//------------------------------// // Chapter Eighteen: An unruly hello // Story: We don't go to Sub-Level Five // by RadBunny //------------------------------// Sassi’s heart leaped as she saw a familiar form on one of the monitors. Twelve? That’s a weird floor but nothing too crazy aside from records. Keying the controls, the mare found she could only do one thing. Hopefully, he understood, Sassi then dashing off to strap on her weapons. Hang on, Astral. Staring at the domed security camera, Astral let out a huff as the light waggled up and down repeatedly. “Message received,” he sighed, looking around the elevator lobby. The lack of bodies was definitely a good thing. The dozens of bullet holes, however, were not. And then there were the significant bloodstains. That was when Astral noticed a defining feature was missing from the lobby. Mainly, the elevator doors to one of the shafts. His sensitive ears picked up something moving in them. Not wanting to discover what that ‘something’ was, he quickly set off down the hallway. It was a familiar layout; large glass cubes with lab equipment intermixed with desks. Hallways branched off after some of the cubes, leading to either storage areas or perhaps bathrooms. Ok. Gotta find a place to hide. I can do that. The best option was in a series of half-cubicles next to a metal testing cube. Astral could see some vials, computers… … Wait. Is that a picture of a developing foal? Checking if the coast was clear, Astral stepped through the thick, automatic doors to look at the whiteboard. He knew the company was scummy; that much was evident from Sassi’s explanations. The compound shows enhanced binding properties to fetal tissue in the second trimester of pregnancy. Recommend immediate testing to assess potential mutagenic properties. What in the world were they doing here? He had a feeling that such a question was better left unanswered, or posed to a certain armored mare. As he returned to the cubical location (not wanting to be stuck in a cube in case a Skitter emerged) the Thestral’s ears flattened on recalling the previous few hours. I froze, again. If not for Sassi, I’d be food. He knew why he froze, and that was a topic that needed to be discussed. While he wanted Sassi’s help, if she got hurt due to his inability to cope with things… That thought was an unpleasant one. She had been a bit stern at first, but clearly, Sassi had a heart of gold. Of course, Astral wasn’t surprised to see her clearly reluctant to talk about certain topics. If she grew up in this place, he could only imagine how that could have affected the mare. I’m surprised she’s as normal as she is. He had to admit, the few days where he had forgotten they were trapped had actually been fun. They hadn’t chatted too much, Sassi going on supply runs and monitoring the cameras…but it had almost felt normal. Even her explaining what they were seeing on the monitors in that military tone had a sense of everyday drudgery. And it was nice to see another Thestral, mare or not. It was a pleasant reminder he wasn’t totally out of place among the usually-non-Thestral population. Checking with an ear-swivel, Astral ensured there wasn’t any familiar ticking before letting himself breathe again. You know it’s not just that she’s a Thestral. When appropriate, it perhaps was worth mentioning. That was something Gabbro didn’t know; how far the news of the Incident had spread. When most ladies had heard something about the ‘crazy Thestral who assaulted a mare,’ you either had to lie or deal with the immediate consequences. Astral hated lying, so his friend pool, let alone prospective dates dried up faster than a puddle in an Appleloosa summer. Even the times where he thought perhaps they’d get to know him a bit before dropping that question, it always ended the same. Finding a mare who didn’t know about it (initially at least) was borderline miraculous. The fact someone wanted to believe him even more so. Honestly, I just want out of this nightmare. Of course, such a wish was a whimsical one. A familiar heavy-breathing made the stallion shudder, the Thestral double-checking his guns (reloaded, of course) and readying himself to shoot and run, assuming his limbs didn’t lock up again. Kill this one, then run to the Elevators to a different floor. A familiar set of claws reached over the nearest half-cubicle, Astral taking aim at where the head would be. As soon as the head appeared, Astral fired. He almost hesitated, but something pushed him to clamp down on the bit, the shot blowing the creature’s head to chunky smithereens. It was almost a normal sensation, for better or worse. Galloping out into the hall, Astral’s hooves slammed into the tile, now almost halfway to the elevators. With a crash of desks and foam partitions, another Skitter lunged forward, smacking Astral to the side. His head ringing from hitting a desk, Astral aimed and fired once, twice- the final shot punching a hole in the creature’s chest as it flopped over. Forcing himself up, the Thestral beelined for the elevators- only to see a third Skitter out of the corner of his eye. He knew it was only a chance of him being able to hit, the creature looking down at him with a gaping mouth. Yet instead of freezing, the stallion began to turn his gun barrels to line up, the Skitter launching itself from the ceiling. Something made him snarl, a boiling wave of anger flaring up. At the company, the situation, at these mutated freaks; he just wanted out. He fired, the shots punching holes in the ceiling as they tracked towards the Skitter- the last few actually hitting the creature’s shoulder and then chest. The guns then clicked empty, the Skitter shuddering as it died in front of him. Part of him still amazed he had even hit the thing, Astral fumbled to reload the guns. He knew that the creature that abruptly crawled out of the Elevator shaft would get him before that. Smaller Spiders accompanied it, zipping across the floor to get a few bites in. The Skitter jumped, claws outstretched. The Thestral braced himself for the blow- Only to find something slammed into him, pushing the bat-pony out of the way. With a pained grunt, Sassi fired, the weapon on her side making the creature explode into bloody chunks. Her hooves pulverized the nearest Spiders, the others darting around and trying to jump onto the mare, a few angling towards Astral. Making one of the disgusting Spiders explode with a mid-air punch, Astral ducked another one, stomping it with an armored hoof. Four more Skitters emerged from the elevator shaft, Sassi angling the large, belt-fed weapon and firing with a dull *THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD*. The top half of the creatures simply vanished, abruptly painting the walls with a jello-like red paste. Ripping off a biting Spider on her back, Sassi was about to turn toward Astral when a final one of the nasty creatures jumped up, fangs digging into her lightly-armored neck before the mare swatted it away. The two of them covered in gore, Sassi turned to look towards Astral, her sides heaving. Her visor flipped up, two violet eyes looking towards him in relief, but also fear. That was when Astral’s heart dropped. Sticking half out of her chest was one of the Skitter’s severed claws.