Scootaloo watched as Mochi soared forward and, miraculously, the mare's hooves skidded and clanked on the metal surface of the floor across from them. She had made it safely across.

The filly, lighter as she was, found herself falling just short of the edge; she hadn't gained enough momentum. Her hooves scrabbled at the metal side of the elevator shaft, trying to reach for a hoofhold in the sheer surface, but she realised it was no use as she started to descend and her heart beat so hard in her chest like it was going to erupt and she looked below at the drop below her, yawning hundreds of metres downward, and—

"Scootaloo!" Mochi cried, leaning over the edge. "Your wings!"

Scootaloo blinked, shook her head abruptly, and started buzzing her tiny orange wings as fast and as hard as she could. "Please, please... don't crap out on me now..." she murmured under her breath. And, sure enough, she slowed her descent and then started to rise up and forward through the air until she tumbled onto the metal floor next to Mochi. Scootaloo nearly landed on her face, crumpling into a little pile of orange pony, but at least she was safe. She let out a breath of relief.

"Woo!" Mochi exclaimed, grinning. "You did it!"

Scootaloo looked up at the mare and smiled weakly. "Yeah... ungh... I guess. We still gotta get out of here, though." Wincing, the filly stood upright on her hooves and took a step forward. "Ow!"

"What's wrong?"

"Ehh, it's nothing. I think I might have sprained a leg." Scootaloo limped forward. "Aagh, yeah. I'm gonna be fine, though. Let's go."

"Alright. Let me walk in front, though—if any guards come 'round trying to get us, they won't know what hit 'em."

"Eheh... thanks, Mochi."

The two ponies walked at a regular pace down the hallway in front of them, as fast as Scootaloo's leg would allow them. Their hooves made soft clanging noises on the floor which reverberated down the length of the hall; that was a disadvantage of these all-metal buildings—you couldn't sneak around very well at all. The only other sound was the buzzing of the fluorescent light panels that lined the ceiling above their heads.

The hallway in front of them was more like the hall above that Scootaloo had been led through to Velvet's office than the one below that led to their cells. There was, however, one exception where the similarities stopped—unlike the hustle and bustle of that floor Velvet's office was on, this hallway seemed completely devoid of other ponies. There were doors off to the sides for offices, but all of the metal doors were propped open so that Scootaloo and Mochi could see inside as they passed the small rooms. What was most surprising about them was that they were completely empty, save for the light fixtures that illuminated the insides of them.

"This seems weird," Scootaloo said, craning her neck to look into another one of the empty rooms on the left. "Is it normal to just have empty floors like this?"

"No," Mochi replied, "and I got a pretty unsettlin' feeling about this. It just don't feel right, somehow..."

"Yeah, I'm getting weird vibes..." Scootaloo looked down at the floor. "It doesn't even look like anypony's ever walked through here—see how clean it is?"

"Hmm... oh, hey, that door's closed." Mochi stopped and pointed at the metal obstacle that looked out of place when all the other doors were open. "I wonder why..."

"Only one way to find out," Scootaloo said, grinning. She limped faster forward, past Mochi, to reach the door and then she pushed down on the horizontal metal handle, pushing the door inwards. It squeaked as it swung open.

Unlike the other rooms, this one was dark inside. The room seemed to exhale as the door opened, stagnant warm air flowing out and brushing lightly along Scootaloo's coat. She took a few steps inside and, even though the air was warm, she was shivering. She never had been a fan of the dark. The sound of Mochi's clanging hoofsteps behind her, though, helped to alleviate the worst of her fears.

The fluorescent light from the hallway streamed into the room, more and more as the door swung further and further open. However, this light stretched only a few metres into the room and, if the others were any comparison, there was still significant portion of the room that was shrouded in darkness, that Scootaloo could not see.

"Scootaloo, I think we should keep going," Mochi whispered from behind her.

"Why?" Scootaloo whispered back. She wasn't quite sure why she was whispering; she was just matching Mochi's tone.

"Erm... I hear breathing." And, as Mochi said it, Scootaloo could definitely hear the ragged breaths, cutting through the air in heavy gasps. "C'mon, this can't be good..."

"Is... is somepony there?" a raspy voice breathed from the back of the room. If Scootaloo hadn't been paying attention, she probably wouldn't have been able to hear it.

"We gotta go—please, I don't think this is safe..." Mochi turned as if to leave, but Scootaloo just stood their in the centre of the light, staring into the darkness that loomed ahead.

"P-please... help me..."'

"Scootaloo, let's go!" Mochi hissed, but it was no use. Scootaloo limped forward into the darkness, hooves clanging on the floor, and the mare had no choice but to follow the filly.