"Aw, falling apart so soon, are you?"

Scootaloo jerked upwards, and saw a strange beast standing in front of her. Her eyes widened. That beast was a draconequus. The one and only Discord himself. "W-w-who are you?!" Scootaloo shouted between sobs. Discord's everlasting grin widened. "Oh, just an old friend of Celestia!" Scootaloo's sobs dwindled to a sniffle. "Your... Your not her friend! Your that evil...Thing... that stands in the garden!" Discord flinched and his face morphed into one of annoyance. "Well, this is my world, filly! And what I want to happen here, happens!" Discord turned around, and walked straight through the door without inflicting any damage.

Scootaloo stood up on all fours, and then proceeded to cautiously open the door. She peeked through the crack. She saw a long, dark hallway leading to another door similar to the one she was standing behind. She opened the door the rest of the way and walked through. She walked halfway through the hallway, when a humungous wave of nausea hit her. Scootaloo fell on her side, breathing hard, and tried to get up but to no avail. What's going on?! She thought in panic. She could feel the cold stones on her side. Thats when she heard it.

It sounded ghostly, like the voice was echoing before it spoke. The first one, a stallions voice said;

This is not a question of loyalty, Leeroy. It's about these ponies that are kept here. I need to know what they're doing to them!

They are preparing a test, an older stallion's voice said, The foal must be prepared.

This isn't right, Leeroy! It shouldn't be a foal! The younger one said.

That's the way it has to be, Doctor.

The unknown talking stopped. Scootaloo shook her head, and was happy to find she could stand up. Where they talking about me? She wondered. Then what test are they talking about? It must be those trials Spike wrote about! Scootaloo slowly continued walking to the door. She swung it open, too deep in thought to care about being silent. She looked up to the room in front of her. It was quite expansive, and Scootaloo realized there were prison cells on every wall. In the center, there was about a 10 cubic foot space of grated floor, with a trapdoor in the middle. And a few feet in front of the grate was a ladder, only it wasn't pulled down. How do I get that ladder down here? Scootaloo wondered. She decided search some of the cells for an answer. She trotted to the first cell on her right. The door was ajar, so Scootaloo took great care to be silent. She didn't know if Discord had traps or monsters in this world, but she was careful nevertheless. She poked her head around the corner and scanned the room.

It was dirty and dusty, like every other part of the castle. There was a small cot turned on it's side, and a small table with a broken chair. Scootaloo tip-hoofed over to the table and gasped in shock. There was a note that had bloody hoofprints on either side of it, and the words Forgive me scrawled in blood above it. Scootaloo hesitantly picked up the note and began to read.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I know you and Bernard have a relationship, but

he's hurting you. You say you like it, but...

I believe different. Just remember. If you ever need

help, talk to me. My love will always be truer.

Love, Altos

"How sweet." Scootaloo muttered sarcastically under her breath. Seeing nothing that could help her, Scootaloo walked out of the cell, and walked to the next cell on the right. Surprisingly, there wasn't even a cot in this one. There was no furniture whatsoever, and the only thing in the room was a dirt heap in one corner. That's strange, Scootaloo thought. She simply shrugged and proceeded to walk out the cell door, but stopped suddenly. Hoofsteps!

Scootaloo shut the door very quietly and backed up into the corner, breathing hard. Her heart was beating so fast, she was sure whatever was out there could hear it. The hoofsteps neared the door, and a demonic voice called out;

"Twilight? Is that you?"

The voice sounded similar to the strange occurance on the hallway, like it echoed before it spoke. Scootaloo was panicking. What if it opens the door?! She was breathing hard now. All of the sudden, a large bang resounded through the cell as whatever it was slammed into the door. A second bang. A third bang, but the door was thankfully built to withstand great force. The monster let out a frustrated and sickening groan, before the hoofsteps faded away. Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief, and buried her head in her forelegs. She fell asleep before she realized what happened. Next Chapter: Chapter 3: Savior Estimated time remaining: 8 Minutes