The jumper was not an entertainment craft, with dozens of screens hidden everywhere. It did apparently have a projector, which could aim at the ceiling of the passenger area and display tactical information. Forerunner switched that screen on as they began firing back, and Lucky got her first good look at the fleet.
She knew instantly why Forerunner hadn’t shown them this at first—these ships were so large, so powerful, she felt herself start to shake. Ponies used lighter-than-air technology for flight, and that meant hugely massive gasbags proportional to whatever they wanted to carry. She had pictured the Speed of Thought as gigantic, but judging by the little specks floating around by those airships, it was less than a third the size of the Equestrian vessels.
There was another roar, and the whole world around her started to shake. The view of the outside fractured into static for a few seconds. Forerunner was the first to speak. “We are beginning to lose lift gas.”
“I thought you made this damn thing sturdier than this!” Perez shouted, stamping one hoof on the deck. “Give me one interceptor, and I could mop up that whole fleet.”
“Unfortunately, I focused my effort on defending from the unknown plasma containment weapon,” Forerunner said. “Magnetic shielding is not sufficient to stop iron cannonballs.”
There was a bright flash from outside as the first of the rockets reached their targets, exploding above and behind the pony airships. Lucky winced, looking away—knowing that ponies would be dying with every shot. But instead of hearing more discomfort, she only heard swearing.
So she looked up, in time to see a bright, purplish barrier fade away from just above the airships. It faded just in time for another roar as they were hit with a few more cannonballs.
“Take the fucking kid gloves off, Forerunner!” Perez bellowed. “I don’t know what kind of defense that is, but we’ve got to have a way to shoot through it.”
“What was that?” Lucky asked, focusing on Twilight. She saw the projection as several more rockets exploded above the pony fleet, their energy lighting up the shield for a few seconds before dispersing harmlessly along it.
“Th-that’s…” Her voice was low, barely loud enough to be heard over the chaos all around them. She didn’t meet her eyes. “That’s my brother, Shining Armor. He’s really good at shield spells. Held off a whole invasion by himself for days once.”
Perez didn’t seem to hear that, though Lucky felt her heart sink. No doubt Forerunner had been using weak projectiles on the ones following them—trying not to kill them was far harder than just blowing them out of the sky. We have to use enough force to break that shield, but not enough to break the ponies inside.
And if they failed, they would murder Twilight’s brother right in front of her. We can’t lose her! Almost everything in Transit had required an Alicorn to operate. Could Lucky even get them to Central Control without an Alicorn to work the tram system?
“Twilight, can we bring the shield down?”
Twilight watched the projection as a larger explosion shook the ships behind them. The formation of pegasus ponies flying alongside had moved to behind the ships, or else landed aboard them. That was good, though it didn’t seem their shots were doing anything to the shield. “I… eventually,” she said, unhelpfully. “Just keep hitting it. The changelings broke through eventually.”
There was another explosion—this one closer. Lucky whimpered as the whole world jerked to one side, and alarms started to sound from all over the airship. They began tilting slowly backward, and the steady drone of the propeller changed to an unhappy metal-grinding noise.
“That was the propeller,” Forerunner said. “It is exactly as bad as it sounds.”
“Lucky!” Perez shouted through the alarms, suddenly right up in her face. He no longer looked angry—his expression had gone cold again. “Colonial Governor, are you going to allow us to protect this colony or not?” He gestured at the room with a quick snap of his wing. “We’re going to die if you don’t let us return fire properly. The firecrackers we’ve been shooting wouldn’t break glass.”
Lucky trembled, taking in the room before her. I don’t want to be like Olivia. What more could she do? What good would it do Equestria if Celestia caught and killed them all?
“Forerunner,” she said, straightening in her seat. “Remove all restrictions. Save this ship.”
The Speed of Thought shook visibly as they took another volley—for having only primitive cannons, these ponies seemed to know how to shoot them. It felt like they weren’t missing anymore, though part of that might just be the painful realities of Lucky’s perception.
There was a rumbling sound, a rumble that shook the ground they were standing on. It seemed to come from everywhere, oscillating rapidly up the spectrum. Then it stopped, and the projection flashed.
For a fraction of a second, it looked like horizontal lightning connected their ship to the fleet. The air itself looked like it was splitting open, glowing bright orange. The shield exploded, in strangely concrete chunks almost like violet glass. They fell down from around the point of impact, and as they fell cracks splintered, taking larger and larger chunks with them.
There were a few futile flashes of power near the ships, as though whoever had created the shield was trying to recreate it—but without success. They were completely unprotected. A little explosion followed soon after—one of the tiny rockets they’d been using before. This one punctured the gasbag of the lead ship, which began to list. Slow, sluggish, now moving down as well as forward.
“That’s all the class G projectiles we had aboard,” Forerunner said. “Charging the main gun. Eight seconds.” The rumble started up again, reverberating through the ship. Lucky couldn’t even imagine what kind of weapon it was—certainly nothing that had existed when she left Earth. Some kind of laser, maybe? But then why would it be so loud? She listened to that weapon charge and knew with certainty it would pass through every Equestrian ship in a straight line, probably without slowing down. Anything that got in its way would die.
“Wait!” Princess Twilight’s voice cut through the sound. There couldn’t be long until the gun was ready to fire again.
The enemy canons didn’t wait. Speed of Thought shook again, and something crashed above them. At least one of the cannons had breached the ship.
Twilight screamed, and two ponies flashed into being in front of them. For a fraction of a second, both of them hovered there, as though they’d just been resting in comfortable seats. Then they dropped, frost rising from their bodies and blinking away the disorientation. Abubakar, and Williams.
I doubt they were the ones using the gun.
Eight seconds must have passed by now, yet the gun hadn’t fired. Forerunner appeared to have stopped to hear Twilight.
“I will not let you kill my brother! I don’t care… I don’t care how bad a princess that makes me. If you do that again, ponies will die.”
“There’s not a lot of room for negotiating here, Princess,” Perez grunted, rushing over to his men, checking them. They seemed none the worse for wear. Yet as he said it, something snapped beside them, and the wheeled rover went sliding sideways down the deck, before crashing through the side of the ship. Bright sunlight shone in from beyond. “Someone’s dying here, and it won’t be us!”
Twilight’s horn flashed again—and the sound of battle stopped. Lucky had felt this effect before—and now she saw. Ponies frozen, even Forerunner with all his processing power. Twilight Sparkle rose from her seat, undoing the straps. Only Spike on her other side was moving. He went for his seatbelt, but Twilight rested one hoof on his claw, stopping him.
“W-what are you doing, Twilight?”
The princess ignored him. “Lucky Break, you’re the leader here, right?”
She nodded.
“Then here’s my plan. I’m not making a deal—I’m telling you.”
“Okay.” She shivered, eyeing the princess’s glowing horn. Twilight Sparkle had walked all over the Speed of Thought, which was barely hanging on. More importantly, she could teleport things. She had every crew member right here, in one convenient package. Was this all… a betrayal? “You’re giving us up to save your brother?”
“No!” Twilight stomped one hoof, so hard the metal dented where she had been standing. “I’m giving myself up. Forerunner told me this thing was fast, right?” She didn’t even wait for Lucky’s nod. “I am going to make it look like I destroyed this ship and escaped. The big one, I mean. I’ll do so much damage that they might not even try to look for your bodies.”
“Then help me out of this seat, Twilight!” Spike shouted, his voice increasingly panicked. “I have to come with you!”
“No.” Twilight moved close to him, lowering her voice. She didn’t seem to be speaking for Lucky’s benefit, but she could hear her anyway. “You know more about how I became an Alicorn than anypony. You’ve spent all these years as my assistant—now you’ll need to help her. You have to save Equestria without me.”
Then it clicked. Lucky glanced down at the floor of the jumper. “You’re going to… teleport us away. Closer to Transit—too far for them to see.”
She didn’t answer at first. Spike whispered something into the Alicorn’s ear, sounding as desperate and afraid as a child. But he stopped struggling. “You will have to go without me,” Twilight eventually said, spinning around. She looked visibly strained now—and Lucky could imagine why.
How can they do this? It can’t really be magic!
“I don’t think we can do it without an Alicorn,” Lucky said, trying to keep her voice calm. “Maybe the tram will take us… Canterlot won’t be dangerous, like Transit was… but shutting off Harmony? That’s going to need one for sure.”
Twilight shrugged. “Save my niece, then. Or make your own.”
There was another flash, a tearing behind her eyes, and suddenly Lucky was falling. The entire jumper was falling, actually. She spread her wings instinctively, but a few of the other ponies weren’t so lucky.
A distant explosion sounded—much louder than anything during the battle. But Lucky didn’t get to watch the Speed of Thought go up—the projector had gone out.
Less than a second later the jumper felt like it was moving under them, gradually decelerating. The floor came gently up to meet them, though Mogyla crashed into the boxes of supplies, and the two other soldiers were thrown to the ground.
“I have absolutely no idea what just happened,” Forerunner said, helping Williams off the floor and into one of the seats. “But we’re less than a kilometer from the entrance to Transit, and the Speed of Thought is…”
The projector came back on, just in time for them to see a massive fireball in the distance, descending slowly towards the ground. It was hard to tell at this speed, but it looked as though the Equestrian ships had stopped.
“Twilight…” Spike muttered from beside her, gazing longingly at her empty seat. “She… left me.”
“To save the world,” Lucky Break said, her voice clear. She unbuckled, climbing to her hooves. They weren’t moving that fast—certainly nowhere near the velocity the jumper was capable of. But then, if it had been moving at proper transit speed, it would’ve spent many kilometers just slowing down. “The princess had an alternate plan,” Lucky Break announced, her voice clear enough that everypony fell silent to look at her, even Perez. “She went to stop the ships herself, by… making it look like she killed us. We will not have her help when we reach Transit.”
Deadlight was the first to speak, which surprised her a little considering she’d said that in English. “You said Flurry Heart already opened the lock, didn’t you Lucky? So long as Princess Celestia hasn’t gone back to replace it, we should be fine. We’ll find a way without the princess.”
Lucky wasn’t sure she could be so optimistic, but she didn’t argue. One way or another, they no longer had a choice. Shut down the superhuman intelligence without the Alicorn we risked so much to recruit. How hard can it be?
Olivia stepped off the transport plate feeling surprisingly light, considering all she had learned. Heat beat down on her almost the instant she appeared, dry red sand shifting underhoof as she emerged into a tiny, western-looking town.
She tensed as she saw the way it looked, familiar. Though she had never been anywhere like this in this life, she had seen images of a past version of herself. Or some of them, anyway. Whatever that past self had done, it wasn’t good. The Forerunner hadn’t wanted her to know any of the specifics.
But she had seen enough. From what happened next, she assumed that it had come to violence. Beyond that, she had trusted the machine. Olivia had always trusted Forerunner, except for the time it tried to murder one of her team.
There were ponies here—dressed to match the setting. All three tribes were represented, with varied cutie marks though less varied ages. Most of them were in their prime. A few looked older, but there were no children.
“Have you ever been here?” she asked her companion, trying to keep her voice down. As she spoke, a tumbleweed blew past them, bouncing slowly forward.
“I’ve been everywhere,” Pear Butter said. “But not in a very long while. Mah family has some ties to Dodge Junction, five or six generations back. Not one ah them ponies is still down this far, though. Most of ‘em went off to be with the rest of the family.” She sighed, her voice growing distant.
“But the one you’re looking for is that way.” She pointed down the lane.
“What name did you say she was going by now?”
Before she could answer, a pony stopped her on the street—a stallion, with a ridiculous hat and a horseshoe for a cutie mark. “Well, I’ll be, Morning Dew! I didn’t think you were comin’ into town today. What changed yer mind about…” His eyes widened, and he took a step back, clearing his throat. “Pardon, miss. You looked exactly like a pony I know. But I can see you don’t have her cutie mark, and you ain’t the right age. Apologies all ‘round.”
Olivia shrugged one shoulder. “No problem.” Privately though, she felt her worry grow. Why would Karl go native this fast? Doesn’t he care about the mission? Then she remembered something else Pear had said, and she relaxed again. Time didn’t move the same speed in here.
I have to get to Karl. If anyone could figure out a way to send a message to our friends, it’s one of my scientists. They hadn’t made it easy to keep them alive.
As they walked, Olivia turned over what she had learned so far—strange information to be sure, and she didn’t care much about what it implied. But somehow, she knew that her scientists would. The Forerunner would probably be able to extract all kinds of things from what Pear Butter had been telling them, if only she could pass the message on.
Only one small fraction of curiosity pushed through to her, about one question: how could there be a world of the dead? She would’ve been prepared to accept heaven here, if that was what had been presented to her.
Her guide hadn’t tried that. Neither her nor Discord had said anything to suggest this was supernatural. They spoke about the afterlife and past lives like people back home described their cars.
Karl probably already has it worked out. She’s been living here for ages now. “When you said…” Olivia muttered, when she was sure none of the town’s inhabitants were close enough to overhear. “When you said time moves differently in here, just how differently? If I had a friend who died, say, two months ago…”
Pear Butter frowned. “If she’s not in the colony, I’d be surprised that she was still around after that long. Even ponies who have lots ‘ah family and friends. It’s tempting, Harmony up there, promising things. He can promise you to bring you back here when your friends die too, for example. Only… when that finally happens, you’ve changed so much you probably tell him not to.” There was real anger on the pony’s face then, glaring off at nothing. “Harmony’s a liar, but not like other ponies. He uses the truth to manipulate you. The worst kinda lie there is.”
“Well, she’s still around,” Olivia said. “So how long?”
Pear considered the question. “Hard to be sure. Some ponies find ways to sleep for lifetimes, but I never learned that trick. When we have something to do, it feels like a year goes by for every day on the outside.”
She slowed down, looking up the slope. “It’s Harmony who controls it—Discord can’t help us. It uses everything it can to manipulate us. Even time.”
The endless slope was still visible here in the old west, just as it had been everywhere else they went. Yet there was something distant about it—like clouds of dust kept it from being anything more than a general suggestion. Olivia found herself forgetting about it, as she never could’ve at their other destinations.
Pear led her outside of town, down a set of train tracks to a lonesome house surrounded by fenced-off pasture. Cows grazed in sparse herds, though what the generally vegetarian ponies would be using them for, she had no idea.
“You said animals don’t go here when they die, right?” Olivia asked, making conversation as they crossed the few kilometer distance to the house. The ground was flat enough to see it even from far away, and no one else was out here.
Olivia could’ve flown that distance in a few minutes, but that would be rude. Karl was dead, she could wait a little longer.
“Ponies disagree,” Pear Butter said, sounding a little more relaxed. Like Olivia’s question was taking her back into familiar territory. “Lots of ponies had pets, ya see. It’s a heartbreak to think that they might be gone. Most popular theory is that Harmony recycles them too—they can’t grow like we do, so why not use the same ones over and over? And there are ponies who claim they’ve done a lifetime as a rabbit or a skunk or something. So maybe that.”
“And if not?”
Pear Butter shrugged. “Then they’re with the Lost, floating in the void. Nopony knows where that river goes. Maybe it don’t go anywhere.”
It was amazing how human these ponies sometimes sounded. She had come all this way, who knew how many bazillion miles, only to hear the same questions being asked.
For the first time, Olivia Fisher found she was feeling grateful to her old human self, dead sometime long ago. Thank you, Olivia. I hope you had fun with those extra credits. Whatever resentment she had felt, Olivia left it behind on a lonesome road, on her way to find a dead friend.
“Last chance to turn around,” Pear Butter said, as they neared the building. It was a charming little house from up close—ranch style, with red tiles on the ceiling and a big metal cistern on the roof. A single power-line ran down from next to the rail, eventually connecting to the house.
“I’m going to see her,” Olivia insisted, though she couldn’t muster anger anymore. “I’m sure it’s been hard for her since she died—I don’t know what happens to people in your weird afterlife. But I was created to protect my people. I’ll do that here too.”
Pear Butter tugged Olivia to an abrupt stop, her grip so hard that Olivia was nearly lifted into the air. She kept her voice a harsh whisper.
“Alright, newcomer. Maybe yer the one she’s been waiting for all this time, I dunno. But you should know, Morning Dew has gone a little… cracked, since she died. The last few times I came out here, she ranted and raved, beggin’ fer me to warn Discord about monsters out in Equestria. I hate to be giving you bad news, but I really don’t think this is yer pony. I didn’t give her the tour… but I’m sure she’s ordinary. Plain old cutie mark, no word of Harmony or Discord responding to what she raved about—just settlin’ down to wait for her family like anypony else.”
Family? Could be that was her way of waiting for us without letting the ponies catch on to what she was thinking. Then again, was Karl really the sort to try and hide? The diplomat had been eager to meet Equestrians for herself. She had bored Olivia to tears with her ideas for a treaty one day—how modest she would make their request sound, how exciting it would be to learn from the ponies in person.
Had she really changed so much in all that time that she moved into a tiny house in the middle of dusty nowhere to raise cows?
The doors to the house banged open while they were still standing outside it, and a single pony emerged.
She did look like Karl, save that her mane had been braided into something complex, only partially hidden by a wide straw hat. She did have a cutie mark, a little birdbath.
“Pear Butter, I didn’t think I’d see you again.” She looked away for a moment, staring at Olivia. There was something uncomfortably penetrating about that stare. “You’ve… brought my twin, is that it? I didn’t know I had one.”
Olivia stepped forward before Pear Butter could say anything. “Dr. Karl Nolan, it’s me! Olivia Fischer. Don’t you remember?”
The pony twitched once, eyes widening a little. “Those are… strange names,” she said. “I don’t know anypony who sounds like that. Monsters, maybe.”
“See what I mean,” Pear Butter whispered from behind her. “She’s not your friend. Why don’t we turn around… go back to the farm? My husband will probably have supper ready by the time we get back.”
But Olivia ignored her—for now, anyway. She couldn’t come all this way and not be sure.
The quickest way would be just to speak English and check for a reaction—but as far as she could tell, she’d been speaking English since she got here, just like everypony else. No Tower of Babel in heaven, she supposed.
“Dr. Karl Nolan,” she said again. “You were piloting a jumper when Celestia destroyed it. You were trying to write a treaty for when we made first contact with the ponies. You wanted to open up a school for ponies to send their kids, don’t you remember? I’m Olivia… I guess I was a bit of an asshole to you. To Deadlight, to… to a lot of people. But we’re both dead now, so I figure it’s a good time to make amends. If that’s alright.”
Unfortunately, her words did not have a positive impact on the pony she was speaking to. Her wings spread, and a little storm seemed to billow up from around her. The sky darkened, and motes of dust began to spin. “Where did you learn those words? Why do you look like me? Did the monsters send you? I won’t be as easy to kill as last time!”
No comprehension at all. This has to be her! She has to be here! Karl was the one who deserved to be here with the ponies after she died. But Pear Butter wouldn’t have lied, would she? They’d done the search, so… either Harmony was lying, Karl didn’t want to be found, or… this wasn’t her.
“You’ll have to go easy on Olivia,” Pear Butter said, walking up beside her and touching her parentally, taking a single step between her and the angry pegasus. “She just died not long ago. Still mighty confused, from what I’ve seen…”
“Just died.” The pegasus relaxed a little, or at last the winds spinning around her did. She still watched Olivia with suspicion. “Are you sure she’s a pony, Pear?”
“Positive,” Pear Butter said. She didn’t even sound like she was lying. “We just came from the Temple—I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Didn’t see a single thing in there that wasn’t pony.”
Staring at her, it was remarkable just how much she looked like this pony. Everything was the same—her coat, the little splotches of lighter yellow near her hooves, the shine of her mane, her eyes…
She’s the sample. Everything came crashing down. This little town, middle of nowhere. The pony had chosen to live out somewhere just like she had in life. A life that a past Pioneering Society explorer had ended, for scientific reasons Olivia didn’t understand.
Karl’s not here. It’s just Morning Dew. The original.
“I fought a lot of monsters when I was alive,” Olivia said, ignoring the moisture she felt on her eyes. It had been a long time since she’d ever cried.
“Oh.” Morning Dew looked down. “You learned some of their language, huh? Did you ever kill any near Dodge Junction? I hope to Celestia somepony did… or else they’re still there, hunting ponies. Coming in the middle of the night, impossible to stop, can’t get away…”
Olivia didn’t answer. For a few seconds, she just listened to the pony’s hysterics, ignoring Pear Butter’s repeated gestures that they should leave.
“I didn’t kill all of them,” Olivia finally said. “Sometimes, I met a monster who was sorry for what she’d done. I’m sure the one who killed you didn’t mean to.”
“Then why?” Morning Dew demanded. “Why did they attack my family?”
Pear Butter only stared between them, too bewildered to keep pushing Olivia away. And maybe a little curious.
“Probably because she wanted to protect her family,” Olivia said. “But I don’t know. The one who hurt you has been dead a long time. She can’t hurt your family again.”
Olivia didn’t know how the little pony had gotten over to her so fast. She didn’t attack—what good would that have done even if she had? Instead, the big pegasus embraced her, showering her with tears.
Olivia found herself crying too. Crying for the battles she had fought and were now over. For the members of her crew who deserved to be here more than she did. Out of helplessness, for those who were still alive and out of reach.
The Forerunner was out of reach, and her only hope for help was dead.
Olivia was alone.
The jumper touched down on the polished metal surface outside Transit as delicately as any small insect. For all that the ship carrying it had suffered, the little craft seemed more or less intact. Lucky was the first to emerge out into the rough metal area, scattered with chunks of ice from where they’d had to shoot their way in.
Perez was tending to his wounded squad—all of them had been a little banged up on the trip here, either thanks to their own inexpertness with the equipment or just the bad luck of not having seat belts when they were transported. As it was, Lightning Dust and Deadlight were the first to emerge beside her, surveying the ruins with wide eyes.
Well, Deadlight looked impressed. Lightning Dust had been here before, so none of this would be entirely new to her. She even remembered where to find the entrance, tucked away alongside the otherwise empty shaft.
“We brought the supplies to last down here for a month,” Forerunner said from behind them. “I can devise some covert rescue by then if we fail.”
“You don’t sound upset to lose your airship,” Deadlight muttered. “How many bits went up in that fireball?”
“Irrelevant,” Forerunner said. “My crew is alive, all else is secondary. We will find some solution in these ruins, or we will find a way to regroup and try again. There is a solution to be found here, somewhere. The only difficulty will be in locating it.”
Lucky Break gestured once over her wing at the opening. “Let’s see how many of our ponies can move. We’ll organize into shifts, and push the…”
The ground under her hooves started to shake, a rumble so deep that she almost couldn’t hear it. Her ears weren’t designed for sounds like this, but it was still shaking her body. The whole world started to twist to one side, facing them slowly away from the door.
“Damnit, everyone out!” Lucky shouted, her voice as loud as she could make it. “Forerunner, get that ship away—”
“No!” She felt something haul her up by the back, then the world went spinning. Forerunner had tossed her into the empty doorway of the jumper, even as the whole thing took off again, its jets revving loudly. Lightning Dust and Deadlight came tumbling in after her, then the little aircraft shot forward towards the wall. Forerunner was on the outside, clinging to the doorway, blocking the way in case anyone came sliding toward him.
The ground began to glow faintly orange, and Lucky felt the warmth radiating up through the air. How fast would the temperature rise? How fast would it cook them?
“Everyone who can move, get ready to jump out the doorway and run as quickly as you can!” Forerunner shouted over the speakers. “This aircraft will not survive. Do not attempt to secure supplies!”
A second later, they smacked into the cavern wall, just a little too hard for comfort. The whole thing rumbled, and then they came to a stop, about a meter above the ground. Lightning Dust and Deadlight were the first ones out, followed by Mogyla and Perez, stumbling forward in exoskeletons. Lucky followed a few moments later, nudging Spike along with all the energy she had. Forerunner brought up the rear, carrying Abubakar’s limp form between his arms. He soared over Lucky in a single bound down the dark hallway, even as the grinding behind them became a roar.
Lucky saw Spike fall behind her a second before the flash, and the heat that tossed her forward through the air like a ragdoll. She bounced and skidded to a stop on the ground, staring back in horror at where the dragon had been.
Something seemed to slow the exchange of heat with the interior of the station, because she no longer felt like her wings were melting. Outside, she could see a wall of bright orange flame. She had to imagine it swallowing the jumper and everything inside, because she couldn’t actually see the ship. Or the dragon Twilight Sparkle had entrusted to them.
For a few seconds, there was silence from their broken group. Not only were they without a ship, their supplies had now burned as well. Only the natives had been wearing their saddlebags, aside from Lucky herself. They had their gear, plus the two exoskeletons.
“Who are we missing?” Perez asked, his voice hoarse as he rose onto all fours, surveying the group. “Looks like…” He trailed off. “Damnit. Is Williams ahead of us? Williams?” No answer. “Shit, what happened to the dragon? Didn’t he have intel we need?”
Then he emerged from the flames. For a few seconds, it looked like Spike’s scales were glowing, quickly dimming from a bright white to an angry red. Lucky could feel the heat radiating from him, and she stepped away.
“Oh, right. Sorry.” He took a step back, looking up at them all. “I’d go back and check the ship, but I don’t think it made it,” Spike said, as though nothing at all unusual had happened.
The soldiers looked confused—evidently whatever understanding had existed between the two groups had required magic from the princess. Spike’s Eoch sounded unchanged to her ears, but the others clearly lacked comprehension. So she translated.
“I didn’t think those stories were real,” Perez finally said. “Can you swim in lava too?”
“Yeah.” Spike smiled slightly. “It isn’t as cool as it sounds. I mean, it’s great, until you get out and all that rock stuck to you starts to harden. It’s a nightmare to clean off.”
There were a few weak chuckles from the Equestrian side. Most of her own ponies just stared out the open doorway, as the bright orange fire beyond began to cool, the view gradually replaced with sunlight.
No one spoke for a very long time. They didn’t even move. Lucky wondered if they felt the same fear that she did, knowing that they would be going into this mission without any of the gear they thought they needed.
Well, maybe not without any gear. As Lucky looked around, she saw that Forerunner had a case attached to his back. Plus there were all the weapons built into the exoskeletons, and what she and Lightning Dust were carrying. Spike’s huge backpack had apparently been consumed, and the only trace of it that remained were a few patches of ash on his shoulders.
Deadlight broke the silence. “The princess didn’t lock us out,” he said, forced cheerfulness in his tone. Better than nothing. “We still have a chance then, don’t we?”
“Three days without water,” Lighting Dust said. “I guess we have three good flyers here. We could gather snow from upstairs once that thing cools down.”
“No.” Lucky straightened, brushing off the dirt. Lightning Dust joined her—she had no reason to be afraid, considering she’d made this trip before too, though she hadn’t seen anything more than the lobby. “There is food and water inside. We will have to make do with what we have. Forerunner, where’s Williams?”
Forerunner looked down. “I am sorry, Lucky. I could not save them both. We will need a marksman more than a pilot right now.”
The weight of his words hit Lucky like a blow. Not just that one of their crewmates had died, but that he had been able to decide in the very second of danger which of their crew to leave behind. Lucky shuddered as she imagined what that death might’ve been like. Hopefully it had been fast enough that he hadn’t felt the pain.
“Williams,” Deadlight repeated, mispronouncing it. “Did he have a mark?”
“No,” Perez said. “I’m the only one… I think. Unless Mogyla has one.”
“No, sir. No tattoos here.” There was a weight to what they both said now, a layer of guilt hovering in the background. Perhaps they wondered whether they could’ve saved Williams.
Probably not. We barely made it as it is.
“This fucking plan better work,” Perez growled. “Williams was like the rest of us—ready to die for the Pioneering Society. If he died for nothing, that’s on your head.”
Lightning Dust glowered at him, stepping between the exoskeleton-wearing bat pony and Lucky. “I didn’t get most of that, but it didn’t sound much like gratitude. Half the northern fleet was trying to kill us! Almost all of us made it.”
“What does she fucking want?” Perez asked, before Lucky had the chance to translate. Not that she intended to.
“She’s upset we’re wasting time,” Lucky lied. “We need to get inside. I know where the food is. We’ll go there, then… figure out what to do next.”
Perez nodded, barking a few quick orders. “Mogyla, carry Abubakar. Forerunner, I see you have a rifle. Cover our flank. I’ll take point with the governor.”
They moved. As they passed out of the long tunnel, lights in the grand atrium switched on, along with the gently gurgling fountains. Lucky Break had a hard time appreciating all that beauty, knowing one member of their crew had just died. If she had planned this better, or been more ruthless, maybe Williams would still be alive. How many lives will we have to trade for our safety? For Equestria’s?
Given what had just happened, Lucky had little trouble keeping everyone together. Her frightened, despondent group arrived in the cafeteria she had visited before with Flurry Heart.
“Here.” Lucky collapsed into one of the chairs, slumping to one side. “This is… where we’ll make camp.” Where they would’ve made camp if their camp hadn’t just burned. But she resisted the urge to say as much.
“What’s so special about this place?” Lightning Dust asked, moving past her to the machinery in the center of the room, with its tubes and glowing display.
“Don’t touch that!” Perez was already setting up near the entrance, dragging over tables. They scraped noisily on the floor, but apparently, they were no match for his exoskeleton. “It might be dangerous.”
“It’s a food dispenser,” Lucky said, loud enough that they would all hear her. “We won’t go hungry while we’re here. Let me show you…”
Lucky didn’t have to guess as she walked up to the machine. She could easily read that it identified her by species and weight, then provided meal choices that were roughly analogous to the ones she was used to. She selected a huge hayburger to demonstrate, then wary ponies gathered around to watch as it was made for her. The display opened, and she set it down on the nearest table. “Flurry Heart and I ate here last time. I think there might be some beverages in there too. Point is, we won’t starve. Even if we don’t have most of our weapons, or the scientific equipment… we have time. We can figure out a plan.”
“You can figure out a plan,” Mogyla said from near one wall, resting casually as he stared out into the quiet base. Would Twilight break and reveal where they had gone? If she did… if Equestria sent an army now, Lucky wasn’t sure they could hold them off.
“Forerunner, any chance of getting help?” she asked, though she didn’t sound hopeful.
“I have no idea,” he said, facing her, and folding his arms solemnly. “I cannot reach… myself. What you are speaking to now is the intelligence contained entirely in this body.”
Lucky gestured, and he joined her at the table. Without a word, Lightning Dust sat down beside her, with a huge plate of hayfries. Lucky found the smell made her drift back to when they’d first met, in the basement of a Stormshire civic center, over a year ago now. Lightning Dust had brought food just like this—her first real food since she’d left the hospital.
Her mom had given her hope then, even when Lucky had been about ready to give up. How could she do the same for these ponies now? She could see it—even the soldiers kept glancing at her for guidance. This was all on her now. No tools, no Forerunner, no Alicorn.
What the hell do we do now?