//------------------------------// // 2. [Twilight Sparkle] The Space Rig // Story: Deep Rock Equestria: Into The Abyss // by The Atlantean //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle groaned and rolled. Suddenly, the ground gave way, and she tumbled a few feet with a yelp. Her head pounding, she shakily pulled herself to her feet and looked around. She was in a small decently-lit bedroom with zero decorations, and a computer terminal near the door displayed some sort of statistics. “Oh, what happened?” she asked nobody in particular. She stumbled to the computer to see what was going on. “Welcome to Deep Rock Galactic, miner!” she read. “Due to your capability for great intelligence, you have been chosen to join our Research and Development Team rather than journey down to the surface of Hoxxes, so you will be staying up here in the Space Rig during your time with DRG. thank you, and welcome on board!” “What?” she asked. “You may still feel a pounding sensation in your head. Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal. Just go to the Abyss Bar and tell Lloyd you want a Leaf Lover’s Special. It’ll cure you in no time! As you’re our newest recruit at R&D, your first drink is on us!” “The Abyss Bar. Right.” Twilight opened the door and walked out into what looked to be a main commons area with a large table in the middle that projected a holographic image of a planet. The table was down a few stairs, and another computer sat next to it. Several other things were on the upper part of the commons, covered in weapons, a deactivated robot, and a pickaxe. She decided she’d explore after her headache was gone, so she turned and walked towards a large window looking out into space. The bar seemed to be up a ramp on her right. She held her head and approached it, her eyes to the floor. “Hiya, Twilight!” a familiar voice called out. “You don’t look too good.” “Pinkie Pie?” Twilight looked up. “What are you doing here?” “Eh, I was going to go down to the planet for training to do whatever they wanted me to do, but I said I wanted some food first, so the guy at Mission Control said it was fine as long as I was quick. I got a sandwich, but it tasted so horrible that I said, ‘Hey! Mission Control guy! I can make better food than this!’ And then he was all like, ‘Prove it then, Greenbeard,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t have a beard, but okay,’ and I made a cake! It was so much better than the sandwich, and the Mission Control guy said a guy called ‘Management’ decided to just let me work here on the Space Rig and ‘keep employee morale up’ so here I am!” “Huh. do you know where Lloyd is?” “Yeah, he’s right here!” Pinkie pointed to the hovering robot next to her. “Need something?” “I was told a Leaf Lover’s Special would help me with this headache. R&D said it was on them since it’s my first.” Lloyd spun around and chirped, pulling out a green mug with a red shield and filling it to the brim with a drink using the faucet attached to his arm in place of a hand. Once the mug was full, he slid it down the bar to her, and Twilight watched it stop with only the slightest slosh. She grimaced at the beer and its white foam that dripped over the side of the mug. With a little hesitation, she grabbed the handle and lifted it cautiously to her mouth, taking the smallest of sips. Her taste buds immediately rejected the beer, and she stuck her tongue out in disgust. Her head, though, felt a little bit better just from the smell. She sighed and downed the whole thing in one go as fast as she could. Once she was sure the mug was empty, she sat it back down on the counter and smacked her lips to try to get the taste out. The beer’s effect, though, was immediate and wonderful. Her pounding headache disappeared entirely within a couple of seconds. Pinkie beamed and gave her a cupcake. “I talked to some of the other guys in the kitchen, and they said that normally, you’d need your Company Level to be at least three before you can order drinks, but since you’re not going down, you can just have some when you get paid. They did say you don’t get the special buff drinks or craftables, though--just the company standard ones.” “That’s fine. I don’t think I’ll be doing much drinking anyway. I turn twenty-one in three months!" “Eh, they don’t care. I had some Oily Oafs with them earlier.” “Pinkie!” “What? They were paying. Oh, hey, Fluttershy!” Fluttershy stumbled to a seat next to Twilight and groaned. “Hi, Pinkie Pie. Medical said I need to get a Leaf Lover’s Special from Lloyd for my headache.” “Fluttershy!” Twilight exclaimed, both surprised and happy to see her friend. “What are you doing here?” “I woke up in the medical bay over there with a really bad headache,” she half-whispered, pointing behind her. “There was a dwarf, and he… he was really hurt. I did everything I could to help him, and I think I did all right. None of the robots there even tried. After a few minutes, I think it looked like he was going to be okay, and one of the robots took over. It said I would be really good there once I learned the ropes, and it’d talk to Management about keeping me. I told it about my headache, and it sent me here.” “That’s wonderful!” Pinkie cheered as she handed the shy girl a Leaf Lover’s Special. “You want anything, just talk to Lloyd here. He handles all the beers.” “You might want to drink it quickly,” Twilight advised. “It doesn’t taste all that great.” “It’s an acquired taste,” Pinkie chirped. Before Fluttershy could respond, alarms started blaring, and they all searched frantically for the source. Then some kind of vehicle came up from near the hologram table and equipment stations, docking with their space station with a loud clunk. As the alarms died, the vehicle’s door slid open, and Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity all tiredly climbed out with armor rigs over their dirtied clothes. Twilight could see racks of weapons and equipment if she craned her neck. “Hey, girls!” Pinkie called, waving. The exhausted girls made their way over, talking about whatever they’d been doing. “Honestly, if Mangement would just buy some decent equipment, we wouldn’t even have to go down there!” Rarity complained. “I know they can automate things. The drill pod is an excellent example!” “I just wanna be able to hold my minigun,” Rainbow said. “That thing is way too heavy for me!” “Ah don’t know what you’re grahpin’ about,” Applejack replied. “Ah can handle mah drill arms easily.” “Yeah, but they’re attached to your suit. The minigun isn’t.” “So? You're the one who picked it up, so you're stuck with it." Sunset simply sat down next to Twilight and sighed. Her armor rig was pretty dirty and had a couple splotches of dried green goop here and there. She smiled warily and motioned for Pinkie Pie. “Hey, Pinkie, can we have some water?” “Sure thing!” Pinkie produced several mugs and poured cold water into each one, then handed them to the newcomers. Sunset lifted hers to her mouth and chugged about a quarter of it before putting the mug back down. “Oh, I needed that. Do I have to pay, Pinkie?” “Nope! Meals are complementary. If you want a beer, though, you gotta talk to Lloyd. Gotta be at least Company Level Three, too, if you’re ordering, but it doesn’t matter if someone else is buying.” “Okay, that’s good to know.” She turned to face her friend. “Hey, Twilight.” “Hey, Sunset. What were you doing?” “I don’t know. We all woke up in the drop pod over there,” she replied, gesturing at the vehicle. “Mission Control said we were headed down to an area called the Shallow Grotto to get some basic training. We mined some Morkite since that’s what we were there for and fought a bunch of bugs that got past the defense perimeter.” She laughed tiredly. “That’s where the green stuff came from.” “You guys went down there?” Pinkie asked. “How was it?” “It was filthy, darling,” Rarity answered. “And it would be very dark if we didn’t throw our flares. And those Glyphids--ew!” She shivered. “They look like spiders, Pinkie Pie, and they’re absolutely terrifying! I really don’t want to go back down there.” “Arachnids,” Twilight said. “They’re creatures that are similar to spiders. Are you sure?” “Yeah,” Rainbow agreed. “But my minigun completely destroyed them when they tried to swarm us!” “Until it broke, Rainbow. Ah’m tellin’ you, you gotta watch that heat gauge. If it gets too hot, you’re gonna hafta wait until it cools back down. Which happened twahce!” “Applejack’s right, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. “It doesn’t matter how many bugs you shoot if your gun stops working.” Rainbow’s shoulders fell. “Yeah, you’re right. But still!” “Enough, Rainbow, dear, and relax,” Rarity pleaded. “We’re not on the planet right now, which means we’re safe.” “You’re gonna have to go back down anyway, Rarity,” Pinkie said. “You four are paid by the mission.” “WHAT?” all four shrieked together. “That’s what I said when Greg told me.” “So, how are you paid, then?” Rainbow demanded. “Greg said I’ll just get some credits at the end of the week. Fluttershy and Twilight probably get the same deal since they’re in Medical and R&D.” “You’re in Medical, Fluttershy? What do you even do?” “I… I don’t know just yet,” Fluttershy replied quietly, still having yet to drink her Leaf Lover’s Special. “I think I’m supposed to be your doctor in case you get hurt down there.” “That’s nice,” Sunset said. “And you, Twilight? What’s R&D’s thing?” “R&D stands for ‘Research and Development’,” Twilight answered. “So, I think I create new weapons and equipment--or maybe modifications of the stuff you already have--for you to use down on Hoxxes.” Sunset yawned. “I’m gonna go clean up and take a nap. See you guys later.” Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity decided to clean up as well, leaving Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy at the bar. “Well, I’d best go find R&D,” Twilight said. “See you around.” She wandered around the space station for a few minutes, eventually finding a small, secluded door marked by her new division. After a short hesitation, she opened the door to join R&D.