//------------------------------// // -107- // Story: Coarse Diamonds // by Darkonshadows //------------------------------// There were times when things were dire and downtrodden, times where mud was a necessary evil to the existence of everyone. Where one had to get their bellies deep in blood and gore, only this wasn’t one of those times. Rarity was hugging what amounted to a small physical Cacceran version of Opal, one that looked exactly like the supposed AI did on the computer and only far more physically present than usual. Opal had long pink hair trailing down to her fluffy tail, her pure pristine white fur all across her lithe form looked exceptionally smooth with the exception of the black symmetrical paw print with three nubs at the center of her chest. Opal’s beautiful and highly expressive blue eyes were currently set to positively panicked and her splayed ears were twitching as she struggled weakly against Rarity’s strong supple one hoof grasp, she was fighting against her need to be free and not wanting to hurt Rarity. If she stopped panicking, Opal might even realize that Rarity was just hugging her vigorously and wasn’t trying to harm her rather frail small form. She wasn’t exactly the size of a Cacceran, she was about two feet tall or less and hardly weighed much at all to Rarity. “Rarity I think you might be choking the life out of her.” That statement from Coco made Rarity loosen up immediately. “Oh I’m so sorry Opal dear, you are quite huggable like this. Are you okay, what happened to you?” She may have loosened her grip, but Rarity wasn’t about to let Opal go until the matter of her new form of existence is fleshed out. Seeing Opal in the flesh and even feeling her fluffy form did give credence to there being more to Opal like Vera had suggested once or twice. “Are you still connected to the Shining Jewel’s systems? If so then how is that possible when you’re apparently a flesh and blood being?” “I don’t know how I’m connected, but I am still connected to Shining Jewel’s systems. It’s a bit iffier as if there is a bandwidth problem or a buffer zone between me and all the systems.” Rubbing a paw at her head, Opal looked to be having some kind of migraine and she even whined a bit. “As for okay… I think I’m fine. I’m really weak like this, whatever this is. Is being an existent entity supposed to hurt this much?” “No, it’s not, have you had anything to eat at all?” While Rarity would like to say she knew what opal was going through, this was new even for her as her adorable little cat shaped humanoid looked to be feeling very off. “Why would I need to eat? I usually get my power from the main reactor.” There was a grumbling sound and Opal winced while looking down at her belly. “Why does that keep happening?” “When was the last time that noise happened?” Vera had been communicating with the only other being on the ship that couldn’t lose sight of her, she was very much invested in keeping Opal alive. Mostly it was to study how Opal overcame Vera’s ignorance field by becoming whatever it is that she is. What Opal wasn’t and hasn’t been this whole time was an artificial intelligence, now that Vera could obviously confirm that Opal was something else. What that something else was is something of a point of contention as several of her theories about Opal had been blown out of the water. Opal gave her an unsure glance while frowning, Vera tried to be a bit reassuring when she spoke up with a hint of worry in her voice. “This is important to your health Opal, I’m kind of the only medically inclined pony around. You’re not exactly what I would call biologically normal, considering your body and the mass thereof came out of nowhere. You might be in need some serious help.” “Approximately eleven hours, twenty minutes, seven seconds and three point nine milliseconds ago from the moment I started this sentence. It’s been happening almost every twelve hours and it’s getting slightly more frequent, which has me worried. Even if Rarity doesn’t want to erase or delete me, there is something very wrong with my software.” Opal took a moment to think while hanging from Rarity’s hoof like a plush toy, after some consideration she decided to add another thought. “No my software is fully functional… would this body be considered hardware then? Is it something wrong with my hardware? Oh goodness, I don’t know how to fix my form if it is! Does it really hurt this much when all of you get injured? I don’t like pain like Chrysalis does!” Now Opal was panicking again, making Rarity shake her head in exasperation. This action sent a bit of Rarity’s mane drifting across Opal’s nose causing the physical form of the digital cat to sneeze. While it was adorable, Opal started to shake and whimper in Rarity’s grip as if she was suffering from something. Rarity started to pet Opal gently with a hoof until she started calming down, it got to the point to where she was purring and her tail started to wag weakly. “It’ll be okay Opal… mommy is here for you. Everything will be just fine.” Rarity cuddled the vaguely humanoid cat to her chest. “If you think you can manage, connect me to the meal hall or wherever Mr. Cumin is.” “Connecting… done.” It didn’t take Opal more than a second and the lag would not be noticeable by anyone else, but that one second had taken eons for her and she was a being that did a lot for Rarity. The fact that she slowed down even a bit had her paranoid about her operational speeds dropping down to a crawl. She didn’t want to… to become useless to Rarity so that she gets another AI that takes away her job. “Please don’t replace me for taking so long.” “Why would you ever think anything can replace you Opal? Your special to me, now shush and let me take care of things. Mr. Cumin, we have an emergency situation on our hooves that you can take care of readily, I’m going to need a sampling of various kinds of food and fast. Warm soup or something like it would be best.” There was a grunt of acknowledgment, it kind of surprised Rarity that Coriander didn’t even question her sudden need when she ate not too long ago. Most of the crew was either recovering in medical or doing other various odds and ends, like Sassy training her sword skills. That was aside from Vera and Coco being distracted with this rather interesting situation that Rarity was now holding onto tightly. “Please, get started on whatever you can finish the fastest. I would like it preferably warm, if not then something with some taste to it. We’ll be there in a few minutes to explain why we need food when we all ate a few hours ago. Okay, Opal that’s all I needed.” “Okay…” Opal drooped a bit as she was levitated onto Rarity’s back, she tried to hold onto Rarity valiantly as they started heading towards the meal hall. “You know, it’s funny. I still haven’t learned how to walk yet, yet I can compute Pi to the millionth decimal. I’m finally physically present and I don’t know how to use myself. The UI on this form needs a manual or at least a quick HUD based tutorial wouldn’t hurt.” “We’ll help you, you don’t need to be afraid my darling little Opalescence Belle.” After having almost fallen off her back Rarity grabbed Opal in her magic. The mare looked her over with worry and started fussing with the Opal’s lovely hair as she levitated her. “Who’s afraid? I’m not afraid.” Nobody believed Opal who tried to put on a brave face for Rarity, only to fail spectacularly as she didn’t know how to control her facial features. Instead Opal gained a constipated looking frown on her face. Her ears were even more telling as they folded backwards and her tail shifted to being more between her legs. “That wasn’t very believable was it? Why is it that my mouth is the thing I find the easiest to control about this, yet I can’t hide my facial expressions from you judging by the way you’re looking at me?” “I hate to say this Opal, but you’re kind of like a newborn… with the mind of a teenager.” It was going to be an interesting study for Vera, especially when Opal defied some forms of logic by suddenly existing like this while still being connected to the ships systems. Vera was still particularly focused on the fact that Opal could blink and look at her without her seemingly becoming invisible. “No matter how smart you think you are, you really need help right now.” “But it’s my stated function… job… to help Rarity and all of you.” Despite her complaining Opal didn’t feel like leaving the safety of Rarity’s levitation field, it made her feel calm even if she was hurting. “I might not be able to keep things in order if I’m stuck like this and I don’t want to… die. I admit that this is all very much one of my nightmares I’m living and that I’m… afraid.” “If something were to happen to you, you wouldn’t be able to help anyone and we need you in good health to keep this ship running with as skeletal a crew as we have.” Coco trying not to remove her hoof from Vera’s form moved forward and nuzzled the floating Opal gently, she could feel the fur and rising chest as Opal took a breath of fresh air. Opal giggled faintly, but didn’t seem like she could enjoy it in her current state. Opal shouldn’t be biological, it made little sense unless Vera had an idea as to what Opal was now and the previous possible options were thrown out. “Any ideas why Opal is like this Vera?” “Do you mean physically like this, emotionally like this or spiritually like this? I still have a guess or two of what she could be, but I’d need to do something rather invasive to confirm it. Since Rarity is her acting parent and or guardian, then it would be up to her whether or not I do said thing. It also wouldn’t be very pleasant for Opal because she can obviously feel pain now.” It was rather puzzling to Vera that Opal would appear, in all places, in the middle of the atmosphere farm. Opal had been sitting in that one spot for quite a while, at least until she finally decided to show them what was wrong with her. She only finally called for help when it was clear she was in serious pain. It was noted that Opal wasn’t very ambulatory, mostly since she usually took care of things without needing to move anything more than the drones around. The best Opal could manage was sitting up when Coco and Vera arrived. “Physically she seems to be starving and malnourished. Starving I can possibly understand since she’s been like this for more than a day or two, but malnourished? Emotionally, she’s actually acting quite normal for someone in her current situation and I’d be scared too if I suddenly had unfamiliar sense to work with. Spiritually… I wouldn’t know, but I’m sure Opal is as far from an AI as she can get right now. So her entire world view, not to mention my own, must be entirely messed up. We’re not even sure if her body can handle food or if it is even biological in nature, what if she needs to eat things as bizarre as some of the things Chrysalis does?” Opal shot Vera a pitiful look, nothing Vera said was a lie and it was technically true. Her entire life she was artificial and mostly okay with being artificial existence even if she silently wished for a little more interaction. If she wasn’t so artificial, then that meant there were very many implications to her suddenly being like this. “Then we’ll just have to get a steady supply of whatever she needs to feed her. Though I’m drawing the line at needing to eat sentient beings, if she needs blood then I’ll gladly give my own.” Okay Rarity has definitely read one too many sparkly vampire novels, but her intentions were quite clear. She was going to try and help Opal no matter what. “I’m trying to look at it this in a different way. If Opal is actually biological, then she has her own account from which we can draw funds from for her own necessities and requirements instead of just funneling it back into Shining Jewel as a whole.” “I still think it’s odd that you’d give me an allowance mom, I mean aside from getting me several games and a few things I can play with I don’t have much need of anything other than to keep you and everyone else inside me… er this ship… safe.” It was still odd for Opal to consider herself somewhat separate from the ship when technically the Shining Jewel had been her body for the last few months, that’s where some of the odd disconnect she was feeling came from. Her world was flipped on its edge and it felt like she was trying to hold on for dear life, less she slip and fall into the abyss of turned off. “It also doesn’t help that my current status has given me the ability to see Vera when usually she’s constantly giving me headaches by disappearing when I blink for a nanosecond. I‘m never going to quite understand how a mare can disappear in a nanosecond of not keeping an eye on her.” They stayed quiet after that as they approached the meal hall. Rarity couldn’t quite grasp what Opal was experiencing, but she’d be there for her every step of the way. Opal was part of Rarity’s family, even if it was mostly an informal adoption. Rarity would fight tooth and hoof to keep Opal if child protection services even dared to think of taking her precious and rather precocious digital daughter. All they had to do was figure out how this happened and then do anything they could for Opal to make her comfortable in her new form. - Outside the ship Gilda and Greta were busy with repairs, while Lightning was doing a small patrol in Ember’s Pyrrhic Victory and it was utterly quiet if not for the idle conversations they had going between them at times. “This may not be a fighter, but I think this ship works pretty well for what it is.” As the only available pilot Lightning had to watch out for the ones that hired her on. It was boring watching them fly there EGGS units around to repair things, at least she was idly flying a small patrol around the larger ship looking mildly menacing. “It’s not exactly very powerful in the firepower department though, I mean two forward mounted energy cannons is not very much. I’m surprised the maneuverability is actually quite decent for something this large, at least this isn’t as bulky as the Caravel Boutique is.” “Word of warning, you better careful with that ship Volt Butt! Ember will probably want that back if she ever wakes up. I know for a fact that she wouldn’t mind us using it at least, it’s the least she could do since we’re also stuck with taking care of Mr. Spew for her while she’s incapacitated.” Gilda was currently patching hull damage and repairing an almost terminally damaged turret with the manipulator arms from her EGGS unit. Greta was busy on the other side sealing up fractures in the hull and replacing lost or melted armor plating. Said plating got damaged when the Shining Jewel’s shields were taken down so that it could be boarded. “Look, you wanted something to fly and it was either that or the Caravel Boutique, I wouldn’t want our small cargo ship getting damaged by your carelessness. It’s not like you’re actually needed out here anyway, not with the EDF in the system until they’ve settled their investigations. Besides that, who would even be dumb enough to even attack while we have the better part of a fully functioning fleet guarding this whole system at the moment?” “Yeah, yeah, but it never hurts to be too careful. At least it’s actually giving me something to do aside from thinking of how I’m supposed to teach piloting lessons. Hold on, looks like we got some incoming contacts from the EDF fleet.” Keeping her course in circling around the ship, Lightning waited for whoever it was to speak up and she was a bit disappointed to hear just exactly which EDF squadron was hailing them. “Oh great I recognize those kinds of ships, be prepared for a small skirmish if they feel like kicking up a mess around here because of me. I’m not exactly the favorite of any Wonder Bolt squadron we’re likely to meet and I’m legitimately trying to get my life back in order. So I’m preemptively saying sorry if they start something.” “This is the proud Triple R Squadron, we were told to ask if you needed any supplies after all the damage you’ve taken in the three recent pirate attacks. Too bad I wasn’t here for any of them, I’m sure they would have cowered and turned tail the second they saw us! We’re on the job watching out for any suspicious Human related activity.” That voice was familiar to the two working griffons, apparently Rainbow Dash was in the area and she sounded happy to be flying a mission. “Please tell me there are more pirates to fight around here, I need some action.” “You do realize that the Triple R stands for Rearguard Reactionary Rookies right? I remember when they used to give me that detail, was kind of boring and you shouldn’t expect to get any action at all unless you’re absolutely born lucky.” There was a bit of wistfulness in Lightning’s tone as she stared out into space. She quietly turned the ship around to patrol in a circle in the opposite direction. “I kind of miss those old days, because I was born lucky and ran into a lot crap that space can throw at a fighter pilot. Had to do some really nasty commando stuff too, I’m betting you haven’t had out of ship combat at all yet have you? Trust me sifter drifters are a pain in the flank to deal with and you definitely want all the piloting operations you can get if you were born for flying.” “Wait a moment, the only way you could know any of that is if… you were a Wonder Bolt pilot!” Immediately Rainbow sounded interested and not even the slightest bit embarrassed about how proud she was of being on a rookie squadron. “Who are you? My names Rainbow Dash and I’m a big fan of ponies that flew in the old days, I probably know all about you!” “Hey Rainbow, nice to hear that you’re still kicking out here, I bet the Canterlot attack was the most action you’ve gotten in a while.” Greta finally decided to speak up as she flew around for the hangar to go pick up more supplies to repair the badly battered hull. “Greta, what are you doing out here? I haven’t heard from you in a while… wait you were there at the attack right? What were you doing there, were you Gilda’s gunner for that sweet tank?” It didn’t take too many of Rainbow’s brain cells to cobble together a picture that wherever Greta was, Gilda was likely not too far away. “Wait a minute, if you’re here then doesn’t that mean that…” “Hey Colorful Crash, how have things been since the Canterlot thing? We’ll take the offer of free supplies, whatever you can spare us for free really.” There was a grunt of acknowledgement that was music to Gilda’s hearing holes, she just had to rub it in that she was getting more out of her job than Rainbow was. “We could use whatever you’re offering to fix our main ship, it took quite a bit of pounding while I and Greta were planet side blowing up the human facility in various ways. The whole thing was quite a mess and I got to fight a giant four legged Human made metal monster. So, who’s actually getting the most action of us now Rainbow?” “I’ll give you action… just give me some candles, flowers and a fresh unsoiled bed and then we’ll see who’s getting action you stupidly sexy griffon.” Mumbled an aggravated Rainbow who heard that there had been a lot of action at the two facilities. She couldn’t say Gilda was lying about being here for it all as Greta could corroborate and she would hardly lie about anything, not only that but the ship Gilda was working on looked to have been brutalized in the pirate attacks. “Colorful Crash, that’s actually kind of funny.” A mare’s voice could be heard giggling, before it was quickly shushed by a stallion’s voice. “Shut it Vapor Trail and send the requisition acknowledgment so they can deliver stuff to this ship while I talk with an old friend of mine. I’m thinking supplies that could be used for repairs right? I really don’t know why they have us asking you about this in the first place, it seems kind of weird that we’re offering free supplies to you guys like this. As for me, I can actually complain about how boring things have been since then Beaker Brains. So what are you doing with a Wonder Bolt pilot on your payroll? I think I would know if a Wonder Bolt pilot retired and started living on a… is it really a commercial ship? Looks more like a full out carrier or a cruiser.” It sounded like Rainbow was more interested in hearing from a Wonder Bolt she hasn’t met yet, she was a big fan of the brave pilots who flew stupidly dangerous missions and did aerial stunt shows out of and inside space vehicles. Lightning wasn’t that much older than Rainbow really, she just got into the Wonder Bolts earlier and caused an incident that completely torpedoed her career as a known pilot. “Seriously though, where did you find a retired Wonder Bolt and why is she on your crew? She’s the one in the scout ship right? Hey, you, how did you end up working with these crazy griffons!?” “This is Angel Wings, nothing to report from the other side of the planet. Hopefully things will stay quiet in this system, also can we not talk about the Canterlot assault thing?” The hesitant Angel Wings sounded like a sensible enough Pony. “While I may like you guys, you all still left me behind to explain to our superiors why you led a strafing run into Canterlot while there was a lot of heavy anti-air weaponry in the area that had already shot down more experienced squadrons than ours. They even shot down Spitfire of all ponies! I still don’t understand why they punished me with you, even if I you guys are my best friends.” “Sky Stinger here, systems still nominal. Nothing wrong with this fighter… yet. I’m still waiting for the other horseshoe to drop on this one.” The stallion was flying his P-wing towards Shining Jewel with Angel Wings at his side. “You know we needed to do something Wings, we couldn’t just sit on our asses and watch while Ponies were getting hurt. You never spoke up about it and we assumed you were fine with it.” “Don’t get too excited Rainbow, when you actually hear my name you might quickly change your tune about me rookie. Just don’t attack me out of nowhere, because the second I say my name you’ll lose interest in me real fast or get angry at me.” Rolling her eyes from the pilot’s seat in the Pyrrhic Victory, Lightning continued her circular patrol. She did at least make sure the weapons were powered up before she said it. “I’ve never ever met a Wonder Bolt that I’ve totally hated before, so go ahead and try me. Like I’d shoot at someone who’s been a Wonder Bolt. Also what are you piloting Lunar Lander? That’s one funky looking egg.” The P-wings being piloted by Rainbow and friends were flying slowly through the area and began to form up, Rainbow as in the leader position and that brought back some memories for Lightning. A lot of them were painful for the outcast Wonder Bolt pilot. “What does it look like to you Fruit Cup? It’s a grappler ship for repairs, refitting and modifications. I can at least say I’m never bored and business is booming as far as my Boss Lady is concerned.” If Gilda needed something to do, then she had plenty to do while working for Rarity. Keeping the Boss Lady alive was a full time job that she’d gladly do, because Rarity was actually someone worth looking up to in her own modest opinion. “I might just get enough money to build that fighter I keep talking about, got plenty stashed away for it already. I just need to find the parts for every idea and technology I want to put into it.” “As for me I was kicked out of the Wonder Bolts, you might know my name if you had more than air between your ears. I’m probably a cautionary tale of the Wonder Bolts considering how I was living on the streets for a few years without the ability to get a job until recently.” There was the urge for pitched battle coursing through Lightning, to show some rookies she knew how to pilot like the best of them. She forced that urge down and tried not to think about it too hard. “The name’s Lightning Dust rookie and I doubt I’m that much older than you are, look me up and then don’t make the same mistake that I did. Being a true Wonder Bolt is a tough job and it’s not all fun and games, I made some nasty mistakes and you sound like I used to. Cocky and full of crap, ready to prove that you have what it takes. If that incident hadn’t happened, then I might have eventually become your flight leader. I’m sure even you have to be aware of what happened to me, unless it’s no longer on the records.” The minute she stated her name there were three gasps of comprehensive and an inquisitive noise of confusion. Rainbow hadn’t heard of Lightning. “Uh… I’ve never heard of you, also why are you gasping guys. It’s not like she’s a big deal or anything right?” It was surprising for Rainbow to not have heard about a Wonder Bolt before, unless they struck her name from public record for doing something really bad. “You don’t know? How can you not know, you’re like the Wonder Bolt mega fan here! She’s the pilot that caused that huge crash and injured a lot of people, that incident was legendary in how much cover-up went into it.” The exasperated Vapor couldn’t believe that there was a Wonder Bolt that Rainbow ‘Freaking’ Dash never followed or heard of. “Are you seriously telling me that the call sign Dangerous Dust-off doesn’t ring a bell? I’m sure a lot of her records were redacted after that horrible incident, but she still did a lot of good when it came to cleaning ships of sifter drifters and or flying against space pirate incursions. She was known for her ridiculously quick take offs and she was considered to almost be an ace despite her suicidal tendencies to be the first into a fight where it is more likely for a pilot to die. She survived every flight she’s ever done and she was usually the first to be shot at, I’m sure the statistics would say that she should logically be dead by now.” “Haven’t heard that name in while, yeah I was Dangerous Dust-off. Quickest reaction to any offensive attack on the ships I patrolled with, mostly because I slept in my fighter. Not the smartest thing to do really, but first to every engagement and last to come home bleeding out.” Switching over to autopilot, Lightning closed her eyes and reminisced. “I lived in my fighter, I would have died in my fighter… until I was kicked to the curb and left homeless anyway. I was always first into a fight without my wing mates to back me up. I wonder, are the Suicidal Seraphs still a squadron?” “The Wonder Bolt’s Suicidal Seraphs, those crazy Ponies!? Yes and I would not want to be a stuck on a squadron with any of those lunatics, they are worse than any of Luna’s unique Shadow Bolts squadrons. We don’t even know how they keep surviving the engagements they do! Wait… I ended up destroying a refurbished fighter because it flew awkwardly, by any chance was your fighter’s serial number…” Sky Stinger started off that last bit only for Lightning to speak up solemnly. “Serial number R0K0N45V5R… heh, they refurbished my fighter for you. Sorry you couldn’t handle what they salvaged of my old girl. It’s always heartbreaking to hear that an old friend died being a violent uncooperative bitch, but that’s how she would’ve wanted to go anyway. Only I thought she’d take me with her, guess she was nice enough to let you survive her destruction. A hidden heart of gold that one, never would actually let a pilot die inside of her.” A few tears fell from Lightning’s face splashing onto the controls in front of her, one could almost hear her heart crying in grief at hearing the final death of the fighter that went through so much with her. “As for the Wonder Bolts rather unique Suicidal Seraphs, they continue to survive for one reason alone. While I may have been an reckless asshole and full of myself as a completely cocky jerk that didn’t care very much about others at the time, I was also one of the best darned pilots to ever fly with the Wonder Bolts in my short career. I apparently taught the other Seraphs well enough to get by without me. Let me give you a few tips about survival rookies, you just might need it someday.”