//------------------------------// // 1. Attacked // Story: Awakening // by solocitizen //------------------------------// Awakening Solocitizen 1. Attacked Present Day Lumina bobbed her head to her own rhythm, as she drifted through the heavens over a plane of reflected starlight. With music beating in her ears, she lowered her whirling powerbrusher onto the Luna Dream’s hull and held it there until the stained plating sparkled. She smiled at the work she had accomplished thus far, and kicked away from the hull with her hind hooves and drifted over to another section. All around her the galaxy was in bloom. At her right, the neon gasses of an unnamed nebula burned red, and though it was too far away for her to comprehend, its size ate up the sky, while to her left lightning storms large enough to swallow her world whole flickered across the nightside of a gas giant, and lit up its endless clouds in brief flashes. It all made Lumina feel very small. She pulled her eyes from the stars, pressed her powerbrusher against a patch of goo, and sang along to the song pouring in through her helmet: “You’re gonna be knowing, The loneliest kind of lonely It may be rough going, Just to do your thing, The hardest thing to do” “If this is your way of expressing that you tire of work, you may return inside at any time.” The ship’s computer, Animus, maintained constant radio contact with her. More often than she cared to admit, she forgot to kill the comm. channel. “The distances of space will conceal our paint job from even the closest passers by.” Lumina blushed, but only just a little; he had seen her indulge in far more embarrassing activities when she thought she was alone. Luckily, there was no one out there for him to tell her secrets to. She cut power to the brusher and slung her forehooves over the steering bar. “I know that,” she replied. “We haven’t even gotten a long range ping in over a month, I just want the Luna Dream to shine when we get back to New Canterlot, and it’s a good excuse to go outside and sing along to my music.” "I have noticed this on several occasions.” The inflection in his voice never changed, and after all their years together, she never quite got used to it. “I have documented five hundred and forty-six occurrences within the last month. I have noticed that most of these incidents occur while you are bathing.” “You listen to me while I’m in the bathroom? I just want you to know, if this was coming from anyone else I might be a little creeped out.” “As would I. Talking to one’s self is usually considered a sign of insanity. As for the intrusion of your privacy, I have very little choice when you leave the intercom in your room on. I cannot filter information out.” A dark wall raced up from the bow of the ship, over the spinning ramjet ring, and down to reactor dome where Lumina toiled away. The darkness shot up her suit and registered as a sudden cold on her heads up display. It was the shadow of a gas giant. It blotted out the stars overhead. “You know what, I think the ship is clean enough for today.” Lumina tapped a button on her forearm to kick-start the magnets on her hooves, and let them pull her down to the hull. Another tap to her console and the scrubber collapsed down to fluffy disc on her back. She trotted over the reactor dome to an airlock hatch. "Permission to come aboard, Animus?” Lumina asked. “Always granted, my one and only friend.” The hatch popped open, and a warning flashed over Lumina’s heads up display right as an electro-magnet locked onto her, and pulled her into the hatch. As she shot into the heart of the ship, green and red safety lights on the side of the tube moved up her visor like water droplets over a windshield. The lift deposited her in the dorsal airlock C2, a well-lit room that always smelled like anti-freeze. After three deep space transport assignments, she had memorized the name and location of every hatch, bulkhead, cargo hold, engine room, and transmat station. She even named a few. Space travel was, after all, boring. Lumina stood up on her hind legs and pried the helmet from her head, minding her unicorn horn, as always. She dropped back down on all fours and used her mouth to pull her free from the rest of the suit. It tasted of sweat and plastic, and frankly, that taste was the worst part of any trip outside. Her white coat shimmered with perspiration under the LED light. The excursion had been far less kind to her mane. Its golden-yellow color turned a nasty dirty-yellow, and sat on her head in as much disarray as a bird’s nest. The grime was a small price to pay for a few hours outside. The Faster-Than-Light freighter Luna Dream was approximately one point two kilometers in length. That said, the vast majority of the ship housed an enormous dark energy reactor and the FTL drive shaft, and only a tiny fraction of it was left over as living quarters and Animus’s AI core. Luckily the cargo itself was immaterial; Lumina and her AI companion were en route to New Canterlot to deliver a digital copy of every book in recorded history, along with news and information picked up along the way. It was the most important, and by far the most valuable, cargo the two of them had ever handled, but also the most entertaining. “I’m going to observation deck to do some reading, how’s our approach?” Lumina shook out her knotted up tail and set a quick pace out of the air lock. “All systems are functioning within standard parameters.” Animus’s voice followed her out of the airlock and into the hyperlift across the hallway, and continued, unbroken, as the lift sped up the spine of the ship. “The gas giants LF-131 and LJ-130 are aligning as scheduled. I have calculated that their masses should provide us with enough gravity assisted acceleration to trigger our FTL drive with minimal fuel consumption. We will be entering FTL space as planned, at three hundred hours on the fifth day of Planting Season, 10,056 AC, roughly six hours from now.” “Great job, Animus, as always.” The lift hummed along with a smooth vibration. As soon as the hyperlift stopped, and Lumina cantered down the spiral staircase to the observation deck. It was easily her favorite part of the ship. Illuminated by sun-mood lamps and holographic flowers, it always glowed with a creamy light and smelled faintly of spring. It sat just beneath Luna Dream’s bridge, the most forward section of the ship, and provided a spectacular view of the cosmic starscape. A hoof-full of tables, couches, and a hardwood floor pulled the room together. Tapping a button on the table stirred up light across the surface. Within seconds, a menu coalesced in green and red words, and from there she used her hooves to navigate the touch screen and accessed her current read. A holographic image of The Elements of Harmony: A Revised Reference Guide flung up from the table and followed her to the couch. “Lumina, may I ask you a question?” The voice of Animus whispered out of a nearby speaker. "Go ahead.” Lumina gestured with her head to turn the page. A pastel image of Twilight Sparkle and the other elements of harmony vanquishing some sort of twisted dragon creature filled the page. She flipped by. “I was wondering why you have chosen to occupy your time with that book.” “There isn’t much else to do around here, most of this job involves waiting, I got to find something to do with myself.” “I am not referring to the act of reading itself. Allow me to rephrase: why have you chosen to read that book in particular?” “I don’t know.” Lumina looked up from the page, then flipped back to the image of Twilight and the elements. “The ship’s database recommended it, and I liked it enough to keep reading.” Lumina pointed at a blue pegasus just below Twilight Sparkle. Her mane and tail were rainbow colored, and she was reared up on her hind legs in defiance. “What I like most of all are the characters,” said Lumina. “See her? That’s Rainbow Dash. The legends of Old Equestria say that she could fly so fast, that magic itself would explode around her in a Sonic Rainboom.” Lumina aimed her hoof at a purple unicorn beside the pegasus. “And that’s Twilight Sparkle. Believe it or not, when I was growing up, I wanted to be just like her.” “Equestria? Lumina, please stand by while I access additional databases.” There always was a pause whenever Animus did a search like that. He didn’t need to; information flowed through him near light speed. It took Lumina over a year to figure out he was just acting. He paused so that she felt like he was looking something up. “Equestria: the fabled lost continent that according to occult lore, sank into the sea approximately 100 years After Celestia. Many fringe religious movements maintain a belief in the myth, despite a lack of historical or physical evidence. I always wondered if you subscribed to such fantasy.” You’re a talking computer that lives with a unicorn, you’re one to talk. The words jumped into her head, but she didn’t say them. Instead she snickered. “Don’t worry, I’m not about to paint a ‘cutie mark’ on my flank and join a herd of horn-touching weirdos,” Lumina said. “I don’t really care how much some book says all ponies are magical, no amount of meditation, study, or horn-touching will ever make a cutie mark appear on my butt, or grant me the ability to levitate books. And same goes for any pegasus that wants to fly, or any sad earth pony that wants to become ‘one with nature’. I know it’s all garbage and it’s never going to happen. “I know what you’ve must have seen on my personnel file, but trust me, it’s all just a story and I know that. I just like the story is all. What I don’t like is having to deal with your criticism of what I like to do in my own free time.” Animus remained silent. A knot curled up in Lumina’s stomach. She knew better than to snap like that, or to let so much time go by without apologizing, but she simmered in her own anger until that little awful knot in her stomach got the better of her. “Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to vent at you.” Lumina saved her spot in her book and shut down the hologram. “It’s kind of a touchy subject. I’m really sorry I exploded like that.” “No apologies are required,” said Animus. “I should have picked my words more carefully.” Lumina got up off the couch and deactivated the table touch screen. “I’m feeling tired, I think I’m just going to go to bed early.” “Do you wish for me to wake you at seven hundred hours as usual, or do you want to be up in time to oversee our FTL jump?” “I’ve seen you do it hundreds of times, I think you can handle this one on your own. I need the sleep.” “As you command.” In many respects, Animus was the Luna Dream, the computer core was analogous to his brain, while the wiring and hallways were his veins, and sensors of every variety served as his eyes and ears. Almost everywhere Lumina went on the ship, his gaze followed. Almost everywhere. Whenever Lumina needed to escape the tingling you’re-being-watched sensation on the back of her head, she just made up an excuse like she was tired and fled to her room. She checked the ship’s manual, the builders only installed an atmosphere gage and a voice activated intercom there. The Interstellar Express provided her with a pre-furnished suite fit for a unicorn princess, complete with a king-sized bed, panoramic windows, and a shower that also doubled as a massage therapist. However it was all very white, and lacked any sense of heart. She decorated it with personal pictures and lined the blank walls with album art on her first assignment, but the company got upset and told her to clean it all up. So blank and white they remained. The few personal items she brought with her, she kept hidden away. Lumina took a quick shower without even bothering with soap or combing her mane or tail. No pony out there cared what she smelled like, or the condition of her mane. She dried herself off and climbed into her bed. Once comfortable, and after she double-checked the door was shut, and the intercom off, she reached for the space between her bed frame and the wall. Her front hooves fumbled blind until she hit the edge of a box, pulled it into the light. She liberated her treasure and held it firmly in her lap. Age took its toll on the leather binding and the gold letters, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. The Elements of Harmony: A Revised Reference Guide. She ran her hooves over the words and opened the book. A picture slid free from the pages, an old still image of a much younger Lumina and her mother. She didn’t need a photograph to remind her how wonderful her mother’s smile was or how loving her eyes were, but these were all she had left of her and she kept them close to her heart. And away from anypony else. She stuck the photograph back between the pages, and flipped to where she left off reading. She lost herself in her book and read until her eyes were sore and the sentences blurred together, and then she kept reading. Of all the stories her mom used to read to her, that was one of her favorites, and she refused to set the book down until she finished. The story ended with Twilight and her friends restoring harmony to the land, and with Lumina clinging to the book half asleep. She tucked the book back into its hiding place, dimmed the lights, pulled the covers over her head, and looked for sleep. Instead, her mind found thoughts of her mother, and a wrenching sensation just beneath her heart. There, on the verge of sleep, a voice whispered to her from out of some deep place in her mind. Nothing is ever lost and that includes love. Wherever she is now she’d want you to be happy. The words were not her own, the voice was like her own, but different. She entertained this thought long enough to respond with wordless contempt, then rolled over and fell asleep. * * * “Lumina? Lumina wake up.” The voice intruded upon images of kaleidoscope wings and a neon purple light. They evaporated, leaving her staring up at the ceiling. The faintest recollection of wings and purple light remained. She stretched, rolled over, and attempted to follow the images back into sleep. In her sleep-drunk stupor, she didn’t really care. “Lumina, please wake up.” Animus’s voice beckoned out of every speaker in her room. “Your presence is required on the bridge. Please respond.” After a lazy kick at the nightstand, she rolled back over and slammed a hoof on the intercom button. “What’s going on, Animus? Do you need help calibrating the FTL?” “I do not wish to alarm you but we are being pursued. You are required on the bridge. I advise haste.” “What?” Lumina leapt out from her bed and tossed the comforter to the side. “Pegasi warships? Griffon radicals? Pirates?” “Unknown. The vessel is not responding to my hails nor is it broadcasting a friendly IFF. Its heat and radio signatures do not correspond to any known griffon, pegasi, earth pony, or unicorn vessel.” Hot fear surged through Lumina, her gut told her to hide, but she forced that notion aside and dashed out of her room at a full gallop. Every door between her and the bridge flung open. “Any chance that they could be just passing by?” Lumina asked. Her legs propelled her up the spiral staircase and down the long hallway to the bridge. Flashing red lights guided her path. “Negative,” said Animus. “They are on an intercept course and accelerating. They will overtake us in approximately fifteen minutes.” “What? How? Why didn’t we see them coming until they were almost on top of us?” Lumina flung herself at the command couch, she didn’t even get a chance to strap in before Animus shot her into the master helm station. “They were positioned behind the shadow of LJ-130. Our sensors did not detect them until five minutes and thirty seconds ago.” A menacing array of buttons and flashing lights now encircled Lumina. Only one long slit offered her a glimpse out into space. Holographic images sprang up around her and bathed the tomb in yellow and blue light. She diverted her attention to the hologram on her left. A geometric chase, described in math, unfolded over a projection of a blue orb. “Do we have enough speed for a FTL jump?” Lumina waved her hoof at one of the holographic panels in an effort to bring up an image of their pursuer. She found none. “Negative. We will not have sufficient velocity for an accurate jump for sixty minutes.” “Then kick the dark energy reactor into overdrive, squeeze all the power you can out of it, and throw it all into the ion engines and ram jets.” “Given our potential rate of acceleration and the current velocity of the other vessel, we will not be able to make a FTL jump until after they have overtaken us. That is assuming they do not accelerate to match our velocity.” And what would they do once they caught up with us? she asked herself. Blow up the ship? Board and try to seize control? Plunder the ship or perhaps even take me hostage? What then, would they violate me? What would they do to Animus? Pirates usually delete the AI whenever they take a ship. “Try telling them we’re on a mission of mercy,” Lumina said. “But we are not.” His voice gave no inflection. “It worked when we ran into that blockade of pegasi warships.” “This is not the Pegasus Tribe.” Shrieking alarms erupted across the bridge and every hologram and button flashed. Adrenaline coursed through Lumina, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when her eyes locked back onto the projection of the pursuit. A small object was accelerating away from the main vessel and toward the Luna Dream. “Incoming projectile,” said Animus. “Firing electronic counter measures. No effect.” A jolt, then a lurch, and all the lights on the bridge blinked to an angry red. Lumina’s hooves moved over the holograms. Shaking. The smell of ozone stained the air. She brought up an exterior camera feed. Whatever that projectile was, it blew one of the ramjets clear off its spoke. The hologram showed it falling behind Luna Dream and plowing straight into the approaching vessel. It didn’t slow down. Not even by a pixel. Lumina gulped and leaned back in her command couch. She brought up the emergency override, punched in her code, and disengaged all safety protocols. She wasn’t going to let them come aboard. She wasn’t going let them take Animus or her alive. “Animus, lock up the reactor, and fire up the FTL drive,” she said, “and plot a course for the next checkpoint on our route.” “I must remind you that without sufficient velocity upon entering FTL space navigation becomes impossi-” “I’ve disengaged all safety protocols, I’m not letting them get us. Do it, please.” “As you command.” Every light went dark, every siren silent, and all that remained was the countdown to FTL flight. Lumina shut her eyes tight and covered her ears with her hooves. She hummed the melody of her favorite song while the tingling itch of FTL space carried her away.