really nice and they..." Rainbow stuttered, most likely from shock. "Set my wings."
"They what?"
"Said they didn't want me dying before Twilight would give her life for me." Rainbow coughed roughly and continued. "So that felt really nice."
"Rainbow..." Scootaloo said softly, sorrow lacing her words.
"Then they p-proceeded to tie me up and beat me. J-Just for the heck of it." Rainbow groaned. "Made up the excuse that it was to get information. They never asked me a single question. Went on for a couple hours."
"Oh, Goddesses..."
"Then that l-lovely individual p-punched me in the wing on the way here b-because I said some choice words to him during the beating." Rainbow Dash groaned. "The good news is, I don't think they'll kill us, at least not for now."
"Why?" Scootaloo asked her.
"We're hostages." Rainbow Dash said roughly. "They won't kill us as long as it'll allow them to get to Twilight."
"But Twilight...Wouldn't turn herself in, would she?"
"I hope not. Then again, if she doesn't...well..." Rainbow trailed off for a moment before looking back at Scootaloo. "You should drink. Now." Scootaloo nodded at Rainbow Dash before taking one of the cups over to the dank puddle and filling it with water. She gulped it down quickly and cringed.
"Ugh...it tastes awful." Scootaloo groaned.
"Trust me, I've had worse." Rainbow Dash rasped. "More than one lonely night at the bar..." Both of the pegasi chuckled quietly together, sharing a short moment of relaxation together. The moment, while comforting, was much too brief. A sharp scream of agony echoed throughout the prison.
"So do you think we'll be rescued?" Scootaloo asked Rainbow Dash.
"Your guess-" Rainbow stopped as she erupted into a massive coughing fit. Once she was finished, she trembled before settling down once more. "Your guess is as good as mine, Scoots."
"So...why'd you kiss Applejack?" Scootaloo asked Rainbow Dash, who blushed heavily and looked at Scootaloo with a raised eyebrow.
"What're you talking about?" Rainbow asked the filly.
"Come on, I may be young, but I'm not stupid."
"I seriously-"
"Look, I don't care if you're fillyfooler. To be honest, I've wondered about it myself."
"For your information, I'm bi." Rainbow spouted involuntarily before placing a hoof on her mouth, before moving it to her forehead. "Oh, geez."
"Oh, come on! It's not like I don't know about fillyfoolers." Scootaloo said. "I don't care. Seriously. Now why'd you kiss her?" Rainbow Dash's blush didn't fade as she sighed.
"I've had it for AJ for a while." Rainbow Dash said. "And I figured that I was gonna die. I thought I would never have a chance to do it again, so I just went for it, you little eavesdropper." Scootaloo giggled.
"Well I think that's sweet." Scootaloo said with a smile.
"Thanks a lot." Rainbow said. "You went and reminded me of that. Now I see me and Applejack's reunion going two ways."
"Oh yeah? What way would that be?" Scootaloo asked Rainbow Dash with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, the first possibility is that Applejack is extremely homophobic like I've always feared and she'll beat the tar outta me." Rainbow explained. "The second is that she turns out to like me back...And...Well...I really hope it's that second one."
"Well, Applejack didn't seem repulsed when you kissed her." Scootaloo said with a smile. "So I think that marks off that first one."
"She could have just been saving my feelings since we were both probably going to die." Rainbow deadpanned.
"Still. I think it'll be the second one." Scootaloo said with a small smile. "I have faith." Rainbow looked over at Scootaloo and smiled before giving her a small nod. Rainbow saw the small amount of blood seeping from Scootaloo's shackle. This caused her to notice the small rock embedded in the lock of the shackle.
"You trying to pick your lock?" Rainbow asked, nodding her head to the shackle and giving off a few small coughs. Scootaloo nodded.
"Yeah, I was trying when they brought you in." Scootaloo said. "To be honest, I'd forgotten."
"You know they'll hurt you badly if they find that, right?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, they beat me senseless just for calling them names." Scootaloo let out a small giggle.
"Yeah, I know." The filly said. "It didn't work at all anyways. I figured it'd be worth a shot. I know it's stupid, but I had to try something."
"Hey, don't say that." Rainbow said before coughing for a few seconds. "That's not stupid at all. It's exactly what I would have done."
"Thanks." Scootaloo said. "Some good it did anyhow."
"So...since we've examined Rainbow Dash underneath the relationship-hidden-love microscope, why don't we take a look at Scootaloo for a change?" Rainbow asked. Scootaloo giggled and nodded.
"Okay, okay." The filly said. "I mean, I haven't really developed any true crushes yet. I mean, I could see myself with a filly or a colt. I don't really think it matters all that much. I just figure that I'll end up with whoever I end up with."
"Couldn't have said it any better myself." Rainbow Dash said with a smile and a nod. "That's a great way to look at it."
"I wonder what Mr. Bubbles is doing right now." Scootaloo said, looking forward at the cell door.
"What the hay is up with that thing anyways?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, it's like...a monster. He just attacked us."
"He didn't attack any of you." Scootaloo retorted quickly, taking Rainbow Dash off guard. "He only defended himself when you all attacked him."
"He broke Twilight's wing." Rainbow said, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Because she was taking me away from him." Scootaloo said. "Trust me, I'm grateful for what she tried to do, but it just angered Mr. Bubbles."
"What were we supposed to do?" Rainbow Dash asked her. "Let you die of hunger while it guarded you?"
"I don't know!" Scootaloo cried. "I don't know...All I know is that he wanted to protect me...He killed a manticore for me. He almost killed Chrysalis."
"Almost, my dear." A loud voice said from the cell door. Rainbow and Scootaloo quickly looked toward the door to behold Queen Chrysalis approaching them, a smug and holier-than-thou look on her face. Rainbow's lips parted in a snarl as Scootaloo backed up against the wall of the cell. Green magic enveloped the shackle on Scootaloo's leg and detached it from the filly. "You're coming with me." The Queen said with a large grin. Rainbow Dash, mustering a large amount of strength, moved herself in front of Scootaloo.
"She's not..." The pegasus winced in the middle of her sentence. "...going anywhere!"
"Poor choice of words, Rainbow Dash." Chrysalis said with a small laugh as she picked the pegasus up with her magic. She gingerly laid Rainbow Dash down several feet away from Scootaloo. "Oh, how I wish I could smash you against that wall. But I need you to draw in Celestia and her little entourage, and I feel as if I so much as dropped you, you'd roll over and die." The queen let out a hearty laugh at her own joke, which Rainbow and Scootaloo didn't find humorous in the slightest.
"Run, Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash cried. "Go now!"
Scootaloo merely stood in place, shivering with fear at the sight of Chrysalis. She had no idea what this monster was going to do to her.
"And where exactly would she go?" Chrysalis asked Rainbow Dash, cocking her head to the side. "Hmm? Scootaloo, where exactly would you go to escape this dungeon?" Scootaloo said nothing in response earning a small chuckle from the Changeling queen.
"Now, you and I have some important manners to discuss." Chrysalis said with a grin that showed her sharp teeth that made Scootaloo shiver. Chrysalis lifted Scootaloo up with her magic and began to carry her out of the cell.
"R-Rainbow!" Scootaloo cried. "Rainbow Dash, help me!" Rainbow Dash, however futile her efforts were, struggled against her bindings. She felt fiery pain surge up her body, but she didn't care. The metal dug into her leg as tears leaked from her eyes. Both from the pain and the prospect that she may never see Scootaloo again.
"Scootaloo!" Rainbow cried out! "Be strong! Don't be afraid! You'll be fine, I know it!" Rainbow Dash hadn't any inkling of an idea whether that statement was true or not. Scootaloo's heart beat faster and faster as the queen carried her away from the only thing that made her feel at least a little safe in this dungeon.
'Be strong. Don't be afraid.' Scootaloo repeated to herself over and over to herself in her head. 'Be strong. Don't be afraid.' The filly found it to be extremely difficult when she heard the few other prisoners howling with agony. She silently cried in fear at the sounds, making Chrysalis chuckle again.
"Don't be afraid, little one." Chrysalis said to her. "They can't get to you. Who knows what they'd do if they did. They're all so hungry...A bit of meat would probably sound delectable to them." Scootaloo knew the statement was nothing but another bit of cruelty from Chrysalis, and it made her hate the queen even more than she already did. Scootaloo suddenly felt extremely drowsy. She looked around, her vision seeming to blur as her head moved. She barely registered the queen chuckling once more as she faded from consciousness.
The filly awoke in a chamber that had three windows. These windows showed the outside world with a seemingly radiant brilliance. Scootaloo tried her hardest to get to that outside world, before Chrysalis walked into the room and engaged a spell that almost immediately showed the "outside world" to be a falsehood. Scootaloo felt like breaking down into tears as the queen stood before her.
"I suppose you might have guessed why I brought you in here, little pegasus." Chrysalis said with an almost charismatic tone. If Scootaloo hadn't already known the kind of monster the queen was, she might have trusted her based on the current tone of her voice alone.
"You want me to tell you about Mr. Bubbles." Scootaloo said, almost grinding her teeth together.
"So that's what you call it?" Chrysalis said. "It seemed to have a certain desire to preserve your life. Could you tell me why that is?"
"I don't know." Scootaloo deadpanned.
"I know that is a fallacy, dear child." Chrysalis hissed. No response came from Scootaloo. This agitated the evil queen. "What exactly is it?"
"I don't know." Scootaloo said blandly once more.
"You must know for it to have such and attachment to you." Chrysalis reasoned, earning a scowl from Scootaloo. "Tell me right now."
"I just told you that I don't know." Scootaloo said. "What, that wasn't simple enough for even you to understand?" The queen gritted her teeth together. She slammed her hoof onto the table, breaking off a large section of it. This succeeded in making the currently defiant pegasus filly jump with fright.
"You possess much of the bravado of your miss Rainbow Dash." Chrysalis mewed. "But...I wonder how long exactly it will last. Bring her in!" Scootaloo wondered who exactly Chrysalis was talking about and discovered with horror that her awful suspicions were correct. Rainbow Dash was chained to a rack, her legs spread out, putting her in a vulnerable position. She struggled against the bonds before looking at Scootaloo and relaxing almost instantly.
"I am not in a gaming mood, Scootaloo." Chrysalis spouted suddenly and loudly. "If you do not give me the information you know of this newly discovered juggernaut Celestia has in her charge, some...uncomfortable things will happen to Rainbow Dash here."
"Don't give in, Scootaloo." Rainbow growled before receiving a punch in the stomach from the changeling guard who had rolled her in.
"I don't know..." Scootaloo said weakly, her bravado faltering. Chrysalis growled and surrounded Rainbow Dash in what looked to be a burning magic. It didn't seem to cause any external damage to Rainbow, but the cyan pegasus began to writhe on the rack and scream in agony. Tears almost immediately filled Scootaloo's eyes as her breathing increased in frequency. The magic dissipated and Rainbow let out a massive breath as her body went limp. She breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling dynamically and slowly.
"What is it?" Chrysalis said. "What kind of damage can it take?"
"I-I don't know! I-I..." Scootaloo stuttered, her heart racing in her small chest. "It...It..."
"Scootaloo!" Rainbow cried out before weakly bringing her head up. Keeping one eye closed and seemingly dealing with residual pain, Rainbow Dash continued. "Don't you dare give this piece of trash what she wants!"
"Are you truly prepared to let Rainbow Dash suffer?" Chrysalis said. "This spell slowly corrodes victims on the inside."
"I can't wait till Twilight and Celestia get here." Rainbow snarled at Chrysalis. "I'm gonna beat you until your legs never work again."
Chrysalis surrounded Rainbow in the magic once more, making her howl in pain once more. Her body moved in seemingly unnatural ways as her voice went hoarse from the screaming. Scootaloo cried, sobbing, begging for the queen to stop. But what Rainbow had said had seemingly struck an evil chord within the large Changeling.
"Please! Please, stop it!" Scootaloo screamed. She screamed for what seemed like half an hour before Chrysalis finally stopped the spell and glared back at Scootaloo. Rainbow's body hung limp on the rack, but she still seemed to be breathing weakly. "please...please..."
"What...is...that creature?" Chrysalis growled. "What are its capabilities?!"
"I'll tell you everything...I know." Scootaloo said. "I was walking to my friend's house before it teleported to me from a portal above the ground. It followed me and has been fighting for my safety ever since. It's killed things for me. You saw it kill that Ursa Minor. That's all I know." Chrysalis grunted and turned back toward Rainbow Dash.
"Wait! PLEASE NO!" Scootaloo screamed before breaking down in sobs again. "That's all I know, I swear...I swear...Please...just stop hurting her."
"My queen." The changeling guard said to Chrysalis somewhat urgently. "Her heart has stopped." Scootaloo audibly gasped as tears flowed from her eyes. Chrysalis rolled her eyes and turned toward Rainbow Dash before letting out a bolt of magic into her. The pegasus was shocked awake and gasped as her body seized up on the rack. Her eyes bulged and her body went limp once more. She seemed to be concious, but she began to tremble heavily.
"I have no use for a dead prisoner." Chrysalis said spitefully before turning toward Scootaloo. "Please enjoy the rest of your stay here. Take them back." The guard laughed gleefully as he moved closer to Scootaloo. He let loose a hoof into her face and her vision went black.
"Scootaloo." The filly heard a familiar voice calling. "Scootaloo, wake up. You alright?" Scootaloo opened her eyes to see the welcome sight of Rainbow Dash. She felt a tender hoof on her back. As her vision cleared she came to the realization that her idol looked awful. Her mane was disheveled, her face looked ragged, and her body still trembled, presumably from the torture. They were back in their dank dark cell and her leg had once again resumed bleeding from the tight shackle.
"Welcome b-back to the land of the l-living, kid." Rainbow said unsteadily, giving Scootaloo a weak smile. "Or...whatever you'd call this." The filly immediately hugged onto Rainbow Dash and sobbed into her chest. No words were spoken between the two of them for the rest of that night. They eventually laid down on the cold floor, holding each other. Scootaloo had fallen asleep and was resting soundly, but Rainbow Dash couldn't help herself to sleep at all. She couldn't stop thinking about how desperately Chrysalis wanted...no...needed to know everything about the monster.
They didn't want to find out how to enslave it. They wanted to know how to kill it.
They feared it.
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3872548 up to you, I am just saying how the story makes me feel.
I just finished Bioshock Infinite (fucking amazing start to finish), so it's a great coincidence I found this fic.
...Should I play Burial at Sea first?
Awesome chapter.
3873187 The Rapture in this and the Rapture in Burial at Sea are different. Some major plot details on the DLC aren't being used in this story, so go ahead and read it.
3875882 Oh, good. Because I don't know when I'm getting around to Burial at Sea. D:
Chrysalis is so dead when the Big Daddy arrives.
3876139 .if the big daddy could speak it should totally speak like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Big daddy: SCREEEWWWW YOOOOOOUUUUU!!!!!
Chrysalis: AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG
Damn it!
Now I'll be pissed off for the rest of the day cause of the feels you're givin off
bwoo Bwoo motherfuckers,ain't no brakes on the bubble train!!
So, they FEAR the big daddy *dark chuckle* Hell on earth anyone? Because chrysalis is SCREWED! There is no way to kill a big daddy, even if there was, SHE GOT THE WRONG PERSON! Please have the big daddy find the prison, because there needs to be a spearhead to this war.
4150400 What I have planned may go against the canon a bit...but I think it'll be easy to rationalize with the canon.
Why do you cause so much pain to Rainbow? Please don't let her die in the story....or like it said in the story, ''This spell slowly corrodes the insides of the victim''.
I hate Dash-abuse...javascript:smilie('
');
4169965 If your going to go against the canon you should mark your story as alt universe.
Just have scootaloo scream help and have mister bubbles come in with all his drill and rivet gunning might
3913793 that would actually be booker and Elizabeth. They are the deadliest things on planet. Booker's plasmids and combat skills along with Elizabeth's rifts make them the most badass things here. Although add in Jack Rapture (bioshock 1) and he will take the title hands down.
4224774 Actually, the Big Daddy is probably the most deadly thing on the planet. If Jack, Booker or Liz didnt have any medical kits to replenish their health, the Big Daddy would most likely kill them. I have many fond memories of burning most of my medkits in Big Daddy fights.
4251740 nah the bog daddy is strong, but jack books and Liz can improvise, dodge and use vigors and plasmids, giving them the edge. It's like a marine equipped with explosives facing a tank.
4356300 Ok...then he's technically anti-hero?
My best guess.
4356485 Yeah, in a way, he is.
my who fav things put together (gasp)
yaaaay
Almost a good story. Almost. What the hell did the changlings have to do with this?
4602440 They invaded when the Big Daddy arrived. They didn't know about him, obviously. So they don't have anything to do with the Big Daddy.
How about instead of just mindlessly hating on the story, you supply me with some constructive criticism that's actually useful.
4618601 Sorry. Well, I'll try my best to give you some constructive criticism. Uh, the events escalated pretty quickly. And where is the comedy? And if you plan to keep up the gore, I suggest adding a 'Dark' tag. Hope that helps
4618749 Yes, I do suppose that the events escalated pretty quickly, but I've gotten a lot of complaints before saying that I take too long to get to the action.
4621423 Well sir, those are the impatient people. All they came for is the gore, not the plot. What they want is this one shot clopfics. Except its the fight scenes, not the sexy time.
4623090 Wait...are you saying that my story is just a bunch of fight scenes thrown together like a clopfic does with clop?...I'm confused.
4629542 Of course not. What I am saying is that some/most people want only fight scenes. But you are the author, Mr.BLACKJACK. I'm just saying what I think is good. But write down whatever you want. You can't please everyone.
4635064 I suppose you're right. Sorry you're not a fan!
Algorithm is at it again aftet the paragraph of scootaloo worrying about the death of rainbow dash an add is placed for a funeral policy