We don't go to Sub-Level Five

by RadBunny


Chapter Thirty Nine: Hippity Hoppity

Sassi looked around, casually picking up a few stray pieces of electronic…something and chucking it out the door. The mare’s eyes narrowed as she tracked the object, noting their path through the air.

“Well, more good news and bad news.”

“O-ok?” Astral’s tone was significantly less confident than a few minutes ago.

“Good news is that we know how to get across the room. Bad news is that it involves floating to each of those plasma balls since the floor is, well, gone.”

Astral’s visor flipped up, the stallion looking at her incredulously.

“Those big metal balls the size of a carriage with electrical bolts coming from it? That’ll fry us!”

“The bolts are just excess magic,” Sassi explained, “they are barely enough to make your hair stand on end. It’s mainly for looks so that any excess discharge from the device can be seen and contained by non-unicorns.” The mare then frowned, gesturing to one of the many metal orbs. “However, that one probably has lethal amounts of power running through it.”

Astral took one look, his deadpanned expression making Sassi snort.
“The one with giant red, angry lightning bolts that are smoking? That one?”

“Yes. That one. But as for the others, I saw them in the lab before, just not this big. Assuming they are just increased in size the magical discharge still should be minimal.”

“You know what they say about assuming.”

Sassi now stared at him, a soft huff leaving her muzzle.
“I am open to other suggestions, Astral.”

“I wish I had any,” he muttered, “limbs are still feeling all tingly from the detox.”

“Just follow my lead, ok?”

He nodded, the mare steadying herself and jumping into the air with a flap of her wings. Following the path of the still-floating debris, Sassi made it to the first metal orb without issue. Pink lightning crackled over her frame, but the Thestral was otherwise unharmed.

“See? First one down. A few more to go!” she exclaimed cheerfully over the mic. “Your turn! Just hop and flap.”

The stallion jumped, carefully angling himself towards the orb and barely flapping his wings. With a bit more control than the previous attempt, Astral floated over and landed with a soft ‘thud’. He grabbed onto the carriage-sized orb with all four limbs, Sassi looking over to him in concern.

“You alright?”

“Peachy. Next one?” he replied with a shudder. For loving the stars, he hated the fact the floor was just inky blackness. It wasn’t like space at all.

With a hop, Sassi smoothly cruised over to the next orb, waiting for Astral patiently. As he got up, the Thestral flipped up his visor, a soft *hurk* sounding over the radio as he spat out a large glob of black tar.

“Eurg. Whoa. Stomach isn’t…hold on,” another tarry blob was spat out. “Ok. Better now,” he muttered.

“You’ll be spitting that stuff up for a bit. Just push off the orb towards me, Astral. Ready when you are.”

With a reluctant push, the stallion half-floated, half-flew towards the next orb. He promptly hugged it with all four limbs.

“See? Piece of cake!”

“Sassi, the floor is completely black. If there even is a floor! I can’t see anything.”

“Soooo don’t look at it?”

His visor flipped up, the stallion glaring at her in frustration. She mimicked the gesture, looking back at him with a slight smirk, a bit of playfulness dancing in her violet gaze.

“You just don’t like that I’m right,” she teased, Astral grumbling as the mare floated off to the next metal orb.

“Security Officer Obvious…” the stallion muttered, a soft titter echoing over the radio as they carefully traversed the dozen or so metal orbs. They moved in an inverted ‘U’ shape across the chaotic lab, eventually starting their downward journey towards an intact hallway.

Sassi being two large metal orbs ahead of him, the mare landed on the solid hallway with a dull *thud*. The platform extended outwards, supported by heavy struts. Astral assumed it had been a second-floor level entrance originally.

Before the black hole of death swallowed it up that is.

She waved at him, the stallion steadying himself as he pushed off from the metal.

Halfway through his flight, Astral’s stomach did a flip. His vision wobbled and warped, Sassi staggering in the distance. Abruptly sinking midair, he quickly flapped his wings to stay aloft. The best he was able to do was a controlled glide, the armor, and weapons weighing him down as the stallion clung to the last orb with all his might.

“Sassi!? What was that?!” he called out, feeling the abrupt return of gravity clawing him down towards the dark pit. There was a shudder in the air, Astral feeling the pull downwards increase abruptly before fading.

“Anti-gravity spells are failing. Astral, you need to get out of there! Push off when the rubble starts to float again.” Her calm voice punched through the rising panic as a massive chunk of concrete sped past Astral.

The object hit the dark void below and abruptly vanished. It was like dropping a marble into a vat of oil.

“Can’t I dump my guns and fly?”

“No, because then you’ll be defenseless. Your armor alone will weigh you down, and your wings could get crushed by the gravity fluctuating. Look, it’s following a pattern. Shorter and shorter periods of the spell functioning. Wait for it.”

Astral watched, the rubble floating again. It then abruptly fell, the stallion shaking his head.

“That was barely enough time for me to jump!”

“You need to go on the next pulse. Astral, I’ll catch you. I promise.”

“There’s no way I can make that!” he called out, the gap looking like nothing less than a death sentence. Empty space and rubble dotted a house or two length between him and Sassi. She had darted down the hallway and was making a rather loud racket doing…something.

“Astral, do you trust me?”

Her calm, collected voice pierced through the fear that threatened to overtake Astral, the stallion nodding once as he tried to draw in a breath that didn’t shake and shiver.

“Yes.”

“Then jump. T minus ten seconds. I promise I’ll catch you.”

His limbs were shaking, but Astral steadied himself. It was one thing to say he trusted Sassi, but this was an entirely new level of conviction.

I trust her with my life.

She had saved him multiple times; this was no different.

“Now, Astral!”

Shoving off the metal orb with all his might, Astral pumped his wings downwards and back, sending him rocketing towards the intact floor section. As he got close, his fear began to dissipate. The spell was holding, and he was close enough to see Sassi wrapping something around-

The air abruptly yanked Astral downwards.

Barely a stone’s throw from the platform, and the Thestral felt as if he was under an invisible waterfall. An even, abrupt force pushed down on his shoulders and back as something drew him towards the black, magical pit.

The platform and Sassi vanished in a flash- he wasn’t even remotely close enough.

He plummeted down, and for a brief moment, the stallion fully expected to be in agonizing pain. Would the dark pit slowly dissolve him? Or just *poof* his entire existence away?

His entire body (and thoughts) were abruptly halted with a jerk that made his skeleton feel as if it was trying to escape the Thestral’s body.

“Gotcha!”

The armored mare, sans weapons, had wrapped her forelimbs tightly around Astral’s upper torso. Her hooves immediately snaked to hook onto the armor’s straps. Craning his neck, Astral’s eyes widened in amazement at seeing thick, sturdy electrical cables wrapped around Sassi’s rear hoof, connecting them to the platform above. Her visor was flipped up, the mare not having trusted the artificial display during the maneuver.

As the gravity spell pulsed again, Sassi’s grip tightened, wire creaking under the strain as the force desperately tried to pull them down.

“I am not letting you go, Astral!” she growled.

If not for her words, the stallion would have been genuinely fearful. There was something behind Sassi’s tone that had a bare edge, a ferocity that made him shiver.

Yet the protective look in her eyes melted any notions of fear or uncertainty.

As the spell reversed, Sassi yanked on her hind leg. Astral had no doubt she could have hauled him up even without the magical assistance, as the two of them were sent soaring upwards. She angled her body, flipping the cable to then pull them onto the platform.

Super-mare indeed.

She shoved him forwards, pushing the Thestral towards the safety of the hallway as the mare retrieved her weapons. Slotting them onto the saddle with a satisfied nod, she trotted after him as the room continued to devolve into gravity-spurned chaos.

“Let’s go, Astral! Before we get sucked into that pit.”

Staggering down the hallway, the pair entered a beautifully familiar electronics room with elevator switches. Astral’s legs abruptly buckled, the stallion’s sides heaving with stress. He had been literally within a stone’s throw of death, if not closer.

First the goo, now the gravity void; it was a bit much to take in. The door rattled, magical sparks starting to eat at the walls.

The Thestral’s vision wobbled, Sassi’s eyes widening on seeing him sway back and forth.

“Astral?”

Having flipped the switches for the elevator, the mare was back at his side immediately. Catching him on her shoulder as he slumped, Astral struggled to catch his breath.

“I...woozy. Can’t….” he stammered, words swimming on his tongue but refusing to leave.

“Hang on. We need to get out of here. The magical field is destabilizing. Just lean on me and walk. Can you do that?” she asked, voice still clipped and firm but carrying a definite undercurrent of concern. Astral saw the door start to shiver, the metal bubbling with red sparks.

“One hoof in front of the other, I can do that.”

Leaning on Sassi, Astral was led down a side utility hallway. It was barely wide enough for one pony; which was actually a blessing. He was able to lean on the wall until it opened up into a familiar, beautifully-untouched elevator lobby.

He flopped against Sassi again, the mare leading him into an elevator before he collapsed, sides heaving. The doors closed, and Sassi’s visor flipped up as she locked the car safely between the next few floors. She looked him over, concern radiating from her striking violet eyes.

“We’re in the clear; the containment measures will keep it all on that floor for now. Are you ok? Just take as long as you need,” Sassi asked immediately.

“World is still spinning,” he mumbled. “I can barely keep my head up. Trying to catch my breath after…” Astral’s voice trailed off. His sides shivered, an almost physical pain making the stallion wince.

He had been so close. A few moments from being utterly erased by that magical void. First the freaky goo, and now this?

Astral had felt a bit of pride before, at being able to navigate their situation with only a few shakes and shivers. But the past few hours had shattered that completely. His eyes were locked onto the floor, the events spinning over and over again in the Thestral’s mind.

The tears were felt on his cheeks before Astral even knew he was crying. Sassi moved a bit closer, trying to meet his gaze. She pulled her helmet off, Astral nodding as she offered to the same.

It was barely a conscious thought, but Astral wrapped his arms around the mare tightly as soon as the helmet clattered to the ground. His sides began to shake with barely pent-up sobs. It was only after a few seconds he let her go, the stallion wincing even as he tried to wipe away the tears

“S-sorr-”

His words were cut off as Sassi hugged him back, the stallion immediately returning the gesture as emotion clogged his voice. She shook her head, Astral assuming at his cut-off apology. He could only croak out a single sentence before the lump in his throat took over.

“Thank you for catching me.”

He heard Sassi sniffle as she hugged him tighter. Even as the adrenaline, fear, and anxiety fled, something else seemed to take its place. An odd barrier had abruptly been shattered in Astral’s mind, and his entire chest fluttered with warmth as Sassi held him tighter.

“I’m not letting you go, Astral. I’m not…” her voice trailed off, Astral relaxing in her embrace as the familiar smell of fruit and gunpowder eased his nerves.
“I’m not letting you go.”