Sunset Shimmer and her friends at CHS find themselves working for the mining corporation Deep Rock Galactic and must survive the depths of Hoxxes IV to return home.
Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack wake up in a drop pod as someone welcomes them to a corporation called Deep Rock Galactic and remembers nothing about how they ended up in this situation. With guns in one hand and pickaxes in the other, they must work as a team if they want to make it back to the surface.
Pinkie Pie wakes up in a small cabin aboard a space station. Upon finding the quality of her new homes's food particularly low, she volunteers her skills as a master chef and lands a spot in the station's bar.
Fluttershy isn't of much use to Deep Rock Galactic at first, but that changes when she saves a dwarf's life in the medical room, and her new employer pays surprisingly well for a company that sends people to fight bugs miles underground in dark, scary caves.
Twilight Sparkle seemed too smart to be sent to the surface, so Management puts her on the Research and Development team in hopes that she can help them develop better tools and equipment for conquering the harsh world of Hoxxes IV.
Together, the friends must work harder than they ever have before if they want to survive the caves, climb the ranks of DRG, and--fingers crossed--return home.
Crossover with the game Deep Rock Galactic, which is a 1-4 co-op first-person shooter where you all play as dwarves that go down to the depths of a hostile alien world and mine minerals because Management pays you to. It's a hell of a lot of fun, and I highly recommend playing it with your friends.
I'm not sure how often I'll update this one, but it's still going to be a great adventure either way.
Character Progression Tracker and explanatory bloghere. If you want to know what the girls can and can't do, this is the first place you should look!
EDIT: Added the "Narcotics" warning to cover myself as the girls begin using the complementary bar. In this story, it is assumed that all characters are of legal drinking age other than Twilight for the first while because she specifically mentions it (Don't underage drink kids). Alcohol is the only drug I will be using in this story.
“Congratulations on signing on for Deep Rock Galactic, miners, and welcome on board. You have been tasked with gathering some Morkite in the Shallow Grotto as your first mission. Good luck!”
Sunset Shimmer shook herself awake and looked around frantically, only to realize that Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack were rousing themselves awake next to her. They too panicked, but everyone visibly calmed themselves when they saw their friends.
She relaxed herself, too, and took a more careful look at the room they were in. Computers lined the left and right walls, displaying various information about their mission, and a large door took up the entire far wall. When she craned her neck, she could see a bunch of gear stowed behind her.
The room started shaking, and after a time, the door opened--in three layers!--to reveal rock flying past them as the room went deeper and deeper into the earth. The open doors also let in a continuous loud clanging sound that ground at Sunset’s ears. Given the rock in front of her, it had to be a drill making that noise.
Eventually, as the screen indicating their depth read somewhere in the hundreds of meters, the drill’s clanging suddenly stopped and the entire room fell, landing with a jolt. A ramp extended out from under the door, leading to a dark cavern lit only by the room’s lights.
Sunset unbuckled herself from her seat and stood, wobbling for a moment as she shook off the final remnants of whatever put her to sleep. All she remembered was that she and her friends had been talking to some guys at the bar who claimed to be dwarves, and they recommended joining their company for some sweet, sweet pay.
Rainbow Dash stood up, too, and put out her arm, using the side wall for support. Applejack found her balance pretty quickly, but Rarity was having trouble. Sunset pulled her friend to her feet and helped her steady herself.
“Alright, miners, here’s the deal,” a speaker on the computer said. “Welcome to the planet Hoxxes IV. This will be your first dive into the underground so you can get a grip on the basics of our operation here. Normally, we would’ve dropped you in one by one with an All-Purpose Drone called ‘Bosco’ to fill you in individually, but we’re short on miners, and Management says we don’t have the time. So here you all are. Familiarize yourself with your gear, and try not to mix your sets. The gear you choose will be what you carry for the duration of the mission.”
Sunset blinked in surprise. “Uh, who are you?”
“You will know me as Mission Control, miner. Now get your gear. We’ve cordoned off this area from Glyphids, but there’s no telling if they’ll find their way around our perimeter.”
“Aww, yeah!” Rainbow exclaimed as she hoisted a minigun off its rack behind one of the seats. “This is gonna be awesome!”
“We still need ta be careful, y’all,” Applejack said as she donned an amor rig labeled “MOLE” from behind a different seat. She adjusted the straps and smiled. “Although Ah do feel real nahce havin’ something ta protect me.”
“Very nice, dear, but this does not look protective in the slightest,” Rarity replied. She grimaced at her own armor rig, which looked dingy and hard-used with the word “OWL” printed on the front. Eventually, though, she lifted it up and over her head and fastened the straps.
Sunset looked over her own rig and weapons. The rig was labeled “FOX” and looked more like a piece she’d use in a paintball match, but if it’s what she was given… She sighed and donned the rig, noting that it came with a headset that fit her perfectly.
A few minutes of guided blundering later, all four were completely kitted out and standing outside what was clearly a drill pod. After a couple seconds, the ramp retracted, the door closed, and the pod lifted off, headed for the impossibly far surface.
Mission Control’s voice sounded through the headset. “Alright team, this is your orientation, so listen up. I’m only going to say this once.
“You, blue-skin. You’re the Gunner. Your position is at the forefront of any battle, using your high-caliber ‘Lead Storm’ Powered Minigun and ‘Bulldog’ Heavy Revolver to cut down enemy aliens. Your team is counting on you to provide most of the firepower so they can finish the mission.
“White-skin. You’re Enginner. Your job is to provide your team with access to hard-to-reach minerals with your Platform Gun and utilize your automated Sentry Turrets to lay down blithering storms of bullets on hostiles--if you set them up before you’re killed. You may not be the sturdiest, but your Combat Shotgun and Grenade Launcher make you a formidable opponent.
“Farmer girl. You’re Driller. You’ve been equipped with a set of Titanium Powerdrills to dig clean through dirt and rock to provide your team access to blocked-off areas of the local cave network. In combat, your drills will make short work of almost anything close enough to slice you open, and your Flamethrower will aid you in longer-range engagements.
“Finally, bacon-hair. You’re the Scout. You’re the only one on your team to carry the Flare Gun, and the entire team depends on you for light. You also have a Grappling Hook to help you scout ahead. But while you have an Assault Rifle and Sawed-Off Shotgun, don’t stray too far from the team--the caves of Hoxxes don’t take too kindly to lone explorers.
“All of you know how to fire a gun, correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Sunset replied before any of the others could complain about Mission Control’s names for them.
“Good. As stated during your trip down, your task is to gather 100 units of Morkite in the local cave system. Morkite is a dark teal mineral with a shine that reflects even the tiniest amount of light, so you can see it from the opposite side of a large cave. Since this is your first expedition, we’ve set up some defensive barriers to keep the worst of the Glyphids out.”
“Just Morkite?” Rarity asked. “I want to be sure.”
“If you find any Gold, Nitra, and other minerals, do mine them. Gold will translate into credits, and collecting enough Nitra will allow us to send you a Resupply Pod to refill your ammunition and heal some of your wounds. Other minerals can be given to R&D to build you upgraded equipment. Any minerals mined will give you a select amount of Company Experience upon your return to orbit, which you will amass to unlock the authorization codes for R&D to craft your upgrades.”
“Very nice. Thank you, sir.”
Sunset gestured to the dark cave ahead. “Let’s go.” She picked a flare from her belt and threw it, watching as it automatically activated and lit up the cave. A low brrr brought her attention to her side, where a new flare was being crafted by a small device built into her armor rig.
The first few minutes were peaceful, only marked by Mission Control talking about their mineral carrier, called “Molly” by their fellow miners, and Rainbow’s heavy breathing as she lugged her minigun around. It looked really heavy, but she was too proud to ask for help. These caves didn’t seem to have very much in the way of minerals around their entry point.
Sunset threw another flare and scanned the passage ahead. There, on the wall near a place where the cave narrowed: a dark teal glint! Morkite! She jogged over towards it and pulled out her pickaxe. Her first few swings were nothing to write home about, but she quickly got the hang of it. With Rarity’s help, she finished the vein and checked her rig’s mineral calculator.
Only 15 units?! She felt like punching something. But it wasn’t like it was too hard to find the stuff, so she resisted the urge. Only a few more veins, and they could leave this creepy planet.
As Sunset and Rarity dumped their minerals into Molly’s cargo container, Mission Control called.
“Alert! Defensive barriers have been breached, and we have a horde of enemies bearing down right on top of you. It was a pleasure meeting you! Hope you will get an honorable death.”
“He said WHAT?” Rarity screamed.
“Don’t worry!” Sunset yelled. “Rainbow, this is what your minigun’s for!” She switched to her flare gun and fired into the ceiling, bathing the immediate vicinity in light. “Get ready!”
Applejack lifted her arm-mounted titanium drills, aiming where the cave narrowed into a thin passageway a little wider than one person. Rainbow hefted her minigun, just barely finding the strength to hold it off the ground. Rarity shrunk away from the apparent danger and gripped her shotgun hard enough to whiten her knuckles further. Sunset switched back to her rifle and scanned the area behind them in case whatever was coming swung around to attack there.
Sunset felt her stomach tighten as the seconds ticked by. Then Rainbow’s minigun came to life with a satisfying whir as it lived up to its name, raining down a lead storm on the bugs pouring through the narrow gap. Her hair blew around her in a frenzy, mimicking her terrified expression as more and more bugs came forward. Eventually, the minigun beeped a warning and shut off.
“Crap! It’s overheating! AJ, I need help!”
Applejack stepped forward and clicked her drills on, grinding everyone’s ears with a clanging noise similar to the drill pod. She didn’t look like she was going to last much longer, either, and Sunset hosed the bugs beyond Applejack’s reach with her rifle for a few quick seconds, buying Rainbow enough time to cool her minigun and pick up the pace.
Rarity shrieked and fired her shotgun behind them several times, echoing her blasts off the cavern walls. Still reloading, Sunset whirled around and backed into Applejack, her hands fumbling with the magazine. She managed to finish quickly, though, and fired at the three bugs that had gotten around them.
After what seemed like an eternity of shooting bugs and ear damage, the things stopped coming. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief looked to each other for reassurance.
“You survived?” Mission Control said through their headsets. “I just knew you had it in you! Incidents like this sadly occur fairly frequently on Hoxxes. My recommendation is that you just get accustomed to your weapons and gear. Let’s continue your training and gather the rest of your quota of Morkite.”
“He knew we had it in us?” Rainbow exclaimed. “He said he hoped were would get an honorable death when the bugs came!”
“Simmer down, Rainbow,” Applejack said, waving her drills. “Ah think he’s just used to people gettin’ killed by bugs down heah. Y’alright, Rarity?”
“I’m okay, thank you,” Rarity replied. She visibly shook with terror, and her shotgun trembled in her grasp. “What were those things? Mission Control, sir?”
“Glyphids,” came the answer. “They’re indigenous to Hoxxes, and they come in all shapes and sizes. We’ll add more notes to your Miner’s Manual as you encounter more of Hoxxes’ wildlife. For now, know that they are hostile, they are deadly, and they are detrimental to your mission’s success. Now get mining!”
Sunset placed her hand on Rarity’s shoulder. “You’re gonna be okay, Rarity. Just stay calm.”
“Stay calm? Sunset, dear, we’re in a dark, creepy, dirty cave surrounded by bugs that want to eat us! How am I supposed to stay calm?”
“Loosen your grip, Rarity,” Applejack said over her shoulder as she cleaned bits of Glyphid from her drill with her pickaxe. “You’re gonna hurt someone.”
“Oh.” Rarity relaxed her hands. “Oh, dear, my poor fingers weren’t getting any blood flow. I do hope they’re alright.”
“They’ll be fine, Rarity,” Rainbow said. “Now come on, let’s get this Morkite stuff and go home!”
Rarity glanced down at her armor rig, now splattered with a viscous green fluid, gulped, and followed Rainbow and Applejack down the path while Sunset brought up the rear, checking for any stray bugs.
“Hey, Sunset, can you get us some light up here?” Rainbow called.
“Coming.” Now through the narrow bit, Sunset jogged past Rarity and swapped to her flare gun. “You know you have flares too, right?”
“I do?” Rainbow dropped her minigun and patted her armor, looking for her flares. She found them after a second and smiled sheepishly. “Oh. Yeah. But how do I throw one when I’m holding the gun?”
“Maybe there’s a way to do it without using your hands,” Sunset mused. “FLARE!”
Sunset’s armor rig immediately fired a flare in the direction she was facing, arcing over Rainbow and clattering on the rocky ground.
“Flare,” she whispered intensely, and another one fired. “Looks like that’s how you do it.” She fired one into the ceiling just to be safe. “There you go.”
“Thanks.”
Applejack jogged back from the dark, huffing and puffing despite being the one person most used to carrying so much stuff. “Ah found some Morkaht, but Ah can’t get ta it. It’s up hah.”
“Take us there.”
The girl nodded and jogged back the way she came, leading the group to a small but relatively tall room. Sunset fired a flare and revealed several veins of Morkite dotted around. Most of it was close enough to the ground to dig to without much trouble, but the last was near the ceiling.
“Alright, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, you two get the Morkite down here--and that gold, too, while you’re at it. Rarity, I need you to shoot a platform with your gun up there so I can get to it,” Sunset ordered. She pointed to the Morkite and swapped to her grapple gun.
“I’ll see what I can do, Sunset,” Rarity said as she carefully switched to her platform gun and aimed at the Morkite. Her arms shook with the effort, but eventually, she seemed to find a place she liked and pulled the trigger. A yellow goop flew out of her gun and formed into a solid up by the Morkite.
“Thanks.” Sunset aimed above the platform and grappled, landing on top of it when she let go. She pulled out her pickaxe and got started.
“Hey, Molly, get over here!” Rainbow called. The four-legged cargo robot followed diligently and came to a stop nearby, settling down next to the girl. She dumped her minerals and went back to mining.
The room was cleared in no time. Sunset grappled back down, and everyone made one last mineral dump.
“Passable work, miners!” Mission Control said once they’d reached a hundred units of Morkite. “You all will be a good fit for our operations, and Management will be pleased they were correct in putting their faith in you. Return to base and let’s get you into the fray properly. Press the button on the M.U.L.E. to call in the Drop Pod.”
“Ready?” Sunset asked.
The three girls nodded grimly, ready to go home.
“Here goes nothing.” Sunset pressed the button and held it for several seconds.
“Acknowledged. Sending in the Drop Pod.”
They hung around for a bit while they waited for the pod to come down. Once it landed, Molly perked up and started walking away, leaving a trail of green markers behind her.
“Drop Pod has arrived. Retrieving the M.U.L.E!”
They all stood there, surprised, for a second. Then Sunset realized what was going on.
“Follow Molly!” she yelled, and took off after the robot.
Rarity was close behind, followed by Applejack, then Rainbow Dash as they ran back through the cave they’d just explored to reach the drop pod. Once they got there, though, they saw that although the ramp was extended, the doors were closed.
“Are they leaving us behind?” Rarity cried.
“Wait, maybe Molly has to dock first,” Sunset said. She turned around and fired at a Glyphid poking its head through the ceiling. “Watch out, more bugs!”
While Molly crawled into a docking station on the side of the pod, Rainbow and Applejack caught up. The former wheezed from the effort, and the latter took a few deep breaths.
“Why ain’t the door open yet?” Applejack yelled, switching her drills for a flamethrower. “Those bugs are gonna keep comin’!”
“I know!” Rainbow agreed. She hefted her minigun with considerable strain and hosed the bugs gathering at the base of the ramp. “I’m gonna run out of ammo soon!”
Sunset eyed Molly and heard a hiss as the doors slid open. “Alright, everyone, into the pod!” she called, backing into it.
Rarity was next, scrambling as far away from the cave as she could get while staying inside the pod. Applejack came soon after her, and Rainbow Dash ran in last, dragging her again-overheated minigun behind her. The door sealed once she’d pulled it all the way in the pod.
“Good job, team. That’s one for the books,” Mission Control said as the pod started lifting back to the surface of Hoxxes.
Twilight Sparkle groaned and rolled. Suddenly, the ground gave way, and she tumbled a few feet with a yelp. Her head pounding, she shakily pulled herself to her feet and looked around. She was in a small decently-lit bedroom with zero decorations, and a computer terminal near the door displayed some sort of statistics.
“Oh, what happened?” she asked nobody in particular. She stumbled to the computer to see what was going on.
“Welcome to Deep Rock Galactic, miner!” she read.“Due to your capability for great intelligence, you have been chosen to join our Research and Development Team rather than journey down to the surface of Hoxxes, so you will be staying up here in the Space Rig during your time with DRG. thank you, and welcome on board!”
“What?” she asked.
“You may still feel a pounding sensation in your head. Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal. Just go to the Abyss Bar and tell Lloyd you want a Leaf Lover’s Special. It’ll cure you in no time! As you’re our newest recruit at R&D, your first drink is on us!”
“The Abyss Bar. Right.” Twilight opened the door and walked out into what looked to be a main commons area with a large table in the middle that projected a holographic image of a planet. The table was down a few stairs, and another computer sat next to it. Several other things were on the upper part of the commons, covered in weapons, a deactivated robot, and a pickaxe.
She decided she’d explore after her headache was gone, so she turned and walked towards a large window looking out into space. The bar seemed to be up a ramp on her right. She held her head and approached it, her eyes to the floor.
“Hiya, Twilight!” a familiar voice called out. “You don’t look too good.”
“Pinkie Pie?” Twilight looked up. “What are you doing here?”
“Eh, I was going to go down to the planet for training to do whatever they wanted me to do, but I said I wanted some food first, so the guy at Mission Control said it was fine as long as I was quick. I got a sandwich, but it tasted so horrible that I said, ‘Hey! Mission Control guy! I can make better food than this!’ And then he was all like, ‘Prove it then, Greenbeard,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t have a beard, but okay,’ and I made a cake! It was so much better than the sandwich, and the Mission Control guy said a guy called ‘Management’ decided to just let me work here on the Space Rig and ‘keep employee morale up’ so here I am!”
“Huh. do you know where Lloyd is?”
“Yeah, he’s right here!” Pinkie pointed to the hovering robot next to her. “Need something?”
“I was told a Leaf Lover’s Special would help me with this headache. R&D said it was on them since it’s my first.”
Lloyd spun around and chirped, pulling out a green mug with a red shield and filling it to the brim with a drink using the faucet attached to his arm in place of a hand. Once the mug was full, he slid it down the bar to her, and Twilight watched it stop with only the slightest slosh.
She grimaced at the beer and its white foam that dripped over the side of the mug. With a little hesitation, she grabbed the handle and lifted it cautiously to her mouth, taking the smallest of sips.
Her taste buds immediately rejected the beer, and she stuck her tongue out in disgust. Her head, though, felt a little bit better just from the smell. She sighed and downed the whole thing in one go as fast as she could. Once she was sure the mug was empty, she sat it back down on the counter and smacked her lips to try to get the taste out.
The beer’s effect, though, was immediate and wonderful. Her pounding headache disappeared entirely within a couple of seconds.
Pinkie beamed and gave her a cupcake. “I talked to some of the other guys in the kitchen, and they said that normally, you’d need your Company Level to be at least three before you can order drinks, but since you’re not going down, you can just have some when you get paid. They did say you don’t get the special buff drinks or craftables, though--just the company standard ones.”
“That’s fine. I don’t think I’ll be doing much drinking anyway. I turn twenty-one in three months!"
“Eh, they don’t care. I had some Oily Oafs with them earlier.”
“Pinkie!”
“What? They were paying. Oh, hey, Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy stumbled to a seat next to Twilight and groaned. “Hi, Pinkie Pie. Medical said I need to get a Leaf Lover’s Special from Lloyd for my headache.”
“Fluttershy!” Twilight exclaimed, both surprised and happy to see her friend. “What are you doing here?”
“I woke up in the medical bay over there with a really bad headache,” she half-whispered, pointing behind her. “There was a dwarf, and he… he was really hurt. I did everything I could to help him, and I think I did all right. None of the robots there even tried. After a few minutes, I think it looked like he was going to be okay, and one of the robots took over. It said I would be really good there once I learned the ropes, and it’d talk to Management about keeping me. I told it about my headache, and it sent me here.”
“That’s wonderful!” Pinkie cheered as she handed the shy girl a Leaf Lover’s Special. “You want anything, just talk to Lloyd here. He handles all the beers.”
“You might want to drink it quickly,” Twilight advised. “It doesn’t taste all that great.”
“It’s an acquired taste,” Pinkie chirped.
Before Fluttershy could respond, alarms started blaring, and they all searched frantically for the source. Then some kind of vehicle came up from near the hologram table and equipment stations, docking with their space station with a loud clunk.
As the alarms died, the vehicle’s door slid open, and Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity all tiredly climbed out with armor rigs over their dirtied clothes. Twilight could see racks of weapons and equipment if she craned her neck.
“Hey, girls!” Pinkie called, waving.
The exhausted girls made their way over, talking about whatever they’d been doing.
“Honestly, if Mangement would just buy some decent equipment, we wouldn’t even have to go down there!” Rarity complained. “I know they can automate things. The drill pod is an excellent example!”
“I just wanna be able to hold my minigun,” Rainbow said. “That thing is way too heavy for me!”
“Ah don’t know what you’re grahpin’ about,” Applejack replied. “Ah can handle mah drill arms easily.”
“Yeah, but they’re attached to your suit. The minigun isn’t.”
“So? You're the one who picked it up, so you're stuck with it."
Sunset simply sat down next to Twilight and sighed. Her armor rig was pretty dirty and had a couple splotches of dried green goop here and there. She smiled warily and motioned for Pinkie Pie.
“Hey, Pinkie, can we have some water?”
“Sure thing!” Pinkie produced several mugs and poured cold water into each one, then handed them to the newcomers.
Sunset lifted hers to her mouth and chugged about a quarter of it before putting the mug back down. “Oh, I needed that. Do I have to pay, Pinkie?”
“Nope! Meals are complementary. If you want a beer, though, you gotta talk to Lloyd. Gotta be at least Company Level Three, too, if you’re ordering, but it doesn’t matter if someone else is buying.”
“Okay, that’s good to know.” She turned to face her friend. “Hey, Twilight.”
“Hey, Sunset. What were you doing?”
“I don’t know. We all woke up in the drop pod over there,” she replied, gesturing at the vehicle. “Mission Control said we were headed down to an area called the Shallow Grotto to get some basic training. We mined some Morkite since that’s what we were there for and fought a bunch of bugs that got past the defense perimeter.” She laughed tiredly. “That’s where the green stuff came from.”
“You guys went down there?” Pinkie asked. “How was it?”
“It was filthy, darling,” Rarity answered. “And it would be very dark if we didn’t throw our flares. And those Glyphids--ew!” She shivered. “They look like spiders, Pinkie Pie, and they’re absolutely terrifying! I really don’t want to go back down there.”
“Arachnids,” Twilight said. “They’re creatures that are similar to spiders. Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed. “But my minigun completely destroyed them when they tried to swarm us!”
“Until it broke, Rainbow. Ah’m tellin’ you, you gotta watch that heat gauge. If it gets too hot, you’re gonna hafta wait until it cools back down. Which happened twahce!”
“Applejack’s right, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. “It doesn’t matter how many bugs you shoot if your gun stops working.”
Rainbow’s shoulders fell. “Yeah, you’re right. But still!”
“Enough, Rainbow, dear, and relax,” Rarity pleaded. “We’re not on the planet right now, which means we’re safe.”
“You’re gonna have to go back down anyway, Rarity,” Pinkie said. “You four are paid by the mission.”
“WHAT?” all four shrieked together.
“That’s what I said when Greg told me.”
“So, how are you paid, then?” Rainbow demanded.
“Greg said I’ll just get some credits at the end of the week. Fluttershy and Twilight probably get the same deal since they’re in Medical and R&D.”
“You’re in Medical, Fluttershy? What do you even do?”
“I… I don’t know just yet,” Fluttershy replied quietly, still having yet to drink her Leaf Lover’s Special. “I think I’m supposed to be your doctor in case you get hurt down there.”
“R&D stands for ‘Research and Development’,” Twilight answered. “So, I think I create new weapons and equipment--or maybe modifications of the stuff you already have--for you to use down on Hoxxes.”
Sunset yawned. “I’m gonna go clean up and take a nap. See you guys later.”
Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity decided to clean up as well, leaving Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy at the bar.
“Well, I’d best go find R&D,” Twilight said. “See you around.”
She wandered around the space station for a few minutes, eventually finding a small, secluded door marked by her new division. After a short hesitation, she opened the door to join R&D.
Full Mission Roll: 200 Morkite, Haz 2, Crystalline Caverns Roll System still in initial phase at this point
Sunset woke up in a comfortable bed and rolled to face the wall, hoping she could get a few more minutes’ rest. But sleep still eluded her, so she pulled herself upright and swung her legs over the side of bed.
Her room was small but well-lit, and the wall across from her bed popped open with a coffee maker already brewing and a small screen detailing her outfit. Rubbing her eyes, she waited for the coffee to finish before pouring herself a cup and read the message on the screen:
“Welcome to Deep Rock Galactic, miner! If you’re reading this, then you’ve survived the initial training mission with most of your limbs intact. No doubt the experience was traumatizing for you, but here at DRG, we pride ourselves with our entirely hands-on approach to training new employees!
“In any case, congratulations on your sound decision to join DRG! In the following set of missions to the surface of Hoxxes IV (or subsurface, really), you will familiarize yourself with Company mining procedures and on the proper handling of Company gear and resources.
“Be aware that only the absolute best make it here at DRG. This course has a drop-out rate of 67%, but we are proud to say that only 74% of dropouts are a direct result of applicant fatalities!
“Don’t trouble yourself with such dark thoughts for now, though. Welcome to the family. Together, we dig for a better tomorrow. See the Assignment Terminal and the MIssion Selection Terminal for more information.
~Regards,
Management.”
“Only 74% of dropouts are the result of applicant fatalities?!” Sunset had to double-check in case she read it wrong. She didn’t: out of the people who started out at DRG, only one-third of them made it past the first assignment, and three-quarters of those who failed had died down in the caves. Some quick napkin math told her that 50 of every hundred people died, 17 failed some other way, and 33 made it to the next assignment.
“Sweet Celestia, what have we gotten ourselves into?” she asked herself. She donned her “Fox” armor rig (cleaned during her nap) and walked out into the main area of the space station with a nice, steaming cup of coffee in her hand.
Rainbow Dash was already awake, standing with her arms propping herself over the hologram table by the drill pod. Bags hung under her eyes, and multiple empty cups were strewn across the floor. Sunset could see what remained of Rainbow’s first few coffees in drops next to the fallen cups.
“Rainbow, you need to sleep. You’re no good to us half-dead.”
“You heard Pinkie. We’re paid by the mission.”
“And you’re looking for the perfect mission?”
“I don’t want it to be too dangerous, but we’re so limited! All we’re allowed to do is Morkite runs. I can see other mission types, but I can’t select them. I wanna do all these awesome things, but how am I supposed to do this? You saw that message from Management--we’re pretty likely to die!”
Sunset sat down on the hologram table next to her uncharacteristically worried friend. “Rainbow, it’s not like a video game. You can’t be expected to carry the team or save the day every single time. We all have a role in this, and we have to work together to survive. I know it sounds tough, but… it’s the only way we’re getting home.” She sipped her coffee, set it on the edge of the table, and gently pushed Rainbow Dash. “Off to bed with you. I’m not letting you in that pod until you’re rested.”
“But--”
“Not buts! You have the big gun. You need to be ready.” Sunset guided Rainbow to her room and gestured inside. “Go on, we won’t leave without you.”
Rainbow sighed, nodded, and closed the door behind her.
---------------------------------
Sunset was chatting with Pinkie Pie over breakfast when the others finally came out of their rooms. As expected, Applejack was first, windmilling her arms to get the blood flowing. Rarity was next, fussing with her armor rig as she walked over to the bar, finally followed by a zombie-like Rainbow Dash, who tiredly sipped some more coffee.
“Pancakes?” Pinkie asked.
“Yes, please, darling,” Rarity said. Applejack nodded agreement, but Rainbow only sat down quietly.
“Somethin’ wrong with her?” Applejack asked.
“I made her get some rest earlier,” Sunset replied. “She was awake practically all night, worrying about our next mission.”
“That doesn’t sound like her. She hit her head or somethin’ on the way up?”
Sunset frowned and shook her head, hoping Applejack would get the warning. Thankfully, she did.
“So,” Rarity said as Pinkie served blueberry pancakes, “what is our mission, exactly?”
“Morkite run,” Sunset answered. “It’ll either be in the Crystalline Caverns or the Salt Pits. Once we finish this one, we’ll unlock Egg Hunts, whatever those are, and advance our assignment further. Management will also give us access to two new biomes: the Fungus Bogs and the Radioactive Exclusion Zone.”
“Sounds dangerous.”
“Yeah, but we’re looking at probably 200 Morkite and a secondary objective, too, so it can’t be that bad.”
“What is our secondary objective, exactly?”
“Mine some Hollomite, whatever that is.”
“Do we have to do it?”
“No, but it’ll net us more Company Experience and money, both of which we need. I’ve been looking into it. You need so much Experience to gain a Miner Level, and for every three Miner Levels gained, you go up one level in Company Rank. however, once your Miner Level hits 25, you can’t gain any more levels. You’re eligible for a Promotion Qualification Assignment, which, when completed, lets you get promoted, obviously. Promotion resets your Miner Level back to one, but you can gain levels again. Rinse and repeat basically forever.”
She sighed. “Girls, I don’t know if it’ll work, but if we can get a high enough Company Rank, we might be able to go home.”
The prospect of going home seemed to rejuvenate Rainbow Dash. “Well, what are we waiting for then? Let’s go!” she said, standing up and starting to head to the pod.
“Pancakes, Rainbow. Eat first, go to the planet later. I’ve already selected the mission.”
“Fiiiiiiiiine.” Rainbow sat back down and picked at her food.
---------------------------------
“Ah still don’t like this,” Applejack yelled over the drop pod’s drilling as she equipped her drill arms. “Are you sure the Crystalline Caverns are safe?”
“As safe as Hoxxes can be, I’m told. This is only a Hazard Level 2,” Sunset replied as she checked her rifle’s ammo. Three hundred fifty bullets with 25 in the already-loaded magazine. She switched to her secondary weapon, a jury-rigged sawed-off shotgun, and checked its ammo too. Twenty-four with two ready to fire. Her flare gun was full, too: twelve with three.
As the pod clanged to a stop, she hoisted her rifle, and her face turned grim. “Ready girls?” she asked.
“Let’s go!” Sunset slapped the dice hanging in the corner of the door for luck and ran out, throwing a flare as she went right. A quick glance back told her that Applejack had gone left, Rainbow took the middle, and Rarity followed her, holding her shotgun as far away from her as possible.
The pod started ascending after all four had left. Over the comms, Mission Control said, “We’re sending you in deep, so be on your guard. Scans indicate particularly rich veins of Morkite and Gold farther down. Bring it back, miners.”
“Anything here before we move on?” Rarity asked. “I’d like to bring as much back as we can.”
Sunset looked around and threw another flare. The Crystalline Caverns were made of a kind of sturdy pink-white rock (with some bluish tints here and there) and littered with deep-purple silicate crystals that reflected her flare light all over the room in which they’d landed. Over by Rainbow Dash, the cave continued down into the dark.
“Ah found some gold!” Applejack called, using a laser pointer to indicate her find. “Ah’ll get it. Sunset, Ah also see some Nitra up there.”
Sunset looked up and fired a flare into the ceiling. Applejack was right: there was a vein of the red crystalline ore near the top. She looked at Rarity and gestured. “Platform?”
“Of course, darling, let me see.” Rarity switched to her platform gun and shakily held it at an angle, aiming as high as she could without losing her balance. She fired, and a yellow goop flew to a spot near the midpoint of the vein.
“Thanks.” Sunset equipped her grapple gun and zipped to the platform, almost missing it completely when it pulled her along. She grabbed the platform and pulled herself up, rolling onto her back.
“Are you alright, Sunset?” Rarity called.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Just startled, that’s all.” She stood on shaking legs and started mining the Nitra. Darn, I’m gonna have to get used to that.
When the vein was empty, she noticed her armor rig gave her a readout of the minerals in its pockets. It looked like it could hold 40 units of each mineral (who knew how many different minerals it could hold at once) before refusing to hold any more. Luckily, she only had about 30, but she still felt the need to deposit into Molly. She grappled down to the ground, expecting to hurt like hell, but surprisingly, she was totally fine--just like her first grapple the other day. She’d completely forgotten about that!
Applejack was already depositing her gold when Sunset joined her. For a second, they simply dumped their minerals in silence while Rainbow and Rarity went on a little to explore.
“It’s kinda beautiful down here, don’t you think?” Sunset asked.
“A tad,” Applejack replied. “Ah like the colors and the crystals, but it’s too quahet, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. I don’t like it either.”
They jogged to join the others at a dirt wall, stumped. Rarity held a tablet with a scanner map while Rainbow leaned on her minigun and fussed with her armor rig.
“The scanner says the cave is through the dirt, Rainbow Dash, which means we have to dig in that direction,” Rarity said, pointing.
“They can’t expect us to just use our pickaxes on this!” Rainbow protested. “It’d take way too long.”
Applejack sighed and shouldered between the two girls. “That’s what Ah’m for. Ah have the power drills.” She extended her arms and twisted them a little. Her drills whirred to life, and she started digging in the direction Rarity had pointed. It didn’t take long for her to breach the cave beyond.
After they all had filed through Applejack’s tunnel, Sunset took the lead with her rifle in hand. She swiveled from left to right, scanning as she went, and her eyes were constantly darting about to watch for dangers. Her nerves were on overdrive right now. Any dark space could be a Glyphid waiting to strike, slicing through her defenses and ripping her apart before the others could respond…
She screamed at the slightest noise and emptied her magazine into a small alcove in the wall. Rainbow Dash, right behind her, aimed her minigun at where she shot, but didn’t fire. Instead, she threw a flare into the space.
Sunset, still panting from her panic, blinked in surprise. There had been something there, but it looked like a bag with a head attached to one end. Certainly not a threat even before she’d filled it with holes. It shuddered and exploded into gold and Nitra before anyone could react.
“What’s a loot bug?” Rarity asked. “My bestiary just got a new entry.”
“Probably what just blew up,” Applejack answered as she placed her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Y’alright there, Sunset?”
Sunset didn’t respond for a second, but quickly shook her head. “Yeah, I’m fine. Nerves just got the best of me.” Her heart was still pounding in her chest. She shakily reloaded her rifle and looked around.
“How about Ah take the lead?”
Sunset nodded and let Applejack go in front of her. Rainbow went second. Rarity gestured worriedly, and Sunset took the invitation, going third while she held up the rear. Sunset’s nerves were still a little frayed when they came across a larger cavern, but she’d recovered enough to fire a few flares from her flare gun into the ceiling. In the back of her mind, she called them “flare bolts” to differentiate between the two types she carried.
The sound of a revolver echoed off the walls as Rainbow fired into the dark at a brown shape, which immediately turned and screeched, baring a set of sharp, pointed fangs for teeth. It scurried closer as Rainbow fired again and again, missing every single time until it was practically in her face. She couldn’t possibly miss now, and her bullet found its mark in the thing’s head.
Sunset gulped. Now that she’d seen the Glyphids again, she wasn’t as worried, but her fear still didn’t recede. Where there was one, there was probably more. But with the flares lighting up the cave revealing no more enemies, she focused on the glinting ores along the walls. Some Morkite, some gold, some Nitra, all in easy reach.
A dark purple crystal stuck out from the floor near the tunnel onwards. It was too dark and too small to be another of the large silicate crystals worthless to DRG. It was pretty, too: it reflected light all over the room (to a lesser extent than the silicate crystals) and had a dark sheen that moved over the entire crystal like stripes.
Rarity mined it experimentally, flinching when her pickaxe struck. She glanced at her armor rig’s mineral readout. “This particular crystal is Hollomite, girls,” she said. “I’ll get it. You can move on.”
Applejack nodded and headed down the tunnel. Rainbow threw a flare, and Sunset followed them down. They reached another large room, and Sunset fired a couple flare bolts into the ceiling while Rarity returned, panting from her jog.
“I swear, I am not the ideal person for this job!” she said between breaths.
“You’re doin’ fine, Rarity,” Applejack replied. “Just dump into Molly and we can get outta heah. There’s some more Morkaht and Hollomahte around.”
Rainbow was already digging a Hollomite crystal, and Sunset had recovered her senses enough to mine a vein of Nitra. She heard the sound of Rarity’s platform gun firing and stole a glance. Applejack started digging her way to the platform, where a fairly large Morkite vein glinted in the flare light. Sunset smiled warily and finished digging.
She met Rainbow back at Molly, who’d come down to the center of the room. Rarity had gone after a Hollomite crystal almost entirely buried in the rock. Sunset checked their mission requirements. Most of the Hollomite had been collected, but they were still short by nearly 150 units of Morkite.
“Contact!” Mission Control suddenly said over comms. “We’ve got four, wait six, no, twelve… a lot of aliens headed your way!”
“Crap!” Rainbow yelled. “Everyone, get over here!”
Rarity arrived first, taking a second to quickly dump her Hollomite into Molly. Once she finished, she pulled out her shotgun and gripped it tight.
“Nicely done, team! You’ve secured yourself a nice bonus,” Mission Control said.
Just as Applejack reached them, Mission Control called out, “Swarm! It’s a big one, team!”
Sunset shrunk back and adjusted her grip on her rifle. The caves began to dim as hre flare bolts died, and she quickly fired one into the ground in front of her and one into the ceiling above. Rainbow’s minigun started hammering her ears.
“Rarity, build your turrets!” Applejack yelled over her shoulder as she pulled out a weapon that looked a little like a cannon version of Rainbow’s mingun. She pulled the trigger, and a gorgeous orange flame burst out from it and into the wave of incoming Glyphids.
“I don’t know how!” Rarity cried. She blasted a nearby Glyphid with her shotgun and set out what looked like DRG’s version of a Lego kit. “All I have is this hammer!”
“Then hit the turret with it!”
Rarity smacked down hard on the build-a-gun and watched as bits flew into place. “That did something!” She hit it again and again, her eyes wide with fear as more Glyphids crawled out of the walls around them.
“I’ll cover you!” Sunset yelled. She pelted a bug with her rifle. Her first few bullets ricocheted off its armor, but the next few dug deep into its face. It collapsed to the ground with a screeching wail. She pulled out her own shotgun, a stubby double-barrel one with half the barrels sawed off, and fired at two more.
One of them backed up, screeching, while the other bared its teeth and charged. She fired again and fumbled through the reloading process as quickly as she could. It was two feet away now. She fired again, point-blank range, straight into the thing’s open mouth.
It staggered back a step, but bounced back at her with renewed fury and chomped down on her exposed arm.
“Ahh!” Sunset smacked it with her shotgun and blasted it again as it fell off her arm, but it still didn’t die, and the one she’d staggered earlier was coming back up. There wasn’t time to think: more bugs were coming her way. She reloaded again and killed the one that bit her, then fell to her knees as the other slashed at her thigh. Before it could do anything else, it flew to the side from repeated bullets.
Sunset looked at the bullets’ source and smiled warily. Rarity had finished her turret, and it had immediately killed the bug attack Sunset.
“Are you okay, darling?” Rarity asked.
“I think so, yeah,” Sunset replied. “Just a cut.” She stood, swapped to her rifle, and started shooting bugs a little farther away. Now that Rarity’s turret was online, she was able to help Sunset while it covered their side.
“Grenade!” Rainbow called, taking a green pineapple-shaped device from her belt and throwing it at a group of Glyphids on her side of the swarm. A brief moment after it impacted the surface, it exploded, sending nearby bugs into a fear-induced panic for a couple seconds, giving Rainbow enough time to reload.
Applejack’s flamethrower burned gloriously in the darkening cave, setting bugs afire and causing some of them to skitter around in panic until the flames died. Others screeched ear-splittingly high notes of pain and charged.
“Good news, team! The wave is thinning out,” Mission Control said.
“Aw, yeah!” Rainbow cheered. “We got ‘em on the run!”
Then, as the Glyphids seemed to back down, a deep, growling, earth-shattering roar echoed off the walls.
“What was that?” Rarity asked. Her voice seemed to wobble with each word.
“Sounds like a big’un,” Applejack replied. “Ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s show this guy who’s boss!” Rainbow reloaded her minigun again and tossed a flare.
“Sunset, dear, do be careful,” Rarity said. “We do need to take a look at your leg once we’re safe.”
“I’m fine, Rarity. Honest.” Sunset fired a flare bolt into the ceiling, illuminating a large greenish shape approaching from the tunnel beyond. It roared again, sending chills down Sunset’s spine.
“Let’s get him!” Rainbow yelled. Hre minigun whirred to life once more and began pelting the beast’s front. In response, it opened its jaws wide and vomited up a spray of bright green fluid.
Sunset didn’t take any chances, immediately bolting to the left with Rarity on her heels. A quick glance around told her that Applejack had gone right, but Rainbow wasn’t so fast. By the time she’d begun to move, the spray was already hitting her. She screamed.
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity cried.
The spray stopped, and the beast marched closer to their injured friend, slashing at her until she lay still on the ground. Its exposed abdomen glowing bright green, it turned towards Applejack and sprayed again. Thankfully, Applejack ran to the side before the spray reached her.
“There, hit its back!” Sunset ordered. She aimed down her sights and emptied her magazine into the thing.
Rarity switched to a large gun she’d previously never held aside from strapping it to her back to carry it along. The beast turned around to face them and roared, apparently angry at Sunset for shooting it.
“What’s that gun do?” Sunset asked as she quickly reloaded, ignoring the slight pain in her leg.
“It’s called the ‘Deepcore 40-millimeter PGL’,” Rarity replied. “I believe it’s a tad more powerful than my normal weapon, but it has severely limited ammunition.” She aimed for a second and pulled the trigger, lobbing a large object straight at the beast.
The object exploded on contact, covering the beast in a large orange cloud that quickly dissipated. The beast staggered from the hit, then roared again as it sprayed even more green stuff at them.
Rarity fired again, from her hip this time, as she ran to the side to avoid getting hit by the beast’s attacks. Sunset, on the other hand, quickly switched to her grapple gun and pulled herself out of danger at what felt like lightspeed.
Applejack pelted its glowing abdomen with bullets from a relatively small pistol. Sunset joined her with her rifle, and after a few terrifying seconds of shooting, the beast roared its final breath and collapsed to the ground. A sickly green cloud emerged from its corpse which slowly dissipated over several seconds.
Once the chaos had ended, the three regrouped and found Rainbow Dash unconscious on the ground. She didn’t seem to hurt, but there was definitely evidence of acidic damage to her clothes and armor rig as well as several large gashes in her armor.
“Rainbow, are you okay?” Rarity said quietly, kneeling to check her friend. She pulled out a canteen of something from her belt.
“What’s that?” Sunset asked.
“It says it’s ‘revival juice’. The instructions say to just dump it on an incpacitated teammate until the canteen is empty. Once returned to your belt, it will automatically make new juice from elements found in the local atmosphere,” Rarity answered as she opened the canteen and dumped its contents onto Rainbow Dash.
As if by magic, Rainbow’s eyes fluttered open, and she groaned. “What… happened?” She pulled herself upright and held onto Rarity to keep steady.
“You were incapacitated, darling,” Rarity said. “That large beast attacked you with a sort of acidic spray, and while you were hurt, it slashed you. You were lucky it didn’t go through your armor.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened with fear, and her head jerked around, looking for the creature.
Sunset pulled up her bestiary. “A Glyphid Praetorian,” she read. “It’s extremely aggressive and highly territorial. Its preferred attack is to vomit corrosive acid, and it’s very well protected from bullet fire in the front. Recommended form of attack is to flank and shoot its exposed abdomen. Its poison sacs tend to rupture upon death, briefly covering the immediate area in a deadly cloud of poisonous vapor.”
“Wow,” Rainbow said. She let Applejack and Rarity pull her to her feet, clearly still woozy from being knocked unconscious. “How’d I even survive that?”
“Your armor rig might be designed to knock you out when you take enough damage, preventing further Glyphid attacks from actually killing you. I think it’s safe to say the same goes for all of us.”
“That’s nice,” Rarity said, handing Rainbow her minigun, “but what happens if all of us go down?”
Sunset thought long and hard but couldn’t find an answer. “I don’t know.”
“Let’s get this Morkahte and go home,” Applejack said. “We only need a hundred more units of the stuff.”
Sunset nodded, but Rarity stopped her.
“We need to check your leg, Sunset. You were hurt, too.”
“I’m fine, really.”
“Sunset, dear, you have the most powerful lights out of all of us. If you go down, we won’t be able to see.”
Sunset rolled her eyes but let Rarity take a look at her leg. It wasn’t too bad: just a shallow cut. Maybe she should follow Rainbow’s lead and wear the undersuit assigned to her. It protected Rainbow Dash from several seconds of acid splattering for sure.
“Sunset, please don’t tell me you’ve brought your day clothes down here!”
Sunset flinched from Rarity’s admonition. “Sorry. I forgot.”
“You forgot?! Darling, we’re not in Canterlot anymore! You’re not coming on our next mission if you don’t wear the proper protective gear. No buts! I’ll have to repair your clothes as it is, and who knows when I’ll find the proper fabric?” Rarity shook her head. “No, it simply won’t do. You wear the gear just like the rest of us. You’re not special.”
“Alright, Rarity, I’ll put it on when we get back.”
“You’d better. I don’t want to have to tell Princess Twilight how her student was killed in the depths of an alien world.” Rarity dusted off her knees and stood, hefting her combat shotgun. She recalled her turret, which flew into her pack, and joined Applejack and Rainbow Dash at the next tunnel.
Sunset shook her head and followed her friends. It was certainly going to be a long day.
Full Mission Roll: 200 Morkite, Haz 2, Crystalline Caverns Same Mission as Chapter 3
Rarity smacked a vein of Nitra with her pickaxe, smiling contentedly as the red crystals collected themselves in her armor rig’s mineral pouches. After the swarm, there’d only been the occasional bug that was quickly dealt with, and they had almost reached their quota. She carefully made her way down the side of the cavern wall to the others and deposited her Nitra into Molly.
“That’s it in here,” she said, and sighed. When she got back to the space station, she was going to have a nice, hot, long bath or shower--one of the perks of working for DRG available to all personnel, according to Pinkie Pie’s sources. It had certainly been a hectic day, with Rainbow Dash going down and Sunset getting hurt, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t expect nice things once they returned to the station.
“Alright then, let’s go!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. “I can’t wait to see what Pinkie’s cooked up for us!”
“Let’s call a resupply first,” Applejack. “Ah’d rather have a tad more ammo in case another of those Praetorians shows up on the way back to the Pod.”
“Good call,” Sunset agreed. She produced a beacon from her belt and tossed it on the ground. It immediately popped into a small cross shape, and an orange hologram materialized over it. “I hope it’s worth the 80 Nitra it takes to build one of these beacons.”
“Stand back!” Mission Control said. “Supply Pod inbound!”
Over the course of several agonizingly long seconds, a faint drilling noise could be heard overhead, slowly getting louder and louder until the Resupply Pod broke through the cave ceiling and crashed to the ground directly on top of the beacon.
Rarity stood back while the others each grabbed one of the four leaves sticking out the side of the pod. She was worried that more Glyphids would pop out of the dark and attack.
Eyeing Sunset’s injured leg, she saw bits of glowing red crystal coalesce around the wound, absorbing themselves into her skin. Once the glow had died, she could see that the wound had healed. Glancing over at Rainbow Dash, Rarity could see her friend’s physical well-being had rejuvenated significantly in a way that her Revival Juice had not.
“Ya grabbin’ a leaf, Rarity?” Applejack asked.
“Yes, I am. I wanted to wait in case some more of those Glyphids attacked us while our guard was down.”
“Good idea. Ah’m set, so go ahead and take yours.”
Rarity walked up to the last untaken leaf and started pulling ammunition from it to add to her stockpile. She noticed a bit of the red crystal coalescing around a bruise she’d suffered earlier and smiled. Whatever it was, Fluttershy would love it. She finished restocking and reloaded all her guns just in case she needed them. There were even extra grenades, but she couldn’t carry any more.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Yeah!” they all cheered. It was good seeing how excited everyone was to return to the station. Rarity herself really wanted that shower. All the filth and dirt from venturing down here was starting to get in her hair, and it was going to take forever to clean. She brushed a bead of sweat from her forehead and exhaled as Rainbow enthusiastically pressed the recall button.
“Drop Pod inbound! Stand clear!”
The Drop Pod’s clanging drill sounded nearby moments later, echoing through the caves as it crashed to a halt.
“Drop Pod has arrived. The M.U.L.E. has been called back.”
Molly perked up, standing on her four robotic legs and turning around to go the way they came.
“Follow Molly!” Sunset called as the robotic minecart dropped a green directional beacon and continued up the tunnel. She ran after Molly with Applejack right behind her. Rarity was third while Rainbow Dash took the rear.
Something screeched. Rainbow’s minigun whirred to life again, and Rarity turned around to see a crowd of Glyphids headed straight for them! Her heart sank when she saw another Praetorian in the back of the group.
“Rainbow, RUN!” she yelled. She pulled a grenade from her belt and threw it at the bugs with all her might.
To her surprise, the grenade didn’t explode, instead popping up a hologram of a dwarf dancing to some unheard tune. Nearly all the bugs converged on it and attacked. Rainbow Dash threw her own grenade, blasting a bunch of them to kingdom come, and bolted past Rarity up the tunnel.
“Last one pays for the first round!” she called.
“Rainbow Dash, we don’t have the proper rank to drink yet!” Rarity yelled in return, but she wasn’t about to be left down here alone.
Molly’s directional beacons were a godsend, pointing her to where she needed to go. Afterwhat felt like an eternity of running and shooting, the Drop Pod was in sight. Rarity had never been so glad to see such a dingy, rusty vehicle in her life. It was just as good that she was last, too--everyone was accounted for as Molly climbed into her socket on the side of the pod.
Rarity whirled around at the base of the ramp and fired her grenade launcher into the bugs on her tail. Even after the resupply, she still only had eight grenades, so she’d been cautious about their use. But at the end, it was now or never. She fired again, marveling at the beauty of her weapon as it blew Glyphids sky-high with orange clouds of explosive gas. Although crude in design, it was an elegant weapon, and she loved it. Perhaps a paint job would--
“Rarity, let’s go! Molly’s docked!” Sunset shouted over the noise.
“Drop Pod departing in T minus 2 minutes,” Mission Control said.
Rarity shook her head. Distractions like that could cost her the mission--and her life if she wasn’t careful. The Praetorian from deeper in the tunnel was getting closer. It backed up a step and opened its jaws wide to spew acid from its mouth.
Rarity tossed another dancing dwarf to distract it and sprinted up the ramp, diving into the safe area within the Drop Pod just before the door began to close.
“That’s one for the books!” Mission Control said. “Retrieving escape pod.”
---------------------------------
The Drop Pod docked back with the station with a satisfying clunk, shaking a bit as the magnetic clamps secured themselves.
“For new recruits, your performance has proven more than adequate--Management believes you are ready to take on a new mission type. Egg Hunts have been unlocked for you on the Mission Terminal,” Mission Control said before the doors opened to let them back out of the pod.
Rarity carefully placed her weapons back on their rack in the pod and pulled her armor rig over her head. Checking herself, she saw sweat and dirt all over her body. That shower was going to feel very nice.
First things first, though. She wanted to check out the Equipment Terminal and see if there was any way to make her grenade launcher hold more ammunition. She walked up to it, entered her credentials, and took a look.
There was an ammunition upgrade, but required Enor Pearls to get, and she didn’t have any of those. She had enough Bismor and money for either fragmented shells or high-explosive rounds. The former increased her damage radius, while the latter increased damage. She could get both eventually, but only one could be installed at a time. The same could be said for her combat shotgun, which could be upgraded for a faster fire rate if she didn’t upgrade her grenade launcher.
Grenade launcher, higher damage, she decided after a time. She selected the modification and set it to be built and then equipped. When she next used her grenade launcher, it would automatically have the modification on it.
She went through her other weapons and tools, selecting and equipping upgrades, and saw that Sunset, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had joined her to work on their own gear. Once she was done, she moved aside to give them more room and headed for her personal quarters.
All the better, she thought. The better equipment we have, the more likely we’ll survive.
Full Mission Roll: 4 Eggs, 12 Gunk Seeds, Haz 3, Salt Pits Warning: Parasites, Anomaly: Golden Bugs Machine Event: Omen Modular Exterminator Extra Resources: Error Cube x1 Roll System in Phase 2 at this point
Rainbow Dash boarded the Drop Pod early to check on her minigun. She’d gotten herself a stability upgrade after the Morkite run (since it was the only one she had the crafting resources to get) and wanted to make sure it was installed. Sure enough, a small image on the massive gun indicated that the upgrade was indeed equipped.
“Mahty early, aren’t ya, Rainbow?”
Rainbow whipped her head around, but it was only Applejack. She relaxed.
“Yeah, I guess so. Twilight got our upgrades in last night.”
“Ah’ll bet.” Applejack checked her own gear. “Looks like she got me the range increase. Ah’d have gone for the ammo, but Ah don’t have any Enor Pearls, whatever those are.”
“Probably just like Jadiz and Bismor. Gotta find them down in the caves.”
“You ready to go back down?”
Rainbow grimaced. “Not really, but there’s some sweet upgrades for the armor rig I wanna try out. Need Enor Pearls and Croppa, though.” She brushed a speck of dust from her armor and tried to smile. “Mission Control says we’re collecting eggs today.”
“Sounds like you’ve read the whole briefing. Come on, let’s eat first.”
Rainbow smirked and followed Applejack to the Abyss Bar, where Pinkie Pie was stacking more pancakes than Rarity had fabrics on a single plate.
“I can’t eat that, Pinkie! You can’t even reach the top!”
“You’re not supposed to, silly. Yours are right here,” Pinkie chirped, producing several plates of pancakes and setting them on the counter. “Whatcha girls doing today?”
“Egg Hunt in the Salt Pits,” Rainbow replied through a mouthful of pancake. “Mission Control said our cave’s Haz Level is ‘Dangerous’, and we’ve got a warning, too. I forgot what it is, but it’ll boost our Hazard Bonus by like 15%!” She laughed. “Golden Bugs, too. That’s apparently a thing that can happen.”
“That a warning?” Applejack asked.
“Nope, that’s the Anomaly. There also might be some pre-deployed stuff down there, too, that we can find. I can’t wait to see what’s up!”
“Sounds like you got your hands full. Good luck!” Pinkie smiled, as she always did, and bounced her way into the kitchen.
“How about we wake up Sunset and Rarity and get down there?” Rainbow asked. “The sooner we go, the sooner we get back.”
“Nah, give them an hour. Ah think they’re still a little shook.”
Rainbow snorted. She’d been knocked out the day before. Sunset and Rarity had nothing on her. But she wasn’t about to barge in on them, so she contented herself with pancakes.
---------------------------------
“Egg-collection time, team. Alien eggs. The company wants them--don’t ask why. Find them, stow them in Molly, and return. Simple.”
Rainbow laughed and hefted her minigun, feeling the massive weight stretch her arms like rubber bands. Twilight promised at breakfast that a lighter model specifically for her would be ready by the time she got back. Finally, she’d be able to actually carry the thing around, and although it wouldn’t be better than the standard-issue one, it certainly wouldn’t be worse.
Sunset’s aloud reading of the mission briefing on the way down from orbit made sure everyone was on the same page. Even though every bug they killed would explode into units of gold they could pick up and store in Molly, there were bugs inside the bugs. “Parasites,” the briefing called the warning. Rainbow snorted. It probably wasn’t even that bad.
The pod clanked to a stop and crashed down to the salt-white floor of the red-walled caves of the Salt Pits, known for their salt crystals (which, although generally worthless, apparently tasted great on Glyphid omelets) and abundant deposits of Enor Pearls.
Sunset was first out, firing her grapple gun to zip to the wall in front of them. Applejack went down the ramp at a light jog, and Rarity bounded after her with an energy usually only seen in Pinkie Pie. Rainbow lugged her giant weapon off the ramp and threw a flare.
Once Molly disembarked, the pod began its ascent back to the surface, leaving them down in the dark abyss that was the Hoxxes underground. Their starting room was pretty empty aside from a column or two, with no minerals to be found. A couple light purple sac-like things hung from the ceiling.
“What are those things?” Rarity asked, using her laser pointer to indicate one of the sacs. “My pointer says it’s a… Gunk Seed?”
“We need to get twelve for our secondary objective,” Sunset said. She aimed her rifle at the seed Rarity had pointed out.
“Darling, I don’t think that’s the best--”
BAM! Sunset’s bullet shattered the outer coating, revealing a large spherical seed that fell to the ground. Upon hitting the floor, it compressed slightly and rolled a bit, but didn’t really bounce. She aimed at a second seed and fired again, reloading once she’d cleared the room of Gunk Seeds.
Applejack picked up one of the seeds, grunting as her hands found the best way to grasp the awkwardly large sphere. “This is a lot heavier than it looks,” she said.
Rarity picked up another and nearly collapsed, forcing Rainbow to catch it before it rolled over her prone friend. It really was heavier than she thought. She let Applejack take it to Molly, watching Sunset head on down a small passage while they dealt with the seeds.
Moments after Sunset disappeared, a scream echoed off the walls. Rainbow ran as fast as she could and ran straight into the girl as she sprinted back up to the group. She fell back a bit, but Sunset practically tumbled down the slope--and into the horde of Glyphids crawling up to meet them.
There wasn’t any time to think. Rainbow pulled her trigger and heard the familiar wind-up whirr as her minigun started up. Bullets streamed from the end of her barrel and into the crowd, hitting bugs and rock alike and barely missing Sunset as she scrambled around the fire. Rainbow glanced at her heat gauge. One more second… She stopped shooting and threw a grenade at the swarm of bugs.
The grenade stuck itself to the wall and beeped for a second, then exploded, injuring all the bugs caught in the blast. Some of them died, and a bunch of smaller bugs crawled out of their corpses with just as much vigor.
A stream of flame burst from Rainbow’s peripheral vision, turning all the little bugs and many of the bigger ones into burnt, crispy husks blackened by fire. Applejack whooped. Rarity shot a Glyphid Grunt that got too close. Sunset, recovered from the initial scare, swung her pickaxe at a little bug, which exploded into a gold nugget.
Eventually, the action slowed enough for Rainbow to pull out a water bottle and take a big, refreshing gulp.
“You okay, Sunset?” she asked.
Sunset nodded, but the sick look on her face said differently. She ran up to the starting room.
“Carnivorous Larvae,” Rarity read from her bestiary. “They will burrow into anything biological given half a chance and multiply aggressively once they’ve found a nice nest.” She blanched, her skin turning a sickly shade of green. “Let’s hope we don’t have any in us when we head back to the Space Rig.”
“You said it,” Applejack agreed, reloading her flamethrower. “How about we get this done with as soon as Sunset’s ready?”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t agree more. The “Parasite” warning was definitely worse than she thought. Remembering that there was a “Golden Bugs” anomaly, too, she checked her mineral bag. It was nearly full of gold.
“Guys, every bug we kill gives us gold! That’s so awesome!”
“Even so,” Rarity said, “I don’t want to be down here longer than I need. Just the idea of parasites disgusts me.” She shivered and reloaded her gun.
“Y’alright, sugar cube?” Applejack called up the tunnel.
Sunset walked slowly back into view and into the tunnel. “Yeah. I’m good.”
“You don’t look like it,” Rarity commented. “Let’s finish this mission as quickly as possible.”
Applejack took the lead with Rainbow right behind her. Rarity and Sunset brought up the rear, Molly followed them at a distance through the tunnel. It wound around and zigzagged somewhat, which was annoying, but it at least didn’t have any bugs in it. Sunset took care of the one gold vein they came across, and Rarity platformed her way to a chunk of Nitra. Rainbow watched the walls for anything of interest.
“Y’all might wanna take a look at this,” Applejack said.
Rainbow Dash jogged over to Applejack, and her jaw dropped as Sunset fired a flare across the cavern. The place was huge! Hundreds of little red stalactites hung from a ceiling probably a hundred feet above their heads, with clusters of white ones scattered about. Some white crystals even glowed, and all sorts of rock was scattered around the room. Several root-covered purplish bulbs were around, too: four in total dotted the walls.
Sunset was already on the other side of the room on one of Rarity’s platforms by the time Rainbow Dash shook her head and looked joined Applejack by a marker. The girl was carrying a big pearl from a pit she’d dug in the floor.
“What’s that?”
“An Enor Pearl, Ah think.” Applejack dumped the pearl and the contents of her mineral bag into Molly. “Say, ya mahnd gettin’ whatever’s behind those weird-lookin’ crystals over there?” She pointed at a cluster of black crystals embedded in the wall with a pulsing white glow.
“Sure. Where do you think the eggs are?”
“Probably in those pulsatin’ things on the wall. Looks like Sunset’s gonna find out in a second. Hurry up.”
Rainbow lugged her minigun over to the group of crystals and swung her pickaxe at the rock. A chunk crumbled away every second swing, and eventually, she unearthed a strange cube… thing. She picked it up. It was hot to the touch, but not unbearably so through her gloves, and shaped like a black Rubix Cube. she turned it over in her hand to get a different angle and cocked her head.
She brought it back to Molly and Applejack. “Hey, do you know what the heck this thing is?” she asked.
“No, Ah don’t. Dump it in Molly, and we’ll see.”
Rainbow shrugged and deposited her minerals. The heads-up display in her headset lit up with new information.
“E-R-R-colon-slash-slash-twenty-three-uh, thingy… Y-percent sign-slash,” She read. “What the heck does that even mean?”
A deep, distant roar of anguish and distress echoed off the cavern walls, shaking the floor and nearly making Rainbow lose her balance. Once it ended, she regained a steady footing and looked around. Applejack seemed to have had a similar experience.
“What was that?”
“Ah don’t know, but it didn’t sound good.”
Moments later, a flare fired across the cavern, illuminating a small swarm of bugs crawling towards where Sunset and Rarity were. Rarity’s shotgun fired. The dancing dwarf appeared. The bugs seemed to converge on the platform Sunset was on.
“Rarity, catch!” Sunset yelled, and tossed a large yellowish egg-shaped thing with reddish-purple veins all over it.
Rarity dutifully caught the object as Sunset grappled closer and threw it back at her with all her might.
“Darnit, Rainbow, help me out here!” Applejack shouted as her flamethrower lit the nearby area with a beautiful orange flame.
Rainbow Dash turned around and hosed a group of Glyphid Grunts approaching from behind her, taking care to ensure she got the parasites that burst from them, too. She whooped and let the minigun wind back down as the bugs crumpled, turning around to see Sunset and Rarity make it back with the thing they’d unearthed.
“Is that an egg?” Rainbow asked.
“Probably,” Sunset replied as she deposited it into Molly. “Yup. Just three more to go. Let’s get those Gunk Seeds up there, too.” She fired a flare into the ceiling and shot some seeds down.
As the girls dumped the seeds and other minerals from the room into their robotic minecart, Mission Control called out, “Contact! A swarm of Glyphid Grunts is heading your way! They’re almost onto you--get ready!”
“Son of a…” Rainbow growled.
“Secondary objective completed. Fine job.”
“Well, that’s nice,” Rarity said as Sunset fired another flare into the ceiling.
Applejack threw down a resupply beacon.
“Supply drop has been ordered, and is on the way,” Mission Control said.
The seconds seemed to tick by at an excruciatingly slow pace. The resupply pod drilled through the earth, dropping to the ground nearby with a loud clank and extended its supply leaves.
“The Glyphid Grunts are here! Let’s show them our special handshake, team.”
Applejack pushed a new canister into her flamethrower. Sunset spun her rifle. Rarity leveled her sights with grim determination. Rainbow Dash spun her minigun barrels and smirked. It was time to show these bugs who ruled the caves of Hoxxes.
Full Mission Roll: 4 Eggs, 12 Gunk Seeds, Haz 3, Salt Pits Warning: Parasites, Anomaly: Golden Bugs Machine Event: Omen Modular Exterminator Extra Resources: Error Cube x1 Same Mission as Chapter 5
Applejack tapped the hair-trigger on her flamethrower, dousing a group of approaching Grunts with sticky orange flame. They screeched and howled in pain, but she knew that it had to be done. The six-legged insects would kill her without a second thought if they got the chance--and if they could even think.
She torched the parasites that emerged, too. There were a bunch of the little buggers, and they occupied her attention for longer than she liked. A swarm of Grunts crawled the cavern walls to her left, but before she could turn her flamethrower to bear, they fell to the floor under an orange cloud of explosive gas.
Rarity calmly loaded another grenade into her launcher and leveled it to aim at another bunched-up group. A quick pull of the trigger blasted them sky-high, giving the girls a bit of breathing room on that side.
Applejack smirked and turned to glance at Rainbow and Sunset’s side of Molly. A ton of bugs were coming down on Sunset, but Rainbow Dash seemed to handle most of hers. Sunset threw a grenade, spawning a light blue electric bubble thing that slowed down the bugs caught in its influence, and ran to the side, diving over a couple bugs into a roll as she pulled out her secondary weapon, a double-barrel sawed-off shotgun. Applejack torched the bugs without hesitation.
Sunset screamed and dropped to the ground to put out the fire starting to engulf her. Applejack released her trigger, horrified, and nearly ran to help, but was quickly stopped by another large group of Glyphids on her right. She shook her head and pulled the trigger.
“The wave is petering out! Wipe out the rest and get on with it.”
The cave seemed to calm down significantly after Mission Control’s announcement. It was only another minute before the incoming stream of Glyphids finally stopped. Applejack ran over to Sunset, who was starting to pick herself back up.
“Ah’m so sorry, Sunset! Ah didn’t mean to hit you!”
“It’s okay,” Sunset groaned. “The shield took most of the damage.”
“Friendly fire, am I right?” Rainbow Dash laughed, playfully punching Applejack’s shoulder.
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity admonished. “This is a very serious matter. Sunset could’ve been killed!”
“But she wasn’t.”
“That’s not the point!” Rarity’s face flushed, and she seemed to struggle with rage. “We must be aware of where we’re shooting. If we’re not, we won’t survive this planet.”
“Rarity’s right,” Sunset said as she picked a few ashes out of her hair and dumped her bag’s worth of gold into Molly. “No harm done, Applejack. Let’s just be a bit more careful from now on. All of us.”
Applejack smiled in relief, but she couldn’t help feeling a bit worried. Even if she’d been forgiven, she’d still set her friend on fire, and she felt like she needed to make up for it. Maybe an apple pie when they returned to the station? That could work.
She shook those thoughts from her head as she followed Sunset’s example and emptied her bag, followed by a quick trip to the resupply to stock up. They had a job to do, and the smallest distraction could end horribly.
Just get the eggs and get out. That’s all you have to do. Worry about Sunset when you’re back in the pod, heading to the space station.
“Hey, Applejack!” Rainbow Dash called. “Got a big ball of goop for you to dig over here!”
She sighed. “Ah’m comin’, don’t you worry.” She jogged across the white-crusted red stone and clambered up a couple of Rarity’s platforms to reach where Rainbow had gone. Another of Sunset’s flares fired across the cavern to bathe them in renewed light.
“Gosh darn, Rainbow, you coulda just dug with your pickaxe!” she yelled over the noise as she drilled into the goop. “This dirt here is real soft.”
As her drills jostled the egg loose and wound down, she stumbled as another ear-piercing wail echoed off the walls. She held her arms out for balance, steadying herself against the rock she’d dug until the wailing stopped.
“Rainbow, get ready! We maht have to shoot some bugs real soon.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t answer, but her minigun wound up and began pelting the wall above Applejack. A couple larger explosions rocked her footing, but nothing too serious appeared. She grabbed her secondary weapon, a pretty standard semiautomatic pistol, as a couple bugs crawled into the opening she’d carved with her drills. A few shots in quick succession killed the already-wounded Grunts.
The danger gone, she carried the egg out of the goop and deposited it into Molly. Rainbow Dash seemed much more alert now, and her now-quiet minigun was pointed directly at an brownish-orange creature lying still on the ground. Its head looked like it had been bashed in by a bullet or two. Other bits of probably similar creatures were scattered around the area.
“What is that thing?” Applejack asked.
“I don’t know, but there were ones just like it, and they all blew up,” Rainbow replied, her voice a little shaken. “I’m waiting for this one to, too.”
“If it was gonna explode, it probably woulda already.” Applejack carefully lowered Rainbow’s aim to the ground. “It’s dead, alright? Let’s get these other eggs and get outta here. Just two more left to go.” She scanned the fairly-well-illuminated cave and saw a large metal platform in the ground nearby. “Say, what’s this?”
Rainbow, shaken out of whatever had held her mind, joined her at the platform. “Is that Deep Rock equipment? Did they give us extra stuff?”
“Ah don’t think so,” Applejack replied as she looked at her laser pointer. “Says it’s an ‘Omen Modular Exterminator’. Ah don’t know what in tarnation that’s supposed to mean.”
Rainbow walked over to a white box next to the Omen Modular Exterminator and lasered it. “This thing’s a Core Infuser. Know what that is?”
“Why are you askin’ me? Ah know less about this stuff than you, and you didn’t even do the readin’ on your own class!”
“I have the minigun. Do I really need to do the reading?”
“Yes!”
Rainbow mumbled something under her breath that Applejack didn’t quite catch, but she let it slide. They had to focus. She took one last look at the Exterminator and frowned.
“Ah think we need a key, and it’s not like we have one. Let’s just get to Sunset and Rarity and find these last eggs. Ah’d rather not stay longer than Ah need to.”
Pinkie Pie smiled as she poured another batch of pancake mix into her cooker and pulled a cake out of one of many ovens in the kitchen, placing it down on the granite counter with uncharacteristic care. She hummed a tune just loud enough for her to hear over the racket around her, smiling still, and idly flipped a knife through the air.
“That’s the fourth time you’ve tossed that blade, Pinkie Pie,” grumbled a grizzled old dwarf with a long, bushy silverfox beard and a dark gray handlebar mustache. “Keep testing your luck, and you’ll cut your skinny little finger right off.”
“Don’t worry about me, Greg,” Pinkie chirped as she caught the knife and held it out with a confident “I got this” look. Her ear twitched, and she grabbed another from behind before it landed in her cake, delicately handling the blade caught flat between her fingers and thumb. She carefully set the second knife on the counter.
“What’s the cake for this time?” Greg asked, stirring a giant pot of soupy… stuff. Pinkie wasn’t sure it was even a proper soup.
“My friends were on their first Egg Hunt yesterday, but I didn’t have the ingredients for a cake. Now I do! So, when they get back from today’s trip to get Morkite, we’ll have a party to celebrate!” She almost ran in place, giddy with excitement.
Greg sighed. “I remember my first Egg Hunt well. My first training mission, Mining Expedition, Salvage Operation, Point Extraction, and Elimination, too. They are memorable moments in a miner’s career, their first missions. Their first promotions, Deep Dives, and forged items.” He stopped stirring and let his big spoon slide partway down into the soup. He then raised his sleeve to reveal that his entire left arm was prosthetic, and it bore a shining pickaxe “tattoo” imprinted near the shoulder. “Your last mission, however, is always the best remembered.”
Pinkie practically deflated at his somber tone. “What happened?”
Greg pulled his sleeve back down. “That’s a story for another time.”
“Okay.” She went back to her cooking, mixing a bowl of fruit to add to her next batch. Her humming slowly returned, bringing an upbeat tune back into the strange mixture of sounds and songs emanating from the kitchens.
A minute later, her hand shot up to a temperature gauge and tuned it slightly. Her eyes narrowed as she monitored another dish in the oven, and she ticked the gauge again. She smiled. The chicken was coming along nicely.
“Where did you gain your experience, Pinkie Pie?” Balef, a fellow cook with a clean-shaven face and large mohawk asked. His blue uniform, reminiscent of Sunset Shimmer’s own armor rig, looked dirty and worn but proud and well-maintained.
“Me? Oh, I just worked at the Cakes’ bakery. They are really nice and totally the best cake-makers you’ll meet. I helped with cupcakes, muffins, cakes, pies, bread, shortbread, pancakes, waffles…” She stopped working and rattled on, using her fingers to count how many things she’d listed. After nearly a minute of talking, she took a deep breath. “I think that’s it.”
“That’s an impressive memory you have, Pinkie Pie,” Greg grumbled.
“I know, right?” Pinkie glanced at her chicken before continuing. “I know everyone back at CHS and still meet up with them every now and then despite graduation being almost three years ago, and I also know everyone there now, and Canterlot University, and… I think you get it.”
“What’s the university for?”
“Studying, silly! I never went, but Sunset Shimmer did, and I visited her every now and then, so I met people there.”
“Your friend is currently down on Hoxxes, and you’re here.”
Pinkie opened the oven and pulled her chicken out, setting it next to the cake. “Yeah, but I still talk to all of them with my phone. Why wouldn’t I? They’re all awesome friends, and it helps me plan my parties.”
The announcement speaker crackled. “Attention: Drop Pod 17-B is inbound. Maintenance crews, to your stations.”
“Ooh! They’re just in time!” Pinkie cheered. She bounded out to the counter near Lloyd with the chicken on one gloved hand and the cake on the other and set them both down, pulling four CHS-themed mugs from her hair like it was an infinite storage and arranging them in front of each chair.
A few minutes later, the four girls dragged themselves to the counter and sat. They were much more tired and much less talkative than yesterday, and Rarity’s arm looked like it was a little sore.
“Heya, girls! How was it?”
Sunset folded her arms on the counter and let her head fall into them. “Remind me to never do an Egg Hunt again.”
“We succeeded, darling, and that’s what matters,” Rarity assured her as she rubbed her arm.
“But I feel so bad about it. I’m pretty sure every single one of those screams we heard when we took an egg was its mother calling for help.”
“I don’t particularly like it either, Sunset, but I want to go home, and we had to do it. We’ll likely have to do it again.”
Sunset lifted her head and took a long drink of water. “I know. What’s our next mission?”
“Well,” Pinkie said, “you girls are on the third mission of the first assignment, so it’s a Mining Expedition. Just another trip to get Morkite, then you unlock Salvage Operations.”
“Sounds pretty standard,” Rainbow said. “When do we do, like, crazy awesome stuff?”
“Eh, the last mission in the assignment is what’s called an Elimination. I don’t know too much, but Greg said you gotta kill a couple Glyphid Dreadnoughts before they turn into something worse and halt operations in the area. Shouldn’t be that hard, though. Greg made it seem easy.”
“How long has he been here?” Sunset asked.
Pinkie’s eyes narrowed, and she stared directly into Sunset’s eyes. “Long. I’ve heard rumors that he was part of the original batch of dwarves sent to the caves.”
Sunset retreated a little, putting some space between them. Meanwhile, Applejack ate a sausage and smiled, encouraging the others to eat, too.
“So he has experience,” Rarity said. “It can’t be too difficult. When the time comes, I’m sure we’ll ask him for advice.” She stretched and yawned. “It’s been a long day, I’m sure. And Pinkie Pie, dear, don’t fret if we’re not hungry right now. Parasites are disgusting creatures.”
“No, no, no, you’re all totally fine. I can just use the fridge.” She glanced at each of the girls worriedly. Sunset seemed broken from the last mission, Rarity had entirely lost her appetite, Applejack looked dejected, and Rainbow Dash was excited but tired. The missions were already taking a toll on her friends.
Luckily, Twilight sat down next to them, but the first thing out of her mouth was completely unexpected. “Lloyd, an Oily Oaf, please. Take it from my paycheck.”
The robot chirped, saluted, and produced a handful of mugs styled to look like mugs, and poured a drink into each one. He then slid the mugs to each of the girls and chirped again.
“Twilight dear,” Rarity admonished, “what would Fluttershy say if she caught you drinking?! She’s already so worried about us as it is!”
“It’s fiiiiiiine,” Twilight said. She took a long gulp and set the mug on the counter. “R&D is hard, okay?”
Pinkie grimaced and took stock of her friends again. Rainbow was experimenting with the beer, while Applejack had no qualms chugging it down. Sunset took tiny sips, and Rarity refused to drink--at first. She eventually took a sip, seemingly to avoid offending her friend, but drank in moderation, like Sunset.
Twilight suddenly leaned back and took a huge swig from her mug. “Oh, before I forget, Rainbow, your lighter gun will be ready with the mods you’ve ordered in the morning for your next mission. Any other special requests, girls?”
“Does my L.U.R.E. need to be a dwarf?” Rarity asked. “If not, I’d like to have something a little more appropriate for my tastes.”
“Like…?”
Pinkie felt a smile growing. “Ooh! Ooh! I have this video of Principal Celestia at last year’s Fall Formal! She was with Dr. Hooves during a slower song. Somebody changed the song, but she adapted pretty well.”
“Principal Celestia can dance?!” everyone asked together.
“Of course she can,” Pinkie said. “She’s an alumnus of the Canterlot Dance School downtown. You know, the one with the big recital every winter. I thought everybody knew that.”
“Pinkie Pie, darling, you’re the only one of us who could have ever known that,” rarity said over her foaming drink. She took a quiet, polite sip before continuing: “I also feel that it would be quite funny, if a little inappropriate. The Glyphids may not even go after her hologram if it’s a slow dance.”
“I also have her in a dance-off against Dean Cadence, as well as a video of Bulk Biceps from the party at Camp Everfree at the end of our senior trip. He’s got some moves. Oh, and Flash Sentry tap-dancing next to Trixie. Don’t ask.”
“Where did you get these?” Rainbow asked. “These are awesome!”
“The storyboard, duh.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be difficult,” Twilight said. “It’s a programming thing, so I’d need Edlin’s help, but it wouldn’t take longer than a night. We can have them done before your next mission if you give me the recordings.”
Rarity took a long sip. “Very well. I’ll trust you to make the decision, Pinkie Pie, but nothing too inappropriate, please.”
Seeing her friends light up with energy and fun, Pinkie’s smile grew even bigger. “You betcha, Rarity! Now, who wants some cake?”
Full Mission Roll: 225 Morkite, 14 Ebonuts, Haz 4, Fungus Bogs Warning: Lethal Enemies, Anomaly: N/A Machine Event: N/A Encounters: Cargo Crate, Lost Pack, Golden Loot Bug Extra Resources: Error Cube x1 Roll System in Phase 3
The next morning, Sunset Shimmer gulped at the screen showing their next mission. It was supposed to be a simple Morkite run…right?
“Okay, who chose the Hazard Level 4 mission?” she asked. “With a “Lethal Enemies” warning?”
“It was the assignment mission!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“We’re not prepared for that!” Sunset gritted her teeth. “You’re going to get us killed!”
“Ah reckon we can handle it,” Applejack said. “We’ve got some upgrades to our gear.”
“It won’t be a walk in the park, but we can do it,” Rarity agreed. She gestured to the open pod doors. “If there are no more objections?”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you guys,” Sunset grumbled. She climbed the ramp and started equipping her weapons. Grenades to the belt, shotgun in the sling on her back, flare generator prepared, flare gun to her right holster, grapple gun on the left. She was so focused on preparing that she almost didn’t hear the descent alarm. She strapped herself in as quickly as she could and silently prayed to whoever ruled the universe to keep them safe as they began their descent to the subsurface of Hoxxes IV.
---------------------------------
“This is a simple mining mission! Deposit your quota of Morkite into the M.U.L.E. and we’ll send a drop pod to get you out. Good luck!”
“Thanks a lot, Mission Control,” Sunset grumbled. A little louder: “Alright girls, you know the drill. Get the stuff and get out, and watch your aim. Try to keep the bugs at range--the ones around here hit harder than normal!”
Rainbow Dash smirked and hefted her minigun as she jogged down the ramp. “Don’t worry, Sunset, we’ve done this before.”
Applejack was right behind her and turned left, mirroring Rainbow’s turn to the right, and threw a flare. “Looks all clear to me.”
Sunset followed Rarity down the ramp and onto the green marshy soil of the Fungus Bogs. Despite it being solid rock, it felt wet and spongy under her feet. The humidity of the cave also weighed her down like a blanket, and the swampy jungle of it all felt more alien than anything she’d ever seen.
Four columns of the oddly marshy rock pillared around where the Drop Pod had been before it began its ascent back to orbit, where it would wait in relative safety and act as a communications relay back to Mission Control (at least according to Twilight), providing him with real-time sensor and comm data. It was truly a remarkable machine.
Sunset shook her head and grappled to a platform Rarity placed to get some Nitra. It wasn’t much, but the twenty units or so would go a long way towards a resupply--and they were going to need it.
Back on the ground again, she took full stock of their surroundings. Their flares reflected surprisingly well off the spongy rock, assisted by bioluminescent flora that would give Wallflower Bush a heart attack in amazement. Some kind of alien grass grew in patches of more nutrient-rich soil, and vines hung from the cliffs and ceiling.
“You hear them?” Rainbow asked as she approached the rest of the group, clustered at the seemingly standard compacted dirt blocking their path into the deeper caves.
Sunset didn’t respond, dumping her Nitra into Molly as she listened. A muffled screech sounded through the rock.
“Yeah, I hear them.”
After consulting her terrain scanner, Applejack tunneled through the dirt with ease, breaking into the cave beyond in a few seconds. She threw a flare and looked back up at them.
“Com’on, girls, the bugs ain’t here just yet.”
Sunset shrugged and jumped through the gap in the dirt, taking the lead as everyone began to look around nervously. She fired a flare into the far wall of a particularly tall bit of cave and--
“Sunset, look out!” Rarity cried as she fired her combat shotgun into the air above her.
“Wha--AAAAAHHHH! HEEEEELP!!!” Sunset screamed as something picked her up and pulled her towards the ceiling. She craned her head up to see an upside-down cancerous mound with several veiny tentacles grabbing at her. They started to hurt as they pinched at her armor rig, trying to slice through her shields and slash her skin.
Rainbow’s minigun wound up and started pelting the area around her, eventually finding their way to the creature. Quite a few hit Sunset, but she was more than willing to forgive her friend as long as this thing let go of her!
After what felt like an eternity of getting pincered, the main tentacle holding her up finally stretched down and released her to the ground, and the thing exploded into little bits that rained around her.
“Oh, Celestia! Thanks for saving me!” she panted.
“A Cave Leech,” Rarity said. “At least, that’s what my bestiary says. We should watch for more.”
Sunset shivered. “Oh, that’s disgusting.”
“Are you all right?” Applejack asked.
“I think so, yeah. Let’s just watch for more, like Rarity said.”
“Ah meant with Rainbow’s shots. It looked like some of them hit you.”
“I’m okay, honest. A couple of Rainbow’s wayward bullets is probably nothing compared to being eaten by an upside-down lump of…I don’t even know what. Let’s just get going and get home. Oh, I need a bath.”
They continued for a few minutes through the hershey humid cavern, only encountering a couple of bugs before they reached a large room. Sunset fired some flares across the dark, and, learning from her previous experience, carefully scanned the ceiling for any more Cave Leeches.
“Look, a Praetorian,” Rarity whispered, marking her observation with her laser pointer. “Be careful.”
The group split off a little to cover more ground and gather resources, taking care to not wake the Praetorian. However, as soon as the Morkite count passed around sixty units, the comms crackled to life with Mission Control’s concerned voice.
“Hrm, this doesn’t look good…We’ve just picked up a pack of Praetorians heading your way. Dig in, team.”
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Sunset pulled out her grapple gun and zipped across the room to where Rainbow Dash and Applejack were hunkering down with Molly.
“Glyphid Praetorians attacking!”
“Where’s Rarity?” Rainbow cried.
“Ah don’t know!” Applejack yelled back.
Sunset consulted her terrain scanner. There was a cluster of three colored arrows--her, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash--and one arrow down a tunnel to who-knew-where. It was approaching as quickly as it could, but it would be trapped.
“Somebody help me!” Rarity’s voice screamed over the comms. “My shields are broken, and my rig’s health is almost--” The link died.
For several seconds, all they did was stand in silenced horror.
“Oh, no.” Even Rainbow’s normally upbeat tone had fallen. “We gotta save her.”
“She’s down a tunnel. I don’t know how to get to it,” Sunset replied.
A deeper version of the Praetorian scream echoed off the walls, and the ground almost seemed to tremor as whatever produced the scream approached. With a new flare, Sunset could see a large, hulking beast approach, surrounded by a small crowd of Praetorians. She was frozen in fear for another few seconds before her mind regained control. In that time, however, it had come almost close enough to attack.
“RUN!” Sunset grappled away, feeling the wind in her face as she escaped danger. Turning, back, she saw the creature smack a terrified Rainbow Dash after a bunch of Praetorians sprayed her and all her escape routes with acid. She went down almost instantly.
“Rainbow Dash!”
Applejack was Hoxxes’ next unlucky victim, as the bugs entering her escape tunnel seemed more than even the hardy farm girl could handle. With nowhere left to run in the face of acid sprays and whatever the hell that big creature was, her comm link died.
Sunset lifted her rifle and started pelting the bugs from afar, but her shots eventually strayed from a combination of exhaustion, fear, and recoil. She paused for a second to regain control of her aim, grappled somewhere else, and fired again from her new angle. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. You’re it, but you can do it. They’re counting on you.
She felt the spray of acid from behind and screamed, falling to the ground as her rig activated its emergency protection protocols.
“Alert: Crew 17-B is incapacitated. Combat Recovery, to your pod. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. Drop Pod 17-B is transferring coordinates now. Situation deteriorating. Cave is a Hazard Level 4 in the Fungus Bogs with extra lethal enemies. Cave leeches were sighted before crew incapacitation. At least one Glyphid Oppressor is in the area. Proceed with caution. Repeat, this is not a drill.”
Fluttershy jumped at the sudden announcement. Normally, Mission Control alerted Medical to the comings and goings of mining crews, but she’d never heard an alert like that before.
“Heidei, what’s going on?” she timidly asked the large, muscular female dwarf that was her supervisor and Combat Recovery trainer.
“Didn’t you hear? Crew 17-B is down!” Heidei replied as she grabbed an armor rig from a fold-out armory on the wall. “Get your gear, Flutters, we’re goin’ in!”
“But I’ve only just started my training!”
“Listen,” Heidei growled, grabbing Fluttershy by the collar and pulling her close enough to smell the sweat underneath her clothes, “Our main Number Four died last month. If you don’t come down with us, we’ll be missing a member of our team. Our job is get down there as fast as possible and recover the bodies of incapacitated miners before the bugs get through their reserve shields. There are lives--and more important to the Company, experience--on the line here! Now don your rig and get to the pod! The rest of your equipment’s already there.”
With a frightened eep!, Fluttershy hurried to the last unoccupied fold-out armory, where an armor rig built specifically to her size and physique hung under spinning yellow warning lights. She frantically donned the rig and ran after Heidei down a hidden hallway to a large room she’d only seen a couple times before, at initiation.
The Drop Pod before her wasn’t substantially larger than the one used by normal miners, but it was a little taller, painted in bright white with a red bottom, and squeaky clean in comparison (although fuel leaked from its secondary tanks near the bottom). It was also apparently much roomier: Nearly all equipment pertaining to the mining teams was ditched in favor of more fuel, some medical facilities, and seven cryogenic tanks.
As soon as she entered the craft, the multi-layered door clanged shut behind her. She strapped herself into her seat and clamped her eyes shut, holding on to her over-the-shoulder restraints like she was riding a roller coaster. Her seat rotated until she was hanging from the ceiling…and then the engine started. As she felt her heart press into her spine, her vision began to go fuzzy, and she thought she heard Heidei calling out numbers.
“Three g’s! Three and a half…four g’s! Don’t give up on me, Flutters, it should peak out at five!”
“How…much…longer?”
“Just a few minutes. Four and a half…five g’s!”
The rocket held at five g’s for a considerable amount of time, turning Fluttershy’s insides to jelly as the machine began to shake, and a loud clanging noise started up. She looked around nervously as best she could under the stress.
“That’s the drill. We’ll be landing a little ways from the crew so we don’t land on top of them. Just a few hundred meters to go!”
I don’t like this! Fluttershy internally screamed. I want to go home!
Suddenly, the noise stopped, and the drill came to a halt with the thunderous clang, throwing her forward against her seat restraints. Her shoulders hurt, her arms ached, her chest felt bruised, and her brain was dizzy as the seat rotated rightside-up and unlocked.
“You alright, Flutters?” Heidei asked. “Normally, we’d have you go down with a couple non-emergency missions to give you the hang of it, but we don’t have time.”
“It was a little rough.”
“Yeah, I saw your suit didn’t inflate. It’s supposed to cushion you during descent. I’ll have R&D look at it when we get back. Don’t worry too much about the danger--I’ll make sure you get home safe.”
Fluttershy dizzily grabbed her equipment from her onboard locker. There were several grenades, a mini flare gun like the one Sunset carried, an automatic rifle, and twin machine pistols. “Thank you.”
“Got your gear? Good.” Heidei herself carried a shoulder-mounted communications array and a pair of light rifles with ammunition chains that snaked down to large, bulging cargo pockets on the sides of her pant legs. She also carried a platform gun, flares and some grenades, but no flare gun.
Tarkvel, a scrawny dwarf that looked to be in his thirties, carried the team’s special medkit that could rejuvenate a downed dwarf enough to instantly get them back on their feet. His weaponry consisted of a very deadly-looking grenade launcher, and he had a rechargeable shield generator, flares, and grenades.
Finally, Uhklot, the oldest and strongest of them all, carried a heavy autocannon and revolver, as well as a zipline launcher and several resupply beacons.
“Remember, no dwarf left behind!” Heidei yelled as she ran through the opening pod door and down the extended boarding ramp. “Flutters, lights!”
Lights, right. Fluttershy pulled out her flare gun and fired into the dark, feeling the recoil kick her shoulder like a grumpy mule. The flare shot out and arced beautifully across the cavern, illuminating a sickly green environment. A geyser belched out steam out of the earth, and with the whole ecosystem being underground, helped to create a bogged-down marsh of a biome.
Fluttershy followed Heidei down the tunnel, throwing flares and generally staying in the middle of the group with Tarkvel. Her feet squelched in the muddy rock, and her arms tired from carrying such heavy weapons (for her, at least).
The first person they came across was Rarity, her suit beeping in distress. While Heidei and Uhklot guarded the entrance and exit to their cave, Tarkvel pulled out his kit and injected something into Rarity.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she groaned. “What…happened?”
“We’re here to rescue you,” Tarkvel replied gruffly, pulling her to her feet.
“Oh, you’re alright!” Fluttershy embraced her friend. “Come on, we need to find the others.”
“Fluttershy? What are you doing down here?”
“I’m on the rescue team.” Fluttershy guided Rarity through the cave at the center of the group and fired another flare at Heidei’s request.
They quickly entered a large cavern. Heidei fired into a tentacle reaching down, destroying it before it could grab her. “Damn cave leeches. Watch out, everyone, there’s the Oppressor.”
The Glyphid Oppressor looked just as terrifying as the orientation images claimed. The thing was nearly five tons of practically-unbreakable chitin armor with only one weak point at its exposed fleshy abdomen. Beside it, several Praetorians, two-ton beasts covered in heavy chitin armor, circled a panicking M.U.L.E.
“There they are,” Heidei muttered. “Uhklot, fire from above. Fluttershy, give us light and keep your friend safe. Tarkvel, let’s end this Oppressor’s reign.”
Uhklot fired a zipline across the open cavern, hooked himself to it, and began pelting the Praetorians with the thunderous boom-boom-boom of his autocannon. Fluttershy fired some more flares, then quickly reloaded like she’d been taught. Meanwhile, Heidei and Tarkvel split up and attacked the Oppressor from the flanks, covered by Uhklot’s gun.
Rarity fired her shotgun, and Fluttershy turned around to see a small crowd of Glyphids swarming through the tunnel they’d just left. She emptied her guns into the mass. Both girls backed up as they fired, trying to keep as much distance between them and bugs as possible.
Rarity switched her weapons and thumped a large ball at the swarm, blowing them all away with an orange cloud of smoke.
“I forgot to thank you for coming for us,” Rarity panted. “I didn’t know if we’d be left down here.”
“Well, this is my first mission in Combat Recovery.”
“Crazy, isn’t it?” She smiled tiredly, craning her neck at the screech of Glyphids dying. “Our first failure is your first mission.”
“Do you know where the others are?”
“No, I think I was the first to go down.”
They jogged to the now-cleared area near the M.U.L.E., chatting about their experience so far. Rarity sighed in relief as Tarkvel revived Rainbow Dash.
“Let’s go home first,” Rarity said. Fluttershy nodded agreement.
While they caught their breath, the others in the Combat Recovery team found and revived Applejack and Sunset. Heidei called a regrouping at the M.U.L.E. When everyone was there, she grunted. “It’s good to see everyone alive and kicking. Uhklot, you’re in front, Tarkvel second. Flutters, you’re third. Remember your flares.” She pointed at Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Sunset, and Rarity. “You girls are after her. I’ll bring up the rear.”
Fluttershy ran after Tarkvel as fast as she could, knowing that the longer they stayed down here, the worse their situation would get. She hurried across the room, down Rarity’s tunnel, and through a smaller room. Then the Drop Pod appeared around a corner, its lights showing that the area around it was clear of bugs.
She panted. We’re almost there. We’re safe.
A field of embers appeared around the Drop Pod as Uhklot and Tarkvel reached the top of the ramp. Almost immediately, a pair of large claws slammed down, throwing a huge fire into the air--and into the pod’s leaky fuel tanks.
Fluttershy didn’t even have a chance to get out of the way before the resulting fireball blasted the entire pod to bits, throwing her against the cavern wall.
---------------------------------
“Flutters, you still alive? Wake up, girl!”
Fluttershy’s eyes fluttered open to a scene of utter chaos. Burning fuel and flaming metal filled her peripheral vision. The white paint of the medical team’s Drop Pod was gone, replaced by a scorched, blackened skeleton. On top of the wreckage stood a great orange beast, surrounded by flames licking its horrid, bulbous torso.
“What is that thing?” She winced, realizing her arm must’ve been burned by the explosion.
Heidei frowned. “Glyphid Bulk Detonator. It must’ve blown the fuel tanks and destroyed the engine with its Hellfire attack. Hurry, the other pod’s coming down!”
“But Uhlkot…Tarkvel…”
“They’re gone, Fluttershy.” Tears streamed down Heidei’s otherwise stoic face, and she panted, glistening sweat dripping off her nose. “They were in the pod when it blew. Come on, we need to complete the mission!” She dropped her equipment and picked up Sunset and Rarity. Both girls had probably been knocked out by the explosion.
Rainbow Dash was still pretty woozy, but she could move. She picked up her minigun and started following Heidei down the tunnel.
Fluttershy scrambled around for a second, finding Tarkvel’s last kit. Without hesitation, she pulled the safety off the syringe and injected its contents into Applejack’s arm. It worked almost immediately.
“Ah… What? Fluttershy? What happened?”
“Come on, Applejack,” she grunted, lifting her friend off the ground and helping her to her feet. “We need to get out of here. Your Drop Pod is already on its way down to meet us.”
“Mah pod? What about yours?”
“That’s why we need to run! Hurry!” Fluttershy pulled one of her machine pistols from its holster and fired into a Glyphid Grunt about to bite at them. It recoiled from the attack and screeched.
“What’s this fiery stuff around us?”
“Just run!” Fluttershy fumbled with her magazines, trying to reload as she ran. The echoes of Glyphid screams and wails assaulted her, terrified her. By the time she’d reloaded, she had to empty her fresh magazine into another Glyphid. The reloading process was a little easier, though, and she managed to do it a little quicker.
She pulled out her second machine pistol and emptied both into the Bulk Detonator. The thing was massive, and it soaked up her bullets like a sponge. It slammed its legs into the earth, destroying a large chunk of earth blocking its path and throwing flaming rocks into the air.
The clanging of a drill echoed from up ahead, and the open cavern around it suddenly lit up with spotlights. Fluttershy turned back and sighed in relief even as she panted from exhaustion. Heidei, still carrying Sunset and Rarity, bounded up the ramp as soon as it lowered, with Rainbow Dash a couple seconds behind her.
Applejack stood just outside the pod door when Fluttershy reached the bottom, steadying herself against the wall. The orange ember-like particles of the Bulk Detonator began to appear again as she ran to her friend.
“Come on, Fluttershy, we need to leave!” Applejack yelled, her hand extended.
Fluttershy looked back and gasped. She froze for a second, trying to find out how to keep the Detonator away. Slowly, she realized that there was only one option: she had to stay behind and keep it focused on her while the Drop Pod launched.
“No,” she said, “you need to leave.” She yanked her butterfly gem from Camp Everfree from her neck, wincing from the snap, and planted it firmly in her friend’s hand. “I’ll keep it distracted. If I don’t, it could blow up this pod, too.”
“But--”
“Take care of Angel for me.”
Fluttershy turned around and jumped to a rock outcropping near the ramp. She emptied her twin pistols into the Bulk Detonator again. It turned and screamed, slamming the ground in an attempt to take her out. She ran from its attacks just in time and reloaded. Her eyes widened into the Stare that Princess Twilight had told her about years ago, challenging the Detonator to attack again. It screeched and howled and circled her, but it stayed just out of range. The other Glyphids circled her, too, as if her Stare kept them at bay.
In the background, the Drop Pod began its ascent back to the surface with an empty seat.
Twilight Sparkle looked up at the crackle of the ill-maintained speaker that served as Mission Control’s link to the R&D section of the station. It sputtered a bit before the announcement came through:
“Alert: Drop Pod 17-B is inbound with casualties. Greenbeard Twilight Sparkle, your presence is requested in the appropriate medbay.”
“Did I do something wrong?” Twilight felt a shiver down her spine.
“No,” her fellow researcher Edlin replied from his computer. “Drop Pod 17-B is the one assigned to your friends. I heard that Combat Recovery was dispatched to rescue them from a Haz 4 cave with Lethal Enemies. If they’re returning on the…by the beard.”
“What?”
He stood, his eyes wide. His small but full beard quivered, and it took a moment for Twilight to realize that he couldn’t get the words out of his mouth.
That was all the information she needed. She bolted from her station and through the maze of corridors that was Station 17, eventually finding her way to the Mission Preparation Area shared by crews 17-A and 17-B.
The dwarves of Crew 17-A were already there, and those of 17-C through 17-E (which made up all the mission crews aboard the station) were pouring in from their areas. Twilight’s friends had been the only crew to head down to the surface today--everyone else was taking a break. Although the surface crews were paid by the mission, they still occasionally spent a day out of each week relaxing and drinking.
She pushed through the crowd to join Pinkie Pie, panic building in her heart, as the damaged, smoking Drop Pod mechanically clunked into the bay, latching to the cranes with a jolt. Its dirtied paint now sported burn marks and hundreds of scratches. A Glyphid tooth hung on the door, held in place by the airtight seal.
Sunset…Applejack…Rainbow Dash…Rarity…
The doors struggled to open, but managed to pull apart, revealing the four girls in varying states of consciousness and a lone dwarf on the floor with her head hung low. Applejack seemed to be the most active, holding some kind of necklace in her tightly wound fist, with Rainbow Dash a close second. Rarity was just beginning to wake, and Sunset was out cold.
Twilight and Pinkie clambered up the stairs to the scaffold bridge leading to the pod. “Are you guys okay? What happened?”
“Twilight,” Rainbow managed to choke out. “Fluttershy’s gone.”
Pinkie’s hair deflated, and her eyes began to fill. “That can’t be right. She’s…”
Applejack opened her fist to reveal a pink butterfly gem on a broken black string--Fluttershy’s geode from Camp Everfree. “She stayed behahnd to keep the bugs off us when the pod ascended. We wouldn’t have made it out without her.”
“I shouldn’t have brought her,” the dwarf said quietly. “She didn’t have the experience.”
“It’s not your fault,” Applejack said. “You needed a full team.”
“I promised her that I’d bring her back! I’ve failed my mission, and I’ve failed my team.” She stood, tears in her eyes. “And more importantly, I’ve failed your team. I got your friend killed.”
“Greenbeard Fluttershy died a true dwarf,” a familiar voice with an English accent said from behind Twilight. She turned and gasped.
“You all know me as Mission Control,” the burly human continued, and frowned, clasping his hands behind his back. “I would normally stay far from affairs such as this, but we have not lost three dwarves on a single mission since the early days. Our top-notch Combat Recovery Teams--” He nodded at the female dwarf with them-- “have been able to recover every dwarf that goes down. Night Carver Heidei, you will not be placed at fault for this disaster. Instead, we will recognize the efforts you and your team made despite such overwhelming odds, and remember your sacrifices.”
“Thank you, sir,” Heidei mumbled, still teary-eyed.
“Greenbeards,” Mission Control said, “you will not be reprimanded. Unfortunately, these things happen, and I know what it’s like to lose a close friend. Your mission failure is punishment enough. Your friend will be remembered as a hero of Deep Rock Galactic. Now heal and get some rest. You still have a long road ahead of you.” With that, he turned and descended, making his way through the crowd of dwarves at the base of the scaffold bridge and to an elevator, where he ascended to the upper decks of the station.
Sunset groaned and her eyes fluttered open. “Wha…girls?” She looked around. “What happened? We’re supposed to be in the caves.”
“We got out,” Rainbow said quietly as she pulled Sunset out of her seat.
“Wait, where’s Fluttershy? She’s supposed to be with us.”
“She didn’t make it,” Applejack explained, holding out the butterfly gem.
“We gotta go back for her.”
“No, you need to rest,” Twilight said. “We all do.” She helped Rarity to her feet and half-carried her to the medbay as the crowd of dwarves dispersed.
Fluttershy’s heart rate skyrocketed when the Drop Pod’s flaming exhaust disappeared into the ceiling far above, eventually making its way to the surface and then the Space Rig. She was now completely and utterly alone in a deep, dark cave, surrounded by a swarm of Glyphids that could kill her at any moment.
“Stay back!” she ordered when the Bulk Detonator tried to crawl a little too close. “What would your mother think of your behavior?”
The Detonator growled but obeyed her command. It retreated to the back of the swarm, and its place was taken by a Praetorian and a dozen Grunts. The Praetorian gurgled a short-lived spray of acid that was quickly doused by her Stare. It shrank back but stayed in place, eventually lowering its chitin-covered head to the ground in submission.
“That’s right. You shouldn’t hurt anyone if you don’t have to,” Fluttershy said. She shakily held her twin pistols at the Glyphids as she frantically glanced between them.
One of the smaller Glyphids surround her, a Grunt, howled curiously and skittered closer. It shook its armored body like a wet dog and screeched quietly.
Fluttershy aimed both of her pistols at it, her eyes wide with fright. She dropped a flare to see better and saw just how many Glyphids had her surrounded. There had to be nearly a hundred of the creatures in this cave alone.
The Grunt that had approached screeched again and approached slowly. Although it was a lot closer than the others, it showed no signs of hostility. Fluttershy could now see that it had no eyes and presumably found its way through the caves by echolocation like a bat. Its razor-sharp teeth and tough exoskeleton were perfect for digging through rock, and its many legs were certainly adapted to let it crawl on nearly any surface like a spider.
She holstered her pistols and crouched low, beckoning to the Grunt out of habit. “Hello, mister. Come here. I won’t hurt you.” Her voice trembled out of fear, but she hoped she sounded kind, not hostile.
The Grunt shook its body again and crawled a little closer. It screeched a friendly-sounding tone and skittered to the left, then the right.
Fluttershy knelt and beckoned again, stil acutely aware of the other Glyphids around her. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”
After a moment of indecision, the Grunt skittered right up to her and nuzzled her leg. She scratched the underside of its chin. It shook again and screeched affectionately.
“Look at you,” she said. “You’re such an angel.”
It screeched again in reply. Although she couldn’t understand it, it sounded happy with the compliment.
The ground shuddered slightly, and she turned to see the Praetorian crawling closer. Unlike last time, however, it was submissive, and it lay down next to her with a deep gurgle.
Fluttershy hesitated. Praetorians were notoriously dangerous for getting close and then splashing you with acid. Kindness won in the end, and she scratched its chin too. It gurgled contentedly in reply.
What’s going on? The fearful part of her brain immediately asked. I don’t even have the crystal from Camp Everfree. This shouldn’t be possible.
Maybe I don’t need the crystal, another part of her brain reasoned. Look at them. They’re angels when they’re calm.
They’re dangerous. They almost killed my friends, and they almost killed me. This could be a trap.
And what if it isn’t? They’re just lovely animals, and we’re invading their planet. They live here. They’re defending their home. What if they see me as one of them?
Sensing her confliction, the Grunt nuzzled her again. Its hard chitin armor brushed her leg, sending fearful chills through her spine, but she held still. Any sudden moves could send it into a panic.
“Do you have any food?” she asked carefully. “I didn’t bring any with me.”
The Grunt almost purred and shook its body again, sending Fluttershy’s mind into a chaotic spiral of conflicting thoughts. They can purr? She honestly had no idea how to approach this information.
She was so focused on her thoughts that she almost didn’t notice the Grunt stand up and leave. A few minutes later, it returned with a purplish fungus held gingerly in its mouth. It deposited the fungus at her feet and purred again.
She picked up the fungus and examined it. It looked like a bioluminescent mushroom of some kind with a small tangle of roots at its base. She poked its head, and it opened into four petals and a single large seed in the middle. Smiling softly, she gingerly patted the Grunt just above its mouth.
“Thank you, but I don’t know if I can eat this,” she said. “I’ll try it, though.” She plucked a petal from the plant and chomped down, taking a bigger bite than she intended. It tasted bitter and felt crunchy. She quickly finished chewing and swallowed, shivering. No matter how it tasted, it was better than starving.
She looked around. All the other Glyphids aside from the Detonator had dispersed. The Praetorian that had set itself next to her growled as it approached, its hellish fire particles floating around it.
“No, no, no, that’s no way to act,” she chided the Praetorian. “If he’s friendly, let him come closer.”
Before the Detonator could get any closer, however, a loud, deep, roar, louder than anything she’d ever heard, echoed off the marshy cavern walls. The Detonator backed away instantly and skittered into the darkness, quickly followed by the Praetorian. The Grunt that had initially approached and gave her the fungus screeched in panic.
Oh, this is bad.
She stood as quickly as she could and looked for the Detonator’s trail. It wasn’t hard to find since it left floating embers wherever it went. She looked down at the Grunt and gently tugged its leg.
“Come on, follow me. I’m following the Detonator.” She ran towards the slowly cooling embers and down a path dug out by the Detonator, followed by the Grunt. She didn’t want to meet whatever made even a Bulk Detonator turn tail and run.
Behind her, the entrance to the tunnel collapsed. She was truly trapped in the darkness.
Full Mission Roll: 225 Morkite, 12 Gunk Seeds, Haz 1, Radioactive Exclusion Zone Warning: Shield Disruption, Anomaly: N/A Machine Event: Omen Modular Exterminator Encounters: N/A Extra Resources: Bittergem x1 Roll System in Phase 3
Several days had passed since the failed mission. Applejack sat in the newly repaired Drop Pod, listening to the drill’s loud clanging as it tunneled down to the team’s next cave. It wasn’t supposed to be hard at all: the assignment system had rolled them a Hazard 1 cave in the Radioactive Exclusion Zone. Unfortunately, their shields were useless in this particular cave, but a sympathetic dwarf from Team 17-D had bought them all the Red Rock Blaster, giving them extra suit health on top of the compensation boost from the Shield Disruption.
The trip down had been quiet. Knowing just how close they had been to dying and Fluttershy’s loss was a sobering reminder of the dangers of Hoxxes. Despite their experience, the company couldn’t resist the resources here, so they were again sent into a highly dangerous cave in a similarly dangerous biome to meet an arbitrary quota of Morkite and a dozen Gunk Seeds if they had the time.
Applejack checked her drill arms again and faltered when she saw a pink butterfly painted on the inner side of her left drill. Twilight must’ve put it there. Whatever her reasoning, Fluttershy’s favorite mark would forge the path ahead and lead them home.
The drill stopped clanging, and the pod dropped a dozen meters to the surface of their next cave. Applejack was slow to move as she grabbed her flamethrower off its rack, but Sunset bolted through the open door and threw a flare to the left as she circled the pod while Rainbow guarded the center. Rarity took the right, and Applejack jogged down the ramp to meet Rainbow Dash.
This biome was filled with all sorts of particles that gave a little life to an otherwise desolate cave. Applejack could see the occasional dark green crystal her laser pointer identified as “inert uranium”. There were no bioluminescent flora or fauna that they could see, making the cavern completely dark without their flares. Around them, the rock was dull and gray. The silence was almost deafening.
“”Hey, we’ll make it back,” Rainbow Dash assured her as the Drop Pod began its ascent back to orbit. “We’ll make it home. It’s what Fluttershy would’ve wanted.”
“Ah know,” Applejack replied. “Ah just wish she was here now.”
“This is a simple mining mission,” Mission Control said over the comms. “Deposit your quota of Morkite into the M.U.L.E. and we’ll send a Drop Pod in to get you out. Good luck!” He didn’t immediately shut off his mic, however, continuing after a second: “The mines are dangerous even on lower Hazard Levels. Keep your guard up, girls.”
“Thank you for the advice, sir,” Rarity said as she finished circling the room. “I see a few Gunk Seeds in here, but no minerals. Look for dirt and advance to the next tunnel.”
“Are you takin’ charge?” Applejack asked, watching Rainbow Dash place her minigun into a special lock on her back and unholster her revolver out of the corner of her eye. Rainbow then tossed a flare and jogged farther down the tunnel.
“I don’t want to lose another friend. If that means I take charge, then that’s what I’ll do.”
A sharp bark echoed off the walls. The three girls turned to Sunset, who then dumped a Gunk Seed into Molly and shrugged. She equipped her grapple gun and zipped across the cavern towards Rainbow Dash’s dimming flare.
“I’m worried about her,” Rarity whispered. “She’s gotten extremely quiet and closed. You wouldn’t believe what it took to get her out of her room this morning.”
Rainbow’s comm crackled from some interference--probably the background radiation. “Hey, I found some dirt!”
Applejack threw a flare and followed Sunset and Rainbow. Sunset was now mining a small patch of gold near a large chunk of compressed dirt, completely ignoring the others, while Rainbow carefully pulled her minigun back off its lock.
“Y’alright, Sunset?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” Sunset curtly replied, turning around to move to the dirt. A small but intense fire burned in her eyes, and Applejack could tell she wanted to avenge her friend.
“No, you’re not.” She put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder when she tried to move away. “Just don’t get hurt.”
“I won’t.” Sunset pushed her hand off and gestured with her rifle. “You’ve got the drills. Use ‘em.”
Applejack nodded and turned to the dirt. She slid her arms into the drill mounts hooked to her belt and unlatched them, feeling their weight pull her arms down as her torso stopped holding them up. With a quick twist, the drills whirred to life, and she steadily walked into the dirt. It crumbled under her advance, and she made short work of the meter thick wall blocking the tunnel ahead.
Like the trip down from orbit, the journey was solemn. Only the occasional bark of Sunset’s rifle or whirr of Rainbow’s minigun broke the silence. The tink-tink-tink of a pickaxe striking Morkite, Nitra, or gold echoed in the dark. Their only replies came from the Glyphids, who howled and screeched from somewhere ahead or behind. Despite being with her friends, Applejack felt completely and utterly alone.
After what felt like forever, they were traveling down a fairly wide corridor when the radio crackled to life with Mission Control’s voice. “Bad news, team: a pack of Praetorians has diverted towards you. Get ready.”
“I’m calling a resupply,” Rarity said. She threw down a beacon and checked her shotgun. “Stay together, girls. They won’t get us this time.”
“Supply drop has been ordered, and is on the way,” Mission Control reported.
Applejack switched her drills for a flamethrower. She checked its fuel as they clicked into their field mounts on the back of her rig. The loaded canister was full, and her entire reserve was down by a dozen units from torching some bugs earlier.
“Praetorians engaging! Let ‘em have it!”
Despite Mission Control’s announcement, no Praetorians appeared for several moments. Sunset fired another flare into the ceiling just as the supply drop tunneled through and clanged onto the ground.
Just as the pod’s leaves opened, the first Praetorian's growl echoed in the darkness. Several more replied, their roars sending shivers down Applejack’s spine. Rainbow’s minigun whirred to life, and Sunset’s rifled barked.
There! A Praetorian appeared up the tunnel behind Rarity and crawled towards the group. Applejack pulled the trigger, and orange-yellow fire streamed towards the monster, barely licking its forelegs. It roared at her.
Rarity whirled around and fired a grenade into its mouth. The grenade exploded, forcing the bug to stagger, but still it approached. Behind it, a second Praetorian stomped.
“Do you have something with a little more range, dear?” Rarity asked over the noise.
“Ah have a few axes if you can turn its green butt around.”
Rarity said nothing but ran forward, firing her shotgun into the Praetorian’s mouth. It roared and turned to face her as she ran, spraying acid onto the rock behind her. As it turned further, its glowing green insides were exposed to Applejack, and she quickly pulled one of her eight Impact Axes from her belt and hurled it at the Praetorian. The axe expanded as it flew, exposing dual blades with tiny arcs of electricity between them.
The axe sank into its weak flesh and released a blast of electricity that stunned the beast momentarily. The Praetorian howled, then collapsed to the ground with a thud and released a now-familiar cloud of dangerous green gas that filled most of the cave.
Rarity skirted around the cloud at full speed, skidding to a stop next to Applejack again. “That was amazing, darling. Can you light it?”
“Light the gas? Rarity, what good would that do?”
“Twilight told me it’s highly flammable. Just do it,” she panted. “And stand back.”
Applejack dutifully aimed her flamethrower and fired. Nothing happened for a moment. Then it suddenly flared, blowing smoke everywhere and damaging her shields. The Praetorian that had been behind the one she killed roared in pain, but it was silenced by Rarity’s grenade launcher.
She sighed in relief. “How many of those things do you have left?”
Rarity smiled tiredly. “Five more. Don’t worry about me, darling, I’ll be alright.”
Rainbow laughed. “You know, we have the Morkite. Can we just go back?”
“Yeah,” Rarity agreed. “I’m not too keen on going farther if I don’t need to. Let’s just go back to the station and assure Twilight that we’re alright.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Sunset muttered. She pressed and held Molly’s big red button.
“Good work. Sending in the Drop Pod,” Mission Control announced.
Applejack nodded. As long as they worked together, they’d make it back safely.
Full Mission Roll: 2 Mini M.U.L.E.s, 15 Apoca Blooms, Haz 2, Crystalline Caverns Warning: N/A, Anomaly: N/A Machine Event: N/A Encounters: N/A Extra Resources: Bittergem x1, Compressed Gold x1 Roll System in Phase 3
The Drop Pod clanged its way back into its docking station on the Space Rig, shuddering to a stop as the station’s magnetic clamps locked it into place. When the shaking subsided, Rainbow Dash stood from her seat and stretched.
“I’d say that was a pretty awesome mission,” she said. “We got one of those Bittergem things, which looked pretty valuable. Ready for another trip?”
“No,” Rarity groaned. “I think I hit my head on something on the way back to the Pod.”
“Stop being such a baby. It was probably just a rock.”
“Have you hit your head on the ceiling while sprinting towards a giant drill to escape an unending horde of monstrous bugs?”
“No, but you don’t have to be so dramatic about it.”
Rarity leaned back in her seat and sighed. “I suppose I am being a little too dramatic. In any case, I’m not doing another mission today. We can see what our assignment mission rolled next for us in the morning.”
---------------------------------
The next morning, Rainbow Dash rolled out of bed and groggily walked to the mission hologram near the Drop Pod, barely acknowledging Rarity’s open bedroom door. as she approached, the mission selection screen was replaced by a small bit of text:
“What’s Update 32?” she asked nobody in particular. “Like a game update?”
“Not really. It’s your mission assigner,” Twilight said from behind her. She gently pushed Rainbow out of the way, handed her a steaming mug of coffee, and tapped some controls. “You also have two new mission types DRG can assign to you. Since you started before they were released by Management, they’re already available, but I’d recommend finishing your current assignment before trying either.”
“What are they?”
“Escort Duty, where you protect a massive drill machine we call the ‘Drilldozer’ as it locates and extracts an Ommoran Hearthstone, and On-Site Refining, where you extract a predetermined amount of Liquid Morkite from nearby wells and pump it to a refinery that you send back to orbit once it’s full. Pretty simple stuff, really. The discovery teams have outdone themselves.”
Rainbow sipped the coffee and instantly felt a little more alive. “What do we need this stuff for?”
“Who knows?” Twilight smiled. “All that matters is that Management thinks it’s worth it to send miners to get this stuff. I have to warn you, though: I’ve heard rumors that the discovery teams have found two new biomes and several tougher evolutionary variants of the creatures you’ve already encountered. They’ll patch them into ‘Update 33’ once they’ve confirmed discovery, but those new bug variants might spread all over Hoxxes by the time they do it.”
“Well, that’s not something I wanted to hear so early in the morning,” Rarity said from the equipment workbench. “Did you sleep well, Rainbow Dash? I’ve already rolled our mission. We’re doing a Salvage Operation in the Crystalline Caverns today. Haz Two.”
“Not really.”
“I can imagine. Heidei did wonders for my head last night, so I slept soundly as a cat.”
“That’s good,” Applejack said. She stood by her bedroom door with her armor rig already donned. “Salvage Operation today? What exactly does that entail?”
“We find and repair two or three Mini M.U.L.E.’s--in today’s case, two--and then repair and refuel a damaged Drop Pod to go home. I’m told we’ll dock in the salvage hangar and then come back here upon our return.”
“Is this an assignment mission?”
“Well, the order of assignment missions has changed,” Twilight answered. “Whatever happened, the update knocked you girls around the assignment a bit--probably a bug. You’ll have to do this Salvage Operation and then backtrack to do an On-Site Refining mission. Once you do both missions, you’ll be back on the correct assignment path, and Management will grant you access to the Dense Biozone and Glacial Strata.” She checked her watch. “Oh, I’m gonna be late. See you all tonight!”
Twilight left the console at a run. She bounded down a corridor and turned a corner, disappearing into the station.
“Well, let’s get started, then,” Applejack said. “Anyone know where Sunset is?”
“I’m right here,” Sunset grumbled as her door hissed open. “You all left your comms on, so I heard everything. And Rainbow Dash, you snore way too loud.”
Rainbow, now fully awake, frowned. “I don’t snore!”
“We’re not having this conversation, girls,” Rarity said before Sunset could respond. “Get your gear, eat your breakfasts, and board the Drop Pod. If you have the money and crafting materials, I recommend looking into acquiring more upgrades for your weapons.”
Everyone grumbled but followed her instructions. Rainbow finished the mug Twilight had given her and visited Pinkie Pie at the bar to order some more coffee, while Sunset donned her gear and Applejack worked some upgrades. Despite Pinkie’s reassurances, Rainbow couldn’t help but feel nervous about going down again. This time, they would be entering a cave already swarming with bugs.
---------------------------------
The Drop Pod’s doors clanged open as its drill stopped, and the now normal twenty-meter drop as the pod fell from the entrance cave’s ceiling to its floor gave Rainbow Dash momentary weightlessness followed by a bone-crushing halt. Outside, the light gray of the Crystalline Caverns glowed in the Pod’s lights. Purple reflective crystals and a light blue one that glowed with energy dotted the cavern.
“This is a Salvage mission!” Mission Control called as the four girls jogged off the ramp. “A previous crew lost their Mini M.U.L.E.'s, their Drop Pod, and their lives in this cave. Find and repair the lost M.U.L.E.’s, get the Drop Pod operational, and return to base. Expect heavy infestation--and try not to mess it up like your former colleagues!”
“Here we go, girls!” Rarity called. “Let’s make Fluttershy proud.”
“Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on,” Rainbow replied as she ran into the dark and threw a flare. “Where are the bugs? I still have a score to settle!”
“As a team, if you please!”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and lowered her gun so she could shake her arms. Who put Rarity in charge? She didn’t vote for her. Was it Sunset? Applejack would’ve taken charge herself if she wasn’t so focused on her drills, so it couldn’t be her.
Whatever. Rainbow shook the thoughts out of her head and pulled her minigun off the ground. A Glyphid shrieked nearby, but it was a little muffled as if it was behind a wall of rock--which was most likely the case given that they were in a cave.
“Ah found the dirt! Let’s get movin’!” Applejack called, using her laser pointer to mark a waypoint on the compacted dirt blocking their path.
She’d already drilled straight to the other side by the time Rainbow made it to her waypoint. Sunset hopped down the sharp incline, rifle in hand, while Rarity waited for her friend to jog the length of their starting cavern. She dropped another flare as their previous ones began to dim.
“Is it still a little heavy?” Rarity asked as Rainbow approached. “We can have Twilight work on it some more once we get back if you want.”
“Yeah, that’d be nice. Maybe one of those suit mounts like Applejack has for her drills?” Rainbow panted.
“If you need a break, just tell us. We’ll wait for you.” With that, Rarity gracefully stepped down the drilled tunnel into the caves beyond.
Rainbow scanned the cave around once more before following her friend.
---------------------------------
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Rainbow Dash, dear, could you please stop with the noises?”
Rainbow stepped back, offended. “It’s not me, Rarity. I don’t know what the heck is doing that.”
“I’m telling you, it’s not her,” Sunset called. “I think it’s one of the Mini M.U.L.E.’s. The one next to me is beeping like crazy.”
Rarity sighed. “I’m sorry, Rainbow. I guess I’m just used to you and Pinkie Pie’s antics.”
“It’s fine,” Rainbow grumbled.
The two walked under Sunset flares until they met her standing over a small green M.U.L.E. missing three legs and blinking its emergency lights like it was the end of the world. Rainbow looked around. Several M.U.L.E. legs were scattered about, glowing in the dark.
“Oh, you poor thing,” Rarity said. She knelt and petted the broken machine. “I think our job here is to fix these. Sunset, would you be a dear and find me three legs? Rainbow, you and Applejack should go look for resources--specifically Nitra, Jadiz, and Bismor. Gold if you can manage.”
“Sure thing, Rarity,” Applejack said. She tapped Rainbow’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.”
As they wandered through the large cavern, Rainbow spotted a large blinking orange light off to the side. With a few more steps, she could see a rusty Drop Pod in the center of the offshoot room, and the “eyes” of its dwarf-face front were the source of the lights. The door into the pod was sealed shut.
“Well, what do you know?” Applejack breathed. “Ah think we found the team.”
“Or what’s left of it,” Rainbow agreed. “You think they’re in the Pod?”
“Nah. The Minis wouldn’t be out heah if they hadn’t left it.”
Rainbow gulped. “Any Cave Leeches?”
“Not that Ah see. Might be some over there,” Applejack said, gesturing to the darkest part of the cave with her flamethrower. “Say, what’s that?” She pointed to a group of pinkish crystals sticking out of the ground nearby.
“I don’t know. Could be pink Jadiz.”
“No, Ah think it’s another Bittergem.”
“Like the one we found at the end of the cave yesterday?”
“Yeah, exactly like that.” Applejack swapped for her drills and tunneled down through the crystals and rock for a few seconds. “Yup, it’s another. Two in a row. We’re gettin’ real lucky.”
“Don’t jinx us, Applejack.”
“Ah won’t.” She dumped the Bittergem into Molly, which had followed them, and scanned the cavern as another of Sunset’s flares fired across the dark and stuck itself in the ceiling. “Hey, there’s the other Mini.”
“Should we fix it or leave it for Rarity?”
“If you could leave it and secure the Pod, that would be great,” Rarity said over their comms. “Have you found any Nitra?”
“Not down here, but there’s some on the ceiling that Sunset’s flare let me see,” Rainbow replied after a second of panicked scanning, pointing at a patch near the roof. Seconds later, a platform materialized under the vein, and Sunset was grappling toward it.
“Anything else?” Rarity asked.
“Found a Bittergem.”
“That’s good. They’re worth a pretty penny. Oh, if I could just use some shards to decorate my armor! I think it would be absolutely perfect!”
“Well done,” Mission Control stated. “The M.U.L.E. is working again!”
“Alright, we’re gonna go secure the Pod,” Applejack said. “Come on, Rainbow, we’re not done yet.”
“Why are you doing everything she says? She’s not our boss.”
“Because Ah think she knows what she’s doing more than Ah do. Fire a zipline, will ya?”
Rainbow shook her head and switched to her zipline launcher. With some careful aim, she sent it almost perfectly next to the broken Drop Pod. she hooked herself to it and let it carry her over the cave floor as Applejack followed.
“What’s our secondary today again?”
“Apoca Blooms, Ah think. Ah already grabbed six.”
“We should be good then.” Rainbow released her hook and dropped next to a computer box. “Let’s get ready to go.”
---------------------------------
Rarity dropped from the zipline as Rainbow smacked the computer box with a hammer. The two Mini M.U.L.E.’s had been repaired, and they had followed Molly back to the Drop Pod, docking with a series of clanks and whirs. “Once we establish this uplink, we should be good to go. We have 85 Nitra, so we can call a supply drop if we need one.”
“Uplink ready,’ Mission Control reported. “Triangulation initiated. Do not leave the Triangulation Zone or we will lose the connection. We only have one shot at this!”
“We have to what?” Sunset asked.
“Stay in the bubble as indicated by the green hologram,” Rarity said. “At least one of us must be in here at all times until the satellites triangulate the Pod’s exact position.”
“Swarm detected. Get ready, they’ll be with you shortly.”
In the distance, fiery red particles floated out of the wall some distance from the Drop Pod, and a roar that none of them had hoped to hear again echoed through the caves.
14. [Rarity] Horrors of Hoxxes (Salvagers, Part 2)
Full Mission Roll: 2 Mini M.U.L.E.s, 15 Apoca Blooms, Haz 2, Crystalline Caverns Warning: N/A, Anomaly: N/A Machine Event: N/A Encounters: N/A Extra Resources: Bittergem x1, Compressed Gold x1 Same Mission as Chapter 13
A massive red creature with yellowish protrusions climbed out of the cavern walls. It roared a deeper, throatier version of the same scream the smaller Glyphid Exploders had and slowly approached from its entry point, throwing up fiery particles as it shook the ground with its steps. It was the same kind of creature that Fluttershy stayed behind to distract on that fateful mission. It might even be the same one.
“Rarity, open the pod doors!” Rainbow Dash screamed. “Open them now!”
“I would if it was under my control!” Rarity yelled back. She shut her eyes momentarily to collect her thoughts and calm herself. “Applejack, we need to ensure that the fuel cells remain operational until the Drop Pod’s tanks are full. Your weapons aren’t very good at long range--which I suspect we’ll need given that that thing is probably on fire--so you stay here. Don’t leave the zone. I’d like to return home when this is over.”
“Fuel cells at 50%,” Mission Control reported.
“What about all y’all?”
Rarity swapped to her grenade launcher and checked its firing chamber. It was loaded. “Sunset and I will distract the Detonator as long as we can. Rainbow Dash, you’re going to shoot that thing. As long as it’s aggravated at us, you should have a chance, but we can’t do it for long.”
“Ah don’t control how long this is gonna take, Rarity.”
“I know, but you’ll have to kill the Glyphids that come for you by yourself,” Rarity said as she threw down a resupply beacon. “Use this if you must. Say the word, and Rainbow Dash will throw a shield for you. Right, Rainbow?”
“Uh, yeah, I will,” Rainbow stuttered. “I have a shield?”
“It’s on your belt. Am I the only one who read up on everyone else’s equipment?” Rarity sighed. “Never mind. Remember, Rainbow, keeping Applejack conscious is how we’re going to get out of here, so if she calls for a shield, you’d better do it, or that monstrous creature will be the least of your concerns.”
“Who put you in charge? You’ve been ordering us around for the last two missions!”
Rarity glared at her friend. “If you don’t, we are going to die down here. I’m trying to bring us home safely, so either do as I say, or you are never leaving the station again! I’m not going to lose another friend if I can help it.”
“Alright, alright, I got it.” Rainbow Dash pulled a flat circular device from her belt. “Okay, I’m pretty sure this is the shield thingy. Gotcha.”
“Good. Let’s move!”
Sunset pulled out her grapple gun and zipped away, disappearing into the darkness as Rarity jogged out of the holographically marked area where at least one person had to be to keep the fuel cells operational.
“Hang in there, supplies are on the way,” Mission Control said over the comms.
“As if I needed confirmation,” Rarity muttered to herself. “Rainbow Dash, I’m going to get its attention. Shoot as many bullets as you can into that thing! Maybe aim for those bulbs on its back--they look like weaker points.”
“If you say, Captain.” As Rarity fired a grenade into the monster’s face to get its attention, Rainbow Dash let loose a hailstorm of bullets into its thick, bulbous, disgusting hide. “This is for Fluttershy, you horror of Hoxxes!”
Meanwhile, a flare fired from a vantage point far above and to the side, fully illuminating the bioluminescent creature. Moments later, Sunset’s rifle started pounding away at one of the three large glowing bulbs.
“Sweet Celestia, how tough is this thing?” Sunset called from her vantage point. The Detonator howled and turned to face her, stomping hellish fire into the rock.
“I don’t know. Just keep shooting it!” Rarity ordered. She reloaded and fired another grenade into the nearest tumor, which was glowing from Rainbow’s sustained fire. It exploded from the sustained fire, causing the Detonator to stagger back and howl.
“One down!” Rainbow whooped. Her near-continuous stream of lead wandered from the destroyed tumor to target one that still glowed with energy.
“Get ready, team. Horde of Glyphid Swarmers, heading your way! Get your stomping boots on.”
“As if we needed more bugs,” Sunset yelled. She threw an empty clip and grappled away from the Detonator. Seconds later, her rifle barked again, and her muzzle flashes lit the darkening cave.
Rarity fired yet another grenade into the Detonator. Two left. She stole a glance back at Applejack and saw her swarmed with Glyphid Swarmers. The farm girl torched them with her flamethrower, but there were so many more than she could handle.
“Rainbow, Ah need that shield!”
Before Rarity could repeat the call, Rainbow threw her disk-shaped device as far as she could. It landed perfectly at Applejack’s feet and immediately activated a green energy shield that pushed the Swarmers away from her, protecting her from damage. Rarity’s supply pod dropped into the shield, missing her by only a couple feet. Applejack whooped and let her flames loose again, burning Swarmers and Grunts alike. Many screeches were suddenly cut as she turned around and around.
Rarity focused back on the Bulk Detonator. It still lumbered toward Sunset, and the tumor on its back was fully exposed as it started climbing. She fired a grenade, but it didn’t pop. Rainbow’s minigun clanked to a stop and spewed smoke. Without continuous fire, the tumor dimmed.
“Keep shooting that tumor!” she ordered as the Sunset destroyed the second of the three.
“My gun’s broken!”
“Use your revolver!” Rarity switched for her pickaxe and sprinted toward the Detonator.
“Where are you going?!”
“HIIIYAAAHHHH!!” Rarity screamed as she leaped through the fiery particles and slammed her pickaxe down on the dimming tumor. It exploded yellow goop all over her, and the Detonator howled. The wind rushed in, then blew out in a massive explosion that knocked her against the ground.
---------------------------------
“Rarity? Rarity, are you okay?” Rainbow Dash frantically asked. “Please be okay!”
“I’m fine,” Rarity groaned. “Did we get it?”
Rarity’s eyes fluttered open, and she saw Rainbow’s green shield around her. She was in the middle of a giant crater, surrounded by her friends with the Drop Pod’s dwarf’s-face front, scorched but not destroyed, blinking behind them.
“Did we get it?” Sunset sounded ecstatic. “You killed the thing!” She pulled Rarity to her feet, smiling.
“I did?”
“Yeah, whatever you did knocked that bug clear into the afterlife,” Applejack said. “Fuel’s pumped. We’re counting down until the Pod’s ready to go again.”
“Calculating orbital trajectory,” Mission Control reported.
“Well, we shouldn’t just hang around and see what happens,” Rarity said. “Let’s keep those Glyphids clear of the Pod.”
“Saved a leaf for you,” Sunset said. “Come on!” She bounded out of the shield and grappled out of the crater, using the ceiling as a temporary grapple point.
Rainbow clicked her minigun and grinned. “Right behind you, Sunset!” she shouted as she clambered up next to Applejack, throwing a shield around the Supply Pod as she ran toward the front of the Drop Pod.
“Powering radiation shielding.”
Rarity followed her friends and saw the carnage the Detonator had left. Besides the big one where it had been, there were several smaller ones, as if the monster had launched exploding projectiles across the cavern in its final moments. The Supply Pod still blinked with one leaf extended near the empty fueling pod.
“ECCOM operational.”
Rarity grabbed the last ammo while the cave echoed with her friends’ fire.
“Pod thrusters calibrated.”
Sunset disappeared to the other side of the Pod, where the dwarf’s face blinked as the Pod powered up.
“Drop Pod powered up and ready to leave!” Mission Control reported. It’s time to bring it all home. Get on board, we’re leaving with or without you!”
Sunset was first, followed closely by Applejack. Rainbow Dash bounded up the ramp a few seconds later, turning around to fire into the mess of Glyphids bunching near the entrance. Rarity was last, diving into the room just as the ramp started to retract.
“That’s one for the books! Retrieving escape pod.”
Sunset Shimmer felt the Drop Pod clank to a stop as the Space Rig’s magnetic clamps locked on to the scorched machine. The door clunked open, and the Rig’s comparatively bright lighting blinded her temporarily.
Rainbow Dash was the first to stand as she practically bounced out of her seat and ran down the ramp to the main deck. “We just killed a Bulk Detonator, guys!” she cheered. “Come on, let’s celebrate!”
“Right behind you, Rainbow,” Applejack called as she undid her straps. She followed Rainbow Dash out of the Pod and leaped over the railing, landing into a roll on the deck as she raced to the bar.
Sunset laughed. It was good to see her friends being, well...friends, and their antics brought some much-needed cheer. She looked over at Rarity, smiling, and undid her seat straps.
“Hey, Rarity, you okay?” she asked.
“I’ll be alright, thank you,” Rarity replied. “My head still hurts from that blast I took.”
“Maybe something from the kitchen can help?” Sunset prodded.
Rarity looked thoughtful. “Perhaps some water. Beer is not my type. If they had wine, I would gladly drink some.”
Sunset shook her head and left the Drop Pod, listening to her boots clank against the metal grating as she walked. The now-familiar strange smell of whatever Pinkie Pie had whipped up in the kitchens wafted up her nose, and she paused to take it in. Fluttershy had lived for the simpler things in life, and with her gone, Sunset had started to gain a great appreciation for those same things.
“Yo! Sunset!” Rainbow Dash yelled from the bar. “Greg says he's got a round of drinks on the house today, 'company rank be damned'!”
“I’m coming,” she yelled back. She looked around the Rig, satisfied with her day’s work.
“How was your mission, Greenbeard?” a gruff veteran dwarf asked from somewhere on her right. “It appears to have gone well.”
Sunset turned to face the dwarf. He looked scruffy and old, but age hadn’t forced him from the mines quite yet. His long, glorious graying beard was adorned with gems of all kinds, and his dark green eyes held more memories of Hoxxes than Sunset had for her entire life.
“It did,” she replied. “We killed a Bulk Detonator today. Our first, actually.”
“Rock and Stone, Greenbeard. Well done.”
“What?”
A hint of surprise glinted in the dwarf’s eyes. “You don’t know the salute? Rock and Stone, our greatest cheer, passed down from Karl himself. It is time-honored and appropriate for any great accomplishment, or for greeting other dwarves.”
“How do I reply?”
“By saying it back, of course.”
Sunset grinned. “Rock and Stone, then.”
“To the bone, Greenbeard.”
Rarity leaned against the railing surrounding the launch bay as she left the Drop Pod. “What’s all this about rocks and stones?” she asked.
“It’s a great shout and salute,” Sunset explained. “The dwarves use it in celebration of great victories and also just having fun. Seeing as you killed that Bulk, how about you start?”
“How do I do that?”
“I don't know. Maybe you can ask if you heard a ‘Rock and Stone’ as loud as you can.”
“Like this?” Rarity steadied herself, took a deep breath, and called out in a voice that carried through the halls of the Rig, “Did I hear a ‘Rock and Stone’?”
For several seconds, nothing happened. Then replies echoed back from various other rooms and halls:
“Rock and Stone!”
“Rock and Stone, brother!”
“Rock and Stone to the bone!”
“ROCK. AND. STOOOOONE!”
“Rock and roll in stone!”
“Rock and Stone!”
“Rock on!”
“Rock and Stone!”
“That’s it, lads! Rock and Stone!”
“Rock and Stone, everyone!”
Sunset couldn’t help but break into the biggest grin ever as she heard all the replies. She felt an instinctual urge to grab her pickaxe and yell back--which she did, holding the tool high above her head as she yelled, “Rock and Stone!”
“Rock solid!” That was Rainbow Dash.
Applejack: “Rock and Stone, y’all!”
“Rock’n’roll!” Pinkie called from the kitchens amid another round of ‘Rock and Stone’s around her.
“If you don’t Rock and Stone, you ain’t comin’ home!”
“Rock and Stone!”
“Stone!”
It went on for several minutes, gradually dying down as everyone went back to what they had been doing before the chain.
“So, you’re the one who actually killed the Detonator?” the veteran dwarf asked Rarity once the replies finished.
Rarity straightened her posture and nodded. “Yes, I am.”
“With a power attack!” Sunset added.
“A dangerous move, and a worthy kill,” the dwarf said. “Karl would be proud. Now, if you will excuse me, I must return to my team and rest. We plan to journey to the Black Heart of Hoxxes tonight when the new week’s Deep Dives are released.”
“Wait!” Sunset called after him as he walked away. “What’s your name?”
“Falan,” he called back. “Engineer, Team 17-X.”
“But the lettering only goes to G. There is no 17-X!”
Falan stopped, turned around, and gave Sunset and Rarity and wary smile. “Every station has an X Team. We run the Experimental Branch of the Mission Assignment Software to ensure that it is safe and accurate for the rest of you, which often puts us against new beasts and biomes. I must go.”
Sunset’s shoulders fell. “Can you tell your team I said ‘Rock and Stone’, then?”
Falan had already gone nearly out of earshot, but Sunset was sure he replied, “It would be my pleasure. Rock and Stone, Greenbeard.”
Fluttershy woke from her brief, cold rest, dropping one of the few flares she had left into the geothermal vent she’d spent the night in, rubbed her hands together, and breathed into them to warm herself. She briefly wished she’d brought a coat, but she knew she wouldn’t have made it this far if she’d had to carry one given the humidity and heat of the Fungus Bogs. However, this far below the surface, it was cold enough to freeze most of the available water--which meant her, too, if she wasn’t careful. Her breath fogged, and she shivered in the freezing temperatures.
She stood and shouldered her pack, full of various mushrooms and leaves she’d foraged along the way. Most of her equipment had started to fail after several days without recharging, and she’d unfortunately had to leave a trail of dead batteries and broken tools to make room for food and water.
Speaking of which…Fluttershy pulled her water bottle from its pouch on her pack and took a tentative sip. Its auto-filter had worked perfectly overnight, cleaning and sanitizing the melted glacial ice she’d gathered the night before. She bit a mushroom, gagging at the taste, and swallowed before chugging half the bottle.
“Oh, that tasted like onions,” she groaned.
The Glyphid Grunt that had befriended her all the way back above in the Fungus Bogs clacked its legs against the rock and shook itself clear of ice. It screeched affectionately and rubbed its cold chitin armor against her.
“I know, I know,” she cooed as she patted it in reply. She shivered. “It’s cold.”
She tapped her armor rig’s wrist screen. When it didn’t turn on, she tapped it again, harder this time. It blinked to life and gave her a meager amount of light as it displayed a dying amount of data.
“Five kilometers deep,” she said. “Why does it have to be so cold down here?”
The Grunt purred.
“It’s okay, Steeve. We should be safe now. That thing can’t get us down here.”
A distant roar echoed in the darkness. It sounded like a Bulk Detonator, but it was more ethereal, ghostly. Whatever screamed now, it wasn’t something she’d seen before. At least it wasn’t the…thing that had chased her down from the Fungus Bogs.
Fluttershy ran her freezing hands along a bit of blue rock and felt a bit of water run down her fingers. “It’s…ice,” she whispered. “Or at least covered in ice. This must be the Glacial Strata. Heidei told me about this place.”
Steeve shuddered, his chitin clacking in the cold. He quietly screeched and skittered towards a small opening in the rock.
“What is it?” Fluttershy asked. She peered through the hole. “I don’t see anything. Can you hear something?”
Steeve screeched a noise that she interpreted as ‘yes’. He then climbed through the hole and tapped around on the rock.
With all her gear from the mission, the gap was a tight fit, but Fluttershy managed to push her pack and weapons through first before climbing though herself. She got her head and shoulders through, but her belt caught on the rock, stopping her completely.
The ethereal roar echoed again, closer this time.
Uh oh. Fluttershy reached back and eased her belt gear through piece by piece. It took some careful maneuvering, but she finally fell through the rock, landing next to her gear and scattering it across several feet of rock. She scrambled to put it back together, knowing she’d need every last bit if she could manage.
Whatever was roaring did so yet again. Fluttershy could almost feel the sound as it echoed through the cave. A quick glance found its source: a ghostly Bulk Detonator, stomping slowly toward her. She knew she’d been lucky with a live one, and she didn’t want to find out if she could command a dead one.
Time’s up.
She hastily stuffed whatever she had left into her pack and bolted, following Steeve into the darkness deeper below the surface. In her shivering panic, however, Fluttershy accidentally knocked her transponder off her belt. It blinked in distress as her swinging arm ripped it from her rig and clinked down a chasm, landing in a steaming geyser far below her path.
Detecting a loss of data from her armor rig, the transponder beeped not unlike the other DRG equipment left by various unlucky miners. Its emergency battery slowly ran down over the next several days, and its beeping eventually quieted, but not before it received a single confirmation pulse from an orbiting satellite.
Full Mission Roll: 6 Eggs, 15 Apoca Blooms, Haz 3, Salt Pits Warning: N/A, Anomaly: Mineral Mania Machine Event: Kursite Infection Encounters: Lost Pack Extra Resources: Error Cube x1, Compressed Gold x1 Roll System in Phase 3
“Are you serious?” Rainbow Dash practically yelled the next morning. “We’re not ready for another Haz 4!”
Sunset sighed. “Unfortunately, that’s what we rolled today. Haz 4 in the Glacial Strata. We have to refine Liquid Morkite and find a bunch of Boolo Caps.”
“You remember what happened last time? We’re going to die!”
“It’s going to be difficult, I know,” Rarity mused. “Our upgrades are pitiful at best right now, but we can do it.”
Rainbow was having none of it. “It’s only been, what? Two missions? We can’t handle that!”
“We’re doing it.” Sunset tapped the hologram table’s controls, and the Drop Pod’s doors slid open.
“Mission locked in. Powering up Drop Pod 17-D,” Mission Control reported.
Sunset held her gaze steady as she stared at Rainbow Dash and Rarity. “Get your gear ready and see if you can get yourself some Perks. We’re gonna need everything we can bring down there.”
“I selected mine last night,” Rarity said. “I’ll be running with ‘Heightened Senses’ as my active perk and ‘Friendly’ as my passive perk for the mission. I might change my passive to ‘Thorns’, though, if ‘Friendly’ doesn’t prove all that useful.”
“I have ‘See You In Hell 2’ and ‘Thorns’,” Sunset said. “I figured dealing more damage would be useful than not.”
“Same here!” Rainbow cheered. “They hit me, I hit them right back!”
“But do y’all have ‘Thorns 2’?” Applejack asked. “Ah had the points so I put them into that. Ah have no active perks, though.”
“We can work with that,” Sunset said. “Maybe tomorrow, whether or not we fail today, we see what we can do about getting better perks and upgrades.”
“We are going to be extremely lucky if we succeed today, and you know it,” Rarity said. She walked over to the hologram table and messed with the controls. “I’ve done a little more research into the systems at our disposal. We actually can change today’s mission if we wish. The assignment mission may change to something more manageable tomorrow.”
“Well, which one do you want to do?” Sunset asked. She turned back to her own controls and searched through the available missions. There was the assignment mission in the Glacial Strata and a few others scattered about the other biomes.
“Following your suggestion about our perks, I think we should do a mission in either the Salt Pits or Radioactive Exclusion Zone to get at least two points when we return. If we select a Haz 3 mission, we can make that four points. Choosing either an Egg Hunt of Salvage Operation on top of all that will give us six.”
“That's a lot of requirements.”
“Yes, but there’s an Egg Hunt in the Salt Pits with Apoca Blooms as its secondary. Which, if we make it Hazard Level 3, gives us eight new Perk Points if we succeed because our last mission had Apoca Blooms as well.”
“I could get Thorns 2 with that and still have a couple points left over.”
Rarity smiled and locked in the mission. “That’s the point, darling.”
---------------------------------
Sunset gripped her rifle tight as the Drop Pod clanged through the relatively soft red stone that made up the Salt Pits. Through the open door, she occasionally saw a flash of white salt or the brief glow of a crystal, but otherwise, it was a never-ending sea of red.
There was the characteristic sudden drop as the pod breached the ceiling of their target cave, followed by the crashing stop and creak of metal. The ramp lowered, and Sunset leaped to the ground beside it, landing in a roll and ending on her feet. She looked back. Rainbow Dash bounded down the ramp, followed by Applejack and Rarity.
Rainbow looked the most excited, Applejack the most prepared, and Rarity the most determined. They could do this. Just a quick mission, in and out, then see what the next day brought.
Sunset fired a flare into the ceiling. The soft red rock of the Salt Pits glowed in response, reflecting her light onto the walls and salty outcroppings.
Applejack made quick work of the first patch of dirt, and they moved quickly through the tunnels and into the main cave. Sunset, remembering her first encounter with a Cave Leech, fired a flare up and rolled out of the way as a gross tentacled arm reached down from the ceiling to grab her. She pelted it with rounds until it exploded.
“Nice work, Sunset,” Rarity said. “I wouldn’t have seen that myself.”
“Could’ve used less rounds,” Sunset grumbled. “What’s our warning, by the way?”
“We don’t have one,” Applejack said. “The only Mutator for this cave is ‘Mineral Mania’.”
“Alright, then, let’s get these eggs and go home!” Rainbow called. She bounded off into the dark toward one of the many pulsing purple blobs of goop on the walls.
“Hey, wait!” Sunset yelled. She switched to her grapple gun and zipped to catch up to her friend, who was already at one of the blobs. “We need to stay together, Rainbow,” she continued once the girl was close.
“We’re fine, Sunset. We have Perks now.”
“If we were ready, we would’ve done the assignment mission today.”
Rainbow shrugged. “I guess that’s--”
“Swarmers, team,” Mission Control reported. “Lots of them, coming your way. Get ready.”
“Son of a… alright,” Sunset said. She frowned. “Rainbow, cover me while I get this egg.”
She swung her pickaxe into the goop and removed a fair chunk. Another swing made a hole big enough for her to crawl inside. She swung again and again, then checked her terrain scanner. Finding the egg on the scanner, she altered course slightly and swung a little higher.
“Eyes up! The Swarmers are on you!”
Sunset dug deeper into the organic goop as the sound of Rainbow’s minigun whirred to life. From the way the pitch rose and fell, Rainbow was spinning in a circle to get the bugs coming from every direction.
After yet another swing, she saw the greenish outline of the Glyphid egg. One final hit loosened it from the goop. As she caught it, the ground shook with the distant howl of a panicking Glyphid mother.
Mission Control crackled back on the comms again: “Swarm detected. Get ready, they’ll be with you shortly.”
“Did you just set off ANOTHER SWARM in the middle of this one?!” Rainbow Dash screamed.
“Sorry!” Sunset yelled as she crawled back out of the hole she’d dug. “I didn’t know it would happen!”
“Both of you get over here!” Rarity called from where she and Applejack stood next to the M.U.L.E.
Rainbow nodded to Sunset and took off. When she was about halfway there, she set her minigun down and waved her arms high. Sunset threw the egg with all her might, and Rainbow caught it, although she stumbled a bit from the catch. Applejack took the egg from her and hauled it back to Molly, depositing it along with some minerals into the robot’s cargo hold.
Sunset grappled to the group just as Rainbow picked the minigun back off the ground and reached them. She raised her hand high and grasped Rainbow’s.
“That was some great teamwork, Rainbow, Applejack. Let’s keep it up.”
“You betcha, Sunset,” Rainbow grinned.
“Contact!” Mission Control called. “Lock and load!”
Sunset reloaded her rifle and heard Rainbow spin her barrels around. Rarity cocked her shotgun, and Applejack tested her flamethrower. In the distance, they heard the howling screeches of the approaching Glyphid swarm, and they lept into action.
Rainbow’s minigun burred, and Applejack’s flamethrower lit up the cavern walls with eerily beautiful dancing flames. Rarity threw her auto-turret together, then dodged a slashing Glyphid. All eight of her pellets hit the bug square in the face, cutting its howl short.
Sunset fired into the mass of bugs around her, swiveling to change targets as each one went down. When her clip ran empty, however, she didn’t bother to reload. Instead, she jumped over one Grunt that got too close and slammed her shotgun down on the one behind it, crumpling its head, then blasted two others. Her hands moved quickly to replace the spent shells.
Before she could finish reloading, a Grunt Slasher sliced at her leg. She felt the cool edge of its serrated forelegs scrape (luckily) against her armor, but the bug’s attack carried enough momentum to make it hurt. At the same time, it screeched in pain as if it had sliced itself. Before it could attack again, she grappled away, landing in a roll and turning around to see her friends still fighting the rest of the horde.
Rarity’s L.U.R.E. sprang up some distance away from the main group, and a goofy image of Principal Celestia doing the cha-cha slide. Somehow, this offended the Glyphids more than being shot, and many angrily swarmed the hologram. Sunset threw her own grenade at the distracted bugs and watched as it released an electric field that slowed them.
Applejack, with nothing immediately attacking her, tossed a lumpy rectangular package into the slowed, distracted crowd, and with the press of a button, blew half of them apart and sent the other half flying.
“The wave is significantly diminished. Well done, team!” Mission Control reported.
“They’d better run!” Rainbow Dash cheered as the last remnants of the swarm skittered away into the unlit darkness. “Woo-hoo!”
“Rock and Stone, girls,” Applejack breathed.
“We rock!” Rainbow yelled.
Rarity refilled her turret’s magazine, her shoulders heaving. “Rock and Stone indeed. I’m sure we’ll see more of them soon, so stay on your guard.” She looked around. “Sunset?”
Sunset limped back to the group panting. “I’m here. One of the bugs got me. Rock on, girls.”
“Is your shield down, dear?”
Sunset checked her armor rig’s status display. “Yep,” she groaned. “Its damage meter is down about a quarter, too.”
“You best take it easy, then,” Rarity said. She sat down and started treating a nastily long cut on her arm. “My shields failed as well. I don’t think we should try taking on two swarms simultaneously again.”
Applejack set her flamethrower down briefly so she could crack her knuckles. “Ah can’t say anythin’ of the sort, but you two look hurt, so Rainbow and Ah’ll go fahnd the other eggs. If you could find some Nirta while we’re lookin’, that’d be nice.”
“Can do, Applejack,” Rarity said. “Don’t be afraid to call Molly if you need her.”
“Got it.”
While Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked to the other end of the cave, Sunset fired a flare so they could see. She sat down and shook her head clear of any light-headedness remaining. Her breath sounded a little more ragged than before.
“It’s nice to see everyone working as a team, isn’t it?” Rarity asked.
“I guess so,” Sunset replied as she kept pressure on her leg until her armor rig managed to stop the bleeding. “What kind of teamwork do you see in us?”
“Well, for starters, tossing that egg earlier. With you, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack passing it between yourselves, you made it back faster than if you carried it alone.” Rarity paused, instead concentrating on reloading for a moment.
She continued: “And then during the double swarm, we all worked close and together. I’ll admit we weren’t perfect, but we were far from how we acted back in the Fungus Bogs or even on our last Egg Hunt.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You’re saying we’re getting better.”
“To a degree, yes. I’d say it’s a combination of experience, knowledge, and better equipment.”
“The L.U.R.E. was pretty funny.”
Rarity smiled. “It was, and it was also something I was afraid would happen. However, now that it has happened, I’m not so sure my worries were truly warranted. In any case, Twilight will be glad to know that it still works.”
“Is there anything we can look forward to, besides going home?”
“Barry, the kind dwarf from 17-A who’s been helping me understand everything, told me that if we complete the training assignment, we will be allowed to decorate our Drop Pod as we wish. It’s apparently a tradition from the days of Karl’s missions. Also, if I’m not wrong, we’ll soon be allowed to purchase drinks at the bar ourselves.”
Sunset grinned. “That is something to look forward to.” She stood, stretched, and fired another flare into the ceiling. “Let’s go find that Nitra before Applejack comes back.”
Rarity nodded, stood, and switched to her platform gun. “After you, Scout.”
Full Mission Roll: 7 Aquarqs, 20 Boolo Caps, Haz 3, Fungus Bogs Warning: N/A, Anomaly: Mineral Mania Machine Event: N/A Encounters: Cargo Crate Extra Resources: Compressed Gold x1 Roll System in Phase 3
Applejack locked her drills on their rack before leaving the Drop Pod. As usual, she was second, with Rainbow Dash practically leaping down the boarding ramp and Rarity and Sunset more carefully putting their equipment in its racks.
“Come on, AJ,” Rainbow said. “We’ve got time for another mission today, don’t we?”
“Technically, we do,” Rarity confirmed, “but only if we stay up through the night. The earliest we’d be done is midnight, and we’d return by two in the morning.”
Sunset sighed. “Not today, girls. We should really only do one mission per day. If we push ourselves too hard, we’ll fail again. That’s a scenario I’d rather not repeat.”
Applejack agreed. Combat Recovery was still recovering from the disastrous mission that left Fluttershy behind, so any team that came for them would be from a different station. Pushing themselves would only make things worse.
She shook her head clear. Now was not the time to punish herself. She had a job to do.
The next morning, Applejack found Rarity at the hologram console in the center of their shared work area. The girl twirled her hair around her fingers, then suddenly flipped her head back and tied it into a tail. She looked up and sighed.
“Our assignment mission is a Point Extraction with Boolo Caps today,” she said. “I’ll set it to Haz 3 if you don’t mind.”
“Fungus Bogs,” Applejack read from the console. “Ready?”
---------------------------------
“Our scanners have picked up a massive deposit of Aquarq,” Mission Control reported as the Drop Pod neared their target cave. “We’re sending in you along with a heavily armed lifter to get as many out as possible. Scanners also detect an abnormally high number of biosigns in the area, so expect heavy resistance and make it snappy! Search for a blue shimmering light in the walls. Get it done, Team!”
The pod crashed to the floor, and Applejack jogged down the ramp after Rainbow. She smelled the humid murk of the Bogs and immediately felt sweat running down her sides. This place was disgustingly swampy--just as she remembered it. The greenish murk extended far into the darkness around, broken only by damp outcroppings of spongy rock.
A flare fired from behind her and soared for several seconds until it impacted the ceiling high above. It illuminated a large chunk of the cave, but Applejack could see that Sunset’s entire reserve wouldn’t be enough to light the whole thing.
Sunset whistled in amazement.
A few seconds after the Drop Pod flew back to the surface, a large warning-yellow machine drilled through the rock and landed nearby, sending shudders that almost made Applejack lose her balance. It unfolded into a large platform with two spotlights, three swiveling gun turrets and a pointy rocket in the center.
“That’s the Mine Head,” Rarity said. “It’ll take the place of the M.U.L.E. for this mission. If you’re full of minerals or carrying an Aquarq, dump into the rocket.”
“Mission Control said to look for a blue shimmer,” Sunset said. “I see one on the far end of the cave, over there.” She pointed to a large light blue glow beyond where the Drop Pod had landed. “There’s another in the rock near the Mine Head. i’ll go look for more.” With that, she ran into the darkness, firing the occasional flare as she went.
Applejack shrugged and walked over to where Sunset had indicated the light near the Mine Head. With a click of her drills, she burrowed through the rock, and a large blue crystal popped out. She picked it up. It was heavy, and she grunted as she carried it out of the hole she’d dug.
“I’ll take that,” Rarity said from the grated platform around the Mine Head’s rocket. “You look for Nitra and more Aquarqs. Rainbow Dash is already--”
“IT’S GOT ME!” Rainbow screamed. “HEEEEELP!”
Applejack dropped the Aquarq and ran into the darkening cave, looking for her friend. She threw a flare as far as she could, but it didn’t go high enough to see anything.
“I’m right above you! Ow!”
Before Applejack could look up, Rainbow Dash fell on top of her, knocked out cold. She began to revive her, but a tentacle grabbed her and lifted her off the ground. Others began pricking at her armor, quickly breaking its shields and digging through its health.
Sunset’s rifle barked from somewhere to her right, and the tentacle lowered her before exploding. Bits of goop rained down around her as she caught her breath.
“Thanks for finding the Leech, guys,” Sunset called. “I found a ton of Nitra all over the walls up here, but I’ll need platforms to get it.”
“I’m coming,” Rarity called back as she dumped revival juice onto Rainbow Dash. moments later, she shook her head and sighed.
“Ow,” Rainbow groaned.
“Be careful next time,” Rarity admonished. “Can you set up a zipline to where Sunset is? I’ll point it out for you.”
Rainbow picked herself off the ground. “Yeah, sure. Gimme a second.” She pulled out her zipline launcher and fired to where Rarity’s laser pointed.
Rarity latched herself to the zipline and began winching herself up its length. “Thank you, dear. Now stay on your guard. I don’t want to have to rescue you from another Leech.”
“Yes, Mom,” Rainbow said. When Rarity was gone, she exhaled. “I swear, she’s got a burr up her--”
“The scanner just lit up like a Christmas tree!” Mission Control reported. “We’ve got a swarm incoming!”
“Oh, for crying out loud!” Rainbow yelled. “Can’t anything go our way right now?”
“Just be glad we’re not goners yet,” Applejack said. “Come on! The Mine Head should be a good place to hold out.”
---------------------------------
The rest of the mission went similarly to the first several minutes. They would find a couple Aquarqs, dig them out of the dark songy rock, and then deal with an increasing number of bugs that threatened to overwhelm them. Every resupply cost them a large chunk of their dwindling Nitra supply.
Eventually, Mission Control reported that they were good to go. Just as Rarity was pressing the launch button, however, he called out, “Confirmed scan: Glyphid Dreadnought on intercept course. Get ready, Team.”
“A WHAT?” Sunset screamed.
Applejack felt a chill down her spine as the rock suddenly burst upward and a massive bug--the biggest non-exploding Glyphid she’d ever seen--crawl out of the hole. It turned toward them and roared.
Rarity was the first to turn. “Run for it!” she yelled, and she bolted to the other end of the cave as fast as she could.
Rainbow and Sunset both split from the group as well, running in opposite directions to put as much space between them and the Dreadnought as possible. It roared again and sent tremors through the ground.
Applejack needed no further encouragement. She turned and ran as the Mine Head’s turrets opened fire on the beast. A fireball arced over her head and splattered on the ground, making a crater where it landed.
“Drop Pod has landed and is waiting for takeoff,” Mission Control reported.
Part of the cave lit up with the Drop Pod’s searchlights, and its ramp extended down to meet them. Around them, the screeches of hungry Glyphids echoed off the walls.
“Applejack! Rainbow Dash! Run to the pod!” Rarity ordered. “Sunset, distract it and meet us there!”
Sunset’s rifle barked, and a flare flew into the ceiling. Applejack ignored her aching legs and urged herself to run faster. She clambered up a small ledge and pounded her feet into the ground as she reached the ramp. Turning around, she torched a large group of bugs just as Rainbow Dash reached the ramp, followed by Rarity.
Moments later, Sunset grappled through the open doorway just as the clock ran out and the doors began to close. She collapsed to the floor, exhausted. Her chest heaved with each breath.
Applejack sighed in relief as the Drop Pod began its ascent and the door closed to block the onslaught of bugs and roaring Dreadnought outside. She sat in her designated seat and stared into space for a moment. They were that close to another failure. One misstep would have been the end of somebody.
If Point Extractions were this chaotic, what did the missions they’d still yet to try have to offer?
Full Mission Roll: Protect the Drilldozer [1 Refuel], 14 Ebonuts, Haz 1, Glacial Strata Warning: Parasites, Anomaly: Golden Bugs Machine Event: Tritilyte Crystal Encounters: Cargo Crate, Lost Pack, BET-C Extra Resources: N/A Mission Special Beer: Backbreaker Stout Roll System in Final Phase
“Congratulations, Miners,” Mission Control said as the Drop Pod docked to its berth in the Space Rig, “You’ve survived long enough for Management to unlock your personal tabs at the Abyss Bar. Take some time off to relax before your next mission--you’ve earned it.”
“Aww, yeah! Last one to the Bar is a rotten egg!” Rainbow Dash cheered. She almost forgot to set her minigun on its rack in the back of the pod, but Sunset’s insistent cough reminded her. She put her gear away as quickly as she could and sprinted down the boarding ramp, leaping over the stairs and rolling to her feet.
“Wait up, Rainbow!” Rarity called after her. “We’re not all natural athletes here.”
“Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on. Come on!” Rainbow abandoned any sense of duty and work, choosing instead to slide up to the bar with a ridiculous grin on her face. “Lloyd, hit me with an Oily Oaf!”
The flying bartender robot chirped happily and poured four cartoonishly large mugs of beer, each filled to overflowing with dark brown liquid and an absurd amount of foam. He slid one to each of the girls as they approached: Rainbow, Applejack, Sunset, and finally Rarity.
Rainbow snatched hers excitedly. She felt her eyes open wide in anticipation.
“Hold on, Rainbow,” Applejack cautioned. “We gotta toast first.”
“I think I know the one,” Sunset said, holding her mug high above her head. She’d taken hers and moved away from the bar, so she was standing. “For Rock and Stone!” she called.
“Rock and Stone, darling,” Rarity said.
“Rock and roll!” Applejack cheered.
“None can stand before us!” Rainbow yelled. She lifted the mug to her lips and leaned way back, glugging each gulp of beer for several seconds until the mug was completely emptied. She felt some of it roll down her face and drip onto her armor rig’s undersuit. When the last droplets hit her tongue, she slammed the mug back down on the bar counter with a resounding thunk.
Applejack wasn’t too far behind her, but she set her mug down much more carefully. After that was Sunset, who tossed her empty mug and caught it with one hand before sliding it back to Lloyd with a clatter. They all turned to Rarity.
“I’m not one for beer,” she said. Her nose crinkled in slight disgust. “It certainly doesn’t smell too great, either.”
“You’ve had this before, Rarity,” Rainbow chided. “What’d you expect, Cirulian wine?”
“No!” Rarity took another look, closed her eyes, and chugged it all down in one go. Small rivers of beer flowed along her cheeks as she drank from a mug made for someone with a much bigger mouth than hers. When she delicately placed the mug back on the counter, her face told the story. She’d drink it if it helped, but not for fun.
Rainbow snorted down a fit of laughter. “Oh, you should see the look on your face!”
“What, Rainbow Dash?”
“You need another! Lloyd, another round!”
“Oh, you rascal,” Rarity scowled. She accepted the second mug, though.
Rainbow could remember who ordered the third round or who turned on the jukebox in the corner, but her blurry, staggering vision picked up the crew from 17-A sometime during the night. By the time somebody ordered a Glyphid Slammer, her memory was warm and foggy. She picked up the highly decorative mug, drank it dry, and finally collapsed to the floor with her hair in her mouth. Before she completely blacked out, she distinctly heard a distant but familiar voice mumbling something about how her hair tasted like skittles.
---------------------------------
Rainbow Dash woke the next morning in the medical bay with the biggest pounding headache she’d ever had. Within moments, a robot gave her a large glass of beer, which she drank. It tasted horrible, but the headache was gone in seconds.
“Uuuggghhh.” That was Sunset’s voice. She didn’t sound too great.
Rainbow shook her head clear. Now that she was fully awake, she saw that the glass was labeled “Leaf Lover’s”. That explained the unusually bitter taste and even more unusual effect. She carefully set the glass on the table next to her bed and swung her legs over the side.
“It’s good to see you’re up, Rainbow,” Rarity said from beside her.
Rainbow turned to see her friend fully rigged to journey down to the surface. Rarity’s hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, and her armor looked clean and fresh. She even smelled like a nice bath. In comparison, Rainbow looked and smelled like a drunkard hobo.
“Wash up, Rainbow. You and Sunset are the last to wake. Applejack’s looking over our mission today. We’re on Escort Duty today, and the cave is going to be filled with parasites.”
Rainbow stood, stretched and yawned. “Escort Duty? What’s that? Are we playing babysitter to some two-hundred-million-bit junked robot?”
Rarity made a face. “Yes,” she replied. “That’s exactly what we’re doing. The bad news is that the assignment system ran into a bug last night, so we can’t change our Hazard Level. The good news is that it locked us on Haz 1 today.”
“How often does this happen?”
“Twilight said it happens all the time. Now get ready. You have an hour.” Rarity crinkled her nose again. “Sweet cherry wine, you smell terrible. Get moving.”
---------------------------------
Once Rainbow was ready, she joined Applejack at the hologram console. “Say, AJ, you up for another round before we go?” she asked with a devilish grin.
“Not now, Rainbow. How about if we come back in one piece?”
“It’s a deal!” Rainbow waved to Pinkie Pie in the kitchens. Pinkie waved back with a large knife in her hand, then tossed it around her back and caught it flat on its blade while it spun. No matter the day, Pinkie was always playing with her knives as she cooked.
“Are we ready to go?” Rarity called from the Drop Pod. “We don’t have all day, you know!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m comin’,” Rainbow called back. “Hold your horses.”
The two boarded the Drop Pod, where Rarity and Sunset already sat strapped to their seats. The door closed behind them, and the Pod accelerated to the surface.
“So, where are we headed today?” Sunset asked, her voice strained.
“Glacial Strata,” Rarity grunted through the g-forces. “We’re expected to refuel the Drilldozer once based on the cave length, and keep an eye out for Ebonuts.”
The Drop Pod’s drill clanged to life, and Mission Control’s voice filled the comms: “Alright, Team. Today, we’re after an Ommoran Heartstone. We’re sending you a Drilldozer to home in on it and break its shell. Be warned: the bugs don’t like it any more than they like you!”
“Understood, sir,” Rarity said. As the Pod crashed to the bottom of the cave, she grabbed her shotgun and threw a flare.
Rainbow was the first out, slapping the dice in the corner for luck. She heard the Drop Pod leave for orbit, then the clanging of another drill. Moments later, a large cage fell through a hole in the ceiling and crashed to the icy blue ground.
“That’s the Drilldozer,” Rarity said. “Sunset, look for minerals before we head out. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, let’s open this cage and prepare to activate her.”
Rainbow approached the cage and held down one of the buttons. The sides of the cage sprung out, exposing the Drilldozer to the outside. The machine was massive: the armored treads stood a little shorter than her shoulders, and the main body was half again taller than her head. A small platform on the back allowed access to two large fuel cells, each latched into place with robust clamps. The drill on the front looked similar to the one on the bottom of the Drop Pod, only a little smaller. Most of the machine was diesel engine and AI computer systems.
Looking around at the rock they were about to drill through, Rainbow saw blue all around her with periodic layered gray rock. She ran her hand along a nearby column and felt water run down into her sleeve. It had to have been heated by her body. She shivered.
“What’s the deal with this place?” she asked. “Couldn’t Management have chosen a warmer place to mine?”
Rarity glared at her. “If you’d done your homework, Rainbow Dash, you’d know exactly what’s going on here, and you’d know that we’ve yet to visit the Magma Core and the Sandblasted Corridors, which are two of the most dangerous biomes on the planet. Twilight mentioned two other biomes R&D is looking at, but those won’t be available to ordinary miners until the assignment software is updated to Version 33 when Management gives the go-ahead. The X-Teams are currently scouting those to see if they’re worth visiting at all.”
“Good for us,” Rainbow growled. “But seriously, what’s the Glacial Strata’s problem?”
“The continental plates of Hoxxes IV rest on a layer of permafrost several miles deep,” Rarity explained, exasperated. “We’re currently a little under five miles beneath sea level, near the middle of the permafrost layer. The highest reaches of the Strata are around five kilometers down, and the lowest go as far as ten. Those are the extremes, however, and most of the Strata is around this depth--eight kilometers.”
“I’m not a genius, but that’s not how plate tectonics work.”
“Twilight threw a fit when she heard about the Strata. It’s apparently in violation of all known physical laws of the universe, yet here it is.” Rarity looked over at Sunset, who jogged to meet them. “Are we ready to go?”
“Sure thing,” Sunset replied as she emptied her pockets into Molly. “Found some gold and a couple Ebonuts, but that’s it.”
Rarity activated the Drilldozer, and its engine roared to life. Everyone climbed aboard, and they rode it through a long tunnel in relative silence as the drill carved through the icy rock.
“Hey, Rarity,” Sunset began, “is that your Camp Everfree geode on your suit?”
“It is,” Rarity answered proudly. “I had Twilight embed it last night. She’d be glad to do the same to yours if you asked.”
Sunset smiled and patted the necklace with her geode. “I think I’m okay for now. I’ll remember that, though.”
Rainbow’s ears pricked at the sound of a distant wu-oooooooh. It sounded a little like a standard DRG transponder like the one on her suit, but it was different somehow. Nobody else seemed to notice it, however, so she kept it to herself.
“Contact!” Mission Control called. “Protect the Drilldozer!”
Tons of bugs immediately crawled out of the walls and floor. Rainbow cleared her thoughts and fired her minigun into the swarm, pausing every few seconds to let it cool down. She remembered the Dreadnought and knew that if one showed up now, she’d need to be able to shoot.
Rarity’s grenade launcher went to work as well, pummeling Glyphids off the walls with cacophonous detonations that rang in Rainbow’s ears. Sunset’s rifle barked, and Applejack’s flamethrower lit up the tunnel. Each bug they killed, however, exploded into another bug.
Freaking parasites, Rainbow thought as she smoothly transitioned between targets like a born gunner. Why couldn’t it have been something cooler? I heard the Haunted Caves are interesting.
“We’re coming up on the next cave!” Sunset announced. “Get ready!”
The Drilldozer’s enormous drill suddenly stopped making noise as the machine broke through cavern walls and turned to go uphill. More bugs showed up from other directions, forcing Rainbow to change targets. The roar of a Praetorian echoed in the darkness as Sunset fired a flare into the ceiling.
The noise sounded louder now. Rainbow was sure it wasn’t a suit transponder.
After a few more minutes, the Drilldozer stopped chugging and lowered itself to the ground.
“The Drilldozer has stopped! Refuel the canisters by using them to mine Oil Shale on the walls, and let's get moving again!” Mission Control said.
Sunset grabbed one of the canisters, and Applejack took the other. Meanwhile, Rarity searched for Nitra and Gold, and Rainbow guarded the machine. They worked quickly, and both canisters were soon refilled and reinstalled.
Before Rarity could restart the Drilldozer, however, Rainbow said, “Wait. You hear that?”
“Hear what?”
Rainbow held up her hand. “There’s something strange nearby.”
“Like a Lost Pack or a Cargo Crate? We’ve run into those before, Rainbow, and we can search for them later.”
“Kind of, but it sounds bigger and deeper.”
Sunset sat on the main body of the Drilldozer and hammered a bit of plating back into place. “We’ll keep an eye out for it, then.”
Rarity restarted the Drilldozer, and they continued tunneling through the caves. Eventually, they cracked through another cave wall, and the beeping became even louder. Rainbow saw Applejack’s head turn to look for the source, and Sunset’s flares didn’t help.
This new cave was massive. In the center of a large open space surrounded by half-arch crystal spikes was a huge ball of hardened rock. The ceiling was nearly fifty meters high with endless stalactites dripping unfrozen water onto them. It extended a hundred meters beyond the main structure with a few bridge-like structures arching the length of the cavern.
The Drilldozer stopped in front of the ball of rock, and Mission Control said, “There it is: the Ommoran Heartstone! Activate the Drilldozer once you’re ready to extract it.”
Wu-oooooooh. Wu-oooooooh.
Rainbow tip-toed around the cave, leaving the relative safety of the group to find out what was making that noise. She turned a corner, tossed a flare, and stepped back in surprise as the sound echoed again loud enough to hurt her eardrums.
It was a robot. Not just any robot, but one that looked like it had been made by DRG. It had the shape of a large armored M.U.L.E. with a twin-barrel turret on top. Her flare light glinted off its battered lime-green plates, and it was clear that the robot had lights of its own.
She activated her rig mic. “Uh, guys, I think I found it.”
A minute later, the others were gathered next to her. Sunset squinted at the robot. Applejack shrugged. Rarity, however, frowned.
“Greg told me about these last night while all of you were passed out drunk. It’s a BET-C,” she whispered harshly. “One of DRG’s earlier attempts to tame the planet. Right now, it’s infected with Xynarch Charge-Suckers, but if we can dislodge them, we can repair it, and it’ll fight for us until we leave.”
“What happens when we leave?” Sunset asked.
“It will eventually be re-corrupted by more Charge-Suckers and go dormant again.”
“How do we dislodge them?”
“We shoot them. We must be quick, though. Shooting them will wake her. Once we do, she will attack us with her twin cannons and bomb launchers.”
Rainbow clicked her minigun.
“No,” Rarity warned. “We must ambush her.”
“Look, Rarity, the longer we wait, the more likely a swarm is gonna come down on top of us,” Rainbow said. “Let’s just get it done with and move on.”
Rarity sighed. “Fine. We’ll do it your way. But be quick!”
Rainbow aimed as best she could and opened fire on the robot. Just as Rarity said, it immediately woke and turned its guns to face her. She dropped her minigun and rolled just as it fired, feeling shards of ice patter against her leg. Her hand found her revolver, and she fired as soon as it was pointed at the robot.
Rarity’s grenade launcher fired again, and one of the Charge-Suckers blew off with a screeching wail. Its discharge sent sparks all around, but the second one still clung to BET-C’s hull. BET-C hunkered down and peppered the surrounding area with explosives--and judging from Sunset’s cries, hit her.
The robot kept moving to keep them from hitting the second Charge-Sucker. Applejack’s flamethrower seemed to hurt it, but she couldn’t get close enough to kill it without receiving a welcome shot from the cannons. Rarity’s shotgun was similarly short-ranged, and her grenade launcher clicked. It was out of ammo.
“Swarm detected,” Mission Control reported. “Defend the Drilldozer with your lives!”
“Go!” Rainbow yelled. She waved Rarity back to the Heartstone and Drilldozer. “I’ll handle BET-C!”
Rarity bolted around the corner with Applejack at her heels. Rainbow scanned the area around the robot and saw Sunset’s armor rig flat on the ground nearby. She’d been knocked out by her rig to keep her alive.
With only one target now, BET-C marched toward her and launched a bomb. Rainbow ran, followed closely by cannon shots until she had looped around to where the last Charge-Sucker clung to the robot’s hull. She pulled a grenade from her belt, removed the pin and threw it at the creature. Seconds later, it exploded, and the Charge-Sucker’s tentacles went limp. It fell off as BET-C collapsed, and a high-pitched alarm sounded.
Rainbow ignored the defeated robot and deployed a shield around Sunset. She dumped the contents of her revival bottle on her friend, who magically came to life once again.
“Wha… Rainbow?”
“Yeah. We got a swarm coming. Can’t do that without our favorite Scout, can we?” Rainbow reached down and pulled Sunset to her feet.
“But BET-C…”
“I got her. Now get your butt back to the Drilldozer. I’ll get my minigun and meet you there.”
Sunset shook her head, smiled, and grappled to the light of Rarity and Applejack’s flares. Rainbow jogged out of her shield, which timed out and flew back to her belt. She lifted her minigun off the ground and ran around the corner to join the rest of her team.
The others had almost taken the swarm by themselves, and a resupply crashed down next to Rarity’s hasty platform fort. Rainbow tossed a shield around it as she approached, and they all spent the next few minutes working out their ammo. BET-C screeched.
“I’ll go repair BET-C,” Rarity said. “Sunset, Nitra. Applejack, Rainbow, guard the Drilldozer.”
The next time they saw Rarity, the robot was following her and began marching around the Ommoran Heartstone. Without a target, it reverted to sentry mode and searched for something to shoot. Sunset returned not long after with a bag full of Nitra, dumped, and left again to mine some she said she’d missed.
Rarity started the drilling sequence, and the Drilldozer jacked itself up and pressed against the Heartstone’s shell.
“Drilling program running!” Mission Control reported. “The Drilldozer is going to work through the outer shell. Be warned: it’ll try to defend itself. Swarm incoming!”
Rainbow thought the swarm was easy. Once the first shell layer broke, however, she saw several rocks lifting out of the ground and gather above the Drilldozer. She cocked her head in confusion. They then slammed into the machine’s left treads and shattered.
“Permanent damage has been done to the Drilldozer!” Mission Control said. “Remember, if we lose the Dozer, we lose the mission!”
“Shoot the rocks!” Sunset yelled. One of her flares arced into the ceiling, and her rifle barked at the floating rocks.
Rainbow needed no further orders. She aimed her gun high and fired until it overheated, then swapped to her revolver and kept firing. Rarity’s shotgun broke a damaged one with a single shot.
The next layer broke, and they fought yet more Glyphids. That was the easy part. Then came the fourth and final layer of the outer shell. Orange glowing crystals sprouted from the ground and beamed lasers into the Drilldozer.
Applejack sprang into action and used her drills to destroy one while Sunset brought down the weight of her pickaxe on the tip of the other with a power attack. Rarity frantically tried to repair the damaged machine. More crystals sprouted. Rainbow emptied her ammo into a mini-swarm.
Despite the chaos, the Drilldozer cracked the final layer. Having completed its job, it backed away from the Ommoran Heartstone and shut down. Smoke billowed from its vents, and the AI head on top looked tired. Rainbow patted it, and it chirped, but it was clearly spent.
“Would ya look at that?” Applejack breathed.
“It’s beautiful,” Rarity agreed.
“Wow.” Sunset’s jaw dropped.
Rainbow turned to look at the exposed core of the Ommoran Heartstone. It was a large glowing ball of pure energetic crystal about the size of a gunk seed. It responded to her geode’s calls, which meant it could connect to Equestrian magic. It was a magical pearl in a world of hostile creatures and broken machines. It was… beautiful. There was no other way to describe it.
When the Drop Pod came down to pick them up, Rainbow Dash almost regretted handing the Heartstone over to Management. Yes, it brought her one step closer to home, but she felt its call. She just hoped it wouldn’t come to bite her later.
Full Mission Roll: Refine Liquid Morkite, 25 Hollomite, Haz 2, Dense Biozone Warning: Lethal Enemies, Anomaly: N/A Machine Event: N/A Encounters: Lost Pack, Golden Loot Bug Extra Resources: N/A Mission Special Beer: Red Rock Blaster Roll System in Final Phase
“Welcome to the Dense Biozone, girls,” Rarity said as the Drop Pod’s doors opened once again. “Watch for Glyphids. This cave may only be Haz 2, but the bugs here are more lethal than usual.”
The usual marching order established itself once again as Rainbow charged down the ramp and Applejack leaped to the left. Sunset grappled somewhere in the darkness, leaving Rarity to take the right of the Drop Pod and check for minerals and enemies.
“Liquid Morkite, Team,” Mission Control said. “We’re sending you a heavy-lift refinery to process the stuff. Call in a pump once you’ve located a well and connect it to the refinery with pipes. Good luck!”
Rarity blanched.
Seconds later, a large machine with a similar basic setup to the Mine Head drilled through the ceiling nearby and crashed to the floor. It unfolded its grated ramps and powered up with a whir. Instead of turrets and spotlights, however, it sported a large refinery array, a bulbous holding tank, and three pipe heads.
“I’ll get Nitra,” Sunset volunteered. “Rarity, there’s some near the ceiling if you could give me a platform.”
Rarity nodded and aimed her platform gun to where Sunset indicated, compensating for the distance, and fired. Goop flew across the cave and solidified exactly where she wanted it. She mined some more easily accessible gold and dumped it into the refinery’s mineral crusher while Applejack searched for Liquid Morkite wells and Rainbow started working on the pipes.
“Say, Rarity,” Rainbow prompted.
Rarity took a deep breath to calm herself. “If this is about the Dreadnought again, I don’t want to hear it. I already told you, I’m going to ask Greg for advice.”
“It’s not.”
“Then, by all means, continue.”
“Did you feel any connection to the Ommoran Heartstone? Like your geode was trying to talk to it?”
Rarity sat on the grated platform with her chin resting on her hand. “Now that I think about it, I did feel something. I decided it was my imagination. Why? Did you feel it, too?”
“Yeah. I thought I was the only one.”
“I’ll ask the others once we return to the Rig, but for now, we should focus on the mission.”
“Hey, Ah found one of the wells!” Applejack called. Her laser pointer indicated a spout of flame near the other end of the cavern.
“I’ll get it,” Rainbow said. She began building one of the pipes in long segments to snake around various columns and go up and down.
Rarity finished the pipes from Rainbow’s framework, meeting Rainbow somewhere in the middle as she worked her way back to the refinery. Applejack moved on to look for the other two wells, and before long, Mission Control reported deployment of all three pumps. The team met back at the refinery once all pipes were built.
“Are you ready?” Sunset asked. “I’ve gathered as much Nitra as I could find, along with any gold, Bismor, and Umanite around.”
“I got the Hollomite,” Rainbow said as she dumped the contents of her suit pockets into the mineral crusher just below the large spherical holding tank at the top of the rocket.
“Well done, Team. you’ve secured yourselves a nice bonus,” Mission Control stated. “All Pumpjacks are connected to the refinery! Start the pump sequence whenever you’re ready.”
“We’re ‘go’,” Rarity said. “Sunset, hit the button. Let’s get this started.”
“Bad news, Team. A swarm of Macteras have caught your scent. Better prepare yourselves.”
“What are Macteras?” Applejack asked.
“Flying bugs,” Rarity answered. She called down a resupply near the bottom of one of the ramps to the refinery. “Watch your heads!”
“Contact! Take ‘em out, Team!”
The bugs crawled out of the walls as one of Sunset’s flares arced into the ceiling. Most of them had yellow fleshy bits on their bottoms like the Praetorians’ green abdomens, small, thin legs, and mouths poised to shoot. One of them had a much smaller fleshy bit and long, segmented legs, and its eyes held more malice than Fluttershy’s rabbit Angel. It let out a high-pitched screech as it flew toward them.
Rarity’s ears pricked at the noise. Something told her it was coming for her, and she aimed her shotgun high. She pulled the trigger just as its legs reached out to grab her.
The bug screeched in pain and retreated. Rarity smiled at her handiwork, then looked for the others. Everyone had scattered to dodge the yellow goop being projectile vomited at them by the other bugs, but they were working as a team. Most of the bugs lay dead on the ground. Sunset targeted the long-legged bug with a quick succession of shots, downing it on the pile.
With the swarm done, Rarity checked her bestiary. Two new entries had been added: the Mactera Spawn and Mactera Grabber. Seconds later, the Mactera Goo Bomber appeared as well with the echo of Rainbow’s revolver.
Sunset activated the refinery, and Mission Control announced, “Pump sequence starting! Be aware, the noise will draw in the locals, so keep them off the pipes, and we’ll have that Liquid Morkite refined in no time!”
Rarity set up her turrets near the resupply pod and lobbed a grenade at a group of Glyphids gnawing at one of the pipes. Sunset disappeared to deal with a different section, and Applejack and Rainbow rode the two other pipes to protect them. It wasn’t enough, however, and the refinery abruptly ground to a halt.
“The pumps have stopped! The refinement process won’t continue until all pipes are fixed.”
Rarity saw one of the broken segments nearby, so she lobbed another grenade to kill the bugs around it and jogged over. Oily black Liquid Morkite splashed all over her armor rig when she approached. She started wrenching the pipe parts back into place and hammering them together, and the liquid streamed into her face.
She backed off, blinded, and spat out whatever bit had gotten into her mouth. It tasted disgusting. She wiped her face clear. Her stomach churned something awful, but she managed to hold it.
“Stop playing with the pipes, Rarity,” Sunset playfully chided.
“Have you gotten a mouthful of Liquid Morkite?” Rarity angrily sputtered.
Sunset laughed so hard she tripped on a rock and fell on her back.
“Thought not.”
Rarity finished repairing the pipe, but not before Mission Control reported the other two fixed. The refining process continued until the comms crackled again.
“Hmm… this doesn’t look good. We’ve just picked up a group of Glyphid Praetorians heading your way. Dig in, Team.”
“Oh, come on!” Rainbow yelled.
Although the cave’s Haz level wasn’t too bad, the Praetorians proved to be a challenge. Their acid-spitting attacks wore down shields quickly, and their armor was tough. One of them, though, was even bigger than the rest with a crown of armor. Rarity’s laser pointer said it was a Glyphid Oppressor.
“My gun’s not doing anything!” Rainbow cried. “Its armor’s too tough!”
“I see a weak spot in the back!” Sunset called from behind the beast. “Rainbow, can you get around it?”
Rarity lobbed a grenade at the Oppressor. “I’ll distract it!” she yelled. “Applejack, find a way around it! Rainbow, follow her!”
Applejack’s drills whirred to life, and she disappeared behind a rock wall. Moments later, Rainbow Dash ran after her, leaving Rarity to back into a corner as the Oppressor stomped closer. She fired again.
Rainbow’s minigun sounded from behind the Oppressor. It roared and slammed its forelegs into the ground, sending shockwaves rippling through the air that pushed Rarity against the wall. She groaned as she collapsed to the ground. Disoriented, she tried to push herself to her feet, but another smack from the Oppressor overloaded her suit, and her vision went black.
---------------------------------
“Rarity?”
The voice was familiar, but it didn’t belong to anyone on her team. It wasn’t Rainbow’s tomboyishness or Sunset’s determination, and it didn’t have Applejack’s country accent. It was soft and fluttery like a kind, caring mother.
Rarity opened her eyes and pushed herself to her knees. Her arms ached, her legs were scraped, and she felt a bead of blood dripping down her cheek. She brushed it with her hand and pulled her ponytail out of her face.
Checking her surroundings, she saw that she was in a swirling pale nothingness. There was ground but no surface. There was sound, there was light, but nothing to create them. The air felt fresh and clean, but there was no world from which it came.
“Fluttershy?” she asked warily.
The yellow-skinned form in front of her focused, and Rarity saw her friend’s long pink curls and big blue-green eyes. She wore her Camp Everfree geode around her neck as she knelt to match Rarity’s eye level.
“But… we left you behind. We lost you.”
Fluttershy tilted her head. “No, you didn’t. It was my choice, Rarity. I stayed here so you could go home. Now go home. You’re needed there.”
Rarity grasped Fluttershy’s hand. Tears streamed down her dirtied, bloodied face. “I’m not leaving you behind. I’m gonna find you, and I’m gonna bring you home.”
“You must leave me, Rarity. Your family needs you. Your friends need you.”
“No! I won’t! They can wait.”
“Rarity--”
“No. I don’t care what it takes. You’re my friend, Fluttershy, and friends don’t abandon each other when it gets tough. When I go home, you’re coming with me.”
Fluttershy morphed into a broken, twisted version of Rarity. Her hair was torn short, her skin was even dirtier and damaged than it was now, and one of her eyes was covered in a patch. She wore the tattered remains of her undersuit under a destroyed armor rig. Her left arm had been replaced with a cybernetic one, and her combat shotgun looked used and beaten.
“This is what you face, Rarity. You risk everything. Your very identity is at stake!”
Rarity recoiled from the warning but regained control of her mind before it went into panic mode. If what this shapeshifting Fluttershy said was true, she could lose her shop. Her skill. Her livelihood. That was a lot to lose.
But Fluttershy was a lot to lose, too.
“My friend is at stake,” she said. “And she’s worth more than anything I could lose.”
Suddenly, the mystical anti-world around her began to crumble and turn to black, and her mind rocketed to the physical present.
---------------------------------
“Hhnnnnnnnnngggggg.”
“You’re gonna be fine, Rarity,” Sunset said. “The Oppressor’s gone.”
Rarity felt herself be lifted off the ground and propped on the refinery’s ramp. The refinery itself clanged away amid the Glyphid screeches that echoed through the cavern, but her friends were more concerned about her than they were the mission. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw that she was completely and utterly drenched in Liquid Morkite.
“The revival juice wasn’t working, so we had to do something,” Sunset continued. “Rainbow said you hated Liquid Morkite, so we, uh, borrowed some from the pipes.”
Rarity’s mind cleared, and she shook her head. “Why didn’t it work?”
“Well, for one, you were surrounded in a magical aura the color of your geode,” Rainbow said. “The juice just rolled off you instead of soaking into your suit like it’s supposed to.”
“That’s odd, but we should focus on the mission. How much longer do we have?”
“Holdin’ tank is just about full,” Applejack reported. “It took a while to get the Oppressor, and Sunset had to go out and fix the pipes once while Rainbow and Ah fought it. We’ll be faster next time.”
“Don’t sweat it. We haven’t encountered one before now. Just be glad it wasn’t a Dreadnought.”
“Oh, I’m glad, all right,” Sunset said. She held down the rocket launch button, and the launch sequence started before Mission Control could report that the tank was full.
Once the cargo rocket had been secured, the Drop Pod came down to retrieve them. The extraction went smoothly. As they ascended, however, Rarity wondered if their perceived connection to the Ommoran Heartstone was only scratching the surface of Hoxxes’ subterranean mystery.
Twilight sighed and checked her computer. Every half-hour, the satellite network sent her an update on her latest “experiment”. So far, however, the results were less than stellar. She’d picked up numerous transponder signals from active miners, but none of them were on the right frequency with the correct identification code.
“Again?” her fellow Developer Edlin asked. “What are you even doing, anyway? You’ve had that thing running for nearly a week with no results.”
“I can’t give up, Edlin,” Twilight said. “You know how I am with nothing. Even bad results are better than nothing!” She pounded her desk with her fist to express her frustration.
“Come on, Twilight. You’ve hardly left your work area since the incident. Take a break. You’re no good to us half-dead.”
Twilight yawned and scrolled through the update. 15-D was on the week’s Deep Dive in the Magma Core. 2-X was running a final check of the assignment software’s Update 33. 11-A was in the Crystalline Caverns on a Salvage Operation. 17-B was having a hard time in the Sandblasted Corridors, but since they were on the final mission of the probation assignment, there was nothing she could do anyway. Like usual, nothing else caught her eye.
She glanced over at the suit radio attached to her computer by a data cable. She had unlimited access with it to tinker and experiment in the interest of increasing power efficiency, decreasing data loss, etc. Its real purpose on her desk, however, was relay.
“Are you done with the radio, at least?” Edlin asked. “I need to run an efficiency test, and this one finally decided to die.” He held up a suit radio of his own. Its power lights were dark, and the plate covering its control circuits appeared burned.
“No.”
“What are you using it for? I’ve seen your computer, and it’s not running any of the standard tests.”
“By default, all suit radios connect to the Mission Control Center’s antenna frequency,” Twilight explained. “And by extension, they connect to the communications satellite network. Once you have a secure connection, you can access anything in the network from the inside. Install a software patch to keep anyone from noticing your presence, and you’re done.”
“Twilight, hacking Company systems for personal use is strictly against Company rules, subject to immediate termination of service. Why would you risk everything on… whatever you’re doing?”
“Because I can’t accept no answers. You know that.”
Edlin sat back and scratched his beard. “Yes. Yes, I do. But you’re evading the question.”
Twilight sighed. “Fine. I’m looking for--”
Ping.
“That’s not supposed to happen for another 25 minutes.” Twilight opened the document displaying the new update from the satellite network. She scrolled a bit, and her eyes widened.
“Edlin, where’s my ID cheat sheet?”
“Stickied to the other side of your monitor, like usual. What? Did you find something?”
Twilight sensed Edlin's approach as she groped around her monitor for the sheet. Once she found it, she grabbed it and brought it back around. She quickly scanned it and the screen, double-checking her data. Her eye twitched as she realized she’d accidentally smudged the one ID she needed:
Sunset Shimmer -- 17-MT-140-V
Rainbow Dash -- 17-MT-141-V
Rarity -- 17-MT-142-V
Applejack -- 17-MT-1XX-X
Fluttershy -- 17-CR-XXX-D
Twilight Sparkle -- 17-R&X-XX5-G
Edlin leaned over her shoulder to look at the screen. “That’s an employee ID code, all right. But the cave it’s in was excavated over a year ago. All dwarves returned, so there shouldn’t be a transponder there in the first place.”
Twilight tapped her keyboard, bringing up the DRG employee ID cross-referencing spreadsheet. She searched, checked, nodded, then went back to the update sheet and checked it again. She sent a request for the network to confirm the data. Moments later, the computer pinged again. She checked the update.
“Damn, the transponder died after a single pulse. But we do know where it is. Haunted Cave, Glacial Strata, five kilometers beneath sea level. And the transponder code does have a match, so we know it isn’t incomplete.”
Edlin shifted. “Well, whose is it?”
“Transponder code 17-CR-144-D translates to ‘Rig 17, Combat Recovery, Member 144, Rank D’.” Twilight shook her head. “If I’m extrapolating my data correctly, that’s Fluttershy’s ID.”
“But Greenbeard Fluttershy was last seen in the Fun… oh. Oh. That’s nearly 200 kilometers from her last known location! What’s she doing there?” Edlin reached for his comm set. “We need to tell Mission Control. We need to tell everyone!”
Twilight frowned. “Unrecovered dwarves are presumed dead. I only saw this by chance--and that was because I was specifically looking for it. How many dwarves have we left on Hoxxes?”
“They’re presumed dead because it’s a known fact that Glyphids eat miners,” Edlin stated. He focused on his comm set. “Get me Mission Control, please. No, I don’t care that he’s busy. Yes, it’s an emergency!”
Several minutes later, Mission Control entered the R&D workshop. He was big and burly, and he wore an oily button shirt, slacks, and a large headset with a microphone. His balding head showed signs of stress, and he held an open bottle of whiskey.
“What is it, Developer?” he asked, clearly annoyed. “I have missions that require my attention at present--not to mention a Probation Graduation.”
“We have evidence that there’s a lone dwarf in the caves,” Edlin said. “Greenbeard Fluttershy, to be specific. Developer Sparkle found her transponder signal in the Glacial Strata, nearly 200 kilometers away from her last known location.”
“Show me.”
Twilight transferred her computer data to the room’s central projector, which lit up with a map of Hoxxes IV. A red dot materialized at both Fluttershy’s cave and where the transponder appeared.
“All we have is a single pulse, sir, but her ID is embedded in the signal,” she said.
“How did you find it?”
“I, ah…” Twilight paused.
“Go on.”
“I wrote a software patch for our comm satellites to search for it. Any time they weren’t acting as relays, they would occasionally ping the surface with their dish antennas and listen for the return much like the scanning arrays. Of course, to get any real surface penetration, I needed the low-orbit satellites, so I set it up to bounce the signal back to one of the geostationary ones. It took some tweaking to get the system to work, but once it did, I let it run in the background and ping my computer station with updates every half-hour.”
“How did you gain access to the comsats?”
She gulped. “This rig radio,” she began, picking up the object while taking care to not disconnect it from her computer, “is tuned to the Rig Control Center’s antenna frequencies as per its default settings. I used it to piggyback off the Center’s signals and build a bridge to the nearest satellite. Once I did that, it connected directly to me, and I had access from the inside.”
Mission Control took a deep breath. “I’m sure you’re aware of the risks, Developer Sparkle, and you understand that under normal circumstances, I would be discussing this with Management.”
Her lip quivered. “I do, sir.”
“However,” he continued, “in situations like this, I am authorized to take immediate executive action. You, Communications Manager Sparkle, will move your work to the Control Center. There, you will coordinate with all other Rigs and Teams to rescue Greenbeard Fluttershy. I will manage this Rig.” He clasped his hands behind his back. “This is now our top priority, Team. Get to it.”
Full Mission Roll: Kill 2 Glyphid Dreadnoughts, 10 Fossils, Haz 3, Sandblasted Corridors Warning: N/A, Anomaly: Low Gravity Machine Event: Kursite Infection Encounters: Golden Loot Bug, Crassus Bulk Detonator Extra Resources: N/A Mission Special Beer: Pots O' Gold Roll System in Final Phase
“This is it, girls,” Sunset said. “The last mission of the assignment. Remember the end of the Point Extraction? Well, now we have to kill one of those things. We have to kill a Glyphid Dreadnought.”
The four stood around the Mission Assignment console with the hologram of Hoxxes IV floating above the table. They’d spent their entire careers at DRG for this moment. The lights around them were dim with the “early morning” time aboard the station, but the Drop Pod glowed brilliant and proud. Tomorrow, if all went well, it would be painted with their symbol of choice: a pink butterfly.
Rarity leaned against the table with her arms crossed. “This is statistically the most failed mission for normal miners. Unfortunately, as this is our graduation mission for the training assignment, a Combat Recovery Team will not be sent to rescue us should we fail. We either do this--” She paused to take in a deep breath as she stood straight again. “Or we die.”
Applejack set her hand over the hologram. “For home,” she said, her green eyes strong and determined.
Rainbow Dash was next, placing her hand on Applejack’s. Her newly cut hair whipped around her head. “For family.”
Rarity placed her hand on Rainbow’s. Her armor rig beeped, and the purple diamond on her chestpiece glowed softly in the dim lighting of the station. “For friendship.”
Sunset was last, placing her hand on Rarity’s. A tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek. “For Fluttershy.”
---------------------------------
“Listen up, Team,” Mission Control said as the Drop Pod descended into the tan wind-swept depths of the Sandblasted Corridors, “we’ve located a Glyphid nest. The Dreadnoughts go there to pupate, so your primary objective is to locate the cocoons and destroy them and their occupants by any means necessary. Bring plenty of ammo--they can take a punch!”
“Yes, sir,” Rarity said as she adjusted her headset. “Do we know what they’ll become if we fail?”
“Something even worse. We don’t know exactly what it is, but our X-Teams report finding Dreadnoughts in more terrifying stages of pupation. Know that this is the last day when you’re guaranteed the standard variant. Good luck!”
“We’ll need it,” Sunset grumbled. “Alright, girls, you heard him: let’s get to work.”
The Drop Pod crashed to the cavern floor, its doors hissed open, and the ramp reached down to the ground. Rainbow was first, then Applejack and Rarity. Sunset grappled across the cave to a glint of gold she saw reflect off the pod’s lights and went to work.
The cave was sandy tan and abnormally tall with windswept lines along the sandstone walls. Sunset’s flare arced higher than she was used to before impacting the ceiling, bathing the room in light and illuminating two patches of compressed dirt.
As Sunset mined her bit of gold, she heard a distant echo. It sounded like a deep warbling growl, like a Bulk Detonator, but it had a metallic twinge.
“Hey, Rarity, are we in a haunted cave?” she asked over the comms.
“No. This cave has no Warnings at all, but it’s Low Gravity,” Rarity replied. “Why do you ask?”
“I thought I heard a Bulk. It’s not far off, but it’s behind rock.”
“Are you sure it was a Bulk?”
“No, but it was my first thought.”
“Okay. Keep your guard up, girls.”
Sunset grappled back to the group. Before she went all the way, she released the hook and flew the remaining distance, skidding to a stop next to Molly. She looked up and saw Rainbow leap into the air and do a triple backflip before landing. Rarity twirled like a ballerina, and Applejack bounded across the cave.
Low Gravity was amazing. It broke every law of physics Twilight Sparkle could remember, but it was fun.
Applejack broke through one of the dirt patches with her drills and immediately paled. She turned around and bolted as she switched her drills for her flamethrower.
“We got a Bulk!” she yelled. “It’s all glittery and gold!”
You’ve gotta be kidding me, Sunset thought. We do NOT need a Bulk Detonator right now!
The creature erupted through the tunnel Applejack had dug, making the hole much bigger and sending embers float around it. It was, as Applejack described, glittery. Its entire body appeared to be made of gold, and the three bulbous tumors were gilded. No matter its looks, it had to be at least as dangerous as a standard Bulk. Sunset aimed at one of the tumors and fired.
Rainbow’s minigun burred at the beast’s other side, and one of Rarity’s grenades exploded against its metallic armor. It roared in reply and slammed its claws into the ground, raising a cloud of fiery particles around it. Applejack’s flamethrower spewed a line of sticky flaming oil that splattered on its armor, but it seemed unaffected.
Sunset sprinted out of the way as it turned to attack her, leaving the tumor she’d been shooting to dim. The ground behind her exploded, and the shockwave knocked her off her feet. She picked herself back up and kept running but left her rifle on the ground. Switching to her double-barrel shotgun, she blasted a full load of pellets into the gold Bulk’s face and continued to run.
One of the tumors exploded under Rainbow’s continual fire, and the Bulk howled something horrible. It turned its attention from Sunset to Rainbow, lumbering across the cave to attack her. Rarity and Applejack scattered while Rainbow was forced to back away.
Its distraction gave Sunset enough time to retrieve her rifle. She grabbed it, reloaded, and tossed one of her grenades. It created an electric field that slowed the Bulk’s movement to a standstill.
The second of three tumors exploded from sustained flames and rifle fire. Another inhibitor grenade kept it from moving, giving Rainbow time to move and shoot the last tumor while Rarity pelted its face with grenade after grenade from her launcher.
When the Bulk stopped moving completely, everyone ran and it exploded into a… gold crater? Sunset rejoined the others at the crater and scratched her head. Bulks didn’t turn solid rock into gold.
“A Glyphid Crassus Detonator,” Rarity read from her bestiary. “It’s every bit as lethal as its cousin. However, unlike the standard Bulk Detonator, it turns everything within the radius of its explosion to gold by way of some chemical reaction upon death.”
Rainbow whistled, and Sunset had to agree with her unspoken statement. It was incredible.
“You know, Ah think we coulda gotten more gold out of it if we’d killed it in a tunnel,” Applejack said.
“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed. She tossed a resupply beacon, using nearly all the Nitra they’d gathered before the Crassus. “Ammo’s down to a third. That thing soaked bullets like… I don’t even know. It was harder than the other Bulk we killed.”
“Good call, then,” Rarity said. “Everyone, take a resupply leaf. We’re going to need all the ammunition we can get to kill the Dreadnoughts. And don't forget to mine all this gold Hoxxes so kindly gave us.”
---------------------------------
When they reached the first of the Dreadnought cocoons, Sunset fired a flare into the ceiling. It sat on the far end of a large cavern several dozen meters tall and nearly a hundred wide with only the occasional gray rocky spire to break up the endless tan sandstone.
“Wow,” she breathed.
“It’s half the size of an Egg Hunt cave, and it’s just for the one Dreadnought,” Rainbow said. “We can kill it, right?”
“We have to,” Rarity said. “Who has ‘See You In Hell’?”
“Rainbow and I,” Sunset said.
“Okay, if either of you go down, we’ll try to lure it over to you. Use your pulse to damage it.”
“Ah have ‘Iron Will’,” Applejack volunteered.
“Then if everyone goes down, you get up and revive someone. Go for the person nearest to you. If you can get Sunset before you go back down, that’d be great since she can grapple across the cave.”
“How do we kill it?” Rainbow asked.
“Greg told me to hit the abdomen. It has an armored shell that regenerates after a few seconds, so once we break it, you don’t stop shooting. Sunset, your inhibitor should keep it slow, and don’t forget to light the cave.”
Suddenly, the wind picked up, quickly turning into a blinding sandstorm. Sunset’s suit shields protected her from being sandblasted without trouble, and after a couple minutes, the storm cleared. Rainbow fired a zipline across the cave and hooked herself, ascending over the floor like a flying gun.
Rainbow aimed her revolver at the cocoon. “Ready?”
“Ready,” Rarity confirmed after she set up a turret to shoot anything that came down the tunnel while they fought the Dreadnought.
“Ready,” Applejack said.
“Ready,” Sunset replied. Inwardly, she gulped. The one during the Point Extraction was terrifying. This time, she couldn’t just run away and leave in the Drop Pod. This time, she had to fight.
The cocoon popped, and the Dreadnought crawled out. It pressed its claws into the ground and roared. Sunset froze in fear, her eyes locked onto the hulking carapace and evil pointed teeth.
Rarity lobbed a grenade at the Dreadnought’s abdomen. It turned to her and vomited a fireball, which she dodged with a quick roll to the side. Applejack’s flamethrower lit its armor, but for all her effort she did almost nothing. Rainbow’s minigun whirred to life once again, laying lead rain on the beast.
It took a fireball going for her head to snap Sunset out of her freeze. She grappled out of the way just in time and rolled to her feet. Her hands automatically switched to her rifle, and she sprinted behind a rock spire to catch her breath.
First rule of combat: don’t stop moving.
She risked a peek and saw the Dreadnought slam the ground, throwing up lines of spiky rock that sliced Applejack’s legs. She collapsed to her knees but stood back up and fired her dinky little pistol.
Rainbow’s support from the zipline was doing the most work. The abdomen armor cracked open. Sunset threw an inhibitor grenade to keep it from moving and grappled behind it. She first slammed its fleshy bits with a power attack from her pickaxe, then rapidly unloaded her shotgun pellets. The Dreadnought turned to face her. She ran.
Rarity dove in from behind with a power attack of her own followed by several shots from her combat shotgun. The shell regenerated before Sunset could shoot it again, and they were back to square one.
Sunset aimed her rifle and fired again. Now that the Dreadnought was focusing on someone else again, she had time to hurt it.
Rainbow screamed and fell from her zipline as the air around her exploded. She landed hard, and before she could recover, the beast was already on top of her. It slashed her across the chest with its claw, and she went down. As she did, a large electric pulse blew out from her suit, which made the Dreadnought angry. She had to have hurt it badly.
“Sunset, revive her!” Rarity ordered. “Applejack, help me distract it!”
Applejack threw a block of explosive on the ground and backed away. When the Dreadnought crawled over it to attack her, she clicked her remote, and the abdomen’s shell cracked again.
Sunset bolted behind it, but not before Applejack cried out and collapsed, too. The Dreadnought then focused on Rarity, giving her enough time to revive Rainbow, who immediately threw down a shield to protect them. Just in time, too--Rarity wasn’t fast enough to outrun the Dreadnought, and it sliced her down with a couple staggering hits.
“Get back on the zipline and kill it!” Sunset yelled. “I’ll get the others!”
Rainbow threw a mock salute and ran to the zipline’s lowest point, where she hooked herself back on and became mostly safe from its attacks again. Sunset fired into the fleshy bits, but too much time had passed, and the shell regenerated before she could do much damage.
She ran to Applejack since she was farther from the Dreadnought and quickly revived her. The farm girl took out a small handle that grew into an axe and threw it at the beast, distracting it and giving Sunset a shot at Rarity.
Sunset grappled across the cave to Rarity and went to work again. Rainbow’s lead rain continued to pour, and the Dreadnought was focusing down Applejack again, so she had another chance to shoot the shell.
The third time the shell cracked, everyone threw everything they had at it. Rarity fired her grenade launcher, Applejack set off her explosives and threw her axes, Rainbow threw her own grenades and kept up the fire, and Sunset pelted it with her rifle. It still wasn’t enough, and the shell regenerated.
Oh, Celestia, this is RIDICULOUS!
Much more coordinated now, the group managed to break the shell a fourth time without much more trouble. This time, their damage brought the Dreadnought to the ground. It roared one final defiant time before collapsing, dead.
Sunset let out a huge sigh of relief. The adrenaline that coursed through her veins dissipated. Her arms fell limp, exhausted, and she sat down to recover her breath.
“Rock and Stone, Team,” Rarity said. “Just one more, then we leave.”
Three “Rock and Stone”s echoed in reply. Sunset wasn’t sure if one of the voices was hers or not.
“I thought we were gonna lose,” Rainbow panted. She unhooked herself from her zipline and rejoined the group. With Low Gravity, that entailed falling twenty meters without a care in the world.
“Me too,” Applejack said. “When the Dreadnought hit you off the zipline, I figured we were as good as dead seein’ you were doing all the damage.”
Rarity sat down next to Sunset. “I went down after Applejack, but I don’t know what happened. When Sunset revived me, I saw I was the last one down.”
“Sunset carried,” Rainbow said and patted Sunset’s shoulder. “She got us all back up.”
“Excellent work, Sunset. How are we on ammunition?”
Rainbow shook her head and Applejack frowned.
“Not good,” Sunset said. “I spent half my rifle ammo on that thing. It just wouldn’t die.”
“Right. Let’s find some Nitra and call in another resupply.” Rarity placed a flare in front of her, lighting up their small corner of the cavern as Sunset’s flare bolts dimmed. She took a deep breath and sighed. “We need to start bringing food down here with us. After the Crassus and Dreadnought, I’m starving.”
Sunset’s stomach rumbled in agreement.
“If we make it back up,” she said, “the first round is on me.”
---------------------------------
As the doors clanked open to the Space Rig, Twilight Sparkle ran up the boarding ramp before any of them could leave. “Girls, you are not going to believe this,” she said, her normally precise voice breathless.
“What?” Sunset asked. “We’re a little busy, Twilight. Drinks on me, girls!”
Rainbow and Applejack cheered, while Rarity looked like she was going to be sick.
Twilight shook her head. “No drinks. Not yet.”
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
Twilight nodded. “While you were down there, satellites picked up a tracking beacon in the Glacial Strata for a split second before the signal died. It’s an old cave excavated a year ago, and all dwarves made it home, so it’s not from any of them.”
“Well, whose was it, then?” Rarity pushed. “Surely it can’t be… no. That’s impossible.”
“It is. The frequency corresponds to Fluttershy’s emergency tracker, and her ID was embedded in the signal. She’s still alive down there.”
Fluttershy crept through a dark, lightless tunnel, guided only by her Glyphid Grunt friend Steeve, who clacked his legs against the rock for her to hear. Her belt flare maker had finally run out of power, and all she had left were her guns and armor rig, which had also been run down. For batteries rated to only last a day at most, they held up pretty well for the better part of a couple weeks.
She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow and panted. It was a good thing she’d gathered as much water as she could carry while she was in the Strata because this place felt hot enough to melt rock. The ghost of the Bulk Detonator had chased her farther from the surface, so far that she wasn’t sure her comms could reach DRG’s satellite network if they still had power.
Rounding a corner, Fluttershy saw a soft orange glow emanating from farther down the tunnel and around another corner. Finally, light! She picked herself up and jogged to the turn.
The rock around her was dark gray with black streaks and the occasional orange chunk. The ceiling was jagged and covered in stalactites, and the walls were warm to the touch. In the middle of the room, she saw a massive lava lake that bubbled and stretched into a river that disappeared behind a ridge.
She tapped her wrist screen to check her depth out of habit, but it remained dark. She blinked, remembering that its battery had died, and sighed. Her legs ached, so she sat on a stumpy stalagmite to rest.
“Is this the Magma Core, Steeve?” she asked. “Or are we below it?”
Steeve screeched.
“Below it, huh? Is there any food down here? Or water?” She shook her nearly empty canteen. “Oh, I need water.”
Another screech.
“Well, then, we need to get back to the Strata. Unless--”
The ground trembled, and a small chasm opened up nearby. Steeve shrieked and skittered closer to her, rubbing his head against her leg like a cat.
“It’s okay, Steeve,” she cooed. “It’s just an earthquake.”
The earth shook again, and a large clang echoed close enough to make Fluttershy feel like she was on the inside of a ringing bell. When her ears recovered, she looked for the source of the noise. It didn’t take long to find a long-abandoned Drop Pod with doors heat-welded shut and scorch marks along its hull.
She looked up. The cave above wasn’t the easiest to reach, but it could be done--especially since the Drop Pod’s crash caused an avalanche she could climb. She clambered up the rocks with Steeve at her side until she reached the top of the hole--and the floor of the cave above.
Two more Drop Pods in equally dilapidated conditions to the first, three wrecked Mega-M.U.L.E.s, and various weapons were scattered about the massive cavern. The cave itself reached maybe fifty meters high, seventy wide, and over three hundred long.
Fluttershy’s jaw dropped. Three full teams had been in this cave, likely at the same time, and none of them had returned. One of the Drop Pods had a hole blasted in the side, so she climbed up to risk a peek. Maybe she’d get some insight into their deaths so she could avoid their mistakes.
Two skeletons in DRG armor rigs sat inside. One had a rifle next to it but was missing its head, while the other had no weapon and all its extremities attached. The far computer looked intact, but the near one was completely wrecked.
Steeve clacked his legs on the rock.
“I know, Steeve, but this is important.”
She climbed through the hole, taking care to not cut herself on the ragged metal, and pressed a button on the central computer opposite the hole. Naturally, it failed to activate. She moved to the headless skeleton and tapped its rig’s wrist screen.
The screen activated, albeit poorly and with very little charge. The only thing it did was play an audio recording:
“Deep Rock employee 1-XT-25-B, name: Herb. This will likely be my final recording.
“The rendezvous went fine. Our Drop Pod landed right next to the other teams’ pods exactly where Navigation said we’d land. No other operations of this nature have been attempted previously because of the danger involved, but no dwarf is left behind. Our task was to locate and extract Employee 1-XT-1-A, name: Karl, from his last known location by any means necessary.
“Unfortunately, that also happens to be seventeen kilometers beneath the surface, below even the deepest Magma Core excavation sites. This is an entirely uncharted region of Hoxxes.
“I won’t spare you the details, but all that matters is that we failed our objective. Whatever he stayed behind to distract was awoken by our landings and attacked us. If anyone can hear me, do not attempt a rescue. Only two of us are left, trapped in our Drop Pod until we starve.
“The Mother is out there. She is intelligent. And she is angry. Employee 1-XT-25-B, signing off. Goodbye.”
Fluttershy’s heart sank as the device sparked and died. Heidei had mentioned this place when she asked about notable dwarves. Three teams went in; none came out. This was Karl’s End. She climbed out of the wrecked Drop Pod and slid to the ground.
“Come on, Steeve,” she called. She pointed down the tunnel. “We’re going to find a way out of here.”
As she jogged down the endless massive tunnel, she felt a slight tug of magic, but she decided it was her imagination. Hoxxes didn’t have magic. And besides, Applejack had her geode anyway. She couldn’t use it even if there was any.
She just hoped she made it out before she found the Mother.
Full Mission Roll: 3 Mini M.U.L.E.s, 10 Fester Fleas, Haz 4, Crystalline Caverns Warning: N/A, Anomaly: N/A Machine Event: Omen Modular Exterminator Encounters: N/A Extra Resources: N/A Mission Special Beer: Tunnel Rat Roll System in Final Phase
“Ah, Greg,” Applejack asked, “have you ever heard of a rescue of this scale before? Everyone is supposed to look for Fluttershy while they’re down there. It’s like Management gave us a continual objective.”
Greg, standing in for Pinkie Pie while she crashed after a long night of catering to every team on the Rig, scratched his grizzled silverfox beard. He wore his usual grease-splotched work uniform, but the top of his head sported a hairpin from Rarity’s collection that kept the longer strands of hair from blinding him. In his hand, he held a couple mugs and passed them to each of the four girls.
“No, I haven’t,” he replied after a few moments. “Not since Karl was lost, bless him.”
“Did you find him?”
His shoulders fell. “No. It’s believed he died. All we know is the location of his last cave, which disappeared some years ago when the tectonics shifted. During our attempt, three full teams of our most elite dwarves rendezvoused in that cave to search for him. None returned.”
“What happened to them?” Sunset asked.
“Likely what happened to Karl himself. A creature so incredibly dangerous it would make a cave Hazard Seven by itself. Noone’s seen it since, so its only real evidence is Karl’s final mission. We call it the Mother.”
“There’s something worse than Dreadnoughts?” Rarity’s eyes were wide.
“Aye. Speculation says that it’s what lays Dreadnought eggs. Any beast that can do that is a threat to all our operations on the planet, but as I said, we haven’t seen it since. It’s undetectable by scanner, and it’s so large that any caves it dug would collapse from lack of support after it passed, preventing our teams from tracking it.”
“If there’s such a danger, why does the Company care about Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, she’s our friend, but last I checked, we’re usually on our own.”
Greg sighed. “From what I’ve gathered from the other Rigs, your friend is already a legend. She faced overwhelming odds and ensured that with her sacrifice, five others made it back. That’s the mark of a true dwarf, and no dwarf is left behind.”
---------------------------------
“Hello, girls,” Twilight Sparkle’s voice crackled through the comms, “Mission Control is a little busy with one of our other teams in the Magma Core, so I’m filling in for him while I wait for the other Rigs to respond to my message. Let’s see… ah, there it is. Your objective today is to salvage three Mini M.U.L.E.s, locate and repair the previous team’s Drop Pod, and exterminate ten Fester Fleas if you have the chance. There aren’t any Warnings, but your cave is registered as a Haz 4, so be careful down there. Any questions?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow replied. “What’s the other team doing?”
“They’re on the second stage of this week’s Elite Deep Dive. From what I can hear, it’s pretty chaotic. They’re low on Nitra and still have yet to reach an Ommoran Heartstone and kill a Dreadnought. They made it through their first refueling fine, but they’re coming up on a second. Oh, dear, it’s Shield Disruption there.”
“That sounds bad,” Sunset said.
“No kidding. Anyway, good luck! I’ll send resupplies as you request them and warn you of incoming swarms.”
The Drop Pod crashed to the cave floor, and everyone filed out. Rainbow had her minigun ready to buzz down anything that moved, Rarity cocked her shotgun, Sunset twirled her rifle, and Applejack’s drills revved in preparation to get them to the main cave. It was another mission in the Crystalline Caverns today, so the pinkish white rock was familiar to them.
They spent some time in the starting cavern gathering the minerals available. There wasn’t much--only a bit of Nitra and Gold--but Rarity insisted they be as prepared as possible before opening up the main cave. After a bit of exploration, they found that the whole thing was nearly devoid of Nitra--almost enough for two resupplies, but not quite. Unfortunate, really, but random chance couldn’t be helped.
Once again, finding the Pod and Mini M.U.L.E.s was the easy part. Applejack torched a small group of bugs trying to ambush her on top of her ledge and hammered one of the Mini’s legs back into place.
“Applejack,” Rarity called over the radio, “Can you switch to a private channel, please?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“It’s about magic. I know we’ve discussed it as a whole, but I’m worried. Rainbow Dash and I have already experienced strange phenomena regarding it and the Ommoran Heartstone through our geodes. Sunset might have, too, but I’m not sure yet.”
“So ya wanna know if Ah’ve had some fuzzies with the geodes here on Hoxxes.”
Rarity didn’t respond for a moment. “Yes, although I wouldn’t have put it that way,” she eventually said.
Applejack stopped to think. Catching a leg tossed up to her by Sunset, she hammered it into place. The Mini M.U.L.E., now with all four legs again, perked up and marched over to Molly, which sat by Rainbow Dash and the lost team’s Drop Pod.
“Yeah, Ah felt somethin’. Didn’t think much of it, though. Is it magic?”
The radio crackled. “That’s my suspicion, yes.”
“Heads up, everyone!” Twilight called over the radio. “We got four, six, no, eight--a lot of bugs heading your way! Get ready!”
“We’ll continue this conversation later,” Rarity said. Off the radio, she yelled loud enough for her voice to echo through the cave: “Girls, to the Pod!”
Applejack hefted her flamethrower and jogged along the ledge as far as she could, then leapt onto Rainbow Dash’s zipline over the lower floor straight to Rainbow and the Pod. She clambered over the last few rocks as Sunset landed in a roll from a near-horizontal grapple nearby.
The damaged Drop Pod’s emergency lights bathed the immediate area in a slowly blinking red light. Shadows grew and shrank like living beings. One of Rarity’s turrets sprang up and began scanning for enemies.
“Rainbow Dash, be ready on that shield,” Rarity ordered. “You and Applejack are crowd control. Sunset, you kite the bigger ones away from the group, and don’t forget about your power attack. I’ll cover the flanks with my turret.”
“How many do you have?” Rainbow asked.
“Just the one for now. I could have two if I wanted, but I’d need to change out my gear when we get back to the Rig.”
Applejack smirked and set a satchel charge on the wall. It had done a decent amount of damage on a Dreadnought, so she figured it could blow away quite a few bugs.
“Alright, girls, here they come!” Twilight called over the radio.
Sunset’s flares flew into the ceiling and walls, providing a solid light and illuminating the area beyond the Pod where the bugs crawled out of the rock to attack. Rainbow’s minigun whirred to life almost immediately, firing a stream of tracers into the main group while Sunset’s rifle picked at stragglers. Rarity turned to another group on the side and lobbed a grenade at them, blasting a good number into the air.
Applejack shot at stragglers with her sidearm pistol like Sunset until the minigun stopped firing, then took center with her flamethrower. Rainbow rotated to the side and used her own sidearm while the minigun cooled.
“Applejack, blow the satchel!” Rainbow yelled.
She did without hesitation, and the resounding boom and dying screeches of a dozen Glyphids filled her ears. Rainbow Dash whooped and slammed her pickaxe down on the few remaining bugs that hadn’t been killed by the explosion.
Up front, Applejack’s sticky flame smothered the bugs, and their screeches filled the air as they burned. Rarity’s turret popped rounds until it suddenly clicked and stopped firing. Sunset tossed an inhibitor grenade into the main wave, giving Applejack a much-needed moment to refuel and swap out with Rainbow again.
As the main wave petered out, the hair-raising roar of several Praetorians echoed through the cave. Sunset fired a few more flares and disappeared into the dark. Rarity dashed to her turret and refilled it.
“I see three Praetorians--no, wait, four!” Sunset reported over the radio. Can we deal with four at this Hazard Level?”
“Only one way to find out,” Rainbow replied. “Hey, Rarity, use your hologram! We’ll hit them while they’re distracted.”
Rarity loaded another grenade into her launcher. “Good call. Applejack, do you have another satchel charge?”
“Yeah. Ah can only carry two, but they have a bigger charge.”
“Alright, here’s the plan. You pick a spot for your charge. I’ll throw my L.U.R.E. on it, and when they attack, fire a grenade. Blow the charge as soon as I hit.”
“Got it.” Applejack jogged around to an open spot near the main ledge and set her second of two satchel charges.
Sunset grappled back into the light, rolling to her feet upon landing and switching to her double-barrel shotgun. She popped open the firing chamber, reloaded, and closed it again with a click.
“They’re coming over the ledge now,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure I saw a Detonator in the far end of the cave. We need to move quickly.”
Rarity tossed a resupply beacon, which lit up with a green holographic arrow.
“I see your beacon,” Twilight reported. “Supplies are on the way.”
The first of the four Praetorians climbed over the rock, quickly followed by the other three. It roared and charged. Rarity’s L.U.R.E. sprang up with a hologram of Princess Twilight dancing as she did during the Fall Formal. All four Praetorians immediately turned to attack it, and when they were in place, she fired her grenade.
Applejack blew the satchel charge as the grenade landed, and the combined explosions sounded painfully big. Her ears rang, and she was temporarily disoriented from the echos. But as the smoke cleared, all four Praetorians were still alive and angry.
“Run!” Rarity yelled.
Rainbow immediately threw up a shield a few meters away, and Applejack joined the others in racing into it. The Praetorians chased them, and a bit of their acid spray splattered her boots, eating into her rig’s shield.
Just as the first two crawled over the resupply beacon, the pod came down and killed them instantly upon impact. As their bodies collapsed, they released their signature green gas, blocking the view of the other two.
Applejack saw an opportunity and took it, aiming her flamethrower at the cloud and shooting a quick burst of fiery fuel. The dual cloud lit up in a fireball that enveloped the two Praetorians behind it, killing them instantly. When the smoke and new gas cloud cleared again, all four were down for good.
In the distance, the Bulk Detonator’s growling roar echoed through the cave.
Rainbow Dash was the first to react. “That was awesome!” she cheered. “Way to go, Applejack!”
“It wasn’t special,” Applejack protested. “Ah just remembered the gas was flammable.”
“You did well, darling,” Rarity said. “That was a very excellent move. Now refill your ammunition, everyone, and let’s kill that Detonator. Sunset, keep an eye on it. Rainbow Dash, set a zipline where it can’t hit you. Applejack, recall Molly into the Pod, and you and I will set up the uplink and defend it.”
“Sounds good,” Sunset said, and she disappeared into the darkness after emptying a leaf.
Rainbow fired her zipline first, then grabbed as many bullets as she could carry before hooking herself to the line and ascending above the rest of the cave. Rarity refilled her turret again and stuffed her reserves. Applejack took the fuel tanks and bullets for her pistol as she held Molly’s recall button.
Another flare arced into the pinkish-white ceiling as the Detonator rounded a corner and came into full view. Almost immediately, Rainbow began firing into one of its tumors, and Sunset’s rifle barked briefly. Applejack joined with a few shots from her pistol.
Once all the M.U.L.E.s had boarded the Drop Pod, Rarity hammered the uplink together, and the holographic zone materialized around it. The Detonator had crept a little closer, but Sunset’s inhibitor grenade had slowed it significantly. One of its tumors exploded with a burst of yellow goop. It roared something fierce, raising the hairs on Applejack’s back as she joined Rarity in the uplink zone.
“At least it isn’t a Dreadnought,” Rarity said.
“Don’t tempt it, Rarity,” Applejack warned.
Rainbow’s minigun clanked to a stop, and her pistol took its place.
“Ah told her to watch the heat gauge. Ah swear, she doesn’t listen.”
“Can you hold down the fort? I’m going to--”
“AHHHH!” Sunset screamed. She ran into the light and dove for the zone with a dozen Glyphid Grunts on her tail.
Applejack torched the group while Rarity’s turret fired into the mess. In seconds, the bugs were dealt with, but now the Detonator crept ever closer.]
“Are you alright, Sunset?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. They just appeared out of nowhere!”
“How are you for supplies?”
“I spent nearly all my ammo on that thing!” Sunset panted. “It just won’t die!”
Rarity patted her grenade launcher on her hand. “It will eventually. I’ll go out, you two get the Pod working. We need to leave as soon as we can.”
Rainbow switched back to her minigun, and the familiar sound of a dozen hardened bullets a second buzzed in their ears.
“Alright, girls,” Twilight called, “triangulation is complete. Remote control is reestablished. Sending the fuel cells. Hang in there!”
The Detonator creeped closer. The second of its three tumors ruptured, forcing it to stagger momentarily.
“Ah’ll handle the fuel cells,” Applejack said. “Go find Nitra. We only need a couple more units for a resupply. A Loot Bug or two should do the trick.”
Sunset threw a mock salute and grappled off to the twisting tunnels that seemed to wrap around the main cave.
Applejack watched her go, then drilled a shelter around where the fuel cells landed to give herself more room to move. She connected them to the Pod’s charging port, turned them on, and waited.
Rainbow was firing short bursts now, either to conserve ammo or keep the gun from overheating--or both, most likely. Rarity’s grenade launcher boomed and her shotgun blasted. Sunset’s rifle made the occasional bark. But all that accompanied Applejack was the equipment on her back and the beeping of the fuel cells.
Something blue-white splashed into her armor from above, throwing her off-balance for a moment as she jerked her head up to look for the source of the liquid. The next few splashes landed in her face. Blinded, she fired her pistol in the general direction of the splashes and retreated into her dugout bunker.
“Somethin’ just hit me!” she yelled. “Ah didn’t even see it!”
“I’m coming,” Rarity replied over the radio. “Rainbow Dash, keep up the pressure!”
“Gotcha,” Rainbow called. She fired slightly longer bursts into the Detonator. It had to be close. Suddenly, she stopped firing altogether.
“Oh,” she groaned. “What in the name of--STOP HITTING ME! Ow!”
“I got the last Nitra we need,” Sunset reported. “I really feel bad about that Loot Bug.”
“Great,” Rarity said. “Get over here fast--something just knocked Rainbow off her zipline.”
The Detonator finally stopped completely and stood still for a moment, then exploded in a massive fireball that sent flaming chunks of rock everywhere.
“Who killed it?” Rarity asked.
“I got it!” Sunset cheered. “Man, I love this gun!” She grappled into the light again. “Came up right behind it and blasted it with the shotgun, then grappled away before it blew.”
Applejack wiped some of the liquid off her rig. “Well, something attacked Rainbow and Ah, so watch out. Rainbow, you okay?”
“I’m good,” Rainbow said as she jogged around the Pod. “What hit me?”
“There!” Rarity yelled and lobbed a grenade at the ceiling. It exploded against a blue-white creature that immediately burrowed back into the rock with a screech.
“Charging complete!” Twilight reported. “Drop Pod engine powering up. Just a little longer, girls!”
“Do we need that resupply?” Applejack asked the others.
Full Mission Roll: 200 Morkite, 10 Fossils, Haz 3, Hollow Bough Warning: N/A, Anomaly: N/A Machine Event: Ebonite Mutation Encounters: N/A Extra Resources: N/A Mission Special Beer: Dark Morkite Roll System in Final Phase
“Scanners indicate rich veins of Morkite and gold further down. Bring it back, girls,” Mission Control said as the Drop Pod’s doors clanked open and the whole thing crashed to the cavern floor.
“Alright!” Rainbow Dash lifted her minigun. It was slowly but surely getting easier every time she did it. “Let’s do this!”
“Keep your guard up,” Rarity cautioned. “We’ve never been to the Hollow Bough before.”
“We just survived a freaking Haz 4,” Rainbow pointed out, annoyed. “This’ll be a piece of cake.”
Rarity glared at her. “Just do it.”
Rainbow threw her hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright, I get it.”
The group left the Pod and began to explore one of the newest biomes to be added to the Mission Assignment Software, the Hollow Bough. The rock crunched like wood beneath their feet, and the walls were covered in thick red brambles and other large thorny vines.
Sunset disappeared into the darkness shrouding the ceiling and came down with a fossil in her hand. She took the landing pretty hard, though, from the wince of pain on her face as she stood again.
“Y’alright, Sunset?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Any farther would’ve broken my ankles.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Rarity said. “From what I’ve experienced, our suits are specially built to prevent that kind of thing, instead taking the damage to shields and suit health. Just be careful, Sunset.”
Rainbow indicated the dirt path with her laser pointer. “You know, this whole place looks kinda like the inside of a tree.”
“Indeed,” Rarity agreed. “Perhaps I should consider bringing a camera down here. The biome themes would do wonders in fashion.”
“Where have we not been to yet?”
“The Magma Core and Azure Weald, I believe. The former is very far down, highly dangerous, and extremely hot, while the latter was incorporated into Mission Assignment Software Update 33.”
Applejack drilled through the dirt, revealing the cave beyond. Rainbow took the lead, walking down the relatively empty tunnel until her flares lit up a large red thorny vine that snaked its way back and forth between the walls of a narrow stretch in the corridor. She experimentally reached out, but it pricked her finger.
“Ow!” She smacked it with her minigun, and it retracted, zipping into holes in the walls and finally disappearing into one at the far end of the narrow part of the tunnel.
The cave had a relatively small amount of Morkite lying around, and they moved on after a brief search. Interestingly, the cave was filled with strange root-like ainy structures that wrapped themselves around rocky pillars. More of the red vines snaked along the walls and in the corridors, but they retracted with a single swing of a pickaxe.
Again, Hoxxes seemed to be unusually quiet, especially for a Haz 3. Either something strange was going on, or the bugs hadn’t gotten the memo that they’d arrived. Rainbow chalked it up to the former, since the latter relied on the local wildlife being unable to hear and feel tremors in the ground (and she knew the bugs could do both).
At the end of the cave, they found the last Morkite and fossils needed. As Sunset held down Molly’s recall button, nothing happened. The radio crackled with static.
“Mission Control, sir, do you read me?” Rarity called. Her voice wobbled. “Team 17-B calling Mission Control, over.”
More static.
“That can’t be good,” Sunset said.
Rainbow felt her heart skip a beat. “Do we abort the mission?” she asked.
“There’s no point in trying if we can’t get a signal to the Space Rig,” Rarity replied. “You can’t abort without calling the Drop Pod, and we can’t do that if our radios don’t work.”
Static filled their ears again, but this time, Mission Control’s voice barely sounded through the noise: “17-B, your Drop Pod has been deployed. Evacuate the site. I repeat, evacuate the site. All Rigs, be advised: Management is recalling all Mining Teams from the surface.”
“Did he just pull the plug?” Applejack asked.
Sunset quickly checked her rifle and reloaded. “Sounds like they’re pulling everyone off the planet, and I’d rather not find out why. We better go.”
Molly perked up and began her walk to the Drop Pod, dropping red marker flags instead of the green ones she normally used, and they followed her all the way. No bugs, not even a couple Swarmers, came to give them a parting gift. Rainbow Dash kept expecting something to burst from the shadows and attack, but nothing did. It was eerily quiet.
As the Drop Pod ascended to the surface with everyone secured in their seats, she thought she heard a distant roar, but the doors soon closed, blocking any sounds coming from the outside.
Finally, the static dissipated for the most part as the Pod’s radio crackled to life. “Team 17-B, this is Mission Control, report your mission status, over.”
“Mission Control, Team 17-B,” Rarity reported. “All objectives met, all crew secured. We’re returning to orbit.”
“Copy that, 17-B. We’ll count that as a success.”
Rarity let out a long sigh of relief. “Well, girls, I daresay that could’ve been worse.”
Rainbow could only agree. Whatever was happening, at least they could return.
“Sunset, darling, I know we’re taking the day off from mining, but do you have a moment?”
Sunset Shimmer carefully set down her magnifying glass and looked up from her rifle. It lay in pieces on the workbench near the Mission Assignment hologram with each piece placed in their outlines on a blueprint sheet. Spinning around in her swivel chair, she lifted her safety goggles to her forehead and nodded.
“Sure thing, Rarity. Just cleaning out my rifle,” she replied. “What can I do for you?”
Rarity took the swivel chair next to Sunset and spun it around to face her. She looked deep in thought and worried about something. Her shoulders heaved as she collected her thoughts.
“It’s our geodes from Camp Everfree,” she began. “A few days ago, when we retrieved that Ommoran Heartstone, I felt a slight connection to it through my geode. During the refinery mission the next day, Rainbow Dash told me she felt the same thing. And two days ago, Applejack told me the same thing. So, I was wondering if you felt anything.”
Sunset frowned as she collected her thoughts. “Yeah, I felt something. Like the Heartstone was calling to me. Why? Is there a problem?”
“Not necessarily, but it got me thinking. We, through our geodes, can use Equestrian magic just like Twilight from across the portal. Hoxxes IV is speaking to our geodes. That begs the question: is Hoxxes full of magic?”
“Not that I’m aware of. If it’s magic, it’s certainly not Equestrian, or I would’ve recognized it.” Sunset crossed her arms. “Interactions between different forms of magic were considered impossible to study when I was Princess Celestia’s pupil. Of course, with the portal to Equestria, Princess Twilight started research into the subject, but it still remains a highly theoretical field.”
Before she could continue, a dwarf approached from the communal recreation area with a package in his hands. He looked the two up and down before asking, “Cave Runner Shimmer? This arrived for you with the supply run. Says someone named Flash Sentry sent it. Just sign here and you’re good to go.”
Sunset signed the holographic form and accepted the package with a smile. She waved the dwarf off, and he left to continue his delivery rounds. Gently tearing the packaging apart, she soon revealed her journal--the one that had a twin in Equestria. Anything she wrote in this one would appear in the other.
“Didn’t you keep that somewhere secret?” Rarity asked.
“I sent Flash a letter last week telling him where it was and how to send it. I had to send my house key, too, but it looks like he returned it.” Sunset pocketed her key and returned her attention to the journal. “And sent my pens, too. He’s so thoughtful.”
“What will you say to Twilight?”
Sunset thought for a minute, then began to write:
Dear Princess Twilight,
I know it’s been a while since I last wrote, but my friends and I have been working for a mining company called Deep Rock Galactic on the other side of the galaxy for the past couple weeks. During one of our expeditions to the subsurface of the planet Hoxxes IV, we encountered something called an “Ommoran Heartstone”. We have reason to believe that it can connect to Equestrian magic.
Now that I have my journal with me again, I can tell you about our adventures here. Of course, that’ll have to wait for another time, but I can’t wait. We’ve encountered so much, and I know you’re excited to hear all about it.
In the meantime, we really need to know about magic-form interaction. I know it’s just theoretical, but I think we have a solid example of it at work. As far as I’m aware, Hoxxes IV has no magic, and all four of us (Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and myself) clearly felt a connection to it through our Camp Everfree geodes, which we know have Equestrian magic.
I look forward to hearing from you again.
Your faithful student,
Sunset Shimmer
Sunset clicked her pen and sighed. “And now we wait.”
“While we do,” Rarity said, “I could use some water.”
“Eh, why not? I could use a break anyway. Just taking this thing apart took two and a half hours.” Sunset patted the rifle’s disassembled receiver and stood. She stretched, feeling her joints creak from staying still for so long.
The two walked across their team’s prep area to the Abyss Bar, sitting down at the counter. Pinkie Pie’s cheerful humming emanated from the kitchen atop the delicious smell of a batch of cupcakes. There was also the clatter of pots and pans and the occasional puff of smoke from one of the many ovens.
“An Oily Oaf for me, Lloyd,” Sunset ordered. “And an iced water for Rarity.”
Lloyd spun and chirped, then produced a large brown mug and filled it to the brim with dark brown beer and a white frothy foam that dripped over the top. He slid it to Sunset’s place, then slid Rarity a (slightly smaller) glass of water with several ice cubes floating at the top. Sunset took a large swig while Rarity had a timid sip.
Just then, Pinkie emerged from the kitchens with a baking tray in hand. “Oh, hey! You two are just in time for my latest batch of CUPCAKES! Supply came in with fresh chicken’s eggs this morning like I asked, so I just had to use some. I haven’t baked with chicken’s eggs in so long, I thought I’d forget how! But they’re really just the same as Glyphid eggs, if a bit smaller and with a yolk consistency that’s much easier to work with. Glyphid eggs are so big you only need one to make three batches! Isn’t that crazy?”
“Pinkie,” Sunset interrupted as her friend took a deep breath to continue, “what flavor are they?”
“That’s just the thing!” Pinkie exclaimed as she set the tray on the counter. “Supply also got me BLUEBERRIES! I didn’t even know dwarves liked blueberries so much, but it turns out that every supply run has to fill one of the freighters with just blueberries. I had to keep Greg from eating mine before I could mix them with the batter to bake. And now that everyone knows you can put blueberries in cupcakes, that’s all I’ve been doing all day. Greg said he’s gonna send the recipe to all the other rigs so they can make some, too--it’s apparently that good, even though the ones he ate used Glyphid eggs instead of chicken eggs. I don’t get it. They know about blueberry pancakes, but not blueberry cupcakes?”
“That’s wonderful, dear,” Rarity said before Pinkie could go on one of her random tangents again. She took one of the cupcakes from Pinkie’s tray and bit into it. Her face melted, and she let out a long exhale.
“You like it?” Pinkie asked.
“I haven’t had a proper cupcake in ages,” she moaned. She took another bite. “Oh, it’s so good. Truly heavenly, Pinkie Pie.”
Sunset took a cupcake. It tasted amazing, even with the Oily Oaf’s buttery alcoholic aftertaste, and it melted in her mouth as soon as she bit. It was soft and warm and crumbly and everything she ever could’ve wanted in a cupcake.
The journal buzzed and glowed. Sunset set down her cupcake and opened it to the first empty page. The words appeared as they were written:
Sunset Shimmer,
I’m so glad to hear from you again! I was worried when you didn’t respond last week, but I figured you could handle yourself. How are the others? You didn’t mention Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, or my counterpart in your letter.
As for magic-form interaction, I would need to be there myself to see it at work. The spellworks alone would take up an entire one of these journals to explain. Unfortunately, as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have retired not long ago, I can’t just come through the portal to visit. My other student whom you’ve met, Starlight Glimmer, runs the School of Friendship and is similarly unavailable.
I can, however, send you what knowledge we do have. Different forms of magic have differing properties that determine their usage and effects. Equestrian magic, for example, can be used by anyone either from Equestria (like you and me) or connected to it through other means (like our friends). In your world, you need that extra connection, which is why you need your geode to use magic despite being from Equestria.
There’s much more to it than that, but my suspicion is that your geodes, having that connection to Equestrian magic, are searching for anything to latch onto that has even the vaguest inkling of magic. I know nothing about Hoxxes IV, but I can say that it definitely has magic of a sort. Perhaps my counterpart can investigate it if she’s available?
I’m sorry I can’t come myself. Maybe I can figure something out, but for now, you’re on your own. I’ll see if I can give some books to Flash Sentry and he can send them to you.
Ever your friend,
Twilight Sparkle
Sunset took another sip of her drink and sighed. “I understand, Twilight.”
“Can she help us?” Rarity asked.
“No, she has to govern Equestria. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepped down, and she took their place. So, she’s too busy. She’ll send some books on magic-form interaction to us through Flash. It’s a very complicated subject.”
“If she can’t explain it through your journal, I’m sure it is.” Rarity sipped her water. “Besides, didn’t you say it was theoretical? There isn’t any hard proof of its existence, so the best anyone can do is guess.”
“Yeah. Hey, Pinkie, is Twilight busy up in the Control Center right now?”
“Nope!” Twilight cheerfully said as she sat down next to the two. “Lloyd, an Oily Oaf, please.”
As Lloyd served her drink, Twilight continued: “Taking a lunch break. I heard something about magic?”
“Yeah, Princess Twilight said you could investigate it if you’re not too busy.”
Twilight made a face. “I don’t really know. I want to for sure, but have you ever coordinated the search-and-rescue efforts of 20 Space Rigs? That’s how many we have in orbit, and each one holds five Mining Teams and an Experimental Team. That’s 120 teams right there made up of over 700 dwarves. My hands are full.”
“That’s alright.” Sunset took another swig. “Next time we get an Ommoran Heartstone, can we keep it? That’s what gave us the idea of Hoxxes having magic in the first place, and I’d like to run some tests.”
“I’ll have to talk to Management, but Mission Control’s been on my side ever since I found Fluttershy’s transponder. We should be able to work something out. The problem is, research is expensive and normally nets no profit for extensive periods of time. If we can prove this’ll give us a positive return, though, we’ll be fine.”
“I can’t guarantee anything, Twilight. But if we can connect to Hoxxes’ residual magic, we might be able to find Fluttershy--and the Mother if we do it right. Maybe even Karl if he’s still alive. I mean, if Fluttershy can survive down there, he’s got a pretty good chance.”
Twilight shifted nervously. “There’s more to it than that.”
Rarity narrowed her eyes. “How bad is it? I know you, Twilight, and you don’t avoid explanations if you can help it.”
“I think it’s classified. I only know it because I’ve been working in the Mission Control Center lately.”
Sunset felt a chill run down her spine. “Does it have to do with Team 17-E? I don’t think they’ve returned from their Elite Deep Dive yet.”
Twilight gulped. “Well, I guess I can tell you, but only because I don’t want you spreading the wrong information. Word came in about ten minutes ago that Teams 16-E, 8-A, 15-C, 12-D, 17-E, and 20-X all died last night during the second stage of their EDD’s--which, as you know, was in the deepest reaches of the Magma Core this week. Combat Recovery says they were killed by something massive before our teams could get to them. Hell, we lost contact with them until they were well on their way back to the surface, with the last team reacquiring communications just half an hour ago. That means we’re looking at something that blocks x-ray-based radio, and that’s bad news. It’s also why we pulled the plug on your mission yesterday--we couldn’t risk losing a seventh team down there.
“Everyone thinks it’s the Mother since that’s what we think killed Karl and the teams sent after him, but nothing’s been confirmed. Management is offering three million credits to anyone who can find out how six veteran Mining Teams were all killed on a mission that had over two dozen previous successes.”
Sunset shifted her weight. “This isn’t going to be a solution, Twilight.”
“I know, but you have something, and they’re going to latch on to that. Twenty-four veteran dwarves--four of them on an Experimental Team--died all on the final stage of the mission. Their objectives: two Dreadnoughts and a Black Box that’s been monitoring the local microclimate. All we know is that when they activated the Black Box’s transceiver, seismic activity shot through the roof as if something was approaching. Ten seconds later, all dwarves were down. We didn’t find the bodies.
“Management wants answers, Sunset, and they’re open to anything that looks remotely promising. If they can’t get to the bottom of this, we may have to shut down operations--and DRG is infamous for mining the most dangerous worlds out there. This isn’t a decision that will come lightly. When we say ‘No dwarf left behind’, we’re serious. If miners don’t have even the slimmest chance of returning, it’s not worth sending them down there.”
“Did they… find anything? At all?”
“If you put the last known location of Karl’s End in the center of a circle, the farthest team was well within a hundred miles. Management has declared the area a no-go zone indefinitely.”
“So,” Rarity asked, “can we get that Heartstone or not?”
Twilight nodded. “It’s our only lead. With all that’s been going on, I might be able to either get you a drop when another team cracks theirs or give you an escort when you go after your own. It’ll take a few days, though, even assuming we resume operations tomorrow.”
Full Mission Roll: 400 Morkite, 15 Apoca Blooms, Haz 3, Azure Weald Warning: N/A, Anomaly: Rich Atmosphere Machine Event: Tritilyte Crystal Encounters: Cargo Crate, Lost Pack Extra Resources: N/A Mission Special Beer: Skull Crusher Roll System in Final Phase
“All Mining Teams: Management is resuming operations except for in designated locations. See the company memo for details. Expeditions may now be conducted again in all other areas. Good luck! Mission Control out.”
Sunset frowned. “Alright, girls, let’s get going before they change their minds.”
“That’s a long Morkite run,” Rainbow Dash said. “At least we’ll have the Skull Crusher.”
Rarity nodded. At the roll of the dice, they’d decided to do Sunset's assignment mission today if Management lifted the restriction on missions. Of course, that seemed like a good idea at the time. Right now, with the mission specifications projected over the holoprojector, it was less so. She had a 400 Morkite run in the Azure Weald, one of the two biomes opened by Update 33 (the other being the Hollow Bough).
“What Haz do you want, Sunset?” she asked.
“Let’s go with Haz 3,” Sunset replied. “It can’t be that bad. It’ll be long, but we can handle it.”
Rarity nodded and selected the appropriate Haz settings. “Don’t forget your drink, everyone,” she reminded the others. “It strengthens your pickaxe swings, damaging enemies more with each hit. Pinkie Pie has also kindly prepared lunches for all of you, so make sure you pick yours up at the counter.”
---------------------------------
The Drop Pod clanged through the dark blue of the Azure Weald, crashing to the ground and revealing a picturesque deep-sea-colored jungle-like cavern with tons of overgrown pink and blue plants that gave off little bits of light. Although just as dangerous as any other place on Hoxxes, the Weald looked serene in comparison to its counterpart biomes.
Rarity patted her grenade launcher. If all went well, she’d have enough materials to get incendiary rounds--and the experience necessary for Management to authorize her. A little fire could go a long way toward keeping herself and the others safe.
She grabbed an Apoca Bloom as Applejack drilled into the tunnel beyond and Sunset and Rainbow mined any Nitra and Gold they saw.
“Alright,” Rainbow Dash said, and paused. Her voice was distorted like she’d inhaled the contents of a party balloon. “Alright, we’re good to go on.”
“Sounds good to me,” Rarity replied. Her voice also squeaked. She coughed to clear her throat but to no avail, as the next thing she said came out high-pitched and distorted, too: “Sorry. I sound like a chipmunk.”
“It’s the rich atmosphere,” Sunset explained. “There’s a much higher concentration of helium here. It shouldn’t be fatal, but I imagine our bodies will need to adjust back to standard air once we leave.”
“Ah don’t care what we sound like when we’re done as long as we make it back in one piece,” Applejack said. “This is the longest Morkite run we can do. Let’s get it done.”
Rarity jogged to join Applejack and whistled. The tunnel was spectacular. Like the rest of the cave, it was dark and blue, but various glowing lichens and other plants lit it better than in the larger rooms. She tossed a flare and watched as the plants shrunk away slightly when it passed.
“They’re sensitive to light,” she observed.
“Ain’t everything around here?” Applejack asked.
“Not usually. Most creatures down here are blind for the most part, and plants aren’t the kind of thing you’d think would retract near a strong light source.”
Applejack shrugged. “Ah don’t see how it’d be useful. It’s pretty and all, but Sweet Apple Acres doesn’t have a place for glow-in-the-dark flowers from an alien world.”
“Not everything needs to be functional, Applejack. Just imagine the inspiration you can get from such small things.” Rarity knelt and brushed her hand along a flower. It felt harsh and rough but didn’t cut her.
The screech of a Glyphid echoed in the distance.
Rarity gestured on when Rainbow and Sunset joined them. “Onward?”
---------------------------------
The second large cavern opened up and was just as massive and beautiful as the first--except for a certain giant Glyphid with an orange glow and a penchant for kiloton-scale explosions. It growled and began to approach.
“Everyone scatter!” Rarity ordered. “Rainbow, grab its attention! Sunset, light us up and see if you can take out a tumor before it gets to us! Applejack…” She paused, trying to figure out what the girl could do with a flamethrower and a pair of drill arms.
“Ah’ll look for minerals,” Applejack offered. “We’re still short on Nitra.”
“Cave Leech!” Sunset called as she blasted the thing with her rifle. “Watch for more!”
Rainbow leveled her minigun and let loose, sending a stream of bullets into the Bulk Detonator’s tumors. Rarity lobbed a couple grenades at its face, then bolted to the side as a large ball of glowing acid flew at her from the side. A large plant-like thing seemed to sprout from the ground and spat more acid.
Before she could call it out, Sunset’s rifle and Applejack’s flamethrower fired at it, setting it alight and puncturing the oval-shaped weapoint on its stem. It didn’t even try to screech--it just turned its attention to Applejack and spat into her face, unfazed.
Rarity fired another precious grenade at the thing, and it exploded before it could spit again. A new note appeared in her bestiary: Spitball Infector. One of Sunset’s flares arced into the ceiling.
“Applejack, any luck?” she asked over her suit comms.
“Not yet, but there’s some Morkite behind the Spitballer.”
“Focus on Nitra.”
“Ah’ll try. There ain’t much around right now.”
Rarity pulled out her turret and hammered it together. She’d set up two loadouts (one with one turret, one with two), and today she’d brought the one but with more ammo, more range, and more damage. Once it was up and running, it spun around and immediately pelted a nearby group of Glyphids that had sneaked around the team.
She whirled around to see the bugs and fired her shotgun frantically into them until they lay unmoving on the ground.
The Bulk Detonator’s growl told her it wasn’t dead yet. That, however, was short-lived, as Rainbow and Sunset managed to take it down moments later.
“Woo!” Rainbow cheered. “That was fun!”
“Sunset, Nitra,” Rarity ordered breathlessly as she recalled her turret. “Rainbow, call Molly, and let’s look for Morkite and such.”
“Say, what’s this?” Rainbow Dash approached a large bright hole in the ground not far from where the Detonator had exploded. Stepping in, she fell--albeit far more slowly than she should--and leapt back out with ease once she reached the bottom. She seemed to be moving much faster than normal (even with Rich Atmosphere) for a few seconds until the particles surrounding her finally dissipated.
“Uh…” Rarity was dumbfounded. “A magic hole?”
“Jump in, it’s awesome!”
“I think we should focus on completing the mission, Rainbow Dash. we’re not even a quarter of the way through our Morkite quota, we just killed a Detonator, and we still don’t have the Nitra to call a resupply. Look for minerals. We can explore this later.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes, but she contributed to the team just the same.
---------------------------------
The next large cave didn’t have any Bulk Detonators and was much more mineral-rich than the first. Although there was a swarm of Swarmers, they weren’t too hard to handle. By the time the team reached the third room, they had a considerable margin of Nitra, refilled their ammunition with a resupply pod, and were just under halfway through their 400 Morkite quota.
Rarity set up her turret and sat down on a small boulder. Opening her suit pockets, she produced a peanut butter sandwich and a baggie of blueberries. She unclipped her water bottle from her utility belt and took a long, tired sip.
“Lunchtime?” Sunset teased as she ate her own, a ham and cheese sandwich and peanut butter crackers.
“I’m starved,” Rarity admitted. “This is hard work.”
“You want to wash your hands first?”
“If only I had soap.” Rarity rinsed her hands with water from her bottle, taking care to not use too much. “This will have to do for now.”
They relaxed and ate for a few minutes before Sunset asked, “What are the chances we’ll actually find her? Fluttershy?”
Rarity thought for a moment, then replied, “If we’re being honest, I hope we will, but I doubt we can. We must search an entire planet for a moving target who doesn’t have a working transponder. We can’t tell her to meet us in a specific place at a specific time, and the odds that she encounters a cave during excavation are astronomically slim.”
She sighed. “I can’t possibly imagine what it’s like for her. Being down here alone, in the dark, without working equipment, low on ammunition if not out entirely… it must be horrible for her. She probably thinks we abandoned her.”
Rainbow’s voice crackled on the radio. “Another Bulk coming in!”
Rarity blinked. Another? “Okay, Rainbow, bring it here and we’ll deal with it.” She turned to Sunset. “You’d better go help her.”
Sunset threw a mock salute and grappled into the distant dark. She returned a couple minutes later with Rainbow and Applejack at her side and the Detonator hot on their tail. By then, Rarity had double-checked her turret and ammo. She leveled her grenade launcher in preparation.
The Bulk Detonator growled and slammed through the rock, throwing up orange cinders and ashen particles as it came into view. Its top tumor was destroyed, and the other two looked like they were about to burst.
She fired, feeling the recoil of the launcher kick into her shoulder as it lobbed her grenade across the room and into the monster’s face. The Detonator staggered back from the blast, and Sunset threw an inhibitor grenade at its feet. Now it was frozen in place for all intents and purposes, which Rainbow took advantage of with a hail of bullets while Applejack hurled her impact axes at it with terrifying accuracy. The Detonator soon exploded in a massive fireball and threw its fireballs upon death, blowing craters into the surrounding cave.
“Woo, Rock and Stone!” Rainbow cheered.
“Rock and Stone!” Sunset and Applejack yelled.
“Great teamwork, girls. Rock and Stone,” Rarity said. “Now let’s finish this cave.”
---------------------------------
As the Drop Pod clanked into place in the Space Rig, Rarity let out a long, relieved sigh. Five Bulk Detonators total, a Praetorian swarm with an Oppressor, a Mactera swarm, and a second Swarmer swarm, plus a near-endless wave of bugs as they made their way back to the Drop Pod later, and the cave was empty. Haz 3 her ass.
“By my calculations, we should have the next set of upgrades available for us,” she said. “Get your drinks and get ready for tomorrow. Well done.”
Full Mission Roll: 6 Eggs, 14 Ebonuts, Haz 2, Magma Core Warning: Low Oxygen, Anomaly: Critical Weakness Machine Event: Ebonite Mutation Encounters: N/A Extra Resources: Compressed Gold x1 Mission Special Beer: Pots O' Gold Roll System in Final Phase
“Hey girls, are you up for a Low Oxygen mission?” Rainbow Dash asked the next morning as they all gathered around the Mission Assignment Table. “It’s got Critical Weakness, too. Six eggs and 14 Ebonuts in the Magma Core.”
Sunset crossed her arms. “If we do this, make it Haz 2. I don’t want it to be too difficult--especially since we haven’t experienced a Low Oxygen mission yet.”
“Sounds good to me,” Rarity agreed. “Applejack, dear, what do you think?”
“Ah reckon we can handle it. We’ve handled worse, even with all that’s happenin’.”
“Very well. Rainbow Dash, set it in, and we’ll meet back here for final preparations. I’ve already bought a round of today’s special beer, which is Pots O’ Gold. We could use the credits.”
---------------------------------
The Drop Pod clanged through the fiery hot rock of the Magma Core for several minutes and finally crashed to the cavern floor. The doors slid open, and Rainbow jogged down the ramp with the others close behind.
“Watch your oxygen tanks,” Rarity warned. “We’ll only have about a minute before we start to suffocate. Molly can refill your tanks, so don’t wander too far from her. Resupplies work as well, but they could take a moment to reach you, so be careful.”
“Yes, Mom,” Rainbow replied. She rolled her eyes. Just a quick in-and-out, nothing much. They were going to be fine. Honestly, Rarity worried too much.
The Magma Core was the last biome in their grand tour of Hoxxes, and it didn’t take much to see why. The entire cave was covered in a dark orange haze and filled with a thin layer of smoke from the burning fires of molten rock and flaming geysers. Although her shield protected her from the temperatures, Rainbow knew it was a mellow 400 degrees Celsius at the hottest with a plethora of hazards that would give a Wonderbolt nightmares for weeks. Besides the lava geysers and patches of half-melted rock, the Magma Core was also home to explosive plants, smaller vents in the floor that spewed more flame than lava but came in large groups, and earthquakes as the tectonic plates of Hoxxes drifted across the planet’s mantle.
The Drop Pod ascended to the surface, and Rainbow immediately noticed that the oxygen reading on her wrist panel started dwindling. Just standing away from the M.U.L.E. made it drop like a rock. She spent thirty seconds exploring before she had to return to refill her tanks. Molly had an oxygen generator mounted to each of her four corners that hissed as they constantly released breathable air into the nearby cave.
Sunset grappled in to refill her tanks and dump some gold and Nitra into Molly’s near-endless storage. Her longer hair whipped around a little from the constant airflow, and her suit sported a couple small tanks on its back to facilitate her breathing.
“That’s all for this room,” she reported, “unless AJ or Rarity found anything special.”
Rarity bounded into the light as her suit screamed all sorts of alarms at her. As soon as she was close enough for her tanks to draw in oxygenated air, the alarms shut off with a twirp.
“Three seconds left,” she panted. “No, I didn’t find anything. Applejack opened up the tunnel to the main room, but she should be back in a second.”
Applejack joined them a moment later and dumped some more gold into Molly. “Nothin’ but gold,” she said. “Ah reckon we gotta go deeper for the eggs.”
Rainbow snorted. “That’s what she said.”
Rarity shot her a murderous, hostile look that made Rainbow quiet immediately with a mumbled apology. Seriously, that girl had one hell of a burr up her backside. What was up with her today? First, she was all anal about the oxygen (which wasn’t really that much of a problem if they paid attention to their tank levels), and now she couldn’t handle a joke that wasn’t even aimed at her!
They marched through the tunnel, making sure to keep close to Molly as they went. When the main egg cave opened up, Rainbow saw a huge spire of lava burst from the ground nearby and shower bits of rock everywhere for a few seconds before dying down again.
“There’s the first egg,” Sunset said, gesturing with her laser pointer. “Let’s get this done and move on.”
Rainbow followed the laser with her eyes. Sighing, she switched to her zipline launcher and aimed at the goop. She felt a slight kick of recoil when she fired. Hooking herself to the zipline, she let it winch her up and to the egg while the others split off to do a quick search of the nearby area.
She dug out the egg, and the Glyphid scream echoed through the cavern. Some bugs came at her, but she was already back on the zipline and sliding to Molly. She deposited her findings and pulled out her minigun. A quick bzzzt and they were gone. Her tanks refilled.
Another Glyphid screamed. Applejack bounded around a pillar of rock, torching a mini-swarm tailing her. Moments later, a flare arced into the ceiling.
“I got one!” Sunset called from the bottom of the crevice where the flare had come. “I’m gonna toss it up. Catch it!”
Rainbow went first since Applejack’s tanks were refilling again. “Alright, Sunset, send it up,” she said when she reached the edge. Looking down, she saw Sunset about thirty feet down with an egg in her hands and a bunch of bugs around her.
She aimed and fired, sending down a hail of bullets. Some of the bugs screeched. Some simply collapsed. Sunset dropped the egg and blasted the closest two with her shotgun.
“That’s a little far,” Rainbow called. “You gotta find a way around.”
Sunset grappled up and darted to Molly. Her suit alarms blared. A few seconds later, she came back. “A zipline, Rainbow,” she grumbled.
“Too steep,” Rainbow replied. “I can’t do near-vertical.”
Sunset made her way down and found the long way around. By the time she returned to Molly with her suit blaring and her face turning blue, Rarity had found some Nitra. Rarity was depositing, Rainbow was looking around from the top of her zipline, and Applejack had wandered off for more eggs. Sunset coughed and collapsed just out of range of Molly’s generators.
Rainbow spun like a helicopter on overwatch and watched as Rarity grabbed the egg before it rolled down into the crevice again, dumped it, and revived Sunset. She then zipped down to refill her tanks. Applejack returned as well.
“Bloody Macteras are onto you, Team,” Mission Control reported. “Best dig in, and get ready.”
Rarity called in a resupply. Sunset fired another flare. Everyone checked their tanks and ammo. The airborne bugs flew into the light, and the fight began.
---------------------------------
Many hours later, the Drop Pod docked to the Space Rig with a loud series of clanks and groans. Rainbow coughed and sputtered the final bubbles of toxic gas out of her lungs. Rarity had been right: Low Oxygen was not to be taken lightly.
The door slid open to reveal Twilight Sparkle waiting for them with a tablet in one hand and a stylus in the other. Her glasses were a little dirty and her eyes were tired, but she looked as energetic as ever.
“You got your mission, Sunset,” she said. “Management approved your plan this morning. As I said, they’re grasping for anything that might help. An Ommoran Heartstone was detected in the Radioactive Exclusion Zone while you were out, and you’re going in to get it tomorrow. Get some rest while you can--it’s going to be a long day for all of you.”
Full Mission Roll: Protect the Drilldozer [1 Refuel], 25 Hollomite, Haz 2, Radioactive Exclusion Zone Warning: N/A, Anomaly: N/A Machine Event: N/A Encounters: Lost Pack, Huuli Hoarder Extra Resources: Compressed Gold x1 Mission Special Beer: Pots O' Gold Roll System in Final Phase
“Alright, girls, I’m gonna recap the plan,” Twilight said over comms as the Drop Pod descended into the Radioactive Exclusion Zone. “You’re going in to retrieve an Ommoran Heartstone. We’re getting you as close as we can, which means you should only need to refuel the Drilldozer once. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get you a second team to go in with you. Sunset, don’t touch it. Have someone else handle it. Other than that, if you all could grab some Hollomite while you’re down there, Management won’t consider this mission a complete waste. Questions?”
“Whaddya mean, ‘a complete waste’?” Rainbow asked. “What’s going on?”
“We’re going to keep the Heartstone after retrieval,” Sunset explained for the fourth time. “After we return to the Rig, I’m going to try to use my magic on it. That means we could very well taint the Heartstone in some unknown way, which makes it unsellable. We still get paid for the mission, but Management might see it as an overall loss.”
“What’s the goal?”
“We’re hoping we can find out how Hoxxes interacts with Equestrian magic.”
Applejack shifted in her seat. “Sounds good to me!”
The doors slid open, and the gray wasteland of the REZ appeared. A few active crystals glowed in the distance, but the vast majority of crystals were dull, having depleted their supplies of radioactive materials. Particles of dust and fallout drifted through the air, held aloft solely by heat convection and the influx of solar radiation that sterilized everything for kilometers below Hoxxes’ tidally locked surface. As before, it was a sad, dead place to be.
“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Rainbow muttered. “I hate detoxing.”
Applejack didn’t have a problem with the REZ, but she admitted it could use some more life. Of all the biomes on Hoxxes, it was the most hostile to life in general. At least the fiery Magma Core, arguably the most dangerous biome, had flora (even if it did explode).
As usual, the Drop Pod ascended to provide relay coverage after letting them out and deploying Molly. It was replaced a minute later by the protective cage that surrounded their ride to the Ommoran Heartstone. The Drilldozer’s chirping, cheerful head spun around and beeped a greeting as Rarity released the clamps to open the cage.
“Aren’t you just adorable, Doretta?” Rarity cooed as she patted the Drilldozer. “We’re bringing you back when we’re done.”
“Uh, Rarity,” Applejack said, “can we worry about the Heartstone first?”
“Yes, I know.”
Sunset started up the machine, and the girls sat on Doretta’s track covers as she rumbled her way through the caves and drilled through the rock. The first swarm of the day was easy--just a bunch of Swarmers that Rainbow seemed to take great pleasure in destroying. Eventually, though, Doretta stopped as her tanks ran dry.
“The Drilldozer has stopped!” Twilight reported through the comms. “Refuel the canisters, and let’s get this show back on the road!”
Sunset grappled into the darkness and fired her flares, shining light across the tall, narrow cavern where they’d stopped. Rarity built herself a staircase of platform goop, and Rainbow set up on a zipline overlooking the cave. Applejack didn’t take one of the canisters, instead going after the purple glint of Hollomite she spotted in the corner of her eye.
Rarity and Sunset handled the refueling, running up to laser-mine shale and dropping the two full canisters down to the bottom. Applejack caught one, but the other hit the ground with a thunk. Luckily, it didn’t break on impact, and she inserted it into the remaining slot.
“Alright, the Drilldozer is refueled!” Twilight announced. “Start her back up, and let’s move.”
Rainbow came down from her zipline. As Rarity held the start button, they all heard the unfortunately familiar roar of a Bulk Detonator. Doretta perked up, and she began moving again.
“Uh, you guys heard that, right?” Rainbow asked.
Applejack checked her pistol to make sure it was fully loaded. “Ah did.”
“If it gets too close, we can scatter,” Rarity said. “I’ve asked around, and it appears that Bulk Detonators don’t target Doretta.”
The cloud of fiery particles appeared back the way they’d come, and the beast crawled out of the rock with a growling roar. Rainbow let loose a hailstorm of bullets, Rarity lobbed grenades, and Sunset focused on its tumorous weakpoints. Applejack stayed back and used her pistol to help Sunset, but other than that was occupied with protecting Doretta from the other denizens of Hoxxes. She torched bugs left and right with the occasional shotgun blast from Rarity.
She heard a resounding boom and looked back. The Detonator was gone, replaced by a massive hole, and Sunset and Rainbow cheered.
“Looks like it’s getting easier,” she commented as Rarity climbed onto Doretta.
“Very much so, yes. I think we’re finally coming together as a team.”
Doretta broke through a final wall and meandered her way to the Ommoran Heartstone. Its four-layered shell and curved spikes made it an imposing sight in the large room where it sat, and the floor around it glimmered in the light of their flares.
Rarity called in a resupply while Sunset explored the cave. There was a screeching cry and the sounds of Sunset’s rifle for a few seconds, and then silence.
“Damn!” Sunset said over the radio. “ID said it was a Huuli Hoarder. I didn’t think it was going to run away like that.”
“We’ll have to remember that for next time,” Rarity replied. “Are you done exploring? I’d like to get back to the Rig as soon as possible.”
“Yeah, almost.” Sunset returned a few minutes later and emptied her mineral bag into Molly. “Saw a bit of Nitra and Hollomite.”
“Looks good,” Twilight said. “Secondary objective completed. Start the drill whenever you’re ready, and let’s extract that Heartstone!”
Rainbow started the drill, and the first wave began. Applejack torched until she could torch no more, and Rarity covered her as she loaded a new fuel can. Sunset’s shotgun barked twice in rapid succession, and two bugs flew away from her. Grenades exploded. Rarity’s L.U.R.E. appeared with an image of Twilight laughing maniacally.
The first shell cracked open, and boulders lifted from the ground to smash into Doretta. Rainbow switched from the bugs to the rocks while Applejack covered her back with a few well-aimed throwing axes and a burst of flame. Two rocks slipped through their defense, however, and blasted Rainbow off the top of the Drilldozer as they hit.
Rarity hastily made repairs, and Sunset fired at the rocks to give Rainbow enough time to get back. Applejack pickaxed a Grunt and whirled around to smack another with the end of her flamethrower before it could leap at the machine.
The second shell cracked, and the boulders were replaced by another onslaught of Glyphids. This time, dozens of Exploders joined the rush, and Rarity was forced to blast a large group with her grenade launcher before it came too close. Applejack refueled and torched the newcomers. Despite all their work, however, enough Exploders slipped by to blast a section of Doretta’s tracks.
“The Drilldozer has taken permanent damage!” Twilight reported. “Keep it safe, or this whole thing is a bust!”
Praetorians crawled out of the darkness and received hails of bullets and several slowing grenades from Sunset. One of them gurgled and collapsed, and Applejack sent a bit of flame into its death cloud. The gas caught fire immediately, killing some nearby Glyphids and heavily injuring its neighboring Praetorians.
The third shell cracked. Spikes sprouted from the ground and began to fire lasers directly into Doretta’s main body. Applejack clicked her drill arms into place and attacked one of the spikes. The other broke as Sunset slammed it with her pickaxe.
Two more sets of spikes sprouted before the fourth and final shell cracked, revealing the Ommoran Heartstone inside. Doretta retreated a few feet and shut down. Smoke billowed from her vents, and both her tracks looked worse for wear.
“That was much closer than it should’ve been,” Rarity breathed. She climbed the machine and pulled Doretta’s head from the body. “Let’s bring you back now.”
Applejack approached the Heartstone. It seemed to call her name, somehow, like it was magic. Perhaps that’s why they needed it to locate Fluttershy. She strapped it to Molly and called in the Drop Pod.
Extraction went well. Everyone boarded without much trouble, Molly docked fine, and Rarity was able to bring the Drilldozer head back to orbit.
The next day, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, and Mission Control gathered in Rig 17’s R&D section around the Ommoran Heartstone Sunset, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had extracted the day before.
“Alright, Shimmer, here’s your Heartstone,” Mission Control said, folding his arms. “This had better be worth it.”
Sunset took a deep breath and approached the Ommoran Heartstone. She’d purposely had the others handle it so she couldn’t accidentally use her mind-reading powers before she was ready. Now it was time. Her hand reached out, hovering just over the Heartstone’s ridges.
The Heartstone radiated a kind of heat that drew her in like a moth to a lamp. Its glowing golden surface looked attractive, beckoning for her to touch it. But still she retracted her arm in hesitation.
“It’s alright, Sunset,” Twilight said. She patted Sunset’s shoulder. “You’re okay. You can do this.”
Sunset reached forward and held her breath. Her palm pressed against the surprisingly smooth surface…
---------------------------------
“Who… are… you…?”
Sunset looked around. She stood on nothing but something, surrounded by only empty air bathed in a soft late-evening light. In front of her floated a golden ball similar in shape, size, and appearance to the Heartstone itself.
“Who… are… you…?” the strange, booming ethereal voice repeated.
“Where am I?” she asked.
“You are… everywhere… and you are… nowhere. You are… between what is… and what may be… between what has been… and what will be. Who… are… you?”
Sunset cleared her throat. “My name is Sunset Shimmer. I was the pupil of Princess Celestia of Equestria until I turned away from her guidance, but I was brought back by her next student, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?”
“I am One… but I am also All… Sunset Shimmer, pupil of Celestia… why do you come here?”
“My friends and I work for Deep Ro--”
“DO NOT MENTION THAT NAME HERE! Those creatures who associate with it endanger one… and so they endanger all. I will ask again… why do you come here?”
Sunset took a step back at the sudden outburst, but she quickly stopped herself from cowering in fear. This was all in her mind. It couldn’t hurt her. She looked back up at the orb.
“I am searching for my friend,” she said.
“Your friend… is with you.”
“No. Fluttershy is down there, on Hoxxes, and I’m going to bring her home.”
The orb was silent for a moment, then said, “Fluttershy… is not of One… but is of All… yes… she is of All.”
“I want to bring her home. Where is she?”
“Fluttershy… moves… she is in Fire… but also in Water… she is here… but also there… she is of All.”
“Am I of One? Am I of All?”
The orb pulsed. “Sunset Shimmer, pupil of Celestia… you are of One… but not All… you will be of All… all will be of All… in the end.”
“Sunset!” someone’s voice called from the ether. It sounded like Twilight. “Sunset, let go of the Heartstone!”
“You are One… you will be All… all will be All.”
Sunset took a nervous breath. “What must I do?”
“You must be… One… and All.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means something… and everything… and nothing… you will be All.”
Sunset felt something jerk at her arm.
“Sunset, let go!”
The orb’s glow brightened. “Sunset Shimmer, pupil of Celestia… you must be Sun… and you must be Moon… you must be Fire… and you must be Water… you must be Life… and you must be Death… you must be All.”
Sunset shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“You must be Help… and you must be Harm… you must be Day… and you must be Night… you must be All.”
Sunset’s shoulders heaved. “Alright,” she said. “I will be All.”
The something-but-nothing around her became filled with black cracks of empty space. The orb pulsed again, keeping the cracks from growing further, and continued:
“You will be All… Fluttershy must be One… and you must be All.”
The cracks broke free of the orb’s influence and overwhelmed her, and her mind retreated.
---------------------------------
“Sunset, what happened? Are you okay?”
Sunset felt herself being picked off the metal deck as she blinked away the strange feelings clouding her mind. Someone set her in a chair, and she shook her head to clear it fully.
“What’s wrong?” she asked Twilight.
Twilight held Sunset’s head in her hands. “What’s wrong? WHAT’S WRONG? The Heartstone was setting off every radiation alarm in the station, that’s what’s wrong!” She shook Sunset’s head. “We could’ve lost you!”
“Jeez, Twilight, calm down.”
Twilight looked like she was about to go on another rant, but Mission Control set his hand on her shoulder.
“Shimmer is right, Sparkle. Let’s hear what she has to say.”
Sunset gulped. “Thanks, sir. The Heartstone did tell me something. First, the bugs absolutely hate DRG. It said you endanger one, so you endanger all. No clue what it means.”
“What else?” Mission Control asked calmly as he typed notes on his touchpad.
“It said Fluttershy is not of One, but is of All. Again, don’t know what it means. Apparently, I’m of One, but I’m not of All.”
“Did it tell you where Fluttershy is?”
Sunset frowned. “Kinda. It said she moves. She’s in Fire, and also Water. She’s Here and also There. It also kinda told me how to find her, but it’s one of those weird riddles, too.”
Twilight pulled out her phone and turned on its camera. “Okay, tell me exactly what it said to do.”
Sunset cleared her throat. “It said that I must be Sun and Moon, Fire and Water, Life and Death, Help and Harm, Day and Night. I must be All.” She sighed. “I hate riddles.”
“Did it say anything else?”
“Fluttershy must be One, and I must be All. Seriously, Twilight, what is this hivemind crap?”
“It’s our answer,” Twilight replied. “It obviously doesn’t want us to find her--at least, not immediately. It’s like we have to prove we’re worthy of something. Or, more specifically, you have to prove it, Sunset.” She turned to Mission Control. “I’ll need time to unpack this. For now, I recommend we keep the Heartstone locked away in a secure place in case we need it again.”
“I concur,” Mission Control said. “How long do you need?”
Twilight shrugged. “No clue. It could be hours, days, weeks, months, even years. This is the interaction between Hoxxes and Equestrian magic--which is already from a parallel world--and although I’ll have some help on the other end, I can’t give you a specific time.”
“Very well. I will inform Management of this development. Sparkle, I imagine you will require resources beyond what your rank and position normally provide.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then that will be explained as well.” He paused. “Shimmer, Sparkle, what occurred in this room will remain confidential on a need-to-know basis. Tell no one of this without proper authorization. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Twilight replied.
Sunset nodded. “Yes, sir, it is.”
“Excellent. Resume your normal operations tomorrow. Until then, rest.”
Fluttershy’s teeth clattered as she shivered, hugging herself in a vain attempt to keep warm. Having followed the massive tunnel at Karl’s End, she traveled through the Magma Core and back up toward the surface. Now, with the tunnel collapsed from a short series of earthquakes, she was back in the icy caverns of the Glacial Strata.
Steeve clacked his legs against the rock, directing her through passageways and guiding her around cravasses. His low screeches and rumbling purrs warded off hostile Glyphids, and his echolocating howls bounced off walls and ceilings, giving her an idea of where he was at any given time.
Eventually, the cave opened up to a massive room dozens of meters tall and nearly a hundred wide. Fluttershy had to stop and look in amazement as small crystals glittered in the walls, giving off the smallest amount of light but illuminating the cave perfectly. It was eerily beautiful, with oases and crystals dotting the cavern floor.
“Rarity would love this,” she breathed.
One of the far ends suddenly lit up with a sickly green glow as a resounding thump-BOOM reverberated through the cave. The howls of dying Glyphids echoed in her ears, and the point of explosion had opened a small hole in the wall.
Without a second thought, she ran to the glow. It dissipated just before she arrived, but the damage was done. Dozens of Glyphids littered the cave where the explosion had occurred. A Praetorian collapsed nearby, releasing its poisonous gas which was immediately set aflame, causing more screeches and forcing Fluttershy down for a moment.
She cautiously peeked her head back into the hole, and her jaw dropped. It was a salvage team in the final stages of the operation. A Drop Pod glowed in the background with its blinking lights and closed doors. As she watched, the doors slid open, and the miners boarded quickly. The last one called a final resupply, and as the Pod ascended, it crashed to the ground and projected a holographic keyboard. Unlike the others she’d seen, this one had a pink butterfly painted on the sides.
Fluttershy mentally kicked herself. Had she been just a little faster and more vocal, she could’ve been on her way back to the Rig. Back home.
Steeve screeched and clacked his legs on the rock.
“It’s okay, Steeve. They’re gone. It’s safe now.”
Fluttershy climbed through the hole and made her way to the resupply pod. It was the end of the mission. There was no reason for them to call one down (especially with her Camp Everfree gem decorating the side), unless… wait. She’d lost her transponder somewhere before finding Karl’s End. If it had contacted the satellites up above…
The realization hit her like a freight train. DRG knew she was still alive down here. They were looking for her. This resupply was for her. She ran, skidding to a stop just before she hit it. The keyboard looked like a modified number pad, and it wanted her DRG employment number.
“Uh… 17-CR-144-D,” she said, typing as she spoke.
A single leaf extended from the pod, and she took a look at the contents inside. Food, water, ammunition, flares, spare batteries, a new transponder (although it looked like it hadn’t survived the landing), even a new rifle fitted with strange modifications. The rest of the pod was filled to the brim with extra batteries and heaters to ensure it survived as long as possible in the cold dark.
She swapped out her batteries and stuffed her mineral bags with as many consumables as she could carry. As much as she liked eating strange fungi and drinking unfrozen filtered water extracted from the Strata’s icy caves, actual food and drink would go a long way. Opening a vitamin pack, she ate all of them (since fungi couldn’t give her all her nutrition) and put the empty pack back in the pod. DRG might be okay with littering the planet, but she wasn’t going to contribute if she could help it.
“Okay, Steeve,” she said. “We just need to tell them were we are. It can’t be that hard, right?”
The growl of a Praetorian filled her ears. She turned around to see the frost variant of the beast approaching slowly, the plates of its blue chitin armor clacking as it walked.
She beckoned it closer. “Hello there. Do you want some food?”
The Praetorian growled and shook its large fanged mouth.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” She smiled, hoping her voice sounded soothing, not frightened. “Come here.”
The Praetorian sat down next to her with a thud. For a moment, it seemed content, but a distant roar made both it and Steeve perk up in fear. The ground shuddered, and the sound of crashing rocks echoed through the cave.
“Alright, let’s go,” she said. “Steeve, find us a way out of here.”
Steeve screeched and clacked into a tunnel. Fluttershy started to follow, but the Praetorian dug under her and lifted her onto its back, then walked after him. She gripped the chitin plates as best she could to avoid being left behind, but it was easier said than done. Being a Frost Praetorian, its armor was much more icy and slippery than normal.
The Praetorian dug into the rock after Steeve, and they left the empty cave. At the same time, an antenna extended from the top of the resupply pod and blinked green. The satellites above registered the access and relayed the signal back to Space Rig 13.
Twilight rubbed her temples and sighed. This was going to be a long day again. Dwarves were unruly even without imminent danger, and the coordination efforts wore her down more than she cared to admit.
“Communications Manager Sparkle, Rig 13,” her headphones crackled.
“Sparkle here, go ahead,” she replied.
“Salvage Operation ‘Broken Tomb’ complete without casualties, Angel Pod deployed.”
“Alright. Thanks for being the guinea pigs on this one.”
“No problem, ma’am.” A few moments passed. “Sparkle, Angel Pod has a registered access. Confirmed ID: 17-CR-144-D. She must’ve been right next to us when we left.”
Twilight threw out her tiredness and started typing and working the computer. “Understood, Rig 13. Do we have anyone who can deploy?”
“Not yet. 13-D needs their fuel for orbital rendezvous and can’t turn around. We’ll ask Rigs 1 through 12.”
“Okay, I’ll take 14 through 20.” Twilight clacked through connections. “Rig 14? Communications Manager Sparkle. Do you have anyone who can deploy to ‘Broken Tomb’?”
“No, ma’am, all our teams are on the week’s Deep Dives.”
“Understood. Thanks for checking.” She switched channels. “Rig 15? Sparkle here. I need a team to deploy down to ‘Broken Tomb’. Are any of your teams available?”
“Sorry, Sparkle, but we’re on the wrong side of the planet to deploy in time.”
“Alright, never mind. Rig 16?”
“What do you need, ma’am?”
“A Mining Team to deploy down to the mission site ‘Broken Tomb’.”
“Let me see… yeah, 16-X is available. We’ll send them right now.”
She sighed in relief. “Thanks. Looks like they’ll be joined by 4-B on-site.”
“Understood, Sparkle. We’ll update you as needed.”
Twilight sat back and pumped her fist. Weeks of nothing, and now they knew where Fluttershy was! If she could just hang on a little longer, two teams would be there to get her out. Twilight busied herself with the other Rigs until the comms crackled again.
“Sparkle, Rig 16. They got nothin’. Also, it looks like the spare transponder didn’t survive the landing. The rifle and consumables have been taken, though. She can’t be far.”
She swiveled to check the satellites and pinged the area near the cave. Sure enough, only eight transponders returned a signal. Back to square one. Only half the cave looked scannable, however.
“Pull them out. We can’t afford to lose them.” Twilight frowned. They’d been so close! “I’ll have R&D look into hardening the transponder. Thanks for trying. Sparkle, over and out.”
She let out a huff and held her forehead with her fingertips. Keying the comms again, she said, “Edlin, we need a tougher transponder. 13-D’s didn’t survive the landing.”
“I’ll get right on it, Twilight.”
After a few moments to try to calm herself, she growled. “Damn!”
Down into the Glacial Strata the Drop Pod descended. It was another Egg Hunt today, and Sunset couldn’t help but feel a bit queasy. Taking Glyphid eggs still didn’t feel quite right, but it was part of her ticket home--and something to do while Twilight searched for Fluttershy. Of course, with Mission Assignment Software now on Update 34, things could get very interesting very quickly.
“Alright, girls, you’re after Eggs for a short jaunt near Fluttershy’s last known location,” Mission Control reminded them as the Drop Pod landed, the doors opened, and the ramp extended. “Your microphones are equipped with experimental radios designed to broadcast on gamma-range frequencies in addition to the normal channels to try to counter whatever’s blocking X-band, so everything you say will be sent to R&D for analysis. Good luck. Control out.”
“Understood, sir,” Rarity said. “Will we be dropping an Angel Pod on our way back to the surface?”
“Twilight here. You’ll be calling an Angel 1, yes, just in case she’s nearby. We should have the Angel 2 ready for deployment in a couple days.”
“Got it.” Sunset checked her rifle again. It looked fine, and the new skin blueprint she’d found in the Cargo Crate when they visited the Magma Core had transferred perfectly.
“Hey, Sunset, whaddya do to your gun?” Rainbow asked. “Looks different.”
“Fourth Relic,” Sunset replied. “What did you get from the crate the other mission?”
“Custom Engineered for my pistol. I didn’t think it was worth putting on.”
“Watch your tanks, girls,” Rarity cautioned. “Low Oxygen again.”
Sunset bounded out the Drop Pod and tripped over a Loot Bug on her way down, faceplanting into the icy rock and spilling her gear all over the place. She groaned and picked it all back up while the others searched the immediate cave for resources and the Drop Pod began its ascent. One of the pieces caught her eye: she didn’t normally carry whatever those things were. It beeped in her hand in sync with a red blinking light.
“Hey, uh, does anyone know what this thing is?” she asked. “It fell out of my pack, but I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Rarity came over with Molly and inspected the device. “It looks like our transponders, but yours is still on your belt.” Her eyes narrowed, and she keyed her comms to Mission Control. “Um, sir, we’ve found this thing in Sunset’s gear, and we don’t know what it is.”
There was no response.
“Mission Control, sir?”
There was no response.
“Sir, can you hear me?”
A burst of static but nothing else.
“Sir, do we abort?”
Still no response.
“I’m recalling the Drop Pod.” Rarity fumbled with her comm gear for a minute until only static erupted from the speakers. “That’s not good. I can’t call the Pod to come pick us up.”
Sunset felt her heart pound in her chest. Loss of communication was grounds for an immediate mission abort, but if they couldn’t even call the Drop Pod…
Rainbow Dash and Applejack approached them, concerned.
“What’s wrong?” Rainbow asked.
“We have L.O.S. and can’t call the Pod for an abort,” Sunset replied. “Comms are completely dead.”
“What did you do?!”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Girls,” Rarity warned.
“Ah don’t know about that, Sunset. Your gear caused this. Ya had to have done something.”
Sunset planted her hands on her hips. “And what are you accusing me of, Applejack? That thing wasn’t even supposed to be in my pack! I’ve never seen anything like it before!”
“Girls,” Rarity said again, louder and more forceful this time.
“Ah don’t know. It ain’t mah gear.”
Rainbow stepped in: “You were quick to accuse Sunset, AJ. Did you put that thing in her gear to cover the crime?”
“Ah did no such thing, Rainbow Dash. Is this another one of your pranks?”
“No! My pranks are completely harmless!”
“GIRLS!” Rarity shouted. “STOP IT!”
All three turned to her with varying looks of confusion and shame. Sunset felt mostly angry, and she wasn’t going to let go of Applejack’s accusation anytime soon.
“We don’t have time for this. Apologize, now! All three of you.”
Sunset mumbled her sorries, but she didn’t feel like she meant it. She begrudgingly acknowledged Applejack and Rainbow, then exhaled to blow off some steam.
Rarity crossed her arms. “The last thing we need is to fall apart when we’re on our own. It’s going to get someone killed--and for real this time. Let’s gather these eggs and Hollomite, then find a way out of this mess. Mine all the Nitra you can find.” She pointed her shotgun at the Loot Bug purring nearby. “And kill those. They’ll give us Nitra, too.”
---------------------------------
Some time later, Applejack deposited the last Glyphid Egg into Molly’s seemingly infinite storage, and Rainbow returned with the last few units of Hollomite. Sunset grappled back to the group with the final bits of Nitra in the entire cavern.
Rarity frowned. “Still no comms and only three resupplies’ worth of Nitra. Applejack, how far can you drill on a single tank?”
“If Ah’m thinkin’ what you’re thinkin’ it ain’t gonna work. Not far.”
“We’ll need to go as far as we can.” Rarity checked their supplies. “Sunset, is that the last?”
“No more mineral veins, no more Loot Bugs. Three resupplies are all we have, and that’s assuming the beacons work.”
“Then we’ll need to conserve. How much fuel do we have?”
“Thirty-two liters right now with a full tank at thirty-eight. Ah took Barbed Drills, not the extra fuel.”
“I’m not accusing you of anything.” Rarity pointed to the far end of the cave. “We’ll go west. I think I saw a Salvage Mission in that direction that nobody else has taken. If I read the map correctly and we do this right, we can make it there.”
Sunset arched her eyebrow. “How far is it?”
“Twenty kilometers, but Hoxxes’ subsurface is a honeycomb of tunnels. We’re bound to find one if we keep tunneling. It’s just going to take a while.”
Applejack shrugged. “If you say so, Rarity. You’re the boss.”
“I am indeed. Now start drilling, and mine out a room with your pickaxes in twenty meters. We’ll throw down a beacon then. Hopefully, it works. If not…” She shrugged.
Applejack approached the wall and started drilling as efficiently as she could, stretching her limited fuel to depletion. In the end, they had to pickaxe the final few meters before they could dig out the room as Rarity instructed. Sunset panted from the exertion and sat on the icy ground as Molly caught up with them and set herself down.
“This isn’t gonna work, Rarity,” she said. “We got fifteen meters with her stretching the fuel. The nearest tunnel to another cave is gonna be at least a few hundred at minimum. That’s not even counting for Low Oxygen.”
Rarity sighed. “You’re right, but it was worth a shot.” She tiredly tossed the first resupply beacon and watched as it blinked red for a few moments before chirping. “Still no comms. I’m not even getting static. Whatever’s blocking X-band must be blocking gamma, too.”
They waited and waited. Rainbow wiped a small wave that came up the tunnel with ease, but her ammo wasn’t good. They wouldn’t survive much longer at this rate, and fighting a Detonator was out of the question. A blizzard blew through the cave. Rarity set up a rotation to keep someone on guard at all times, and those who weren’t watching went to sleep.
Sunset saw the Heartstone in her dream, but it wasn’t the one that gave her the riddle. It pulsed and vibrated, summoning a blue-gray Praetorian to its side. After a couple grunts and growls, it departed. Whatever the Heartstone said, the Praetorian didn’t seem too happy about it.
A low growl echoed through the cave, waking Sunset with a start.
“Frost Praetorian,” Rarity whispered. She’d taken this watch. “It’s close.” She adjusted her grip and frowned.
“What time is it?” Sunset asked.
“Three in the morning.” Rarity’s eyes narrowed. “There he is. If he gets a whiff of us, I’m gonna have to go out there and fight him.”
“Wait.”
Rarity cocked her head. “Why?”
Part of the Heartstone’s riddle suddenly clicked in Sunset’s head. She stood and gathered her gear. “I have been Death, but I must also be Life. I must be All.” She stepped over Molly, checking her air tanks and seeing they were full.
Rarity grabbed her arm and held it tight. “What are you doing?”
Sunset held out her Camp Everfree geode. “Let me handle it. I can do this.”
“I don’t know. This is a bad idea, Sunset.”
“Hoxxes has magic, Rarity, and I’m going to use it.” Sunset wriggled out of Rarity’s grasp and made her way down the tunnel and out into the open cave where the Frost Praetorian rested. It perked up with a deep growl when she got close.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Sunset said quietly. She hooked her rifle to its place on her back and raised her hands to show they were empty. “I’m a friend.”
It climbed to its feet and approached. Sunset’s heart pounded in her chest, and her already shivering breath became shaky and shallow. She tentatively reached out and placed her hand on its cold, watery chitin. If this didn’t work…
Sniff. Sniff.
“I need to get home. Can you help me?”
A low but non-hostile growl.
Sunset gestured behind her. “Twenty kilometers. There’s a cave with a Drop Pod. We can’t dig there by ourselves.”
The Praetorian grumbled, then marched forward, digging a wide tunnel just next to Applejack’s. Sunset blinked.
“Ah can’t say you’re a smart lass, Sunset, but Ah ain’t complainin’,” Applejack said. “Come on, let’s get to that Pod.”
---------------------------------
Several hours later, as their clocks blinked the start of the workday, the beleaguered team climbed out of the Praetorian’s tunnel and saw the welcoming sight of a working Drop Pod, its red warning lights blinking with alarm. Beside it sat a repaired triangulation computer and a fuel cell. Unfortunately for the team that had called the equipment, they had never gotten to refuel the Pod.
Rarity sighed in relief mixed with sadness. “Let’s get that Pod working, girls, and gather anything you can from the others.”
Before she joined them in their relatively mundane efforts, Sunset turned to face the Praetorian. “Thank you,” she said, patting its sharp-toothed maw. “I am Death, and now I am Life. I will be All. You can go.”
As she climbed the open ramp to the Pod and Rarity set it to launch, Sunset saw the Praetorian and a couple other Glyphids watch them leave from a safe distance.
The borrowed Drop Pod clanked into the 17-B docking port at the Space Rig, rusty and worn, and jolted to a stop as the station’s magnetic locks latched on to it. After a long, agonizing moment, the doors hissed open, and the girls trudged down the ramp and stood tiredly around the Mission Assignment Table with bags under their eyes and zombie-like expressions on their faces.
Rarity was the first to speak. “Well, girls, I think we’ve earned ourselves a day off. We’ll do our next mission tomorrow.” She yawned. “Go rest. I’m going to crash after I check over my equipment.”
The others went to bed, and Rarity sat at the equipment workbench and rubbed her eyes. She set her shotgun on the bench to make sure it was up to specs. Before she could, however, she heard the clunks of a large, burly man stepping on the grated floor behind her.
“Stone Breaker Rarity,” Mission Control said. “A word?”
She turned around and yawned. “Yes, sir. How may I help you?”
He gestured to the elevator to the control room, and she joined him up there after securing her gear. She looked around. Consoles and displays covered every inch of wall aside from a few windows overlooking the planet, and several men along with Twilight Sparkle were spread around the room at various stations. A console beeped, and one of the men responded:
“Triangulation complete. Remote control reestablished, Team. Sending in fresh fuel cells for the Drop Pod. Stand by.”
Rarity’s Mission Control sat at his own console and crossed his arms. “How is your team faring?”
She cringed. “If I must be honest, sir, the constant stress is hitting us hard. When our comms died yesterday, we practically fell apart, and I’m afraid it might happen again.”
He frowned. “That’s what I feared. You girls are hard workers and decent miners, but you really aren’t meant for Hoxxes. I’ve spoken with Management, and they agree. We can arrange to send you all home on the next shuttle if you would prefer a safer life.”
“What was the deciding factor, if I may ask?”
“When you fired up that Drop Pod earlier this morning. It showed you have great ingenuity and can solve even the worst problems, but we knew it might not be worth sending you down again. This is dangerous work, Rarity, and until we can prevent communication loss it’s almost too dangerous to send miners into the caves. It can and will happen again, and Management doesn’t want to inform your local government of your untimely deaths.” He sighed. “As much as this is a safety move, it is also a political one.”
“My government told you to bring us back?”
“In a sense. Although we are an interplanetary corporation, we are also beholden to the laws of our employee’s homeworlds--including yours--as stated in Article III of the Company Charter.”
“What about Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy?”
“Both Communications Manager Sparkle and Chef Pie have chosen to remain here. Once we rescue Greenbeard Fluttershy, we will offer her the same deal I am giving you.”
“Is there a severance package? Deep Rock is a company, after all.”
“You can either take a large sum as payment, or if you prefer we can safety and disarm all your gear for you to keep. This is the package offered to all DRG veterans upon their retirement.”
Rarity thought a moment. She could go home. She could see her friends and family again. She could return to her old life and run her boutique, following her dream and becoming a highly recognized and respected fashion designer. And she could keep her gear for the memories.
Or she could stay here. Mine the subsurface of Hoxxes IV. Fight Glyphids and journey the caves until she grew old and gray. Cheer her successes and mourn her failures alongside her friends and fellow dwarves. Upgrade her gear and rise the ranks of the Company. And what about Fluttershy? She was still down there.
There was really only one answer. “I want to defer, sir. I want to stay here until we rescue Fluttershy, and then I will make my final decision. I may not be a dwarf in the physical sense, but I’ve grown to hold the spirit of one. I cannot in good faith leave a dwarf behind, sir. I would never forgive myself if I did, and I can safely say the same goes for the others.”
“I see.” Mission Control crossed his arms. “Get some rest. I’ll have some forms for you to sign this evening for Management to send to your government explaining your deferral.”
“Thank you, sir. Rock and Stone.”
“Rock and Stone, miner.” He put on his headphones and turned to his console.
Rarity sighed and went to bed.
---------------------------------
That evening, the girls gathered at the bar, rested but still tired. Applejack, Sunset, and Rainbow Dash had tablets in front of them, each with a series of electronic forms for them to sign. Rarity had signed hers already, and now it was time for the other three to choose.
Rainbow rubbed her temples. “Paperwork? Really, Rarity?”
Sunset held her head in her hand. “Why did you defer? We could’ve all gone home.”
Applejack sipped her beer. “Yeah, why’d you do that?”
Rarity sighed. “Because if we leave now, we leave Fluttershy behind. I’m not boarding that shuttle until I can bring her with me. And I hoped you felt the same. Clearly, I was wrong. If you want to go home, tell Mission Control and he’ll set it up. But I’m rescuing Fluttershy even if I must do it alone.”
“Ah didn’t say Ah disagreed.” Applejack signed her forms before returning to her beer. “Ah’m all for bringin’ her home with us.”
Sunset rubbed her eyes. “I’ve put too much work into this to leave now.” She signed hers. “As much as I feel like I’m gonna regret this, I can’t leave Fluttershy behind. Not again.”
Rainbow looked at her friends. “Really? You guys are staying?”
Rarity shook her head. “Darling, you don’t have to if you’d rather go home.”
“I know.” Her hand hovered over her tablet, her fingers twitching. After a few moments, she finally tapped the screen and squiggled a signature. “No dwarf behind, I guess.”
Rarity, Applejack, and Sunset cheered. The team would stay, and Fluttershy was not going to be left on Hoxxes while they went home. The shuttle could wait. Their friends and family could wait. But their friend couldn’t. And no dwarf of Deep Rock Galactic, physical or not, would leave another behind.
The next morning, Rarity rolled out of bed with a purpose. She donned her armor quickly, downed a couple cups of coffee--though Pinkie said some tea had been ordered for the next supply run--and strode out of her room to see Sunset, Rainbow, and Applejack already gathered around the Mission Assignment Table. They stood in awkward, begrudging silence, not speaking to each other, working on a plan, or even acknowledging the others’ presence.
She frowned. This would simply not do.
“Alright, girls,” she said. “We have a problem, and we’re going to fix it.”
“And exactly how do you plan on doing that?” Rainbow asked.
Rarity shook her head. “You’re not asking the right question, Rainbow Dash. The first question is to know what the problem is. You were team captain back at CHS. You should know this.” She crossed her arms. “One of you tell me what you think the problem is.”
Sunset raised a finger. “Can we--”
“Not until you answer the question, Sunset.”
“I… don’t know.” She looked down.
Rainbow and Applejack remained silent.
Rarity gestured to the three. “It’s this.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You just gestured to all of us.”
“I know. Because that’s the problem. We are the problem. We aren’t a team. The minute everything broke, we started squabbling. We split at the seams. We tore our threads. That kind of thing is going to get us killed, girls.”
Sunset crossed her arms. “So what are we going to do about it? You seem to want to be the captain. You tell us what to do.”
“We’re going to do an Elite Deep Dive.”
“What?!” they cried simultaneously.
“Not now. We need to all do a standard Deep Dive first, which means we all need to promote. That will take quite a few missions which we must all do as a team. From now on, you leave your squabbles on the Rig. If you have any while on Hoxxes, you wait and address them on the Rig. As soon as you step into that Drop Pod, you are saying that you will work as a team. You are saying that you will set our differences aside and stick together as a team. You are saying that you are worthy of the equipment you carry. You are saying that you will hold each other and me accountable for keeping our promises.
“And you are saying that you are worthy of being called a Dwarf of Deep Rock Galactic.”
Rainbow snorted.
Rarity turned her fiery gaze on her friend. “Is something funny, Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow wilted. “No. We’re just… not dwarves, Rarity.”
“You’re right. We’re not. But do you know what we are? We’re tough. We’re resilient. We’re friends. You remember our first Escort Duty? How you took down a BET-C by yourself and revived Sunset after Applejack and I had to go protect the Drilldozer? And how you did it completely because you wanted to do it and bring us home?”
She pointed to Applejack. “On that salvage mission in the Crystalline Caverns when we first encountered the Glyphid Menace. You volunteered to stay by the Fuel Cells while we spent our ammunition fighting a Bulk Detonator. You made sure we didn’t have to worry about losing the mission, and you did it without hesitation.”
She pointed to Sunset. “And during our Elimination, the one that completed our Probation Assignment, you zipped around the cave and revived everyone as we went down. Without you, we would’ve all died to the Glyphid Dreadnought. That’s not a feat I take lightly.
“As for me… well, you tell me what I’ve done.”
“You took charge,” Sunset said. “You took the lead when everything broke, and you’ve kept us all on track during missions. And you probably know more about our equipment than we do.”
“See? We’ve all done things that saved each other and the mission. Look, we’re going down to Hoxxes today. Magma Core, a Hazard 3 Morkite mission with Fossils and a Mactera Plague Warning. Applejack, this should be your current Assignment Mission.”
Applejack checked her assignment. “Uh, yeah, it is.”
“Lock it in and prepare to move out. And remember what I said. We need to be a team, girls. It’s a matter of life and death.”
---------------------------------
The Drop Pod doors clanked open to reveal the fiery hellscape that was the bu-infested upper layers of the Magma Core. Its dim orange glow simmered with hostility, and the half-molten fields of rock around the end of the ramp pulsed with heat and anger. Rarity fired a few platforms onto the rock for a safe place to stand as the Pod returned to the surface.
“Alright, listen up,” Mission Control said. “We’re sending you deep, so be on your guard. Scanners indicate particularly rich veins of Morkite and gold further down. Bring it back, girls.”
Rainbow Dash threw a mock salute toward the surface. “Got it, Skipper.”
Sunset fired a flare into the ceiling, and Applejack looked around from the safety of Rarity’s platform.
“Y’know, at least it ain’t Low Oxygen again.”
Rarity shot a platform just below a Nitra vein on the wall as Sunset grappled to it. “Indeed. I’m not very fond of that particular Warning. Rainbow, dear, could you shoot a zipline over to the dirt, please? Thank you. And everyone, watch the air. Macteras are annoying at the best of times, and this cave is full of them.”
Sunset grappled to Molly after mining the Nitra. “Twenty units. Not bad for a vein in the starting room. Anything else?”
Rainbow used her laser pointer on a small red-bulbed plant. “Just a Barley Bulb over there and the dirt. Right over there, AJ.”
Sunset nodded. “I’ll get the Bulb. You guys start digging.”
Applejack’s drills whirred. “On it, Sunset.”
Rarity crossed her arms with a smile. It was a start.
The cave was surprisingly quiet until the first room. They split off to gather resources, only dealing with a few mini-swarms of Macteras and Glyphids and the occasional Cave Leech. Rarity made a staircase of platforms up to a gold vein as Sunset lit the cavern with her flares and Rainbow set up a zipline down to the next patch of dirt.
As they gathered around Molly at the top of the zipline, the ground shook and rocks fell from the ceiling to plink at their feet. Rarity, Applejack, and Sunset held out their arms for balance while Rainbow hooked herself to the zipline. The rock beneath them opened up with a great crack, and Rarity suddenly felt weightless as the cavern around her fell up. She cried out when her hand brushed against the half-molten rock beside her and tumbled to the bottom of the crevasse.
Sunset screamed, “Rarity!”
Rarity shot her platform gun and climbed onto the instantly dried goop. She rolled onto her back, her breaths heavy and her eyes wide. Her whole body felt bruised, but her left hand burned especially badly. She risked a look: the skin was reddened and already peeling a little. It felt like she was on fire.
Sunset’s head appeared at the top of the crevasse. “Rarity, are you okay?”
Rarity groaned. “No…”
Then Mission Control called: “Heads up! There’s a load of Macteras headed your way. Contact imminent.”
Applejack called, “Stay down there, Rarity. We’ll handle ‘em.”
Rarity could only nod. She laid her head back and closed her eyes. Damn, her hand hurt so much.
The radio crackled. “Contact! Take ‘em out, Team!”
The air buzzed with the wingbeats of dozens of Macteras. Most of them were Spawns, but there were a couple Grabbers that screeched from Applejack’s flamethrower. A Goo Bomber wailed and crashed to the ground. A few minutes after the wave started, Mission Control called the end, and the bugs petered out.
Sunset’s grapple landed next to Rarity’s head, quickly followed by Sunset herself. She helped Rarity up to a sitting position and hissed at her hand.
“Rainbow, shoot a zipline to me! She’s not climbing out on her own.”
Rainbow complied, and Sunset hooked Rarity to it before grappling out of the crevasse and running to the other side of the cave. Applejack helped her off.
“Ah don’t think we can go on with you like that, Rarity.”
“No, let’s finish the mission.”
“Ya sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. We’ll give it a look when we get back to the Rig.”
Sunset returned and smeared some Red Sugar on the burn. “I don’t know how much that’ll help, but it’s better than nothing.”
Rarity nodded. “Thank you, dear. Let’s mine the rest of this Morkite and get out of here.”
The rest of the mission was hectic and aching but uneventful.
---------------------------------
Once she’d secured her equipment in the Drop Pod, Rarity tiredly visited the medbay where the robots there immediately got to work. They treated her burn and bandaged her hand as well as go over the rest of her just in case. In the end, she was confined to the Rig for the rest of the week.
The others expressed their sympathies and agreed to do low-hazard solo missions until she healed. Rarity promised them she’d take care of herself and stay behind.
A few days and low-hazard solo missions later, Rainbow Dash pulled up their next team mission on the central holotable and grinned. “You’re gonna like this one, Sunset. We do this mission, both of us get access to the Mineral Trading Terminal, and I know you’re itching for some more Magnite.”
Sunset grimaced. “Lethal Enemies, Rainbow. That’s more dangerous than you think, especially on a Point Extraction. Remember the Fungus Bogs?”
Rarity crossed her arms with a nod. Her hand was still bandaged, but she looked fine otherwise. “We’ll need to be quick, girls. The bugs will only get more numerous as the mission goes on, and even without Lethal Enemies they’re not to be trifled with.”
Applejack frowned. “Ah know you’ve been sneakin’ away on solo missions since we were goin’ ourselves, Rarity. Don’t overwork yourself. You can sit this one out if you’re not feelin’ it. Ah’m sure we’d be fine without you.”
“I’m fine, Applejack, but I appreciate your concern. I can do this.”
“If you say.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow, but after a few seconds of silence turned her attention back to the table. “Okay. Are we all going?”
Rarity nodded. “Yes, we are. Set it in, dear, and check your gear before you board. Modifications can be the difference between life and death.”
---------------------------------
Rainbow ran down the Drop Pod’s ramp and onto the fern-covered rocky overgrowth of the Hollow Bough. The region’s trademark thorny vines and spiked plants were everywhere under the light of Sunset’s flare as it arced into the ceiling. The Drop Pod returned to the surface, and moments later the Mine Head drilled through the ceiling and crashed to the ground, deploying its platform and turrets.
“Alright, girls,” Rarity said. “Aquarqs, ten of them. Let’s move. Rainbow, I want a zipline to that ledge over there. Applejack, dig out the Aquarqs nearest to the Mine Head and drop them nearby. Sunset, see what this cave has to offer. I’ll shoot platforms to any minerals you need. And everyone, as soon as we have enough Nitra, I want to see a resupply near the Mine Head.”
“Gotcha!” Sunset said, and she disappeared with her grappling hook.
Rainbow set up the zipline while Applejack jogged to an Aquarq deposit and started drilling. She then set another to a Nitra vein near the ceiling and hooked herself to it. As she rode, the others dug the easier-to-reach minerals and Sunset continued to grapple around at incredible speed.
The Nitra filled her bag quickly. She zipped back to the ground, deposited in the Mine Head, and hooked herself to the first zipline. It took a few minutes to reach the other side, and in that time the team had deposited three Aquarqs and various other minerals.
The comms cracked. “Roger that, Supply Pod incoming.”
Rarity said, “I called it near the Mine Head. Hunter from 17-A said having one on standby as soon as possible is generally a good idea for Point Extractions.”
“Ah gotcha,” Applejack replied. “Anythin’ up there, Rainbow?”
Rainbow tossed a flare. A strange contraption appeared in the dark which her laser pointed identified as a “Kursite Grinder”. The walls had a few veins of Nitra and gold, but otherwise the area was bare.
“Nothing but a Machine Event and some minerals.”
Sunset grappled up and fired a flare into the ceiling as Rarity platformed the minerals she could see. They went to work, clearing the shelf in just a few minutes.
“Hey, Rainbow,” Sunset said, “what do you think our chances are of finding Fluttershy?”
Rainbow shook her head. “Not great. I know we missed her by a few minutes once, but she’s not predictable like another school’s soccer team. I know her well, but not enough to get in her head, you know?”
“Yeah. Or maybe we still can. She likes animals, so where would she find them?”
“With the Glyphid Queen,” Rainbow joked. She stopped in her tracks. “Wait a minute.”
Sunset grinned. “Exactly. She’s the big bug. We find the Queen, we find Fluttershy.”
“And we kill two birds with one stone. Well, we wouldn’t kill birds. Fluttershy would hate that, but you know what I mean.”
The comm crackled. “Hold on to your gizzards, ladies. Swarm incoming!”
The two girls froze for a second. Rainbow moved first, bolting to the edge of the ledge and leaping for the zipline. She hooked herself to the line as she passed it, swinging to the side as she slid down to the Mine Head. Sunset grappled moments later as Rarity and Applejack appeared from their respective corners of the cave.
Glyphid screeches echoed in the darkness.
“Swarm! I repeat, swarm!”
Rainbow revved her minigun as the bugs crawled out of the walls, bathed in the light of both the Mine Head’s searchlights and Sunset’s flares. She fired into the growing crowd with the Mine Head’s three turrets blasting any that came too close. Meanwhile, Rarity lobbed a grenade into a gurgling Praetorian reeling from Applejack’s torching, and an Acid Spitter in the ceiling screeched at a quick pelting from Sunset and fell to the floor.
“The last of them are approaching you now,” Mission Control reported after a few more minutes.
Rainbow grinned and grabbed a resupply leaf. “Too easy. Hey, Sunset, did you ever figure out what that thing was that fell off your belt?”
Sunset shot a Web Spitter in the Mine Head’s descent tunnel, and it fell wailing to the floor. “It was the gamma-range adapter for my radio. R&D thinks it started blanketing the comm channels when it broke, and that’s what was jamming us.”
“Oh. Don’t break it this time.”
“I don’t plan on it. Hey, Rarity, how many more Aquarqs do we need?”
Rarity looked up from inspecting her hand. “Three. They’ll be on the far end of the cave. Rainbow, dear, could you shoot a zipline over that way?”
Rainbow planted her feet into the ground and fired. “That good?”
“Perfect, dear. Sunset, I trust you can get the Aquarqs?”
Sunset grappled into the darkness without a word. Then the distant cave wall brightened under the light of her flare. The last three Aquarqs soon appeared, and the three still at the Mine Head gathered them while Sunset grabbed the final bit of Dystrum.
Rarity moved to the rocket launch button and looked at each of the others. “Are we ready?”
Rainbow, Sunset, and Applejack nodded their agreements. Rarity hit the button, and the launch alarm began to blare. A few seconds later, the cargo rocket was on its way to orbit.
The countdown to the Drop Pod’s arrival and the race to it before it left were hectic as usual, but all four made it in time with no strange occurances.
