Scootaloo could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she galloped as fast as she could through the earthen tunnel. As she and Mochi ran by, the flickering flames that were alight atop the wall-mounted torches that lit the tunnel would stretch out as if reaching for them, lapping downwards and then snapping back up as the ponies ran further along, out of reach. Besides the torches, however, the rest of the tunnel went by as a blurry shadowed mess; there was no time to focus. They ran on.

Behind them, the thundering of hooves continued at a steady pace. Scootaloo wondered briefly how many guards were following them; then, she hoped that they wouldn't have to find out. If they did... well, Scootaloo didn't want to think about that. She focused on the tunnel ahead of her, snaking up and down and every which way.

And then, suddenly, Scootaloo could see the tunnel curving left but also right—a fork. Mochi must have noticed this too for Scootaloo could see the mare blinking and nearly tripping over her own hooves.

"Dammit, a fork!" Mochi exclaimed. "Umm..."

"We can't afford to slow down! Left!" Scootaloo, galloping at the same pace, swerved in her chosen direction, and Mochi followed suit. Scootaloo glanced over her shoulder at the receding tunnel behind them. The guards were not yet in sight—thank Celestia—but Scootaloo had no doubt that they would be if she and Mochi didn't keep running. Hopefully the fork would buy them some time.

And then, just a minute later, they reached another fork, again left and right. This time Scootaloo ran to the right, Mochi following alongside. They didn't have to say anything—it was now understood that Scootaloo would decide. There were a few more forks after this—three-way splits, horizontal jut-offs, and the like.

And then, finally, they saw a light at the end of the tunnel; unlike the orange, flickery light of the tunnel torches, this was much more white and more full.

"You see that?" Mochi asked.

"Yeah... you think that's the end?" They kept running forward, metre after metre. Finally, they both skidded to a halt just after the end of the tunnel, where it opened up.

Mochi and Scootaloo stood in a large earthen cavern with rectangular fluorescent floodlights embedded in the ceiling. What was most interesting and important in this room, however, was the plethora of tunnels—maybe a dozen or more—splitting off from the room in all directions. Mochi's gaw lay agape, and Scootaloo spoke the first word that came to her mind.

"...crap."