The two ponies looked at Joro, the Queen shaking her head.
“I only know snippets. In addition to wanting to weaponize my subjects, the Company was trying to use the genetic properties of my blood to augment their own experiments,” Joro said. “Apparently, also brought through other things from my realm to try and boost the effects. What exactly, I don’t know, but almost all of those gene-splicing experiments took place in Silo Three.”
No more words were uttered, Joro then continuing. Four of her eyes flickered to Sassi briefly, a simple, understanding look. The mare’s face was impassive aside from a slight clenching of her jaw.
“Before being killed, one of my scouts was investigating the descending utility tunnels near the reactor; that is one of the few ways from this Silo to Three other than the trams far above us. The tunnel was locked down and intact, but there were barricades halfway down the tunnel.”
“That’s not surprising. The prisoners must have snuck in and fortified it,” Sassi said with a shrug.
“The barricades were on her side of the tunnel, created by her minions. Some of the security doors had already been torn open from the other side.”
Astral felt an icy chill run down his hooves and spine. Sassi simply stared.
“That makes no sense. Your Clone boarding things up? There are a lot of prisoners, sure, but very few weapons. They’d be free food. And nothing in there should have been able to get through those doors.”
“I don’t know why. All I know is that my scout was horrifically afraid of that place. A baser instinct warning it away, if the blood on the walls didn’t. The Clone waited for it to exit the tunnel before killing it. She wouldn’t send her forces down the utility tram shaft,” Joro said. Her tone abruptly shifted to that of a genuinely disturbed nature. “I don’t know how long they were using my blood, or what for, but I worry they were successful.”
No words were said, an unsettling mood now clogging the air up like a fog.
“Hopefully we won’t have to worry about that. Blow the reactor, and that’ll kill the Clone and seal off Silo Three for whoever deals with it next,” Astral said. “We find out how to do it remotely so we don’t touch that place.
“A valid plan,” was all Joro could offer. “That is all I know. I wish I could provide movements, but all I know are basic numbers and guessing from how her forces grew. One final warning is that you must kill all of her forces, at least the Skitters and Guards.”
“Not that I am arguing, but why?” Sassi asked.
“If she combines part of her genetic structure with it, a new Queen could be formed. Mutated into a new nightmare if given enough time, food, and energy.”
“So, blow up the reactor and then kill everything?” Astral asked.
“Everything. I doubt a Spider has enough biomass for it to work. But one of our troops, the Skitters, even in their mutated form, could serve as a vessel for a new Queen.”
“What about a Skitter that has a bare head? Long arms, really spindly? I didn’t see any eyes either. Just sunken sockets.” Sassi added.
Joro’s eyes narrowed at that.
“I have no idea. That sounds most unlike any mutated versions from my realm. I never have seen something like that. Perhaps a creation of the company, or…”
“Or?” Sassi asked.
Eyes flickering to Astral, the stallion swallowed his nerves. He immediately knew what the Queen was going to say.
“Or it came from Silo Three.”
There was silence for a long moment, Sassi finally shaking her head as she returned to the control panel.
“We’ll tackle that problem when it arises. I haven’t met anything we can’t kill with enough bullets. It’ll be hard enough continuing with those numbers of creatures ahead,” she muttered, tapping the keys to examine the readouts. “And I still need to think.”
Astral trotted over to her and sat down next to the mare. He was quiet as she examined the readings, but it was clear her thoughts were not on the displays.
“What do you think? I vote we trust her. Nothing else feels right,” he finally said.
She was quiet, tapping a few keys to begin the powering up sequence with a shake of her head. As mechanisms and spells hummed in the room, Sassi snagged a loose, crystal datapad to watch the readings. Trotting over to the cell, the mare stared at Joro intently for a few moments.
Only the Queen could see the turmoil in Sassi’s gaze, the mare fighting against every bit of training she had.
“Prove me wrong, Queen Joro,” Sassi whispered, only the two of them able to hear. “I want to be wrong about Astral with all my heart. Please let me be wrong about you too. I want to be wrong.”
With a punch of the hoof to the controls, Sassi watched as the collar fell from Joro’s neck, the bomb above them blinking off.
“We trust her,” she proclaimed a bit louder. “I want to trust her.”
Astral walked over to the mare, nodding in approval as the Queen bowed her head.
“Thank you, Sassi,” Joro said quietly, her gaze turning to Astral, a hopeful smile exposing a few fangs. “And perhaps you will be the meteor who helps to burn away the evil of this place,” she whispered, a few tears being quickly wiped away on her forelimb.
As the crystals sparked with magic, Joro gestured to the control panel behind them.
“Oh! Of course! Voice command, backup, and eject storage!”
With a soft click, four large crystals popped out of the control console, Joro turning to Astral.
“Guardian of the Stars, Perhaps you will find this of use, or at least of interest,” she explained. “Before my final followers were destroyed a week ago, I had them key that console for a few voice commands, mainly recording. As I have had nothing but time, I dictated everything I know about myself and my race, encrypted until now. It was to be a final record if I died, so at least something would remain of my kingdom and kind. There are two crystals in the set and one backup. Perhaps we can both learn from all of this.”
Astral carefully retrieved the crystals, stowing them in both his pack and then Sassi’s (after the mare looked them over.)
“I’ll look at them as soon as we are out of here. Thank you, Queen Joro,” the stallion said, “I look forward to learning more about one of the few friends I made down here, however brief.”
Joro stiffened, staring at the pony in shock.
“Friend?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Astral nodded.
“Why not? They’re in short supply down here. You’ve been kind and are pleasant to speak with during our short meeting.”
As the Queen stared in surprise, Sassi let out a frustrated sigh.
“I can’t get there that easily. But prove me wrong, Queen Joro. I would like to think you are our friend in all of this. We certainly need them.”
A few more tears slid from Joro’s eyes, the Traveler nodding firmly as the entire cell began to crackle with portal energy.
“I suppose ponies can surprise me in both the worst ways and the best. I am honored to have met two who prove the latter. I promise I’ll close those portals. Goodbye, my little ponies,” Joro said with a smile. “And thank you…my friends.”
There was a flash, and then the cell was empty. Red lights began to flash, but they quickly shut off as the system powered down, the cell walls sliding into the floor and leaving an empty platform.
The two of them stared at the empty cell, Sassi finally leaning her head over onto Astral’s with a huff.
“I don’t know what to think,” she muttered, “but I feel good. My training says I failed, but everything else feels right.”
“I’m proud of you.”
She tensed at Astral’s words, then melted into his brief hug.
“I know you had a ton of training. I can’t imagine how much letting her go went against it.”
“It…yeah. I’m trying to ignore it. You make that easier,” she muttered.
“Oh, I’m the world’s best distraction?”
“The best.”
That made Astral almost literally glow. It helped that Sassi meant every word.
Separating, the two were about to walk away when there was a flash of light. Two obsidian-like crystals, no bigger than half a horseshoe, stood in the cell.
Attached was a simple parchment.
“To my pony friends,
My kingdom is intact, along with most of my subjects. The portals will close within five of your hours.
Thank you for your kindness. Perhaps I will be able to repay it in full someday, or thank you face to face, should circumstances permit. I won’t open any portals to your realm. If you want to reach out, I’ll find you if you choose to establish a connection to Limbo.
Regardless if we meet again, may these two gifts be a reminder to you…and myself, that there is good in your world beyond measure. That we both have friends beyond the stars.”
Looking at the crystals, a few simple inscriptions were etched into the stone with golden minerals. Underneath the simple, legible text was another line, assumingly Joro’s native tongue. The first held a beautiful etching of a flower, the second, a depiction of a comet.
‘Sassi
Deadly Primrose
Flower that blooms in the darkest of nights.
The strongest creature I’ve ever met.’
‘Astral Sentinel
Guardian of the Stars
My first pony friend.’
Astral felt a lump in his throat as he stowed the memento, his jaw clenching.
“Something so simple…” he whispered.
His shoulder shook as Sassi gave him a nudge, the two of them walking back down the halls after she put away her crystal. The mare’s eyes seemed to have tears on having read her inscription, but they quickly were brushed away.
“Sometimes kindness can make the biggest impact of all,” Sassi finally said. “It did for me.”
Astral didn’t say anything. All he did was pause for a moment, reaching over to give Sassi’s hoof a firm squeeze before they continued walking.
They had made a new friend today.