//------------------------------// // Chapter Sixteen: Sinking // Story: Rimworld: Colony is Magic // by Anotherrandom //------------------------------// Twilight watched the flames. It was the best thing she could do to not stare at him.  Well, the better term would be staring back at him. Twilight took a look around their encampment - if one can call a few tents and a campfire an encampment. Crown at least chose the locations well, managing to find the only part of the shrubland that wasn't covered in sharp rocks.  The rocks were flat instead.  They even found a nice, not too dead bush for Lydia to munch on. Which was definitely nice for Llama, but not so much for Crown, who sat nearby and the showers of discarded thorny branches and a frankly astonishing amount of spit kept disturbing his own meal. But, sooner or later, Twilight's eyes drifted back to their new traveling companion. Ratslayer sat a few feet away from her, eating the pemmican (bleh) Crown managed to get from the Yttakin tribe - probably by leveraging her “spirit” status somehow. (She did not ask. One does not ask questions they don't want to hear the answers to.)  She expected a lot of hardships when they began their journey through the desert, but being an object of worship definitely wasn't one of them. Is this how Princess Celestia feels?  she thought idly as she scooted an inch closer to King. The colonist was currently watching his meal with the same suspicions one gives to a ticking bomb or a strangely well behaved cat. Ratslayer meanwhile continued watching her, unflinchingly. That's what she noticed about him in her few interactions with the man. Ratslayer was cold - metaphorically speaking, of course, they were stuck in a desert - and unnerving. He just seemed distant to them all.  And then there was the other thing about Ratslayer. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about- “What? Something wrong?” King asked. Twilight blinked, hurriedly tried to think of a conversation topic that would avoid the issue. “Nothing!” she blurted out.  “I'm done eating,” Ratslayer exclaimed suddenly, putting his half eaten meal aside. “I shall retire to my tent now. I recommend you do the same.” The three watched as Ratslayer slowly got up, walked to his tent and made his way inside, all the while they sat in silence. “God,” Crown exclaimed, “The new guys forehead is fucking ginormous!”  “Crown!” Twilight chastised, shooting a quick took at the tent - to make sure Ratslayer wasn't listening. “That wasn't nice!”  “But it's true,” he said with a shrug. “His head is the size of a melon! That's a day's journey just form his eyebrow to his hairline!”  Twilight blushed. She had bravely tried to ignore it, but after a day of walking towards the mountain range in a desert, with nothing else to distract her, that took a considerable effort. Still, it just seemed…impolite to bring any attention to it.  “Well, you’re the one who recruited him,” King said. “Not his fault he is a Genie. All their heads are massive.”  Now, it was time for Ratslyer to look mildly confused, right alongside Crown who just stared back at King. “Genies,” King said, like it explained everything. “You know, the xenohumans.”  “Xena what now?” Crown asked incredulously.  Twilight tilted her head, staying silent. She also had absolutely no idea what the word meant.  Strangely, she did recognize the word xeno - an old equestrian word meaning other, but when she tried to whisper it, it was translated to alien by the planet's strange language bending field.  Maybe xenohuman means human like aliens? Was Ratslayer an alien like her?  A rush of excitement ran through her. Other than her general desire to learn more about this strange place she found herself in, there was also a small part of her that still yearned for some non-human companionship other than Lydia - the llama was a good pack animal and mostly reliable mount but hardly a good conversation partner. Not that she disliked her human friends! But they were just…different from a pony.  It wasn't bad different. It was what allowed them to survive here, after all. She felt immensely grateful for having met her human friends. But the longer she was with them, the more she acted more like them. Became more like them. Her upbringing, her culture, her nature was being weighed against the values of humanity and so far, she has been found lacking. So she adapted, changed. Like a human would. Again, that wasn't bad. Well, it kinda was, but it also was necessary. Ponies weren't made for killing. They weren't cruel and cunning the way humans were. Ponies didn't spend millennia perfecting the way to hurt each other with weapons Twilight couldn't even imagine in her worst nightmares. Ponies didn't fight until they were torn piece by piece, limb by limb, and yet refused to give up. And ponies didn't refuse to die when their time came. But humans did. And so now did Twilight. She had found enough of a human in her to keep going. It was frightening to realize the capacity she had for survival at first. But also assuring, knowing that she would do whatever it takes. To know that she will try her damnedest to crawl out of this sun scorched hell so she could see her home again. That if she falls, she will go down fighting.  It was empowering and scary. If that was how it felt being a human, she understood just why it was humanity that had conquered the stars. But having another non-human join their merry band? It was an opportunity to help her reconnect back to her roots.  Twilight Sparkle was afraid she would lose herself on the Rimworld.  Finally King shook his head disapprovingly at Crown. “Genies, a xenotype of modified humans,” King explained with a sigh. “You know, like the Yttakins from the trivial village.” Crown began tapping at the side of his head as if it helped kick-start anything approaching thoughts inside of it.  “Wait a minute,” Crown said. “So those weren't furry aliens?”  King rolled his eyes. “Nope,” Crown answered with the tone of a man who was rapidly approaching the limits of his patience. “Humanity never actually met any real extraterrestrial life. Just modified terran fauna and flora.” he gestured to the dark desert around them. “All these habitable planets with functioning ecosystems? That's the old Empire's work. They send colonization probes all across the galaxy, even the outer rim, to make them suitable for human habitation.” “The Empire?” Twilight asked, her eyes briefly drifting towards the blade of Dawn, resting against her foreleg, memory going back to the units of armored soldiers burning down their colony.  “He means the Terran Empire,” Crown clarified, the two turning towards him as he spoke with sudden intensity.  “The real deal. Not the posers rummaging through their garbage. The real Terran Empire held the galaxy together for thousands of years before they mysteriously vanished, taking our homeworld and the whole webway with them,” he sighed. “That's why space travel sucks now. Nobody has figured out how to remake it. It's the main reason why there are so many isolated planets now. Like mine or this forsaken shithole.” Twilight sat quietly as she absorbed all of that, noting to ask about the webway later. Some sort of technology that made for faster space travel? Would that be their way out?  “How do you know all of this but not what a xenotype is?” Asked King, genuinely surprised.  Crown shrugged.  “Because why you learned about cat people or whatever from your corporate overlord, my pa taught me to shoot in case another imperial invasion happened.” King raised a brow at that.  “Another?” he said. “Your world fought off the empire? How? I thought you banned advanced tech.” “Most of it, yeah,” Crown replied. “But we have a huge hidden stash of old Terran tech just in case we get attacked.”  He chuckled humorlessly. He picked a piece of firewood and tossed it into the campfire, watching the flames revive from embers as it burnt.  “Ironically, I think that's why they went after us,” he said as he settled back onto a large flat stone that served as his seat. “The Empire bastards don't really produce their own gear or have much in terms of research. Not the advanced stuff anyway. They rely mainly on finding intact stashes left by the Terrans for the more fancy stuff.”  He gave Twilight a bitter smile.  “It's the slave economy, ya know?” Twilight reeled at the revelations. Ears pinned to her skull. She understood that her friends were captured and what it probably meant for them, and that there were slaves on the rim but… But this was supposed to be a place outside civilization! Away from laws and roads and any semblance of order. People would regress here back to primitive competition for survival. And so evil things from ages past would pop out here and there. That was understandable. Evil and horrible, but understandable. But a whole economy was built around slavery. Whole empire? Not only that, but a technologically advanced empire?  Slavery was supposed to be for history books and for small, terrible places far away. It should be something civilizations supposedly older- older, wiser - than hers should do.  She remembered the graves in Going South and suddenly, Twilight felt so angry, her magic reaching for the handle of Dawn. “You can get slaves to produce food or whatever,” Crown continued, not noticing Twilight's distress. “But it's hard to get enough engineers when you have to keep a good chunk of your population poor and uneducated so they can't rise against you.” “It's also probably why they are so militaristic,” King added sadly. “They have to keep a giant standing army to stay in control and they also have to keep growing - keep conquering - to justify their overblown military budged and keep the flow of slaves and wealth coming.”    “What a vicious fucking cycle,” Crown agreed. Twilight nodded, the mood suddenly very somber. After a few more seconds, Twilight cleared her throat, trying to change the topic. “So, the Yttakins are humans?” she asked King. “Yup,” he nodded. “Some type of xenotype designed for living on cold planets. Most xenotypes are like that. Artificially created through genemoding for some purpose or even just for fashion.” “Oh, so no aliens,” Twilight gave an uneasy laugh. “Well, except me” “Yeah…” King said with a strained smile. He gave a Crown a meaningful look. “Except you.” The sun was harsh the next day.  Scorching the ground and the rocky foot of the mountain, it sent waves of heat strong enough to make the air hazy. Dust was rising from under their feet as they made their way through the path of jagged stone.  They could barely see any sign of the abundant rain from not even a week ago. But yet still, Twilight could hear water. Smell it in the air. They were following the trail of scraggly trees to its source.  Ratslayer led them - as he been there before - but it was Crown who found it first. The man rushed forwards, disappearing behind another incline in the uneven terrain. Crown crouched down by the rushing spring, first pulling down his hat and thoroughly soaking it in the surprisingly cold water, then putting it back on with a sigh of pleasure. No, not a spring,’ Twilight realized. It's artificial.  “Sweet relief,” Crown muttered.   “Interesting,” Ratslayer said evenly. “One would ascertain that after staying in the desert so long one would become accustomed to the weather.”  “Fuck you,” Crown replied, letting the cool wash down the dust from his face.  “Is this the entrance?” Twilight asked, pulling behind them with the rest of their caravan, similarly soaking her mane in the water - ignoring the nagging voice in her head warning her of trusting a water from an unknown canal on a hell planet.  The water is cold. Very cold.  “Yes,” answered Ratslayer simply, pulling something out from his backpack. What was before them was a cliff face. It did not look natural - and Twilight fully suspected it wasn't. The cliff itself looked like a giant used a massive ice cream scoop to carve out a piece of the mountain.  And in a place now uncovered from tens of thousands tons of rock, a little way up into the strange cliff face, was a concrete tube leading deeper into the mountain, from which the water flowed in a steady stream. Twilight narrowed her eye.This wasn't the first ruin they came upon, but if Ratslayer  was right, this tube led to a giant underground complex that would allow them to go under the whole mountain range, saving them weeks worth of travel.  That was insane. A structure so big and complex, hidden deep under a mountain. Why? What purpose did it serve?  She turned towards King, the bulky man inspecting the tunnel with the same curiosity as her. Though she could not not notice his hand resting on his revolver.  “What do you think it was?” Twilight asked him. His brows furrowed before he shrugged.  “Ventilation shaft. Or maybe a sewage pipe?” he said unsurely. “Crown what do you think?” She asked her other fellow colonist. “…Crown?” The man stood frozen, staring at the darkened tunnel, face an unreadable grimace. Twilight slowly walked towards him, gently bobbing him on the leg with her muzzle, finally shaking him from his stupor.  “Are you alright?”  Crown grimaced hearing her worried voice. He was supposed to be stronger than this. He wasn't supposed to be afraid or to freeze in terror but… He looked at the dark tunnel ahead of them. The sheer black void waiting for him, his mind going back to that terrible day his friend died and the cave filled with corpses and- “I’m fine,” Crown said forcefully.  But Twilight stood beside him, unconvinced. Still watching him with that big, watery eye that made her look like a kicked puppy - if only when one ignored the plasteel plate armor and the chainsword resting on her back.  Crown’s face softened a little. The man gave a deep sigh. “Look, I’m fine, really,” he tried to reassure her, “It’s…nothing to worry about.”  Twilight gave him a look. One telling him that she for sure was thinking it is something to worry about, but she can't worry about right now.  “Okay,” she relented. “But, if you want to talk about-” “Sure,” he cut her off. “Let's get this over with already.”   Ratslayer meanwhile finally pulled the thing from his backpack - a sealed ceramic pot of a viscous, foul smelling liquid.  The genie looked around, marching to one of the scraggly trees, hands going overs its branches until, with one swift cut of his knife, he took the healthiest looking branch. He inspected the newly made stick in his hand, nodding as it met some sort of requirement of his, before he coated one end in the liquid. And then he set it on fire. With his new torch, Ratslayer went forth, the trio of colonists following closely behind. Including Lydia, the three of them had to lift the animal up the cliff using ropes. The Llama protested this treatment with a loud bleating.  But once up there, Twilight had to marvel at the material the walls were built from. There were small stalactites forming on the ceiling. This ruin had to be thousands of years old.  “How did you even find this place, Ratslayer?” Twilight whispered, her voice almost turning reverential.  If she was right, she right now stood in place built long before ponies - heck, Equus on the whole - had anything approaching civilization!  “I was sent to scout the mountains, with the expectation I’d die,” said Ratslayer matter of factly. “I found this place instead.” All of them stopped in their tracks. King yelped a little as Lydia bumped into him, Crown almost face planted after he slipped on the wet ground.  Twilight blinked twice. “...What!?” she managed to force out. Ratslayer gave an easy shrug, avoiding a pile of rubble on his way as he talked.  “The old priest did not like my presence,” he explained. “Saw the appearance of a deformed child as a bad omen.”  Ratslayer traced some unknown signs on the wall, following a trail only he could see.  “He sent me on a dangerous pilgrimage - to test my spirit - or at least that's how he justified it,” Ratslayer continued, his voice the same unwavering monotone. “I found this place on one of those.”  Crown shot him a look, expression turning into a scowl.  “Wow, I know your forehead is big, but that’s fucked up.”  Twilight couldn't help but nod. While she would probably not used those words, it was hard to argue against his assessment.   Then Twilight raised her brow.  “Wait, appearance?” she said. “You were not born into the tribe?” Ratslayer shook his head, the light of his torch flickering as he did.  “The elders said that one night, they saw a star fall from the sky. Following its trail, they found a baby - me - amidst a sea of flame.” King scratched his chin “Huh, probably another shuttle crash then,” he said.   Now it was time for Ratslayer to appear confused. “Another? There are more than…me?” Ratslayers mouth twitched, his voice sounding almost…hopeful? Twilight couldn't tell.  She had learned to read human facial expressions over time - a challenge considering humans lacked the large, meaningful eyes of a pony or moving ears. But Ratslayer seemed even more…impassive and detached than an average human.  King made a small snort, pointing at her with his thumb.  “Well, Twilight here for starters,” he said with a cheeky smile. “She also crashed.”  “I didn't crash!” Twilight protested. “I got foalnapped!”  “But there are also other genies,” continued King. “I met a few of them in our space harbor back home. Genies are natural - eh, well, atificial, I quess - engineers. Chill guys, maybe too much though. They can come off as a bit cold.” “Well, they explains the forehead,” Crown said. “I bet you will get along with Lilith.”  At this, silence befell them.  Twilight grit her teeth. Memory flashing back to the burning ruins of Going South. Dawn let out a soothing sound, the chain blade almost purring. We I'll save them We have to.  Ratslayer gave them his best approximation of a questioning look before shrugging and continuing on through the tunnel until they came to a cross section of several other tunnels, with one of them leading onto a platform half buried under a wreckage of unknown machinery.  “Here we take left,” Ratslayer announced.  Twilight stopped in her tracks. Dawn suddenly at her side, the chain sword whirring in her magical grasp, purple magic shedding light on the rusted metal. And the doors hidden behind them. Armored doors. With yellow lines on its greenish surface. Her head began to hurt. Why is this familiar?  “What's behind these doors?” Twilight gestured with her horn towards them. Ratslayer made a heel turn towards her direction. The man tilted his head, watching her with suspicion. “I don't know,” he answered after a beat. ”I never managed to open them.” Crown followed her gaze, but he never stepped forward - out of the light of the torch, Twilight idly noted.  “It's Terran,” he said slowly. “And positively ancient. Pre-collapse.” He turned back to her, his face pleading. “It's a vault door Twilight,” Crown said. “No sense in trying to open it. We can't waste time fiddling with it and activating whatever security this place has.” “What?!” King exclaimed.” You have to be kidding me. It's Terran! We have to open it! Do you have any idea what could be stashed there? Power armor, charge weapons, psylinks, anything!” Crown stood face to face to his friend, his finger jabbing King in the chest - right on the plate of his vest.  “Or maybe just a load of garbage,” Crown yelled, face red. “Or insects, of murder bots! Leats leave it be and go!”  King backed down a step, his voice suddenly far more quiet and subdued, but Twilight had a feeling he was far away from backing down.  “Crown, there could be weapons in. Real weapons. Charge rifles and power armor Crown! It's terran tech. You, of all the people, should know how valuable this is.” “Guys,” Twilight stepped between the two quarreling men, but her shout was ignored.   “Of course I understand,” Crown retorted. “That's why I don't want to have anything to do with it! Or do you think power armor is the most dangerous thing the Terrans left behind?” “Guys!” attempted again, her voice drone out in the echoes of the tunnel.  “Oh no, I think I have some idea about just how terrible some of their inventions were,” King said with a sneer. “After all, you already gave me Luciferium!”   “STOP BOTH OF YOU!”  Silence befell the tunnel. The torch's flame flickered, overpowered by an intense purple glow. Ratslayer stood there, mouth agape, while the two arguing men simply froze in shame.  Well, the tunnel wasn't entirely silent.  An angry whirring of Dawn's blade echoed through the underground. The sword floating beside Twilight, the air around her buzzing with energy.  For a few seconds, all stood still, until Twilight finally cleared her throat and returned to its resting place. “We will try to open the doors,” she finally announced.  Crown's face became pale. Twilight could see the fear in his eyes. “What? No, Twilight, please, you don't understand-”  “I think I do,” Twilight features softened. “Crown, we have basically nothing. We plan on ambushing the imperials. Ambush them with what? Do I just charge at them with a sword? It's a death sentence!”  Twilight stopped. Death sentence. Yes. Going after the imperials unprepared was a death sentence. Their plan was basically just hoping for the best. Because they had to do something. Anything. And this was something, so they had to do it.  They didn't care how hopeless, how terrible. Because the alternative, accepting that they have failed, was even worse. “We have to try, Crown.”  Crown hesitated. “Fuck me then,” he sighed. “Sure, let's open a vault full of gods-know-what, what's the worst thing that can happen?” “We just peek inside,” Twilight offered. “If it looks safe, we go further in.” “Twilight, I'm not as scared of us coming in as of something getting out.”  “How do we open them?” King asked. “Crown is right, It's a Terran vault. It lasted thousands of years. We can't just waltz in-” As he spoke, Twilight strode towards the doors, watching its shimmering surface. She reached her magic towards it, feeling something brush against it for a faint moment and- With a metallic clang, the door combination lock turned, the doors slipped open almost soundlessly, leaving Twilight at the precipice of a dark corridor, leading ever deeper into the mountain. “Huh, I stand corrected,” King whispered to himslelf. The unicorn stood just as confused as them. She just…walked towards the door and then the doors opened.  Crown blinked, watching the now open hallway. “What the actual-” He stopped himslef, readying his rifle and flicking the safety off as he swore again. He turned toward King, the bulkier man already had his weapon drawn, as he aproached the entrence. King gave him a small smile.  “Well. You know what they say. Don't look a gifted horse-” “Shut,” Crown cut him off. “Just…no.”  He stood at the entrance, watching the still air of the hallway in front of him. "Coming?” Twilight asked from next to him, purple glow casting shadows on the walls. “Yeah,” he finally said.    And with that, Crown stepped into the dark Meanwhile, deep in the forgotten halls of the underground, sat a coffin of metal and wire. Hiding. Waiting.  Within it, something stirred.  And awakened.