Hunt and destroy with all resources 47%

“You don’t have a choice,” Rainbow said, hacking and coughing. Whatever had happened to her during the creature’s brief attack, it was slowing her down. There were burns on the front of her armor, most concentrated near her head, and her rifle’s capacitors had all exploded. The suit seemed to have protected the rest of her from that explosion. “We have to bring it down. Once that thing gets into the buckin’ ruins, it’s gone. No way it doesn’t know we have a ship. It has to come back before we leave.”

They were all gathered near the front of the camp—all those who were part of the defense, anyway. Pinkie was there beside Twilight, along with rainbow, Rarity, and the three mechanical ponies. Spike had remained back to control the guns.

“Okay,” Twilight said. “But not you, Rainbow. No, don’t even try. You’re going back to Fluttershy before those injuries get worse. We can stay in touch with us over the radio if there are any orders to give.”

Rainbow looked like she might argue again, until she suddenly flopped sideways, legs scratching at the ground for a few seconds and wings flapping uselessly until she righted herself again. “Yikes, okay. You’re right. I’d be a liability. The rest of you… get that thing. We’ve already got it on the run.”

“Running where it wanted to run,” Pinkie said, unhelpfully.

“We will,” Twilight promised. “Rainbow, back to the Prospector. You can help Spike on backup if you get on your hooves again. But that’s on her orders, not yours. Apple Bloom, Iron Horse, you take point. Let’s go.”

“Right!” Apple Bloom saluted, and Iron Horse imitated her. Together, they galloped off across the Memorial grounds. It was getting dark, but not dark enough that they couldn’t still see the thing retreating along the horizon. Despite its indistinct nature, they could watch it clearly.

And see when it passed out of the Memorial grounds. The transition was instantaneous, as it transformed from a cloud of noxious smoke into an alicorn pony, the one she’d imagined she had seen while it was trapped. The transition was instantiations, like removing the polarizing filter from a lens.

“What the hay was that?” Apple Bloom asked. “Captain, are you seeing this?”

“Sure am,” she said. “Keep following. We’re committed now. One of us wins today.”

The creature didn’t go much further over the border of life. There was a wide entrance cavern leading down, wide enough that several ponies could cross it abreast. It led down into the gloom, and the groaning and shifting weight on the planet-sized metal city.

“Don’t like the look of that,” Pinkie whispered. “No sun, no fun. Bad news.”

“I know,” Twilight said, stopping beside her. “But we don’t have a choice. What if it can find more? Lead them back to us. We can barely fight one.”

“We’re on the right track,” Iron Horse said, adjusting his rifle. “I’ll lead, Captain. I don’t know what this thing is, but if it has anything to do with what happened to me… it deserves some payback.” He galloped down, roaring his rage at the darkness with a mechanical voice.

They followed, more carefully. The walls narrowed almost immediately, and bits of broken machinery soon blocked the path. Twilight light up her horn like a spotlight, illuminating the chamber. But Iron Horse too was gone.

“This is… dusty,” Rarity said. “I don’t see another exit. I believe this is a dead end.”

A blast of static came through the radio—whatever advice Rainbow had been trying to give them was lost to the concrete and steel above their heads.

“Guard the door,” Twilight said. “If something tries to get past you, shield us in. Everypony else, with me.”

Node was soon beside her, with Pinkie on her other side and Apple Bloom in the lead. “I hope you’re right about mechanical creatures being immune to its effects,” Node said. “I’ve grown attached to this body. I don’t believe I would enjoy fabricating another.”

“You suffer for no reason,” said a low voice, rumbling through the room. From the far side, steel snapped, turning molten orange on the edges. “The solution will be shared. It must be. It already has been. The universe is full of misery and only oblivion is the cure.”

“Buck you!” Apple Bloom called. “I’m not afraid of you! You’re just talking big to them because! Try me instead!”

“Okay,” the voice roared. “Let’s test that theory.”

Is Iron Horse corrupted? Yes, and always has been.

There was no dark Alicorn emerging from the shadows—instead, a pony-sized blur burst out of an overturned machine, aiming his rifle squarely for Apple Bloom.

Iron Horse. He had Apple Bloom dead to rights, with the energy weapon aimed directly at her head.

Sweet Celestia.

Iron Horse fires with a lethal close-range attack. Miss

Apple Bloom was stunned, but she was also fast. She dropped, and the air above her lit up with charged plasma. At the same time, Pinkie raised her own rifle, took aim, and fired.

Hit? Yes

The robot-pony’s torso exploded at the hit, plastic melting and dense power-cylinder spraying sparks. The rifle fell to the ground with a clatter, and was still.

Twilight heard the roar from further into the cavern, and saw a shape emerge. “A waste! Your survival is a conundrum! The H̤̤̰͚̪̟͉͛̓ͪ͂U̷̝͖͆͋ͅN̙̱͉͇̼͈̠G̱̫͉̲͇̤̒̈́͘Ẹ̼̳͓̱̐ͧ̇̅ͨ͟R̡̫͛͐̀ ͇̺̹̻̖͓̅̽ͯ́̾will find you like it found me!” Then he charged, straight at Twilight.

It attacks Twilight. Hit for 3 lethal damage.

She felt the strange presence in her mind again, and this time her shield couldn’t go up soon enough. She smelled burning flesh and charred mane as it attacked her, through internal wounds that were still delicate and newly healed.

Can she keep fighting through the pain? Yes.

But Twilight didn’t drop her rifle. She still had two shots left. She fired both of them in quick succession at the creature, as it drew closer and closer.

Twilight takes aim. Critical success.

She wasn’t the only one to be shooting. She smelled ozone in the air, and her eyes washed white with energy. She could hear Apple Bloom screaming in animistic anger, as she emptied her entire rifle.

By the time they were done, there was nothing left between them but an oily residue.

Time blurred for Twilight, and she wasn’t aware of much of anything else that happened down in the tunnel. Next thing she knew she was back out in open air, and Rainbow’s voice was in her ear, asking for orders. Through her delirium, Twilight made her decision.

1. Gather evidence from the two corpses and try to figure out what this damn thing was.

2. Send a team of non-injured ponies to get the Crystal Heart.

3. We’re done here. Withdraw from the planet with all valuables.

(Certainty 235 required)

Author's Notes:

This chapter's poll:

https://www.strawpoll.me/17752472

What you’re reading is a CYOA-style adventure story, fully driven by its user feedback. This story is written using a system called Mythic, a GM-simulator that allows me to be fully in the driver’s seat for the prose, without actually knowing what will happen next. Success or failure in this story is fully governed by the fickle hand of fate, as well as the wisdom of those who chose to vote on it.

You can go ahead and vote in older polls if you want, but obviously they won’t retroactively change the text going forward, so the links are left behind mostly because I’m lazy and as a record of previous decisions.

If you’d like to take a look at my semi-regularly updated blog post with character sheets and stuff, go ahead and visit here: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/834930/voyage-of-the-equinox-resource-page

And if you’re curious about the dicerolls and the system, you can see all of it for yourself and verify that I’m not cheating on my discord here: https://discord.gg/mQfUn75