Chronicles of Luna: Future Past Equation

by Pony of Science

Chapter 13: Countdown

Chapter 13: Countdown

The trip upward to wherever they were headed had been, as far as Sunflower was concerned, the most uncomfortable and unsettling of all that had happened tonight.

The fact that Gladiola hadn’t said a word to her after meeting in the test chamber had been equally unpleasant.

Sunflower also couldn’t tell what expression her sister had on her face due to the mask, though she could take a guess.

“Ah ain’t supposin’ apologisin’ ’ill make a difference?” Sunflower asked trepidatiously.

“The time for such action passed so long ago, it could literally be a lifetime. Fortunately, I’ve found a solution that will prevent any, and all, future incidents.” Gladiola responded, her tone filled with calculated malice.

This information prompted Sunflower to try and wriggle free from the armature that had hold of her by the abdomen, to no avail.

“Oh come awn, Gladioluh. Cain’t we jus’ settle this in court, laike rational horses?” Sunflower was starting to panic.

“Yes, because rational and maturity are hallmarks of your personality.” Gladiola’s answer was sarcastic, and cutting.

Floor panels opened up around Sunflower as the elevator slowed down, signaling they had reached their destination.

“Twenty five minutes to launch. Cryo-stasis launch module prepped and ready. Subjects Quark and Gold Sunflower logged for mission. “ The intercom announced.

Sunflowers attention, naturally, started to focus on the large science cannon in the center of the room. Clearly, this was Gladiola’s solution to the decades old vendetta.

A quick glance and Sunflower found Quark, imprisoned in what looked like a glass case. Quark himself was looking up at Sunflower, a look of worry mirroring hers.

The top of the case opened up, depositing Sunflower within, preventing either pony from making any sort of escape.

As the duo slammed their hooves against the case, Gladiola said something that chilled them to the core.

“You two should be thanking me. Up until now, only one pony has ever seen what lies beyond Equestria’s moon. The both of you will not only provide that long overdue information, but will finally be contributing to society, and science.”

*******

Luna and Pinkie seemed to be at equal hoof with Gladiola now, which was helpful considering they now had to keep pace with constant changes around them. For every door they opened, a wall obstructed them. Each Turret bypassed, another was placed in the way. About the only relief was that Gladiola hadn’t started to resort to more lethal solutions.

“ If the girls were here, we would have gotten through this lickety split.” Pinkie commented, dodging through the hydraulics of the wall panel.

“Indeed. I also imagine that, if my sister were here, this might not even be occurring.” Luna responded, weaving past moving wall and roof panels. “Alas, that is not how this night has played out. It is up to us.”

“ Hey, that reminds me; what are you going to do when we get to Gladiola? I mean, sure you’re going to stop her from launching the two ponies who stuck her in that freezy thing, but how are you gonna do that? Magic? Royal Authority? Giant hammer? “ Pinkie mused.

“ Ah, no, Pinkie. I will be using the one tactic that has had the most effect, the one Gladiola herself has been using.” Luna responded.

Pinkie was a touch confused, but still kept pace with Luna. “Wait a sec, hasn’t she been using her big brain to just super think this whole thing?”

“In a manner, yes. But I have found the flaws in her logic, I now know what can truly make her cease her plan.” Luna answered, intently.

“Oooh, I can’t wait to see what it is. By the way, the elevator is the other way, Princess Luna.” Pinkie pointed in the opposite direction from where the duo was headed.

“ Yes, it is, but that is too easily controlled by Gladiola, where as the stairway is completely without automation, and therefore beyond her control. Just as important, I can fly through the shaft, expediting this drawn out contest.” Luna was mostly sure about her assessment of the stairwell. The probability of the stairway walls being hydraulic was low, but there was only one-way to certain of that; and that was to reach the area.

Hopefully, her plan for when they actually reached the MAOBL chamber would be as effective as she anticipated.

******

Canterlot Castle; Grand Foyer.

Dawn was fast approaching; soon the princess of the sun, long since awake, would perform her duty and raise the sun once more.

The question Princess Celestia had, which went unvoiced was a simple one: would the sound of a magnetic launch echo through the early morning of Equestria, followed by a massive shaft of light from the west?

Or, as Celestia hoped, would her sister be able to quell the long delayed wrath of the so-called ”Queen of Science.”

“Of course, if you, Cadence, or Twilight had gone with Luna in the first place, this would have been over hours ago.” Celestia chided to herself.

But Cadence wasn’t available this short of notice, and Twilight was still getting used to her wings.

And like it or not, Celestia trusted Luna to handle this, and she did have help. Granted, it was from the most hyperactive pony she had ever met, but even that had an advantage against a logical, methodical pony like Gladiola.

******

Outside EST Tall tale:

Inkie had been observing the EST staff grow increasingly more panicked as the launch time grew closer.

Pinkie Pie was somewhere inside still, alongside Princess Luna, trying to find and stop a pony that, for all intent and purpose, was unstoppable.

Inkie wondered what would Maud do in this situation. It wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility that; with Maud’s tediously vast knowledge of mineralogy, coupled with her profoundly plain personality, Gladiola might find a friend.

Or was that wishful thinking on Inkie’s part, finding distraction to avert from the seriousness of the situation.

Inkie also noticed Velvet Violet had been watching her tablet intently after receiving a message a short time ago. What could that be about?

******

“Flaw in her Logic.” These were the words Gladiola had been stewing over since Princess Luna said them minutes ago.

Just what exactly could Princess Luna find fault with in her logic that she herself could not?

“Twenty minutes to launch.” The computer announced. “ Checking integrity and calibration of magnetic rails.”

Gladiola registered the automated equipment check, but she had bigger matters to attend to.

“Computer, Status of Solar panel array.” Gladiola commanded.

“Solar panel array at 77% functionality. Available solar light not viable for expediting charge to MAOBL.”

Gladiola let out an exasperated sigh; this was becoming problematic. But the same could be said for the current circumstance as a whole.

Unfortunately, Luna was right about the stairway not having modular walls. Primarily a safety concern, it was, up until now, been considered unnecessary to use such mechanics.

But there were ways to work around that; they did have to make it to the stairwell in the first place. Additionally, they had to make it to this point of the facility.

And Gladiola had plenty of ways keep that from happening.

“ Magnetic rail Check complete: integrity and calibration at 100%. Checking Launch Trajectory calculations” the computer cheerfully assessed.

******

Spitfire had to admit, when she and the Wonderbolts got the call out to Tall Tale, the reason why was fairly new to her. Sure, she had read about the Major Tom incident, but only retired Wonderbolt members had seen it the MAOBL in action, let alone the pony who was using it again.

“Mothballed technology, being reactivated by a ghost, all for revenge. This is one for the record books.” Spitfire thought.

Soarin was, predictably, hungry and concerned over the mission. But he had point; how exactly were they going to stop an object, launched at super-sonic speeds, from going into space?

Perhaps it was the simple fact Spitfire didn’t want that kind of failure on her, or for that matter, the Wonderbolts, record.

*****

This was the most excited Pinkie had seen Princess Luna since she discovered fun last Nightmare Night.

The time Luna had spent since then had clearly not just gone into learning about the modern world; Luna had also used the time to better defend herself, a cue more than likely offered by Princess Celestia, after Luna had slept through the entire Changling invasion.

The distance between them and the main stairwell was shortening quickly, despite Gladiola’s efforts.

Good thing the had plenty of time, if they had only a short time, they’d probably have to get really serious, and that’s never fun.

*****

“Ah, there it is. This ought to get things back on track.” Gladiola thought out loud. Her memory had served her right

It took some searching, but there it was, Protocol 10280. Instituted six months after she’d been placed in cryo-stasis.

The power Gladiola needed to vastly speed the charge process for the MAOBL, but at a severe trade off: the modular system, along with almost all the automation she used with her administrative authorization, would be off line.

“ First let’s make sure I have everything in order, I just have to delay the princess until launch protocol is past the abort threshold, then she’ll need a to generate her own gravitational pull, and I seriously doubt Princess Twilight has thought of anything like that.” Gladiola coldly thought, making her final prep for when Princess Luna made her way to the floor.
Gladiola briefly glanced at her soon to be voyagers, and wondered if the expression on their faces would be the ones they’d have when put into cyro-stasis.

This thought elicited a chilling chuckle from Gladiola.

******

Princess Luna had only been somewhat worried about reaching the doorway to the stairwell when the very walls and floor impeded her.

Suddenly, all that stopped. The wall panels had returned to their locations, and the floor panels were all uniform and flat.

This unconsciously caused both Luna and Pinkie to stop as well, looks of confusion on the pair.

Luna remembered a line from a movie she’d seen recently. “The guns, they’ve stopped.”

And like the movie, she didn’t imagine that meant her opponent had simply surrendered.

“Do you think Gladiola got a headache from doing too much at once?” Pinkie asked, her tone suggesting she’d had enough of Gladiola’s technological lording over.

Luna’s instinct was proven correct when a rather panicked Mobius Chain called her via earpiece. “Princess Luna!”

Luna immediately responded “How much time do I have?” Semantics and explanations weren’t necessary.

“About Five minutes, Fifteen seconds and counting. Whatever your plan is, you’ve only got one shot for it to work.” Mobius said worriedly.

Luna simply and quickly used her magic to lift Pinkie up off the floor and charged toward the stairwell door.

Pinkie, while rather surprised, could tell from the look on Luna face that everything had changed.

It was a look that Twilight had on her face many times in their brief but very eventful time together.

“ Things have changed, Pinkamena, we haven’t any time to lose. I don’t know what Gladiola has done, but she is very close to achieving her goal. “ Luna explained hurriedly.

Pinkie stretched her fore and hind legs to a flying position to better accommodate Luna. “ Then let’s go!” Pinkie exclaimed as the doors to the stairway swung open with Luna’s magic.

***********

Velvet’s suspicion that she was being watched had been quickly confirmed by the sight of Inkie standing behind her, a rather un-amused look on her face.

“Can I help you with something, Miss?” Velvet attempted using her most authoritative tone at the end. She may not have been her aunt, but Velvet could do her best to make most other ponies walk away so she didn’t have to answer questions.

Unfortunately, Inkie wasn’t most ponies. When you have sister’s like Maud and Pinkie, intimidation is never a concern. The love and strength of her family taught her plenty, more than enough to deal with ponies who would try tricks like the ones Velvet was using.

“ You seem to be helping enough already, Velvet Violet. The question is, what are you trying to accomplish?” Inkie started. “ From what I understand of your family, Golden Sunflower may be the black sheep of your family, but it’s very clear life has punished her properly enough. You do honestly believe helping settle your aunt’s quarrel will exempt you from…” Inkie was quickly interrupted by Velvet, her composure quickly eroded by Inkie’s unflinching assessment.”

“THIS is not about me, or them.” Velvet hissed. “ We have been looking for a solution for Silver Rose’s illness for years. We are finally making breakthroughs at the beginning stages, but She will be long gone by the time we get to curing advanced stage Arsomatitis, Gladiola may have the best solution for keeping her alive until we reach that point. Galdiola is living proof that long term cryostatis is survivable, even reversible. Once we replicate the process, the number of lives we can save will, will…” Velvet’s composure had cracked.

Velvet had seen no change in Inkie’s face that indicated that she was making her case that her actions were any more justified. Tears started to run down her face.

The reality however, was that Inkie understood completely.

If Inkie had been given the opportunity to save a member of her family, what would she be willing to risk?