Chapter Three: The Steel Warren
Dim lights flickered down the length of the square tunnel, providing a dingy glow which Twilight was thankful for. Too often the tunnels were entirely dark, and while Tyrrsan and Sawtooth had strange, tiny lamps on their heads which provided enough light for them to see by, the darkness still unnerved her after their encounter with the creature. They had moved a fair distance from where they had entered via the stairway, at least, Twilight thought they had. It was hard to tell in the identical, labyrinthine tunnels where the only things that changed were the piles of trash, and the occasional corridor that lacked lighting. She hadn’t seen anything to compare to that first, immense room, just endless tangles of claustrophobic, steel tunnels.
Twilight shivered, not that it was particularly cold down here, but, despite the trash, the place had a sterile quality that reminded her of the wasteland in which she’d found the book. She hadn’t seen any indication of life outside the swarming insects, and even those seemed lackluster. But of course, there was that vicious creature, and these ponies, what else might be lurking in the shadows? The major, whom Twilight was following, walked stiff-backed and tense, did he know of dangers that lived in the tunnels, or was he merely nervous about escorting four strangers to...where?
Twilight snorted quietly, there were too many unknowns for her liking, and even if the major gave her all the answers, could she believe them? She couldn’t assume anything about this place, or any pony that lived here. Twilight had seen the chaotic and unexpected, the marvelous and the dreadful, she knew that while optimism was a good place to start, it was best to be on guard. After all, they might just be friendly ponies in an awkward situation, but then again, they might not.
Twilight drifted back from her musings in time to catch Applejack whispering quietly to Rarity, “...s’ppose they know where they’re going?”
“I certainly hope so, I don’t think I’d be able to find my way back by myself.”
“Yeah, me neither. This place gives me the willies, let’s hope they fix up Rainbow Dash quick so we can scoot on outta here.”
At the mention of her name, Rainbow Dash—still slung across the sergeant’s back—began groaning loudly. “Keep her quiet,” Major Tyrrsan said without breaking stride, “we don’t want any unfriendly attention.”
Applejack shot a withering look at his back before moving up to stand next to Rainbow Dash and the sergeant. “It’s all right sugarcube, we’re here...” she continued muttering soothingly, and Rainbow Dash fell silent.
I think it’s time for a talk with the major, Twilight thought, her frustration overcoming her wariness. She quickened her pace to pull up alongside Tyrrsan and cleared her throat. “Uh, major?” No response. “Yes, well,” she continued nervously, “I was wondering if you could tell us where we’re going?”
“We’re returning to Perimeter Defense,” he said curtly, still looking straight ahead.
Twilight rolled her eyes, As if I know where that is. “Can you be any more specific? Because we have friends waiting for us and—”
“I thought I said to keep quiet,” he cut her off.
Anger flared within Twilight. “No, you said to keep Rainbow Dash quiet, which was rather rude if you ask me.”
“Well, it applies to you too,” he replied flatly. Twilight huffed and fell back; she wasn’t sure which irritated her more: the major’s words, or his complete lack of emotion.
“He sounds like a friendly pony,” Rarity whispered sarcastically.
Twilight snorted derisively and fell into a silent pout. She stared daggers at the cyan tail bobbing in front of her as they wound their way through the dingy tunnels. It wouldn’t kill him to tell us where we’re going, or at least be polite. Twilight clung to and cultivated that feeling of anger, it was better than feeling nervous or afraid. The major simply continued walking steadily, unaware or uncaring of the animosity that walked behind him.
The tunnels had been steadily changing as they walked; while debris still littered the floor, the sense of abandonment was ebbing. Graffiti was becoming a common sight on the walls, most of it made no sense to Twilight, but after seeing one crudely scrawled line that read ‘Forget hope.’ she did her best to ignore it.
As they trudged through one corridor after another, Twilight began to feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the system of tunnels. Openings in the walls lead to yet more corridors, and glancing down them Twilight observed that some appeared to stretch for kilometers, disappearing in the distance seemingly without end, while others dead-ended after a mere few meters, either blocked by an avalanche of rubble or another metal wall. After a while, she gave up trying to map the labyrinth in her head and simply followed Applejack, who was continuing to soothe a now half-conscious Rainbow Dash.
Abruptly, they turned a corner and entered a long, well lit corridor. Twilight blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. As her vision cleared, she saw dozens of similar openings—doubtless leading to more tunnels—dotting the walls which stretched a good fifty meters further before gently widening in a Y shape. They moved off down the tunnel, it was like walking up the stem of a funnel towards the mouth. Twilight heard a noise behind her and turned to see two other ponies in black jumpsuits emerging from the same opening she had just left. Have they been following us this whole time?
They marched down the corridor towards a steel wall that stretched across the mouth of the “funnel” creating a triangular space. A single, massive door was set into that far wall, flanked by two ponies in grey uniforms and dark glasses. As they approached, one of the ponies opened the door while the other saluted, the major casually returning the salute as they passed. Twilight was disappointed to see that the corridor on the other side of the door looked identical to the ones they had just left, Still, at least it’s well lit and there’s no trash laying around.
“Sawtooth, take that one to medical.”
Sawtooth saluted, “Yes sir,” and he moved off, quickly disappearing down a side-tunnel.
Tyrrsan tuned to the others, “You three, come with me.”
Rarity glanced anxiously in the direction Sawtooth had gone, “Shouldn’t we accompany Rainbow Dash?”
The major shook his head, “No, the general wants to speak with you, now. He’s not somepony to be kept waiting.”
Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack exchanged worried glances. Frustrated as she was at the lack of information, Twilight knew that until Rainbow Dash had recovered they had no choice. “Alright, we’ll talk to this general, I have some questions and I expect he’ll be more polite about answering them than you’ve been.”
Major Tyrrsan merely smirked at her; it was the first emotion Twilight had seen him display, and she was fairly certain she didn’t like it. Tyrrsan led them down the corridors, pausing to salute the occasional passerby, who all looked the same to Twilight in their gray uniforms and dark glasses. The corridors, though better lit, were no less labyrinthine than the dingy ones they had just left, and it was all Twilight could do to follow the major and not get lost.
The major stopped before a metal door, “Wait in here.”
Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack stepped into a small room that was completely bare except for a long, metal table with four chairs on either side. Twilight turned to face the major, “But what—”
Tyrrsan cut her off, “The general will be along shortly,” and he slammed the door shut with a clang.
“It ain’t right!” Applejack huffed, pacing the length of the room, “Keeping us locked up here like criminals. Why, I have half a mind to...to...”
“To what, Applejack?” Rarity snapped. “I’m sorry, but you know we mustn’t do anything rash while Rainbow Dash is still injured. We need them to help her.”
Applejack sat down dejectedly, “I know that, it’s just I ain’t happy sitting here doing nothing.”
Twilight silently agreed with her, this whole situation left her feeling completely powerless. She couldn't blame Applejack for her agitation, she was about ready to scream with frustration herself. They had been in worse situations before, but never had they been in so strange a place, nor had she ever seen ponies as bizarre as these.
There was the metallic clank of a lock and two ponies stepped through the door into the room. One appeared rather young, his dark orange coat and short, brown mane and tail clashing with the bright green vest he wore. But the other...Twilight gaped openly. His coat and mane were both matte-black, and he had only one piercing, blue eye, the other was covered by a metal oval with a stylized eye etched into it, and his forelegs were gleaming steel. Neither pony had a cutie mark, but rather a small, silver disc was set into their flanks, and suddenly Twilight remembered that, while she hadn’t noticed it at the time, everypony they had passed down here lacked a cutie mark and had a similar disc. For some reason this unnerved Twilight more than the black pony’s metal legs.
The black pony gestured to the table, “Please, have a seat.” Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight sat along one side of the table, the other two ponies taking seats opposite them. “I’m General Ironlegs,” the black pony continued, “and this is Lieutenant Shandly, he’ll be recording our conversation for the archives. Would you please state your names for the record?”
Hesitantly, Twilight said, “I’m Twilight Sparkle.”
“Applejack.”
“And I’m Rarity.”
General Ironlegs nodded, “Thank you. I have a few questions that I’d like—”
Applejack shook her head, “I ain’t answering anything until I know what’s happening with Rainbow Dash.”
“Fair enough.” The general looked down at a piece of paper the lieutenant gave him saying, “Your companion—Rainbow Dash was it?—suffered a mild concussion and should make a full recovery after some rest. However, she had to be sedated so she’d stop struggling with the med-techs.” The three friends visibly relaxed at the news. “Now, I’d like to know what you were doing in sector L-7?”
Twilight looked at him quizzically, “Do you mean that big room?”
The general nodded.
“Well, we were just...looking around.”
The general eyed her skeptically, “Just ‘looking around’?”
“Whatever else would we be doing?” Rarity chimed in.
“What else indeed. Well, let’s try this one, can you tell me who did your augmentation?”
This statement was greeted with a chorus of blank stares.
Applejack cocked her head to the side, “Uh, come again?”
The general turned to Applejack, “Augmentations, the implants your friends have.”
“You’ve lost me.”
The general sighed, “Ladies, please, there’s no reason to be coy, you’ll only make it harder on yourselves if you force us to make a formal investigation. You’ll be in rather a lot less trouble if you only cooperate. Now tell me, who performed the surgery that gave you those horns?”
Rarity gasped indignantly, “My word!”
“General,” Twilight began, “nopony gave us our horns, we were born with them.”
“Right, and I suppose you were born with those tattoos on your flanks as well?”
Twilight rolled her eyes, “Of course not! Our cutie marks appeared when we discovered that certain something that makes us special. Everypony knows that! Which rather makes me wonder what happened to yours.”
General Ironlegs looked hard at Twilight for a long moment, his single, blue eye weighing and judging her every facet; she met his gaze without flinching. “Well,” he said, standing, “I think that’s all for now, and you’re no doubt eager to visit your friend. Lieutenant, would you show them the way to medical? If you’ll excuse me,” and he left the room without another word, leaving behind three very bewildered ponies.
* * *
“Ah, Major Tyrrsan, congratulations on the success of your mission.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“At ease, major. As you’re no doubt aware, I’ve just come from interviewing our new friends, but we’ll discuss that shortly. First, I’d like to hear your report.”
“Sir, we located the four individuals in sector L-7, who were under attack by a lurker. One of them suffered a minor injury before we arrived and chased it off; she is currently in medical, there were no other casualties”
“And what is your impression of these individuals?”
“Two have horn implants covered in synth-flesh, and the one who was injured has implants that look like wings.”
“Wings? Are you sure?”
“Yes sir, that’s what it looked like.”
“Did you see if they worked?”
“No sir, we arrived too late, she was already unconscious.”
“Hmmm, we may be seeing the results of illegal augmentation. Damn, I thought we’d taken care of that, this could be a problem if we don’t get a handle on it.”
“Sir, there’s something else.”
“Yes?”
“It’s strange sir, they don’t, that is, when I found them they didn’t...”
“Spit it out, major.”
“Well sir, they don’t have ID implants, but rather they have detailed markings, or tattoos, on their flanks where their ident-discs should be.”
“Yes, I saw.”
“It’s almost as if they’d never been catalogued, sir.”
“Are you saying they’re from a splinter group, or that such groups could even survive out there?”
“I don’t know sir, but whoever they are, they’re like nopony I’ve ever seen before.”
“I’m forced to agree, and that worries me. They’re either incredible liars, completely insane, or something else entirely, and in all cases potentially very dangerous. However, before we can act we need more information, and my interview with them yielded very little useful information. Your new assignment is to befriend them and learn what you can. You saved them in L-7 so they may be more inclined to trust you, and the information you gather would be more reliable than what we might obtain from standard interrogation techniques, which we’ll have resort to if necessary. All of TAU-9 are to be a part of this mission, I want one of you with them at all times until we know more. Understood?”
The major saluted, “Yes sir!”
“Dismissed.”