Thomas’ prior courage from flashing the villagers promptly evaporated once they began crossing the pontoons to the Lost Precursor City. The floating masses of wood were close enough together that it wasn’t even a hop from one to the other. He could see the reef directly beneath the path, assuring him with its familiar, shallow presence. However, what terrified him most was just past the reef, that place where visibility was lost, replaced with a murky darkness that promised an endless hoard of swimming, chomping, heartbeat thumping death!

“You okay, sugar? Ah swear Ah can almost hear yer butthole clenching from over here.” Honey set a hand on the smaller man’s shoulder.

“I remember you advised us not to go out too far at sea,” Silver recalled. “I was speaking with Kiera and she mentioned the dangers of lurker sharks.”

Thomas shivered, and not just because a breeze was blowing between his legs. “Old game mechanic that served as nightmare fuel for an entire generation,” he informed.

“Tell us.” Moonlight came around Thomas’ other side and grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Thomas smiled appreciatively, unconcerned with the woman’s provocative attire. “A big selling point for this game was that the player was able to visit pretty much everywhere they could see. However, to keep the players from swimming out to where the game designers never intended you to go, rather than adding an invisible wall, they threw in a giant fish to swallow you up.”

“What’s so bad about a little fishy?” Surprise asked, earning a glower from Thomas.

“You want to find out? Swim out past the reef,” he motioned, “and see what happens.”

Surprise stared out at the murky abyss for a good long while. “Well I am the only one wearing a swimsuit!” she declared and cannon balled into the water, splashing the others. They were about half way out from the village, but still well within the zone of the reef’s shallow protection. She sprang up and spat a short fount of water from her mouth. “Salty,” she chirped happily, although her smile faltered when she saw the way Thomas continued to stare at her.

“Does this beast truly hold such power over you?” Luna asked worriedly.

“It’s not just the shark. It’s…” Thomas tried to think of how best to describe it. “Just go out a little ways and you’ll see.” He felt a little bad about saying such a thing, but reminded himself that this was only a game and they couldn’t really be hurt.

Saluting where she swam, Surprise started swimming out. She was doing the breast stroke, which, ironically, did the best job of showing off her lower assets. The woman was just about to ask how far she was supposed to go, when she heard it.

“Goh-rack!” the aquatic creature growled.

Surprise came to a dead stop in the water, hair standing on end. Her ancient herbivore instincts had kicked in, alerting her to the presence of a predator. She did not dare even move, for risk of attracting unwanted attention.

Ba-dump!

Even those on the pontoon bridge had frozen solid, sphincters unanimously clenched in fright.

Ba-dump!

“Surprise!” Thomas cried urgently.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Surprise could see it now. It looked to be more than twice her usual size. It’s scales were yellow with orange stripes. Red, spikey fins adorned the fish’s back as lifeless, orange eyes stared at her. Even from this distance, she could tell that more than a third of the creature’s mass was comprised of it’s mouth, which was opening and closing in anticipation of its imminent meal.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Surprise didn’t know if that was the beating of her own heart, or perhaps even that of the monster. She could vaguely hear the cacophony of screams of her friends, calling her back to the safety of the reef, but their voices didn’t quite register in her mind. Instead, it was a different voice that drowned out all others. When the compulsion to freeze had failed, and fighting an aquatic creature in its own domain was ludicrous even by her standards, there was only one option available.

“NOPE!” Pulling an about face, she power swam with more strength than she’d ever known. “Nope-nope-nope-nope!” She noped her way right past the pontoon bridge, across the vastness of the village’s bay, and all the way to the other side of the village. Somehow she noped her way right up the cliff side, climbing up the rocks with the fluidity of a swimmer until she reached the scaffolding. Standing on the highest point in the village, she turned around and, tapping into the dream’s logic, flipped the shark off with all her might as she screamed her defiance. “Nope! Nope you right up the plot hole!”

The shark continued to swim in place, seemingly as baffled as everyone else at the woman’s antics. In time it decided that there was more manageable food further down and descended back into the abyss.

Afterwards, when the others had postponed their mission to go up and meet her, Surprise was surprisingly gung-ho about continuing the mission, wanting to save the eco collectors who had been trapped down there with all those monsters. When asked by Thomas if she wasn’t just putting up a strong front, she pulled him against her warm chest and flooded his senses with the presence of her embrace. She assured him that she was tougher than she looked, that she’d dealt with worse ‘meanie faces’ during clearance sales at her old store. However, she did stop by Celine and, in a tone that brokered no argument, made her promise to fish the ‘damned monsters’ into extinction, to which the mayor’s sense of self-preservation made her readily agree, and the players resumed their quest.

Gathering together around the large platform at the top-most tower, the man and ladies stepped on the giant button that seemed to be a peculiar feature of Precursor architecture. The elevator immediately took them down below the sea. Unsurprisingly, the women all thought this was quite charming and scattered to look out the surrounding windows. Surprise, having seemingly forgotten her traumatic experience, readily pointed out the different colors and shapes of fishes. Even Thomas had to admit this was remarkably similar to a trip to the aquarium. It even smelled right, the air thick with the scent of the salty sea, dead fish, and burning metal. That last one didn’t quite fit, but it was equally hard to ignore.

Entering the first hallway, the mares and man were dazzled by the lights. Burning orange, metallic chords lit up the floor, decorative pools of water glowed with green electricity, and the curved, glass ceiling gave off a calming blue. It was pretty, but also dangerous. Thomas made sure to remind the mares about the many hazards of this level.

The first main chamber was more or less unchanged from what Thomas remembered with floating pads, glowing waters, and lurkers. Lots of lurkers skulked about, eyeing the intruders warily from their various patrol spots. Apparently no one had clued these guys in on the rebellion. Whatever the case, the mares decided it’d be easier to fight in their natural states and stripped, giving their clothes back to Thomas.

For the first time since the game began, the group’s flyers were really starting to miss their wings. Even Honey was complaining about the wrongness of her inability to trust the ground beneath her hooves as platforms rose, fell, and swiveled in a manner the mare found unnatural. But together they pulled through, bashing lurkers, hopping across the countless platforms, and collecting everything that was worth collecting. It was hard work, but not excruciatingly so.

Thankfully the rooms had been sized up to accommodate the group, allowing them to move about relatively freely as they fought. Honey and Moonlight focused on most of the timed challenges since they were the more athletic and had experience in obstacle courses, the latter because of soldier training and the former thanks to games played at family reunions. Much to Luna’s delight, there were numerous vents networking throughout the complex that were small enough for only her to fit through, granting her both the time to shine and the excuse to give the others a good mooning. Thomas, Silver, and Surprise focused on fighting the surprisingly numerous enemies that assailed them.

“Why are there so many?” Surprise asked. She’d just delivered a roundhouse kick to an especially scruffy looking lurker.

“I have a theory,” Luna’s voice spoke over the communicator. “It appears several chambers are filled with dark eco, which the lurkers have been packing up for transport.”

“But there weren’t any lurkers at the top of the city,” Moonlight pointed out, having just retrieved another scout fly. “Why wouldn’t they post guards if they have such a delicate operation going on down here?”

“Celine said the team of eco collectors went missing down here, but didn’t know what happened,” Silver added, delivering a vicious uppercut to her foe. “I spoke to her and she did not mention anything about unusual lurker activity around the city, so they may be using a different entrance.”

“So they probably got some other means of getting down here, like a submarine,” Thomas concluded. “If so, I’ll bet it’s got power cells.”

“Still got them missin’ villagers ta worry about,” Honey reminded. “Celine’s wife, daughter, ‘n’ the others. Any clue where they might be?”

“I have seen no trace of them yet,” Luna informed from the vents. “They are likely deeper within the complex, assuming they still live.”

“Shush-ush-usssh,” Surprise shushed. “Don’t say stuff like that. You’ve gotta keep a positive attitude, otherwise all the bad what-ifs might mess with your head.”

“Surprise is right,” Thomas agreed. He was busy collecting the fragments of green eco after the lurker he’d elbowed to death had dissolved into oblivion. “Stuff’s different, but this is still the first of the Jak trilogy. Nothing too dark happens this time around.”

“I take it you are less keen about playing the sequel game next?” Silver asked.

“Let’s just say if we do, one of you guys can be the Jak,” Thomas replied dryly.

“Hold, everyone!” Luna called, silencing the others as she listened. “I hear voices.”

“They telling you to burn stuff?” Surprise asked, only to wince when Silver gave her a sharp slap to the behind. “What was that for?”

“You were being rude,” Silver reprimanded.

“No I wasn’t,” Surprise whined, rubbing the spot Silver had struck. “I was just gonna remind her that those are the bad voices she shouldn’t listen to,” she said as if it should have been obvious. “Also we’re under water, so burning things wouldn’t really work anyway.”

The others just stared at Surprise, silently wondering whether it was worse that she was just making a joke in poor taste regarding Luna’s mental stability, or if she was speaking from experience.

“I see them!” Luna whispered. “Thomas. You, Surprise, and Silver take the door second from your right. It leads down a winding chamber that will take you to where the prisoners are being kept. Honey and Moonlight. You two take the path on the far left. This path will take you to an upper floor, giving you the jump on the guards. Wait there until I give the signal.”

The group declared their understanding and began their mission.

It was truly fortuitous that lurkers were so dim, otherwise some might have run on ahead to warn their fellows of the intruders. Instead, the group was free to clear them out room by room, never taking on more than they could handle. In no time at all they arrived at the indicated chamber. Blue and maroon lurkers stalked about while three purple flyers listed lazily overhead. About half a dozen people were held behind a green shield in an adjacent room.

“Moonlight, Honey, and myself will take the flyers,” Luna whispered into her communicator. “The enemy will be greatly weakened without air support. At the same time, Surprise will take point in the ground assault with Silver and Thomas watching her back. I count twenty ground units total, but there may be more in hidden compartments.”

“Sounds like a solid plan,” Moonlight confirmed. “But what are those lines on the floor?” She pointed down at the neon blue lines scattered around the room. Each was comprised of three or four segments, usually bent at right angles, with the ends all evenly spaced from one another. “They almost look like a maze.”

“Uh, guys,” Thomas spoke up. He and his group were standing just outside the door to the prisoner’s chamber while he was staring at a screen. “Is there, like, a glowing area in the far right corner of the floor?”

“Yes,” Luna confirmed. “How did you know?”

“Because the same thing is on the screen right in front of us,” Silver answered.

“What’s it mean?” Surprise asked, trying to climb over the others to get a better look.

“It means,” Thomas began, pushing the big mare back, “that we might not need to fight.”

“Ow. Don’t be so rough,” Surprise pouted, rubbing at her now sore boob. “At least not without asking.”

“Care ta fill the rest ‘f us in, gamer boy?” Honey asked.

“Normally I’d say this is a lock puzzle. You guide the charge from this end to the other to unlock the door,” Thomas pointed between the sides of the screen. “But since the same pattern is on the floor in the next room, I’m betting it’s more like a pre-fight puzzle. You work to solve the puzzle and it makes the fight easier.”

“How so?” Silver asked.

“Just give me a second.” Thomas grabbed the screen, causing it to light up.

“Something’s happening in here,” Moonlight warned. “The lines just went extra bright.”

“But the lurkers have yet to notice,” Luna informed.

Thomas turned the screen in his hands, causing a metal marble to begin rolling around. A white charge appeared on the glowing spot and began to move down the line. “Oh yeah,” Thomas confidently declared. This was almost identical to a Ratchet and Clank puzzle. He congratulated his own subconscious on the reference as he maneuvered the marble around.

“Don’t. No!” Surprise hissed. “Go slower or it’ll fall.”

“No backseat driving,” Thomas growled. “It’s hard enough to focus as is.” The puzzle was significantly more complex than anything he ever remembered from Ratchet.

“No. Turn it. Turn it right!” Surprise urged.

“Hush, you,” Silver admonished and pulled the larger mare away.

Thomas didn’t see what happened, his attention fully devoted to the familiarity of the screen, but he did hear a lot of muffled moans. “Almost there,” he muttered, being as careful as possible with his movements. “Almost… there… Ahah!” He’d successfully guided the charge into the designated slot.

“Hot dawg!” Honey exclaimed.

“What happened?” Thomas asked.

“Well…” Moonlight began, sounding uncertain. “You definitely made the fight easier.”

Surprise was the first to approach the door, forcing it to open at her proximity. The lines on the floor had gone completely dull, but the floor was positively littered with the glowing green remains of former enemies.

“It was as though a hundred spears of lightning shot up at once,” Luna informed as she hopped down from her hiding spot, landing perfectly on Thomas’ shoulder. “Why would any species go to such extraneous and bizarre lengths to set up such a death trap? It boggles the mind.”

“We can look into that later,” Moonlight cut in as she and Honey hopped down from their hiding spot. “Right now we have prisoners to save.”

“Hello!” a woman called out, banging on the shield. Her voice was muffled. She was blonde with shoulder length hair, wearing a dark green jumpsuit, and had preposterously large goggles hanging around her neck. “Can you hear me?”

“We can.” Moonlight jogged forward to meet the woman face to face. “Don’t worry. Mayor Celine sent us to save you.”

“Celine? Oh thank the Precursors,” the woman exclaimed. “I knew my muse wouldn’t abandon us. I’m so happy, I don’t even care why you’re all naked.”

“I care,” informed a younger girl who bore a striking resemblance to the first. “Especially him. Why aren’t you wearing any pants?”

Thomas looked down at himself. He’d completely forgotten he was going commando. “Uh, for the breeze?” Thomas had to role his eyes at the weakness of that excuse.

“Really?” the younger girl asked, sounding like she actually bought it. “How is it?”

“Quiet, Solana,” the first woman hissed. “You can make goo-goo eyes at the cute boy later. Right now we have to get out of here.”

Solana rolled her eyes. “Come on, mom,” she whined.

The other four prisoners had awoken from the women’s bickering and were beginning to stand. All were dressed in gear similar to Solana’s mother. They approached, smiling gratefully at their rescuers, only to stumble when they noticed the nudity issue. The only male in the group was a young lad who had a thin, red moustache and the makings of a spiffy goatee. The remaining three women all had generic looking faces and didn’t bother to speak.

“Shot in the dark here, but I’m guessing your Celine’s wife and kid,” Thomas stated.

“That’s me,” she affirmed. “Name’s Tess. I’m Vice chairman of Rock Village’s Precursor Research Society/Eco Collection Team.”

“That’s a mouthful,” Surprise said dryly.

“We’re geniuses who spend all our time studying an ancient civilization that might have built the universe as we know it, while also delving into ruins to make sure our village has enough eco to survive,” Tess protested defensively. “We don’t have time for clever acronyms!”

“Whoa there, little lady. Let’s not get our tails caught in a tussle,” Honey said, trusting in her soothing country accent to quell any rising tempers. “Now Moonlight said we was here ta get ya’ll out and that’s what we intend ta do. Just give us a li’l time and you’ll be back with yer families before ya know it.” She smiled when her words had the desired effect.

“Is that the switch there?” Luna asked and pointed off in a small alcove.

“I’ll get it,” Surprise chirped. Skipping merrily across the room, she jumped as high in the air as she could, double jumped, and slammed down on the button with full force.

The shield went down and the prisoners stumbled out. However, they’d been weakened by their prolonged captivity and could barely move without help.

“They won’t make it back to the surface,” Moonlight assessed. “Not the way we came, anyway.”

“The chamber!” Silver remembered. “Kiera said the blue sage was working on a way to bring one of the city’s chambers up to the surface.”

“So where is it?” Moonlight asked.

“Two chambers that way,” Tess indicated. “Far left door.”

“Right then. Thomas, Silver, and myself will stay here and watch the prisoners,” Luna informed. “Moonlight will lead the others and secure the desired chamber. We shall join you when all is safe.”

The group nodded and split. Silver took the opportunity to have a sit down by the wall. The metal was just warm enough to be comfortable. This left Thomas to start looking around the room. It was pretty open with not much room to hide anything, but it was still nice to look around. The chamber wasn’t at all like one of the originals from the game, but it continued to fascinate him by not only how familiar it felt, but also the novelty of looking at everything from this new perspective.

“So,” Solana spoke up. She was sitting down just outside the cage with the rest of her fellows. “I, uh, your name is Thomas?”

He nodded and smiled. “And you’re Solana.”

She blushed and looked away. “I still can’t believe none of our rescuers saw the need to wear pants while spelunking through the ancient ruins of a legendary race.”

Off to the side, Silver was attempting to take micro steps towards the diminutive Luna, hoping a lack of sudden movements wouldn’t scare her away. Luna, pretending not to notice, idly sidestepped away whenever Silver came too close, maintaining a constant distance between the two that was driving the former bat mare batty. It was like watching the world’s slowest high-speed chase.

Thomas shrugged, standing beside her. “Honestly, it really didn’t seem that important,” he admitted frankly. “As for the others,” he jerked his thumb at Silver, “they’ve all been flaunting their stuff and driving the whole village into a second puberty.”

Solana’s blush deepened. “This might sound silly to ask, but, why?”

Thomas shrugged again. “They’re the sexiest things on two legs and they want the world to know.”

“We,” Luna corrected. “As far as this world is concerned, we are the sexiest beings on two legs.” She motioned to the gap in the bottom of Thomas’ vest.

Noticing said gap, Thomas reflexively covered himself, earning amused giggles from the others.

Silver shook her head, momentarily giving up on her chase and having a sit by the wall. “I admit the notion of a nudity taboo still baffles me. And while I can appreciate that it was a value drilled into you by the whole of your culture since you were small, I fail to see why you still feel the need to cover up in front of us.”

Thomas relaxed his hands. “I’m pretty good around you guys.” He looked at Solana and the others. “It’s just strangers that bring up the old reflexes.”

“Except, would not these particular strangers be ideal practice for becoming more comfortable in your own skin?” Silver asked.

“I have been thinking the same,” Luna added, hopping down from Thomas’ shoulder. “Of all the members of my harem, you have easily shown the most restraint and self-control on our adventure, thus far.”

“Harem?” Solana asked, but no one was paying her any attention.

“Not that this in any way suggests fault in your behavior,” Luna clarified. “A timid yet composed stallion is not without his appeal. However, I confess hoping to see you cut loose a bit more, like you did at the tavern.”

Thomas chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. He remembered the many catcalls he’d earned and even the way his friends had whistled their approval.

“And not just for mine own carnal gratification at glimpsing my favorite human’s shapely and delectable bottom,” Luna continued to the full attention of the former prisoners. “Although that is a big part of it.”

“Um, excuse me,” Solana spoke up. “Not sure if I’m following this right, but if you need to practice being naked in front of others,” she trailed off, her cheeks and ears as red as hot metal. “I wouldn’t mind if you p-p-practiced on u-us.”

The rest of the former prisoners nodded their agreement. Even Tess and the guy with the moustache and goatee looked eager to see where this was going.

Thomas laughed. His friends had a point. Practicing in front of NPCs and in the company of good friends did seem like the best way to deal with strangers. Exhaling to steady himself, he pulled back the folds of his vest and gave the NPCs an unobstructed view. They oohed and awed, marveling at it as though it was the first they’d ever seen. Even the one male NPC looked utterly transfixed by Thomas’ flaccid member. However, all this attention inevitably led to his little soldier standing up to attention.

Seeing the effect this had on his audience, Thomas decided to give them a little show. He bucked and swayed his hips. He spun his cock around like a pinwheel while all watched with the focused attention of cats. Thomas laughed, knowing that he could easily compel these simple-minded beings to do whatever he wished, but again he abstained. Playing with Cho as he did had been fun, but he felt much more comfortable with harmless strip teases. It just seemed less intrusive.

Growing bored with the game rather quickly, Thomas moseyed over to Silver and sat down beside her. He made no effort to pull her close or lean on her, as the others might do in his position. Instead, he left the couple of inches between unchanged and just gave a sigh, ignoring the pleading looks of the collectors. “So how’d things go with that spy, anyway?”

Sensing the two wanted to talk in relative privacy, Luna kept the collectors entertained with tales of her own adventures in this world. She’d already heard the tale as it had taken place, anyway.

“As well as you’d expect,” Silver bragged, beaming in pride. “As I suspected, the man, who went by the name of Remus, was in communication with a dark skinned woman who had a particular interest in keeping the villagers occupied and away from the city. Maia, I suspect.”

Thomas just smiled, saying nothing as he gave his friend her turn to tell a story.

“I had actually stumbled upon him making contact via a hologram. Apparently he was the one responsible for a number of the village’s grievances these last few days, such as stolen possessions and missing pets.” She snorted. “The fool had played up his deeds as some great accomplishment in sewing chaos, but I could tell that Maia saw threw his petty façade. It was in her tone as she promised to let Remus be the new mayor once she’d gotten what she wanted, though I suspect she doesn’t actually care either way.”

“What does she care about?”

Silver gave a thoughtful hum as her left ear twitched. “A valid question.” She gave a tired sigh and supported her cheek on her fist. “Maia was most irate about the loss of her lurker militia, but only in regards to how it was disrupting eco collection and artifact hunting. Remus certainly seemed to believe that this was all a matter of conquest, but the way the woman agreed sounded non-committal, like she was just affirming what her crony wanted to hear while she focused on larger concerns.”

Thomas nodded, thinking back to the game’s opening when they’d first laid eyes on the siblings back at Misty Island. “The game made it pretty clear they were planning on attacking Sandover, playing up the whole cliché of bad guys wanting to take over the world, but I don’t think they ever actually said that this time around.”

“Or if they did make such a claim, they could have been retroactively rewritten to have said otherwise,” Silver offered. “Given that our own preferences are affecting the world around us, I’ve always had a fondness for more nuanced villains, those who weren’t simply evil for the sake of evil and…” she trailed off with a musical giggle.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s a mystery, isn’t it,” she beamed. “The villains seem to have one dimensional motives, but the flexibility of the story leaves things open for greater complexity, thus adding to the uncertainty of it all.” She swooned and finally leaned over, resting her head on Thomas’ shoulder. “Quite the exciting game you’ve devised.”

Grinning, Thomas grabbed around the woman’s opposite shoulder and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “Glad you’re having fun.”

Silver sighed and nuzzled under the man’s chin. “I’d be having a lot more fun if I got a turn as the Luna carrier.”

Thomas chuckled and pulled her closer. Having been together for a few months now, he was quite comfortable with her nudity, even if it was her human form, thus this bit of platonic cuddling elicited no involuntary reactions. “So what happened to that spy, anyway?”

“Oh him? Given that he so carelessly wrote down all of his deeds in a journal, I swiped it when he wasn’t looking and personally delivered it to Celine, earning a total of three power cells for my trouble.”

“Hey guys,” Moonlight called over the communicator. “Area secured. We’re heading back to help with the collectors.”

“Roger that,” Thomas answered. He and Silver brought themselves to their feet as they readied to receive the others, holding hands as they waited.

Upon their return, Honey immediately picked up two of the collectors and slung them over either shoulder. Moonlight and Surprise carried a couple bridal style. This left Thomas and Silver to simply offer a shoulder to lean on as they escorted their charges through the halls.

Moonlight gave Thomas a knowing smirk when she saw the way Solana was cozying up to him. “Looks like someone made a friend.”

Thomas smiled back. “She is cute,” he agreed, pretending not to notice how the girl blushed and averted her gaze. “You up for sharing?”

Moonlight’s ears stood tall and proud while her tail swished excitedly and her nostrils flared.

“No? Eh, you’re probably right,” Thomas conceded with a shrug, much to Solana and Moonlight’s horror. “Best we save ourselves for Kiera, anyway.”

“Don’t be a meanie pants,” Surprise advised gently. “You never know how a girl might retaliate after she’s been teased too much.”

“She speaks wisely,” Luna affirmed. “Best not tempt her into doing anything you might regret.”

Thomas looked back at Moonlight, who was giving him an evil grin, promising repercussions if he didn’t start behaving. He just laughed, naively believing this was all just playful banter.

They arrived at the room with the detachable chamber. Thomas coordinated the others to channel the blue eco from the vents and carry it around to the balls on the pedestals. As expected, the chamber opened. However, before anyone could climb aboard, they saw the theorized submarine come in to dock further along the city’s corridors.

“We cannot evacuate with that vessel nearby,” Luna stated, voicing what everyone else was thinking. “It would surely shoot us down the moment we detached.”

“That must be how they’re bringing in troops and shipping eco out,” Moonlight added. “If we destroy it, it’ll cut off a good portion of the enemies’ resources.”

“I guess this makes for a fitting boss battle,” Thomas allowed as he and the others set their charges down.

“Hold on. You’re not just going to leave us here, are you?” Tess asked, making herself look extra pitiful.

“There’s no need ta fret, li’l lady,” Honey assured and gave Tess’ head a pat. “We cleared out all the bad guys in this place.” She hesitated when Tess started giving her the puppy dog eyes. “But… if’n it’ll make ya feel better, Ah guess Ah can stay to watch over ya’ll.”

“I see a vent up there.” Moonlight pointed upward. “Luna. Could you scout ahead?”

“As if you need to ask,” Luna retorted and scurried up the wall.

“Right.” Moonlight nodded. “The rest of us will continue as we have. I’ll take point. We clear each room along the path until we make it to the submarine. If it’s what I think it is, there’ll be a lot of troops and explosives, so be ready.”

“Keep an eye out for more screens or consoles,” Thomas said. “Never know what might come in handy.”

Making it to the submarine dock was pretty routine by this point. The lurkers they faced were no stronger or smarter than those that came before. None would go so far as to say it was easy, but they’d sufficiently learned the enemies movements to predict what was coming next.

Luna spoke up over the communicator. “I’m looking down on the docking bay right now. There must be a hundred lurkers and more dark eco crates than I can count all over the place. Simple brawling will pose more of a hazard to ourselves than the enemy.”

“So we have to fight smarter,” Moonlight replied. “Is there anything that might give us an advantage?”

“I am not… Wait. I spy a console!” Luna whispered. “‘Tis behind a stack of crates, so the lurkers cannot see. However, it lies on the other side of the room. Sneaking past so many enemies seems nigh on impossible for any of you.”

“What about you?” Thomas asked. “Any chance you can get over there?”

There was a pause before Luna’s reply. “That may not be the problem. I see a vent that opens up very near to the console, but I have no way of knowing how it works or what it might do.”

“Do you see anything out the windows?” Thomas asked. “Are there any towers or odd protrusions?”

“Several, yes,” Luna confirmed. “You know what they are?”

“My money’s on the city’s automated defense system. The Precursor’s had enemies, so it makes sense that any city of theirs would also have some means of defending itself,” Thomas explained. “It fits the story’s narrative and follows the pattern for how these levels play out. All you have to do is activate that console and that sub is going down.”

“Affirmative,” she said stoically and scurried down the vent to the console. As a Princess, it was her solemn duty to offer aid in times of need.

Upon making sure the coast was clear and activating the console, Luna was pleasantly surprise to find that the puzzle Thomas predicted was a rather simple one. The screen depicted several lines of code in the Precursor script, with large, shapely chunks missing. Her first step was to sift through the available puzzle pieces to find those that actually fit into the designated slots within the allotted time, about three dozen in total. However, there were several duplicates of each shape and it was up to her to decipher which ones were appropriate.

In staring at the screen for so long, Luna had managed to translate the Precursor script into basic English and translated the code. The text spoke of the race’s history, of their triumphs in building worlds, and of their follies in many of their kind losing themselves to the darkness. She could relate, especially with the later vows to never again repeat their past mistakes. It seemed that Precursors had gone to great lengths to defend their remaining territories, building weapons that even their own people feared, but recognized as a necessity. It wasn’t until Luna realized that the text flowed with the rhythm and meter of a poem that she was able to decipher which code fragments would be most fitting. With the code completed, the screen lit up with a green glow.

Luna beamed in satisfaction at her accomplishment. She’d finished the puzzle on her first go, and she’d done so by relying on her wits, rather than reflexes or brute force. The console shifted to a view of just outside the city with a target icon in the middle of the screen. Fiddling with the controls, she turned the camera this way and that until the submarine came into view.

Lurkers grunted and cried out in alarm. Luna poked her head around the stack of crates to see that one of the towers had been moved. She recognized it as a giant gun, a fairly standard implement for humans to imagine in a city’s defense. The lurkers seemed to understand the implications as well, giving Luna an idea.

“Lurkers!” Luna’s voice boomed throughout the chamber, the eco hiding her location. “We are the Precursors, come to retake that which is rightfully ours.”

Meanwhile, in the other room, Luna’s voice could be heard and Thomas was attempting to stifle his laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Moonlight asked.

“I’ll tell ya later.”

“We are most displeased with thine desecration of our city,” Luna continued. All around her lurkers were falling to their knees and muttering in their harsh language. It didn’t take a genius to guess they were pleading for mercy. “Thou art wise to surrender. Grovel before your makers and renounce the servants of darkness who hath led thee astray. Give thyselves over to those who hath already chosen the path of righteousness and thou shalt know mercy. Thine mates and offspring will know salvation. Thine future will be bright.”

All around lurkers were abandoning their crude weapons and collapsed to full on groveling.

“However, to prove thy commitment to the new path, We must first assign you a task,” Luna declared. “Evacuate yonder submersible. Strip it of all eco, artifacts, and personnel, and then set it adrift. The vessel’s destruction will mark the first step of thine redemption. Afterwards, return the eco from whence it was taken and venture to the surface. Thou shalt be met by thine righteous brethren who will help thee to see the way.” Luna giggled to herself. It had been a long time since ponies had worshiped the alicorns as gods, treated as distant, unknowable deities. And while she was glad those days were over, this little tangent had given the miniaturized alicorn her own taste of nostalgic glee. Besides, having an excuse to return to her old manner of speech was fun.

The lurkers did as commanded, emptying the submarine of all people and valuables. Luna destroyed it, grinning with just a hint of madness at the destructive power she wielded, but it passed quickly. With a few final instructions, Luna scurried back up the vent and rejoined the others.

“Oh wow,” was Silver’s stunned reply. Her fingers had been swallowed by her lower lips and there was a small puddle of clear liquid around her feet.

“She started the moment you started speaking like that,” Surprise informed, her body shaking in excitement from watching the submarine explode. “Can’t really blame her though,” she added, indicating her erect nipples. “You sound hot when you take charge like that.”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to point,” Thomas teased.

Moonlight tried not to look too obvious as she blushed and covered her nipples. “Shut up.”

With that done, they regrouped with Honey and the expedition team and detached the chamber, floating back up to the surface.

“Wow,” Kiera’s voice cheered over the communicator. “You actually managed to bring the chamber up to the surface. Not only that, it looks like several systems in the city have suddenly been reactivated. Oh, and it looks like the chamber managed to bring up a power cell on it’s way here.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Thomas said as he was already heading to fetch it.

“Inform the mayor that lurkers will be passing through the village soon,” Luna informed. “Tell her to keep the people away to prevent any trouble. These lurkers are only moving to retrieve their fellows to show them the path of peace.”

“Great work,” Samos said. “You six never fail to impress me. Then again, it may be that I have extremely low expectations. Bwaha-ha-ha-ha!” And the communicator deactivated.

“What a nice man,” Surprise mused, beaming and showing off her pearly whites. “I think I’ll make him watch when I sit on his daughter’s face.”

The others laughed, knowing the threat was sincere.

I’m surprised by how much I was able to fit in this one. Actually having the characters go out and do things has been a refreshing change of pace for me, but the real fun remains the interactions. Thomas is still not terribly comfortable with playing with the NPCs as the others, but he’s still having fun. I feel I could have definitely done more with Tess and Solana, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. It was also fun giving each mare their chance to contribute, especially Luna who performs a few of Daxter’s mini games in the later sequels and the bit of friendly talk with Silver. I definitely want to bring things back to more of a character focus for the future.