Sassi woke up with a soft groan. She felt terrible, but at least she felt something. She noticed immediately her helmet was on, the mare blinking and looking around as best she could. Her neck could sort of move, and her hooves could twitch. So at least there was a bit of progress, along with being able to see again.
Astral was asleep in front of her, guns pointed at the doorway. An odd piece of metal on a string dangled from it, Sassi then realizing its purpose.
A motion detection alarm. Something shoves the door; it swings and wakes him up. She couldn’t help but smile at that
Smart stallion.
Her eyes then drifted over to the collection of syringes, and shock made her violet eyes widen.
More doses? But the kits…
She was a smart mare, and in this case, it involved two-and-two together. They only had two combined doses total before she dozed off.
They now had an additional two, a third already used. Sassi knew they didn’t stock those things in random supply closets, but they were in use for the general medical kits.
The mare abruptly realized she didn’t know how to react to this. Astral had obviously gone out and procured more doses, and then fallen asleep guarding the door. Considering the barricade had been moved, that matched up. The problem was that creatures just didn’t do that, certainly not the ones Sassi had grown up with. If you made a mistake or got into trouble, everycreature made sure it wasn’t their life on the line. You watched each other’s backs only on specific tasks, specific dangerous missions.
Other than that, nobody had a care in the world whether your co-worker lived or died, for the most part. And there certainly wasn’t someone there to hold your hoof.
Sassi was fully aware of how logically her expectations didn’t line up. The fact Astral hadn’t tried to kiss her or put his hooves somewhere was honestly shocking.
She hated the fact it was surprising.
One of the few genuine stallions she had met, and the mare kept expecting him to do all sorts of things that just didn’t fit his character. And that was outside of the tossed-out charges. Her father trusted Astral to help her and that meant more than Sassi could explain. And yet there was still the constant doubt. She had hidden it fairly well; she didn’t want Astral to think she didn’t like him or something. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. But the doubts were constant, always lurking on the edge of her thoughts.
Yet the fact Astral had been nothing but a gentlecolt was one of the most pleasantly disarming things Sassi had ever encountered. The stallion was still holding her hoof because she had asked him to.
He went outside to save my life.
Sure, she could try to logic away it all with the fact she was his best chance for survival and all that stuff…but combined with how just kind the stallion had been, it didn’t match up. If he cared about only survival, he’d have made sure she didn’t die and not really cared one way or the other if she was afraid.
Astral, however, clearly cared. If for no other reason than he saw her as a pony, a friend, and wanted to help.
That thought made Sassi’s eyes immediately water, the mare hating the fact she couldn’t wipe the tears away. The idea of someone caring for her, of thinking she was worth the effort was so new and counterintuitive it made her brain hurt, her chest ache, but not for a lack of wanting to think about it.
There was a reason she hadn’t pursued the ‘first date’ question. She didn’t want to think like that, as if there was a chance someone would want something non-physical from her. And yet Astral’s casual comments had started to pry off the welded armor Sassi had tried to lock such feelings behind. It had been easy when living down here, living with creatures that weren’t so…
Sassi mentally shook her head at that. So many words floated up to finish that sentence. Regardless, she’d have to confront it all sooner or later. Assuming they made it out of this room, she’d have to trust him to rinse her off and bandage the chest wound. If it got badly infected, that could be disastrous.
The idea of having him help her like that was terrifying, and yet there was a previously-smidgen of hope in Sassi’s heart. Maybe she was wrong. Everything lined up for her doubts and fears to be nothing but immaterial.
Sassi found herself wanting to be wrong more than anything. The odd stallion had done a lot more than just make her apartment livelier. He had treated her like a mare, another pony who happened to be a friend. Astral clearly had no idea how much that meant to her.
And yet there’s still so much I could tell you, should tell you. She thought, eyes drifting to the floor and across her paralyzed limbs. And yet that frightens me more than anything. You’d certainly see me differently. My answer to the date comment, other stuff, you’d just look at me like everyone else did.
Blinking at that, Sassi’s brow furrowed.
Or, maybe you wouldn’t. I think I can tell you a bit more today. You’ve certainly shown that you care.
I just wish I knew how to react to that. It’d be so much easier if you saw me as everyone else did. Maybe you eventually will.
A soft beeping reached Sassi’s ears; the alarm much louder for Astral using the earbuds. It shut off as Astral woke, the stallion shaking his head with a grunt.
“Ugh…” he muttered, looking over her. “Sassi? You up?”
“Alive and well, thanks to you it seems,” she relayed, noting his ears perk up happily. “Hey, Astral. You’ve been busy.”
“Just a bit,” he admitted, taking the helmet off after deactivating the alarm, “that’s better. Want me to take yours off? I didn’t want a homicidal computer sucking our oxygen away without warning.”
Sassi managed a chuckle at that.
“Yeah, the less I wear it the better. Gets cramped,” she admitted, letting out a relieved breath as the constraining armor piece was removed. “So, what’d I miss?”
Stretching briefly, Astral then gestured to the syringes.
“Your blood contamination was rising really fast. It was above ten percent when I managed to get some more doses in you,” he explained. “It had risen point-five in like, ten minutes. So, I knew you needed those. Luckily a nearby medical case had some. Aaaaand here we are. That was about an hour and a half ago; two sleep alarms worth,” he added, stallion’s brow furrowing. “Probably should take another reading.”
“No objections here.”
The device was stuck in her forelimb again, Astral letting out a soft huff.
“Eight and a half- went up again. Shouldn’t it have gone down by now? Three doses?” he asked, Sassi still trying to keep her nerves under control.
“Should, yes,” she said, as calmly as possible. “But if I had to guess, these new Spiders are more venomous. Much more concentrated with each bite, or injecting more of it. I’ll probably need an IV of concentrated antivenom rather than these individual doses with boosters. I have some back at the apartment.”
Preparing another set of doses, Astral nodded, injecting the solution through the armored ports before sitting next to her.
“So, we get back to your apartment. That’s the long and short of it.”
“Basically,” Sassi affirmed. “Sooner rather than later.”
“Well, we only have a single dose left, so we’ll have to move soon,” Astral muttered. “I can leave my guns here and just take the grenade launcher. It’d be easier to fire with you on my back.”
“You’re seriously going to carry me?” Sassi asked with an incredulous look, Astral shrugging.
“Can you walk?”
Helping her up, it was clear that Sassi could at least be on her hooves…but that was about it.
“Hmm. No moving?”
“I can twitch a hoof, that’s it,” she confirmed, sliding back down with Astral’s help.
“So, yes. I carry you.”
After a few moments, Sassi’s ears flattened, the mare looking away.
“This feels so wrong,” Sassi muttered, Astral’s head tilting to the side in confusion. The fact his fluffy ears were perked up made the stallion far too adorable at the gesture.
“Huh?”
“This. Me not doing anything. I can’t…I don’t know how to handle it,” Sassi tried to explain. “Even the fact of you giving me meds is putting me on edge, even if they’re saving my life.”
Seeing Astral’s brow furrowing in confusion, Sassi’s eyes drifted to her useless forelimbs.
“Look, Astral. I know this will cause more questions, but I think it’ll answer a few too,” she paused, her jaw clenching. “The program which made me modified?” Sassi said slowly, emotion starting to clog her throat. “It wasn’t voluntary.”
Astral’s gaze locked onto her, his eyes wide in shock.
“What?”
“I was the only one who saw the modifications to the end. The other…participants didn’t end up like me,” she explained. “You at least deserve to have a reason why I was a mess- am a bit of a mess.”
Astral could only stare. It made so much sense, and yet to hear it was overwhelming.
“They forced you? Didn’t Flask-”
“He adopted me years after it started. The program was initiated when I was really, really young. Still growing and able to adapt to the drugs and modifications. Once it was all started, it had to be completed otherwise I’d have a crippling or fatal rebound reaction,” she explained. “The other security forces had a smaller dose when they got hired; nothing near to what I had. Flask adopted me when I was partially through the program, helped me finish it so I could at least have a life, maybe get out of here. That was the goal at least, from what he said.”
The stallion’s jaw clenched, Sassi’s own eyes widening at the rage that surged to the fore. And yet none was towards her. As Astral looked at the mare, her heart fluttered on seeing nothing but compassion.
You don’t see me as…
“They forced that on a filly?” he whispered, Sassi nodding once.
Astral had to take a few moments to process what he heard, Sassi looking at him curiously.
No wonder you don’t trust me.
While a lot of pieces to the Sassi-shaped puzzle were still missing, this explained a lot of her recent behavior. What Astral was struggling to come to terms with was the amount of anger burning through his veins. The Company was just like the creatures he dealt with during the court case, caring little for the well-being of others, and only about themselves, be it in the name of progress or saving face.
Selfishness and greed were as universal as harmony and friendship, both in and out of Equestria. It had been a harsh lesson he learned, and now the painful reminder refused to be silenced.
Astral thought that he had gotten over the frustration, the anger at the unfairness of his court case so many years ago. If his current emotional state was any indication, that was grossly inaccurate. All he had done was ignore it. It was like he was back in that day; the unfairness and cruelty of the world showcased for all to see. And yet most creatures didn’t notice, didn’t want to notice.
Above ground, underground, it doesn’t change anything.
“Astral?” Sassi asked in concern, her eyes soft with genuine care.
“Sorry, just, it all is the same. Above ground, below…I don’t think I was able to deal with it all healthily,” he managed to say.
“Deal with…?”
“The fallout from the court case,” Astral said firmly, “the anger. The frustration and rage from being manipulated all by creatures I couldn’t possibly challenge, that they couldn’t care less about helping, only about saving own reputation and skin.” He then gestured to her.
“And now the same thing happened to you, something I can’t fully comprehend. It’s different, but somehow the same up there or down here. Hearing that just brought it all back, how I’m powerless against such things. I’m sorry, Sassi. Nobody deserves that. I just wish…” he paused, the Thestral trying to organize his thoughts, finally just shrugging. “Sorry. I didn’t want to make this about me. I just wish I could help.”
An understanding but sad smile slid onto Sassi’s face at that, the mare not entirely sure how to reply.
“You do help, Astral, and thank you. But, yeah, that’s how the world is. For those who don’t ignore the bad at least,” she mused. “I just grew up with a lot of that bad.”
“More than anyone deserves, from the sound of it,” Astral growled, “everything about this company is rotten, isn’t it? Experimenting on kids, creating those Skitters…” his expression softened, the pony taking a few deep breaths. “Well, rotten outside of a certain mare in my company,” he added with a grin, subdued anger still flickering in his eyes. “Thank you, Sassi, for telling me.”
“You deserve that at least,” she replied, cheeks still a bit pink at his comment. The blush flared up as she realized another very obvious fact. “Don’t think you can’t help, or rather, aren’t helping. You were nice enough to hold my hoof, so I thought you at least deserved to know why I am so unsettled.”
“If you hadn’t wanted to tell me, I’d have understood. I didn’t expect you to at the time,” Astral added with a shrug of his shoulders. “You were hurting, so I helped.” He then let out a soft chuckle, head shaking back and forth. “Now I get why my family is in the Guard profession.”
“Hmm?”
“The drive to help,” he explained, waving a hoof. “Looks like even though my passion is the stars, there’s still that want to just help ponies.”
Sassi mused over that for a moment.
“That’s not a bad thing in this world,” she finally said, “especially when there’s so much nasty stuff to sort through.”
Nodding in agreement, a genuine smile flickered onto Astral’s face at that.
“Speaking of nasty stuff, you never did get around to telling me what exactly the Skitters and Spiders were.”
“I didn’t?” she asked, genuinely surprised.
“The cameras went all wonky and it distracted us when I asked last as we were watching the feeds.”
She let out a long sigh at that.
“Ah, right. Well, there’s not too much to say,” Sassi admitted. “I don’t know when they created the Queen, or if she was found, or whatever. They called her Jorōgumo, or Joro. Where she came from, I don’t know, but she’s bad news,” the mare said, “as far as I know, her offspring can evolve into either the Skitters or the Spiders, both of which were then either artificially grown or modified by the company. I heard rumors they made a second queen with her DNA, but that’s way above my clearance.”
Her eyes flickered over to Astral, a weak smile twitching at her lips at seeing his face rather pale.
“Too much?”
“Giant spider queen? Just a bit,” he admitted.
“Well, on the bright side, we just have to deal with her scouts, none of her guards or anything worse than that for now.”
As if summoned by Sassi’s words, a familiar voice rang out, almost mocking the pair.
“Warning. Extreme contamination levels detected in Silo One. Pre-set containment protocols have failed. Maximum countermeasures deployed. Detonating all remaining Silo-One floors in sequence. Timer set for T-minus ten minutes for initial detonations.
Have a nice day.”