//------------------------------// // Exposition!... I think // Story: Drill Through The Heavens!! // by Zaki //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash yawned and opened her eyes, a warm presence on her shoulder. She remained motionless for a moment and listened to Fluttershy breath lightly against her, the smaller pony’s sides moving slightly. Pulling away gently, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. They were still sitting at the table but now there were a few more ponies occupying the tables around them. Applejack was sitting across from them, cleaning her rifle carefully. She looked up as Dash groaned in pain, her muscles aching in protest. “Ah, you’re finally awake.” She set down the firing pin she had been wiping down, watching the pegasus wipe the thin line of drool from her muzzle and remove her glasses. “How long was I out?” Dash asked, stifling a yawn. The soft noise still managed to rouse Fluttershy and she opened an eye at the conversation. The small pegasus pushed herself up, her cheeks positively glowing from embarrassment in comparison to her pale yellow coat. “You two were out for ‘bout half an hour. Can’t say I blame you all things considered.” Applejack replied, glancing outside. “Well, I can tell you everything I promised to but the way I figure it, y’all must be starving from all the action today, am I right? Why don’t you eat and then I’ll tell you everything?” The two ponies opened their mouths to respond but their empty stomachs answered for them in a loud gurgling growl. Dash smiled sheepishly as Fluttershy looked down at her stomach in alarm, her ears flattened against her head. The earth pony chuckled and waved at Colgate who nodded, levitating two bowls to the ravenous ponies. Without even asking what it was, the pair of them began devouring the contents as fast as they could. For a time, there was nothing but the sounds of chewing and swallowing, Colgate merely levitating the empty bowls away and refilling them in silence. Applejack returned to reassembling her rifle, a faint smile playing on her lips as she did so. Fluttershy set her bowl down and wiped her muzzle, suppressing a soft belch. Her cheeks turned pink and she looked down at the table in embarrassment. “T-thanks…” She murmured, her ears flat against her head. Dash on the other hand, continued to eat. She had abandoned her spoon and was just drinking the soup straight from the bowl, her face hidden behind it. Applejack watched with amusement as the cyan pegasus consumed four bowls in a similar manner before finally setting her bowl down. Angel was sitting on the table, gnawing on a carrot that somepony had given him, his eyes never leaving Applejack for a second. The trio of ponies remained silent for a while, the pair of pegasus ponies watching as the earth pony finished reassembling her rifle with an audible click before setting it down beside her, turning to address the pair. “Now, I promised you two that I’d tell you the truth and I intend to tell you everything you want to know.” The mare sighed and set her stetson aside, the worn hat showing wear and tear from the day’s excitement. “What do you want to know?” Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash exchanged a glance. The yellow pegasus shifted a bit before she spoke up. “Why don’t you just start from the beginning and tell us what you know? If that’s alright with you, I mean…” “Well, alright. I’ll start from there then. This’ll be a pretty long story so you might want to get good and settled. “Applejack replied, pushing her mane out of her face. “So I was born in an underground village just a few miles from here. I don’t remember much growing up apart from it was darker than anything. My parents died when I was just a filly and it was me, my big brother and my little sister. My grandmother took care of us for a few years before she passed away. Our village was small, maybe fifty or sixty ponies living in this cavern. “We were all given jobs that helped with the well-being of the village. You either worked or you didn’t eat. My family was in charge of growing food and I tell you, it wasn’t easy. But we managed to-“ “Sorry to interrupt your recollection, but I thought you were going to tell us about what’s going on up here?” Dash asked, playing with her empty bowl. “We kind of want to know about these Shades or whatever.” Applejack sighed in exasperation and began again. “Alright. When I was about eight, the ceiling collapsed on our village. There were always tremors every so often and there would be tunnels that collapsed. Sometimes, chunks of stone would be torn off the walls and crush somepony underneath and we’d have no choice but to start all over again once it happened. “But this time, it wasn’t some small tremor that shook the ground. It was a massive earthquake that shook the ground so hard, we were afraid it was going to tear everything apart. That was when the ceiling collapsed. There was so much dust, nopony could see anything. The noise was… terrifying. “ Fluttershy and Dash exchanged a knowing look as the earth pony paused. She glanced down at her rifle before taking a deep breath. “When we saw the sun, we were nearly blinded. It was nothing like we had imagined from the stories we were told as fillies. Our village elder always was telling us there was no such thing as the surface and that they were nothing more than stories meant to entertain. Needless to say, nopony knew what to think. Since over half of the village had been destroyed in the collapse, it was a unanimous decision to move to the surface. “We were scared, or course. Who wouldn’t be? We were always penned up and suddenly we were set free to roam wherever our hearts desired. It took some time but we eventually decided to move to the mountains surrounding the village crater, so that we could retreat there if we ever needed to. After a few days, we had our first encounter with a Shade. Not knowing what it was, we approached it in an attempt to see if it was other ponies. “ Applejack paused again as Twilight came trudging in, levitating her small console and muttering to herself. The lavender unicorn sat at the table next to Applejack and continued prodding at the buttons on the console. “Did you get the rest of the Shades disassembled for parts?” Applejack asked her. The unicorn glanced up and nodded, returning her attention to her small computer. “Yeah, I left Fluttershy’s and Dash’s mechs alone for now. I might find weaknesses in the power systems that we can use to our advantage. A stroke of lucky really.” Twilight levitated the screen over to Applejack who peered at the display intently. “Why didn’t you just study one of the other ones?” Dash asked as she tried to peek at the screen from her side of the table. “You seem to kill enough of them.” “That’s right. We destroy them and salvage what we can from them. There’s usually too much damage done to them to provide any kind of useful information on them and we don’t have the resources to repair that kind of damage to the machinery. Repairing the damage on the one Shade you have is going to be a new kind of trouble. Still, though…” Twilight pondered for a moment. “If we could learn to capture them and bring them mostly undamaged, we could learn more and maybe even defend ourselves better…” Applejack shook her head as Twilight began tapping buttons excitedly, muttering under her breath about machinery. She turned her attention back to the two pegasus ponies waiting patiently. “Anyway, as I was saying, we had approached the Shade in an attempt to see if it was somepony else. Obviously it was not, but we didn’t know that. It attacked and followed us back to the village. We almost all lost our lives that day and the only reason any of us are still here is because of Twilight and her small band of ponies that were passing through. After that, it only made sense for us to team up. We began to learn how to defend ourselves and they helped us build our new home on the surface.” “And you’ve spent your entire life like this?” Fluttershy asked as Angel curled on the table next to her and yawned, closing his eyes. “I can’t imagine…” “Not my entire life but a large part of it has been spent either scouting or defending the village.” Applejack replied, a hint of pride in her voice. “Not many here can handle a rifle like myself.” “And she’s not the only exceptional one.” Twilight spoke up, not looking up from her screen. The unicorn was still tapping keys rhythmically, her eyes moving rapidly across the words appearing. “I’m one of the few in the region who can manage all of our equipment and keep the power systems running.” “That doesn’t explain how you ended up collapsing the top of our village in on us.” Dash asked, resting her chin on her forelegs. The boredom in her voice was apparent to everyone at the table. Applejack fixed her with a scowl. “Fine.” The earth pony replied. “We tracked a lone Shade in the desert, we attacked and things got out of hand. The ground cracked from the rampaging brute and finally collapsed in. I followed it down to make sure it was taken care of. That’s it.” “Well that’s incredibly unexciting.” Dash flipped the bowl over again, trying to balance it on the edge of her hoof. Applejack sighed and turned her attention to the yellow pegasus who had remained quiet thus far. “I know its not much but unless you have questions that’s all I got.” “Why do you call them Shades?” Fluttershy asked, stroking Angel’s fur. His leg was twitching as he slept, his ears curling lazily. “I mean… is there any particular reason?” “We call ‘em Shades cause it’s the last thing you see before you die. If you get within reach of their shadow, chances are you’re gonna bite it. Its not the best name under the circumstances. “ “That reminds me for whatever reason.” Twilight interjected. “We found the body of that creature that was piloting Dash’s Shade.” “Yeah? What of it?” Applejack asked, drinking from her mug. “Anything useful?” “Well, they definitely aren’t equines, that much is obvious just from the physical appearance alone.” The unicorn tapped a few keys and a flickering display hovered over the table. It was a visual layout of the creature Dash had fought and the pegasus had to hide a scowl of anger as her side throbbed in pain. As she could take the time to look at the creature, Dash realized how lucky she was to escape with only a few scratches. The talons alone were four inches and the beak the creature had looked equally dangerous but she couldn’t even remember seeing it. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” Twilight indicating the plumage of the creature and the talons. “It seems to be some kind of genetic engineering, if I had to venture a guess. I mean, claws and wings? Obviously this creature either evolved to hunt ponykind or was bred to exist in its current form.” “Hmm…” Applejack leaned forward and peered at the display as it flickered lazily. Fluttershy’s ears were folded back as she examined the creature on display. “You fought this thing?” “Yeah, wasn’t that big of a deal. Just got a few scratches and bruises. Can’t see why you guys were so worried.” The cyan pegasus replied, stretching before hissing in pain from accidently opening some of her injuries, the bandages being tinted crimson. “Sorry for worrying about you then. Next time, you can bandage yourself up. “ Applejack snapped at her. “You’re lucky to have escaped with just scratches this time.” Dash laughed before wincing in pain. “Very funny… In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t need luck. All I need is Fluttershy and something to hope and bet on.” “Luck and hope go hand in hand, Dash.” Twilight pointed out. “If you don’t have luck, you hope that you can survive the day and go on living. And if that’s not true, then there’s always tomorrow to hope for.” A quiet silence pervaded the table as the small group continued examining the creature display. Dash and Applejack avoided each other’s gaze. Twilight watched the two mares, her gaze shifting back and forth between them. “What happened to your sister?” Fluttershy interjected, trying to direct their attention to something else. “You said you had two siblings. We saw your brother but not your sister. Where is she?” Applejack looked down, shifting slightly in her seat. Twilight glanced at her friend before closing the display and placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder before turning to answer Fluttershy’s question. “Her sister is part of a small scouting party that circles the area. They were supposed to check in over a week ago but we haven’t had any word from them or anypony else. Right now we’re running blind because we can’t keep track of Shade activity in the area and its very important to not be taken surprise by a large vanguard force. There would be no way for us to protect the village from that sort of firepower.” “Scouting party? How big was it?” “It’s a party of four, three scouts and one to keep the others from taking unnecessary risks. I’m just hoping for Apple Bloom’s sake that they are all safe.” Twilight stated, returning her attention to her screen. “They could just have run into some trouble and they are behind schedule. If they aren’t here in three days we’ll have to send a new scouting party in their stead. Maybe they’ll find some evidence of what happened to them in the first place.” “Ok, I have to ask.” Dash interrupted. “What the heck is an apple?” “Beg your pardon?” Applejack asked, her brow furrowing in confusion. “Your name is Applejack and your sister is called Apple Bloom. Is there something the two of us are missing?” Dash continued. “What exactly is an apple? I’ve never even heard of them.” “Wait, you’re telling me you’ve never had a lunar apple?” “A lunar apple?” Fluttershy and Dash exchanged a glance. “They grow on underground vines and such. They are really difficult to grow if you don’t know what you are doing. Since I was one of the only ponies who knew how to grow them, I had to teach others how to grow them in the caves. We still grow them actually. Didn’t you have them in your village?” “Nope.” The cyan pegasus shook her head. “All we had was grass. Not really filling but it kept us alive.” “Sheesh… Sounds like you had it hard.” Applejack shifted into a more comfortable position. “Well basically it’s a crunchy sweet fruit. I’ll get the two of you a couple next time but I think its high time we all got some rest. There’s not much more we can do tonight and we can expect some peace for a few days. We’re gonna need it too if the two of you are going to stay with us.” Fluttershy and Dash exchanged a glance. After a few seconds, Fluttershy nodded and Dash grinned. “You can count on us. I’ll need the practice anyways if I’m going to learn how to operate Hurricane.” “Hurricane? That’s the best you can come up with for your mech?” Applejack asked. “You can’t expect brilliance all the time.” Dash snapped as she stood up, placing her glasses back on her face. “I can only be so awesome.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------- “Say that one more time.” “I-I uh… The Solaris extermination squad in the southeastern desert was wiped out. All but one of the pilots escaped and –“ “Enough.” She walked away, her red eyes furrowed as she contemplated. The messenger was shifting nervously, his talons clicking nervously. He watched as she stared out the window for a moment before turning her attention back to him. He swallowed and listened carefully as she began to speak. “Pull all of them out to the edges of the sector. Let them think they’ve driven us off for now.” She spoke striding across the room. Her smile worried him, the sharp teeth glinting as she continued. “I’ll direct this personally and make sure that this issue is cleared up once and for all. Now go and deliver my orders. I’ll be heading out shortly.” “Yes, ma’am.” He turned and left, leaving her alone in her room. She adjusted her jacket slightly, getting the fur out from underneath the collar. Her footsteps echoed as she turned back to her mirror. After examining her reflection for a few moments, she turned and left the room. As she strode down the hallway, the griffons cleared the way for her and kept their heads down. Only one wasn’t fast enough to get out of her way and she shoved him aside without a backwards glance. Reaching the hangar, she headed towards her own mech. It was a heavily modified version of the standard Shade model, the actual body barely resembling the original form. It was a source of pride for her, having done most of the adjustments herself and fashioning it into a personal weapon of herself. It was her pride and joy. She carefully navigated up the outside and climbed into the pilot seat. She closed her eyes and merely sighed, enjoying a moment of silence alone with her friend. It was rare for her to have moments like this. But duty calls. She ran a gentle hoof over the spiral screen as it hummed to life, the entire machine waking from its slumber. The controls locked around her legs and she guided it on its feet. As she maneuvered it to the exit, she felt a grin appear on her face once more. “Come on, Nova.” Vinyl purred. “Let’s go exterminate these filthy pack mules…”