//------------------------------//
// Chapter 29 
// Story: Friendly Fire 
// by Starscribe 
//------------------------------//

“Well if it's all the same, I think I'd like to get back to duty," Steelshod said, nodding off towards the loudest sounds of machinery. "We don't need any special recognition, Quartermaster. Unless you see things different, Miles."

The other earth pony nodded his agreement. "Maybe an extra ration of ale for building crew four. If you can find any in the stockpile."

Apple Bloom nodded. "Sure. But don't ya hold yer breath fer much after tonight—it's gonna be hard enough to find enough hay to keep all these ponies fed."

"We won’t." Miles waved and walked off.

"Good work, Danielle," Steelshod called towards her.  "You ever want a proper name to go with that cutie mark, come find me. I'm sure we'll be able to think of something after today."

"I like my name just fine," Danielle squeaked, not loud enough for him to hear. 

Apple Bloom cleared her throat. "Well, welcome to Imperium, the first new pony city on Earth! Well… under earth, if ya gotta get technical. But ya'll get the idea."

"Strong name," Jacob muttered, looking around him in a slow circle. His eyes were starting to adjust to the dark, giving him the general outlines of huge, blocky shapes of structures in the direction they were going. "Do ponies name their cities the way they name themselves?"

Apple Bloom nodded. "I reckon they do, on account of this place sittin' here empty for a year, ponies hopin' they wouldn't need it. Now we need it."

"Congrats on your promotion." Harley smiled politely. "Didn't know working a bar promoted into resource management."

Her expression hardened a little. "Don't, Harley. I'm not in the mood."

"Don't matter." Harley tapped her gently on the shoulders. "We've got to keep our spirits up somehow."

"How are we going to feed all those refugees?" Jacob glanced behind them into the darkness, in the direction they had come from. He could still hear activity, though not actually get a good look beyond a few blurry lights. "Unity needed Equestria for supplies, right? If you don't have the mirror anymore…"

"Let me worry about it." Apple Bloom turned and started walking again. "Short answer is we'll use more magic than ponies normally do. Back in Equestria we're used tah makin' anything we need. When it's to change seasons, we just get it done. It's already happening: earth ponies working on breaking the rock into soil. Feel the breeze? That's the pegasi. If the unicorns ever get off their sorry flanks, we should have some light down here too."

It sounded completely impossible to Jacob, but it wouldn't be the first impossible thing he had ever seen done. If ponies could do half the things they had done on the show, he supposed creating an impossibly huge, flat cave was well within their power.

Apple Bloom took them to an enormous structure apparently cut from rough stone blocks, rising high above them. There were numerous lights along it, illuminating the area all around. He saw shelves and shelves on one side, and on the other a field of strange pale grass where ponies grazed. There weren't very many, despite the structure being so large that he had first thought it the base of a skyscraper. It wasn't that tall, but it was enormous.

"I didn't know Earth had any caves this big," Danielle said, her voice awed as the square building drew closer. It didn't have much in the way of decorations, not the elegance of Unity, but it was made from solid stone and had an Equestrian flag flying overhead. "It feels like this place must be miles across."

Apple Bloom grinned as they took the steps, and humans and ponies alike stopped to salute her. She seemed to enjoy the attention. "Ah don't know the whole story, except that there was a big ol’ cave here when we started. Unicorn geologists found it, and we made sure it didn't have any connections to the surface. There literally ain't no way for the crazy colonists to get at us this time, no matter how much they feel like murdering ponies."

The building had a pair of huge stone double doors, swinging open and waiting for them. Aside from the doors, the rest of the place looked like a construction site. Fresh concrete floors instead of uneven stone like outside, but there was still chalky sheetrock for walls and naked wire along them. For all that they were underground this building had numerous electric lights, of the power-efficient LED variety. 

Apple Bloom led them immediately to a large table, which had fortunately been kept low enough to the ground that even the ponies among them could still see it. "I take everypony here first, so if you get lost you can always find us." She gestured at the center of the round table, which had a grid faintly carved into it.

It was a map of the cave. "The circles are every kilometer. We're standing in the exact center. If you ever get lost before we turn the sun on, just look for the spotlight. It goes on every hour, and you can follow it back here."

Jacob stared at the map in wonder, resting his hands against it. It was quite large, large enough for all of them to get a good look. Apple Bloom seemed to expect this, because she stood where she was with arms folded and waited patiently. According to the scale she had given, the cave was about six kilometers in diameter at its widest point, though it was much smaller in others. It wasn't a perfect sphere, and dark sections indicated areas that couldn't be traversed. A massive underground lake appeared to take up about half the space. Even so, the building they were standing on seemed so small when viewed from the angle it was displayed. "Unfortunately this is the only building we have. Construction only started again a few days ago, when…"

"We know." Jacob didn't make her finish her sentence.

"So anyway, we've got the neighborhood here. Sunny Hills, it'll be called. Right now it's just 'rocky lumps.' Most of it we're turning into farms, pulling out all the stops magic-wise. I don't really know how construction is working… I just make do with what they give me, I don't actually plan it."

Jacob was the first to find the strength to talk. "Danielle's right, Earth doesn't have any caves this big or this deep. If they ever got this big, they'd collapse because of the pressure of the rock above, right? Not to mention the heat, or the air, or…"

Apple Bloom shrugged again. "Diamond Dogs know how to dig their tunnels. I don't know how they made it—maybe magic. I know we have to worry about heat and air, but that's part of the magic somehow. Ask Twilight, she…" She trailed off, turning suddenly away and wiping at her eyes. "I mean… nevermind. I guess it's just a mystery." She turned back for the way they came. "There's a few bedrooms downstairs left over from the Dogs who built this place. Since ya'll are heroes and whatnot ah guess I'll get a few of the rooms converted for you. Shouldn't take too long. Just be mindful with the resources in the central office—just because there's running water in the pipes doesn't mean it will keep running if you waste it."

Jacob opened his mouth to ask if there would be separate rooms for the men and women, but stopped himself. They were about to fit over ten thousand ponies into this cave somehow. If he asked, they might actually give it to them. No way.

Apple Bloom took them to the room, about twenty feet square with a little bathroom attached and half a dozen tiny cots that stunk a little of dog. Other than that and a few plain metal desks (all at pony size) the room was empty. Still, it had light, it had warmth, and presumably safety as well. After losing Unity, this would be a fine change.

"No assignments or anything," Apple Bloom said, standing just inside the open door. "Ah just wouldn't feel right after what ya did. There's a lounge down the hall, straight ahead and to the right. Same thing with the food in there as the water: use as little as you can."

"Thank you." Jacob didn't know what else to do, so he saluted. Not stiff or anything—Equestrian military or not, he was no soldier. "Is there anyone we can talk to if something goes wrong?"

"Me. Bottom floor, Quartermaster's office. Ah'm around most’a the day. I'll have blankets and, uh… new clothes sent for. Take the day off—tomorrow there will be work. Oh, and Sunset was saying earlier we should check online when we got the chance tonight. Apparently she has something planned."

"They have internet here too?"

Apple Bloom turned, walking backward away down the hall. "Yeah! Real fast, too. Netflix even works!"

Jacob dropped onto the cot near the door, then whimpered as he ended up sitting on his tail. At least being so low to the ground meant that his legs didn't dangle uselessly. He was also small enough now that he probably wouldn't hang off the cot, which was nice. "Well. Guess the ponies had a backup plan after all."

"Smart bits on Princess Twilight." Harley sat down on the edge of the cot next to his, watching Jacob with concern. She also seemed to be watching Danielle, though there was still mostly suspicion for Elise. "Everypony said Sunset Shimmer knew humans better, and they were probably right. But when it came to actually running a country, Twilight was your mare. Apprenticed to Celestia. When all of Equestria had gone soft and weak, Celestia was still ready to fight."

Elise walked awkwardly to the furthest corner of the room, choosing the most remote spot near the bathroom, where she wouldn't be close to anyone.

Danielle hopped up onto the cot on Harley's other side, standing as tall as she could. She was just about at eye level with him now, at least with him sitting down. "You know ponies better than we do, Harley. Do you think they can really do… this," she gestured vaguely up at the ceiling.

Harley sat still, obviously thinking. Eventually she nodded. "Ponies always ran the whole climate themselves. Stories say they used to move the sun sans Alicorns, too. Besides, if we've got a few gatecrashing teams, we could always steal what we need from humans. Gate into some emergency food stockpile in the middle of the night, or the bottom of a grain silo or something… The only way I figure the ponies here would be in real danger is if the unicorns all get mysteriously ill."

"Something's been bothering me, Harley." Jacob spoke slowly, trying to put what he had been feeling into words. Coming to Imperium had helped, he was sure whatever strange impression he was getting was getting stronger the more time he spent around the Equestrian ponies. Sunset and Steelshod and even Apple Bloom weren't used to self-censoring the way Harley did. Ponies just weren't that good natural liars.

"Last time something bothered you, you lost your eyes, remember?" She leaned back in her cot, resting her back against the wall. She closed her eyes. "Shoot. You're probably barking up a stupid tree."

"I'm sure Eric could say it better. He's better at patterns than I am." He fumbled for a moment, but Danielle only stared. Stalwart was even less help, dropping onto a far bunk and falling asleep again after only a few moments. "I think it's about magic, whatever it is. Like, why do humans change into ponies when there's magic around? I thought about it… thought that maybe magic might be intelligent somehow, steering things towards becoming ponies. But changelings are around magic, and all the other things on the show were around magic. It wasn't like Spike turned into a pony, and he lived with Twilight for years."

Harley didn't laugh. "Oh, that. I wouldn't worry about that, Jacob."

"Why not?" He straightened, glaring at her. "Ponies taught us, ponies took care of us, but I'm sure we don't know the whole story. Ponies are all about diplomacy, but they still failed to convince the people in charge to be peaceful. Just think about what goddamn magic like mine would do in a hospital! I'm sure there are thousands of people who would rather be partway turned into ponies than dead."

"That's a good point." Danni sat down on her haunches, not losing much height. She didn't seem to be tripping over herself. It was just the way Sunset Shimmer had said—human form was  natural, but being a pony seemed natural too. He hadn't seen her fall over once, despite the way he struggled to balance on his hooves. Katie must've had a gift for it or something, because he hadn't seen her fall once. 

"The other thing I never understood was why ponies came to Earth in the first place," Jacob continued. "Sunset told me the Equestria Girls movies were crap, but there must've been a reason. A country as old and stable as Equestria doesn't just wander into a complex alien planet just because."

"Not just wander." Stalwart wasn't asleep after all, but sat up from across the room, staring at Harley. "Equestria made contact with Earth, designed the show and the broadcasts and made them to activate magic. They put on a show like they're galloping in to rescue all the helpless 'Bronies,' but really we're their victims. They made us into what we are. They made us targets. Rescuing us isn't heroic, it's damage control for damage they caused!"

Harley rose to her feet, though she didn't move to the door. "Have I ever lied to you ponies?"

Jacob shook his head. The others all showed their recognition of that same fact, each in his or her own way.

"When I told you not to go after something, wasn't it for your own good? Was I ever just shitting with you?"

Again the same reaction, though Jacob hesitated. He had given up his eye color to meet with Sunset, but that hadn't been so bad. Except that if he had listened, he would've had longer to think about whether he actually wanted to join the cause or not. Denying the opportunity Harley had offered to let the matter drop had been giving up the chance to have possibly months to think of what he would do.

Harley took his hesitation for assent. "The important reason ponies came is that they've got little bleeding hearts and they can't help coming to those in need. Any deeper than that, and it's only gonna cause misery."

Jacob was sure he was close to putting together the pieces. Once Eric got back, maybe… but then, she was probably right. He would be happier if he didn't learn whatever this was, if she said he would be. Unfortunately, that didn't help his curiosity even a little. Not knowing a fact did not make it less true. "Will you tell us anyway, if we ask?"

She hesitated, then sat down again. "Wait until your friends get back. If you're unanimous, I'll tell you. Or you can try an’ ask Sunset when she gets back."

"I want to hear it from you." He didn't even hesitate. Danni nodded as well. "But I like the idea of waiting for Eric, and Stalwart's group too. It's gonna be cramped in here, but… I think cramped is better than lonely."