//------------------------------// // Chapter Fifty Five: Galactic Shift // Story: We don't go to Sub-Level Five // by RadBunny //------------------------------// Sassi’s world slowed. It was automatic during any potential threat, any immediate engagement. Her targeting reticle moved far too slow for her liking. The creature crawling slowly out of the vent- And then it moved. The mare’s eyes widened, a sliver of horror piercing her heart. It was fast, the usual time-dilation perception that her abilities granted seeming to not exist. She had never encountered that before. Her first shots only grazed the creature, slicing along its emaciated shoulder. An odd sense of wrongness radiated from the experiment. Sassi could almost see parts of what used to be a pony…or a gryphon? A torso, hind leg, wing joints now mutated into smaller, clawed appendages. Skinnier yet larger than a Skitter, the creature was covered in ashen-grey skin stretched over its thin body. Four limbs were horrifically elongated, barbed claws protruding from the ends, the two smaller limbs lying flat across its back. The torso was gaunt, ribs pressing against its skin as tendons and lean muscles moved underneath. The oval head moved back and forth erratically; no eyes were present in the three sockets above a mouth filled with bloodied, needle-like teeth. And yet Sassi felt it looking at her as it dodged her shots. A blow from one of its arms scored her armor, the mare barely ducking the second strike. Odd growths were visible in oddly symmetric patterns across its neck and the rear of its head; fungus from the looks of it. The one thing that Sassi did recognize was the barcode on its horrifically-long right forelimb. A large tattooed ‘#29’ stood out plain as day next to the code. One of her shots connected. The slug punched a clean hole in its right arm. It didn’t even make the creature flinch, the explosive rounds not having hit anything hard enough to detonate. Ducking another set of shots, the creature let out a warbling roar- and Sassi nearly lost her right forelimb as an ambitious Skitter tore through the elevator doors to her right and tried to bite it off. The precious few seconds she spent putting it down with a flurry of shots let the new nightmare dart to her left. Sassi buried her hoof in the face of a Spider that tried to join the fight, forcing the mare to turn her back briefly to the open elevators to confront the experiment that launched itself at her with supernatural speed. It can keep up with me. As it was able to dodge her shots, Sassi was able to duck and jump out of the way of its strikes. Reloading one of her guns, she fired the last two shots in the other as the creature tried to capitalize on her pause. The slugs connected, tearing a chunk off of the creature’s shoulder. The head turned to Sassi again, and the needle-like teeth were exposed in a smile. Was it going to bite her? She bunched her muscles, readying to jump- No. As if to spite the mare for landing another two shots, the creature abruptly jumped sideways, aiming its dagger-like claws towards the still-incapacitated stallion against the wall. Sassi’s hooves cracked the tile with her movements. Intercepting the creature mid-flight, the smaller mare buried a combat knife up to its hilt in the creature’s side. Her guns were brought to bear, the creature’s eyeless sockets widening in apparent surprise. The shotguns roared, the two explosive slugs detonating as they impacted hard bone. With an otherworldly shriek, the creature tumbled to the floor, Sassi landing to stand over Astral protectively. The right arm of the experiment hit the floor with a wet *SPLAT*, the shoulder socket blown to pieces. Black blood already coagulating around the wound, the creature let out a low hiss, Sassi’s final shots missing as it threw itself down the elevator shaft. The doors were sent flying, the experiment fading from sensors and sound. Sassi grabbed one of the holds on Astral’s armor, dragging him down the hallway and into one of the simulation rooms. As soon as they were in, she tapped a few keys on the wall panel, guns still covering the entrance. Heavy metal doors lowered from the ceiling, the exits sealing with a dull rumble. As soon as the readouts flared green, Sassi let herself breathe normally. They were safe, for now. The world came back into focus, all the sights, smells and normal thoughts surging to the fore. She had to force down the worry that clogged her words. Astral’s armor was flashing with a warning symbol; that meant he was hurt. At least it wasn’t a severe wound. But there was a lot between a laceration and being disemboweled. He let out a groan, and Sassi had to stop herself from hugging him. “Bwa?” “Stay still, Astral. I need to figure out how badly you’re hurt,” Sassi said, her voice thankfully not trembling. “Well, I can talk, see, and move all of my limbs. So that’s a start,” he muttered, “hurts to breathe though. Ow…” “Then stop talking, doofus.” Digging out a small data pad attached to a spell crystal, Sassi ran it over the stallion. A frown crawled onto her face as red icons flashed on the screen above an outline of Astral’s body. “You’ve got four fractured ribs and nasty bruising on the others along your right side,” she muttered, carefully looking over and staring. “Oh.” “Oh? That’s not good,” he said. Carefully unbuckling Astral’s right saddle gun, Sassi placed it in front of him, the stallion’s eyes wide as his visor flipped up. “Oh.” The impact had flattened the barrel and crushed the firing mechanism into the armor plating. If not for the armor and the cushioning behind it, that gun would have been lodged into the Thestral’s side from the impact with the cement wall. The mare dug out her medical kit. “Hold on.” Astral’s breathing was light; the stallion hoping he didn’t cause himself to get dizzy from hyperventilating. His entire right side was crawling with pain, the stallion unable to take a deep breath due to the pain. Hooves beginning to shake, fear poisoned the stallion’s eyes as he looked up at the mare. To Astral’s credit, he was putting on a stoic front, but Sassi could see through it fairly easily. I forget sometimes that he’s still just a normal pony. He’s come so far since we first met. Sassi took extra care attaching the crystals onto the armor; the spells within them activating with a soft hum. Astral took a relieved breath, still wincing slightly. “That feels better; what are those? Healing gems?” The mare let out a snort at that. “I wish. Healing spells for some bones are tricky and only available in medical bays. Even with a crack, you need specialized medical equipment, because if the spell heals it incorrectly, the bone could disintegrate. The splints are calibrated only for ponies down here for that reason.” As the stallion stood back up on wobbly hooves, his face was a bit paler than before. “Oh. That’s…not a lovely thought.” Sassi was at his side immediately, letting Astral lean on her briefly. “Not a nice thought at all. But those crystals are just a splinting spell. It scans for bones out of place and immobilizes them, and has a passive painkilling spell. It’ll hold until we’re out of here or can get you to a medical table.” Sassi led him towards the center of the room, an elevated platform with a half-circle of consoles arrayed out in front of it like a peacock’s fan. “You need to rest for a bit to let the spell solidify, so we may as well look at this. I had hoped this would be a happier thing,” Sassi grumbled, making sure Astral was alright before tapping a few keys on the console. “Ah. There we go.” The large, empty room abruptly lit up with blue lights, out-of-focus lights dancing this way and that. Sassi took off her helmet, Astral doing the same. “I mean, you’re here in some sort of observatory with me,” Astral mused, looking around. “That makes me pretty happy as it is.” That goofy smile that was dawning on Astral’s face made Sassi’s heart abruptly melt into a puddle. “Oh?” was all she could reply with, Astral nodding as he wobbled over to sit next to her, examining the console. “Yeah. Guess we never really talked about some of my hobbies,” he mused, then looked at her in amusement. “Do you even know what you’re doing with these buttons?” Sassi’s face abruptly lit up in an embarrassed blush. “Not entirely,” she mumbled. “I know how to turn it all on and get to the main startup sequence.” “Mind if I take a crack at it?” Surprise dancing in her violet eyes, Sassi watched as Astral expertly tapped a few keys, the stallion sliding a few switches and twitching dials. With a flick of his hoof, the pony sent the now in-focus stars spinning around the room with an abrupt laugh as the lights dimmed further. “How did you do that?” Sassi whispered, Astral looking at her rather proudly. “This is set up almost exactly like the simulation room at my observatory,” he explained, “much-higher tech, but same focusing and rendering controls. Honestly, I think they just bought a bootleg version of the software program we use. Cheapskates.” “You have an observatory?!” He blushed, shaking his head. “No. I mean, sort of? I teach a class on Astrology at a small university now and again, and I volunteer to give tours of the town’s observatory during the summer months and maintain it. Nobody else really wanted to.” Gesturing towards a series of controls, Astral frowned. “Not sure what those do though. What is “Activate AHRS?” Sassi grinned, reaching over and tapping one of the buttons. She knew exactly what it did; it was the control she had been looking for. Astrological High-Resolution System. The floor vanished, the room spinning as every wall and surface was turned into a screen. There were a few flickers as the power draw fluctuated, but it had the desired effect. Their planet floated in front of the pair, Luna’s moon slowly orbiting it. And beyond that, tens of thousands of stars flickered. Looking over to Astral, Sassi felt her already-melted heart turn into a vapor. The utter joy on the Thestral’s face was nearly palpable. His green eyes sparkled with a life Sassi hadn’t ever seen before, hooves shaking as he tapped a single control marked ‘advance location.’ Their planet was left behind, the camera zooming through the stars as it centered in on a prominent celestial body. “The Horsehead Nebula,” Astral whispered, “I’ve only heard of high-resolution photos of this.” “There’s an audio AI if you want to ask to see something,” Sassi suggested. Astral took a few deep breaths, looking over to the mare in genuine concern. “Can we spare a few minutes? Or….” “Astral, I brought you here because I knew you’d like it. Ask away. As I said, we need to wait a bit for your ribs anyhow.” His expression brightened, Astral looking at the wide array of controls. “Uh, AI?” “Present.” The voice was thankfully a new one; disembodied and very different from the others. “Do you have the Bubbles Telescope deep field video?” “Actual file or uploaded short video widely available?” “You have the actual…” Astral began, then shook his head. “The video. It’s an older one; I got made fun of plenty of times for not having an HD version on tours.” “Automatically sharpening image. Ready to play.” Astral’s hoof scuffed the floor bashfully, Sassi looking at him curiously. “This is the video that I saw that really kicked started my love of the stars. Well, academically at least, when I was a young colt. I’ve always loved them even before really studying it all,” he said. The Thestral then glanced up, and Sassi saw a dozen emotions in his gaze. “If you want to know more about me, Sassi, this is what shaped so much of how I view the world, and how I view creatures,” his ears then flattened. “Even if it’s low-rez and cheesy.” She reached over and bumped his shoulder with a hoof. “I’ll be the judge of the cheesiness. Your name relates to the stars, after all. So just play it.” “Playing.” *Highly recommended to watch* Hubble Deep Field Video Then. Hi-Rez Hubble Deep Field Explanation Sassi’s heart was in her throat. She had never thought about anything like this; why would she? Her world was underground and painful enough. Dreams were hard to sustain without imagining the stars. But this… Feelings swirled in the mare’s heart that Sassi couldn’t pin down. Wonder, amazement, fear, and an odd peace, as if this knowledge was a piece to a puzzle of her own views that she hadn’t known was missing. Somehow the knowledge validated a many dreams and closely-held values in a way the mare couldn’t fully comprehend at that moment. To be such a small blip among an immeasurable number of...worlds? Planets? Sassi was used to categorizing things. But this was too much. It made her feel something, but the mare struggled to put words to it. A soft sniffling caught her attention, and Sassi glanced over to see Astral wiping his face as he struggled to take even breaths. When Astral’s green eyes looked her way, the mare’s heart pounded in her chest. There was so much excitement, energy, and passion in Astral’s gaze and expression. It was almost a completely new pony standing next to her. The wonder in his expression, the soft pleading that flickered across his green eyes was familiar, a simple request to not judge the stallion for the emotions he now wore openly. It was a completely new side of Astral that Sassi had never seen before. She realized rather abruptly there was a lot she didn’t know about him. And that thought almost made her want to wrap the stallion up in a hug. She wanted to know. It was so new to Sassi to see someone so passionate about something. This love of the stars, this newfound energy. Her previous curiosity paled in comparison to this. It was a simple, almost desperate yearning to just be huddled underneath Astral’s wing as he explained it all, whatever it may be. To see this life and light in his eyes grow and never fade away. She wanted to see him this happy all the time, to be the reason… Her thoughts ground to a halt. A four-letter word described quite nicely the feeling that warmed her entire body, a new desire simply to be with this fantastic stallion next to her. No specifics, a simple want to be close. The previous affection she had felt fluttering in her chest was no longer an ember, but a roaring fire. As time slowed for a moment, Sassi realized with a shock why this was all hitting now. I compartmentalized. Again. Just as Astral hadn’t let himself see her fully, Sassi realized with a bit of reluctance, that she had done the same. It was easier to see him as a security guard. A competent friend and companion, and maybe edging towards something more. This was the second time Sassi had been yanked out of that way of thinking. But now it was as if she was truly meeting him. The mare was now unable to ignore that the pony next to her had dreams, passions, and world outside of all this. He was a whole pony with his own life unrelated to the Silos. That hadn’t sunk in until now, not fully. And she wanted to be a part of that more than anything. Is this what Astral feels for me? She wondered. It would make sense, but… That thought was too much, so she forced it down. Sassi wasn’t fooling herself on this, but she had to focus on one thing at a time. But the affectionate glow still lingered, as if a pleasant reminder that her feelings weren’t about to be snuffed out. “I…” words didn’t quite form correctly on Sassi’s tongue for a moment. “I don’t know what to say, or think. I didn’t know, not really know. That’s incredible.” Astral nodded, calmly taking a few deep breaths before tapping a few keys to power down the display. “I can’t. I want to look more, but it’s too familiar. I can’t get in that mindset down here,” he whispered. “I just can’t,” he said finally. “When we’re out, yes. But I can’t be homesick or think like that. It’s too much.” Sassi reached over to pause his hoof for a moment. She tapped a few more keys, searching for a brief time before locating the rather prominent icon. A simple entering of their Admin code, and the AI spoke few final words.” “Authentication accepted. Ejecting physical backup drive. Encryption disabled.” A large flash drive popped out; Sassi carefully set it in Astral’s saddlebags. “Then don’t get into that mindset,” she said softly. “But promise you’ll show me more when we’re out of here.” Astral didn’t say anything for a few seconds, his jaw trembling as he finally nodded. “I promise,” he whispered, the affection in his gaze and tone making Sassi’s entire body flood with warmth. “And thank you, Sassi.” She gave him an affectionate bump with her shoulder, pausing as he nudged her head with his. Even a simple touch was grounding, a physical realization that there was somepony here that was her friend, and more. That last thought abruptly exploded into mental confetti as Astral gave her a brief kiss on the cheek, the stallion’s cheeks rather pink as she blinked. Before he could have any second thoughts about it, Sassi nudged her head underneath his with a happy sigh. There was no anxiety, no worries. That realization was almost as impactful as the kiss itself. Is this what it’s like to be normal? “Y’know, I figured out another thing I like about you,” she murmured, feeling him stiffen in surprise. “Hmm?” “You looked different when that movie was over. Passionate.” That earned another blush, but Sassi gently poked his forelimb with a hoof. “And that’s a good thing, by the way. I want to see more of that side of you if that’s ok.” He hugged her, and Sassi felt Astral’s sides shiver slightly. “Plan on it.” They stayed like that for a few minutes, reluctantly separating and meandering back towards the main door. Sassi chuckled, shaking her head as the lockdown was disengaged, the two putting their helmets on. It was a simple matter to walk to the electronics room and disengage the locks before heading to the elevator. “I never thought I’d be so openly fuzzy with someone like that,” she said. “Well, I’m glad you are.” As the elevator doors shut, Astral turned to look at the mare with a smile. “Let’s get out of here, Sassi.” Sassi held back a sniffle, nodding once as the two closed their visors. “I like that idea.” The elevator continued to travel, the two of them abruptly tensing. “We’re not stopping?” Astral muttered, the car then stopping. “It went straight to the scientist’s floor?” Sassi let out a frustrated grunt at that. “Odd indeed. Perhaps it’s the same electrical malfunction of why Vial hasn’t contacted us.” The floor appeared to be one of the lab-office combinations, the two Thestrals creeping along the oddly-intact area. The floor branched off to the left, a large hallway ending with a series of large interlocks. The doors were heavy, oval-like hatches with multiple locks and a single viewport in-between them. “This is the science section; a bigger floor. They should be somewhere behind there,” Sassi said. “These should have minor decontamination procedures, but I’m not sure how many due to the damage in the Silo.” The first door opened, the Thestrals moving inside. The interior was fairly blank; tiled walls that glistened as a disinfectant mist was sprayed over them as gears whirled and hummed. “One down, three t-” Sassi’s voice abruptly cut off as they stepped into the next compartment, the mare standing stock still. “Sassi?” Astral asked, the mare not moving as the door closed behind them. Something was wrong, very wrong as she didn’t answer. The Thestral hadn’t moved a muscle. “Sassi! What is going on?” No reply and Astral’s heart began to thud into his chest. “Sassi…talk to me. What’s going on?” “Awaiting commands.” The voice that responded was almost robotic in nature, monotone, and emotionless. “Commands?! What in the world are you-” The door in front of them opened, and the sight of a gun barrel cut off any further thoughts. Astral pivoted, aiming his gun at the newcomer as the door slid fully open, revealing three or more ponies behind it. The first two were clad in ragged guard uniforms; two pistols levitated in their grasp (and more importantly, aimed at him.) The third unicorn behind them wasn’t entirely visible, but Astral wasn’t concerned with him. “DROP IT!” Astral bellowed before he could even consciously think of what to say, saddle-shotgun trained on the leader. A fire roared into his blood, the Thestral baring his fangs from behind the helmet. “Whoa whoa whoa! Friends here!” the third unicorn piped up. “Lower your guns, gentlemen. Us first.” The two unicorns lowered the pistols in unison, something seeming off about them. Their features were fairly normal, a bit on the muscly side. The third unicorn let out a laugh as he trotted forwards, a somehow intact suit adorning his front half. “Fantastic! Ah, this makes things much easier. Vial was right!” he crowed. Astral’s heart abruptly chilled over. He knew exactly who this unicorn was. Despite the pleasant demeanor as he walked over, Astral felt nothing but boiling rage. It was the Director of the facility, one of the members of the Board of Directors. His name was Split Tie. “Princess!” A unicorn mare cried from her position at a monitoring console. “We’ve got a video feed! Intermittent, but we’re getting feeds from dozens of cameras!” “Record everything, and get Flask in here!” Twilight ordered, the mare’s wings flaring. Excitement dumped itself into her veins. For the first time, they could get a look at what was going on. As the horrors of the Silo began to flicker across the monitors, the excitement turned to cold dread. There was nothing but death on the screens, at least until… “There!” The communications pony zoomed in on Twilight’s exclamation, a gaggle of ponies being shown. “Survivors, and that’s Astral and Sassi in the armor!” Twilight said with a smile. They were ok. Oh no. The sight of one of the owners of the Silo made the mare’s stomach turn. That explained the lack of communication from Vial. “Do we have audio?” she asked. “Intermittent, only in the elevator areas,” the communications officer said. “Keep monitoring. We don’t know when the feed will cut out again,” Twilight said, Flask entering the room with wide eyes. “No. No no no no!” he whispered, the pony’s limbs beginning to shake. “The Director. If he’s there, Sassi…she…” As Twilight took Flask into a side room briefly. Flask’s eyes flooded with tears, the stallion bawling as only a terrified father would as he tried to explain. The usually in-control Princess felt an uncommonly strong barb of rage pierce her heart. How dare they.