Chapter Ten: Haven
“What?!” Astral asked, that question not being on the list of likely ones he had expected.
“It’s a simple question. I look forward to seeing how you will prove it. Good, or bad pony?”
“Good pony! As good as I can be,” Astral said with an uncontrolled laugh.
What kind of question was that?!
“And you want me to prove it? I’m stuck in this nightmare and I just got saved by a pony who wants to know if I’m good or bad? Everything I’ve seen is bad!” Astral knew he was rambling, his sides heaving with barely controlled sobs as he blabbered. “So many dead bodies. Ledger…I can still see his face! I just talked with him, no, a few days ago. I don’t even know where I am! Those things have chased me all over, and that stupid computer keeps detonating the floors!” Astral said, looking at the armored pony in exhaustion.
“I don’t know how I can- ok, wait. Here’s what I’m going to do because I’m far too tired to do anything else,” Astral said. “I’m going to put my guns down first. And then if you want to shoot me, go ahead. I don’t…I can barely stand,” he said, tone decreasing in intensity and volume. He reached up with a hoof, taking off the helmet and setting it aside. Flopping rather unceremoniously to the ground, Astral shrugged off the side-saddle, at least until it got caught on the SCBA unit.
Now firmly stuck with straps binding half of his legs, Astral simply lay there and let out a mirthless laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, his mental energy utterly spent.
“Yeah, ok, you’re definitely not a threat,” the armored pony sighed, the guns now being pointed at the floor, the firearms on some sort of hinge. The pony trotted over and untangled the Thestral, helping him up onto his shaking legs. “Get it together and let’s get moving. This place is fairly secure, but I’d rather have more than one door between me and them. You lead, I’ll grab the supplies.”
Nodding once, Astral plodded along on leaden hooves as the armored pony directed him down the hallway. A few twists and turns and they came to a large decontamination area, another security door behind it.
A few blasts of sterilizing mist later, Astral was trotted into a large security monitoring station. At least, that’s what he guessed it was. Dozens of computer monitors, half-circle keyboard, along with a few lockers with stowed saddle-guns in them.
The door closed, the armored pony letting out an annoyed sigh.
“I had really hoped there were fewer of those things up here,” they muttered. After Astral slid down to sit next to a wall, the armored pony walked over, promptly patting him down.
“What are-”
“I’d rather not have you shove a knife in my back. Hold still and take off the armor.”
The curt tone left no room for argument, the armored individual seeming a bit surprised at how quickly Astral shrugged off the saddle and vest.
“I don’t even have-oh. Yeah, there’s a knife on the right side,” he said, trying not to slur his words as any remnants of adrenalin were now fading.
Setting aside the saddle-guns and armor, the armored pony sat down in front of the bat-pony; and that’s when Astral realized a very key feature, one he had been far too distracted to notice before.
They had webbed wings.
“Wait. You’re a Thestral?” he asked, ears perking up in interest.
The armored pony sighed, reaching up to take off the helmet. Two fluffy, light blue ears poked up, the bat-pony mare looking at him with narrowed, dark violet eyes as he stared.
“If you keep staring, I’ll lock you outside,” she huffed, Astral immediately shaking his head.
“Sorry, just, I didn’t expect to see another Thestral here,” he admitted. “We’re not exactly common.” Of course, there were quite a few reasons he was staring, but all of them were out of surprise.
“Well, to be fair, I didn’t expect to see a Security Guard down in areas that he probably didn’t even know existed,” she replied, smoothing down her dark blue fur. “I’ve seen your file. You were on the surface?”
“Front security desk,” Astral said, simply happy to be having a normal conversation with a living, breathing pony. “I checked ponies in, and then I checked them out. That was basically it until the computer tried to kill me. Or rather, contain those freaky…whatever they are!”
“I just call them Skitters,” the mare said with a dismissive wave. “They’re not full spiders, since they only have four legs, but they’re creepy, have a venomous bite, and can walk and ‘skitter’ all over. But, like other nasty spider things, they don’t like fire. Or bullets.”
Astral couldn’t help but smile ever so slightly at that; it felt like an alien gesture.
“Well, you clearly know about me…” he said cautiously.
“Only what your file said,” the mare replied dismissively, gesturing to the monitoring station. “I have basic access to employee records and the security feeds, along with some tram controls in case of emergencies. Your file is pretty standard, so count me impressed you made it this far.”
“I aim to please. May I at least ask the name of the mare who saved my sorry butt from the Skitters?”
His comment drew a slight smirk from the mare, the other Thestral looking at him nonchalantly. Despite her casual air, there was almost a bit of confusion behind her gaze ever so slightly.
“Security Officer Sassi at your service!” she proclaimed with an exaggerated bow. “Well. Ex-Security Officer. Not like I have a job anymore.”
“Well, Sassi. Thank you again. I’d be very, very dead if not for your help,” Astral said sincerely. “Sorry if I can’t shake your hoof. I…um, am having some trouble moving currently.”
She frowned at that, looking over him with a keen gaze that made the stallion blush slightly.
“Very dead three times over indeed. Hmm. You also need a shower to make sure none of the scrapes you have get infected,” she muttered, “can’t do any of that here. Alright then,” the mare said to herself. “We’ll go down to the bunking area and my home. It’s sealed off and the safest place other than here currently. They installed a direct elevator from here to the barracks; some of us lived here for a while.”
Effortlessly picking up both his gear and towing the supply sled, Sassi trotted down a side hallway with a backward glance.
“Gotta move a bit more. Let’s go buttercup! You can crash soon.”
Being saved by a lovely drill sergeant…could be worse. Astral mused as he forced his limbs to plod after the mare.
The elevator was fairly nondescript; a single destination being visible as Sassi queued the device. Humming to herself as they dropped, the mare led Astral down another large hallway. He was now toughly convinced the company used the same tiling contractor for all hallways, as it had the same cream floor as other areas. Standard doors branched out here and there, Astral catching glimpses of a mess hall, kitchen, along with some bunks and additional supply rooms.
He didn’t have time to be confused, however, as Sassi led him down another, long hallway to a secure door with a keypad. Punching in the numbers, Sassi trotted inside, Astral’s green eyes immediately widening, the stallion not able to contain a soft “whoa,” at the abrupt change.
The large room felt like walking into an apartment, ocean-blue walls immediately putting his eyes at ease from the harsh lights. All that was missing were windows that looked out to…
That thought cut off as large, digital ‘windows' showed a peaceful forest to his left. Two couches and a television set was neatly placed adjacent to some cabinets and bookshelves. A kitchen bled into the living room, a small, beautifully not cream-colored hallway leading to what Astral guessed to be multiple bedrooms, supply closets, and bathrooms.
“You’ll be the first door on the right. I’ll dump your stuff there,” Sassi said casually, then walking back after doing so, snagging a large bottle of clear liquid. “I’ll be right back. Gotta douse the elevator and above-floor with this stuff unless we want visitors. Ground rules are simple. Your door is on the right, mine is on the left,” her tone got a bit more serious, sharp eyes looking the Thestral over. “Don’t go in there unless you want an electrical shock when you touch the door, and don’t do anything stupid when you’re here.”
Astral nodded numbly, walking into the bedroom and sitting down on the carpet. The fact his gaze seemed to be miles away seemed to make Sassi relax before she left.
Carpet. A nice, large bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and television. It was like walking from a horror movie into a neatly furnished hotel room. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was feeling, but it was overwhelming.
“Hey. You alright?” Sassi asked, Astral not having even registered that she was back and standing in the doorway. He could only shrug, the mare frowning. “Shower off and get clean. It would stink to escape those Skitters and get taken out by a cut. C’mon, let’s go.” Sassi’s words cut through Astral’s mental fog. On sitting in the shower, it was almost numbing at how good hot water felt.
However, on seeing the water run red as the blood was washed from his fur, the Thestral hung his head and cried. He wasn’t sure whether he was reliving a memory of seeing the red water, or if he was still in the real world.
At that moment, it didn’t really matter. He simply sat down and sobbed.
Sassi’s sensitive ears flicked, the mare letting out a sad huff.
“Poor guy,” she muttered, taking off her armor and hanging it next to the doorway. He clearly wasn’t a threat, or he was a better actor than any pony she had seen in the movies. Astral was obviously hanging on by a thread.
I guess I forget about normal ponies after a while. It’s just so easy for me.
Considering there were weapons hidden within hoof-reach at all times throughout her apartment, the mare wasn’t worried about the newcomer doing anything stupid, shady record or not. Add to the fact she could probably break him in half on accident made the overall threat, if there was one from this pony, to be pretty much null.
With the route they had taken doused with vinegar, the Skitters would have a rough time tracking them. So that made them safe for now.
What Sassi found increasingly difficult, however, was how to answer a single question.
How in the world do I talk to a normal pony? One who might not have been involved with everything down here?
Then again, if Astral’s file was any indicator along with his efforts to stay alive, he wasn’t the most ‘normal’ pony. Sassi would keep that knowledge for a later date.
In the meantime, I’ll just make sure he doesn’t die overnight. I’ll get answers eventually.
At that thought, she trotted over to her helmet, the heads-up display marking Astral in the shower. For now, she set his tag to ‘undetermined’ in her friend-or-foe category, not that he’d be much of a foe.
She couldn’t help but smile recalling the happy prancing-in-place he had done with his first bulls-eye.
I hope you’re not a bad pony, Astral. Genuine friends are in short supply nowadays…for many reasons.
I’ll get answers out of you eventually. But for now, you seem nice enough.
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
992 users online
2,260,668 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Gotta say this is really interesting so far. And if I know you as an author they gonna get together before the end of this.
I am enjoying the while SCP/Alien vibe goin on cant wait for more.
~Reggie
Glad you're enjoying it! Those are definitely the vibes I'm going for.
....
........*Looks at story tags*
I MEAN...
great. hopefully that wasn't a Ready Player Two reference. Also yeah Astral is far far out of his depth.
11048423
Not an intentional one!
And yeah, poor guy is getting outpaced by the 'try not to die' learning curve.
If he doesn't already, Astral will very soon qualify for "badass normal".
I like this new player.
I like the story tags.
I like the story.
11074906
I'm glad you're enjoying it!
And yep, Astral is one cool cucumber....usually. I aim to have him be 'normal', but, like most individuals, have the ability to rise above that if necessary. That doesn't mean it wouldn't take its toll...
I was kind of hoping that the friendly savior would be a pony that was experimented on and busted out when stuff went down. She would view all employees of the company as "bad" since they were the ones experimenting on her, creating an interesting dynamic with Astral having to get through to her despite that. Disappointed that this didn't happen, unless Sassi is lying about being a security officer. That's still a possibility, since her speed is described as unnatural.
11129696
I shan't reveal anything; but Sassi seems to want to get along with everyone....
… sighed, for correct tense. The “borderline uncontrolled laugh” reads quite oddly together with the quote and “sigh” action. I’ve never seen anyone sigh and laugh at the same time. Split into two sentences?
… missing space betwen Everything and I’ve.
… change comma after “wave” to a period, then start new sentence. Also period after bullets.
… Astral :) Also this is the rare case where you can drop the period inside the quote because it is inline.
.. I’m guessing you wanted single quotes around just ‘windows’
… ok there are actually a bunch of issues here. Besides the quote issue on windows, the first sentence reads “large digital windows showed a peaceful forest, two couches, and even a television”. Unless the windows are showing a couch and television in the forest, you need to reword this. Next, you’re missing a period after “bookshelves”.