> Down the Rabbit Hole > by Equestrian Clock > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Scootaloo > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 1 "...The end," said Ms. Cheerilee, closing the book she had been reading, "Story time's over." "Awwww," the class groaned in unison. "Alright, back to your seats," said Cheerilee, heading over to her desk, "Pack up, school is almost over. Remember, your story is a collective effort, so you need to work together in your groups this weekend and put it together," *Ring* "see you all Monday." "See you," I said. Just another Friday in school, and she's started giving us homework over the weekends. It's so annoying. As I walked out of the classroom, I saw something on the ground. It looked like a stick or something. I went over and saw that it was a pencil. A pencil with funny marks on it. I wonder what this is. Better take it to the clubhouse. I thought. "Hey Apple Bloom," I yelled to the yellow filly. "Could I take this to the clubhouse?" "What is it?" she inquired. "It looks to me like a pencil with funny markings on it, I just thought it would be awesome to have something like this in our clubhouse," I said. "Sure, come with me," she replied and started trotting over to her farm, myself in close pursuit. "Do ya know what the markin's are?" "I've got no clue, but I'm sure they mean something interesting." "Well, you keep goin', I'm gonna do my homework. Ah'll tell Sweetie to meet us at the clubhouse, 10:00 tomorrow for that writin' thang. See ya." Apple Bloom said with a wave of her hoof. "Bye," I replied, continuing to walk to the clubhouse. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next morning, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and I rendezvoused at the tree house, ready to write, our imaginations working. Well, all except Apple Bloom, who had apparently forgotten a pencil, "Hey, I think I forgot a pencil. Scoots, what about that weird pen thing that you found yesterday. How 'bout we use that?" She asked. "Sure, let's use it." "Ok guys, so what should we write about?" inquired Sweetie. "Ah was thinkin', maybe we could write about a family-," Apple Bloom was cut off. "Nah, boring. How about a super fast pony that's faster than anypony in equestria?" I interrupted. "I dunno," said Sweetie, " or maybe our story could have an evil Queen that controls. So the Queen does evil queen stuff and some ponies try and stop her," "Yeah, let's do that!" Apple Bloom agreed. "Alright," I said regrettably. "But we have to make it awesome." "Deal," agreed Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle sImultaniously. "Alright then," I said. "Lets get writing." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "*yawn* Alright," I said sleepily. "Lets sign our names on the front and take a break." "Yeah," Sweetie replied tiredly. "Alright," said Apple Bloom, yawning. *Scribble scribble*, "Here ya go." "Thanks," I said. *Scribble scribble* "Here," "Alright," Sweetie Belle replied. As soon as she finished, I heard the pencil drop. I looked over just in time to see Sweetie and Apple Bloom slump over, before I blacked out too. > Sweetie Belle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Yawn* Must have fallen asleep writing, I thought, and when I opened my eyes I knew I had to be dreaming. Beneath my hooves was a field of unkempt grass. Next to me, I saw my two BFFs, still in the sod, fast "asleep". The only thing other than the plain stretching out before me that I could see was a lone hill in the distance, and, turning around, a far off dot. Getting bigger. "What is that?" I asked aloud. "What's what?" Turning, I saw that Apple Bloom had finally "awoken". "That slowly growing dot in the distance," I replied. "oh, okay," she said. "Mah, this sure does look a lot like our story that we started." "I was just thinking the same thing." I responded. "If this really is the story that I'm dreaming, then that is the colt we wrote about." "Hey, wait a tick," Scootaloo interrupted. "I thought I was the one dreaming. I remember signing my initials and blacking out." "That is what dream Scootaloo would say. Ah am the one dreamin'." Apple Bloom stated. "No, I am," "No, Ah am," "No, I am," "Guys, stop it. We can resolve this when we wake up." I cut in. "How?" they asked simultaneously. "Well... let's think of a phrase, and tell it to each other when we wake up." "How 'bout 'Jingle Bells, Bat Pony smells'," Apple Bloom suggested. "Nah, how about... pickled berries and cucumber juice!" Scootaloo urged. "Yeah, none of us will think of that on our own. How about it?" I asked. "Agreed?" "Agreed." "Now, we really need to address the problem at hoof; what's the dot in the distance?" I inquired. "It looks ta me a pony. Should we go say ha?" Apple Bloom queried. "Alright," I agreed. "Let's go meet this pony." We walked for about a minute before our target could be identified. It was in fact the colt we wrote about. Down to the very last detail. He had a navy blue coat, with a royal blue mane, and sea green eyes. My heart jumped into my throat when I saw him. He was gorgeous. And one of his wings looked hurt. I rushed over to him, "Are you okay?" I asked. "Who are you? Are you some of the queens spies? Please don't hurt me!" He pleaded before breaking down in sobs. "We promise we won't hurt you, and no, we aren't the queen's spies." Scootaloo replied. "And, bah the way, who is this queen of yours?" Apple Bloom asked. "*sniffle* *sniffle* You don't know who the Queen is?" the colt asked. "We're kinda new here." Apple Bloom replied sheepishly. "Well the Queen is a changeling, and her name is Chrysalis. I gather you know what a changeling is, right?" "What happened to Celestia?" I asked "What do you mean, Celestia? She was defeated at the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence and locked away in the underground. What do you know about Celestia? I thought you said you were new here." "Well, I guess you could say that we were here before the invasion and now we're new because we were out of contact." I informed him. "By the way, my name is Sweeetie Belle, she is Scootaloo, and she is Apple Bloom. What's your name?" "Oh. I'm sorry. Where are my manners. My name is Cobalt Chance." "Alright Cobalt. So, what happened to your wing?" "Oh, I escaped from a concentration camp. It's where she puts ponies to extract emotion from them. I slipped out from an extraction seat, except my wing got caught on the strap. I was real lucky. I think I only pulled a tendon, but so far, I still can't fly." "Okay, just a minute." I told Cobalt. Then to the girls, I spoke in a whisper, "Okay, so we're definitely in our story. That was just a test to see. But we were never in the book, so what does this supposed to mean?" "Remember, we're in a dream." Apple Bloom pointed out. "This shouldn't do anything to our story." "I know, but it seems so real, doesn't it," Scootaloo said. "Yeah, it seems as if we're actually in the story," I added. "I guess I see what you're sayin', but it doesn't really piece together. I mean, we fell asleep, and woke up here. Shouldn't we be dreamin'?" "Girls," Cobalt said in a warning voice. "What?" the three of us asked simultaneously. "Looks like we've got company." > Apple Bloom > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Who is it?" Ah asked. "Yeah," Sweetie Belle asked. "Who is it?" "It doesn't look like changlings, though I can't be sure." Cobalt replied. "If it's not changelings, then who is it?" Scootaloo queried. "I'm not sure," he answered. "They sure do look important, though." "And they're comin' closer," Ah warned. "We should really go." "No it's fine. They aren't changelings." He assured us. "And how do we know you aren't one?" Ah questioned. "You don't." He said. "Hey, don't pick on him. We only just met him!" Sweetie intervened. "Mah point exactly." Ah retorted. "We don't know 'im." "I'm sorry, but you can't leave." Cobalt said. "And wha not?" Ah asked. Ah turn to see behind me just as Ah git smacked upside the head. "That's why." He said, just before Ah lost consciousness. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hey, Apple Bloom," Ah heard Sweetie's voice. "You okay?" "Yeah, A'm okay," I agreed. "Ouch," I said, feeling a pain in the back of mah head. "Ah thought that was in a dream." "You had a dream where you got hit in the head too?" Sweetie asked. "Yea-wait what? You dreamt the same thing?" Ah inquired. "What was that phrase we were supposed to remember?" "Wasn't it pickled berries and cucumber juice?" Sweetie reminded me. "Hey, how did you know that? That was in my dream!" Scootaloo exclaimed, finally awake. "Oh mah gosh! We were all in the same dream! And look at the story." Ah told them. "It's different! But how-" Sweetie Belle was cut off. Ah had an epiphany. "It must be the pencil! It had the weird markin's on it," Ah told the others. "It must have some magical powers er somethin'." "You sure it's the pencil?" Scootaloo asked. "Yeah, I mean, what else could it be?" Ah supplied. What else could it be? Well, only one way ta find out. "Let's go ta Twiltight's and ask 'er. She knows about a lot of magic stuff. I'm sure she could figure it out." "Yeah, we'll do that, seeing as it's our best choice," Sweetie agreed. "Alright, let's go," Scootaloo decided, already halfway to the door. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Where did you girls get this?" Twilight asked. Gettin' ta her library was easy enough, but the hard part was still to come. "It has ancient runes on it that not even I can read!" "Well, I found it outside the school, and we already used it to write a chapter," Scootaloo said, resulting in a quizzical look from Twilight. "You already used it? What were the effects? Were there any in the first place?" Twilight asked, bubbling with questions. "Whoa there Twilight. Could we do one question at a time?" Ah inquired. "Oh, right. Of course." She conceded, letting us answer her first question. "Yes we already used it," Sweetie Belle contributed. "And yes, it did seem like there were some effects." "Yes, and what were they?" Twi asked. "Well, we fell asleep and all of us had the same exact dream. Did we dream together?" Scootaloo inquired. "Yes, it seems you did," Twilight confirmed, pulling out a clipboard. "It looks like the pencil created a low range, subconscious telepathic field connecting the three of you and let you dream together." "In English please?" "You were able to connect to each other through your heads and dream the same dream." "Thank you," Scootaloo replied. "Now, did anything else come up?" Twilight asked. "Well, when we woke up, we all had our heads a hurtin' where we got knocked in our dream and what we had written had changed," Ah supplied. "Wait, the story changed according to your dream? Wha-how?" Twilight stuttered, almost losing hold of her clipboard. "I'm sorry girls, but I'm going to have to keep this to show this to princess Celestia." "Alright, we're gonna go now." Ah stated. As we started walking away, I suddenly felt the urge to drop from where Ah was standin'. "Wooh, Ah'm suddenly real *yawn* tired," Ah said sleepily, stumbling so quickly that Ah almost fell on mah face. "Yeah, me too," Sweetie agreed. Suddenly, Ah saw the earth spin, and felt the ground slam into me. The last thing I saw was Twi running up to us and yelling, "Girls. Girls!" before Ah saw no more. > Cobalt Chance > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...That's why," I said, just as the three fillies got hit by the changelings that snuck up behind them. "Ahhh-" I broke down again. It hurt so much. I didn't want to trap them, especially Sweetie Belle,she was so beautiful, but the hivemind pressed in on my skull. It told, no forced me to distract the three fillies while they were snuck up on. Only once the job was finished was I relieved of the pressure. Even so, I was that close to escaping. But I never got out from one of the extraction chairs. I only told them part of the truth. I really was being held prisoner at one of Chrysalis' camps, but I was actually held captive for rebellion. See, I am not really a pegasus. Only partly. My other half is actually changeling. I can't shape shift like the other changelings, but I can feed off emotion more efficiently. The hivemind was pressing in on me again, but not as strongly this time. I mean, it still hurt like crazy, but I was still able to think effectively. It was telling me to come back to the camp. I tried to stop it, but it wouldn't relent. The pain only got worse. I still fought but more and more weakly as the the pain got worse. Finally, I couldn't take it any more. I stumbled and fell right there. And for a couple of seconds, I was able to hold on to a few shreds of consciousness. Then my mind fell into the blackness. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I woke to the sound of metal clanging on metal. I looked up to see that I had been put into a cell, the guard walking away. Though they didn't put me in alone. It looked like those three fillies were in here too. Oh no, I thought.They are going to kill me. Another thing that I realized; I was disconnected from the hivemind. The pain was absolutely gone. I let out a sigh of relief. It looked as if they hadn't learned their lesson from last time. But no, there was something still there. Apparently they were still listening in to my thoughts. Maybe they had learned. Anyways, back to the ponies in front of me. I might as well try to communicate. See, that's what I got in trouble for; using the hive mind to talk to the prisoners and rally them in a rebellion. But seeing that I was a prisoner too, what's that gonna do? I was only trying to wake them up. "Here goes nothing," I said aloud, concentrating on the fillies in front of me. I felt around for their minds. Doing that was like floating through the dark, following little pinpionts of light. It didn't take long, but I found them. Their response to his mental touch was almost... conscious. That's weird. I thought to myself. It seems as if their minds are awake, but their bodies aren't. Like lucid dreaming, except more fluid, like their minds were in bodies somewhere else, but their actual bodies were here in this cell. Weird. Whatever, Time to get up. I would like to speak to you. When you wake, please don't kill me, I thought to them. After a minute or so of waiting, I finally saw, I think her name was Sootaloo, eyelids flutter open as she stood up. "You!" She accused, menacingly. "You distracted us so they could knock us out!" "I'm sorry. They were forcing me. I was incapable of stopping it," I pleaded my case. "It wasn't my fault. Please don't kill me!" "And how do I know you aren't faking it? We almost trusted you last time, but that's gone now," she exclaimed. "Gone, ya hear. Gone!" "Please, you have to believe me, it wasn't my fault!" I started getting desperate. How do I convince her? What do I do!?! "Urgh, what's all the *yawn* commotion all about?" Asked, uh, oh yeah, Sweetie Belle. "He is trying to convince himself that he is trustworthy!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Except that he already proved to us that his loyalty lies with the other changelings!" She's kinda cute when she gets all angry. "Okay, let me ask one question." I said. "Alright, you can have one question," Sweetie agreed. You like her, don't you? my inner voice asked. Cut it out, brain! I thought to my inner self. "Well what's yer question?" Apple Bloom asked, apparently having been awake long enough to hear the first part. "Well, why am I in this cell with you?" "He does have a good point," Sweetie Belle chimed in. "Why is he in here?" "Fine, but I'm not talking to him," "Well, I do have a spell that will let me see into his mind, but I need his full participation, and he'all be out for a little while," Sweetie suggested. "That would work," Apple Bloom agreed. "Alright," Scootaloo gave in, but reluctantly. "Let's put it on him." "What's yer name again?" Apple Bloom asked. "Cobalt," I replied. "Cobalt, I need you to look into my eyes and focus on me. We need both of our unflinching attention. Got it?" Sweetie asked. "Got it," I replied. "I'm going to start the spell now. Concentrate." Sweetie Belle told me. Focussing on her was so easy. It even made it easier to do that because she was so beautifu-Shut up brain! I'm trying to concentrate! I thought. Now the hive mind seemed concerned at the spell she was doing. They started getting inside my head again, and it hurt. The only thing stopping me, were those gorgeous green eyes of her's. I fell unconscious with the thought of those eyes and a smile on my face. > Sweetie Belle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was just sorting through his thoughts to see if he was trustworthy. I didn't want to see his past. It was terrible. He was treated like a a nobody. He's half changeling! That must be horrible! I thought. He was left out of everything as a foal. An outcast. And different. Not just in his appearance, but in his heart. He wasn't heartless like most of the other changelings. He hated watching ponies writhe in the extraction chambers. He tried to rebel, but his efforts failed. His last attempt was escape. But that failed too. And he likes me! I blushed, it clearly showing up through my white fur. "What is it?" asked Scootaloo, noticing my blush. "Nothing, let me finish this, please," I said. I like you too, I thought to him. I don't know if he heard me or not, but I hope he did. Anyways, I think he's trustworthy. "Alright, I finished." "Well, is he, or isn't he?" Scootaloo asked, exasperation clear in her voice. "He is very trustworthy. When he handed us in, he was being controlled, so I established a link between him and I, letting me know when is being influenced, and/or telling a lie," I explained. "Alright, I'l start to trust him, but I don't want him defending my back," Scootaloo agreed reluctantly. "Good, we need a strategist to get out," Apple Bloom stated. "A what-now?" Scootaloo asked, confused. "Ya know, a strategist, someone who's good at planning battles and stuff like that," She answered. "Whadya mean? He was caught." "Well, he did escape, and got all the way to us. That's pretty good, ain't it?" "Yeah, he did good," I inputted. He really did do good. I mean, he was able to rally the prisoners enough to off set the army. That's a feat in itself. Ya know he really is cute when he sleeps like that. A touch to my shoulder jolts me back to reality, "Huh?" "You been just sittin' there. Anythin' wrong?" Apple Bloom asked. "Nah, just staring off into space. Nothing wrong," I assured her. I can't let them know I have a crush on him. They might I'm protecting him because I like him. Yeah, I am protecting him because I like him, but not just that. He needs our help. I know that this isn't just a dream. It's a different world. Just one where Chrysalis rules.How did I come up with that? I thought. Weird, I just thought of the solution to our whole dilemma. Where did that come from? It came from me, thought a voice. "Who are you?" I asked aloud. "Who's who?" Scootaloo asked, concern evident in her voice. "You just started talking to yourself." "I'm fine," I replied. I tried again, but this time through thought. Who are you? It's Cobalt! He exclaimed. Wait, how are you contacting me? I thought you were asleep. I told him. Oh, but I'm just as much asleep as you are, He said. What do you mean? Well, I'm asleep where you are and you're asleep where I am, he explained. Wait, you got to our Equestria? That's cool! I exlaimed. Yeah, I know, your spell let me into your portal thing. I'll explain later. So, do you have any ideas on escape? I asked. Well, you haven't tried teleporting, Cobalt suggested. Thank you! I exclaimed. I will 'call' you if I need you. I will speak with you later. Goodbye, and then he was gone. My plan was already formulating inside my head. It would all of us to work together, and in sync. I thought we'd be able to do it. "Alright girls, so here's the plan..." > Cobalt Chance > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Who are you?!?" asked a very confused voice. I looked up to see that I was surrounded by, books? What? I was just in the cell. "Where am I?" I asked. I finally found my captor. "No, just no. This isn't possible!" Standing on the other side of the room was the Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic. She was supposed to have been captured in the battle of the Canterlot Wedding. "I just turned around to check on something, and there you are! How did you do that?" she asked. "I-I don't know. I fell asleep, definitely not here, and woke up on this spot," I replied. I was so confused. How in the world did I get here? "Where did you fall asleep?" Twilight inquired. "What used to be Ponyville, one year ago," I told the unicorn. "Wait a minute, this is Ponyville. This is my library, and these are my books. Unless.. wait a minute. Hold on a sec," Twilight ran off, leaving me to observe my surroundings. So, apparently I was in the library of Ponyville. Looking to my left, I saw Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Wait- what? They're here too? This was getting way too weird for me. Just then, Twilight came back with a scroll. "Okay, so I just got this letter from Celestia telling me about this pencil that those fillies there found-" Twilight started explaining, but was cut off. "Who? Those three? They were in the same place as I was," I told her. "Wait, so you're saying that those three right there were in the same place as you? Correct?" She asked. "Yes, that's right," I agreed. "Did you have any magical interaction with any of those three?" "Yes, they were figuring out if I was trustworthy." "Why?" she asked. "Long story. Anyways, do you know what's happening?" I wondered. "Yes I believe I do. It seems as if the pencil that they found opens a portal to an alternate universe where something is different there, and lets the writers go through when they fall asleep. By magically interacting with you, Sweetie Belle accidentally extended the portal to you, letting you travel to this universe," She explained. So, I was in a different universe than my own. Extremely weird. And Twilight also reminded about the spell that Sweetie cast. I like you too, I heard a voice come from the link between her and I. Was that her? I hoped so. Okay, so the link was stronger than I thought. It let thoughts come through from opposing universes. Wow. Let's try something a little better. It's not a dream. It's two different worlds I thought to her. Where did that come from? She asked. It came from me. Who are you? Its Cobalt! I exclaimed. Wait, how are you contacting me? I thought you were asleep. She told me. Oh, but I'm just as much asleep as you are, I said. What do you mean? Well, I'm asleep where you are and you're asleep where I am, I explained. Wait, you got to our Equestria? That's cool! She exclaimed. Yeah, I know, your spell let me into your portal thing. I'll explain later. So, do you have any ideas on escape? She asked. Well, you haven't tried teleporting, I suggested. Thank you! She said. I will 'call' you if I need you. I will speak with you later. Goodbye, and I left the connection. "Whatcha doing?" asked Twilight. "Communicating with Sweetie Belle," I said in a matter-of-fact tone. "The spell she put on me allows us to communicate, and know when the other is lying." "I didn't think Sweetie Belle was that advanced at magic," Twilight said, surprised. "Now Twilight, I'm going to need you to knock me out," I told her. "What- why?" "The girls are trapped in a changeling camp, and I need to help them escape!" I told her, exasperation clear in my voice. "Alright, alright. I'm gonna need you to close your eyes," Twilight told me. "Now I'm going to hit you on the count of three. One, two-" *whap*. I let out a yelp as I was hit on one of my temples. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I shot straight up out of sleep. The fillies jumped. "Whoa, there pardner! Easy, easy," Apple Bloom told me. After the adrenaline faded, I felt the side of my head that Twilight had hit. "Ow! She didn't have to hit me that hard!" I said. "What are you talking about?" Scootaloo asked. "I had Twilight hit me in the head, so that I could come back and help you guys," I explained to them. "Wait, ya went ta our world?"Apple Bloom questioned. "Yeah, that spell that she put on me let me go to your world," I answered. Both fillies were staring at me. "Okay, let's explain the plan," Sweetie Belle said, breaking the silence. "Since I'm the only unicorn here, I'm going to have to borrow some of your guys' energy to perform the teleport. What I need you to do is focus on Cobalt. He can use his ability to take the energy from emotion that you direct at him and give it to me through our link. Now, concentrate." Sweetie Belle told us. I could already feel the air around us growing thick as they pushed their emotion toward me. I suddenly felt... power. That's the word; raw power. It felt so good, but I knew I had to give it to Sweetie Belle. So I pushed, and I shoved, and did all I could to give it to Sweetie Belle. I could hear yelling coming from across the camp. Oh, no. The Changelings must have felt the magical disturbance, "Hurry Sweetie! Their coming!," "I'm trying," She strained. I could see that her horn was lighting up and was glowing and sparking. The changelings were coming around the corner. We weren't going to make it. Then *POP!* I was blinded by a flash of light. Once the after image faded, I could see that we were in a new place. I could hear alarms, see guards, by the looks of it, ponies, and, lying on the ground in a heap, a filly with a scorched horn. She was seriously hurt, possibly fatally. Then it hit me. It was Sweetie Belle, lying on the ground. It looked like she was dead. End of Part 1 Expect Part 2 sometime next week > Scootaloo > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 2 One Week Later We were stuck here for a week now. I don't mean this hideout, I mean this world. We weren't able to get back. And Sweetie Belle was still in a coma. It turns out that the camp we escaped had a barrier that was supposed to prevent teleportation. Apparently, our magic was potent enough to get through the barrier, but it took it's toll on Sweetie. The doctors still didn't know when she would be alright. It also seemed we had disconnecting Cobalt from the hive mind, during the barrierbreak, leaving him in disarray for a while. I felt guilty for leaving, and I'm sure Apple Bloom was too, but I couldn't take the sitting by her bed. Just too jumpy, I guess. And I still haven't finished exploring. But what really surprised me was that Cobalt was able to sit there, unwilling too leave. I had a strong feeling that Cobalt liked her. And maybe, just maybe, Sweetie Belle liked him back. I mean, even in her state, she seemed to be able sense his presence. She reached out to him in her sleep on several occasions and sometimes called his name. I think I might be a little jealous. Anyways, back to us being stuck here. It turned out that this was a secret base of some sort, housing all kinds of refugees. They even found the princesses Celestia and Luna! They still hadn't found Cadence, Shining Armor, or the Element Bearers, though. The base was originally a mine for crystals. They found a cavern deep set into one of those mines, in the crystal mountains. It was far enough away from the changeling empire, that they hadn't found us yet. *awooga, awooga!* Let me rephrase that. They hadn't found us until now. "Attention! All guards report to your stations! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!" I heard a voice over the P.A, announcing the near arrival of the Changeling army. I found myself being herded by guards toward the rear of the encampment, along with all the other foals and mares, besides the princesses. I feared for all the stallions, commuting to the front lines, preparing a rugged defense against the oncoming storm. I didn't think we stood any chance against the army. If we were lucky, only a small portion of changelings had come to attack us. Even then, it would be at least 10,000 enemies that we were up against. Our only strong form of defense was concealment, and we blew that. We were doomed to be taken as slaves, just like those who had not escaped. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As we entered the bunker-like structure at the aft of the hideout, we felt a tremor that shook us and the thousands of pounds of rock hanging above us. I was starting to feel the effects of claustrophobia, even though the cavern we had entered was quite large. Another tremble shook us. Some dust fell. Phew, I thought. No ro- I was interrupted by a boulder the size of a door, falling, not a foot a way from me. I jumped away, startled and shaken. Another fell. And a other. Then it stopped. We were trapped, our exit cut off. Not but a small hole of light beamed through. No way out. In the dark. I turned around, trying to get to everyone else. Suddenly, *crunch*. I felt pain arc up my leg. I tried to move away, but couldn't move forward. My leg was stuck and hurting. I was starting to get dizzy. The pain was too much. I blacked out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Beep... Beep... Beep..." I heard an annoying noise. I looked up to see a white ceiling. Wait, that's not right. I thought, confused.I'm supposed to be in the cavern. I sat up. I was in what looked like an ER. Why would I be in an emergency room? I questioned. For a minute, I sat in silence before I heard, "Hurry! She's awake!" and saw a doctor come in, along with several nurses. "How are you feeling?" the doctor asked. "Fine. Just fine, apart from my broken leg," I answered. "But I wasn't here a minute ago." "Yes, you were," one of the nurses. "And when did you get a broken leg?" "You can check if you want," I told them. "In fact, I'd like you to check. It hurts really bad." "Alright, let's see," the doctor conceded. "Oh dear. Marble, get me some bandages. This is not good." he said to one of nurses, an aqua mare. She retrieved a roll of ace bandages, some cotton, and, for good measure, some sort of anesthetic. "Thank you," he said to Marble, taking the remedies from her. Then to me, he warned, "Now, this won't hurt a bit. We're going to give you some sleep medicine. Lie down." I felt a prick in my arm, followed by a yelp from me. For a minute, nothing happened. Then, I suddenly felt like I wasn't attached to me anymore and was floating away. And slowly, I drifted off into the unknown; sleep. For real sleep, not sleep there wake here. Actual rest. No dreams. Just black.