Equestria - Arkley Mansion/Research Center; hidden tunnels, 12:35 am, 10th July 20xx, Night, Weather: Cloudy
While continuing to wander through the vast, dank tunnel, Brutalight Sparcake wondered if they would ever find a way out. Although it hadn't been very long since they'd left the spider infested chamber, it felt as if they'd been walking forever without getting anywhere. She wasn't even sure where they were, or how long they'd been traveling, at the moment as all the passages looked the same. The damp chill emanating from the surrounding stone walls was bad enough without being soaking wet also. Of course she had to marvel at the level of engineering that had gone into the construction of the estate. It had to of taken years to build the place.
Behind her, Brutalight could here the others murmuring among themselves as they traveled and rolled her eyes. While their little 'alliance' seemed to have benefits, there was also plenty of areas for improvement. On one hoof, the big ponies were decent in a fight; yet the near constant bickering she'd had to endure of late was becoming especially annoying. She could actually feel a headache forming because of it which didn't help her mood any. In fact everything about this whole affair was surreal in itself.
Although it was highly likely the others hadn't bothered to learn any of the big ponies' names, Brutalight had and was keeping a very close eye on them. Fortunately, she knew Fluttershout would back her up and be able to keep the big ponies in line. Of course it really didn't help to know, deep down, that the spell used in their animation would soon expire; returning her and the other dolls to lifeless toy hood once more. On reflection, that was probably something the others wouldn't like to hear. Brutalight suspected however, that Edi was also aware somehow of that particular situation; then again, that pony was a strange one.
Even though she didn't have a full grasp of the two missing ponies' personalities, she was well acquainted with that of the remaining four. Regardless of their specific duties within the unit, it was rather obvious that Cameron and Zander were nothing more than pranksters and instigators for the other two. Even though Jaden was the groups' leader, it was difficult to imagine how anypony could achieve such a position with the way he got along with Tess. Brutalight struggled to suppress a groan at the memory of all the drama surrounding that particular pair considering how often they had been at each others throats. Even if the pair weren't actually a couple they certainly acted like one.
Brutalight felt as if she were babysitting but wasn't getting paid for it.
“Calm down, 2.0. There's no need to get your knickers in a knot.” Jaden said.
“Stop calling me that!” Tess snapped.
“I hate it when you call me that!”
As the pair continued to bicker, Brutalight turned back to them and rolled her eyes as she spoke.
“Oh, for Celestia's sake, WOULD YOU TWO CUT IT OUT! You're starting to sound like Rarifruit!”
Over a chorus of snickers, Rarifruit squealed indignantly while Tess gaped in disbelief at her.
“Yeah, well I'm cuter.” Jaden replied.
“WHO LIED TO YOU!” Rarifruit roared from between clenched teeth.
“Do you really expect me to answer that?” Jaden retorted, earning another growl from the pink mained unicorn.
Over another chorus of snickers, Tess groaned and planted her face in a hoof at the display.
Brutalight was spared from responding when they all heard what sounded like a door open somewhere further ahead and a series of footsteps heading in their direction. The footsteps were heavy, plodding... but too far apart, too deliberate. Whatever was approaching, Brutalight knew it wasn't going to be good. Silently, the big ponies drew their weapons in unison and aimed in the direction of the approaching footsteps. Moments later, the noise maker rounded a corner and came into view.
Brutalight's eyes grew wide as she took in the beast standing before them. The creature was huge with a roughly bipedal shape, much like Jaden's, but the resemblance ended there. It was naked but sexless and its entire muscular body was covered with a pebbled, amphibious skin that was shaded dark green. The monster was hunched over so that its impossibly long arms almost touched the ground. Both its hands and feet were tipped with thick brutal claws while tiny light-colored eyes peered out at them from a flat reptilian skull.
As she continued to stare, Brutalight knew deep down that such a creature shouldn't exist.
Moments later, the creature raised its arms, dropped its wide-hinged jaw, and let out a tremendous, high-pitched screech; the sound like nothing she'd ever heard before. Behind her, Brutalight could hear many of the others letting out startled yelps at the display as Jaden fired three rounds at the beast's chest, causing it to stumble backwards and fall into a tunnel wall. Incredibly, the creature sprang to its feet and with another terrible shriek leaped at them with its claws outstretched and grasping once more.
As one, Jaden and Zander, the pegasus using his shotgun, opened fire upon the monster; knocking it out of the air. One of the males scored a vital hit with a gaping hole in the beast's throat. The thing flailed its limbs wildly as blood poured from the wound. Brutalight, and the others, stared in mute astonishment as the creature continued to spasm violently; burbling through the raged hole in its throat as if trying to scream while yet more blood poured from its fists as claws snapped against rock. It was about another full minute of frenzied thrashing before the monster finally died from blood loss.
“What was that thing?” Tess asked, looking disturbed.
“That creature is called a Hunter.” Jaden replied somberly.
“Basically, its a bio-weapon; designed to kill other living things.” he continued after a pause.
“So, now we know what the big experiment was that was mentioned in that journal.” Brutalight mused, prompting Rarifruit and Edi to shudder.
“Yeah.” Jaden agreed
“Just what were these folks thinking by breeding these things?” he continued after a pause.
Nopony answered.
Moments later, the sound of gunfire somewhere further ahead grabbed their attention. After briefly exchanging glances, they all began to sprint in the direction the sound came from. Passing through a doorway, the group found themselves in a much wider cube-shaped chamber. Upon a distant wall, Brutalight saw another door and hoped it wasn't locked as she spotted the chaos occurring within the center of the room. The chaos involved the previously missing ponies' struggling to fend off what looked like a dozen more Hunters while ApplePills gawked at the carnage between them; the remains of several of the creatures a testament to their survival.
Silently, the big ponies drew down and fired upon the monsters as the group quickly approached the trio.
“Glad to see you guys made it.” Shadow greeted.
“You kidding? We weren't about to miss this party!” Zander replied.
As the big ponies continued to chat among themselves, Brutalight focused on the matter at hoof. Targeting one of the loathsome creatures, she charged up and cast a potent spell that sent violet bolts of energy bounding in all directions. The arcs quickly found their marks upon five of the beasts; stunning three, which got picked off by the big ponies soon after, and filling the air with a sickening smell of charred meat as the other two abominations fried. Out of the corner of her eye, Brutalight snorted as she watched Rarifruit and Edi fumble with fending off another group of Hunters.
“Where are all these things coming from?” Edi questioned worriedly.
“The walls! There commin' outta the freakin' walls! Let's hoof!” Zander retorted.
“Someone get the door!” Jaden shouted.
The group continued to hold firm against the onslaught as they crept toward the nearby door. Upon reaching it, Brutalight observed out of the corner of her eye, one of the big ponies working feverishly to open the door. The Hunters meanwhile, weren't giving up and Brutalight had to give the beasts credit for their tenacity. She couldn't help but wonder how many of the creatures there were as she opted to slice another apart with a pair of blades she conjured up.
The minutes seemed to drag on before the word was given that the door was finally open and the group began to funnel through. Slamming the door closed, the males quickly secured it with various objects laying nearby. The group then proceeded to collapse to the floor in an exhausted heap. The pounding at the door from outside meanwhile, redoubled; indicating that the Hunters were still determined to catch them. The sounds were almost methodical in nature at this point. Leaning against a wall, Brutalight noted dryly that all the magic she'd been using as of late had drained her remaining energy to the very dregs; leaving her feeling more worn out and weak than ever.
Letting her gaze drift, she could tell that the rest of the group was as exhausted as she felt; not to mention very much aware of the threat they still faced. The two female pegasi in particular appeared content as they lay side by side. As they rested, Brutalight couldn't help but note the irony of their situation. On one hoof, the only reason they had ended up in this absurd position to begin with was because the big ponies were compelled to protect others. She however, really didn't care what other ponies thought; particularly about her.
Once they had all sufficiently recovered, the group quietly began to prepare themselves to get moving.
“I suppose you've all had a rather exciting evening as well?” Fiora mused.
“Just another fun filled day.” Jaden retorted.
“Let's just hope there aren't anymore of those things running around.” Tess cut in.
Silently, the group filed through an adjacent doorway into another chamber. This one, while being quite large, was roughly in the shape of a T-junction. Brutalight also noted an immediate change in the air around them; a warm, sweet breeze that felt like a forgotten dream. After deliberating briefly on their options, the group opted to explore the right path first. As they entered, Brutalight was almost disappointed when the chamber turned into another dismal tunnel that stretched in front of them; the now unpleasantly familiar chill engulfing them.
To their right, the tunnel extended a few feet before coming to an end. To the left however, Brutalight could see another massive, round boulder, like the one Tess had barely evaded earlier, marking the end of the shaft a good hundred feet away. Brutalight smirked as an irritated groan from the mare in question indicated that she remembered what happened as well. Her smirk froze as she spotted something small laying on the ground in front of it... something blue. Frowning, she, along with Edi and Tess, followed Jaden toward the giant rock; trying to determine what the blue object was while the rest of the team remained by the exit.
Halfway down the dim tunnel, they discovered an offshoot to the left. Realizing that the small hexagonal hole near the alcove could be used to hide the area, Brutalight had to marvel once more at the level of engineering that had gone into the construction as they quickly entered to investigate. Inside the alcove, there was a door to their right and the group quickly passed through to examine the room beyond. The mid-sized square room they'd entered was made of stone and didn't appear to lead anywhere or contain anything except a statue of a bird on a pedestal. Exiting back into the main chamber, Brutalight rolled her eyes as Jaden and Tess began to bicker among themselves about how to retrieve the blue object without setting off another potential trap. Edi solved the problem by volunteering to retrieve it before stepping out into the tunnel several feet and using telekinesis to acquire the object before returning to the alcove. Curiously, the object turned out to be a book bound in blue-dyed leather.
They all exchanged confused looks, wondering why such an item would be left in a place like this.
“Eagle of East, Wolf of West.” Jaden read aloud.
“Well, that doesn't sound very exciting... then again, I was kinda hopin' for the Equinomicon.” he continued.
While Edi merely gawked, Brutalight groaned and planted her face in a hoof.
She couldn't believe this was really happening.
“Seriously?” Tess snapped; looking as annoyed as she felt.
“What?” Jaden asked, looking wounded.
“You are discriminating against me!” he whined in that annoying accented voice of his.
With a growl, Brutalight snatched the book out of Edi's grasp with her own magic and opened it to reveal a hollowed out space within. She blinked in confusion at the discovery; wondering what the point was.
“Ya know, its probably a good thing Twi isn't here right now as she'd probably freak out at a hollowed out space within a book.” Jaden murmured.
“Uh, yeah... best not to think about that.” Tess agreed.
“Particularly since she'd consider that an act of cannibalism.” she continued.
Brutalight sighed and rolled her eyes.
She didn't know what the big ponies were talking about... and she really didn't care.
The only thing that mattered now was getting out of these blasted tunnels and off the estate alive.
As the group began making their way back toward the chamber's entryway, Brutalight carelessly hurled the book box back toward the boulder; merely grunting when one of her companions commented on the throw. Moments later, an ominous thunderous sound of rock grating against rock grabbed the group's attention and caused them to exchange glances. Brutalight also became uncomfortably aware that the tunnel itself gently sloped away from where they stood.
Without a word the group began sprinting back toward the safety of the alcove as the ominous clatter grew louder.
“Oh, I should've stayed in bed!” Tess screamed as they all dived into the offshoot as one; the massive rock rolling past them seconds later and impacting against the wall near the entrance with an explosive crash.
“You okay, guys?” Derpigun called out to them from the tunnel entrance.
“We're fine!” Brutalight shouted back as they all clambered to their hooves.
“What set it off?” Edi asked.
“I don't know... but Tom must be real eager to see ya.” Jaden replied, giving a sidelong smirk at Tess.
“Oh, don't even start!” the caramel pony snarled.
“You do realize that joke wasn't funny the first time either.”
Jaden merely replied with a smug smirk and a shrug.
Brutalight just shook her head at the pair's antics as the group quickly exited the tunnel. The reassembled team then made their way down the only remaining path and quickly discovered another lift similar in design to the ones that had lead to the courtyard. Ten minutes and several trips on the lift later, the group was once again above ground in another section of the courtyard that appeared to be isolated from the rest of the estate. The change was welcome as they silently studied their surroundings. In front of them, amid the trees, stood another small building of some kind; a rusted metal door set inside but welded shut.
Continuing onward, they were about to pass the far edge of the building when Edi suddenly shuddered. Brutalight was about to make a comment when the group spotted something they hadn't expected to see. Standing beside an old stone fountain was a pair of big ponies dressed in similar attire to what the larger members of the team wore. One of the mares was a golden coated alicorn with a crimson and azure streaked mane while the other was a blue coated unicorn that bore a striking resemblance to Edi.
Slowly, Brutalight turned her gaze toward a particular unicorn mare, curious to see what her reaction would be to this unusual turn of events.
“Well I suppose this explains the shuddering.” Edi replied with a shrug.
Brutalight snorted as she watched Jaden draw down upon the pair; ready to fire at a moments notice.
The golden coated alicorn however, seemed rather amused by the boy's reaction as the rest of the team looked on uncertainly.
“You're late.” the mare remarked casually.
“Sorry, traffic... but you'd know all about that.” Jaden replied.
Brutalight cocked an eyebrow at this sudden revelation.
So, this explained some of the strange behavior she'd seen between Jaden and Tess earlier.
“What, are you going to shoot us?” the blue unicorn quipped in a voice that was unusually deep and nasally.
“Well, somepony needs a lozenge... or ten.” Edi piped up, eliciting an angry growl from the unicorn in question.
Slowly, Brutalight turned her gaze back toward the little blue unicorn; unable to believe this was really happening.
“What?” Edi asked incredulously.
Brutalight groaned and planted her face in a hoof. That pony needed her head examined.
“I was certainly thinking about it.” Jaden retorted, ignoring the outburst.
“Gee, and after everything we did for you too.” the blue unicorn spat, prompting Jaden to hesitate.
An uncomfortable silence filled the air. Looking on, Brutalight could almost swear she saw the tension physically swirling in the air as the two groups continued to stare down one another. She also got the unmistakable impression that both parties somehow already knew one another. Not to mention the fact that the pair appeared to be sizing them up. The silence was finally broken when Jaden voiced his next question while slowly lowering his weapon.
“So, what's your interest in this?”
“Can't a girl lend a helping hoof?” the golden coated alicorn asked.
“That's not your style, dear.” Jaden retorted, prompting the golden coated alicorn to chuckle.
“So much to do and so little time. I wonder what some other pony's might be up to right now.” the alicorn replied smugly.
Brutalight cast a casual glance toward her companions and noticed that the other dolls had picked up on the tension between the two groups of big ponies also. Fluttershout's expression in particular illustrated that they were aware they weren't being told everything; and certainly not pleased. Letting her gaze drift, Brutalight noted that the other big ponies on the team were also aware that something was out of place.
“So, what do you want to do, boss?” Shadow asked.
“We keep moving. I'm already tired of this place.” Jaden replied.
“Zan, take point, Fi watch our rear.” he continued.
A chorus of murmurs indicated that the designated ponies understood their duties while the golden coated alicorn merely smirked and waved a hoof for them to proceed. Brutalight noted some of her companions contemptuous snorts and groans as she struggled to suppress her own irritation at the mare's smug demeanor as the group approached the old fountain. Rounding the side of the fountain, Brutalight observed a panel had lowered; revealing a spiraling staircase that lead to another lift.
Zander shot Jaden a questioning look and the boy nodded his approval to proceed. Nodding again, the pegasus began to descend the stairs toward the lift. The rest of the group quickly followed. Casting a casual glance backward, Brutalight couldn't help feeling intrigued when it became apparent that the two mares would be joining them. As they all began to crowd around the lift, Brutalight couldn't help but wonder what would happen next.