//------------------------------// // Into the depths. // Story: Good luck sir. It's been an honour. // by Jessofages //------------------------------// "Men, we led those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep 'em from gettin' their filthy claws on Earth. But we stumbled onto somethin' they're so hot for, that they're scramblin' over each other to get it. Well, I don't care if it's God's own anti-son-of-a-bitch machine, or a giant hula hoop, we're not gonna let 'em have it! What we will let 'em have, is a belly full of lead, and a pool of their own blood to drown in!" - Sergeant Avery Johnson. "Did I do something wrong ?" The monitor asked after several moments of all the occupants of the room giving him a mixture of blank, confused and shocked expressions. "Granted, I have not had an interaction with sentient creatures for quite some time. However, I don't think that quite deserves the reception that I'm receiving." He added in quick succession, not giving the Reclaimer or his companions any time to get a word in edgewise. "Wowie zowie !" Pinkie suddenly cried, turning her attention away from the human and towards the strange object that continued to hover several meters away from her. Ignoring the expressions of concern from her friends, she began bouncing towards the sphere, blabbering near-incoherent, quickly stringed together questions and statements as she went. "My names Pinkie Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie ! What's your name again ? Why do you live in a hole in the ground ? Do you have any friends ? Why are you a ball ? Can I play soccer with you ? I have to introduce you to everypony ! Oh, and then there's your party to plan. What kind of cake do you like ? What's your favourite song ?..." The river of questions continued to flow for another minute or so, with Pinkie bouncing giddily around the sphere the entire time, before she suddenly stopped as though a massive brain wave had hit her. "Can I ride you ?!" She asked with a grin that shouldn't be possible. Quite taken aback by the sudden outburst from the pink coloured quadruped, Parity attempted to process the steam of questions he had been given when he hesitated on the last one. "Can you wh..." The monitor began to ask before he was quickly silenced when a large weight appeared on top of him and threatened to bring him crashing to the ground. Alarmed, he applied as much force as he could in an attempt to keep himself from crashing, whilst catching the occasional glimpse of bright pink from above him. Finding his power insufficient to keep himself afloat, he began to fly in random directions, attempting to dislodge the pink weight the stood on top of him. "Get it off ! Get it off ! Get it off ! Get it off ! Get it off ! Get it off !" He wailed to the onlookers in his usual high-pitched, artificial voice as he bobbed and swayed under the excessive weight. The whole situation had turned rather comical. The room had gone from a heated argument that threatened to turn to violence, to the sight of Pinkie riding the unexpected visitor as though it were a mad cow, bucking and swaying in every which-way as it tried to dislodge Pinkie. Twilight allowed the spectacle to pass for several moments before she finally came around to halting the pair mid-flight within a purple aura and swiftly separating the two, placing Pinkie securely behind her and allowing the sphere to recompose and level itself before she released her magic. After that, not a single occupant in the room dared to speak, for within their midst was something that none of them could come close to guessing what it was. The group was simply flabbergasted. Forge, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight and Celestia all wore the same expression of shock mixed with a hint of uncertainty, Fluttershy had apparently collapsed and Pinkie Pie sat on her flanks with her fore-hooves crossed as she pouted after being separated for a potential friend. The silence was brought to a sudden halt however, as Parity had finally regained his optimum altitude. Making a noise that would suggest that he was clearing his throat, he said, "No, I'm fine, thanks for asking." As he looked over the audience once again. "I'm used to having... you know.... four-legged pink things on top of me." He added with a sarcastic hint to his artificial voice. "Granted, I don't know if that was some kind of greeting or not. But if it was, then I would much like for it to not happen again." He insisted, casting his faint yellow glow over the crowd. "What are you ?" Rainbow finally spoke up, cocking her head slightly as she observed every detail on the sphere. "Me ?" Parity asked, looking on both sides of him before realising that the quadruped would be addressing no-one else. "I, am a monitor." He answered with a sense of pride. "A monitor of a facility. This facility to be exact." Making sure that the winged being completely understood him. "And I have come to collect the Reclaimer." He continued, anticipating the next question as he turned his gaze towards the Forge. "You and I have much to do." He added with a slight sense of excitement looming in his artificial voice. "And what do you intend to do with the human ?" Celestia asked as Forge began to open his mouth and give his reply, rewarding her with a frown from the human who once again, looked as though he might blow up at her at any given moment. "What do I intend to do ?" Parity repeated to himself. "What don't I intend to do ?" He said as he answered the quadruped's question with another. "Nearly everything down there needs a Reclaimer to activate it or the blasted things just won't work." He explained, although he didn't intend on giving any more information to those whom it didn't concern. "So if you don't mind, I'll be taking the Reclaimer off your hands.... or, er.... hoofs, and I'll be out of your hair. Quick as that." He added, hoping to get stuck into the contraptions that laid below as soon as possible. "Alright, just everyone hold the hell up." Forge finally spoke up in a voice that was much louder than was necessary as he held his hands up defensively. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm sick of this place and everything in it." He added, his temper beginning to rise once more. "All I want to do is get off this godforsaken rock." He put flatly. "And if you can't do it, then I'll find someone who can." He finished, pointing a gloved finger towards Celestia as he gave her yet another hateful glare. Parity suddenly realised how he was going to get the Reclaimer to co-operate. "You want off ?" He asked, already knowing the answer. "I can get you off." He quickly added, causing the Reclaimer to raise an eyebrow in interest. "All I need you to do is come with me and give me a hand with with a few things. Down there. In the facility." He said, gesturing towards the entrance anxiously, hoping that the Reclaimer would accept. "And what exactly is down there ?" Celestia asked, cutting off Forge once more before he had an opportunity to respond. "And what do they do ?" She added, somewhat concerned as to what the unexpected visitor had in store. "Well... ah." Parity began to explain, but found the question harder to answer than he had originally thought. Indeed, he did have a complete inventory of everything in the facility and could have listed them off without pause, but he found his tongue held when he realised that revealing what they all did may change the quadruped's minds in a matter of seconds. Thinking up an answer as fast as he could he responded, "They're all machines and gizmos and whatnot." He said sheepishly. "Quite boring actually. You shouldn't really bother with them." He added, hoping to change the subject, however, he was met only with an expectant stare from the larger, winged quadruped prompting him to add a little more. " But if you really must know, they do lots of things. You know, some that move, some that don't." He answered concerned that his lack of a decent reply would be discarded and the Reclaimer would be kept from him, not that would be a problem, but he would prefer to avoid any violence if he could. "Who cares what's down there ? As long as there's something that can get me off this rock, I don't really care." Forge interjected before anyone else could respond, his patience running dangerously thin. "Show me." He added flatly towards the sphere, who continued to glare at him with its single, yellow eye. "Excellent !" The monitor said with enthusiasm. "Now if you'll kindly follow me, we can get started immediately." It added as it began to hastily float back towards the opening, checking back to check that the Reclaimer was following more than once. "Forge, stop !" Celestia called out as the human neared the stairs that disappeared into the floor. The human however, appeared to have either not heard her or he had simply ignored her as Celestia watched him begin to descend the stairs after the strange sphere. "Twilight. Take your friends and follow them. I'll stay up here and organise some guards to follow after you." She quickly instructed, not wanting to lose the pair in what she assumed was a maze that lay beneath her feet. "Make sure no harm comes to Forge, I fear that something very bad is about to happen." She added, suddenly fearful as to what exactly was down there. "Be careful, and if something does happen, call out and the guards or myself will surely find you." She said, hoping that such an event wouldn't occur. "Now go ! Before they are lost." She finished, receiving a curt nod of understanding from her pupil as she and her friends darted for the entrance, quickly disappearing as Forge and the sphere had. "I swear I've seen something like that thing before." She said to herself, straining her memories for any vague connection to both the sphere and its so-called facility. "I don't think you quite understand just how exciting this is for me." Parity finally said after the two had finally descended into the facility and the light above began to dim rapidly as they ventured deeper into the tunnel. "I mean, I've waited so long for this you to arrive, and now you're finally here !" He exclaimed, trying his best to contain his enthusiasm. "And I trust that you are equally excited, correct ?" He asked, knowing that the Reclaimer was directly behind him due to the being's heavy footsteps which echoed throughout the empty tunnel. "Yeah, it's great." Forge replied, his sarcasm not hidden in the slightest. "Does this place have any lights, or am I just going to be blind for all this ?" He asked as his vision began to decay and eventually, all he could make out was the faint yellow glimmer coming from his guide. "Oh right. You can't see in the dark, can you ?" Parity replied rhetorically. "Just wait here, and I'll be right be, Ok ?" He said without waiting for a reply before he continued down the tunnel in search of a control panel. "Don't go anywhere !" He called back as he shot up through a maintenance shaft, this being the fastest way to trverse the confines of the facility. Forge considered calling out, but held his tongue as the faint yellow light gradually disappeared completely into the roof somewhere, figuring that it would benefit him more if he just did whatever it was this thing wanted him to and get back to the UNSC as soon as possible. After a moment or two of complete blackness, the faint hum that came from the sphere had died down completely and Forge found himself alone in the dark. He never did like situations like these, as something always tended to happen when all the lights went out. Cursing himself for not retrieving his weapons back on the surface, he kept silent and listened as closely as he could for anything else that may be lurking in the confines of the tunnel. Several more minutes had passed and Forge, who had not heard anything, began to contemplate the choice of blindly continuing on his own when he heard what sounded like footsteps approaching from behind him. Cursing under his breath, he did the only thing he could and waited, listening to the sound of what seemed like a small group closing in on his position, bracing himself to either run or confront the unknown. As he continued to listen, he began to pick up what sounded like voices coming from the same direction as the footsteps. Straining, he managed to pick out several sentences being said by the unknown presences. "Darnit Rarity ! Stop steppin' on ma hooves !" "I am sorry darling, it's just so dark down here I can't see where I'm going." "Where do you think that thing and its new friend have gone ?" "I don't know, but they can't be too far ahead." Forge's fears were quickly banished as he realised that they belonged to the horses who had followed and tried to befriend him during his time on this planet. He figured that they were just about to run into him when he heard a low hum begin resonate through the tunnel, causing the voices behind him to quickly silence and the footsteps to cease. The hum continued to grow louder for several moments before it peaked and a bright flash caused Forge to place a forearm over his eyes. After squinting and blinking profusely for a moment, Forge found the previously pitch-black tunnel to now be bathed in a light blue light, revealing a cross-cross, vein like pattern that covered the walls. Impressed, he eyed the detail in the pattern as the group of six behind him gradually approached. "See ? I told you we'd find him soon." Twilight announced proudly as she looked over the groups find, who seemed more interested in the walls than their presence. "What do you want Purple ?" Forge asked plainly, still refusing to make eye-contact with the ponies as he observed the walls, felling a sense of Deja' vu as they looked strangely familiar to the ones he had seen on the planet Harvest near Alpha base. "If I'm not mistaken, that sphere thing said nothing about you lot." He pointed out, beginning to wonder if the strange little being had forgotten where it had left him. "Well... uh, yes that's true, but the Princess ordered me to follow you and make sure nothing happens to you." She pointed out, getting the slight feeling that the human was trying to get rid of her. "Is that so ?" Forge responded rhetorically. "I'm flattered, but I really don't need protection, especially from some...." He trailed off as a familiar artificial voice overwhelmed his own. "I'm back !" Parity announced as he bobbed down the now illuminated tunnel towards the Reclaimer. "And you're right where I left you, excellent." He added, more to himself than anyone else. "And I see that these creatures have decided to join us." He continued, casting his yellow gaze over the small troop of ponies, his tone making it impossible to tell if he was pleased or not. "I have no use for them, but that doesn't mean that they can't enjoy a small tour while we tend to business, right Reclaimer ? Now... shall we ?" He asked and without waiting for an answer, began to traverse further down the tunnel, forcing the group to follow closely behind him or risk becoming lost within the tunnel and the many others that branched off from it. "Can't we just wait a minute ?" Twilight asked after the group had only moved several feet. "I mean, you haven't really told us what we're doing down here." She pointed out to the hovering ball. Parity stopped and hovered mid-air for a second before giving a heavy sigh and slowly turning towards the quadruped. "Firstly, no we cannot wait. Secondly, you won't be doing anything, remember ?" He said, acting as though he were talking to a child. "This is between the Reclaimer and myself. I am merely letting you tag along because it would benefit the surprisingly small amount of data I have on your species." He continued, remembering how he had little to no information on the planet's inhabitants stored within the facilities mainframe. "If you do not wish to accompany us, I can always have you escorted back to the surface." He offered, feeling his growing impatience with the multi-coloured being's pestering. "Escorted back to the surface." Rainbow repeated with a scoff, clearly mocking the sphere. "And who exactly is going to do that ? You and the ape ?" She mused. "There's six of us and only two of you." She pointed out with a smug grin. "Well, not myself per se. But I'm sure these gentlemen wouldn't mind doing the honours." He retorted. Confused by the sphere's reply, Rainbow was about to further insult the ball when she heard a low hum coming from behind her. As the group turned in unison, they came face to face with three more hovering and even stranger looking robots. All three had a greyish-white colour and had two arm-like appendages protruding from their main body sections, with what appeared to be a grapple extensions on the end of each of their 'arms'. Shocked by the sudden appearance of the beings, all of the ponies gave a gasp, except for Fluttershy, who promptly passed out as soon as she caught a glimpse of the new arrivals. "Does it always do that ?" Parity asked curiously, floating closer to the Reclaimer and directing his voice so that only the human could hear him. "From what I've seen, yeah." Forge replied with next-to-no emotion in his tone, his impatience with the whole situation becoming blatant. "Hmm." Was all Parity replied with, surprised that a creature could become so frightened that it could pass out by simply looking upon something new, remembering how it had also done the exact same thing when he had been relieved of the pink quadruped and was finally given the chance to properly introduce himself. "Anyway." He started, his usual joyful tone returning. "On with the tour !" He announced before continuing along his previous path with the Reclaimer, the quadrupeds and three of his sentinels in tow. "And down there is one of the main control rooms, I must remember to show you that when we are finished." Parity said as he gestured down yet another of the many off-tunnels the group had passed, continuing with a seemingly endless stream of ramblings about the facility, the various things located within its age-old walls and how he had spent his time while 'on duty'. The monitor had been speaking almost the entire time that the group had been travelling, pausing only to answer any questions the Reclaimer might have in great detail. The questions the quadrupeds had however, were met with a simple and blunt answer, suggesting that Parity wasn't enjoying the ponies company as much as he had first made out. "Oh, are we there yet !" Rarity whined. "My hooves are starting to get sore." She complained, treading each step with as little effort as possible for the sake of her hooves. "Ah agree" Applejack piped up. "This tour of yours has been nothin' but tunnels and things you won't show us." She pointed out. "That is because we haven't gotten to the good bits yet." Parity assured them, completely oblivious to the fact that walking for too long could affect both one's mood and patience. "But not to worry, they are just past this door here." He added as a large, sturdy door finally came into view at the end of the tunnel. "Finally, the Princess will want a full report on everything down here." Twilight said, earning her nothing but silence from the sphere, whether it had heard he or not she couldn't tell as it was near impossible as the ball possessed no physical body language which would suggest otherwise. "If you will kindly give me a moment, I'll have this door open in no time." Parity said as he floated up to a small panel next to the door, causing it to flicker on with a 'click'. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie had almost lost all enthusiasm with the trip, even with the ball's promise of interesting things. Sighing she turned her head and peered down one of the other tunnels that branched off from the one she was currently in. Spying something large and shiny in a room at the end of the tunnel. "Oooh, what's that ?" She asked, pointing down the tunnel with a hoof as her smile quickly returned to its original luster. "What's what ?" Parity asked, pulling his attention away from the array of numbers and sentences that darted across the panel in a language he was sure none of his companions could read. "Oh that, that's..... something you shouldn't be seeing !" He said, alarm rising in his voice as he saw the Pink quadruped begin to bound down the hallway at an alarming rate. "S... stop it !" He yelled at the sentinels who beeped softly before turning and speeding down the tunnel after the pink bullet. "Quick quick quick, get it !" He continued to rant as the creature came dangerously close to the room, the object within almost in its grasp. "Wait, I know what to do." He suddenly said to himself as he hastily flew back towards the panel, a last-minute idea striking him. "Ok. Now stay calm." He continued to say to himself as he flicked through the various commands that lined the panel. "And, there we go." He said as the panel emitted a beep and flashed briefly before several loud crashes of metal were heard at the other end of the tunnel. As the group stared down the tunnel, what they saw was quite the sight. In a heap lay Pinkie Pie underneath the three sentinels, who promptly regained their altitude. The trio and Pinkie had apparently barged full-speed into the heavy metal door Parity had closed only moments ago, leaving Pinkie looking as though she had been hit by a train. "Wh.... what happened." She slurred as two of sentinels dragged her by her rear legs back to where the group still stood, all of whom wore an amused grin at what had just happened, excluding both Forge and Parity. "Never ever leave the doors open. Never." Parity mumbled to himself as he returned to working on the door he was meant to open. After making sure Pinkie hadn't suffered too large of a concussion, Twilight asked, "So what exactly was down there." As she looked back towards the end of the tunnel where the door still firmly stood, her curiosity growing. "Must be important if you don't want us to see it." She added, hoping to get the sphere to spill something on what it was keeping in its facility. "What that was is none of your business." Parity snapped back, his normal tone suddenly changing. "It is between the Reclaimer and myself." He said flatly, making it clear that he wasn't about to tell these creatures everything about anything in his facility. "Now, why don't we just try to enjoy the little bit of tour you have left, hmm ?" He asked, returning to his usual, joyful tone as the panel finally gave a soft 'beep' and the door responded with a loud 'click'. "Ah ha ! There we go." Parity announced proudly as the door hissed violently and several jets of steam appeared around its edges. "Reclaimer. Things I have yet to learn the names of. I give you.... the crown jewels of my facility." He said proudly as the door began to retract, revealing the large chamber beyond. "What the hell are those ?" Forge asked with a bewildered expression as he slowly began to follow the monitor into the spacious chamber... "Guardsman." Celestia said as she looked upon the guard whom she had called upon to gather the necessary troops for her. "Your orders are to go down there with your platoon and secure this... facility." She said, obvious concern in her voice. "Take no unnecessary risks, but I want whatever is down there secured and kept away from the human. And remember, do not touch anything down there. Do you understand ?" She asked, her voice echoing slightly around the throne room. "Completely your Highness." The guard replied with a brisk salute. "You heard the Princess men." He said, turning towards the group of armoured stallions behind him who numbered twenty strong. "We are to pile in and fan out. Search for the Princesses student and her friends and to keep a constant eye out for the human." He instructed, relaying most of what the Princess had already told him before in a brief, private meeting. "Once the human has been located, call for the rest of the squad. Detain it if it is uncooperative." He added, silently hoping it wouldn't come to that. "Let's move out." He ordered, receiving a loud "Sir, yes Sir !" From every stallion as they began the decent into the facility, their hoof-steps echoing around the room with every step they took. "Please let nothing have happened yet." Celestia pleaded to nopony in particular as the last of the guards disappeared into the facility. "We just need more time." She said to herself as she thought of her next course of action, dearly hoping that what she had learned after Twilight left was false and what lay in the facility did not exist...