When the Bass Drops
Chapter 1-
White Rabbit
A black ‘77 Camaro with bronze racing stripes raced down an open road that twisted through wooded hills. The driver, a young woman with pink highlighted strawberry blonde hair and green eyes, weaved the vehicle through the hills with deft movements, pushing the machine as hard as she could without losing control. Eventually, the hills began to level out and after a few more minutes she rolled up to a chain link gate, a guard station next to it. As the guard walked over, she reached inside of her white leather jacket and pulled out her ID.
“How’s that girl of yours, Jeremy?” She asked as she handed the man the plastic card.
“She’s great,” Jeremy answered with a smile as he looked it over out of protocol only. “She really missed you at her birthday the other day.”
“I’m sorry,” the young woman responded as she took her ID back. “Did she like the present?”
“Of course she did,” the guard said with a chuckle. “You take care, Amelia.”
“You, too,” Amelia replied as she drove through the gate as it opened. She drove up to a large, concrete building and parked her car. She got out and walked into the building, making her way to the locker room. She opened her locker and quickly changed into her flight suit. She took out her helmet and headset and went to close the door but stopped as a black and purple object caught her eye. She turned back and reached into the locker. Her fingers wrapped around the object and she pulled it out, turning it in her hand. It was her self-proclaimed good luck charm, a Bass.exe Advanced PET toy. She smiled down at the object and stuck it in one of her pockets on a whim before closing the door and exiting the building.
Amelia made her way over to one of the hangars, where a maintenance worker was opening the door from the inside to reveal an F/A-18C jet. “Morning, Samuel,” the young woman said as she made her way over. “Is Far Away ready?”
Samuel gave her an amused look. “Yes, your jet is ready,” he said. “Tell me again why you insist on calling it ‘Far Away’?”
Amelia smiled and laughed like she did almost every morning as she made her way to her craft. “Because every time I fly in it, it takes me to a place ‘far’ and ‘away’ from here.”
Samuel gave a chuckle. “Alright, Miss Jaeger,” he conceded. “You be safe now.”
“Always,” she answered before beginning her preflight check. She eventually climbed into the vehicle, strapped herself in, and within a few minutes was speeding down the runway and into the air. She performed a few basic maneuvers before she began to practice the routine her team would be performing in the next show. As she flew, her thoughts began to wander. Eventually, they found their way to her mother. Amelia frowned and shook her head to clear her thoughts. Come on, Amelia, she told herself. It’s been nine years, let it go.
Just then, her radio buzzed and a female voice came through. “Hey, Amelia,” she said. “We’ve got some weird weather patterns in your area. We suggest you start making your way back and wait for it to pass.”
“Rodger that, Celeste,” Amelia replied, moving the controls to make her way back. “I’m on my way.” A few seconds later, the craft was slammed and almost every instrument started going haywire. Amelia started to work the controls trying to get the jet back under control until the plane got slammed again and sent the plane into a rotation. Seeing the jet was a lost cause, Amelia started to reach for the ejection lever. She pulled it and the entire craft gave a shutter… only for nothing to happen. Amelia’s eyes widened and she began jerking the lever over and over, but to no avail.
She reached up to her radio and opened the channel. “Tower, I’ve gone into an uncontrolled rotation and my ejector is jammed! I need remote assistance!” She let off only to be answered by static. Time slowed down as Amelia realized what was about to happen. She leaned her head back and resigned herself to her fate until a thought struck her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the PET and stared at it. She finally closed her eyes and held the old toy to her chest. I’m sorry, mom, she said internally as the first tree came into view and her world turned white.
Weightlessness. That’s what Amelia felt as consciousness came back to her. That is, until the cold hit. She could feel the freezing sensation flood through her body, and she closed her right hand, a crunching sound following her action. She turned her head and looked at her closed fist. She rotated her wrist and opened her fingers slowly to let the snow fall from her hand. As her eyes focused, she noticed that her hand was covered in a white glove. Her mind finally woke up and she got to her feet, only to be buffeted by howling winds. Something around her flapped in the wind. She grabbed on to the brown cloak and pulled it closer to her body, which felt somewhat alien.
She decided to ignore the feeling and began to trudge through the snow and ice. She moved slowly through the frigid environment, not sure of where she was going or even how long she could last. She didn’t realize how far she had gone until she looked up and saw a tower crawling into the sky in the distance.
She breathed a sigh of relief and began to walk forward. Tiredness washed over her and she fell forward, her limbs heavy. She lifted her face to look towards the tower and saw three black dots rise up into the sky. “Please,” she said, “somebody help me….” She drifted into unconsciousness as the dots began to get closer.
Amelia lay in a large, elaborate bed, several blankets covering her. A fire crackled in a nearby fireplace, warming the room. Amelia began to stir, her face forming into a grimace as it felt like her limbs her being unfrozen, causing pins and needles. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up in the bed, putting a hand on her forehead, feeling something odd. She moved her hand back and saw the same white glove she noticed before. However, upon closer inspection, she saw that a black and silver bracer with a gold ring and fin near the back.
Why is this familiar? Amelia asked as she turned the limb to get a better look at it. She finally turned away and saw a full-length mirror near one of the walls. On a whim, She threw the covers off and got out of the bed before walking towards the mirror. What she found completely shocked her.
Her body was covered in a black, tight fitting suit that complimented her figure, purple lines running from the golden armor around her ankles and lower legs up to a badge on her chest that had a white, scar-like line across it. Golden armor came off her shoulders at a diagonal, and a black helmet sat on her head, decorated with four fins that were yellow on their undersides, silver and blue puck shaped pieces that covered her ears and a blue crystal cut in the shape of a four-pointed star in the center. Purple stripes ran down each side of her face, completing her strange new appearance, however, her eyes were still the same green as before.
I’m… Bass? She thought completely shocked. She reached up her hands and attempted to pull the helmet off of her head, but to no avail. She lowered her arms and stared at her reflection. “How did this happen?” She asked as she put her hand on the mirror. She heard a click and turned as a door opened behind her. When she turned to face the sound, she saw, of all things, a gray pony with a black mane and red eyes wearing steel armor covered by a red, fur-lined cape. However, what truly caught her attention was the horn that protruded from its head just below a silver crown. Two other ponies, one green and the other light blue, both garbed in dark armor, followed close behind the first. The whole thing might have been impressive, or maybe even intimidating, if the tallest of them, the one in front, didn’t only come up to her chin.
The ponies stopped in the middle of the room, watching her and for a moment, none of them moved. “Could this get any weirder?” Amelia finally asked, her eyes searching the group.
“Says the alien.”
Amelia flinched and looked around the room, searching for the source of the voice. “Who said that?” she finally asked when no one caught her eye.
“That would be me, my dear.” Amelia jerked her head back around to stare at the ponies in front of her and focused on the one in front, who was now wearing a smug grin.
Amelia blinked her eyes and stared at the group in front of her. “How long was I out in that storm?” She finally asked, questioning her own sanity.
“According to the three scouts that brought you in,” the leader said, Amelia clearly seeing his mouth move as he spoke. “Almost ten hours.”
Amelia’s face blanched. “Ten hours? How cold is it out there?” She asked the stallion, at least she assumed from his voice.
“Fifteen degrees,” he answered readily, the smirk still on his face as his eyes searched her.
Her face paled and she stumbled backward until she backed into the wall behind her. A million thoughts ran through her head. How did she survive the crash? How did she survive the cold? How was this pony talking? However, one question stuck out above all else. “Where am I?” She asked, somehow keeping her cool despite her internal panic.
The unicorn smiled, somewhat unnervingly. “That is something that would be better shown than simply told,” he replied, before turning around to face the door. “Come.” He began to walk out of the room, the other two followed after him.
Still slightly confused, Amelia started to follow after them but a slight movement caught the corner of her eye. She turned to see the cloak she had been wearing earlier hanging on a coat rack. She looked toward the group that was beginning to make its way out of the room and back at the cloak before quickly walking over and taking the covering. As she pulled it from the rack she heard something clatter to the floor. She looked down to find her PET on the floor and bent down to inspect it. She picked it up and turned it in her hand before she stood up. She turned and rushed to catch up with the ponies as she threw the mantle over her shoulders and slipped the PET underneath it.
As she caught up with the gray stallion, she began to take in her surroundings. The walls shined and sparkled as if cut from gemstone. The hall was also very beautifully decorated, with paintings hanging on the walls and elaborate carpets paving the way. “What is this place?” She finally asked in awe.
“The Crystal Palace, my dear,” the stallion answered before throwing a sideways glance at the young woman beside him. “May I ask you a few questions, miss?” He asked as he turned his head forward again.
“I guess,” Amelia said with a shrug. “It was your scouts that saved me after all.”
The gray pony gave a chuckle. “I suppose the best place to start is who, or what, are you?”
“Well, my name is Amelia Jaeger, and I… was human.”
The stallion gave her a questioning look. “What do you mean, you were human?”
Amelia closed her eyes and took a breath, before opening them but keeping them on the floor. “Last thing I remember is getting a call about strange weather while I was practicing for an aerobatics show. I got hit by… something and started going down. Before I crashed there was a bright flash. I figured I was dead until I woke up in the snow in this new body.”
“And,” the dark pony began, “what is this new body of yours?”
“From what I can tell, I’ve been turned into a NetNavi, Bass.exe to be exact,” she answered as they took a left turn.
“What is a ‘NetNavi’, if I may ask miss Jaeger?” The stallion asked as a set of double doors came into view on the other end of the hallway.
“NetNavis don’t actually exist,” Amelia stated. “At least, not where I’m from. They were fictional beings that were designed to ‘navigate’ a digital ‘network’, hence the name. They can find information, do minimal tasks like keeping a schedule, and even do battle against one another.” Had Amelia been paying attention, she would have seen the stallion’s ears perk up at the last item. For a moment, the group was silent as they walked forward. “You know,” Amelia said suddenly. “You never did answer my question.” She looked towards the stallion to see a half smile on his face.
“That is because,” the unicorn answered as they reached the door. “It was not yet the time nor place. However,” his horn began to glow red and the handles on the doors did the same, “we have arrived at both.” The doors opened up to reveal a balcony and the tall pony walked out onto it, the other two following behind him. Amelia hesitated a moment before taking a deep breath and following them out. What she saw next took her breath away.
A city unlike any she had seen before stretched out before her. The streets were smooth as glass and the buildings looked as if they had been grown from crystals. As she watched, she saw tiny figures making their way through the city. “This is beautiful,” Amelia breathed as she saw the sun gleam off the buildings in a rainbow of colors.
The stallion walked up beside her. “Welcome, miss Amelia,” he began, “to the Crystal Empire. And allow me to introduce myself. I am its ruler,” Amelia looked at the unicorn as the light caught him just the right way, “King Sombra.”
Several hours later, Amelia stood in her room, once again looking at herself in the mirror as her cloak hung in the corner. After showing her the city from the balcony, Sombra had shown her around the castle, from the throne room to the dining hall, which they had promptly stopped in for dinner before he escorted her back to her room for the night.
And so she found herself back in front of the mirror, wondering what she was doing here in this new world. She looked towards her bedside table where her PET sat. She walked over to the device and picked it up. She looked it over once more before pulling down on the bottom of the device. The cover flipped open and Amelia looked down at the screen. The display showed the same screen that was seen so many times in the anime with only one thing missing. In the place a NetNavi should be standing the words ‘NO NAVI’ kept flashing.
The young woman continued to stare down at the device, even lifting her hand to push a few buttons, but nothing happened. She eventually sighed, closed the device, and set it on the table again before getting into the bed. It was an odd feeling to be getting in bed with all her clothing, but taking anything off had proven useless and she had grown frustrated in trying, forcing her to give up before she got too angry. She got situated on the bed and rolled over to stare at the ceiling, questions still burning in her mind. “Why am I here?” She finally asked before her eyes slid closed and she drifted off into sleep.
Sombra walked down the halls of his castle, the black crystal and menacing decor bringing a twisted joy to his cold heart. Having to keep up that illusion spell around the ‘human’ or ‘NetNavi’ or whatever she called herself had been more taxing than he had thought it would be. Having to see the world in that light had made him feel sick as well, but he had no choice in the matter. The girl had a good heart about her, and he knew she would turn on him if he showed her his true nature and that of his empire, but she had the potential to be quite useful.
He now made his way back to the balcony he had led her to earlier in the evening. He opened the doors and looked out upon his domain. At the ponies that bent to his will, the black walls that kept them trapped, and to the courtyards where his army of mindless soldiers marched. He grinned maliciously, showing his fangs off to the world as his green and red eyes washed over the scene, purple mist trailing from them.
He lifted his head to where the accursed sun was beginning to set to make way for its sibling, the moon. Sombra’s grin morphed into a snarling smirk as he watched the celestial body move through the sky. “Soon, Celestia,” he spat, “I shall have the power to rival even you and your sister. Soon, I shall rule this world with an iron hoof!”