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Well, This Place Could Use A Dusting

Edited by Slayerseba, Halusm, and Clawder.

Well, This Place Could Use A Dusting

<<>><<>><<>>

Lights flashed by in blurring speed with each level the elevator plummeted down into the abyss without control; slamming into the shaft's walls with jarring blows, knocking the sole occupant from left to right, while terminal velocity made sure Celestia remained glued to the ceiling, while the suppression field made sure she was unable to summon her magic to save herself.

'Is this how it will end?'

It was the last thought that crossed her mind when the elevator finally reached the bottom, doing so with unrelenting speed and force, and Celestia's world went dark.

<<>><<>><<>>

The elevator lay in shambles; its frame twisted and bent in jagged shapes, while the glass walls had exploded both inwards and out from the concussive force. No external lights were active down there, save a single emergency light within the elevator miraculously still providing the faintest of glows. Though it was flickering and dying as its circuitry suffered from fatal damage, sputtering and sparking as the electricity continued to flow through damaged and torn cables.

Numerous pipes and plate material, knocked loose by the elevator, also littered the wreck inside and out, with numerous pieces still falling down and colliding with the increasingly unstable wreck.

Dust, too, filled the shaft; decades old particles roughly disturbed and now free floating thickly in the air in random patterns, only altered by the odd chunk of debris still falling down and the faint breathing of Celestia as she lay half buried under metal, glass, dust, and blood.

With a struggling gasp, she came to, crying out in pain immediately after, as all the cuts, bruises, glass splinters and something much, much worse instantly made themselves known to her.

Forcing herself to calm down despite the horrible situation she awoke into, she looked around to get a sense of where she was, as well as how bad her position was at this moment.

Clanking coming from high above alerted her, and she took notice of a jagged piece of pipe falling down; slamming into the floor not even a hoof's length away from her right side. She knew, had it hit her, the wound inflicted would have been most severe.

The notion of severe injuries brought her back to her own predicament and the pool of blood she was lying in. Gritting her teeth as she carefully moved herself, she inspected her body to the best of her restricted capabilities.

Multiple cuts scarred her once white coat and numerous glistening pieces of glass still stuck out of most of them; shifting and slicing deeper into her flesh with the motions. Her left wing, though roughed up and missing several feathers, seemed to be otherwise intact, while her right wing lay trapped underneath a sheared off metal beam; the bone clearly broken and crushed.

A trickle of blood flowing into her mouth alerted her to the absence of two teeth and she gingerly prodded the raw, bleeding gums with her tongue before spitting out the glob of blood; grunting as a stab of pain shot through her body.

Another chunk of metal slammed into the floor somewhere behind her and she slowly turned to look over her covered hind body, but was unable to find the object which had made the latest ruckus.

Looking down, she grunted as she tried to shift her body in an attempt to free herself. A strangled gasp escaped her as she became fully aware of a strange, but unfortunately not unknown sensation.

Closing her eyes, she reached out to her hind legs, flexing them.

This time she expected the lash of pain and was able to bite down the cry threatening to otherwise escape.

Several more pieces of debris slammed into the floor and wreckage; the broken frame of the elevator groaning in protest.

Realizing she wasn't safe there and everything could very well collapse on top of her at any given moment, Celestia gritted her teeth and forced her legs underneath herself. With a loud, pain filled cry which echoed up into the darkness of the elevator shaft, she pushed with all her might, the metal and glass sliding off of her and falling to the ground; followed directly thereafter by the solar princess as her body gave out from the strain.

For several long moments, she lay on the floor, unmoving save for her heaving chest.
Once the blinding pain and her body's protest had dulled down, she slowly raised her head and gave her body, now free from any crushing debris, a final once over.

A heavy breath jammed stuck on it’s way out, as she finally confirmed what she already knew.

Her right leg was gone; ripped off at the knee and lying in a bloody pool behind her.
Had it not been for her innate alicorn magic already at work mending her wounds, she would have not survived the crash.

The loud clanging of still more metal falling down around her forced her next action and she struggled to move out of the shaft; following the only path available to her, up an old, rusted flight of stairs towards a rounded, unhinged door.

Pulling herself into the passage beyond, she fell to the floor, out of breath and strength; only staying conscious long enough to glance back and see an avalanche of metal pipes and beams crash down on the remains of the elevator; burying her leg in what would have been her tomb had she stayed there even a minute longer.

Finally losing grip of the last of her strength, she let her head fall down as darkness once more consumed her.

<<>><<>><<>>

With a groan, Celestia stirred into motion. A slight twitch at first, but slowly increasing.
Glass shards clinked onto the floor as they slid out of her body, her innate magic having expelled the foreign objects and healing the wounds without any trace they had ever been there.

Groggily, she opened her eyes; blinking owlishly for several long seconds as she tried to remember where she was, how she got there and how to function on the most basic level.

Admittedly, had she not found herself in some unknown place, it could have been any other day.

She really needed her coffee.

Smacking her lips, followed by another unprincess like groan, she lifted her head from the ground; huffing in irritation as her ever waving mane hung over her face and a blue lock had found its way into her mouth. Spitting out the strands of wiggling hair and shaking the rest of her mane out of her face, she finally was able to take in the state of herself.

Unsurprisingly, the first thing she noticed was the large splotch of dried blood staining her fur; sticking her body to the floor, much to her dismay.

Ignoring her now red coat, she shifted her focus to her broken wing. Just like her cuts, her alicorn durability was already hard at work mending the bone; though it would be at least a day or two before she would be able to fully use her wing. And prodding with her tongue, she could already feel the newly formed teeth pushing through her gums, restoring her perfect whites before long.

That, obviously, was the good news. Looking to her missing leg, it was of no little surprise to her that process on healing that injury was less than spectacular.

True, in her long, extensive life she had endured many similar injuries. The chaos war and her sister's fall to the nightmare most prominent among the events leading to such injuries. Though, as she inspected the ragged wound, thankful that at the very least it wasn't bleeding anymore, a small frown did crease her features.

Looking around her, she spotted a small piece of concrete, chipped of a wall, maybe as a result of the crash, or maybe of old age, as the age smeared walls seemed to suggest and reached out with her magic.

A faint flickering aura of gold surrounded the small rock, same as with her horn, before both aura's vanished, confirming her suspicion.

"So, even down here your suppression field is active. Though it would seem I'm just at the edge of it, as some of my magic is bleeding through," she said aloud, not at all surprised no answer was given. Chuckling, she shook her head. "Aren't I the lucky one. Had it not, I would certainly have died. However, it would seem my healing factor has slowed down considerably all the same."

Looking forwards into the passage past the unhinged door, a cautious grin found its way onto her lips.

"But maybe, if I go even further, that won't be a problem anymore?"

Pushing herself back on her hooves, she looked back at the final resting place of her leg when a glint drew her attention.

Intrigued, she carefully moved back into the elevator shaft; stepping past the finer debris and making several false steps as a result of her missing limb. Eventually, after several near collisions with the floor, she arrived at the object that had drew her attention; sparks of electricity reflecting in its polished, cracked white casing.

Surprised, having completely forgotten about the device, Celestia lit up her horn to retrieve the portal gun, only for it to fizz out after a few seconds. Frowning, she shook her head and proceeded to balance on one front leg and her remaining hind leg as she carefully grabbed the device, pulled it out of the pile of broken bits, and pieces, and placed it on her back. Then, not wanting to remain in this death trap any longer, she hurried as best she could back to the open passage leading out of the elevator and into who knows where.

There was next to no light and for a moment Celestia had to wait for her eyes to adjust. Fortunately, the glow of her portal gun did help to some extent; illuminating the nearby wall, floor and ceiling with a blue glow, though it did not extend far enough ahead for her to identify any shape, or form she saw peering in the dark ahead.

Still, it was better than nothing and with a confident, albeit wobbly gait, she stepped into the darkness, and towards adventure.

<<>><<>><<>>

Adventure soon proved to be a locked door, not even ten steps forwards, which quickly foiled any plans Celestia had to proceed further into this increasingly strange and complex, eh, complex.

Still, not one to easily admit defeat, (but also unable to shove unwanted interruptions onto her former student at the moment), she stepped back from the locked door and tried her hardest to stare at her surroundings for any button, or switch like she had encountered during her visits in the test chambers.

As she quickly found out, not only was there a lack of light, but any kind of mechanism to unlock the way forwards as well.

Taking a step back, she tried to consider her options when a faint breeze swept over her.

Turning, she used the gentle caress on her muzzle to guide her to the source: A crack in the wall, partially covered by a crate of sorts.

Without many choices for her to pursue, and her magic still being hindered, Celestia leaned into the crate, pushing it aside with a strained grunt while her mane, uncooperative at the best of times, now spilled completely over her face. Huffing in irritation, she swung her head back, whipping her ever active hairdo back in place, then resumed moving the crate out of the way.

When sufficient progress was made, she stepped back with a weary sigh; her earth pony strength constricted much in the same way as all her other magical traits. But still, her intended objective had been completed and now, a sizable hole was uncovered; a weak beam of light shining through the damaged wall at chest height, large enough for Celestia to put a hoof through.

Looking through the hole and into the room beyond, she soon discovered there was little of interest to be found. At least, as far as she could tell from this unfavorable angle. But much to her excitement, one seemingly unremarkable feature did stand out: A large, white surfaced wall.

Grinning, Celestia grabbed the portal gun, sat down to steady herself, and aimed her portal gun with her hooves while using what little bit of magic she could summon to push the trigger, firing the blue orb of unidentified energy through the hole without any room to spare.

It took her a few tries; the first shot scraping against the rough edges of the damaged wall and dissipating on contact. The second and third shot harmlessly impacted someplace other than the intended target, and no portal could be seen when she inspected her work each time. The fourth attempt however did yield result and with a giddy chuckle, she saw the blue shimmering surface of the oval portal; still closed and waiting for its orange colored counterpart.

Returning the device onto her back as she stepped back, she looked around, trying to spot anything in the dark that could be used as a viable surface. She knew it had to be flat and white, as Glados had been clear about this, and her own attempts at firing the device at surfaces other than indicated proved the device's inability to perform. Unfortunately, no usable surface could be found and with no other choice, she retraced the few steps she'd made back to the crashed, mangled, and eventually crushed under an avalanche of debris, elevator.

Only one leg out of the damaged door, and the portal gun's glow already revealed what she needed: A large piece of white coated, mostly flat metal plating lying on top of the mess at an angle which, with a bit of careful aiming, should be just big enough to support a portal. The only real problem was reaching the plate.

Though unmoving, it was clear the entire pile was unstable, so climbing would be counterproductive as it would most likely shift and collapse everything. There would be no telling if her only ticket out would survive enough to still support a portal if she did. Flying was also out of the question, with her wing still healing, not to mention the suppressing field blocking most of her magic.

Deciding to tackle one problem at a time, she found a mostly clear spot to sit down, then aimed and fired her portal gun at the metal sheet, making sure it did indeed support a portal to begin with. Much to her appreciation, a brightly glowing orange portal formed on the first try, and a passage to the otherwise inaccessible room opened.

Nodding in approval, she stood up again, returning the device back to its place on her back, then focused on the mess of broken pieces, trying to discern a viable path for her to use to reach the shimmering hole without risking the complete collapse of the precarious pile of junk.

As expected, there wasn't one.

Humming in thought, absentmindedly tapping her chin with a hoof, and promptly losing her balance on just the two legs, she took several wide steps to catch herself. Unfortunately, this also made her step on several pipes and other chunks of debris, setting off a chain reaction that shifted just a bit too much for her liking.

With a drawn out groan of stressed and failing metal, the junk heap started to buckle and slide; an literal avalanche of metal, concrete and glass falling her way.

Eyes widening and ears folded flat, Celestia backed up as fast as she could, forgetting she missed one of her legs, and subsequently fell as she put weight on a limb she no longer had.

Crying out in surprise, she had just enough time to look up as the metal sheet holding the open portal descended down onto her and her world spun upside down as she was unceremoniously deposited on the other side of the portal, and into the blocked off room.

Celestia stared dumbly at the blue portal while the near deafening sound of falling, shifting, and bending metal reverberated through the walls; the portal closed as its orange counterpart could no longer be supported on the destroyed surface.

Minutes ticked by and Celestia remained lying where she fell; her legs and wings sticking out in different directions, her mane twisting, and turning around her, while also managing to become completely tangled up, despite its ethereal nature, and her portal gun lying forgotten besides her.

"... Huh?" Celestia snorted the gathered dust out of her nose, then looked around as she slowly pushed herself up, confirming no one was there to witness her less than graceful escape. "... Just as planned," she said with confidence as she picked up the portal tunneling device.

Deciding not to waste any longer in this place, she looked for, found and approached the nearest door leading away from wherever this place was.

This one, thankfully, stood halfway open, and required little more than a push to open all the way under the protest of squeaking hinges.

Stepping through, however, she immediately found herself facing yet another problem. Or, better said, several problems as numerous red laser lights aimed at her chest.

"There you are!" One of the strange, black, metal machines spoke with what sounded like a fifties mobster's voice, quickly followed by the others in identical accented voices.

"Hey, you're gonna die! Nhahahaha."

"Hahaa, I see ya!"

"Found ya!"

"I smell a rat!"

"Hey, come here. I just wanna shoot- euhh, hug you… to death!"

And as the metal drum on either side of the black, bulky devices started to spin, Celestia had just enough time to utter one last thought: "Oh, buck me!"

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