*Friendship Not Included

by Liquid Truth

Shove Vole Night

Metal Volcano Tamers were the best examples of the few times The Manager decided to be as lazy as possible and see if she could get away with it. All she did was box a volcano with insulated walls, fill the room with lots of water, then put a steam turbine above it. Over time, the molten metal spat out by the volcano would boil enough of the water to turn on the steam turbine, then the condensed steam from the turbine was sent back into the box to cool the metal enough to be used.

She got away with it. The design was then used all over the colony to harvest the metal and prevent the heat from leaking out.

Sunset Shimmer came out of one such contraption with a chunk of iron just cold enough to not be red-hot. Still wearing a spacesuit, she enlarged it and dipped it into a small pool of water nearby with a loud sizzle. "Here you go."

Twilight took the chunk of iron from Sunset. It was still hot, but not dangerously so. In the relatively chilly atmosphere of the caverns, the heat was almost comforting. "Thank you."

"Aww, you're starting to say thank you now!"

"I'm learning. Don't tempt me to stop doing it."

Sunset giggled. "Whatever you say, Twilight. Well, you should be going now, then."

Twilight stopped her before she could go back to the exosuit dock. "Sunset, one question."

"Shoot."

Twilight tapped her hoof on the ground. "You... designed the biological cargo bay, didn't you?"

Sunset nodded. "The thing that doesn't really have any practical use. What about it?"

"I don't suppose you still have the schematics for it?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Of course, I do. They're in the archives. What for?"

"A project. With Belle."

"Belle?" Something curious sparked behind Sunset's eyes. "She's getting back to research?"

"I convinced her to."

"Huh. You need any help with it?"

"Yes. That's why I asked Belle to help me."

Sunset frowned. "Is there anything I can help?"

Twilight shrugged. "Probably. I don't really want too many Dupes on this project, though." She looked right and left then stage-whispered, "It's a secret."

Sunset Ooh'd. "Still. I bet Belle is excited to have something else to do other than moping around and drinking tea?"

"Yes, she—" Twilight clamped her mouth shut. "...tea?"

"Pincha Peppernuts can be processed into different types of caffeinated beverages depending on how you do it..." Sunset continued blabbering about the many derivatives of caffeinated beverages while making some elaborate gestures with her hooves. Supposedly they were to visualize what was done to the peppernuts and not to summon demons. Twilight was entranced. "...And if you grind the peppernuts like that instead of this, the extract would taste more like what our ancestors call 'tea' other than—shove vole."

"Taste like shove voles?"

Sunset pointed behind Twilight. "There's a shove vole behind you."

Twilight turned around and, sure enough, there was a head poking out of the ground. "What's a shove vole doing this deep in the colony?"

"You suppose that's the shove vole that escaped at your incident?"

"That was a dozen cycles ago. I don't—"

There was an explosion of dirt and loud squealing. Sunset barely blinked from behind her spacesuit. Twilight was sent tumbling a few paces away.

"Shove vole!" shouted a voice. "Where's the shove vole!?"

"Oh, hello, Rarity. Hunting for shove voles?"

"Oh, hello, Sunset," Rarity answered, her voice as smooth as silk and as jittery as a hatchling. "I am, in fact, hunting for shove voles. You know how annoying those little critters could be. I don't suppose you've seen one? Preferably recently."

Sunset pointed to her left.

Rarity spun her head around and found the shove vole perched on Twilight's back. "Shove vole!"

Twilight blinked the stars away from her vision. She was immediately aware of the weight on her back and, seeing the murderous look on Rarity's eyes, frantically threw the shove vole away from her.

With her eyes never leaving the vole, she emerged from the hole that she dug with a laser gun ready.

"Rarity, wait!"

Rarity shot her gun and hit the ground next to the shove vole. It squeaked and, coming to its senses, buried itself on the wall.

Sunset grabbed Twilight away from Rarity's path to the hole that the vole dug. They were a little slow, but luckily, the vole dug itself deep enough to somewhere unreachable, thus shutting down Rarity's Override Software.

Sunset waved a hoof in front of Rarity's unblinking face.

Rarity sighed and politely pushed the hoof away. "I'm sorry, everypony. I've been chasing the little fellow for quite some time now, you see—" Rarity gritted her teeth "—It's starting to get on my nerves."

Twilight chuckled nervously. "You need help with it?"

"I haven't slept for three cycles." Her eye twitched. "Some help would be lovely, although I doubt you'd be of any help."

Sunset's ears drooped as she strained a smile. "If that means you're not shooting us?"

Rarity sighed. "Fine. Guns at the ready." She retracted her laser gun and took out the other laser gun, the one for mining. She nodded at Sunset to take off her spacesuit first.

"Wait!" Twilight shouted, then checked back at the mental map of the area. "There's an obsidian vein nearby. We can trap it around it!"

"Good idea." Rarity dialed up her mining gun from 1 all the way to 10. "Ready?"

Sunset returned from the checkpoint with her laser gun mounted on her back. "As I'll ever be."

Rarity queued a request to dig a whole chunk of the area, which was quickly accepted by The Manager. She flashed a smile big enough to send shivers down Twilight's fur.

"Uh, Rarity?"

"Yes, Twilight?"

"Please remember we're here."

Rarity toned down her grin to a pleasant smile. Twilight immediately fell in love with it. "I shall keep that promise until my Override turns back on." She then cranked the dial in her mining gun to 11, then again to a normally-nonexistent dial marked 'yes' with a paper tape.

Despite the assurance, Twilight and Sunset took a few steps back.

And it was the right choice because what happened later could only be described as 'evaporation.' A path was carved on the wall in a matter of seconds, going deeper into the depths easily at trotting speed. Giant boulders the size of Duplicants was reduced to dust and slag, creating jagged flooring nopony would want to fall into. As they go deeper, Rarity started going sideways and creating an opening. Twilight stood behind Sunset at all times. Her cap was a lot less protective than Sunset's thinking hat.

A few minutes passed. The dust settled, and with the headlight from her helmet shining bright, Rarity's silhouette emerged triumphantly over the evil, no-good rocks. A sizable cavern was there where there had been solid bedrock.

Twilight clapped her hooves. "Are you finished showing off?"

"Not quite," Rarity answered calmly. "Should the need arises, I'll swoon you even further with my digging skills."

"I don't think my blueprint's donor was into miners."

Rarity gave her a sly smile. "But your donor was into mine, wasn't she?"

Sunset coughed loudly and steadied her gun. "Anyway! Shove vole."

Twilight cast a scouring spell over the area. "It's somewhere there." She pointed at the ceiling, where a thin layer of sedimentary rock was left between the opening and the obsidian vein. Her ears perked up, and she could hear the silent clinking of a critter trying desperately to dig into the obsidian.

Rarity grinned. "Finally, you're finally going to be mine!"

"Aren't you killing it?"

"...My dinner!"

"Wow. Where's your evil laugh?" Sunset jokingly asked and regretted when Rarity actually let out a "Mwahaha!"

Twilight glanced at Sunset. It was dark, but they could make up each other's worried faces. "Rarity, I think you should sleep."

"Just let me finish this one first, alright?"

"That's what we're worried about," Twilight said as she dialed down Rarity's mining gun. "Any more mental strain from the Override and you may snap. I'm not talking about a stress response either; I'm talking about your actual blood vessels."

Rarity glared at her. "I'm going to snap yours if won't let me finish my combat task!"

Twilight glared back.

Rarity's right eye twitched.

Twilight kept staring.

Rarity squinted.

Twilight put a hoof over Rarity's eyes. A few seconds later, the cave was filled with the sound of pleasant snoring.

"Twilight?"

Twilight slid under Rarity and stood up, carrying her like a saddlebag. "I'm not taking any risks of being around a homicidal Dupe." She craned her neck and looked at Rarity's tired face. "And she's tired. Very tired. I don't know if The Manager noticed since there are only so many Duplicants she could put her attention to at once."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm taking her to her bed." She glared at the ceiling. "And I have a little lecture prepared for a certain artificial intelligence." She felt an apologetic nudge, then turned to look at Sunset. "You can take care of the vole, right? Maybe call Fluttershy or one of the ranchers to wrangle it instead?"

"I think there's a drecko ranch nearby." Sunset retracted her gun and half-smiled at Twilight. "Seriously, what's gotten into you?"

"I have decided that I'm going all-in to fixing my Empathy Module."

"Have you been taking lectures from Fluttershy?"

"Quite possibly."

"Willingly?"

Twilight trotted away. "I cannot confirm nor deny."

"So you're the one who asked her to do it?"

Twilight said nothing, but the temperature overlay of her cheeks told Sunset enough.

Author's Note:

+20 excavation is op

Comments

[Vindicar]

'Temperature overlay of her cheeks', for hatch's sake!

[Sylica telca]

Rarity glared at her. "I'm going to snap yours if won't let me finish my combat task!"

This looks weird to me

[PonyDragon]

"Uh, Rarity?"
"Yes, Twilight?"
"Please remember we're here."
Rarity toned down her grin to a pleasant smile. Twilight immediately fell in love with it. "I shall keep that promise until my Override turns back on." She then cranked the dial in her mining gun to 11, then again to a normally-nonexistent dial marked 'yes' with a paper tape.
Despite the assurance, Twilight and Sunset took a few steps back.

Stepping back is a wise idea here...

Twilight glared back.
Rarity's right eye twitched.
Twilight kept staring.
Rarity squinted.
Twilight put a hoof over Rarity's eyes. A few seconds later, the cave was filled with the sound of pleasant snoring.

Heh.

[Stainless Steel Fox]

I want a device that has two extra settings of '11' and 'Yes' now.

[mishun]

I'm not taking any risks of being around a homicidal Dupe.

Equinecidal