Ominous Ongoings
Josephine reached up to hold onto her father's pants leg. "Fluttershy take Joe and run as fast as you can."
The monsters hadn't moved yet. "At the end of this hall is a public elevator, it'll take us out of this Block."
"El-elevator? What's that?" The pegasus couldn't tear her gaze from the crowd that sized them up.
"What? Aurg just take Joe, get to the big door down that way, she'll know what to do." Something was set onto Fluttershy's back from behind her, it was the human filly.
"ssssccrrEEEEEE" The outcry came from a dozen maws screaming down the long hall at the humans and pony.
"Just go STRAIGHT as fast as you can and RUN!" Together the human and pony turned, then galloped and jogged respectively at the best speed they each were capable of. The race for their lives begun.
Fluttershy could feel Josephine's arms wrapped tightly around her neck and the filly's muzzle buried against her disorderly pink mane. After a moment of sprinting she wrapped her wings tightly around the filly to help her hang on. She was unaware of her surroundings except for the feel of her metal encased hooves striking the floor and the human that held onto her so desperately. Soon, Fluttershy could see an end to the hall, which must have been what the stallion leading them had meant when he'd said elemtraitor.
The stomping that Mr. Oliver's machine suit made became more distant quickly.
With the father of her passenger falling farther behind quickly she slowed down and looked back worried. Joe was crying loudly into her ear.
Left foot then the right, left then right, then let the momentum carry you farther, you can make it.
Oliver glanced down again at Steel, bouncing in his lifter's metal grasp. The dog's inter control cell would do everything it could to keep him alive but under the circumstances it probably had it's work cut out for it. Fluttershy had taken off like a bolt, he could see how jauntily the legs he'd made for her shifted as she did. It had been a good job though, he'd focused on them the most while working. The wicked screams followed him alongside the actual creatures' frenzied rush down the hall.
I'm not gonna make it like this. He looked down at Steel. I could use... The thought trailed off, Oliver didn't know why, but he put the unhatched idea out of consideration immediately. I'll get as much distance as I can. His loader's wide metal shoulders swayed from the half run he'd forced it into. After that I'll blow the loader up. Without the things fusion coolant it would breach in minutes he thought. But he didn't have minutes...
Oliver unhooked his right arm from the chicken legged mech's control gauntlet, and reached into the bag he had slung over him.
"SCREEEE-" His chasers chorused ear piercingly.
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" He glared over his shoulder to answer back heatedly.
The plasma cutter's handle came into his grasp. Oliver leaned forward to reach his goal. He was also trying not to get himself pinched on any of the machine's shifting pneumatics while doing so. Bending his arm back behind himself he activated the machinist's tool and sliced the exposed coolant line cleanly. Warning controls beeped at him.
I am officially the craziest man alive. He tried to fit the cutter back into his bag but missed. The commercial grade mecha stomped over it producing a high pitched buzz and a pop.
"Frell." He looked forward, the horse alien... Fluttershy had stopped and was looking back.
"HEY DON'T STO-" The ceiling buckled and caved downwards in front of him. Thin metal plating collapsed and an insect the size of a fridge landed not a dozen meters from Oliver. Pissed off, if Oliver was anymore pissed off then he would explode.
"I have had it, with these mother fuming BUGS!" He did not slow his loader down. "In my mother. frelling. HOME!" He pitched forward onto the beaked monster as it took notice of him. It reared up and screeched in futility as the ugly brown thing was pushed into the floor by the loader's blocky metal frame. Oliver had twisted the mecha on one reversed leg and thrown it backwards onto the hostile alien. His whole body shook as the heavy machine landed, a loud crunch reached his ears.
Steel lay on top of Oliver where he'd fallen out of the loader's grasp. The man hurriedly rolled over off the bug onto the cargo mech's arms and legs. Gingerly he held the dog in one arm and stood the suit up again, it shook heavily as he did so protesting the abuse in the only way it could...
"Mr. Oliver!" His breath came heavily and sweat rolled down his brow as the pony's voice reached him. His suit was starting to heat him up past what his own inter control could cool him from. He looked back down the hall and picked up his jaunty mechanical sprint again. He found breath enough to shout back.
"KEEP! Huu, going! Don't stop!"
Fluttershy's wings had to be wrapped even tighter around the little girl on her back. At seeing her father falter she'd tried to hop off, probably to run to him. "Hush now, everything will be okay." Fluttershy had been doing her best to keep the sobbing girl calm. She began running again to the door which was close now. They were only a few moments of striding away.
The pony skidded in a stream of sparks as she stopped before the door. Fluttershy let the girl down off her back and watched her sadly before following her eyes down the hall. She had tearfully searched for her father far behind them, then looked at the pink maned alien that had carried her shuddering.
"No! You mustn't!" Fluttershy skidded around in front of her, Josephine had made as if to run towards her father again. "He's coming! But... You need to be brave for him Josil- Josh- er Joe." She took a deep breath and shook her maned head from side to side. Human names were odd, being name after Olives made sense but what did Joe mean? It made her think of donuts strangely. "He can't... Do what he needs to or run if you're there in danger too." Fluttershy looked back at the metal shape slowly getting bigger as it lumbered towards them. The sounds of it's body crashing against the floor and those behind it all clambering down the hall towards them reached her ears as a wave of chaos.
Joe held one of her digits in her mouth and chewed nervously. "Oh my, doesn't that hurt?" Fluttershy looked up from the girl's gesture frowning. "Joe, your daddy said that you can open this..." She looked back at the wall, in fact it did indeed look like nothing more than a wall to her now that she scrutinized it without distraction. "Uhm, this elementer..." Josephine gave her a funny look then turned to the big shiny metal wall.
Fluttershy followed her curious, the little filly pulled an object out of a pocket on her strange clothing's pants. She thought briefly about how badly those must chafe... The flat piece of plastic found itself a home in a slot below some glowing buttons next to the wall.
HISSS
Fluttershy gasped and dived behind the girl.
The pink barricade in front of Fluttershy's eyes was parted slowly by a tan and pinkish hand and a smile.
"S-sorry... It startled me a little Joe..." The shiny grey wall had opened up to a sizable room filled with chairs, alien objects and other platforms. The pony glanced over from the filly's curious look into the big room and back at her. Joe, the little girl was once again staring down the hall towards her father...
"Wait here little one." Fluttershy stretched out her wings.
Joe looked back only for a rush of air to blow past her. The wind whipped human threw up her arms to cover her face and hurriedly pulled her own long brown hair back out of her eyes. Fluttershy had taken flight and exploded down the hall.
Oliver leaned out of his mech as much as he could, it was scorching hot behind him. "Come on you piece of mother humping garbage. Just a bit further!" A pastel blur was coming towards him. 'Dammit.' The cries of other monsters were all too close to him now he realized. He'd peeked getting back on his feet. The monsters seemed to be stopping to fight one another as often as they were sprinting to catch him. He counted it as good karma for saving his pet dog. 'Is that callous of me to think so?'
"Mr. Oliver, the elotraitor! Uhm, eleav- the door's open!" The flittering creature came to a halt in front of him and flew backwards gracefully. "You need to hurry they're right behind you!"
"I KNOW! I know trust me I'm aware!" He cursed under his breath, he still wouldn't make it though.
"Flittershy can you take Steel!? I've got a plan bu-" He was interrupted by the yellow pony.
"MR. OLIVER!" She'd flown closer to the ground where he couldn't see her past Steel.
"What?! What is it!?" The elevator was getting closer. '30 meters maybe?' He was so close
"You're stomach!" She flew back up into his sight with a desperate look painting her big eyes. "It's bleeding! Worse it's... You're torn open." The moon blasted pony was crying over him mid flight. He looked down where her eyes led, he hadn't noticed it at all with all the adrenaline that was pumping through him.
On the left side of his lower chest was a shredded jump suit and missing chunk of himself.
"It's nothing, forget me alright I'm fine! Just take Steel!" They were fast approaching the elevator, he couldn't try doing this running anymore. There was no time to explain either. He skidded the machine to a stop and threw Steel at the avian horse. "Catch him!"
"Eep!" He turned too quick to see how well that went. He sighed, they were way too close... He wasn't sure how he felt about that, he'd wanted to just run on foot and let the loader deal with them. But in the split second he had before they caught up to him he knew that his harness wouldn't even be undone before they got him. 'This mech was way to rigid to ever stand a chance of getting away.' He had saved his dog though and he could still get away.
Oliver found himself wishing he had gotten one of his mecha prototypes working and here with him. 'Then this would be a fair fight.' The man made do though.
A massive bug shaped form bore down on him and his suits pneumatics shot the heavy arms out to hold it at bay. He wanted to scream at the thing but his voice gave out, the creature flailed around the metal arms to try and stab at him. Oliver continuously backed the mecha up further down the hall while trying to maintain his balance. Thick mechanical fingers dug into the bug's side and head and he pulled the suits gauntlets together. Green and grey goo gushed out and sheening carapace shattered.
Pushing it away the bug fell back from his grip onto another hissing creature. The things stopped suddenly, then they began attacking their fallen comrade. 'Oh thank you merciful Microsoft.' The mech thunked loudly and stopped suddenly. 'Aw, what now!!' He looked back.
Shocked Oliver realized that he'd backed up against the transport elevators doorway. He could hear Fluttershy calling out to him just barely, it was too loud now to make out anything at all though. He unhooked the strap harness and jumped out of the suit as fast as he could to make his get away.
Oliver felt a strange pain, he cursed and looked down. He was stuck, he didn't jump out. Pinning him to the loader suit was a severed leg, running straight through his hip. He grabbed the thing immediately with both arms and pulled as hard as he could. It didn't give. He laughed frantically. "Come on not like this! Not like friggin' this!" He couldn't even hear himself over the noise in the hall. Oliver looked up at the monsters. 'Not much time.'
The desperate man reached into a control gauntlet and tried to reach the alien's severed leg that held him fast to the suit. Woefully, it was too far inside the mecha's radius of reach to grab.
"FLUTTERSHY!"
The pony couldn't stand the loudness of all the screeching and clawing. Mr. Oliver had thrown Steel at her. It had been hard for her to make sure that he wouldn't get hurt worse in their fall to the ground. But Fluttershy thought she had been able to manage it. The increasingly frightened mare hadn't wanted to leave Mr. Oliver but she did. Steel was safe now as a result, Joe hugged him tightly in the strange room that would somehow protect them. The two both watched as the girl's father fought fiercely while backing toward them slowly.
Eventually, his big machine slammed into the doorway causing Fluttershy to scream louder. She had been screaming the entire time she realized, but she couldn't hear herself. The horde of creatures came closer and closer. She couldn't see them though, Oliver's machine stood in the way. 'Why aren't the creatures coming? Why isn't Oliver coming?' The pony feared the worst and tried to squeeze out. Her ears were plastered back against her head to keep all the noise out.
Fluttershy gaped, the creatures had stopped to fight amongst themselves. Mr. Oliver was doing something strange with his suits arms, his face was deathly pale. Fluttershy thought she saw him screaming too. She tried to yell back up to him but it was drowned out easily by the racket.
Then, the mechanized mare saw what held him there, saw the thick spike crammed into his side.. His eyes met hers for the briefest of moments.
Fluttershy flew up and grabbed at the alien claw that was embedded in him. Her hooves worked to find a stable platform and her wings strained and protested the weight of holding her up. It felt like it might budge...
The cold metal floor flew up to meet the side of Fluttershy's face. She looked up at the human glaring down at her, his eyes were sad though. His mouth forming an alien word she couldn't put meaning to. She thought she heard go. She stood to try again and flittered back up. I'm. Not. Leaving him! A claw entered her peripheral sight and some force slammed into her from behind. Everything slowed down again for the pony in that moment.
Wind rushed past, Fluttershy felt a harsh and powerful grip on her back and around her wings. She felt herself soaring through the air. In a rush the noise was cut off, all she could hear now was a frantic half wheeze, half cry from nearby. The cry of a young girl.
Oliver shoved the bug back and kicked out with the loader's leg. He then shifted the mech's weight onto that same leg right over the creature's head that he'd pushed away. It crunched loudly. More of them immediately moved past their fallen comrade. Hooked and clawed limbs angled against the human. Completely surrounding him, the monstrous things swarmed now, they ripped into the loader and tore it apart. They tore Oliver apart. The man grinned and yelled into the frenzy all around him. It produced no discernible noise even to his own ears in the din. But the words took on the mouthed form of I love you.
The blaze and rush of kinetic force from the overloaded fusion engine engulfed the entire floor for a hundred meters.
"Aaand this one is Beta Lyrae, again one of the closer stars to our origin solar system." A slightly wrinkled human spread her hand over in an arcing gesture across the 'holographic display' of a stunning orange sun rimmed in a pretty magenta. Lyra would have never thought that stars were actually suns! She suppressed another glee filled fit over the recurring thought and looked again at the sun's glowing red corona. "And she has... Five planets in her system."
Lyra's ears worked forward and back as she listened to the human intently. She had been telling her all about several interesting things throughout the day, humans, their lifestyles, their technology, and her favorite so far, their food! Some of it anyway... She didn't mind that they liked meat. It was just another aspect of life as Lyra saw it.
At the moment, her attention was rapt on the human showing her some constellations and other things. The human's had one named after her! Or well, not her exactly... But the fact that they had a word that used the same sounds for her name made it just as good!
The woman, as they were called amongst humans, was named Tabitha Chartreuse, translated of course. It was so weird watching their mouths move and different sounds coming out, or rather a widget in her skin told her brain to hear them differently as it had been explained to her! It worked like magic, certainly.
Anyway, Tabitha was definitely a name as weird as they came. The chartreuse part though, that was only a little out of the ordinary. I think there was a pony named Chartreuse that had sat next to Meadow Mane at Celestia's school in one of my classes... The woman was apparently the leader or some such of some organization called the 'Foreign Species Rights and Liberties Alliance'. So Lyra guessed she herself being an Equestrian and all was in fact one of the aliens that they protected. Aliens! Beings from other worlds! It was exciting.
And so far they were doing a good job in her book! They'd been passing her around between different people in this weird windowless building for a few days now, just teaching her and telling her stuff! It was all quite fascinating, but... She had been distraught when they explained the whole situation to her. It had been a pretty rough truth to accept, at first she hadn't believed them. But it had been pretty hair brained and so far everything they had shown her proved it all to be true.
She'd been abducted, illegally and by other people. Lyra knew they could well be lying, Maybe these were actually the ones who had done the deed? she sighed retracing the thoughts in the midst of the astronomy lesson. Hoping for a way home she'd asked about where they were exactly, and how long it would take to get home or how she could. Lyra hadn't enjoyed the answers... Though seeing her home planet in 'Three Dee' had been cool. Not to mention her sun.
That all had led her to this, listening to Tabitha about her own world and others they had been to. Still, Lyra had the circumstances surrounding her abduction to consider, no matter her present company friend or foe. Equestria had been attacked and the humans had fled. There was a lot she still wanted to ask, even after all of what they'd told her- Gah this coffee is the greatest thing I've ever had!
Slrrrp!
"Hey has anyone seen my triple espresso mocha frappe?" A very big human with tussled black hair poked his head into the room.
Lyra took another sip of the strange coffee like drink she had found. What did he just ask about? Anyway, this is the best coffee ever! Oh, and that's caramel I taste! Humans have some great drinks... Oh Celestia is this good. It made her whole body tingle too. Her eyes met the mans and she smiled from her drink and waved a hoof up at him. Strangely, he didn't return the gesture, just sighed and left.
Huh, and they've all been so friendly so far too! A moment later, another human, also male, popped his head in. She was getting good at identifying between the two genders they had! Some of the other guests were a little difficult, not to mention the other aliens that had more than one gender... THAT was weird.
"Aaah, hello Lyyyra. I see that you're all nice and settled in, enjoying a hot beverage no less. Perhaps you'd also not mind answering a few questions I have? There's a veggie pizza in it for you if yo-" The mint green pony had already begun smiling and nodding when Tabitha cut him off sharply.
"Denice get the hell out, there'll be time to... interrogate the poor girl as I'm sure you will do so, later, she should relax and acclimate."
"Aw come on she's doing great, just look at her! The picture of happiness." The older looking human held up a finger at him then drew down on the man with a glowering look. "Alright I get it geez..." He stooped and started to leave the room.
"I don't mind! What questions were they?" Lyra looked back and forth between the two and almost dropped her coffee when he lept back into the room and slid a chair out from nearby to sit in. He did the maneuver with such grace with those hands that humans had. Forget aliens, THOSE were fascinating. Oh crud, the humans been talking to me. She snapped her attention away from the guy's limbs and up to his face.
"-ean think about it Lyra! We've encountered insect like life on several worlds, almost always bacteria and simple plant species on anything remotely life bearing even REPTILE life on thirty three occasions! But mammalian!? MAMMALS! Mammal-like? Sure! But Mammals through and through? No." The strange human panted his hands raised up to the ceiling spread wide. In all honestly Lyra was more engaged by those still, rather than his peculiar speech about how she shouldn't exist.
"It's just... Never could anyone have guessed it, it's unprecedented, it's fascinating, it's absolutely positively out of this world or the realm of conceivability! The odds were determined to be simply astronomical! A trillion in one! Hell, a googolplex in one it might as well ahAAH-!!" Tabitha had the poor man's ear in one hand and was leading him to the doorway. Lyra smiled and waved a hoof good bye.
"Sorry, maybe another time Denice!" The door shut soundly behind him.
"I'm sorry about that Ms. Lyra, they're all just really excited. Still nothing compared to when we encountered the first intelligent alien species several millennia ago though, now that's unforgettable. Uhm, where were we?" The wrinkly faced human smiled at her through a pair of tired eyes. Lyra had wondered about that, humans seemed to live forever if they wanted. Wanted. That had confused her, just that statement. Almost as much as the explanation of it. Human society was a complicated affair... Nothing like the agrarian life Equestria enjoyed or the mutual happiness that the Sisters spread. No, here it was all structure and rules and run entirely by... money. It was rather jarring trying to accept such a world.
"Lyra? You okay dear? You look like you're deep in thought again." Even weirder was the fact that they could just change how they looked and had all this cooky technology but no magic at all and- "Lyraaaaa, moon base alpha to Lyraaa, come in?"
"Hm? Oh! Sorry I was thinking." She gave the nice woman a huge grin, then frowned down at her hoof which was shaking like crazy all of a sudden. "Whoa, uuuhm, what's wrong with my leg?"
Tabitha smirked down at her esteemed guest and asked. "That would be the espresso you managed to acquire from Bonaparte kicking in dear, did you have caffeine back on Equestria by chance?" Then after a hesitant pause on her part and a nod from Lyra she asked also... "And uhm, how susceptible to caffeine would you say you are then?"
The young family watched the Lunar News channel 121 intently, there had been a huge commotion that morning as a state of emergency had been declared and then canceled again without reason. The young father looked over from his work desk again to the large screen of the small home's family room. His wife and son are sitting on the couch also watching.
"-the Technology Guild from Block India has released a statement that they are now under contract to look into what could have caused such the systems malfunction on such a wide scale." The news anchor paused, obviously reading an off screen script, before shuffling her stack of papers and continuing. "Next, join us after this brief commercial break when we'll go live to Jake with Sports News and Shamus Brown on the details concerning tomorrows jump via Hope to humanities next destination in the Epsilon Arteus system! Where astronomers speculate the possibility of a water world! So hurry back for Jake on site at the Cosmos Colosseum, where the officials say that despite the interruptions and mass transport failures they will stick to schedule and be holding the ne-" His wife switched the channel and got up to make her way back to him. His son grabbed the remote and changed it again to one of his cartoons.
He went back to looking over his friends messages on a community web site he frequented, everyone was already speculating about what it could be instead of a false alarm. He didn't buy into it. The most popular theory was that the planet they now orbited had launched an attack on them, or even gotten onto Elysium itself. He knew for a fact after having been to the desolate rock world as a foreman for his deep core mining company that it had been barren, without even the slightest hint of an atmosphere even. Let alone life. But skepticism was practically second nature to humans he knew.
"Well that was frightening, for a moment I thought maybe they had dumped us into another war." His wife said sarcastically, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned over him. He put a hand over hers.
"It wouldn't have mattered if they did, we can only hope they can handle the mud they'll eventually get us stuck in. Other than that everything they don't want us to know always just gets covered up regardless." He clicked on a news tab and scanned through the report. Apparently access to the night clubs and other establishments were shut down in Block Moscow, that had the party demographic in an uproar. He'd never understood how someone could live hundreds of years just screwing off. But then he barely met ends meet and had a family. Perhaps he should give the lifestyle the benefit of the doubt.
His wife ignored his sarcasm. "You really believe all those extremist claims about the government? Please don't tell me you've started talking to any of them." She turned his chair slightly to look him in the eyes. He knew his wife was concerned, an insurrection or attack on Elysium had never happened in their life times.
"What? No of course not, but it's a government honey keeping secrets from their populace is practically part of their definition. Now I don't think they're doing any of this crazy nonsense you usually hear like warring with aliens or destroying whole worlds. I got out there often enough to know that's not true. Humanities found a hand full of intelligent races besides our own and we've been peaceful with all of them. The dangerous ones we encounter we leave far behind us."
She grimaced and stood upright folding her arms. "So you don't think this is anything then? Just a bug in the system like the TV said?"
The young father glanced over at his son whose back was to them. "I'm sure everything is just fine love."
Running for days through the endless hallways had exhausted her. She'd guessed they were hallways anyway, they were too orderly and too sophisticated in appearance to be a cave or something else naturally forming. But they were immense. For at least two days she had also been fighting at random almost without a break and without respite. Several encounters had been close calls too, especially at the beginning before she'd taken these things and these creatures seriously.
Panting Kaira looked around a corner of the immense passage. She needed to find a refuge, or better yet a way out. But she'd almost given up hope of finding that. She had come to the conclusion that these hallways went on forever! There was no end no sir, in every direction through every door she ripped open and after every room was more hallway. Big hallway, small hallway, metal hallway or gem cursed stone hallway it didn't matter in the slightest.
Taking off into another run with hopes of finding a hiding spot somewhere in the fore front of her mind Kaira thought of home, not for the first time. Of how much she missed the open skies and even her family as distant and uncaring as they were to her. Her wings flexed on her back as the burn that covered the more sensitive limbs reminded her of how dangerous the things that chased her were. 'They're just everywhere there's simply no escaping them at all!'
Worriedly the young escapee looked about. Twice now she'd caught herself worrying about that and they'd popped out of no where almost as a result. 'Just don't think that it can't get any worse Kaira...' She laughed nervously to herself and looked down another smaller hallway branching off the big one she was in.
Kaira's tongue licked her mouth absently, there was blood still covering it despite her effort to try and wipe it off. She didn't like it drying there on her. Exhaling deeply she fell back onto her front legs from peering around the corner carefully and caught her breath from her earlier sprint. She walked down the new hall's length. She'd find an open door... these doors were beyond strange, and rest as soon as she could. And next...
"I really don't know what to do at all." She looked dejectedly at the floor, her claws clicking quietly on it's metal surface.
"Halt intruder, stand and be identified!" Her head jerked up, Kaira didn't wait to tell the thing no. It was a Diamond Dog shaped thing with alien like features and made of metal. But a lot bigger, almost as big as her. Just like all the others. Those that hadn't actually been bigger...
She just attacked, twice she'd attempted reasoning with the creepy machines but they didn't listen to a word she said. The one time she had in fact listened to one's request to not move and wait for the 'proper authorities' to arrive some weird pink skinned creatures had come and tried to electrocute her! They'd been decent eating at least. Still she wasn't having any of that again. She would escape and on her own. Kaira had lived her entire life on her own.
Inhaling deeply she blew a gout of flame at the device and barreled into it from behind the stream of heat and smoke, roaring defiance.
Apple Bloom watched in horror at the events that unfolded around herself, helpless. The strange alien booms and noises from outside coupled with Twilight's confusion and everything else were simply too much. She clung to Octavia's foreleg for protection, showing when she was scared wasn't really common for her. Maybe not as much as Scootaloo nothing seemed to scare her, but it wasn't Apple Bloom's way either. Everything that was happening now however terrified her.
When a huge shadow fell from the ceiling outside of the chamber to snap up the... person that had promised to save them, that was the last straw for herself. It was so close to her, and the human's startled screams froze her heart. Apple Bloom likewise cried out for some kind of help, for some way to escape it all. She screamed for her sister, for Big Macintosh.
She screamed for her mother.
Her eyes had jammed shut, opening them again just showed exactly where those screams were coming from right up until they suddenly cut off. She didn't dare look again. Purple light filled the filly's vision behind her eyelids. She felt strange. Wearily the red maned pony reopened her eyes and tried to look around.
"Octavia!? Octavia what's goin' on!" She couldn't make sense of her surroundings, nearby she heard Twilight panting.
"Just hold on girls-!" That had been Twilight, her voice sounded strained.
"I don't know Apple Bloom!" Looking up at the grey mare's like wise hysterical face did nothing to calm Apple Bloom or answer her questions. "I really don't! Twilight what's happening!?" Octavia's voice was equally strained, but lined with panic as well.
"Gra-gravity spell, easier than! Nrrrrg, teleporting. Ah...." Twilight was clutching at her horn. "At least I thought it was, hogahd." Apple Bloom reached a hoof out across the expanse between them, she realized the blur of everything around her was actually the walls passing by at a high speed. She risked a glance down, which had somehow now become above herself she realized, and gulped. They were very high up from the platform they had only just been standing on, and still going!
"Twilight! I really think that's enough dear! Twilight! Twilight!?" The unicorn's head lulled, her solitary eye shutting slowly. Unanswered the earth pony holding onto Apple Bloom began to hyperventilate. "It's going to be fine Apple Bloom! I'll think of something!" She watched as Octavia tried to swim comically through the air towards Twilight and grabbed onto her with another fore leg. The filly looked beneath herself at a fast approaching floor, or uhm, ceiling.
The group of ponies were fast approaching a grisly end as the two still conscious Equestrians saw it. Twilight was out cold. Panic crept into the remaining mare's mind and took a fast hold. Behind her she felt those hideous metal arms that now plagued her life snap out to show their ugly faces before she found her end by falling into the ceiling.
Screaming alongside Apple Bloom they careened further away from whence they'd come. I have to do something! She gritted her teeth and thought hard about some way out of this. Her surroundings were hurling past her and her hooves were full, she couldn't possibly grab a hold of them under the circumstances she thought. 'Could I?' The walls were moving past them as quickly as if they were falling. Falling... Another idea came to her.
Octavia reached out with her... things on her back and gasped. They flung back behind her from the force of striking the closest wall pushing her further from it. She slowed down though. Her confused look became one of triumph, then horror all in the space of a couple seconds as she realized her attempt to stop them wasn't her own efforts, but Twilight's horn flickering out. The musician spared one last panicked look towards the floor ceiling which was slowly no longer rushing to meet them before she acted.
"AAAAAAAH!" Octavia lunged out with all her mental might with the unwelcome appendages. The group was slowly coming to a sedated float, but stopped suddenly from the strike. The cellist's attack on the concrete surface ended successfully with four bladed legs dug firmly into the wall. "AAAAAAAAAAH!"
"OCTAVIA!" The pony stopped screaming instantly. She realized one of her passengers had been shouting up at her, shakily she looked down at Apple Bloom. "Finally, you okay? Or you just screaming like a fruit bat got caught in your mane for no reason again?" The filly spoke soberly up to her pilot.
"Yes, I-I mean never b-better, Apple Bloom. Oh dear..." She gazed in her shocked state at Twilight and Apple Bloom in her fore legs, then to the wall that held them fast in the air. She looked down and-.
"Apple Bloom please for Celestia's sake don't look down." The musician clutched her eyes shut from having done just that.
"Ah already did Tavi, we're so high up!" Apple Bloom's voice was the picture of excitement.
'How can she go from hysterics and screaming to happy as a clam in the space of a minute!?' Octavia thought, incredulous at the very idea. "We-well what now then..." She gulped and opened her eyes slowly trying not to think about what was happening.
"Ah... dunno Tavi we got away I guess. I was kinda hoping you could walk us to safety or wake up Twilight..." Staring down at Apple Bloom to fix her with a confused stare was a mistake and Octavia shut her eyes again in a hurry to keep the thousand stride drop out of her thoughts. "Eeee! Augh, Walk? Really Apple Bloom!?"
"Well ah'm not sure what else we can do!" The filly was quiet again long enough for Octavia to crack one eye back open and look at her. "Ah see something behind that metal over there, maybe that's a door or a way out of 'ere?" The mare's eye swiveled up to look at a grate like sheet of metal on the wall, just out of reach. "Think you could 'walk' us over to it?"
Octavia glared down at the filly, "I don't know why you think I can walk us any whereeeeEee." she made a hasty mental note to just not look at Apple Bloom anymore. Taking a deep breath she settled her stomach and thoughts once again. Octavia hadn't realized before she had such a strong fear of heights. She gulped thinking about what her pint sized partner had suggested though. After a moments respite the cellist opened her eyes again to look at what might be a promise of escape. "I-I..."
"You can do it Tavi, I believe in yah." Octavia caught herself from looking at her this time, instead smiling at the grate itself nervously. she felt a hoof come up and glance against her muzzle's coat though and she smiled, calming down.
"I'll try Apple Bloom." The voice she used to reply to the filly though resolute, reflected anything but her actual emotions. Octavia was more accurately shaking in her long missing signature bow tie on the inside. Still, the cellist focused hard on her limbs and the wall, she concentrated in particular on just one. She had to get this right and not screw up, thankfully it was almost just like moving her own legs in a way. Tranquilly she... felt them after a fashion, and the resistance offered to them by objects. Pulling on one embedded limb it creaked out of the wall and came back forcefully.
The filly in he grasp let out a scream as the other three legs bobbed them in the air from the action. "Sorry! Sorry." Chips and blocks of concrete and dust rained below them from the action.
Octavia focused again on the leg, this time she took a deep breath and hoped this worked, offering up a small prayer to Luna she exerted her will on the limb again. 'Here goes nothing....!' After a moment the freed leg twitched, then slammed into the wall re embedding itself far above the others. "Ah there, that wasn't so bad. Right Apple Bloom?" She grinned victory down at the filly, this time remembering to close her eyes.
"Uh... Tavi?"
"Hm?" Octavia looked up at where a small Olive hoof pointed her gaze. "Oh." The cellist still had several strides left to take them.
After a great deal of strain and several false alarms as well as panicking in general. Octavia delivered them to the grate, she was also able to pry it off with one mechanical leg. Carefully she deposited the young filly cargo in the opening, then the unconscious unicorn whom accompanied them and finally herself. Immediately she scooted as far away from the opening as she possibly could. The bugs that had chased them, the humans and the height safely tucked away in her past.
"Thank Celestia that's over with, oh my good gracious gravy. Oh Luna thankyouthankyouThankYou!" She kissed the metal floor never having been so happy to be on it.
Apple Bloom giggled at her smiling, but frowned a little as she looked back at Twilight. "Hey Tavi, is Twi' gonna be alright?" The older mare looked up from her thanking of her general surroundings and trotted over to them. The tunnel was large enough for the three of them abreast and tall enough. Hesitantly she held a hoof against Twilight's forehead, just below her horn. Then listened to her breathing.
"I'm not a doctor Apple Bloo-... That is to say she seems like she'll be just fine. I think, she just needs some rest." The smile she gave the filly was meant to be a very reassuring one. Octavia wasn't a Unicorn, she couldn't be sure about her friend's condition. But as far as she knew what Twilight was doing was the equivalent of running on a broken leg, or tearing open an unhealed wound again and again. Maybe not quite that severe but... She looked down in worry with Apple Bloom at the famous Element of Magic all the same.
"Come on dear, let's make some more distance between us and this place... just in case. We should see if we can't get Twilight comfortable somewhere too." The filly sighed and smiled weakly up at Octavia.
"Sounds like a plan Tavi," She gasped a little when the cellist pulled the other mare up and deposited her onto her back with her alien wrought arms. The sight had surprised her and she thought wonderingly... 'Wow.' Smiling the filly bobbed up and down. "Lead the way!"
Octavia smiled as she watched Apple Bloom bounce down the somewhat cramped tunnel in front of her. 'Wish I could feel that much energy after what just happened...' She thought, glancing behind herself wearily Octavia blew out her cheeks frustratedly and plodded forward after the filly. 'I wonder if those humans were really telling the truth.'
As if psychic her younger companion spoke.
"Octavia..." The mare looked up.
"Yes Apple Bloom?" The filly's cheery demeanor had melted to match more closely with their circumstances. 'This is so terrible for her, being exposed to all this. I can't ima-'
"Did those humans die? D-did we just leave them back there?" The musician couldn't answer her right away, Octavia's mouth worked to try and find some reassurance or... anything to say. If only to spare the filly the those thoughts.
Light, why did she... This was far from the grey mare's forte, but she wore her best modicum of motherly emotion that she could and walked calmly up to Apple Bloom. She leaned down and nuzzled her head, the filly wasn't her daughter, she was barely more than an acquaintance. But it felt right, being that Octavia was all she had. "They were very strong Apple Bloom, far more so than us." Her look was one of regret, but she pressed on to reassure the young pony. "If anyone stood a chance of escaping down there it was them. Now come on, we have a ways to go yet."
Together, with Apple Bloom close to her grey coated guardian feeling a bit more calm, the two walked onwards carrying an unconscious and weary Twilight Sparkle.
.....
"Tavi?"
"Uhm, yes Apple Bloom?"
"It's really dark in here..."
The musician sighed. "Here, hold my hoof." She felt along the wall with one free metal arm to guide them, to where, she didn't know.
Welcome one and all to the ongoing tale of en wonderment out in the stars! I do hope it's going well for you all. It's a difficult chore making the story coherent with so many moving parts to be sure so please any and all suggestions, comments, complaints are appreciated. Assuming they're in good taste. 
I usually run all my ideas by some esteemed characters and my editors so as only to provide you all with the best of the best as far as story adventure! Please Enjoy 'Ominous Ongoings' Chapter 8 of "Our Legacy : Their Story"!
Please look forward to the next exciting installment, "A close Encounter of the Human Kind!" Right after this brief message from our sponsor. ;D
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1881162
How many do you have under read later?
2087662
Lel, I was asking CG
2087670
I'm really not sure what you're talking about Daemo.
I thought it odd in hindsight that you'd ask him on my page really but in context I'm assuming he brought it up down there somewhere.
2087675
He did
2088002
Bwahahah glad someone finally said it. Yeesh
I love fimflam so much. Hah, the cupcakes parody is the best.
Heh, Caught that one.
Here's one back
"Bugs... Why did it have to be bugs!"
Keep up the awesome work!
2088100
Ahem, Take another look at the uh... Chapter names my friend.
Merlos two! round three Ding ding!
2088110
Gah, totally missed it!
Umm, these are not the Bugs you're looking for? HEY! Look a distraction! *runs away*
2088115
*Smokes his pipe while placidly reclining in his den.*
"He'll be back."
Ah, finally good humans, and of course Lyra has it good from the start with humans. Kaira? Griffin right? She....she ate two people? Lee gasp.
But yea will they have the armor and implants removed at all, I haven't read the rest yet, but it doesn't seem to be looking that way. And I can't have my favorite pony being half machine and without her bow tie. (Take a wild guess who my favorite pony is.)
Also a word from The Doctor: I wear a bow tie now. Bow ties are cool.
2149833 Kaira I believe is a dragon. She is large, carnivorous/omnivorous and breathes fire?
The Doctor sympathizes with Tavi's lack of bow tie.
No bow tie is not cool.
Now we have Lyra and an OC named Kaira who appears to either A. be draconic or B. have draconic type weapons. Kaira would be highly useful to Twilight's Party...Lyras associate humans appear to be Celestia-sent (if they're not lying through their teeth) and hopefully are true to their groups views....getting all of the displaced Equestrians (for lack of their planet's name at this time or the names of the other countries whose citizens were displaced from) together in a attempt to get them home.
At least that's how it appears to me.