//------------------------------// // Chapter Ninety-Nine: Green Tartarus // Story: We don't go to Sub-Level Five // by RadBunny //------------------------------// “Astral?” Sassi asked, feeling a spike of fear at the edge of her awareness. It was taking some getting used to, but being able to monitor how her stallion was feeling kept Sassi’s own fears in check in an odd way. “Skulls,” he muttered, stepping aside. “Pretty sure I know where some of this organic matter came from.” The mare sighed, shaking her head. “Waste not,” she said with a huff, then tossed her head. “Over there. There’s a commuter terminal nestled in that tree. Totally overgrown, but maybe it could tell us something. We had to play red light green light before. If these plants suddenly turn carnivorous every hour, I’d like to know.” “Sounds good.” They made their way to the chest-high console, the AI in their helmets unable to access the system remotely. Sassi carefully moved some vines out of the way, tapping the keypad. “Hydroponics…project list…” the mare said to herself as she read through some of the displayed information. “Oh. Well, that’s fantastic.” “I assume that’s sarcasm?” She let out a frustrated sigh, turning around. “Oh, very much so. These idiots were….” The mare paused, her guns slowly rising to point above Astral. “Astral. Don’t. Move.” He froze, Sassi continuing to angle the guns upwards slowly. As the chaingun abruptly roared, the stallion couldn’t help but flinch, something heavy splatting down next to him. “Ok. That was close. You ok?” Astral turned to look over at the fallen object, then turned to Sassi. “Physically fine. But what was that?!” he growled, backing away from the dead creature. Once attached to the ceiling in a green pod-like cocoon, the venus flytrap would have looked, at first glance, rather innocuous. The rows of razor-sharp teeth, however, indicated this plant had a diet a bit larger than flies. It was also about half the size of Astral’s body. “That is a result of what I found,” Sassi said, walking over and pressing her side against Astral’s. Even though they were in a full suit of armor, the simple pressure and acknowledgment of someone being there did wonders for the stallion’s nerves. “They were making carnivorous plants?” “Not intentionally. They were trying to test an all-in-one terraforming device. Plop it down, and it generates vegetation out of a barren wasteland. Looks like it literally took on a life of its own…and used some of the sad souls here for biological fuel.” “Anything else we have to be worried about?” he asked, the two now walking more cautiously and scanning the vine-covered ceiling. “Not sure. There shouldn’t be any spores in this immediate area, thankfully. Just watch out for those barky cocoons. It says they were also investigating potential symbiosis between plant and mammalian life forms.” “I don’t like how that sounds.” “Neither do I. It’d certainly explain where the Fonies came from, however. Or maybe a version of them.” Astral shuddered, the two carefully continuing onwards. They didn’t make it more than a minute before Sassi paused. “Vent. Left side,” she whispered. “Can you flame it?” The pilot light was already lit, Astral bracing himself to turn. He could see the vent out of the corner of his eye, and something was slowly moving in it. “Now!” Astral whipped his body around, planting his hooves in the soil as he unleashed a wall of flame into the metal grid. A four-limbed creature screeched, launching itself out of the vent and missing the stallion by a hair. It writhed on the ground, abruptly dissolving into a boiling sludge as the fire self-extinguished. “Sassi, what is going on?” Astral whispered, looking at the mess as the mare shook her head. “I don’t know. The suit says it was made of plant matter, hence why it burned out so fast. All that’s left is…organic plastics.” “Plastics?!” “It sort of makes sense,” the mare continued as they cautiously crept through the indoor jungle. “A plant-based plastic would be more durable than just raw material. Looks like whatever experiments they were running created…those.” “They’re Fonies, aren’t they?” “From what the RASP scan said, yep. Non-fungus Fonies.” Astral couldn’t hold in the sigh that echoed over their radio. “I hate this place.” The two Thestrals made their way through the jungle step by step. It wound this way and that, large trees forcing them through a maze to cross what would otherwise be a short walk. “Don’t struggle,” Sassi sighed, slicing off a few more vines that had wrapped themselves around her hapless stallion. “I’m not!” “Interesting. The AI says the movement causes them to constrict.” Astral groaned, still staying motionless as the vines pulled him against a tree. “Fascinating. Can you just…cut them?” “These things are nasty. Glad we have the armor. Those thorns do not look pretty.” With a few more hacks of the blade, Astral stumbled free. “Thanks, Sas.” She nodded, giving his shoulder a bump with her own. “No prob. Hey, at least-” He held up a hoof, the stallion shaking his head in defeat. Even though they had only been slogging through the jungle for half an hour, it had clearly worn the Thestral down. “Don’t…don’t say any at-least statements. Something always happens,” he pleaded, Sassi snickering softly. “Ok, that’s true.” As if timed by a Discord himself, Astral ran face-first into an orange, sponge-like protrusion on a tree as they turned a corner. The watermelon-sized orb let out a wheeze, and the air was abruptly saturated with greenish-tan spores as a dozen more of the protrusions erupted up the trunk of the tree. As if adding insult to injury, one of the spore bumps fell off a branch and onto Astral’s armored head. It spilled open with an almost jelly-like consistency that utterly coated the stallion in a lime-green goo. Sassi could feel the glare from behind his visor. “I didn’t say anything!” she protested, trying not to laugh. The mare saw a blip on her motion detection, and she promptly caved in a lurking plant’s mouth with an armored punch as it snaked closer. “And I vote we call these toothies!” “I need a shower,” Astral muttered, shaking off as much of the goo as he could. “Ew. I swear it’s in the suit!” “Hold on,” Sassi groaned, another plant slowly snaking towards her. Thankfully, the creatures seemed to rely purely on instinct. They detected motion, and slowly went towards it. They were also very easy to kill. A burst from the chaingun turned the ‘toothie’ to paste, Sassi then inspecting the miserable Thestral at her side. “Seriously, you ok?” she asked in a softer tone, picking up on nothing but misery in their emotional link. “Remember my um…feelings about goo? Jello and that type of texture?” he said with almost a whimper. “The armor helps. But it’s still really uncomfortable.” Despite Astral walking forwards, Sassi could see his demeanor shifting. The stallion was constantly trying to shake off the remnants of the spore-pods. The pea-soup air gave away every subtle movement as the spore blew this way and that. The anxiety in their link only increased, and that made worry prick at Sassi’s heart. The last thing Astral needed was something else to weigh him down. Luckily… “Y’know, Astral. Eventually, you’ll have to confront that fear,” Sassi said, the stallion’s shoulders slumping. “Yeah, I know. I’ve tried. But it’s just-I don’t know.” “I’m just saying. Considering how kissable you are, we’ll have to deal with that fear together quite a few times.” Sassi couldn’t help but burst out laughing as Astral froze, shock radiating from their emotional link as he stared. That much was clear even from behind the visor as amused embarrassment abruptly flooded their link. “What? I’m talking about more kisses,” Sassi said innocently, her eyes then widening. “Wait, wow. Wooooooow. Astral, really? I don’t know where your mind went,” the mare said with another laugh. “Sheesh. I was actually not going there this time! But I mean, you’re right, if your mind went where I think it did!” Astral grumbled under his breath, shaking off a bit more of the goo. The visor on his helmet cleared briefly. Through the spore-laden air, Sassi could see a grateful smile on her special-somepony’s face. “Thanks, Sas,” he whispered. She reached over to squeeze his hoof, the two of them pressing onwards. “Anytime. Let’s get out of this jungle.” “And find a shower.” Sassi giggled, a pleasant, amused hum blooming over their emotional link from Astral. “Yes, and find a shower. Eventually.”