Sassi finally pulled away, but Astral saw that the familiar, hopeful gleam in her eye was far more prominent than before.
“Your bangs are coming in nicely, by the way,” he said with a grin. “Looks good.” He winced as she glared at him. “What?”
She trotted over and very gently poked him in the chest.
“You are making it far too hard to not kiss you for the next hour,” she grumbled, snagging the RASP helmet and putting it on.
“Uh, that makes it sound like I’d object? I mean, maybe the reactor needs a boost?”
A soft giggle, and then a frustrated huff was Sassi’s reply.
“It’s good to have you back, Astral,” she said. “I’m just going to check the barricade. The freaky creatures are the ones who killed the power. Considering they nearly killed you too, we’ll burn this entire floor when we leave. Until then, we need to make sure they don’t try anything funny.”
Astral blinked.
“Ok. I’ll…uh, be here.”
Sassi vanished from view for a minute or two, but she quickly returned with a familiar, battered helmet.
“My helmet isn’t as new as the RASP, but it has a radio. I was using it for motion detection,” she explained. “Now that you’re up, we each should have a radio.”
“Sounds good to me. Especially since moving uh, isn’t really possible for me right now,” Astral admitted. His cheeks bulged, and the stallion abruptly vomited up a disturbing amount of black tar. “Urg. Ok…didn’t expect that. How is there so much of it?!”
Sasi was at his side immediately, visor flipped up as looked at him in concern.
“How are you feeling, Astral? I’m surprised you’re as lucid as you are.”
He stared at her, coughing up some more tar.
“That’s…not a comforting answer, Sas,” Astral muttered. His ears perked up on seeing Sassi’s face flush with a blush. “What?”
“You called me ‘Sas’.”
“Erm, sorry,” he said sheepishly. “Is that the first time I did that?”
“Second, or third I think.”
Astral wasn’t entirely sure whether Sassi was mad at him or not, but those thoughts vanished as she reached up and squeezed his hoof.
“No apologies needed. I like it. Just…may take some getting used to.”
“I can seriously just not call-”
“I’ve never had a nickname before, Astral. Not from somepony I care about.”
That shut the stallion up, and he laughed.
“Duly noted. So, is this permission to continually flirt with you?”
Sassi’s deadpan expression made Astral laugh again, especially as her eyes pointedly drifted to the two glowing dynamos on Astral’s backpack.
“Sooooo that’s yes?”
“It’s always been a yes,” Sassi sighed. “At least you’re not using the other name for me.”
His head tilted, the Thestral’s ears perking up adorably.
“Huh?”
“I’ll tell you later. But this is a new step for me. May take some getting used to, even if I like it.”
Another hacking cough, but Astral managed to smile as he wiped away the tar from his mouth.
“You’re, um, a bit more open about all of this. Is…that a good thing?” he asked, a bit cautious. Considering what Sassi had been through, and how reserved she had been prior, this was certainly a development.
She trotted over and gently placed a hoof on his chest.
“It’s a very good thing. I’ve had a lot of time to think, y’know,” Sassi admitted. “It’ll all come crashing down, more likely than not. So…just please be patient with me.”
“Some of the best things are worth waiting for. You included,” he said with a cheesy smile. It was ruined as he vomited up some more tar with a wince. “Urg. Mood killer. Starting to not feel so great. Really tired.”
“Then rest, Astral. I’m here.”
I don’t want to.
He could see the turmoil in Sassi’s eyes. It was hidden behind the affection, but there was a lot of fear.
“Will you be ok?” he asked softly, and she nodded.
“I’ll manage.”
Astral let his eyes drift closed with a cough, the stallion wincing and curling up. A foil blanket was draped over him, Sassi giving him a gentle touch on the shoulder.
“Welcome back, Astral. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
As he drifted off, he somehow knew Sassi was smiling, a hoof gently resting on his cheek.
Astral now being out cold again gave Sassi a few moments to think. Before anything else, there was one primary issue.
“When can Astral move?” she asked the AI.
‘Within 12 hours, suit-assisted movement is possible without compromising healing status. Limited to thirty minutes of slow walking. Movement not advised until then.’
“Suit assisted?”
‘RASP armor can function as an independent exoskeleton supporting the user, if normal motion is not possible, another mode requires needing only a fraction of normal input to engage motion.’
Well, that would be interesting.
With the lights out, it made Sassi’s nerve fray. The emergency bulbs occasionally flickered, and the entire location now felt more foreboding than even remotely safe. They’d have to move eventually. As to when, that depended on a few things. But more importantly, Astral was ok. She gave him the regular injection, carefully replacing the syringes. Her eyes drifted to the supplemental medical pack.
Fifteen percent?!
“Why are the foam and medications so low? The last report said it would last longer!” she growled into the helmet.
‘Unforeseen hemorrhaging required use of vita-foam. Additional antibiotics needed to stave off infection from fused crystals.’
“How long do we have until it’s all empty?!”
‘Unknown.’
“Are there any more of these refills within range?”
‘No. Data suggests potential supply locations are in medical bays or high-risk areas.’
Their moving schedule just got bumped to top priority.
“Well, scan for other supplemental cartridges and medical bays. And tell me what I need to do to make Astral ready to move.”
‘Acknowledged.’
The next few hours were a flurry of activity. Dismantling one of the other medical beds to attach the crystals to Astral’s armor, and then packing what few supplies Sassi deemed useful into their saddlebags. She also put the armor back on the stallion, sans helmet of course. It was fully active and ready to move if needs be. The shield systems were also fully charged, along with the miniguns.
Apparently love could be used to forge bullets. The mare briefly entertained the idea of putting that as a framed quote in her room…
Ok, more like seriously entertaining. ‘This bullet forged with love.’
….That sounds more like a threat.
There was also another project the mare embarked on, with the help of the AI. There had been some spare tanks used for oxy-acetylene welding in the storage locker, back near the main blast door.
As the mare slotted the makeshift flamethrower onto her side saddle, she grinned as the targeting reticle popped up on the RASP helmet. Trotting out past the barricade, Sassi sent a stream of flame towards one of the oddly-untouched Fony corpses.
The entire corridor lit up with a bright light, Sassi smirking behind the visor. There was a bonus of facing fleshy fungus monsters.
They were highly flammable.
"I'm gonna kill you with the power of friendship, AND THIS GUN I FOUND!"
Goddammit, not again..Why do you tease us like this?
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Goodbye Black Mesa, hello Nostromo.
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Better nuke it from orbit to be sure...
I'm starting to get Vault 22 vibes from the Fonies. Reminds me of the Spore Carriers. They function similarly, though they don't appear to have an airborne component, and do not infest a host body more than infest a host's skeleton once the soft tissues have been consumed or converted, and use the skeleton for structure while the fony flesh acts as muscle and contaminant alike. Yet to see exactly how fonies reproduce besides killing a host, then eating the tissues and then piloting the skeleton, but the contamination and eventual control of a once living thing is similar, if slightly different.
Their aversion or vulnerability to fire is similar. Though spore carriers don't run from fire, they do burn just as easily as the foliage they attempt to hide in.
One word of advice. Firebreaks.
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Hmmmm. Not a bad comparison!
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I have used flamers, incinerators, heavy incinerators, torches, flame throwers, napalm bombs, molotov cocktails, hairspray cans and lighters, and any implement of fire to keep away many hordes of invasive creatures, plant, animal, and mineral. I recognize the fonies for what they are: infester-colony organisms that consume prey and reproduce, afterwards somewhat mimicking their prey's shape, or hijacking parts of their anatomy for locomotion and protection. If they found a changeling, there's a chance they'd hollow out the shell, and you couldn't tell it was a fony until it tried to eat you. Be glad they can't manipulate the skeleton to reinforce it, or exoskeletons.
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The idea of a Fony wearing a changeling carapace like loose clothing is a mortifying thought.
*Scribbles down ideas
I can totaly imagine Sassy standing on hind legs, holding a gatling gun in her front hooves, firing at full tilt while screaming " Love concers all BITCHES!" Followed by "Cry some more! HAHAHA!"
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....
....You're...you're not wrong
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I think that's an SCP? Something that eats your insides and wears your skin like an ill-fitted suit?
Wait, no, that's Men In Black, with the Edgar Roach. But I think SCP did their own version of that, too.
Also, while I haven't yet heeded your warning, I want to say the first impressions of the as of yet unseen tri-eyed thing immediately made me think of a Destiny Hive Acolyte, lurking in the black, waiting for a good shot, or watching to inform their greater masters what goes on in the dark.
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Jesus. Reminds me of the xenomorphs - although, arguably, those bastards are even worse.
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Oh no question. With the exception of The Flood, nothing is worse than a xenomorph, especially as the plot is almost invariably on the side of the xenomorph somehow persisting even after all the protagonists and antagonists do to curtail their development and spread.
Crassi? Because of her teenage swearing streak?
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So I finished reading Murky Number Seven recently, and all I can say is that after all that intensity, it's nice to relax with a little fluff.
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Glad to provide some fluff! I've read some FoE fics...and there's some good ones out there. But there's so many that are just torture-porn. No light in the darkness, just a miserable existence.
Sure, life can suck for a while, but there's always good to be found. That's the slant I've always written to.
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MN7 was one of those ones where you're questioning why you're reading it because nothing ever seems to go the protagonist's way, but the ending made it worth it. Definitely an emotional rollercoaster.
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Aaaah I gotcha. It's not for everyone for sure, but glad to hear it paid off!
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It definitely wasn't for the faint of heart. Plus, 10K word long chapters has instilled in me a permanent impulse to use the "bookmark" feature on this site, lest I lose my spot.
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Oh goodness. My story chapters have approached that length in other fics. It's SO easy to get lost!
I read up to this chapter about 1 week ago and when I saw the Spoiler warning I thought " Ugh, I have to read three stories!?" After I read the summaries I got exited. And I just got to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading all three books. Thank you for making them, it's been a great week for me.
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I'm so glad you've enjoyed them!
Don't want to stop reading this
Don't want to spoil three other massive stories
You've trapped me in a quandary, Bunny
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HMMM.
May I suggest going back and reading those other stories first?
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/655049888404340787/1147996051370950676/Es6npQ4XIAITXNn.png cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/655049888404340787/1147996052016861264/Es6np-CXAAInpwO.png
Simply gave me an excuse to post best pony
Damn! Only 1-2 weeks to read all three of those stories!? I mean, I've already done that before starting this but that sounds like a lot. Though maybe that's just me speaking for me. I know some people that could probably do that fairly easily, girlfriend included.
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Well, I wanted to give another spoiler reminder. I loathe getting spoiled for stuff, so did my best to warn people!