Chapter 3 – Newspapers, blackboards and holograms
It was almost dawn when Philomena the phoenix woke up on her perch. The marvelous bird stretched her wings and chirped quietly, before directing her gaze to the other occupant of the room. Her mistress and old friend, Princess Celestia, was lying asleep in her bed enjoying the last few minutes of her well deserved rest.
The phoenix peered out the wide French door. The night was coming to an end and the sky was becoming clearer. The sunrise was close and Celestia was still asleep.
Thanks to a series of circumstances given by her age, her powers, and her nature as an alicorn, Celestia, as well her sister Luna, needed just four hours of sleep per night save for rare exceptions caused by extreme tiredness.
This was one of these cases. After a particularly long and busy day, Celestia had stayed up most of the night to sign important documents, going to sleep at four in the morning.
Philomena felt sorry for her, but she knew that without the magic of the alicorn the sun cannot rise properly. She knew what she had to do. The majestic bird fluttered to the bed, landing beside her friend. How she was able to sleep on this soft cluster was still a mystery to the phoenix.
She looked at her friend. Even though when she was asleep her ethereal hair reverted into a physical form, becoming a messy mass of multicolored hairs, she was still what many on the planet would have defined as the living incarnation of beauty.
A soft smile adorned her ageless angelic face, probably caused by a pleasant dream. Philomena was happy to see the sleeping alicorn smiling. She would never forget the countless times she'd seen Celestia crying in her bed, calling the name of her sister during a nightmare. Luckily those times were now just a bad memory.
Who knew what she was dreaming of now?
"Another slice of cake please,” the princess mumbled. Philomena smiled. Celestia may be thousands of years old, but inside she was still the little sweet tooth filly she had met when her egg hatched so long ago.
The phoenix nuzzled her head gently on the cheek of the alicorn with the intent of waking her, but she only managed to make her turn over. However, Philomena didn't give up and repeated the move, this time with more insistence.
"Mmm, Luna, stop it or you will suffer the wrath of the alfalfa monster," Celestia murmured in her sleep.
Philomena didn't want to come to this, but Celestia left her no other choice but to use her secret wake up weapon. The phoenix took a deep breath, inflating her chest and opening her wings, and... she started to sing. It was a simple melody, one that she had learned some time ago by a gentle young pegasus mare in Ponyville, but it had the desired effect. Hearing the notes, Celestia began to stir and yawned softly.
She rubbed her eyes to drive out the residual weariness, and then opened her eyelids, smiling softly when she saw the phoenix.
"Good morning Philomena," she said, caressing the nape of the bird. "Thanks for waking me up, I was more tired than I thought,” the princess said while stretching her arms, then she got up out of bed. Her night outfit was a large azure T-shirt with a yellow smiling sun drawn on and a pair of comfy black boxer shorts. Not the most regal garment, but she liked it.
Walking with her bare hooves toward the wide french door, she took a moment to stop at a small side table on which rested a gramophone. Celestia then used her magic to summon in front of her various vinyl records belonging to many different genres of music.
"Let's see, jazz, blues, country, rock... ah-a! Here it is. The last album of Octavia Melody and Fiddlestick," she said, placing the disc on the turntable and lowering the tone arm.
Soon the notes of a pleasant melody began to fill the air, followed by an approving chirp by Philomena. Satisfied by her choice, Celestia opened the glass door and stepped onto the balcony. The morning air was fresh but not in an unpleasant way. A soft breeze carried the scent of conifer from the Everfree Forest, located directly below the Unicorn Mountain. The princess took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her wings widened to their full extension, her hair assumed its usual ethereal form and her horn began to glow, first in a discreet manner, then increasingly brighter.
In front of her the sun began to rise over the horizon, painting the sky a multitude of colors ranging from pink, orange, and gold. She felt the warmth of the sun’s rays on her white fur and she opened her eyes. Satisfied by her work, she cut the influx of mana from her horn, still keeping the background connection with the celestial body.
She couldn't help but think of her role and that of her sister. She and Luna didn't actually raise the sun and the moon. If anything their task was to direct their orbit with small influences of magic at regular intervals. A particularly unique task of course. Celestia was well aware that Asgard was an anomaly in the universe, but the origin of their astronomical condition was a mystery dating back to well before her parents.
The alicorn shrugged. She had long since accepted that the solution to that mystery would never be revealed, since much of the knowledge and memories of what predated her birth had been lost long ago.
A more impelling and vital matter was waiting for her. Her morning yoga session. Over the centuries her work had become increasingly sedentary, limiting the opportunities she had to move during the day and instead increasing the time that she spent sitting. Beginning the day with the muscles well loose was a matter of life or death.
After she brought her little carpet on the balcony using her telekinesis, she began her exercises under the gaze of Philomena, who in the mean time had reached her and was now perched on the parapet. Starting with the sun salutation she proceeded with increasingly difficult exercises without apparent effort. One thing of which Celestia was particularly proud of was that, even if she didn't posses a physique as athletic as that of her sister, she was fairly agile and flexible.
She wasn't overweight, rather hers was a body that could be defined as Junoesque.
The princess was in the middle of the bridge pose when she heard somepony knock at the door of the bed room. "Come in!" she said without stopping her contortions. She knew who was coming so she didn't bother to cover herself. The ample oak door opened, revealing a yellow earth pony mare with green hair dressed in a maid uniform while carrying a silver tray on which lay a big glass of orange juice.
“Good morning, your majesty,” the smiling mare said, approaching the balcony with the tray.
“Good morning Sunny Daffodil,” Celestia saluted, standing up. “How was the vacation in the Crystal Empire?” she asked, accepting the glass and taking a sip. Mmm, freshly squeezed oranges.
“It was simply wonderful!” the young maid said with her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. “The crystal ponies are really welcoming, the buildings were so shiny and the landscape was simply stunning. And the castle, it was simply amazing! I mean, Canterlot Palace is glorious, but visiting a building composed entirely of crystal, it was... different.”
Celestia chuckled. “I know the feeling, my little pony. I felt the same thing when I saw the palace for the first time,” said smiling with twinkling eyes at the old memory. However, her smile soon faltered when a shadow crossed her gaze and tinged it with sadness.
“Before Sombra took power,” she whispered bitterly, looking at the glass. She had seen many things in her long existence, some beautiful beyond imagination, others horrendous to the point that she hoped that nobody else would have the misfortune of seeing them. What Sombra had done was beyond horrible.
“Your majesty, are you alright?” Sunny asked with hesitation, noticing the change of humor in the alicorn.
Quickly as it had appeared, her saddened look was replaced by her usual serene face. The princess had mastered this expression, a smile that was reassuring and motherly, but at the same time enigmatic and difficult to read.
“Oh, I'm fine Sunny, just a bit tired,” she lied, not wanting to worry the young maid.
Sunny nodded, visibly relieved. “I don't really know how to thank you enough, princess,” she said with sincere gratitude.
“Don't worry about it Sunny, it was my pleasure. Given the working schedules that you have to endure to serve me, you simply deserved it.”
“You're too kind princess, but I think that if there's somepony here that really deserves a vacation, it would be you and your sister. You two do so much for all of us, working so hard every day and barely stopping for a break,” she said, making the bed for Celestia. “As for me,” she shrugged while smiling, “I'm just a simple maid. Maybe not the kind of job that is recorded by history, but if my little acts help you perform your duties toward Equestria, then I'm more than happy to have strange shifts.”
Celestia smiled. “Thank you, Sunny. Knowing that the ponies appreciate my work and that of my sister is what keeps us performing our task.”
“You're welcome, princess,” the maid said before leaving the room.
Later, a freshly showered and fully dressed Celestia left her chambers, heading towards the dining room. She crossed many high-ceiling corridors, each one decorated with tapestries, statues, paintings, and stained-glass windows, until she arrived to a wooden door guarded by a thestral mare. Her purple armor lacked a helmet, revealing her short purple hair, but otherwise her appearance was flawless and neat.
“Good morning, princess,” the thestral said when Celestia came closer.
“Good morning, lieutenant Midnight. I presume my sister is already inside?”
“You're correct, your majesty. She's had a long night and was rather hungry.”
“How hungry?” she asked raising an eyebrow, knowing the appetite that her sister had in the morning.
The thestral tilted her long and sensible ears to catch the almost imperceptible noises coming from behind the door. “Starving,” she simply replied.
Celestia confirmed the words of Midnight when she stepped into the room, finding Luna intent on devouring a plate of macaroni and cheese with great gusto.
“Good morning, Luna,” Celestia said cheerfully, just to receive a grunt from her sister.
Something was wrong. The voracity with which Luna was eating would have dwarfed a parasprite and judging by the remarkable stack of emptied plates on the table she had a frighteningly large appetite.
“By Equestria, Luna. I haven't seen you so hungry since your re-growth phase,” the day princess said incredulous, watching as her sister finished emptying the dish.
“I had a particularly fatiguing night,” she said, taking a long sip of water from her glass.
"Oh, I see. Did you have another 'private training session' with that handsome guard of yours?” the older sister asked with a mischievous smile.
Taken aback by her sister’s insinuation, Luna spat the water she was drinking all over the table while her face reddened violently. "WHAT!? NO!"
Celestia chuckled at the reaction of her sister, when suddenly the hairs of the night princess deflated to their cerulean physical appearances. Now it was Celestia's turn to widen her eyes in surprise.
“Sister, what in the name-?” she was starting to ask, but stopped when she was finally able to give her sister a closer look. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had circles under her eyelids so dark that they were visible through her midnight blue coat. But what really made Celestia worry was when she perceived the incredibly low levels of mana that her sister was emitting. She was almost drained.
“Luna, what happened to you?” Celestia asked, rushing to her side. “Don't you feel well?”
“Tia, calm down, you don't need to be worried. I'm just exhausted. I spent most of the night using my magic and you know that manipulating the mana for long amounts of time leaves the body tired and hungry.”
Celestia looked at her with confusion and worry. “What happened? What brought you to face a similar effort?”
“For unknown reasons, the moon was shifted from its orbit,” she answered her, while she took a red apple and gave it a wide bite.
Celestia was wordless with bewilderment. “How?” she managed to finally ask.
The dark alicorn began to talk with her mouth full of food. "I was holding the night court when around midnight-" she paused to swallow, then she took another bite "-I felt something interfere with my connection with the satellite. It made me suspicious, so I went to the astronomy dome to investigate with the Crystal of the Ancients."
“And what did you find?”
“Beside the alteration of the orbit? Nothing, sister.”
“Nothing?” the elder sister said with surprise.
“That's what I've said. No signs of magic, no magnetic anomalies, nor impacts of asteroids on the surface. I have absolutely no idea of what could have caused the slip in orbit.”
She sighed, apparently bothered that she hadn’t managed to find the cause. “At least I noticed it before it became too serious,” she muttered.
Now that she was aware about her sister's condition, Celestia looked at her with disapproval. “In this regard, there's something that I don't understand. You knew that correcting the orbit would be a wearisome process. Why didn't you call me? Combining our powers we would have done the job quicker and without you being reduced to this state.”
“The thought had occurred to me, but I immediately discarded it,” she replied with a sheepish smile, trying not to look at her sister.
“Why?” Celestia asked raising a brow, perplexed. “I'm your sister, Lulu. You know you can always count on my help.”
“That's the point, Tia. You're always willing to help the others, but tiring yourself by endeavoring. Your work day was already long and fatiguing without this issue. I just wanted you to get some rest.”
Celestia's expression softened instantly.
“Oh, Luna. I know that you are always ready to assist me, but I don't want you to reach your limits to do it,” she said, nuzzling the hair of her sister affectionately. “Please, promise me that if a problem of this caliber ever happens again, you'll call me, no matter what I'm doing,” she said with concern in her eyes.
“All right, Tia. I promise,” the younger alicorn replied while nodding. Then she yawned and stretched out her arms. “Well, I think it's time for me to retire to my room and get some sleep.”
“If you need more time to rest, you should skip the meeting with the griffons this afternoon,” Celestia offered.
“Although it's tempting, I have to decline the idea. I'm tired, true, but the meeting is too important and I can't skip it.”
“As you prefer, sister. I wish you a good rest.”
Luna rose from her chair and walked towards the door, but stopped halfway and returned to the table. “I almost forgot...” she said using the telekinesis to put two large slices of strawberry cheesecake on a plate.
“Hey, that's not fair. You're taking two slices,” Celestia said in mock indignation.
Luna shrugged. “Life's not fair, Tia. And besides, one's for Midnight. She remained at my side all night and insisted accompanying me here after her shift ended. She has even skipped dinner,” she said, leaving the room.
Celestia smiled. The thestral mare was one of the first ponies with whom her sister had befriended after her return and now they were very close.
She then looked at the empty chairs and sighed. She didn't like having breakfast alone. It was as if something was missing.
Resigned, she called the waiter using a small bell. Almost immediately, a unicorn waiter arrived carrying a tray with her food and a copy of the Equestria Daily.
“Good appetite, your majesty,” the stallion said politely while serving a plate of waffles with berries and whipped cream.
The alicorn thanked him and began to eat while reading the newspaper. Thanks to her advisers she was already aware of most of the news, in particular those regarding economy and politics, but she liked to read them first hand on the newspapers. It gave her an idea of what the ponies were thinking.
Also, how else would she be able to know what movies were coming out?
“Hm, interesting. The director of 'Mare Do Well: The Beginning' has announced he will film a remake of RoboColt,” she commented, sipping her coffee.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders walked on the dirt road that led from Sweet Apple Acres to Ponyville.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were leading the group, followed closely by Scootaloo. The orange pegasus proceeded slower than usual on her trusty scooter, moving the small vehicle lazily with her right leg instead of flapping her wings with the pace of a hummingbird.
“I hate that rooster,” Scootaloo said, rubbing her eyes. “He's a far too early bird.”
On Apple Bloom's invitation, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had spent the night at her farm and had breakfast with the Apple family, the three fillies were now heading towards school. It had been all perfect, except for the wake up at dawn.
“Aw, c'mon Scoots. Ya sound just like Rainbow Dash when she's woken durin' one of her afternoon naps,” Apple Bloom said.
“Six in the morning is not a normal hour to wake up,” the pegasus pointed out.
“Well, what can Ah say? Welcome to mah world,” the farm filly said shrugging.
Scootaloo had to admit that Apple Bloom's life wasn't easy. Even if she was still a young filly, every day she woke up early and helped her family at the farm.
"Sorry Bloom," the pegasus said, fearing that she had offended her with her comment.
“Nah, don' worry, Scoots. No offense taken," the earth pony reassured. “Ah guess it's just a matter of habit. Though Ah don' get why Sweetie Belle is so lively. Ah mean, usually she's not so eager to go to school, especially the first day.”
The filly in question was hopping ahead, listening to an audio tape with her Walkmare with her eyes closed. Occasionally she crooned a line of the song, shaking her head.
“Maybe it's the music?” the yellow filly wondered.
“I don't think it's just that.”
“What do ya mean?” Apple Bloom asked, raising a brow.
“I think she's eager to see a particular brown colt,” Scootaloo said while grinning.
Apple Bloom's eyes flashed in realization and she smirked.
“Ya mean Button Mash?”
“Duh, who else?”
“What are you talking about, girls?” Sweetie Belle asked quizzically, taking off the headphones.
“Oh, nothing special,” Scootaloo said with an air of innocence.
The unicorn filly looked skeptical, but didn't persist.
It didn't take them long to reach the schoolhouse. Since it was still a bit early, the three Crusaders decided to head to the playground around the back.
"Uhm, looks like we're not alone," Scootaloo commented, noticing the presence of a few other children intent on playing or chatting. She smirked when she noticed Sweetie Belle looking around, as if searching for something... or somepony.
“Looking for a special somepony?” Scootaloo asked with a smug look at Sweetie Belle, putting emphasis on the last two words.
“Who, me? ....no,” she said with a scrunched face that would have put Applejack to shame.
Scootaloo grinned. "C'mon Sweetie. There is no need to hide it."
"Hide what?"
"That ya have a crush on Button Mash." Apple Bloom said with a friendly smirk.
Sweetie Belle blushed profusely and looked away, suddenly interested in her hands. Her friends were right. She had a crush toward the brown colt, and he seemed to reciprocate the sentiment, but the two of them were too shy toward each other to admit it.
"Aw, don't worry Sweetie. Ya don't have to be embarrassed,” reassured Apple Bloom.
“Yeah, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. So, when will you ask him to hang out with you?”
"I, uh, really..."
She was saved by the embarrassing situation by a voice coming from behind them. “Hi girls!”
Turning around, they saw a pale purple unicorn filly with blonde hair wearing a pink wrap dress sitting on the swing with a book in her lap. Dinky could not be a part of the Crusaders, but this did not prevent her from being their friend.
“Howdy Dinky, how are ya?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I'm fine, thanks. Did the three of you have a good summer?”
“You betcha!” Scootaloo said. “We erased the word boredom from our dictionary.” Sweetie Belle turned. “No, Sweetie, I didn't mean you.”
“Oops, sorry. Force of habit,” Sweetie Belle said. “So, what about you? Do anything interesting?”
“I visited with my family the city where my dad was born, Trottingham. It's a nice place, but I still don't get why they drive on the wrong side,” she said putting a hand under her chin and assuming a thoughtful face. “Oh, we even visited the part of the city museum that usually isn't open to the public.”
“How did you do that?” Sweetie Belle asked curiosity, cocking her head.
“Thanks to his work, my dad is friends with the director of the museum.”
“Ooh, I see.” From what she knew, Dinky's father was some kind of big scientist or Twilight-level egghead who worked in Canterlot, but she'd never caught the details.
“Whatcha readin'?” Apple Bloom asked curiously when she noticed the book in the lap of Dinky.
“ 'Professor What and the planet of the Zorgons',” the filly said, showing the book cover. It showed an earth pony mare wearing a futuristic lab coat facing a bipedal lizard-creature armed with what looked a strange pistol. “My daddy gave it to me. It's really cool. It's set in the future and it's filled with space stuff and aliens.”
Before one of the Crusaders had the opportunity to ask more about it, the four fillies heard the sound of two unfortunately well known voices..
“Did you hear that, Silver Spoon?”
“Yeah, Diamond Tiara. Somepony is talking nerdish.”
“Worst of all, a nerd with a blank flank.”
“Oh, no. Please, anything but the two harpies,” Scootaloo hissed with frustration.
When they turned to the voices, they saw the two infamous earth pony fillies, one gray with glasses and a pearl necklace, the other pink with a small tiara on her head.
“Well, well, well. Look what we have here, the Cutie Mark Crybabies. Are you recruiting other losers for your stupid club? Seriously, aliens?” Diamond Tiara asked mockingly, earning a chuckle from Silver Spoon.
“Our club is not stupid!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“And we don't alienate the others children from us by acting like bullies,” Sweetie Belle said, receiving strange looks from the others fillies. “What? Alienate means estrange, remove, avert.”
“Pfft, whatever. This doesn’t change the fact that her tastes are weird. Who could be so stupid to believe in the existence of aliens?” Seeing the hurt look on Dinky, the pink bully smirked evilly. “But I guess it was spontaneous, considering your strange family.”
“My family is not strange!”
“Humpf, really? Your father is always out town, your big sister was adopted, and your mother... well, there's no need to comment.”
“Don't you dare talk bad of my mommy, she's-” she tried to reply weakly.
“She's just a clumsy joke of nature,” the pink bully concluded cruelly.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Dinky was incredibly intelligent and mature for her age, but she was also really sensible to the affronts. Soon the small filly's eyes became full of tears.
Apple Bloom clenched her fists. Diamond Tiara had just crossed the line. The yellow filly stepped forward and interposed herself between the bully and the victim.
“Ya went too far, Tiara. Give her yer apology, now,” Apple Bloom said with decision, lowering her head to meet her gaze. Of all the children in the class, Apple Bloom was the tallest and most muscular. It was a distinctive feature of her family, thanks to what her sister called with humor, the ‘Apple Gene’.
“Or what?” the bully challenged, not at all intimidated.
“Or ya will regret it.”
“Are you threatening me, hick?”
“What did ya just call me?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed angrily, her eyes reduced to slits.
The situation was about to get out of hand, when the sound of the school bell filled the air.
“It doesn't end here, I'll tell Miss Cheerilee,” Diamond Tiara said.
“Saying what, that you insulted Dinky and her family and then did the same thing with Apple Bloom after she tried to defend her?” Sweetie replied with defiant tone, putting her hands on her hips.
The bully's grumpy face became red with anger. “I- You- Argh, come Silver Spoon. Let's leave these losers,” she said frustrated, walking away. The gray filly snorted at them and followed her friend.
“If she continues ta be so unkind, one of these days Ah'll give her a punch to her stupid snooty face,” Apple Bloom grumbled before she turned to Dinky. “Are ya OK?”
“Yes. Thank you Apple Bloom,” she sniffled. “I'm sorry that she insulted you as well,” she said, ashamed.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Ya don't have ta feel bad. It was all her fault. And besides, friends help each other.”
The other two Crusaders nodded in agreement. Dinky smiled gratefully. “Thank you girls, I'm really happy to have friends like you.”
“You're welcome, Dinky. Oh-oh. Better hurry, or the teacher won't be happy,” pointed out Sweetie Belle.
“Right, you're worried about the teacher,” Scootaloo smirked.
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “Ok, I also want to see Button before the lessons start.”
Chuckling over the admission of their friend, the four fillies arrived in class and sat at their desks just in time. A few moments later the door opened again, interrupting the murmur in the class. A purple mare wearing a white blouse and a black knee-length skirt walked in the class carrying a small pile of books.
“Good morning, children!” the teacher said cheerfully, placing the books on the desk.
“Good morning, Miss Cheerilee,” the children chorused, happy to see their beloved teacher.
“I hope that all of you have enjoyed a good holiday, because now it's time to restart where we left off before summer.”
As if she'd switched a circuit, the mood of the foals changed drastically from happiness to disappointment. She couldn't help but give them a sorry smile. “I know, it's difficult to return to school after weeks of break. So, this being the first day of school and to make the lessons more fun and interesting, today we'll have a special guest to teach you a bit of science.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. 'A fun science lesson? Yeah, right,' she thought sarcastically. A quick glance at her friends confirmed that she wasn't the only one to think this way. But strangely, when she glanced at Dinky, she noticed that the small unicorn was smiling, clearly excited. Strange. She knew that she liked to learn new stuff, but she'd never seen her so eager.
“So, without further ado, let's welcome our guest,” Cheerilee said, clapping her hands.
'Great, he'll probably be some old boring egghead,' the orange pegasus thought.
To her great dismay, the door opened revealing a completely unexpected pony. He was a brown earth pony stallion with chestnut hair, dressed with a brown pinstriped suit and a red tie. But what really captured her attention were his azure eyes, sparkling with intelligence and inspiring trust.
“Thank you miss Cheerilee and good morning, future minds of Equestria,” the stallion said happily with a slight Trottingham accent. “My name is Time Turner and I'm professor of astrophysics at the Canterlot university. Today I'm here to make you take a look at the wonderful world of science.”
A series of groans came from most of the foals, but to the surprise of the class, the pony didn't scowl or seem offended. Quite the contrary, he actually chuckled, clearly amused by their reaction.
“Yeah, I know what you're thinking right now. 'Now this boring professor will start talking about boring stuff', right? Wrong. Let me just say that science can be fun if properly explained. What I will try to do in the next few hours is teach you some of the foundations on which the universe rests in the most enjoyable way.”
Now the children were visibly puzzled. Having fun with science? How?
“So, to begin, anypony here have an apple that I could borrow?”
“Ah have it!”
“Thank you, miss...” he trailed off, looking at the filly with the pink bow.
“Apple Bloom,” said the filly, handing him the red fruit.
“Thank you, miss Apple Bloom. Keep this way. Apples are sane and nourishing, like bananas, so always remember to bring one with you. You never know when you'll need vitamins. Now, back to the subject, I don't know if you children know, but thanks to an apple the professor Haystack Newton discovered a thing called gravity,” he said writing the word on the blackboard with a piece of chalk. “It all began...”
Tarya Rutaen, Zealot of the Seekers of Truth, walked through the corridors of the battlecruiser, happy to be back in service. True, the medics have done an excellent job, the burning sensation in her skin was now gone and the bruises were barely perceptible, but like every other Sangheili she preferred to spend the shortest amount of time possible in the infirmary.
Her current destination was located in the bow section of the ship, where the lodgings of the Huragok were. The shipmaster had called a meeting with all the officers to take stock of the situation and decide their next actions, and the participation of the two organic supercomputers were required to expose the most obscure parts of their situation. They were the only ones to have the knowledge and the intelligence to find an explanation for the impossible nature of the solar system. Hopefully.
She finally arrived at what the crew called 'the mad lab', a cross between a forge, a workshop, and a laboratory. It was the place where the Huragok spent their 'free time' (whatever this meant) and could rest.
When she stepped inside, the zealot found herself facing an unusual scene. The two Huragok were currently having a loud discussion in their language, emitting whistles and wiggling their tentacles in an intricate series of movements. The high complexity of their language prevented Tarya from completely understanding what the creatures were saying, but thanks to her knowledge she was able to at least understand the main topic.
As she had expected, they were discussing about the nature of the planet, trying to find a logical explanation, but every hypothesis formulated by one of them was immediately put in discussion by the other Huragok.
<I'm telling you that it's impossible, Zero! The density and the mass of the planet are insufficient to have a direct effect on a star of that size.>
<Well, my idea is always better than yours! How can we be in a giant Shield World without even picking up the minimum signs of it?>
<Maybe it's invisible?>
<An invisible- No, Osmy, that would be simply absurd, even for the Forerunners' standard.>
The Zealot smirked hearing Zero using the nickname of the second Huragok.
<That's why everyone calls you Zero. Because your capacity of using imagination is equal to zero!>
<Well, speaking of strange names, what about yours? Seriously, Osmotic Pressure? Given your temperament, they would have called you Vent Valve!>
'Huragok,' Tarya thought amusedly. 'They are prodigious children, but nevertheless children.'
Deciding it was time to stop their arguing, the Sangheili cleared her voice. Two heads with six eyes each turned in her direction. What she saw after was a purple blur followed by four tentacles wrapped around her body and a series of happy whistles. Tarya found breathing almost difficult. Her uncle wasn't joking when he said that the Huragok are stronger than they seem.
"Ok, Zero, I too am happy to see you again" she managed to say with difficulty, patting the body of the creature gently. "Now could you kindly stop crushing me?"
The creature quickly released her, and gave her a sheepish look. <Sorry Tarya, I was just happy to see you're fine.>
<I too am happy to see her, but I didn't try to crush her rib cage,> Osmotic Pressure remarked, causing the other Huragok to emit an annoyed bleat.
Tarya chuckled. “Nice to see you too, Osmy. So, what's up?”
<We're trying to understand the perverted nature of this planet, but without much success I dare to say. The last two hours have been without noteworthy developments, beside some weird electromagnetic pulses coming from the surface.>
“What do you mean exactly with 'weird'?”
<We're unable to classify them. But don't worry, you'll know the rest during the tactical meeting. I suppose you're here to bring us there?>
The Zealot nodded. “You’re correct. Oh, I almost forgot. Knowing that you both have worked tirelessly for hours, I've brought with me something the both of you will appreciate,” she said, showing a silver thermos she had kept attached to her magnetic waist holder. Under the curious gaze of the Huragok, she poured the clear liquid contained inside into two cups, which she then handed to them.
The Huragok took a test sip with their little blue tongues, but when the flavor hit them, they eagerly drank the remaining liquid.
<Mmm, saline solution with a glucose addition!> Osmotic Pressure said with appreciation.
<Ah, that's the stuff,> Zero Losses commented, placing the empty cup on a workbench. <Ready to go?>
“One last thing. The Shipmaster requires that you two wear your harness.”
<It's really needed?>
“Unfortunately, yes. You know that most of the crew don't understand your language, so they need the translation device.”
<I hate wearing that thing. It reminds me of that explosive devilry that the Jiralhanae forced me to bring,> the Huragok grumbled, recovering the harness from a nearby locker.
Compared with the explosive harness, this one was more slender and lighter, lacking the dozen of plates that covered the gas bladders and above all the explosive charges. The harness, that covered just the base of the neck and the inferior section of the body, not only protected the creature by emitting energy shields, but also contained a simultaneous translation system.
As soon as the two creatures had donned their harnesses, the translation device began to do its job.
“So, how do I look?” Zero Losses asked, showing the black harness. Thanks to the translator, the voice sounded like that of a young male.
“Annoying, as usual,” Osmotic Pressure joked. This time the voice was definitely feminine.
It was strange to hear the Huragok use a comprehensible language, but what Tarya really mused about was their choices of voice schemes. Technically speaking, given their nature of bio-mechanic machines, Huragok have no real sexual genders, nor do they really need them. Their reproductive procedure consisted of two or more of them gathering organic matter and using it to build a new Huragok.
The attribution of a gender to a Huragok was arbitrary, but usually the factors involved were its own choice and its personality.
“Wow, thank you for summing that up,” Zero replied with sarcasm. “Come on, the shipmaster is waiting for us,” he said while heading to the corridor, closely followed by the two females.
It took them a few minutes to reach the bridge, located in the core of the ship. It was almost impossible to miss the doors. The Mgalekgolo pair, Raku Pawa Ogami and Neko Pawa Rumuta, stood completely motionless at the sides of the door, save for the occasional contraction of the bright orange worms under the heavy metal plates. Practically identical, they could be distinguished from each other because the shield of Raku possessed a big dent caused by the direct impact of a human M41's rocket.
The trio soon reached the guarded door and its powerful sentinels. Tarya was going to ask the Mgalekgolo permission to access the bridge, when the bond brothers spoke.
“We are both grateful to see that you have recovered from your injuries, young Zealot. Were it not for your courageous act, the ship would have been destroyed. Our colony is in debt to you,” the hulking creatures said in unison with their low and deep voices. Essentially being a hive mind, the creatures exploited the vibrations of the single Lekgolo worms to generate variable-frequency sounds. This particular form of communication meant that rather than hear their voice, you could literally feel it through your body.
Then the Mgalekgolo pair did something she didn't expect. The two behemoths banged their assault cannons against their shields once and raised their heads, exposing the vulnerable worms in the neck's section. The zealot instantly recognized the gesture. It was a form of salute that they reserved only to those who conquered their full trust and gratitude. Receiving it was a real honor, if not a privilege.
Tarya returned the salute by bowing her head and crossing a fist on her chest. “Thank you, both of you. I'm honored to receive your words,” she said with sincere gratitude.
The mighty creatures nodded and stepped aside, allowing the young Zealot and the two Huragok to access the bridge.
The command deck was illuminated by a dim blue light that left most of the hall in semi darkness. Low pillars containing holographic terminals were arranged on both sides of the hall, leaving a clear view to the huge monitor positioned on the front wall. Currently the screen showed a real time view of a sector on the north hemisphere of the planet, along with a big section of space. But what really captured her attention was the holographic representation of the planet itself, located in the middle of the room.
All around the tridimensional model there were at least a dozen higher ranked officers. The first thing that anyone would have noticed about them would have been the variety of armor that they wore.
Each rank in the Sangheili armed force had armor with a specific color, but the design of the armor varies according to the division of origin or personal preference. The Ultras in the room were an excellent example. She spotted the Combat Harness of the leaders of the infantry and mechanized corps, the EVA variant of the chief Ranger, the Assault version of the assault units and, finally, the veteran variant worn by first officer Haka Guwakai, easily recognizable by the elegant headpiece, to which he had added a red cape as a personal touch.
The zealot found the atmosphere in the room generally relaxed. The bridge officers, wearing their typical gray Flight Harness, were even laughing at a joke told by the weapons master. Good. It was encouraging to see that the morale was still high, even after recent events.
Not far away, doctor Nax Toruo was giving Guwakai a quick update on the situation in the infirmary. By the way Haka was nodding, it seemed that the news was positive.
It was with certain surprise that Tarya noticed the presence of Major Domo Rujo Kovakan, intent on examining the holographic projection of the planet. Her surprise was caused not so much by his low rank when compared to the others (while Major Domo was a NCO rank, it was universally respected because only Majors who had distinguished themselves on the battlefield earned it), but rather because of his appearance. Judging by his left arm dangling passively every time he moved and by the nasty stares that he continued to shoot at the head physician, he had not yet recovered completely from the anesthetics.
The sound of heavy footsteps interrupted her observations.
“Ah, Tarya. Here you are,” the Shipmaster said while approaching. “I see you managed to convince them to wear the harnesses. Excellent,” he added with approval, looking at the Huragok.
“It was easier than you may think,” Tarya admitted.
“Yeah, she just reminded us that just a small portion of you Sangheili understand our language,” Zero said. He suddenly cocked his head, as if he had an idea. "Osmy, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked to the other Huragok.
“We could include a translation device in their combat armor!” Osmotic Pressure exclaimed excitedly.
“Another time, maybe. We have other priorities right now,” Vraal stated while raising a hand, stopping the enthusiasm of the two creatures.
“Right. Is someone still missing, or can we start the meeting?” Tarya asked.
“Actually, yes. We're waiting for the arrival of the Special Operations Officer,” replied Vraal.
The Shipmaster had just spoken those words when the door opened again, causing all the conversations in the room to cease suddenly as a Sangheili clad from head to toes in black Commando armor entered the control room. Tarya felt a cold shiver run down her spine as the newcomer walked toward them, radiating what she could only describe as an aura of death and destruction. Special Operation Officer Zhar Vadam had been transferred on the Last Sunset just a few months ago on direct request from High Command, but thanks to his reputation and his success in the field, the rest of the crew had quickly learned to respect and fear him. Leader of the Spec Ops Units on the ship and member of the Commando Corps, thanks to his fearsome combat skills he had earned several nicknames such as Last Shadow, Silent Reaper, and Demon Slayer.
He possessed what some people called “Vadam blood”, a combination of talent, ambition, and perseverance that had allowed their young lineage to rise in the chain of command of Sanghelios, yet many on board considered him a dangerous individual, due to his sudden bursts of anger under combat stress. Personally, the Shipmaster was glad that the Commando was part of his crew. He knew about Zhar’s brutal and ruthless methods, but so far the young officer had proved to be an exceptional warrior, loyal, intelligent, and damn good in carrying out the mission, whatever the task was.
The Commando snapped to attention in front of Vraal. “I apologize for the delay, Shipmaster. I was helping the crew collecting the corpses from the depressurized section.”
The expression of the Shipmaster darkened. “Were you able to retrieve them all?”
“The bodies of a few Unggoy are lost in space.”
“I see,” Vraal said dryly, hoping that the little creatures were already dead when they were sucked in the vacuum of outer space. “Well, now that we're all here, the meeting can begin.”
The Shipmaster waited a few seconds to allow everyone to gather together around the holographic planet, then he spoke.
“I'll be sincere, our situation is rather precarious,” Vraal said bluntly. “Our current location is completely unknown and our long range communication systems are non operative. The ship itself suffered a large amount of damage and our stocks of plasma allow us a maximum autonomy of two months if we keep the levels of consumption low. For such reasons, our priorities will be to return the ship to an operative condition and find a source of energy to supply the reactors.”
“How, if I may ask?” Nax said. “It's not like there's a service station just around the corner.”
“Our first intention was to harvest the basalt from the moon surface and extract from it the Helium-3 needed to produce plasma but, according to our calculations, returning to the moon would require too much energy.”
“Besides that, the engines are still damaged. The pulse provoked more harm than we expected,” Voro added.
“What are our alternatives, then?” the weapon master asked.
“I suspect that they involve the planet, am I right?” Tarya suggested.
“Precisely. This planet could be the key to return home, but from this point I'll give the floor to Zero and Osmotic,” the Shipmaster said, motioning to them.
“Thank you, Shipmaster,” Zero said. “To begin with, it will be better to start with what we know. The planet we're orbiting around is located in the center of a geocentric system. We're still unable to determine the origin of this phenomenon, but we cannot exclude the involvement of the Forerunners. The planet has a diameter medium of twelve thousand and five hundred kilometers, a gravitational acceleration of nine point eighty-one meters per second squared and a period of rotation on its axis of twenty-four hours.”
“These figures remind me of something,” Voro noticed, perplexed.
“You're right, first pilot, this planet resembles incredibly close to the planet Earth,” Osmotic Pressure said. “The similarities don't end here. Given the composition of the atmosphere, this planet also provides the condition to sustain carbon-based life, as you can see from the images of vegetation on the surface showed on the main screen.”
“Any signs of intelligent lifeforms?” Haka asked.
“Actually, yes. We detected many radio signals of artificial origin coming from the surface, as well as what according to the scanners are urban centers scattered all over the surface.”
“Any indications on their level of technology?” Tarya asked, intrigued. She was barely able to control her enthusiasm. They had most likely just discovered a new alien species!
“Difficult to say, but the lack of signs of extra-orbital activities or residues of nuclear radiation suggest that their technology level is Tier 6, so Industrial Age.”
“I still don't see how this resolves our energy issue. Those primitives haven't even managed to split the atom,” the Major Domo retorted passively. There were a lot of sentient species in the galaxy. What difference did one more make?
“True, but what interests us is the planet itself. There is the probability, also low, that there are deposits of Helium-3 in the superficial crust or deuterium in the oceans.”
“We're just guessing,” the officer to the systems pointed out.
“Then we have to hope that the insights are accurate, Sesa,” Voro replied.
“If it may be useful, we have something more tangible,” Zero added, earning the general curiosity. “During the last few hours we detected unknown electromagnetic pulses coming from the surface, exactly from here,” he said, marking a red dot on the northern hemisphere. “Strangely, said pulses were directed toward the moon and the sun.”
“Any clue about their nature?” the Shipmaster asked.
“Nothing, we’re groping in the darkness. We just know that the levels of energy are monstrous, but we’re not yet able to tell if this energy could be of any use for our purposes. If we could investigate closer on the phenomena, we could know more about it.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Ruyo said. “Let's go take this source of energy.”
“And how, if I may ask?” the Zealot asked.
“Launching an assault, it's obvious. It will be easy. I bet those primitives don't even know the ballistic missile. Once they see our power, they'll give us what we want,” was the spontaneous reply of Major Domo.
Hearing a similar affirmation, the blood of the Zealot started to boil with rage. He would really start a conflict with an innocent and completely unaware species that was just discovered, as had happened with the humans? Tarya was about to verbally attack Ruyo when she felt a big hand on her shoulder. She knew what that meant. She took a deep breath and left her uncle to handle the situation.
The Shipmaster spoke. “Major Domo, though I respect your field experience, I find your strategy highly questionable. Aside from the ethical reasons, I won't risk the security of the ship and the lives of my soldiers by starting a war with a civilization completely unknown, on the base of very incomplete information and with drastically limited resources. We are not Jiralhanae and I will not permit that an episode like Harvest be repeated.”
“Then what should we do?” the Sangheili clad in red and white armor asked, clearly disappointed. It had been too long since his last kill on the battlefield.
“For now, nothing. We don't know enough about the inhabitants to decide how to act, so the best we can do is continue to gather data.”
“It will take time to get the high-resolution images of the soil. We have to recalibrate the sensors to maximum precision,” Zero informed.
“Until then we might as well listen their radio transmissions,” Tarya proposed to the Huragok. “Maybe they'll tell us something about the indigenous.”
“I highly doubt that their communications could be of any use,” Zero said, activating a command, “The odds that their language is understandable are almost-”
The bridge air was soon filled with the sound of loud music, followed by singing voices.
Scratch and Neon's in the club tonight.
Oh yeah, we're gonna have a good time.
So grab somepony don't be shy.
It's our job to make you feel alright.
Let's raise the roof, tonight's the night.
We're gonna' party till the morning light.
The house is hot, the beat is tight.
We just wanna' see you… shake it!
All heads in the room turned toward the speakers with different emotions shown on their faces, mostly stupor and confusion. The voices were singing in English, one of the many human languages.
“- nonexistent,” Zero ended speechlessly, his surprise was evident even with the translation device.
“Domo Incanon? (1)Here?!” Major Domo roared, his anger barely hidden by surprise.
“That's impossible, we're too far from their colonized space,” the first pilot Voro said in shock.
“Insurrectionists, maybe? Many human dissidents left the sector of space controlled by the UNSC during the war,” Haka hypothesized.
“It's still very unlikely. We didn't detect any traces of human technology such as artificial satellites, orbital elevators, or spaceships of any kind” responded Osmotic Pressure.
“Then how do you explain the radio transmission in English?” the Shipmaster asked, pointing at the speakers with irritation.
“Shipmaster, I highly doubt that we're facing a human colony,” the Special Ops Officer said, watching something on one of the smaller monitors.
“And what brings you to support this theory, Zhar?” Vraal asked skeptically at the soldier clad in black armor.
“This,” the Commando simply replied, switching the channel on the main screen. This time the transmission wasn't just audio, but also video.
What appeared on the screen was the last thing that those in the room would have imagined. It was a creature vaguely resembling a human female (judging by the anatomy of the chest) wearing a gray jacket and a blue tie, sitting behind a wooden desk.
The female had big green eyes, freckles that adorned her smiling face, and a pair of ears sticking out from her brown hair.
“Hi everypony and BIZAAM! Here's your favorite newscaster, the one and only Canni Soda, with the latest news!” she said cheerfully in English, looking where they supposed was the camera.
The Sangheili and the two Huragok stood motionless and speechless for several moments to listen to the reporter speak quietly about a series of news regarding a place called Equestria.
The Shipmaster was the first to react. Touching the panel, he turned off the transmission. Vraal closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 'This damn planet gets weirder with each passing second,' he thought.
He reopened his eyes. “I want all the operative sensors pointed on the surface and every transmission be controlled. We need all the Intel we can get... on wherever the hell we are,” he ordered before heading for the door.
“Vraal, where are you going?” the first officer asked him, tilting his head.
“In my cabin to get some sleep, Haka. I have had enough shit for today.”