14 - A Little Knowledge...
Days of Wasp and Spider
by Luna-tic Scientist
=== Chapter 14 (remastered): A Little Knowledge... ===
Salrath pulled off her visor and carefully ran her claws through the short fur of her muzzle and head. She slouched in the little chair, long legs jammed in the too-small knee hole the command vehicle provided for operators of the comms and surveillance banks. Things were starting to calm down now; after the first few frantic kiloseconds -- trying to sweep the gutted building for any of the People trapped behind failed doors, sealing off sections against the ever-rising tide of nitrogen, coordinating with the rescue teams putting out the several hundred small fires -- everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing.
As soon as she'd reached the transit centre, she'd discovered that she was the highest ranking Security officer on site, and thus the de facto head of operations -- which, as she freely admitted to herself, was ridiculous. Salrath is a field agent, she thought, if this is what promotion gets you, Security Command can keep it. Despite her lack of experience with this kind of high level administration, she found that everyone was very eager to do her bidding. Who says Security's carefully cultivated reputation is a waste of time? she thought, remembering the looks of fear on some of the People's faces. Perhaps there was something to be said for this, after all...
The downside was the sheer amount of screenwork that was required. Even with the expert systems, after she'd directed the various specialist teams in their tasks -- or more accurately, listened to their plans and told them to 'carry on' -- and allocated the always scarce servitor resources between the teams, she'd spent the rest of the time at this cramped desk writing summaries and reports. That's quite enough of that, she thought, stretching one arm to its full extent and yawning wide enough that her jaw clicked.
She reached out with the other paw and rooted around in the overhead locker, grinning in satisfaction when she located a small, slightly squishy package amid the debris of cables, plastic wrapping and assorted trash that always accumulated during these kinds of operations. Giving the pack a shake to settle its contents, she ripped the top off with her teeth and started to tap commands on the control panel with her free paw, then dropped the interface crown on her head.
‘Work-life balance’ my tail, she thought, remembering the tedious Synod sponsored employment rights training sessions and leaning back against the headrest with a sigh, but at least we get good equipment. The crystals in the crown started to glow with a subtle, ever changing hue, filling the inside of the command vehicle's cabin with a pastel radiance. The slight pressure of the headset faded from her awareness as Salrath closed her eyes, the random flickers of light behind her eyelids condensing into a perfect view of the transit station from a point near the roof.
She was a weightless wisp of presence, able to direct her attention in any direction she chose. The whole area had now been seeded with clairvoyance anchors -- pretty much the first thing that Security had done was send a flock of drones buzzing along all the corridors they could get in to, sticking the small crystals at every intersection -- and she could move her viewpoint anywhere within these bounds.
Eyes still closed, Salrath poked the end of the cured meat snack into her mouth, jaws champing rhythmically at the leathery food, the coating of spices making her tongue tingle. Everything looked okay; the various rescue and emergency teams had mostly pulled out, replaced by specialist groups of engineers assessing the degree of damage and determining what it would take to get the installation up and running again. There was no doubt that the accelerator tunnel would be repaired -- this was only one small segment of the horizon-spanning ring -- but the future of this particular group of laboratories would likely be decided at the next budgetary interval.
What interested Salrath was the number of servitors returning with the rescue teams. She had no interest in their welfare, but she'd been made aware of a large number of irate messages coming in from the owner/ operators of the commandeered animals, and wanted to see what had happened to them. A certain number of fatalities were expected during this kind of operation, but less than thirty of the two hundred-odd ponies had actually returned to the transit hub. The loss of almost ninety percent of the creatures would have a significant impact on the local industries -- something that would reflect very badly on her as site commander.
Her viewpoint flickered along one of the main corridors, past a blue servitor with bleeding wings coming the other way, and darted through the rat's nest of service corridors until she found one of the engineering assessment groups. There were a group of People and a single servitor, the creature's horn glowing a deep orange as it did something arcane to a scorched equipment panel, while the engineers hooked complex equipment to the crystals inside.
Back at the command vehicle, Salrath frowned. There should have been at least three other servitors in this area -- there had been a particularly nasty fire started in a chemical storeroom, which she knew must have been extinguished, otherwise the assessment team wouldn't be here -- along with the People they were assisting, none of whom had yet returned. She cast around, finally locating the hazmat specialists with their servitors, all crowded into a relatively undamaged office a few rooms away.
The group were all slumped in various attitudes of fatigue, covering the floor of the small room with a disordered tangle of legs, wings, bodies and equipment. There was no separation between the People and their servitors; one of the engineers was apparently asleep with her head on the flank of a sooty pony, while the second servitor, itself in a state of near sleep, rested its chin on the shoulder of another of the People.
Salrath's muzzle wrinkled in distaste. The only servitor still fully awake, a bleary eyed mare with a nasty looking burn on the end of her muzzle, was trying to open a container of water, but her horn only flickered dimly and she didn't seem to have the power to open the cap, let alone lift the bottle to drink from it. The Agent's mood lifted at the creature's obvious difficulty, immediately turning back to annoyance as the engineer sprawled next to the pony pulled out his own mess kit and poured the contents of the bottle into it, holding it up so the servitor could drink.
The view disappeared as Salrath yanked the headset from her scalp, the sudden disconnection leaving her dizzy and with crawling patches of colour covering everything she looked at. Undoubtedly that little scene was being played out at many locations; she had the information she needed, but her good mood had vanished. Grumbling slightly, the Agent turned back to the console and called up the next item in the never ending task list of decisions she had to authorise. One in particular caught her eye, 'servitor thaumic medical referrals.'
This was a list of the servitors requiring more treatment than the basic aid stations could supply; they would be shipped out to medical centres for specialist treatment by others of their kind. Obviously the People came first; this disaster, lab accident, or whatever it would be called, had caused mass casualties, most of which had already been distributed between the local hospitals. This being the case, there was now spare capacity to start treating the servitors.
Scanning the task's details, she ran her eye down the list of designations and injuries. In the top quarter of the list was an injury she recognised. "Suspected fragmentation injury, full globe penetration by sharp instrument, possible retinal damage," the Agent muttered to herself, "Salrath knows that name. That is a pony that needs to understand that actions have consequences."
She smiled nastily at the list of names and reached out with one claw. A few quick commands later and she'd shifted Fusion's name to the bottom of the list.
===
When Fusion finally worked up the nerve to activate her own communications disk, she found that her orders were as expected; return to her home corral when given leave to do so by the local veterinarian and have her injuries treated. By this point she'd been waiting in the recovery area for almost forty kiloseconds, long enough to get Gravity's coat back to its normal state, and long enough to get at least some rest. If it wasn't for the comfortingly warm bulk of her sister she probably wouldn't have been able to sleep at all; as it was, she was constantly jolted awake by nightmares of silent ponies, all horribly burned, looking at her with pleading eyes.
After waking for the fourth time, eye wide and breath coming in great gasps, she decided not to try sleeping again. Extending one wing over Gravity's back, the white mare stared at the bustling transit hub through one half lidded eye, looking for all the world like she was half asleep. Inside, however, her mind was racing, trying to discover a way to determine the fate of Random and the rest of the foals from the training centre incident. She’d had some time to talk to Mach Front, the Security pony from the training ground, while Salrath was making sense of the chaos at the improvised emergency centre. He hadn't had any direct contact with them; he'd only escorted them as far as the service entrance before passing them over to another Agent.
That had led to the only real bit of good news; on his flight out he’d seen a group of ponies matching the foal’s description, so they hadn't been moved from the Security facility. The real problem would be what to do next. This particular site was the sector Internal Security hub; from there the Masters monitored the behaviour of almost five percent of the teeming millions that made up Lacunae Hive. Mach Front had been proud of the work he helped with and, like any pony, been very willing to talk about it. He knew only a little about the internal layout, as he was mostly a field operative, but it was clear that the site was highly defendable and only had a few ways in or out.
A crazy plan started to form in Fusion's head. There was no way to sneak in -- the place must hold thousands of Masters and operate around the clock -- but if she could get in, it would be possible to do what she'd done to the Anomalous Physics Institute and trash every bit of electronic or thaumic hardware in the place. After that it would be easy to find the foals -- they would be the only operating magic sources left. Get them, and escape would actually be easier than getting in; most of the security response would be staged out of that site and without computer support this would be chaotic at best.
Surely they’d all have better things to do than watch a group of harmless foals? she thought. ...and I would need privacy to convince them to come with me, to get them somewhere where I can remove the Blessing. Fusion whimpered quietly, her ears flattening, as the scale of the task threatened to overwhelm her. With an effort of will, she clamped down on her emotions before Gravity could do more than flick an ear at the quiet sound.
All the mare's planning came crashing to a halt in the face of the one problem she had no answer to: where could she hide them? No, she thought, focus. First I need to free one other pony. With that, Fusion closed her eye and opened her shadow sight. The dark world was as expected; the makeshift staging area was a glowing island in the midst of a black ocean, the only evidence of life in the deeps a few crawling glows of ponies or Masters carrying crystal thaumic devices.
The mare turned her gaze downwards to the top of her sister's head, staring past the dim violet glow of her horn and into the dark cavern of her skull. When she'd been with the foals, her horror at what the Blessing was had made it hard to think clearly; this time she was prepared and knew what she was looking for. What gave the spell away was the colour -- Gravity's magic had a characteristic blue-violet hue, but here was something that glowed a sick, fluorescent green. A fine network of fibres that spread through Gravity's brain like fungal threads, so faint that they were almost lost against the other mare's magical background.
The more she stared, the more she could see, locating the little tendrils that passed down her sister's spine and branched off to her heart and lungs. Fusion watched Gravity's ribs expand and contract as the mare breathed, finally spotting what she'd been looking for. That thread pulsed in time with the movements of her sister's chest. Fusion cursed silently. I didn't imagine it then, she thought, her fear returning at what this thing was doing. If I tamper with the spell it will stop her from breathing. The mare paused, suddenly struck by a revelation. Wait, that can't be right...
Fusion's jaw dropped and her muzzle split in a wide grin. The thaumic suppressor, she thought, if the Blessing really controlled the heart and lungs, everypony would have died the instant it was turned on. So what in the Maker's name is it for -- and how did it survive the suppressor in the first place? She thought back to when her own Blessing was active; the chest pains and headaches. Then she had it. It's a feedback system! The Masters don't want the Blessing to kill us, this lets the spell regulate the pain, makes it as intense as possible without causing physical harm. Her grin grew savage, fear evaporating at this significant triumph. I can do it, I really can!
She was still examining the spell in her sister's head, when a tired-looking Animal Scanner walked up to the pair of them. After a quick examination of Gravity's freshly healed wing, he asked the blue mare to step away for a few moments, then sat down in front of Fusion with a sigh.
“Hold still, please,” he said, his horn glowing crimson as he closed his eyes. He let out another sigh, then stopped his scanning spell and studied the white mare’s face. “You’ve not suffered too much degeneration, which is something. I had recommended you for earlier treatment, but I guess there must have been other priority cases. Your own medic -- Spiral Fracture, I believe -- will be able to handle your treatment. She’s expecting you first thing tomorrow.”
Fusion nodded dumbly at this. ”Is the delay going to cause any problems?”
Animal’s ears drooped slightly. “Honestly? It might. Don’t get me wrong,” he said hastily, seeing her expression, “it can be fixed, but the treatment time will be longer, with all that entails. Do you understand?”
Fusion slumped slightly, Salrath’s words coming back to her. This servitor needs its horn, not its eyes. She’d be fully healed, if -- and only if -- the resources were available and her Master was prepared to let her have the time to get the work done.
“I’m sorry,” Animal said softly, bowing his head, “I tried.”
“Not your fault,” Fusion said, injecting a note of false cheerfulness into her voice. “Still, you never know, right?”
Animal smiled sadly back at her. “True. Anyway, you should go home and get some rest. Take it easy on the flight back, and keep an eye--“ Here the stallion winced at his own choice of words. “--sorry, on your sister for me, make sure she stops and rests if there are any problems.”
===
The pair of ponies flew slowly out of the local surface exit of the mass transit system with the rest of the departing servitors, keeping close the wall to avoid the continuous stream of worker ponies funnelling in to take part in the clean-up. The difference between the two groups of ponies was marked; the newcomers were all bright colours and energy, those leaving flew slowly and erratically, and were various shades of black and grey. There were also fewer of them, the rest waiting their turn on the bulk transports pulled by teams of less injured ponies.
How many are going to be classed as 'beyond economical repair', Fusion thought, as she curved around a protruding ventilation duct, and never return to their families?
The sun had long set and, once they had left the brightly lit exit point, it took a few hundred seconds for the ponies' eyes to adjust to the darkness; fortunately both Luna and Grund were above the horizon, the pair of moons touching the land and clouds with silver. This was not the normal route Fusion took to and from the Institute; the site was large enough that it had its own entrances, but the damage she'd caused had jammed all the surface doors. Instead, they'd all been directed out along the transit system tunnels -- a slightly hazardous route, as the tunnels were still being used by emergency vehicles -- but at least these were much smaller than the normal transit cars and there was space to fly over the tops of them. It did mean that the flight home would take a bit longer, especially with Gravity favouring her recently healed wing.
The landscape unrolled beneath Fusion's wings, a patchwork quilt of forest interspersed with large scale farms that fed the animals that fed the teeming Masters. Here and there was another patch of light from a funnel shaped access point to the tunnel system that made up the buried part of the Hive, each one connected to the farms and other surface facilities by the silver threads of levitation tracks. Out to the horizon, in all directions, this pattern was repeated; as far as Fusion knew, this was the way it was everywhere within Lacunae territory.
"Grav," Fusion called out, "how's the wing doing?"
Her sister's wing beats had grown further apart over the last few hundred seconds, the mare spending more time gliding than in powered flight. As Fusion watched, Gravity flapped her wings once more; the left was missing the smooth power of the right and seemed to jerk as it flexed for the upstroke. That hadn't been there during the first part of the flight.
"It's fine," the mare said doggedly, head held stiffly and not meeting her sister's gaze.
Fusion rolled her eyes at that. Stubborn as always, she thought. "Well I'm not. I want to take a breather," she said, gesturing towards one of the puffy clouds that dotted the sky. There was no sign of the weather team in this area; these clouds had most likely been not worth collecting and had been left to provide a little shade for the next day. They were small, slow moving things, a pale silver in the moonlight that marked them out as being unlikely to produce useful rain. At Gravity's reluctant nod, she set her wings to a glide and angled for the invitingly soft looking surface.
Cloud walking was not something Fusion often had a chance to try -- most of her work was in the subterranean laboratories of the Institute -- but it was an ability innate to all ponies, an instinctive magic that operated at an almost subconscious level. As the pair approached, the cloud's 'surface' condensed to a soft, but solid layer. At this close range it would have appeared as a diffuse fog to an aircraft or non magical flier; under the influence of the ponies' magic, the million million water droplets became a fluffy layer strong enough to support their weight.
Flaring her wings, Fusion came to a graceful halt on the yielding surface, turning to watch as Gravity made her final approach. That her wing was only partially healed became more apparent in the final stages of landing; at this point it was necessary to flex one's wings vigorously to kill all forward velocity and maintain control over sink rate. The blue mare almost made it.
The solidity of the cloud surface was an illusion; stand on a cloud in perfectly still air and you would still be falling, but with a terminal velocity governed by the vast surface area of the tiny droplets you were linked to. Each drop shared a minute portion of a pony's mass, so small that even the slightest updraft would be enough to them keep floating for as long as the cloud persisted. The magic was a tenuous thing, too much force and you'd break the connections and fall right through.
Gravity gasped loudly, a sudden expression of pain crossing her muzzle, as she flared for the landing. Wings suddenly going stiff, she hit the cloud too hard, sinking to her belly in the fluffy cloudstuff before the magic took hold. She glared at Fusion, working her legs to climb back up to the surface. "Not a word," she said fiercely.
"I wasn't going to say a thing," Fusion replied, trying -- and failing -- to keep the smile off her muzzle. "Still, I'm glad you didn't discover this when we got back to solid ground. As much as I enjoy your company, I don't need you to be with me in the infirmary."
Gravity sighed, carefully stretching her injured wing before refolding it. "I'll go for a galloping landing next time, but if you could...?"
"I'll be there to catch you, don't worry." Fusion yawned; she wasn't physically tired, but she did have the mental fuzziness that came with not getting enough sleep. Walking silently over to the cloud's edge she dropped carefully to her belly in the soft, supporting cloudstuff. A few moments later Gravity joined her, and the pair of mares stared out over the carefully maintained landscape in a companionable silence.
Fusion was the first to break the almost meditative state. "You've travelled more than I have; what's it like out at your launch site? Is it all like this?" she said, gesturing to the patchwork forest. It was hard to tell colour in this dim light, but she knew it was just starting to get into its autumnal amber and gold. Winter's coming, she thought, remembering the cold pre-dawn air from a few days ago, then returned her attention to Gravity as the other mare started to speak.
"I've only been out to a real launch site once; they're all too far for an easy daily flight. They took us over on the transit system; the entire route was underground so I didn't get to see much." The mare was silent for a few seconds, gazing out at the horizon. "Even when we got there the launch site was still five kiloseconds flight time from the local hub. I'll always remember the flight over; the sun was just coming up over the mountains and had left the valleys still in shadow, with just a touch of mist coating the trees." Gravity shook her head and yawned. "Very different from here, it looked completely wild."
"So no farms or industry at all?" Fusion asked, fascinated, hope kindling in her heart.
"It was like we were completely alone in a world without the Masters." The blue mare shivered and edged closer to her sister. "It was horrible; I'd never seen such emptiness. Even with my shadow sight there was nothing." Gravity rolled one eye in Fusion's direction. "Why do you ask?"
"Just interested, I've never known anything other than this and the tunnels. The furthest I've been was that military base, and we didn't see much more than concrete there," Fusion said quietly. Makes sense, she thought, those launch sites are bound to be targets if we have any problems with a neighbouring Hive. You wouldn't put that sort of stuff in a populated area. The white mare inhaled deeply and sighed, the slight lift in her mood crushed. Even wilderness areas are occupied by someone -- the Masters own this entire world, there is no place we can go and be in peace.
"Sis..." Gravity started, twisting to look at Fusion with both eyes. "I know you've been through a lot this last megasecond. Is... is there anything you want to talk about?"
Fusion stared back at her sister, the temptation to tell her everything almost overwhelmingly strong. I could reach out now and break her Blessing, then I really would have somepony to talk to. The little voice was insidious, but she resisted the urge. This was not the place; she'd made enough rash actions, this time she'd do it right and not get caught. I need to stay alone for a little while longer. Fusion bit her lip, iron control finally slipping, her ears folding back and vision blurring as tears started to leak from the corners of her eyes.
Gravity looked alarmed at the sudden change in her sister's expression. "Talk to me, please, I can see it's eating you up inside." She leaned forward to rest her neck against Fusion's, bringing her wings forward to enfold the white mare in a feathered embrace.
"I- I hurt so many of them, Grav. I even hurt you. I know you don't blame me -- but it's still my fault." Tears were rolling down Fusion's muzzle now, soaking into the dark blue fur next to Gravity's mane. She wept, not so much for the things she had done, but for the things she was going to have to do.
Gravity let the white mare cry, making soothing noises and stroking her back with one wing. Eventually, Fusion sniffed mightily and leaned back to break the embrace. Looking shamefaced, she brushed at the side of Gravity's neck where the fur had been turned a darker shade by her tears. "And I just got you all clean," she mumbled.
"I'll dry," her sister said, smiling gently. "Listen, it really isn't your fault. You just did what you had to do. You do know that, don't you?"
Fusion nodded slightly, not wanting to give word to the lie, and wiped at her muzzle with one foreleg. "It still hurts."
"That's because you're a good pony," Gravity said, climbing to her hooves. "Nopony will think less of you for that. Just do your best, that's all you can do. Come on, we should get going."
Fusion stood up next to her sister and fanned her wings in preparation for flight. Is that how they'll remember me? she thought bleakly, 'she did her best?' More likely as somepony to scare foals with. The mare grimaced and stepped off the edge of the cloud.
===
The pair came in for a long, shallow landing on one of the grassed strips normally used for the infrequent pony powered transports that couldn't be brought down to a four-hoofed landing. Fusion shadowed Gravity in, horn glowing faintly with a whisper of telekinetic power that could be strengthened in an instant should the blue mare have a problem. The precaution wasn't necessary; Gravity made a textbook -- if a little hesitant -- landing, coming down at a gallop before dropping to a trot that took her to the shelter used by their family.
A diffuse ball of white light a hoof-span across floated out from under the roof, followed by the cream and red of Plasma Cascade and the turquoise and green of Helium Flash. It was obvious that neither of the sister's parents had been sleeping; their normally pristine coats looked unbrushed, and both had a haunted, hollow-eyed look. The older ponies stopped dead when the light fell on their daughters, unable to believe what they were seeing.
Plasma broke the paralysis first, rushing forwards to wrap her wings around her daughters, followed almost immediately by Helium, who trotted up with a look of confused joy on his face. "Where have you been?" he whispered hoarsely, "when nopony returned from the training centre we feared the worst. Is... is it just you, there's nopony else?"
"We were at the Institute," Fusion said quietly. "My Master was eager for me to get back to work. The others..." Twenty four foals, an entire generation from the corral, force Blessed and flown to the sector headquarters of Maker-damned Internal Security.
What am I going to tell them? Fusion thought, all those parents waiting up like Helium and Plasma for colts and fillies that never came home. Outrage was beginning to replace her fear for the future. They were told nothing, just left to wonder. Fusion took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. A muffled sob and some indistinct words caused her to glance at her sister; tears were making dark tracks through her blue fur. A lie then, for now. "...are being cared for by the Security service. There was a misunderstanding with a squad of gryphon soldiers and some ponies got hurt."
"But the Agent said--"
Fusion spoke loudly, overriding her sister. "I asked my Master and that's what I was told." He told me a lie, she thought, but it was what he said. "I should have told you before, forgot, sorry. The Agent was--" Fusion started, then paused to clamp down on her anger at Salrath. ...a vindictive sadist who wanted to hurt us to cause problems for her opposite number, she thought, before finishing her sentence. "--mistaken," she spat, earning a startled glance from Gravity.
While Fusion spoke, Plasma dropped her wings and stepped back, brightening her floating light and examining both mares with the practiced eye of a mother. Her ears drooped when she saw the fresh scars on Gravity's wings and Fusion's covered eye, then she gasped at the yellow and orange solar disk on the white mare's hips.
"You got your labour tattoo," she said faintly.
Fusion nodded dumbly, not trusting herself to speak as the image of paw holding a slim knife flashed across her mind. The mare coughed slightly, then blinked as her stomach audibly rumbled. "We should talk -- unless you want to get back to sleep?" she said hopefully, then continued as she caught her parent's expressions. "You get comfortable; we'll tell you everything we know." The mare beckoned her sister over to the facilities hub, then started to talk.
While she told her parents as much as she safely could -- leaving out the damning details of her own part in the affair -- she used her magic to help Gravity prepare a big tray of fruits and vegetables from the cold store. They'd quickly finished and Fusion was just about to take the tray over, when her sister pulled out another bowl and floated it towards the port that dispensed the Master's food.
Caught up in the story telling, Fusion had forgotten all about that particular ritual. Unbidden, her mouth filled with saliva at the thought of the stuff, and she had to resist the sudden urge to get her own portion. Ruthlessly suppressing the feeling, she smiled and deftly plucked the bowl out of the haze of violet magic. "I'll get that, you take the tray over. It's your turn to talk, anyway."
"Sure," the blue mare said, picking up the tray and starting on the story of what had happened to her after Fusion's 'accident'.
Under cover of this activity she sought out the feed mechanism for the Master's food, then reached up the chute and snapped the drive shaft on the motor. Placing the bowl under the opening, she pressed the release key and smiled slightly when the machine emitted a nasty grinding noise and little else. "Looks like we've got a broken motor," she said, peering up into the mechanism. "We'll have to get Slipstream to take a look at it tomorrow, first thing." Slip, a golden stallion who used to work on the local weather team, had burnt out most of his magic trying to control an errant thunderstorm. Like their foalhood teacher, Back Draft, he was one of the few ponies who had found enough useful work to resist the urge to make that final trip to the infirmary.
"But--" Gravity started.
"It's not long until dawn; if he can't fix it we'll ask at one of the other shelters." Fusion wasn't sure exactly why she distrusted the Master's food so much, but there had to be something in it that helped to control a pony. If I can just free Gravity from the Blessing I should be able to reason with her. She's been through almost as much as I have in these last few days, the white mare thought. Keeping her off that stuff might even help.
Fusion bit at the insides of her lips in worry. Will I be able to convince her? What will she do? In her heart, the white mare knew that this secret could not be kept forever, knew that at some point all this sneaking and stealth would spill over into very real violence. If I can’t convince my own sister, then I won’t be able to convince anypony, she thought finally. Words won't do it though, I need to show her. She reached for an apple while her sister started to talk about the emergency work she’d helped with.
The same spell that would copy Packet Switcher's memories to the archive could be used to share an experience with another pony. It was one of the things that Random had been gifted at -- when a foal was just starting out with magic, there was no easy way to train them without such a sharing. Fusion could probably remember how to cast it, but it would be useful to get a refresher... The tan and black mare would be just the pony to talk to.
Fusion listened with half an ear to Gravity, focussing her own thoughts inwards. She is the logical choice, I know the Institute's work is secret -- it has to be considering all the security doors and cameras -- and Random is already a prisoner. She couldn't tell anypony, even by accident. Fusion's insides twisted, the juicy apple slice turning to ashes in her mouth as she continued the chain of logic to its obvious conclusion. And I don’t think she’ll be getting out any time soon, if at all. If they let me see her I might be able to get some more information on the inside of the Security centre. Dare I ask?
No time like the present, she thought, crossing her forelegs to cover the little gem on her communicator and focusing a tiny spark of magic at the metal disk. The familiar beep sounded in her head and she composed a short message to her registered Master -- technically Academician Vanca, although Student Korn was acting as her delegate -- then sent it off into the labournet.
Eventually the conversation wound down and Fusion found her head starting to droop, lack of sleep and the stress of the last day hitting her like a fully laden levitation train.
Helium sighed, reaching out with his magic to ruffle Fusion's mane. "Try and get some sleep, we'll talk more in the morning." He nodded to his mate and both older ponies stood up. "We're going to see who's awake and tell them the news." He stared off into the distance for a few seconds, the haunted look returning. "Then we need to talk to Spiral about her daughters."
Fusion shivered, feeling slightly ill. Beside her, Gravity sniffed quietly. Along with her mate, Trocar Point, Spiral Fracture was the corral's medic; she would be the one to treat Fusion's eye. One daughter shot and killed, the other nearly eaten alive, both by the same idiot gryphon. She was not looking forward to her session at the infirmary.
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2013 -- and here we go again!
There needs to be a pony version of New Year's.
1941717
Nightmare Night, maybe? We've all been interpreting it as Halloween, but taking into account that the banishment is stated to last for a specific number of years, it might be their equivalent of New Year's — a new year to forget, forgive and remember both sisters' sins and sorrow.
1941787
Ha! That's quite an interesting idea, I never thought of that. Seems a bit too light hearted for such a serious event though--and it does fit in so well with Halloween. Such a celebration would make a lot of sense, but wouldn't you put it on the day of NMM's return / redemption? Although that was on the summer solstice, so that could be a bit difficult.
There should also be something on the winter solstice, but that's another story.
1941854
Maybe Fusion frees Gravity on the same date as Nightmare Night/Equestrian New Years'?
1941863
Interesting thought, but I can't see the calendar being easy to determine from the Master's dating often to the new 'Equestrian' version. Wouldn't stop you from making one up, though--but there are reasons why the ponies might not want to remember these times.
I've always been of the belief that there are two obvious celebrations: summer and winter solstice, and one for NMM's uprising. You could also imagine a new one for "Discord Day" (a bit like April Fool's perhaps).
This chapter felt a bit like a filler, although we can see better into the thought processes of young Celestia.
Now she needs to free Luna. And then a bloody uprising will happen. Thousands of dogs will die...
1941717>>1941787
There's Hearts and Hooves day (Vernal Equinox + Valentine's Day)
The Summer Sun Celebration (Summer Solstice)
Nightmare Night (Halloween)
The Running of the Leaves (Autmnal Equinox)
and
Hearth's Warming Eve (Winter Solstice)
...
I guess you could count Winter Wrap-Up as the end of the year?
coming in from the owner/ operators of the -- you missed a space, correct me if I'm wrong
She’d had some time to talk to Mach Front, the Security pony from the training ground, while Salrath was making sense of the chaos at the improvised emergency centre. The comma was not necessary in my opinion. An explaination.
Does the name "Lacunae Hive" mean something, or foreshadows something?
As the pair approached, the cloud's 'surface' condensed to a soft, but solid layer. At this close range it would have appeared as a diffuse fog to an aircraft or non magical flier; under the influence of the ponies' magic, the million million water droplets became a fluffy layer strong enough to support their weight. -- so the cloud's surface turned into water? Doesn't make much sense, if you ask me.
"And I just got you all clean," she mumbled.
"I'll dry," her sister said, smiling gently. What?
As always, sorry for my lack of syntax and grammar errors.
---
Well, to use a cliché phrase - the plot thickens! I can't help but take the part where Animal Scanner tells Celestia that the delay might cause some damage as foreshadowing - am I right?
1942411
Looks like we're both wrong on '/' usage; there should be no leading/trailing spaces, unless the things being divided are multi word items.
In this case the commas are there to segregate a section of the sentence that can be removed without making it unreadable ('the Security pony from the training ground').
Lacunae Hive - I forget where the name came from, I know I was using an 'evil name generator' at the time. It's also possible I though I was making it up, only later to realise it's an actual word. I could make something up after the fact, but the truth is it's an accident.
'Condense' -- using the non science definition. Instead of the cloud's 'surface' being diffuse fog, when a servitor is present it actually has a (semi) rigid edge (i.e. becomes cotton wool like).
'Just got you clean' refers to the previous chapter, where F spent some time giving G a brush while they were waiting at the medic station.
Now using emoticons as bullet points; what could possibly go wrong?
===
I refuse to confirm or deny any rumours -- but I do try and foreshadow as much as possible...
1941966
I understand what you are saying, I suspect I do have a tendency to overwrite things (there might be one little point I want to get across, but that seems to get a thousand (or more!) words of introduction / scene setting). It's very possible that when this is all finished I'll go back and edit the hell out of it, but until then, it's all 'first draft'.
I always considered Celestia/Fusion to be a thinker/planner, so before she acts she wants to know everything she needs to do (and how to do it). She may not always have that option...
1941999
I'd managed to forget most of those! Not particularly convinced about Winter Wrap-up though...
1942884 Indeed, she does seem like a thinker kind of pony... Although your remark makes me wonder if you will try to fit in Discord, somehow...
Yes
! Can't wait to see the next one. Keep up the great work!
That gryphon is completely irrational, blaming two ponies he didn't even see in the fight for his woes. He's going to be a thorn in Fusion's side later in the story, isn't he? Not like she doesn't have a big enough thorn in her side named Salrath.
Can't wait for that prisoner break-out chapter with the foals! And for Gravity to be freed! Awesome stuff is going to be happening, and (relatively) soon! I'm excited!
1943240 Isn't Discord already in this? Like, several times?
(Or perhaps you were referring to chapter 14 in particular?)
1942884 Yeah, seems more like a labor celebration than a holiday (with creepy connotations of racial holdover when considered along with your story)
Personally I've always found the Chinese concept of New Years (starting at the beginning of Spring) to make more sense. Plus, ponies with firecrackers just sounds entertaining (if highly unlikely, nothing more likely to activate herd threat instincts).
Traditional Equestrian Holidays seem to have two or three word names. How about a pair of days: 'Year's End' and 'Year's Beginning', perhaps?
Oh, uh, awesome chapter - as always. Really setting up a lot of anticipation for what's to come, and I love seeing the evolution of Fusion's thoughts about the whole thing - the road to revolution.
The eye injury got me thinking. In the show, she usually has her hair covering one of her eyes, so could that be because she's actually blind in that eye: a wound that never properly healed?
1945317
Heh, I actually went back and checked to see if Celestia ever shows both eyes -- I'd like to say it's a result of good planning, but...
1944906
Now this is an interesting thought!
Spring as 'start of the new year' does make a lot of sense; considering the celestial nature of the ponies, the vernal equinox might make a lot of sense for that (day starts to win over night -- another reason for Luna to feel marginalised!), although farming operations likely start earlier anyway, and you could make the same case for the winter solstice. The irony is that Summer Sun is on the longest day (I'm assuming the summer solstice), so from that point onwards the 'day' is losing its battle against the 'night'. It would be really interesting to see the 'Winter Moon' version of Summer Sun.
Fire crackers and ponies... yes, that's probably a capital crime, right there.
1943865
So much to do, so little time! It won't be long now (story time, anyway, there are a few more things to put in place first).
1946895 Winter Moon Celebration...
ooh, I like that. It sounds so poetic, do you mind if I use that someday?
I see what you mean about the Solstice, but the reasoning is twofold:
First of all, it's a celebration the sun's greatest triumph (and on he darker side, a way of saying, ok, now you've got to slow down a bit before you burn us).
Secondly, due to perihelion, it also is only the start of summer's warming - it's like the planet has finished defrosting through spring and now it can heat up. The days get warmer even as they swing back towards equilibrium, and that's all because of the sun, summer really is the period of the sun's greatest influence (well, in the Northern hemisphere at least, not sure how it lines up for our Southern brothers and sisters).
Day and night.. that would be a good reason to fix Nightmare night in the fall... and another reason Luna took it so hard on her first 'Nightmare Night' after returning. Here was the night of her triumph, night ascendant, and all anypony wanted to do was run screaming from her. Makes her getting over it even more meaningful, because it means they trusted her enough with their safety that they could play at being scared to give their lives savor. All these hidden levels (imagined? maybe, but so what?)
1946981
Be my guest; I very much doubt I'm the first to think of it!
Good point on the summer solstice; that logic makes a lot of sense (although I don't think perihelion has a lot to do with it, more the thermal lag of the ground catching up with the atmosphere--I think, have to do some reading on it). It also suggests that the Royal Sisters have all their influence on one continent in one hemisphere (to start with, anyway), because of the timing of southern hemisphere summer.
Nightmare Night being a corruption of a hypothetical 'Winter Moon Celebration' also makes sense if you look at it from the 'ancient history' direction--already scorned and ignored (in her own mind, anyway), this seems the most likely time that Luna's emotions would get the better of her, and she'd give in to Discord's prodding (or whatever) and go all Nightmare.
This is a big chunk of what I enjoy about Faust's original vision, intentional or not, it all fits so well. It's also why I'm in two minds about any show episode on the Sister's history; I'd really like to see it, but it would completely remove any 'room to maneuver'.
1942884
She’d had some time to talk to Mach Front, the Security pony from the training ground, while Salrath was making sense of the chaos at the improvised emergency centre.
^ I meant the comma between these two words. The link I posted contains a good explaination.
"Looks like we're both wrong on '/' usage; there should be no leading/trailing spaces, unless the things being divided are multi word items."
BUT IT'S UNCOUGH THAT WAY. SPACE MASTERRACE IS BEST RACE.
And you've mentioned you're trying to foreshadow as much as possible. Thanks, now I'll be reading even more keenly. Can't wait for the next chapter, I know it's going to be awesome.
1947165
I see where you are going with that, but I don't agree. If that comma came out:
So did I!
...it doesn't really work. It would work if the 'security pony' bit came out:
..because the middle bit is an aside / 'not required'.
Edited because any post about grammar will have an error in it...
1947318
Yes indeed, I see what you mean. My mistake then.
1946895 I never checked. Even if she did, she still covers it up most of the time, so you could still put that in there. It would certainly make things interesting.
Yeah that griffon is going to be one of Fusion's enemies later in the story. Although I thought you were showing him and Salrath because they were going to join forces now, but I guess it will be later or never if Salrath would be considering recruiting that guy.
I can understand Fusion's plight about trying to free everyone and not knowing what to do afterwards. This is really something she has to think through and believe in, especially since the Diamond Dogs rule the entire world apparently, which I keep forgetting that the setting is not underground but kept thinking it is. I mean it's not exactly as simple as freeing some ponies and then live in a far off place. Makes me wonder about how little Fusion knows about the world outside of the facilities they've been living in. Also freeing Gravity is going to be a little delicate seeing as she fully believes in the so-called Maker.
Eeeaugh, filler.
Not bad filler, though. Delicious worldbuilding is delicious.
1953876
It's a good job you like the taste, as there's probably a bit more to come...
1953783
Most of the Master's world is underground (all the living space and most of the heavy industry), but there are a lot of them. Unlike humans, they are pure carnivores -- which means that they need a lot of surface farms (as meat is less efficient to produce than vegetables). Fusion really doesn't know much about the 'real' world; there's no good reason for ponies to be kept informed, and they don't get holidays.
1948561
You'll just have to wait and see ('see' geddit? Sorry, I'll get my coat.)
1947781
Thanks for checking (please don't stop!).
1946981
...and you know what else this discussion has done? Forced me to change my planetary system design because I forgot about seasons! At least I can fix that easily enough.
===
Thanks for commenting everyone!
Rebellion is in the air....
Just saying hello.
Read the chapter days ago (haven't commented since the previous one), I liked it. That's about it. Blame my sleep schedule for the lack of detail.
1942884
About our "condensation" talk - here's an explaination I found saved on my computer, probably from TVTropes. Have a look!
"Hurricane Fluttershy had some Twilight technobabble. The weird thing is that the technobabble was actually sensical. "This is an anemometer. It measures your accelerative velocity and translates it into wing power, thus gauging your cumulative H2O anti-gravitational potential." Pegasi apparently use the moisture in the air to fly instead of pushing all the air like real winged creatures. If their magic pushes up against the sparse number of H2O molecules normally in the air and lets them fly easily, wouldn't that make clouds pretty much a solid surface to them?"
1990403
)
I'll admit, when I heard that I just ignored it (well, my inner scientist died a little, but that's another story).
If we take that as gospel, then it has some interesting implications
1) clouds could be solid for them
2) As gryphons can also cloud walk, they would also have the same restrictions.
3) they would have real problems at high altitude (cold air means little water) and in deserts/polar areas.
I could imagine a pegasus explorer taking water tanks to supplement his/her flight in arid areas, for example, or military teams using than for a temporary performance boost. Might make for an interesting DD short!
1987443
And hello to you too! Glad you liked it (ah sleep, I remember when I had time to do that--it was when I was WEAK!
1991517
Wait, how could your inner scientist die a little when magic is involved? You can just treat pegasi as unicorns that use magic to propel themselves blah blah. That would also explain why Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both can't use their abilities well - they aren't experienced enough to do that. And why Pound Cake could fly - if unicorn foals can use their magic and lose that ability as they grow up, same could be appled to pegasi.
Sorry for rambling, I'm too lazy to proofread what I'm typing.
1998400
Oh, I do -- it's the only way it can possibly work with that size of wing. The only alternative is operating at a different Reynolds number, but that either means massively reducing the size of the ponies (to insects), or changing the viscosity of the air to that of water (shoo-doo-bee-doo). And nopony wants that.
Back to the subject at hand: if pegasi do use water as reaction mass, then I was wrong about deserts; horses sweat massively when hot, making a perfect source of water vapour. Polar cold would still be a problem, as you'd just get ice. And another thing -- this might explain the Wonderbolts' suits (think of the still suits from Dune), acting as conformal water tanks and capturing water from the wearer for future use. Perfect for special operations!
You see what you did? I just can't turn this stuff off.
Anyway: The problem I had was the use of the word 'antigravity', where 'levitation' would be a better fit with magic (or even just 'lifting').
Based on the familiar design for the clairvoyance crown, I bet I know what you're going to do with Salrath...
As for that eye, I'm rather sad now that the Celestia we know and love doesn't have an eyepatch.
2004013
Well, I treated "antigravity" like good old technobabble, but I can see how that annoyed you.
On the other hand, wing size. Think of wings as horns. In the show, unicorn horns "glow" when they use magic. What if pegasi have a similar glow, but in plates (or bowls, for more efficiency) sized in nanometers? Such plates could push themselves against water molecules (about 200-1000 per plate. Hey, I'm not the scientist here!) and so on. And, now regarding the size, they just span way beyond the wings.
And before you ask "but hey, so what if they have a nice nanoglow? How does it help them fly? Well, those are SOLID TELEKINETIC PLATES. Hope this makes a bit of sense.
THEREFORE Rainbow Dash is an egghead whom sits in the library and trains her magic to form in bowl shapes instead of plate shapes, so she can fly faster! IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW.
Also, a nice idea with those Wonderbolt suits. And about the more cold climates and areas - pegasi might sweat differently than earth ponies and unicorns and sweat... WATER VAPOR. I don't know water vapor's resublimation temperature, but I suppose they might pull out a few wingbeats.
And I see what I did. And it is glorious.
2007097
Clairvoyance crown? Could you elaborate on what do you think's going to happen to Salrath? (As long as it's painful and slow, that is.)
2007906
I feel like the act of posting predictions in comment sections may in some small way influence the author. I'd feel like changing things to avoid the smug "Ha I knew it"s. The clairvoyance crown has a similar silhouette to the blessing crown, which would lend itself to the moment of schadenfreude by delaying Salrath's realization of what kind of crown Celestia is forcing onto Salrath's head. I wonder what happens when the blessing is applied to the People. Narrative tension demands that Salrath take a fall, but it would benefit Celestia's position as the sympathetic hero for it to be self-inflicted. I suppose alternatively she could activate the crown herself by mistake, thinking it to be the clairvoyance crown.
As for Celestia's response, I figure it could range between "Live with the suffering you inflicted on us" and "I order you to pluck out your own eye." The latter would constitute a moral event horizon, and even in spite of what I've already seen, I don't think it will go as dark as the latter option.
2009658
Thanks, that clears up things a lot. Now I can't wait for the next chapters to see if you're right!
2007906
Hear that alarm? That’s the sound of my inner scientist flatlining (I’m sure he’ll recover, heavy doses of Einstein and Hawking are being administered).
The ‘giant magical wings’ theory is another good one, but that might make things tricky in small spaces, even if they don’t interact with solid matter, which is why I went with inertia/mass control. The idea of pegasi having control over water is a fascinating one, lots of potential. In the cold: you’d wear a heated suit to help the water evaporate, but that’s easy to do.
===
So, suggesting a possible future then immediately denying it, meaning you will be proved right no matter what. Well played, 2009658, well played. Interesting ideas; it will be obvious Real Soon if you are right. Also I see that you have been to TV tropes -- congratulations on your escape!
2018680
What killed your inner scientist this time? What did I do wrong? I never wanted any of this.
2018680
Hey, nobody's stopping you from taking a third option. Salrath could choke on a pony and cheddar on rye in the next chapter. Or Salrath could possibly not die at all, in accordance with the idea that karmically bad things don't necessarily have to happen to bad people. The point I was trying to make was mostly about the crown mix-up being foreshadowed (which I might be imagining) and using that plot point to generate branches. All I'm sayin' is that you could have made the interface for the clairvoyance system look like anything, but you described it as looking like the blessing crown. Besides, what's more poetic than the king being brought low by a deadly crown? (I am now capable of going to TVtropes without sacrificing many an hour of fascinated clicking, but my diction has forever been scarred by my fall from grace)
Does your inner scientist have the same training as your outer scientist? Your uncommon (among mlp fanfic) attention to scientific detail in this story makes me curious as to what your outer scientist does.
2018947
I'm not really sure; he keeps muttering something about 'exhaust velocity' and 'radiation poisoning'. The poor soul never really came to grips with the whole 'magical ponies thing'. I think it's best if we just let him rest.
2019190
Welcome! I hope you have fun.
2027950
Ah, they say that the thing a professional sword fighter fears more than anything is an amateur sword fighter, because you never know what they'll do next. I'm a very amateur writer... On the crown thing: or the crown could look like that, because it's the best way to access the brain, be it for mind control or remote sensing. And I nearly did a spit take when I read the sandwich filling.
My outer scientist is an analytical chemist, but I get to play with an NMR machine, so I'm at the 'physics' end of chemistry (which is why you are all getting stuff involving superconductors every so often).
2018680
Be careful with that, you wouldn't want to poison him with an overdose of Hawking Radiation, now would you?
2035215
Heh, I think if he's in a position to get Hawking radiation poisoning, we're all in an awful amount of trouble!
Also, Cherenkov is best radiation; the closest thing to a rainboom in our physics.
2037122
Yis
2007906
Ouch. Since sublimation is a solid -> gas transition it makes no sense to talk about water vapor resublimating. I'd assume you mean deposition... and it's identical to the freezing temperature, you just have to somehow get the gas cold enough without allowing it to condense.
Also, I think it's worth pointing out that at any temperature you'll end up with some water vapor; after all, temperature of an object is the average kinetic energy so until you get to the neighborhood of absolute zero any solid or liquid water will give off water vapor. The trick is that you hit a point where your chunk/pool of water is gaining as much mass from the atmosphere (vapor hitting your solid/liquid and 'sticking') as it's losing. And yes, there's a sharp decrease in the amount of atmospheric water vapor as you make your way past the freezing point.
And given that this whole thing came up because of Twilight's arcano-babble, it's probably useful to note that the apparent mechanism for manipulating the water was rather... indirect, since they apparently were moving the air to create a vortex and the vortex is what actually interacted with the water, which seems to present an alternate explanation for why the speed of the wind generated by the pegasus's wings affects how well they can send water into the air.
2009658 I'd tend to think that a crown is the obvious shape for gimmickry that needs to be around the brain and gem encrusted is pretty much a necessity since the People don't have horns and are forced to use the gems to direct magic.
2018680 On escaping TVTropes... following links there led me to FIMFiction. Is this really an escape, or just an extension of its madness?
2029993>>2055020
Ah well... There's a potential for major themes of royalty here. Every pony in what passes for their history has been "crowned." Many kings and gods are blind or similarly maimed. Celestia only just escaped charybdis(the roiling vat of liquid nitrogen and possibly helium?) having already escaped the scylla attached to her brainstem.
Here's a thought. It's conceivable that the crowns could be switched, yes? In the dark, Salrath might not immediately realize it's the wrong crown. What does Celestia do with the clairvoyance crown? Do you really think she wears that tiara because it's stayed fashionable for centuries?
2056364 The worst thing? A Blessed Salrath is likely to be even more dangerous to Fusion than the self-serving jerkass she currently has to deal with.
Or, depending on how, exactly, Salrath interprets the spell's directives she could cause even more chaos as she finds herself compelled to act in the interests of the whole of the People, instead of merely herself and Lacunae Hive.
As an aside, a lacuna is a gap; a missing bit in the middle of something larger.
2055020
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, more like. Despite its reputation, I've not found TV tropes to be quite so black hole like (after a few visits to build up immunity, anyway). FIMfic, on the other hand...
2058795 I first started showing up there back when 'The Toblerone' and 'Jonas Quinn' were considered perfectly good, logical trope names. And the idea of covering video game tropes, too, was still new and, apparently, controversial.
I don't know whether I've developed a kind of immunity over the years, or it's changed as it aged and expanded so it doesn't have that same siren call.
Here, it's just a matter of raising your expectations high enough until you dismiss enough of what's here as not worth your time; a tougher challenge there since every article is a collaboration. And there's that compulsion to be part of the wiki magic when someone is wrong or it's just not complete. I've given up, however, on getting 'Not Left Handed' distinct from 'Power Limiter.'
2062513
What!? Someone is wrong on the internet?
I'll be honest; I've never felt the allure of wiki editing. The only thing that really attracted me to TVT were the entertaining names ('moral event horizon' was always a favorite) and descriptions. Most of the references don't mean much to me.
2055020
Sorry for my mistakes - lots of things can go wrong when you're speaking in your second language.
And what we were talking about were our theories on pegasus flight with their little-cuddly-wings-that-can't-provide-enough-lift, so unless the vortex was amplified by MAGIC!, your theory is still implausible.
And please don't kill me for my physics mistakes, I'm not a scientist!