Sunset Shimmer; Sister of Battle
By Tundara
Operation 9
Reminiscent of a swarming bee colony, the shuttles of Steinsmar carried the planet’s young minds to the ancient spaceship that would ferry them to the so-called ‘Summer Camp’. In a society where the term ‘ancient’ could be applied to nearly everything, the ship was beyond antediluvian. Through means unknown, it was the same ship on which the original colonists had voyaged in the forgotten ages that predated even the Dark Age of Humanity.
When, exactly, was a matter of some speculation with no answer.
The technology, the designs, everything about the ship had an utterly alien quality when compared to the behemoths of the Imperium. In some places it held the appearance of being far more advanced, with sciences that bordered on magic. A closer inspection showed this to be a mere illusion, and that Mother, as she was affectionately known, for all her age and oddities, was exceptionally primitive in function.
She was no buttressed monolith of gothic sensibilities, but a sleek, elongated arrow, with long dorsal and ventral ridges. With a smooth, almost mirror-like outer hull made of liquid metal, she shone brightly as she orbited Steinsmar. A dozen oval shaped trams ran up and down the four edges along hidden rails, their glass faces tinted to keep deadly solar radiation out. Massive, black fin-like structures extended from the base of the five engine housings, making her seem almost like some prehistoric sea creature plucked from the ocean's depths and deposited among the stars. While underway and for weeks afterwards, they would glow bright red as they radiated excess heat built up from the engines. At the very centre of the ship was a glass orb, within which could be seen a multi-tiered garden several decks high. Through the glass an amphitheatre could just be discerned. Oddly, the garden was on its side, as if a giant had tipped it over. Along the bow’s leading edges were nodules responsible for creating a sort of proto-Void shield. When active, the nodules released streams of ruby energy that vaporised everything that they touched. Hatches just below the nodules unfolded like petals to allow access to cavernous landing bays in which the children were disgorged in a stream.
The only concession made to Imperial sensibilities were black painted aquilas on either side of the dorsal ridge.
Sunset fidgeted in her seat, and for the umpteenth time, ran her fingers over her new ears. A small tinge of worry made her jump. What if removing them wasn’t enough? What if she were still too alien? If it was obvious she wasn’t human? What would happen then?
Weightlessness overcame Sunset as the shuttle came to a rest within the landing bay.
Well, Drill Abbess Maria, at the very least, thought that Sunset’s new ears were enough to allow her to pass as human.
Her ruminations came to an end as the ramp descended and a wave of brilliantly bright fluorescent lights swept through the open hatch, causing momentary blindness.
At the top of the ramp, Rarity hitched the hood of her robes over her head and called out, “The Hymnals of Saint Sabatine,” then gently pushed herself off to drift across the teaming bay. Clicking her heels, she touched down with a light skip and flip of her braided hair. Rarity was saint-like in poise and grace, her chin raised up with a beatific smile that couldn’t help but melt the hearts of onlookers.
A pang of jealousy speared Sunset. It should be her at the lead, drawing the attention of the children of Steinsmar. In time it would be.
As one the progena raised their voices so that they drowned out the boisterous chatter filling the bay. The children of Steinsmar made a path for the holy procession.
Curious, Sunset let her eyes roam over the other children. Almost uniformly from the upper and middle classes of Steinsmar, there wasn’t much difference about them from the other classes of progena in the schola. Except for the young colts, or boys, as Sunset had to remind herself.
They were broader in the shoulders than she expected. And taller. Jaws were mostly square, and their eyes blazed beneath proud brows set apart by strong noses. They were also far more muscular, despite being only at the start of their teenage years. Unlike the pale skin of the girls, the boys were a light shade of bronze. With short hair oiled back they wore a combination of what appeared to be pseudo naval uniforms or buttoned vests, suits, and cufflinks. Under their left arms they held various hats.
Their clothes were painfully formal, and their attitudes stiff. Here though, Sunset could see the difference in backgrounds. The boys from the upper strata had far nicer clothes and looked down on those from the middle, who had plain suits without the cufflinks and pocket watches. The stiffness also melted away the poorer the boys' upbringing, with the vast majority of chatter coming from the middle class as they slapped each other on the upper arms as they met old friends and made new ones.
Of the planet’s underclass, there were almost no representatives. Just a smattering who hung along the edges looking extremely uncomfortable in the oddly fitting suits that entire neighbourhoods, in some cases, had to scrimp and save to afford. No one expected much of these boys.
Another difference between the classes were the number of girls. There were maybe a dozen girls to the hundreds of boys among the wealthy children, while the number steadily increased until it was even among those from the poorest echelons.
The reason for the difference lay in the planet’s most recent addition; the Steinsmarines chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. Since their inception not even two centuries prior, the marines had been in a constant state of recruitment. And how better to sift through recruits than Summer Camp, where children of just the right age were deposited on a Death World?
Perhaps a mere dozen would be selected, often less, and very rarely more, but it was the goal of every boy present to be noticed. As girls were ineligible, they had fallen out of vogue in recent generations as parents sought the prestige of having their sons join the marines.
Sunset’s curiosity was returned in kind, the boys watching the future sororitas pass with unfeigned interest.
Hitching her chin up, Sunset switched her gaze forward, tacitly making a show of no longer being at all interested in the children of Steinsmar.
Just behind Rarity, Minty Fresh held a thurible that puffed a long cloud of sweet smelling incense. Equis’ orphans wasn’t the only class from the schola that year. The schola had two native born classes already when they’d taken in the equestrians. Never before mixing with the ‘impure interlopers’, the other classes took the lead to create a single procession. Even in the month of frenzied activity as the equestrian class scrambled to prepare for camp, the other progena their age had kept their distance, ignoring any and all attempts at communication or collaboration. Sunset suspected this had been directed by the Drill Abbesses as much as it was a product of bigotry to the outsiders. Solemn and calm, the progena touched down on the metal deck, magnets in their boots acting as anchors.
It was an odd sensation, being weightless but melded to the ground. Sunset’s body wanted to drift away, and if it hadn’t been tied back in an intricate plait, her hair would have escaped her hood in a frizzy orange-yellow cloud. She hated the hood they were forced to wear. It scratched sensitive regenerated nerves. Not that all the nerves lost with her aeldari ears had been regenerated. Phantom pains from her ears being cut off had an annoying habit of striking; often when she was trying to get to sleep or in the shower.
This in spite of Sister Elizabeth’s usually superb surgical work.
Behind them, engines roared as emptied shuttles returned to the planet.
Sunset’s eyes darted to the few adornments that hung on the walls or were placed at intersections. The tapestries of the cult mechanicus seemed out of place in the stark, otherwise clean hallways. Soft laminate padded the corridors, and the walls were panelled with simple beige access hatches. Benches with harnesses frequently lined the walls. A stripe at the top of the walls where they joined the ceiling held miniature ferns for carbon dioxide scrubbing.
Nowhere was an exposed pipe to be seen. Nor any servo-skulls or servitors. The air held the faint stink of antiseptic and cleaners. Even the light flowing from overhead panels had a sharp cleanliness, brighter and harder than the dim flickering glow aboard the Righteous Indignation.
Periodically they passed a glass panel with an illuminated layout of the deck they were on. The screens would flash to a simple greeting written in Low Gothic, before switching back to the maps.
Sunset’s skin crawled.
She was hardly alone. Though cosmetically human, her ears were still far keener than her classmates, and could detect the uncertainty within the tones of the other progena’s voices as they continued with the hymnals.
Leaving the landing bays, they followed signs to the nearest set of lifts. They were large enough for twenty people, forcing the progena to split into groups to descend to the gardens. And they were the first, even the children of the planet’s governing body and ultra-elite making way for the progena of the Cerulean Chalice.
The ship was so starkly weird, like the opposite of what Sunset had come to expect since travelling through the mirror. Where the Sororitas used powerful technology for complex problems, such as void shields and artificial gravity, while using low technology for things like weapons or education, it was the opposite aboard Mother. Doors were automatic, lifts voice activated, and there was even this annoying music that played over the vox speakers in the lifts.
A simple, repetitive, synthetic tune made by someone with no ear for music that grated the nerves, yet somehow also vanished into the background at the same time. It was far from the sweeping choirs accompanied by massive organs that filled the schola. Emperor be praised, the music was only in the lifts.
Even the name was weird. The Imperium loved their names to reference Holy passages, events, or people. But this ship was just… Mother. Which itself was just a shortening of ‘Mother Ship’, for the type of vessel it had been. At least, that was the supposition.
As the lift came to a gentle stop, a woman’s voice broke through the grating music to say, “Now arriving; Garden Mezzanine deck.”
The girls all shared startled looks of growing trepidation.
Stepping out of the lift, they found themselves at a broad mall of sorts with closed kiosks on either side that ringed the massive park. Bridges lead to the quintet of stacked park platforms that formed a second orb within the glass dome. Spiralling stairs within the central parks connected the levels, and escalators in the middle of the bridges led up and down. There were benches and the trees swayed in a gentle breeze created by air recirculating fans. Bellow the bridges, the bottom of the dome waited over a hundred feet down if anyone fell.
Sunset kept away from the railings, in case her still unknown attempted-murderer tried to ‘accidently’ shove her over the side. It would be both long, and too short, fall.
The mall and parks reminded Sunset a little of Canterlot. Only, instead of ponies, it was filled with humans. Sunset had to forcefully shunt the thought to the back of her mind and focus on her singing. If she thought of unicorns, then she’d think of magic, and then…
Her voice very nearly held a falter at the next crescendo as she fought against the omnipresent hole in her heart that had once been filled by her magic.
Mentally slapping herself, she pushed that particular loss deep, deep, deep down where it couldn’t cause her any harm. And it wasn’t gone, she reminded herself. There’d been that flicker when she’d tried meditating.
If she repeated it enough, she almost believed herself.
An amphitheatre of sorts ringed the central level park, giving a clear view of a small platform with a statue of the Emperor. In the statue’s shadow was a lectern, and at it waited a member of the Cult Mechanicum in voluminous green robes that hid their features. The only visible aspects were a single metallic arm ending in a vicious three-fingered claw, and mechandrites skittering around the edges of the robes like a nest of snakes.
Once seated, the progena ceased their hymnals and waited as the remaining children filtered into the massive mall and garden.
Seating was colour-coordinated, with the progena sitting in the Gold section at the front, closest to the statue. As the cursed class, the former Equestrians sat in the back row of the section given to the progena. In front of them sat the two other classes from the schola.
Around the progena were the children of the wealthiest and most privileged members of Steinsmar, all wearing finely cut silk clothes dripping with gold. The girls had jewels pinned in their hair and wore gowns, while the boys had their fingers adorned with rings and epaulettes hung on their shoulders like they were navy admirals. They were dressed more like they were going to a gala than their inevitable deaths.
How many of them would survive the trials to which they were headed? A mere handful of only the luckiest, Sunset surmised. Most would be dead in a couple weeks. She quickly grew bored with the pompous children and went over in her head all the plans, contingencies, and training her squad had done over the past month.
Applejack and Rainbow were solid as ever, and Sunset hardly worried about them at all, except for the vagaries of luck. But, that was something training couldn’t alter, only the Emperor. Fluttershy and Twilight were still her biggest concerns, but both had put in so much effort over the past few weeks. Still, they’d only begun to reduce the gap between themselves and the rest of the class.
It took over an hour for the ten thousand children to all be embarked. They filled every nook and cranny of the antediluvian ark’s park and mall, even spilling out into adjacent areas. The children from the poorer stratas were made to stand in hallways and watch old flatscreen monitors. Only the children of the important members of society were given any space within the amphitheatre. The noise in the park dome was almost deafening as they chatted excitedly amongst themselves.
A horn blared, and the children fell silent.
Voice amplified to fill the chamber and be spread throughout the ship by vox casters, the Magos addressed the children of Steinsmar.
“Statement: Greetings, progeny of Steinsmar,” the Magos spoke in a gargling, electric warble that gave no hint to its gender, “and welcome to Mother. Prepared speech: This will be kept brief, as you are eager to find your rooms and explore. Do so at your own perils. Mother loves you, her children, but the loss of a few of you are inconsequential. Mother has maps with areas highlighted you are allowed to wander. Dire Warning: Exploring beyond these areas will result in termination. Additional warnings will be transmitted via vox as required. Example: Such as when Mother departs Steinsmar’s orbit.”
The Magos paused so its words could sink in, though Sunset suspected that every year there were a few who didn’t listen, and were never seen or heard from again.
“Expositional information: You are here as your parents have deemed you worthy enough to be granted an opportunity to be entered in the Catalogus, that future generations of Steinsmar might be born of your genes. Others among you have loftier goals and are attempting to be noticed by the Steinsmarine recruitment officers. Statement: It is unlikely you will survive long enough to accrue any deeds worthy of notation.”
Another slight pause, and then, “Continue speech: You have such time as appropriate to finalise preparations for Steinsanne. Important notation: Mother gives access to fabricator minoris units in the second week. Select useful items from those provided and what you can afford. Obvious statement: You will be judged on your choices.”
Sunset could hear the click of the Magos’ talons at the end of this statement.
“Final declaration: You may now find your amusements. Time to reach Steinsanne; Fifteen days, fourteen hours, six minutes, and fifteen seconds. You are dismissed and may mill about.”
Without a further word the Magos’ platform sank into the floor, leaving the children alone. Sunset furrowed her brow, wondering what they were supposed to do next. Where were they supposed to sleep, eat, or the like? How did they access this fabricator minoris? The instructions and orientation were, if anything, disorientating and sorely lacking in substance.
Rarity’s voice carried over the general noise of confusion spreading through the park. “Progena of Class Three, on me!”
Ahead of them, classes One and Two were already making their way out of the park, pushing their way through the crowd to the main lifts.
A flicker of a smile touched Sunset’s lip.
Of course. They were expected to find their own quarters. The strong would take what they wanted, and the timid would suffer what they must, all while under the judging eye of the Magos.
Sunset approved.
All three classes of progena made their way towards the lifts to take them to the Star Platinum section situated ‘above’ the park dome. Besides the large rooms that had their own private bathrooms, there was a private dining room, a reading lounge with drinks, a Chapel of Iron, and even a spa. Such luxuries were undreamt of back on Equis, or in the schola. This made it extremely desirable for the progena, but also highly sought after by the wealthier members of Steinsmar.
Rarity had only learned of it by eavesdropping in on the conversations of the other classes in the halls of the schola.
As they neared the lifts, an artificial woman’s voice flowed through the vox casters. “T-minus ten minutes until departure. All hands to departure stations. All hands to departure stations.”
The voice repeated itself, and Sunset tilted her head at the nature of the warning, and what ‘departure stations’ entailed. Or who the voice meant by ‘all hands’. The only person Sunset had seen besides other children had been the Magos, and he-she-it was gone. Departure had not been covered by orientation. Which probably meant it was both important, and dangerous if ignored.
The other classes of the schola split off, each making for a different set of lifts. Already at a disadvantage compared to the children who’d been forced to listen on the fringes of the mall or bridges, they forced their way through the mass of bodies. The nobles also began to split up into pre-formed groups, using all their authority and strength to shove their way towards the lifts. Rarity led her class towards one of these lifts, knowing that they’d have to wait until their ‘seniors’ had taken the lifts before they’d be permitted, and miss out on getting choice picks from the rooms.
Luck, and the nature of children, played in the progena’s favour, as most of the children milled about in a general state of confusion. They waited to be told what to do. Enough noticed the progena and nobles making for the lifts to begin milling about in that direction, and a few were either smart, bold, or a combination there-of to leave the park.
“Move aside, by the Throne, move aside!” Rarity called in a voice that managed to pierce the building din of noise.
Recognising them as progena, the other children cleared a path. At the lifts, Rarity took a quick look around, did the math, and said, “Fleur and Zap squads, you take the other lifts. We’ll secure accommodations. Everyone is to meet on the Star Platinum deck. Remember the name. Sunset, Spitfire, and Lyra squads, you hang back and come last.”
Lifts arrived as Rarity finished snapping her orders. She and the indicated squads stepped into the lifts. Glass doors hissed shut, and through them Rarity could be seen speaking, and then the lifts went up.
Nodding to Spitfire and Lyra, Sunset shifted her squad to the back of the progena. It would take a few minutes for the lifts to reach this Star Platinum deck and return. In the mean time, the crowd the lift was growing, and the nobles were approaching.
“Come on, dolls,” one of the nobles called, shoving his way through the other children to reach the edge of the progena.
He towered over the girls, as did all the boys, his suit taught over developing muscles. He’d dyed his hair a fiery red with a single black stripe from the right temple. All the boys with him had dyed their hair bright colours. It made them appear almost like they were from Equis.
“Step aside. Alpha Alpha Capricorn gets first dibs on territory. It’s been that way for twenty generations.”
He jerked his thumb towards a pin on his lapel and glared at the doors to the lifts, in front of which Kiwi, Junebug, and Cheerilee squads were waiting.
“So?” Sunset crossed her arms and returned the huge boy’s glare. “This time it is the Sororita progena who got here first.”
Obviously, no one had ever told the boy ‘no’ before. His face flushed with anger, his nostrils flared, and his arm went back in preparation for a swing. Catching his wrist, twisting it aside, and smashing his face with an open palm strike would have been child’s play, except it turned out to be unnecessary. Another of the boys, his hair sharp blue, slapped a hand down on the first boy’s shoulder.
“Really, Tony, you want to mess with the Sororitas’ progena? In front of everyone?”
Sunset raised a brow at how he’d seen what she planned. This second boy clearly had better training, or any training at all.
“It’s tradition!” Tony protested, but was answered by a shake of his friend’s head.
“It’s fine. Things need shaking up every now and then or our Deeds will look just like copies of our grandfathers. We need to do better. Besides, I kind of want to kick the Omegas out of their area. Wipe the smirks off their faces and make them sleep in the park.”
“We outnumber them five to one, Flash!” Tony wouldn’t back down so easily.
“Yeah, which is another point in their favour. Won’t look so good on our list of Deeds, would it? Had to mob up to take on a group of girls? I’d rather not have that on my list.”
Sunset could feel the eyes of hundreds of children on the confrontation. It had instantly become the most interesting thing in the park. The crowd was swelling. Behind Sunset the lift doors whoosed open, and three more squads departed. She smirked.
Through the park a chime echoed, and that synthetic, toneless woman said, “T-minus five minutes till departure. All hands to departure stations. All hands to departure stations.”
The lights in the park shifted to a dull, threatening orange.
A few of the children looked around in confusion, but most were far more focused on the argument between the Sororitas’ progena and the group of nobility to pay the strange voice any attention. Even when it was repeated.
Tony chewed on Flash’s words, and gave a little nod. “True. Yeah. We’ll go bust the Omega’s heads.”
“That’s surprisingly smart,” Sunset noted with a smirk, unable to resist taunting the boys. In her arrogance, and needing to show off in front of so many, Sunset couldn’t resist also adding a quick jab to his side, as a further exclamation point that she’d won.
The punch came so quick, that without her preternatural reflexes Sunset would have only just managed to avoid being hit. Her aeldari blood made her quicker than any of her class, or any normal human. Before Tony even understood what was happening, Sunset was inside his reach, his arm twisted and locked to her side underneath her own. She savoured the moment of shock in his eyes, and then snapped the heel of her hand into the bottom of his jaw with all her strength. His head snapped back with a resounding clack of teeth smashing together.
To Sunset’s astonishment, it wasn't enough to take him out of the fight. It didn’t even stagger the huge boy. Her palm stung from the hit. Releasing his arm she took a half-step back, hands tucked in close in a defensive posture. Around her the other progena fell into similar stances, even Twilight and Fluttershy, though they moved to the side as a ring formed, and found themselves near the railing with Rainbow Dash. Applejack was right behind Sunset, and she stepped forward, her magnetic boots making heavy thuds as she fell into a fighting stance.
Tony’s hand snapped out as the other Alpha Alpha Capricorns tensed to surge at the Sororita progena. He spat out a gob of blood that floated away.
“This is between me and her. Winner’s group gets to use the lifts.” He jabbed a finger at Sunset.
‘I only need to buy time for Rarity and the others to secure the area,’ Sunset gloated to herself. A one-on-one fight suited her perfectly. Though she was a little concerned by how little Tony had been phased by her opening strike. Flashing a cocky grin, she said to Applejack, “I got this.”
Applejack tilted her head, didn’t look at all convinced, but took a few steps back and joined the wall of bodies.
On Sunset’s other side, Spitfire growled out of the corner of her mouth, “Not sure this is a good idea.” She didn’t elaborate further and cleared the area with her squad.
Ringed by progena on one side, and the boys of the Alpha Alpha Capricorn fraternity on the other, and a swelling number of unaffiliated observers, Sunset and Tony squared off against each other.
Undoing his suit jacket, he tossed it to Flash, who casually threw it over his shoulder. Sunset got a very good look now at Tony, and suffered a little pang of regret for her big mouth. Underneath his suspenders and buttoned white shirt, Tony was jacked, to use an ancient term. His physique wasn’t toned, but bulked out, with thick muscles rippling beneath his bronzed skin. Rolling up his sleeves revealed tattoos depicting his genetic and familial heritage. To a true child of Steinsmar they would have been impressive, but to Sunset they were nothing more than a combination of swirling, fractal designs and geometric angles.
Twilight, who’d spent more time studying their adoptive planet, took a hissed intake of breath as she got a look at the tattoos.
Tony took up a boxers stance, a dark smirk tugging at his face. “You’re not that bright, are you, doll?” he taunted as they began to circle.
“Only if I lose,” Sunset responded, and moved in. She needed to end this quickly. A fight of attrition was clearly in his favour.
Having seen Sunset’s speed, Tony knew better than to give her free reign to manoeuvre. Sunset’s momentum was lost before it could even begin to build. Her magnetic boots yanked at her legs, while her upper body had an unsettling, floaty motion. She launched a series of blistering fast jabs, only for him to meet her advance with a solid block and powerful jab that sent her skittering back.
Applejack was the strongest girl in their class, and she was a pale shadow to the sheer strength behind Tony’s blow. Sunset’s left arm was numb where she’d blocked the crashing blow.
Cold realisation hit her that the whole time he’d been gauging her strength. On top of his strength advantage, which was absolute, he had longer reach, his reflexes were as good or better than any of the girls Sunset had sparred with, and he was like punching a leathery boulder.
“You really messed up,” he continued to taunt as he pursued Sunset, their boots clack-thudding with each step. “Shame what I'm about to do to your pretty face, doll.”
Sunset didn’t have much room to manoeuvre with the crowd close to her back. Tony came at her like a roaring tiger. He was a beast at the cusp of adulthood; vital, fresh, and eager to prove himself.
His fists crashed against her bruised arms, and even using all her techniques to deflect his blows rather than just taking their full force did little to negate their crushing weight. Were it not for her superior reactions, Sunset would have been overwhelmed in moments. His breathing was calm, bordering on cocky, as was his grin. He knew almost all the advantages were his alone.
Switching modes, Sunset whipped out an axe-kick that caught Tony in the shoulder. With the added weight of the magnets in the soles, Sunset managed to make him grunt for the first time. Otherwise, the kick seemed as ineffective as anything else she’d done. At least it negated his reach advantage, she wryly thought to herself as a thousand options tumbled through her head. None were optimistic despite her initial bluster.
There was no escape as he pressed her, switching into a mixed stance himself, as if taunting her. He brought up a kick of his own aimed at her side. Switching off both her boots, Sunset flipped over Tony’s leg, then used his momentum to prevent herself from flying off in the gravity-less environment. She landed like a panther, low and leaning forward with fingers hooked. His next swing she again used her weightlessness to gracefully pirouette beneath. Sliding crosswise underneath his arm, she even landed a flurry of hits on his side.
And yet her confidence continued to dwindle and her ire rise as he barely seemed to respond. She’d been baited into a fight she couldn’t win.
A soft bell floated over the fight, followed by the strangely sweet, synthetic voice that was like nails scratching along raw nerves.
“All hands; brace for acceleration. All hands; brace for acceleration.”
There was only a second delay before Mother lurched forward on a roaring plume of ionic discharge as her torch drive ignited. The effects in the park were instantaneous.
Sunset and Tony were driven towards the floor by invisible, impossibly strong hands as gravity shifted from non-existent to twice Terra’s norm. His expression, intense as a tiger mid-leap, momentarily fluctuated as his eyes darted between Sunset, the floor, and he took in the sudden gravity that forced him to his knees. Quicker than Tony, Sunset rotated backwards, bracing herself with her palms on the floor and using the shifting momentum to sweep out a powerful upper kick towards his chin. With the added power of the ship’s momentum propelling him down, Tony had to take damage from this hit.
Except, she was going to miss. Tony threw himself against the sudden gravity, muscles in his legs, chest, and neck bulging and face red with effort. Her kick would pass a hair’s width away. Cold fury at her foolishness churned in her chest, and she wanted to scream in frustration.
A tremor echoed from her chest to her heel. A roar of pain burst from Tony. Sunset’s eyes widened as Tony, driven by the acceleration of Mother, slammed face first into the metal grated deck. A bone-jarring crunch resonated to Sunset’s teeth as his nose was smashed flat. Blood spurted from his ruined face.
Sunset pushed herself into a sitting position, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Her kick should have missed. She was certain she had missed! But, she’d clearly misjudged the distances, or Mother’s acceleration had been just enough to force Tony that little bit closer.
There was no time to savour her sudden victory. Cries of surprise and fear echoed all around Sunset as the progena, fraternity boys, and various onlookers were hurled into the deck in a crushing mass. Twilight and Fluttershy, who’d been leaning on the rails, were thrown towards the platform’s edge.
Fluttershy bounced towards the precipice, arms just barely catching onto a post. Her legs swung in the air, and terror filled her huge eyes. Flat on the ground, Rainbow stretched out and latched onto the scruff of Fluttershy’s tunic. Yelling at the top of her lungs, Rainbow pulled while Fluttershy dug her nails in desperation into the grating. Together, they managed to haul Fluttershy up over the edge. Fluttershy was one of the lucky ones.
Less fortunate, Twilight had been floating over the railing, enjoying the novelty of weightlessness as she tinkered with her magnetic boots, hardly interested in the fight. The electro-magnetics had been opened up on her left boot and she was alternately raising and lowering its sensitivity and power, seeking to find a perfect balance. She slammed into the wooden railing with almost as jarring an impact as Tony suffered. She screamed as she was spun backwards towards the waiting bottom of the park dome so far below. In the instant Sunset finished her fight with Tony, Twilight vanished. Her screams echoed among those of dozens upon dozens of other children who’d been playing in the weightless environment.
Bodies plummeted around the progena and other children, with results even more horrific than the wounds Tony suffered. Next to Sunset a girl in a primrose dress landed head first, her brains splattering out of her skull as it shattered and hitting Sunset in the face. A boy struck the railing in the same spot as Twilight, and was bent over it backwards, his spine shattered, before being hurled over the edge in wailing, agonised terror.
Gravity increased further as Mother continued to accelerate.
Three times Terran gravity.
Then four.
Five.
Sunset felt like she was being crushed into the metal grating.
Six times.
It was so hard to breath, the air being pushed out of her lungs as Mother moved away from Steinsmar. The burn lasted for many torturous minutes. Next to Sunset was the dead girl, gore being forced from her shattered body, and on the other the sputtering, maybe dying Tony. A couple of his teeth were stuck in the grating.
And then, all at once, she could breathe again. The pressure on her chest slackened as Mother reduced her acceleration. Sore all over her back, Sunset got up and staggered towards the railing.
Twilight was gone. Dead. She had to be. There was no way the slight, unathletic girl had survived going over the railing.
All around Sunset, kids wailed and thrashed about. Some were gravely wounded, like Tony. Some were dead, their bodies surrounded by growing crimson pools. There were many, many kids with only minor bumps or bruises. Sunset understood why the ship stank of antiseptics now. It was from cleaning away all the blood.
Grabbing the rail, Sunset looked over the edge, almost hoping for Twilight’s shattered body to be so far below it couldn’t be discerned. She didn’t want to see Twilight like that. Broken, brains and vital organs splattered everywhere. Or worse, dying, body twitching with the final spasms of her life leaking away. Sunset saw Twilight at once, the next deck down extending out further than the one above. Twilight lay on her stomach, partially covered by the boy who’d been bent in half. Dreading what she’d find, Sunset swung over the rail, and using her heightened aeldari dexterity, landed lightly next to Twilight.
All the while she whispered, “Please, Emperor, don’t let her be dead. Don’t make mine the first squad to have a fatality.”
Shoving off the insensate and fatally wounded boy, Sunset grabbed Twilight and rolled her squadmate over. Twilight’s eyes were pinched shut, and a large welt covered her cheek. To Sunset’s relief, Twilight took a hissed intake of breath and grasped at an obviously dislocated shoulder. Beneath Twilight was a collapsed awning that had partially broken her fall, and in so doing, saved her life.
“What happened?” Twilight asked, staring up at Sunset. Her eyes slid past Sunset, to the railing, and realisation dawned. “You came after me? You came to save me?”
“Of course,” Sunset puffed out her chest, “You’re in my squad.”
Sunset helped Twilight to stand. The smaller girl hissed as she tried to put pressure on her right leg. “I think it’s broken.”
It only took a glance to notice the bone sticking out of the skin.
“Uh… Yeah.”
Following Sunset’s gaze, Twilight paled further, and muttered, “Oh, that is a zogging bitch…” before she fainted.
Sunset wasn’t sure which was more shocking; that Twilight was alive, or her swearing. Unable to hold back as temporary relief flooded through her, Sunset shook with laughter, tears trickling down her cheeks. It was so, so good to see that Twilight was alive. Now she just needed to make sure Twilight stayed that way.