//------------------------------// // 3 - Breaking the Tension // Story: The Black Between the Stars // by Rambling Writer //------------------------------// Forward or back? Applejack didn’t like either option. Forward was unknown. She suspected whatever was following her was behind her. (She whipped around again. She didn’t see anything again. But she could hear it. She could feel it.) But forward was the way she was going, so forward she went. She found herself missing the signs, for some reason. Of course, since she wasn’t at an intersection, she shouldn’t see any, but she still wanted to see them. Maybe for orientation. She could walk through the arboretum blindfolded and not hit a tree. These tunnels were featureless hallway after featureless hallway, completely devoid of any- A door came into the range of her flashlight on one wall. She fast-walked up to it eagerly, only to be disappointed when she saw the keycard reader on the frame. Probably an office. What sort of position did you have in order to score a card-protected office down here? Head janitor? (Maybe regular janitor. Applejack didn’t know a thing about custodial jobs.) Sighing, Applejack pushed away from the door. She turned her flashlight to the hallway she’d come down. Nothing. She turned around and moved on. Clunk clunk clunk. Her footsteps were loud, or at least sounded that way. The station was as quiet as ever. Which… was probably a problem, down here. Applejack was surrounded by machinery. Shouldn’t some of it be working? Had the reactor failed? Something irregular came into view, a shapeless orange mass on the floor. Applejack stumbled to a stop in surprise, almost clicking off her flashlight. But the blob wasn’t moving at all. Applejack held her breath and waited for a response to her light. Nothing. She took a step forward; the thing wasn’t so shapeless anymore. That looked like a leg… That could’ve been- Applejack gasped in shock and ran forward for a better look. A dark purple earth pony was sprawled limply on the floor, her eyes gazing blankly at the wall. Although a cold pit was forming in her gut, Applejack jostled the earth pony. “You, uh… You awake?” No response. Applejack hadn’t expected one. She knelt, put a hoof on the pony’s neck. No pulse, either. Applejack swallowed her bile. The pony didn’t look like she’d been hurt. She didn’t look sick in any way. She didn’t even look starved. It was like she’d just… dropped dead for no reason. Cringing, Applejack poked at the corpse, moved its legs. It was still flexible, but Applejack didn’t know if that meant anything. She shined her light in the body’s eyes. They looked fine, but the pupils didn’t contract. She sniffed. Nothing unusual. She wasn’t going to get any information from here. Although, just because she couldn’t get any information… “Sorry.” Applejack forgot to wince as she patted the pony down and examined her uniform carefully. She was wearing the same orange-and-black of a low-level worker as Applejack. Some low-level workers were janitors. And one thing Applejack had learned in her time on Golden Oaks: the janitor always has the keys. Or, in this case, the keycard. It was sitting in a small pouch, flat and unassuming and maybe capable of opening every single door on Golden Oaks. (Probably not. But Applejack could dream.) “Hope you don’t mind if I borrow this,” Applejack whispered. After pocketing the card, Applejack reached out, hesitated, and closed the pony’s eyes, her hooves shaking all the while. She wiped her eyes down, then stood up. Now. Back to that door. Applejack wasn’t much of an Ogres & Oubliettes player, but she knew just enough to be entertained as she watched Rainbow DM a game for a group of ponies. The party was doing the usual fortress infiltration and had, with great difficulty, managed to not get split. Unfortunately, not splitting up meant they could all get cornered simultaneously. As had just happened. “The guard steps forward…” said Rainbow, an evil grin on her face. “Closer… closer… closer! She pokes her spear into the bush, aaaaand…” She rolled a twenty-sided die behind her DM screen. It was amazing how thoroughly silence could fall around a group of roleplayers, especially with the noise around them. Pinkie Pie was chewing on her hooves like they were delectable chips, Lyra and Bon Bon were clinging to each other tighter than life preservers, and Time Turner just had big eyes and folded ears. You could cut the tension with a knife, even as air hockey dinged in the background. “…4!” said Rainbow Dash. “The tip of the spear misses you by a foot! The bush rustles and the leaves pull back, but not enough to expose you! She frowns at the bush, then walks away without suspecting a thing!” A dramatic pause. “At least, not that you can tell, heh heh…” The entire group breathed sighs of relief, except for Pinkie, who breathed a squeal of relief. Golden Oaks was a long-term facility, meant to hold inhabitants for years at a time. To keep morale up, the habitation decks were designed in a way that’d be luxurious on Equus, let alone a space station. The beds (for Applejack’s pay grade) were mere sleeping pods, but the recreation rooms were an expansive, multilevel affair, with every kind of amenity one could think of. A game room with tabletop games like billiards and air hockey or empty tables for regular board games. A small library with peace and quiet, plus some carefully selected books. A fully-stocked bar. An observation deck where you could just stare out at space if you wanted to (so, naturally, Applejack never, ever went there, ever). Heck, there was even a movie theater, with popcorn and everything. All of it with more space than was needed so the inhabitants felt more at home. And while the sleeping pods were small, they were still comfy. Applejack didn’t spend much time in them, anyway. With work done for the “day”, the game room was comfortably busy: empty enough to not be claustrophobic or require yelling, full enough to not feel dead. After having too much of Twilight’s welcome cake, Applejack was feeling lazy, so she just sat and watched the O&O game, even though her lack of context meant she had no clue what was going on. “So,” Rainbow said, “you’re up, Doc.” She leaned back in her chair. “And try to make a decision this year, hmm?” “That only happened once,” Time Turner grumbled as he looked over his character sheet. “In December. December 31. At 11:57 PM.” Lyra elbowed him in the ribs. “Nah, just face it,” she said. “You will never live that one down.” The adventuring party fell into a deep discussion about how to get out of the stupid bush, the forces of the universe falling like chaff before the power of out-of-character talk. Rainbow glanced at Applejack, although she kept one ear turned towards the players. “Are you suuuuure you don’t wanna play, AJ?” she asked for the third time that session. “We’ve got character sheets! I’ll even let you roll up a character with a level to match theirs!” “Nah. I’m fine,” said Applejack. “I don’t even know how to play.” “Pfft. That’s easy. We’ll walk you through it.” Rainbow turned to the group. “Right, girls?” “Right!” said Lyra. “What am I ‘right!’ing about?” But Applejack shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t think playin’ OnO’s really the… thing for me.” “I didn’t think so, either,” said Rainbow. “Then I tried it, and now I love it! AJ, you really need to get out of your comfort zone every now and then.” Her ears went back a little and her voice dropped slightly. “Seriously.” “I’m outside o’my comfort zone already.” Space was plenty frightening enough for Applejack, thanks, and she didn’t want to add the obligation of a weekly gaming session on top of it. She’d be very happy once she was back on Equus. “Further, then.” “I just ain’t ready to-” The door to the game room hissed open and someone with some unusually solid footsteps came inside. Applejack looked up and twitched; Spike was coming in, as the steel-coated of Blueblood’s bodyguards, both of them in more casual clothes than their entrance. Up close, the steel-coated bodyguard looked a lot friendlier than before. Spike and the pegasus exchanged some whispered words, then walked up to the O&O group. Light glinted off of Spike’s claws as he waved. “Um. Hey,” he said, his voice more boyish than Applejack was expecting. Maybe he was young for a dragon? “I’m Spike. I’m Princess Twilight’s bodyguard, and you might’ve already known that.” He grinned, the expression surprisingly friendly and warm for how many very sharp teeth were packed into it. Bon Bon didn’t look away from the adventuring group, but her hoof went up. “I did!” The pegasus stepped forward and put a hoof on his chest. “And I’m Thunderlane. Since we’re going to be together for two weeks, we might as well get friendly.” “Rainbow Dash,” said Rainbow. “That’s Lyra, that’s Bon Bon, that’s Pinkie Pie, and that’s Time Turner.” “Doctor Time Turner, thank you, that’s very important, it is.” “And I’m Applejack,” Applejack said, putting her hoof up. “Pleased t’meet y’all.” Spike smiled and waved, somehow nonthreatening even though literally every motion was exposing Applejack to many very sharp things. He leaned over the table to get a better look at the map. “Ogres & Oubliettes?” he asked. “Or Fatal Fortress?” “O&O,” said Rainbow. “I’m still new to DMing and it’s easier to learn. This campaign we’re running? It’s so cool! Like, it began with-” And Rainbow dissolved into an excited babble of RPG-ish gibberish that might as well have been another language to Applejack. She turned her full attention on Thunderlane. “So, what d’you think of…” She gestured vaguely around. “…here?” “This is… just, wow.” Thunderlane stared up at the ceiling. “This place is incredible. I mean, the whole station, not just here. It’s practically a palace!” “Well, it does have the best beds for over three hundred miles.” Thunderlane snorted. “Ha ha. But, seriously, I wouldn’t mind working here. Maybe I’ll see if I can get transferred once I’m done with Blueblood.” “Drink it!” said Spike, making both Applejack and Thunderlane jump. “Drink it and use Bluff to tell the guard that you’re nothing important!” Applejack managed to recognize his grin as one of pure rules-exploiting. “But I’ve only got the one potion…” said Pinkie slowly. “We’ll buy you another!” said Time Turner. “We’re already walking away from here filthy rich if all goes well. Which it won’t if you don’t convince that guard to leave.” “Alright. I drink my Elixir of Glibness and… and tell the guard it’s just the wind!” “The… The wind.” Rainbow looked like she was being force-fed manure. “You personally tell the guard you’re just the wind.” “Well, with my +30 bonus, duh! Should I make a Bluff roll?” Pinkie was already reaching for her dice. “No, no,” sighed Rainbow. “The guard believes you-” Spike ran over to Rainbow and whispered something in her ear. Her wings twitched, her back went ramrod straight, and she started grinning evilly. “Not only does the guard believe you,” she said, “she leaves the courtyard immediately and- No. That’s all you notice.” The adventuring group fell silent and their ears went limp. Their pupils were so small you’d be lucky to find them with an electron microscope. “What have you done, Pinkie?” whispered Bon Bon. “IIIIII dooooooon’t knooooooooooooow!” Pinkie wailed. Applejack rolled her eyes. “C’mon,” she said to Thunderlane. She pulled him over to an empty table nearby. “Um. If’n you don’t mind me askin’… why do Twi an’ Blueblood even need guardin’ up ’ere? It ain’t like we’re a warzone or anythin’.” “Protocol, really,” said Thunderlane. “Better to have bodyguards and not need them than need them and not have them, right? Spike’s also Twilight’s assistant — seriously, that drake can find things in a book faster than a computer can in a database — and… heh…” He glanced around and whispered to Applejack, “Bodyguarding Blueblood’s basically a punishment. You pissed off the wrong ponies in the wrong ways, and now you have to run around with a playcolt like him.” “Huh. Really?” “Ooooh, yeah.” Thunderlane’s smile was oddly vindictive. “Every pony who ‘protects’ him is really getting disciplined in some way.” Applejack nodded again before realizing she was taking an interest in this punishment right in front of one of Blueblood’s bodyguards. The blood drained from her face faster than water from a sieve. “Oh. Uh…” Thunderlane snickered at Applejack’s expression. “Yeah, including me. I had a telephone pole up my butt, believe me, and I deserved it. Around him, you either lighten up a bit or give up and quit the Guard entirely.” “Ah.” A second of silence, then Thunderlane said, “So, what do you do around here?” “All-natural oxygen reclamation assistant.” “…Gardener in the arboretum?” Applejack laughed. “Pretty much. It ain’t-” The door slid open again, this time revealing the cyan pegasus of Blueblood’s guards. Unlike Thunderlane, she didn’t look much happier up close; her movements were quick and her ears were back. When she saw Thunderlane, she zipped up to him, nearly shoving Applejack aside in the process. “You said you’d wait for me.” “And you said you’d be out in five minutes, but that didn’t happen, either,” said Thunderlane. “I had to find this place myself!” “So did Spike and I.” “Like you-” Applejack cleared her throat. “Uh. Hey.” She raised her hoof tentatively. “I’m-” “Applejack, Lightning Dust. Lightning Dust, Applejack,” Thunderlane said quickly. A lot of restrained anger had crept into his voice. Lightning Dust barely glanced in Applejack’s direction. “Hey,” she said gruffly. “Thunder, I just-” “She’s attached to Blueblood because of insubordination,” Thunderlane continued, a bit loudly. He ignored Lightning Dust’s stinkeye. “Tried to be flashy rather than efficient during an assassination attempt on the Crystal Empress, got several members of her team wounded. She’s lucky the Empress is still alive.” “I told them to duck,” grumbled Lightning Dust. “If they’d just ducked-” “And if you’d just held back like you’d been trained,” snapped Thunderlane, “you wouldn’t’ve needed to tell them to duck in the first place!” “Pfft. Training, schmaining.” Lightning Dust rolled her eyes. “Training’s boring. If I can do something cool and effective, why not? They should’ve ducked!” Thunderlane’s wings sprang open. “THAT’S NOT-” He snapped his mouth shut and lowered his voice. “That’s not how it works. When you joined the Guard, you agreed to be a part of a team. As a team, we live together, we ride together, and we die together. If something goes down, I need to know you are where you’re supposed to be, and every time you do a flip when you shouldn’t, you’re keeping me from relying on you. So for Celestia’s sake, learn your sunblasted place.” “‘Have your back’?” Lightning Dust snorted. “Please. We’re miles from literally anything. What’s gonna go wrong up here?” “With that attitude, an awful lot.” “You know what, I’m done here.” Lightning Dust stepped, saluted in a way even Applejack knew was sarcastic, and stalked over to the air hockey tables. “Did you have t’do that?” Applejack asked. “I get that she ain’t exactly a ball o’ sunshine, but-” “She’s going to wash out before the year is over if she doesn’t shape up,” Thunderlane said darkly. “She doesn’t care two whits about protecting others. She wants to swing her arcanosword, hear that swooshing vmmmm, and be told how awesome she is.” He sighed and shook his head. “If smashing her over the head with her mistakes doesn’t get to her, nothing will.” “Huh.” How was Applejack supposed to respond to that? She’d never asked to hear any of it, she didn’t really care, and now there was this awkward personal secret hanging in the air over them, like a- “Whaddya mean they’ve got defenses against wind elementals?” yelled Lyra. “They weren’t there in our scouting! And that was this morning!” Applejack didn’t need to look to know how punchably Rainbow was grinning. “They were set up recently. Remember when you told that guard you were the wind after you drank a Potion of Glibness and she believed you? She thought you were a snarky elemental and hastily put up that trap. How else could the wind talk?” Rainbow’s hoof bumped Spike’s fist. “…Weeeeell, poop. Hmm.” “Plants!” yelped Thunderlane. “You work with plants. To exchange oxygen and CO2. Is that it?” It had been a long, long time since Applejack had been able to talk with somepony who was interested in her work without already knowing it every which way. Being able to teach somepony was weirdly cathartic. “You bet your biscuit it ain’t. Most o’ the fruits an’ veggies we eat are grown up here. Apples are my specialty — family runs an apple orchard groundside — but we got all sortsa stuff. Tomatoes, sweet peas, green beans…” “Are there any plants you can’t grow because they take too much work?” “Oh, definitely. I’m actually real lucky we got apple trees up here at all. Um… Grapes! Sometimes, I just want grapes, but the soil ain’t right in here to grow ’em, and importin’ dirt ain’t exactly a prior’ty. Not when there’s…”