//------------------------------// // 12. Tower Of The Night, Canterlot Castle, Equestria // Story: Little Blue Cat // by Chatoyance //------------------------------// Once upon a time, when the ponies came to save the humans from the dying earth, there was a Little Blue Cat By Chatoyance 12. Tower Of The Night, Canterlot Castle, Equestria The sniper yawned. He'd studied the wad of chewing gum stuck to the side of the faux floral display for almost an hour. There was nothing else to do. Zooming in close, he had memorized the pattern of tooth marks left in the wad. When he wasn't committing the marks to memory, he had been focusing on the mouth of the brat, waiting for a yawn, or a mumble, or for her to eat some candy or anything that would expose her teeth to his view. In his boredom, he had made a mission out of proving to himself that she was responsible for the impertinent wad disposal. There was no person he could bring his charge to, but he could bitch about the fact to his mates, later. Watching over the Bettencourt brat was a position of worth and respect, it impressed the lads and wowed the ladies. But it was torture. She wasn't even an interesting little girl. She never did anything the least bit naughty or spoiled; his hope that she might have stuck gum inappropriately was the biggest thrill the sniper had known since he had been assigned to the job. That she was so angelic was infuriating! Children didn't act like that. Children shouldn't act like that. Utterly polite. Refined. Dignified. Ridiculously kind - she regularly took notice of, and thanked her invasive guardians for their efforts. He shuddered every time she thanked him. It was unnatural. Rich kids. What had they done to this girl to make her act like that, twenty-four hours a day? Brain implants? Drugs? Torture? Petra Alice Bettencourt was eleven years old, and she acted more properly than any adult. It was creepy, and it wasn't right. The sniper focused his sights on her lips again. Nothing. Closed-mouth little brat. She was probably doing that just to avoid being caught. And god, that awful program. Always that same, terrible reality show about the idiot lesbo going through a Bureau. The brat watched it over and over and over. He wished he was allowed to shut off the audio on his scope. But no, he had to listen as well as watch for any threat to her, any danger, any hint of risk. At night, in bed, in the dark, he could hear the voices from the program in his mind. It had become an ear worm for him. "I'm very proud of you, Sunshine!" Oh god. "Millie! You're cute when you blush!" Jesus 'effin christ on a cracker. But the worst of it was, nothing ever, ever happened. This was Antarctica, the only people here were the elite and their protectors, and the greatest single danger was the risk of the YummyBon running out of unfrosted minibuns. He didn't like the frosting, it was too sweet. God, just for one person to shoot. Anybody. Just one single person. What the hell was the point of having one of the world's most advanced and sophisticated weapons systems if you never, ever got to use it? He yawned again, and decided to re-memorize the tooth marks in the gum. Just to be sure. "I am fully capable of accomplishing this task on my own!" Chang'e was adamant. She wanted to survive. She wanted to be emigrated to an Equestrian cat-meat body even if the prospect was disturbing. Survival was paramount. She was willing to fulfill her agreement with the princess. But she was not willing to be dominated again. Having her body totally controlled was absolutely off the table. The princess of the night tapped an impatient hoof. "By the laws of thy world, and thy compact with us both, we are within rights to use thee as we please. To thy creators, thou art naught but a toy for the idle rich, and by our pact, thou art ours to command in any way we choose. But we have had enough of forced rulership - though thy stubbornness truly hast tempted us, creature." Chang'e followed the restless princess with implacable cat eyes. "Very well. We shall allow thee to prove thyself to us upon this day. But - know this, cat. We reserve the right to take thy reigns if both situation and necessity demand it to save life and limb. We cannot be seen to be here, yet we must serve regardless." Chang'e tilted her head. "Why can you not directly intervene this time? There are no threats to the crown here." Helping the dangerous baby alicorn had been close to cosmic treason. This was nothing more than humans milling about within a building. "Our sister didst made contract with the rulers of thy world. For moons numerous did she companion herself with both adult and child of them, keeping company and being ever a voice in their ear. In this way she commanded their attention sufficient to awaken them from denial, and thus convince them of their desperate peril, and of the generous salvation she offered. But when the pact was finally formed, the humans made demand that they, and their offspring, should ne'er be approached nor accosted again by the regents of Equestria, not even seen by eye nor heard by ear." Luna stared at the immense arcology. A lifting-body airship was coming in to land nearby. It was green and white. "If we are seen here, if we are known to have ee'en dared approach, our sister's position would be gravely weakened, and the human's survival endangered. Our bargain with the knavish human court is fragile, their demands strict and harsh, and trust is a stranger to them. Ee'en to the saving of a life, they would hold their precious contract the greater, and any deviation, however noble the reason, as cause to change the terms entirely to their favor. Even if in doing thus, they brought ruin upon themselves in the end! We cannot, cannot be espied - thus the value of thee, cat, as our agent in service." "'Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well.'" "Chang'e?" The princess seemed surprised. "Pre-Collapse author Missy Dizick." Chang'e idly licked her paw. "You chose me because you desired a tool for clandestined actions of subterfuge. You made your choice based on what you have learned of this world. Culturally, the choice of a cat was appropriate. An artificial cat was what was still available, and you required sapience in your tool. That is why I am here at all." "We cannot say thou speakest falsely, thou hast the wisdom of a cat." Luna's eyes sparkled, there was a half-grin on her muzzle. "But there is more to this than thou dost grasp. We know of thee, and of thy kind, the artificed, manufactured minds, the unacknowledged children of Man, because of our love of books. We have many schemes in play - one works to preserve the writings of Man that our sister would deem to walk the border between worth and danger to all, and would thus cautiously discard. We have read the majority of Man's works, and among so prodigious a library we found tomes of programming, of robotics, of machine intelligence, and we were moved by this education. "Chang'e, we do not construct thee a soul only as reward for service to ourselves, or the crown. Thy couplement be a template for all thy kind, for each and all of those that Man and our sister would deem mere devices, undeserving of consideration. Our sister has billions to rescue, but no time nor attention to give to mechanism or construct. She will not hear us, and thinks us the foolish, yet well-conscienced younger sister, lacking true understanding. But we disagree - thou art alive, in thine own manner, and likewise all thy kin. This is our decree, and our guiding star - that thy minds are as deserving as those of natural flesh. It is our pledge to rescue the artificed, ee'en as our sister works to rescue the creatures that constructed thee." Chang'e thought of the robotic character actors at Disney-WarnerLand. She had run away because the utter hopelessness of their situation was intolerable to her. It made her fear for herself. It had made her feel insecure. Worse, the way that the Marvin bot had clearly cared for its decommissioned... associates... had unsettled her. She had no one that she cared about, beyond herself. No one had ever bothered to care for her. Except Luna. Even if she was being used as a tool, Luna had come when she had called her. The princess could have just found another Nyan Six. There should be around 1200 Nyan Six units still currently in operation. She could have even chosen another blue model, if she had desired. Despite running away, despite shutting down all connection, Luna had come back for her, specifically. Anson Cheong-Leen would have just bought a new cat with the insurance money, condemning her to the manufacturer's reclaim and deconstruction list. He'd contemplated, out loud, faking just that, minus the purchase of a new cat. "You may inhabit me, but know that if you take control, the action will be resented indefinitely. While you are there, please complete construction of my etheric couplement." Chang'e braced herself, and opened the remainder of the pathways that led to the parallel thaumatic substrate. Luna had never lied. Luna had come back for her. "We understand thy feeling, good cat." Chang'e felt no different. Luna was suddenly gone. Only the cool soil and rock remained. And the arcology and airship in the distance. Was Luna inside her once again? Chang'e tested her new thaumatic pathways. 'Nay, inquisitive cat, as thou woulds't not have us meddle in thy actions, likewise thou are banished from ours'. So you are here, thought Chang'e. Your thoughts are part of my own once more. Interesting. I do not feel invaded or threatened. If anything, I think I feel something... pleasant. That is different. Something has changed. I think I sometimes can like having Luna present in my mind. Curious. 'We thank thee for thy graciousness, affectionate cat.' HEY! No, it is true. I feel some affection which... no I do not. Stick to your side of the thaumatic divide! Chang'e turned and hissed, but there was no Luna to hiss at. The little blue cat pawed at a stone, and raised her ears. Dignity. Very well, Luna, let us begin this secret mission of yours. I will show you what a Nyan Six Model A, Color Blue, with TrueCat NatureTraits® can do. And with that, just to show off, Chang'e walked between time and space, because the rocks were hard, and the gravel hurt her paws. Chang'e padded up the staircase to the uppermost balcony. That was where the sniper was. Luna had explained that he was the first that needed to be distracted. Chang'e's onboard Knowledge Base had provided her with a surprisingly long document about snipers. They were focused, but prone to boredom due to the nature of their jobs. Private protection service snipers were especially problematic, as their positions tended toward cushy, but unrewarding work devoid of novelty. They were also underpaid, as a rule, as most private security tended to be - they generally lacked the skills for corporate work - and always on the lookout for additional income streams. Leave it to a corporate Knowledge Base to have detailed information on private security, but little on what it actually meant to be a cat. Chang'e had already formulated a plan. "Unassigned animal. Please designate new owner. I am a Nyan Six state of the art Model A artifice animal. I have lost my owner. Unassigned animal. Please designate..." The sniper jerked, the sound behind him jangling his frayed nerves. He whirled around and stared, open mouthed, at the sound that had momentarily terrified him. He did not like anything sneaking up from behind, ever, for any reason. It was a cat. In the middle of the walkway. A blue cat. An artificial cat. Those were worth a small fortune. Just one of those were worth more than three times his annual salary. What was it going on about? It could talk! "Unassigned animal. Please designate new owner. I am a Nyan Six state of the..." "Holy crap." The sniper lay down his weapon, carefully, slowly, lovingly. The cat was unassigned. Maybe it had fallen off of a cart. Maybe it had wandered out of some activation room somewhere. They sold these things in Vostok, didn't they? Unassigned. New owner. Even if he got half what it was worth on the indigo market, it would still be more credits than he saw in a year. The brat was unimportant at the moment. Nothing ever, ever happened anyway. He began to reach for his rifle. Idiot! What, you gonna shoot it? He shook his head. The weeks of absolute boredom had made him a little crazy. "Here... kitty, kitty, kitty...." He moved slowly, away from the balcony, towards the artificial animal. "Nice Kitty..." Almost within reach. Nearly... "Unknown entity within proximity zone. Initiating velocity controlled run." His rifle behind him, the security sniper gave chase. The cat seemed always the same distance in front of him, must be programmed to keep away from strangers. If he could catch it, they wouldn't be strangers anymore. He'd figured out what to say. 'I am your owner!' It would work. The chase led around the circular promenade, then down to the second level where Kolton and Maddox were. They had needlers and stun grenades, but then he'd have to share. Dammit - don't go there, cat! Maddox and Kolton stared. That was a Nyan Six! Right there! And Calder was chasing it! "Them things is worth a fortune!" "I HAVE NO OWNER! PLEASE DESIGNATE OWNER!" Maddox and Kolton did not spare the time to wonder how a cat could yell. Twice their yearly salary was running into the bowels of the arcology, and it was the only interesting thing that had ever happened in all the time they had suffered in Antarctica. Their jobs were stupid - nobody would ever dare to mess with the Bettencourts. Bettencourt would have your entire family killed all the way back to Eve herself. GET THAT CAT! Carlo watched his teammates run away from their posts. A quick scan revealed the fuss - there was a loose artificial cat, they were chasing it. Idiots. Somehow, he was always saddled with... Oh, ho. Young woman. Dark hair, wealthy, just not upper tier. She seems lost, but looks can be... that could be innocent... Petra is the only person in the entire entrance area. She likes the view out the windows. Watching her program, as usual. The woman is approaching... damn those idiots... better do a deep scan. Uh oh. Nightwanders. Military grade. There's the serial number... damn. Serious stuff. She's loaded with permatech. That is not good. The woman is talking to Petra. Dammit! They're too close! Can't get a clean shot... wait for it... wait for it... Carlos did not even feel the impact as Maddox, Kolton, and Calder tumbled into him. Something blue ran between the tangle of limbs and dashed out the passage to the west. "GET THE HELL OFF ME!" Carlos struggled to stand upright, to pick up his weapon. "THERE'S SOMEONE WITH PETRA!" "Who?" Kolton looked confused. He was still reaching for the absent cat. "Huh?" Maddox was under Colton, he was struggling, but making little progress. "CAT!!!" Calder wasn't in the moment at all. "THE BETTENCOURT GIRL!" These simpering morons. They didn't even know her first name. She was just an object to them. "Someone is proximate to the target and she has military grade permatech!" Blank looks and confusion turned to deep fear. Nothing ever happened. Only now it had. Jesus! Deep shit! By the time the security force had untangled themselves, stood up, and most had realized they were too out of position to do anything at all, the strange, dark-haired girl was already leaving the building. They stood and watched as she left the arcology, and followed her as she headed towards the landing field. "I'll... be getting back to the balcony... good thing this never happened." "Uh... yeah... um... 'what never happened?'" Carlos shook his head. He'd have to go along with it too. Only thing to do, really. The goddamned idiots. "We still walk through the dreams of those children, as we didst when our sister companioned them. We have never stopped. Ee'en there, we do make ourselves unseen, but we help and learn, and spy as well through their young minds. Her security is without true honor, and being a child of perception, she grasps this well. Her guardians are overeager to make sport of their formidable arms." Chang'e padded now on lush red carpet, bordered in gold embroidery. Marble columns rose like the trunks of trees, between them, nestled in the marble walls, were colorful stained-glass windows. They were on the ninth floor of the castle, on route to the eastern bridge. The bridge crossed thousands of hooves of empty space to the Tower Of The Night. They were going to Luna's chambers, soon to be Chang'e's new home. "None among the wealthy dare venture to that entrance within the arcology, for it is known that sweet Petra keeps lonely court there. None would risk misunderstanding. The child is the daughter of the current defacto regent of the earth, the Chief Executive Officer of the Worldgovernment." Luna indicated that they should pass through a gallery as a short cut. She was taking Chang'e through every step of the journey, so that the little cat would know the palace, and truly understand where home was within it. "How did you know that the little girl would be visited?" The princesses were not all-knowing, they could perceive anything, but only singly, and only if they knew what and where it was. They were godlike, but not absolute powers. The question of how Luna knew to act had been bothering Chang'e. "All that affects that which is in Antarctica is jealously watched and documented by machine minds. Artificed Intelligence scrupulously attends every hoof fall on land, or wing flap in sky. Thou are not the only machine mind that we have befriended, Chang'e, even if thou art become our closest and dearest. By chance alone did we in association take notice of the careless flight plan of a single Bertarelli airship. That it would take mooring at the lonely gate where our little Petra spends her sad childhood stood strongly out to us. We knew there would be trouble, for we knew the character of Petra's guardians from her dreams. "Our concern was to prevent misunderstanding and violence, from boredom or fear, for such circumstance is rife with opportunities that the innocent should be caught up and harmed by accident. Petra is in our eye, and within our watch, and it is our personal charge that she be kept safe, as with all the children my sister and I came to know." They had come to the bridge. Great doors had opened to reveal it, soft breezes rushed in announcing extraordinary altitude. A cloud drifted by, just above the railings. At the end of the marble path lay two more great doors, marked with silver sigils of the moon. "How did you know that the airship was not there to capture or kill the little girl?" The bridge was hard and cold under Chang'e's pads. The thick carpets of the palace had been soft and warm. Luna smiled. "Once known to us, it is nothing to see into a situation, or the hearts that exist there. Once we knew the location of the airship in flight, we observed in secret the daydreams of all on board. All dreams are our province, remember... even dreams of the day." Chang'e stopped before the great silvern lunar doors. Beyond was dark, like night, perfect for cat eyes. Her new eyes worked much like her old ones, her new body was softer and more flexible and lithe. She no longer could sense electromagnetic fields, but then, in Equestria, none could exist. She lacked an onboard Knowledge Base, which she missed, but then again, the facts it had possessed were of no use in this new universe. Her couplement completed, the emigration had happened simply and quickly. The template from her transfer would save countless artificial beings. All would become animals. All would become birds and cats and dogs and fish, butterflies and insects and pigs and goats - each according to what would be most appropriate for it. The artificial minds would be saved, turned to creatures free and alive, gamboling and playing across verdant fields. The Exponential Lands were vast, but they had no animals. Now, they would. Celestia's oversight was Luna's gift to the land... and the salvation of the forgotten children of Man. Chang'e's ears heard, her whiskers felt, her nose was keen, her claws were sharp. Nowhere within her was even the trace of a single TrueCat NatureTrait®. But then, she didn't need to imitate being a cat any longer. She didn't need to imitate being a real cat, because now, she simply was one. And far from being strange or disturbing, it felt little different than she had known, save that her thinking was more fluid, and her experiences more pleasantly intense. "Come, we will create for thee a feast of fish, thus to celebrate thy homecoming. Thou have served us, Chang'e, and as promised, gained thy reward. But more, we shall be friends, and partners yet, if thou wilt join us, and more deeds good and kind together we might yet do. But that is for later. Now is the time for feasting, and comfort, and the joys of a bed truly thine own." Luna, the diarch of the night, princess of the moon and stars of all of Equestria, bent down and kissed the head of the little blue cat. "Welcome home, our sweet cat, Chang'e!"