Chapter 48. Snow Box Contain Cross
I was woken by the breath of a pony blowing across my cheek. It pulled me from my dream, a dream that had begun with Allie telling me about the mad mare, Albino, insisting she wasn't mad, before drifting off into the random distortions common to dreams.
Only a few days earlier, the mare in question had turned up again, excited, agitated, and babbling for all she was worth. Her usual calmness was absent. As was usual, the doctors had descended on her, taking her in for a checkup. That was where things had gone bad.
Usually she would put up with the tests with humor, but this time she struggled, eventually lashing out, knocking over one of those attending to her. The doctors' response to this had been to sedate her, finish the check-up, then to lock her into a padded room with the intention of observing her for several days.
This had all happened before I arrived down in Habitat Ten, Princess Lunar Eclipse and her husband, Orion in tow. Orion, who was in his fifth decade, was to undergo treatment with Hellite... HELaTS... modifiers, so that he had some chance of a life span matching that of his wife. Being in a similar situation was not something I had given too much thought to, for two reasons. First, I was comparatively young. Second, my immediate family, Allie, Cacha and Bittersweet, were already capable of living indefinitely. Even my potential mate, Brainstorm, was a Hellite.
My parents were a different matter. I had my own life now, and had not lived with them for many years, having already died to them once. I expected I would be saddened at their eventual deaths, but at the moment had no intention of offering them the HELaTS process. Immortality was not something to be distributed casually while we were captives of this habitat, even to relatives of the queen. As for the Hellites who chose to remain in the lower levels, there would be no further interference in their established way of life. Their struggle had always been trying to raise a sufficient population, and now that a significant number of them had chosen to live in the life support chamber, they had plenty of room for a minor population explosion.
I opened my eyes to see who was breathing on me. I was surprised to see Allie standing on the bed, leaning over me. She prodded me with a hoof.
"Can it wait until tomorrow?" I asked. "Never mind, it's too late now; I'm awake. What's bothering you, little one?"
"We have to go see Albino," Allie said.
"Oh, that?" Something was off, here. What had I been dreaming? "Was that you in my dreams, Allie?"
"Yes. Didn't you realize it was really me?"
"You haven't done that since the night you were born."
"Yes, I have. I pop in to say that I love you."
"Oh, yes. I often dream that. I didn't realize it was really you. Sorry, your mother can be a little dense at times!"
"You always said you loved me back. That's all that mattered."
A yawn interrupted us, as Cacha revived. "What's this? Having a discussion in the middle of the night without inviting me?" she slurred, her tongue not quite awake yet.
"It seems I am about to go see Albino, at Allie's insistence. I expect you will be coming along, too," I said, glancing at the pony with the ruffled mane lying next to me.
"Even if I have to sleepwalk," Cacha said. "Heaven forbid I wake and find I have become unattached."
"Why don't you two just glue yourselves together?" Allie asked.
"What holds us together is stronger than glue, Allie," Cacha grumbled. She rolled herself out of the bed, then shook. "That will suffice as personal grooming for this time of night."
I levitated Allie to a safe location, then clambered out of bed, myself. There was nothing quite like bed-head mane to tell others not to bother you.
"Okay, kid, you've got the adults out of bed without getting told off. Not bad. Now, what's this mission of mercy we have to attend to at... three in the morning?"
"Albino has important information for us," Allie said.
"Oh, come on, Allie. That mare is insane. She can't string two coherent words together. What could she possibly have to say?" Cacha asked.
"No, she can't string two words together coherently. But she is not mad!" Allie said.
"How can you know that? You've never met her, or spoken with her."
"I have met her in her dreams. There she could show me what was on her mind, even when words were of no use. Even then, if you think about it really, really hard, you can sort of understand what she is trying to say."
"Brain damage," I said "I believe the correct term for what you are describing is aphasia."
One of the advantages of Habitat Ten was that anywhere was within a mile of anywhere else. Nonetheless, as we were restricted to the upper levels, distances were somewhat shorter than that. Within minutes of setting out, we arrived at the administration desk of the section of the hospital in which I believed Albino was being held. Being night time, very few ponies were about. Two nurses were sitting at the desk, attending to their computer screens. Neither looked up.
"Excuse me, I am here to see Albino," I said to neither in particular.
"Sorry, but visiting hours are over. Please come back tomorrow," one nurse said, without even looking up. The other did glance up, raising an eyebrow.
"I said I am here to see Albino, and I mean now," I said. I kept my voice even. There was no point in getting angry.
"I don't know who you think you are..." the nurse said, finally lifting her eyes. She gasped.
"I think I'm the queen," I said, smiling. My anonymity did not exist among the Hellites.
"Sorry, your majesty, Aneki, I didn't realize it was you. The doctors do not want Albino disturbed until she had quietened down."
"You would disobey a direct command from your queen?" I asked, this time a little more serious. I was going to see Albino now.
"I will take you there," the other nurse said. "She was sleeping until about quarter of an hour ago. She's been agitated since then, pacing around the room and calling out."
"She knows we're coming," Allie said.
"Of course," I said. "You told her in her dreams."
"Yup!" Allie bounced.
The nurse looked at us if we were mad. I couldn't say that surprised me. Alicorns that could enter ponies dreams at will? If somepony told me that, I'd think they were mad, too, if it wasn't for my firsthoof experiences.
The nurse quickly guided us to the room where Albino was currently incarcerated. Indeed, it was possible to hear her moving about inside, despite the padded walls and floor. The sounds suggested impatience, not rage, or even mild anger.
"I am concerned that she will try to run when we open the door," the nurse said. "The doctor will have my scalp if that happens."
"Stormie?" I asked.
"No, Ma'am. Doctor Strange Glove."
It was a weird name, but apparently she had been born with one white sock. Now all of her legs were Hellite black, but her name had stayed with her.
"Oh, she's an odd choice, being a midwife and all," I said.
"That is not her only area of expertise. She is quite good at emergency treatment."
"Thus, her involvement," I said. "Nonetheless, it is no longer your responsibility. It is mine. Now, please open the door."
Relieved of the consequences of what might happen, the nurse relaxed. Carefully, she unbolted the door, and eased it open a little. Albino had stopped pacing, and was standing just on the other side. I could hear her heavy breathing. The nurse edged it open a little more.
"Lightning," Albino said. "Lightning lid clear."
"She's talking. That's better than running," the nurse said, opening the door far enough that Albino could see us.
"Would you please stand back from the door," the nurse requested.
"Up," Albino said, taking a step back. "Lightning lid clear."
The nurse opened the door fully.
Albino didn't run. "Contain, contain," she said, stepping further back from the door, presumably to allow us to enter. There was a hint of ancient accent to her voice, but the words were clear enough. Nonetheless, what she meant by that, I didn't know. Allie insisted she was sane, so I was going to give her every chance to communicate with us. It wouldn't be easy, though. If brain damage was the cause, it could also prevent her from understanding us. It certainly ruled out using a spell to give her our language.
"Do you want us to come into the room?" I asked.
"Up," she said. "Contain."
So I contained myself in Albino's padded room, sitting on the floor when I did. I figured sitting would clearly indicate that we were not in a rush to leave, that we were prepared to give her what time she needed. Cacha and Allie followed me in, sitting one each side of me.
"Thank you, nurse. Would you please leave the door open. You may return to your station."
"As you wish, Aneki," she said. I heard her hoofsteps receding.
I turned to face Albino, studying her. Her face was the palest pink, the effect of her skin tone showing through her translucent, milky hair. Her mane and tail were the palest purple. Her eyes were quite pink. While I had seen ponies with pink eyes before, these struck me as colored pink by her blood vessels. Her build was quite ordinary. She was a little larger than Cacha, and had a decent set of hips on her.
She was studying me just as intently.
Visual inspections over, I broke the silence. "I am Aneki, the queen of this habitat. My daughter, Allie, tells me you wish to speak to somepony."
"Up!" Albino said, nodding.
Up? What could Albino mean by that?
"She said you met in her in your dreams."
"Up", Albino said again.
Allie said if you think about it hard enough, you could almost understand Albino's minced words. Okay. Up. Lift? No. Above? No. Something much more general than that. She used it too often. Up. Positive? Yes? She was nodding at the time. Yes!
"Albino, say yes," I said.
"Up."
"Say up."
"Up."
"What about positive?"
"Up."
Okay... Assuming I was on the right track, she had at least three words mapped onto up. Logically, down would be no.
"Hmm. Say no." If she said up this time, I was going to give... up.
"Cross," Albino said.
Had she understood me?
"So cross is no?"
"Up, cross, cross," she said, nodding enthusiastically.
And that translated to Yes, cross is no, if I was understanding her correctly. This wasn't going to be easy, was it? How did she arrive at cross for no? Cross? X? Ah! Incorrect! A mark left on a school problem when you got the answer wrong.
"Say wrong, Albino."
"Cross," Albino said.
"Do you actually understand me?" I asked. I guess it was a bit late for this question, but it needed to be asked.
"Up," she said, nodding enthusiastically. Okay, we appeared to be getting somewhere.
"How many words do you understand?"
"Dictionary!" she said, tapping her head with her hoof. That would be a lot of words.
"Do you understand that you use the wrong words when you are talking?"
"Up. Snow sound cross dictionary."
How was I meant to translate that mess? Yes I understood. Snow? No idea. Sound could be hearing or saying. Cross, no... incorrect! Dictionary, language or... words.
"Yes. Snow hears incorrect words?" I asked.
"Up!" Albino nodded.
"Snow? Are you Snow?"
"Up! Snow," she said, tapping her chest with a hoof.
"Is Snow how you say Albino?"
"Up. Except heart Snow."
"You want us to call you Snow?" I said. Except could well be exactly what she meant. Heart could mean love, or like. Maybe it could even mean prefer.
"Up. Snow heart Snow." She bounced with enthusiasm.
Good grief. I was beginning to understand her, and judging by her excitement, it wasn't something that happened often!
"Can you write?" I asked. If it was a language processing problem, I expected not.
"Cross." Albino, no, Snow shook her head.
"Read?"
"Up."
Well, that was something.
"I think the condition you have is called expressive aphasia."
"Ah," Snow said. I had the feeling that was just a general acknowledgement.
"What are you going to call me, Snow? Say my name," I said.
"Pr... Prin...cess." She paused. "Princess." This time she shrugged.
Cacha laughed. "It seem's you've been demoted, Aneki."
I pointed at Cacha. "This is Princess Cacha. You can call her Princess too, if you like.
"Princess!" Snow said, pointing at Cacha. "Princess?" she said, pointing at me. The intonation suggested it was a question.
"It will have to do, won't it?"
Snow shrugged, then nodded.
I pointed at Allie. "This is Princess Allie."
Snow laughed. "Princess!"
"One name fits all," I said with a chuckle. "I guess we can work with that."
Even Snow could see the humor. It was almost as if the problem was between Snow and us, not within Snow, herself.
"Snow, now that we seem to have some level of communication between us, there was something worrying you. How can we help?" I asked.
"Snow box contain cross?"
Box? I glanced around us. The only thing box-like was the room itself. Snow had used contain when asking us into the room – the box. Snow room contained no? She was asking if she could leave.
"May you leave the room?" I asked.
"Up!"
"You may."
"Princess trail Snow," she said.
"You want us to follow you?"
"Up!"
"Lead the way!"
Who would have guessed I would be able to hold conversations with the pony formerly referred to as the mad mare. She wasn't mad at all. How frustrating it must have been for her. Her choice of a solitary life was understandable. I wondered if it would be possible to create a workable language spell to help others understand her. It would need to be keyed specifically to her voice, otherwise it could foul up a pony's regular use of words. It was something I could think about when I had improved my own Snowcentric skills.
A few eyebrows were raised as we left the hospital. While our conversations were still very simple, it was quite clear to any onlooker that Snow was involved in a meaningful conversation. I stopped by the reception desk, checked her out under my own authority, and also corrected her name on their records.
Apparently there was something going on with, or outside the egg. As the only thing that had eggs down here were insects and changelings, I had deduced Snow was actually referring to the shell, the hull of Habitat Eleven. Suspecting that she really was referring something that was happening outside, Brainstorm and Stormie's apartment was our first destination.
Snow had objected at being taken from her direct route, but calmed down when I explained we were gathering another team member. She liked that idea.
I thumped on the door of the Storm residence. I could have used the door bell, but by the time I thought of that, it was too late. Shortly a grumpy looking stallion opened the door. He opened his mouth to say something, stared at us for a few moments, then closed it again.
"Good morning," I said. "Please excuse the rude awakening. Having been in the same position not long ago, I fully understand. I believe we have a problem on the outer hull, or with something that is going on beyond our walls."
"Really..." Brainstorm said.
"It took the poor messenger several days to get her message to me, so I'm heading out to check on things myself. You seem to be an ideal member for our investigation team."
"Couldn't it wait until the morning?"
"Apparently not. I asked the same question, and as you can see, here I am."
"Huh, what's going on?" Stormie asked, her head appearing beside her husband's.
"A trip to the outer wall," I answered. Hmm... this could be dangerous, and I didn't fancy having a baby in tow. "Could I bother you to look after a small princess for me?"
"Oh, Mum!" Allie complained.
"Think of it as relationship practice, Allie," I said. "And you can talk to your future brother or sister while you wait."
Allie stared at Stormie's bulge. "I could probably give them a full education, while I'm at it."
"Allie! Not all foals are born with the mind of an old woman!" I figured I may as well fight fire with fire, if she was going to give me attitude.
"In this case, maybe I do have a more mature mind than you, Mum. You are forgetting that I am the key to the outer areas of the habitat."
I face-hoofed. "Argh. You win. Never mind, Stormie. I guess I'll have to settle for borrowing our husband."
Brainstorm chuckled. "I'll grab my bags."
As expected, we were embarking on quite the trip. None of us knew where Snow went during long absences, but recent events suggested it was somewhere near the outer hull. Before long it became obvious that she was taking us up, towards the exits from the Habitat that Cacha had told me about.
Positioned at four points around the middle of the outer sphere were some enclosed catwalks that could be extended between some doors in the outer hull and doors built into the water jacket that surrounded the life support chamber. Normally these catwalks were not extended, as they would interfere with the vibration dampening.
Getting to these catwalks from the lower levels required quite a climb. As the route was just for service ponies, it was very functional, consisting of a combination of stairways, ramps and bridging lengths of catwalk. In other words, it was exactly the sort of place I enjoyed racing along at full speed, despite, or perhaps because of the dangers involved.
Cacha also enjoyed this sort of fun. After all, her real name was Catwalk Runner. Actually, her other name, Princess Cacha was just as real, because the queen said so. I was very tempted to start running and jumping, but I didn't want my present company, specifically my daughter, injuring herself trying to keep up. I couldn't live with myself if she fell... hang on... she had wings, didn't she.
"I'll race you to the top of the next set of stairs!" Cacha said, apparently reading my mind.
"You are on!" I said, taking off at a gallop.
I heard some objections voiced behind me, but they were mostly drowned out by the clanging of hooves against the catwalk. Seeing a potential shortcut, I leaped, bounced off the safety rail, across a gap, and onto the first of the stairs.
"Whoa!" Cacha called, scrambling to make up time.
"Bounce!" Snow exclaimed, following my lead, successfully. I wondered if she did this sort of thing often, as she was keeping up. The delight on her face was obvious.
Once we got to our designated destination, we were far ahead of the others. We stopped, taking the time to catch our breaths, figuratively speaking. With my natural physique, and the Hellite body, that amount of exertion was practically nothing.
The clanging of hooves on the catwalks grew louder. Eventually, Allie and Brainstorm arrived in a more sedate manner.
"Who are the foals now?" Allie asked.
"You have much to learn, young one. Although we age, we do not grow up. Growing up is merely a derogatory way for miserable kill-joys to say they wish you behaved like them," Brainstorm said.
"So wonderfully put!" I agreed.
"So, why didn't you run with them?" Allie asked.
"I am Brainstorm. In other words, I am an intellectual, not an athlete. Running simply does nothing for me."
Conversing with Snow was like playing charades. Her words were indirectly associated with her meaning. Context often played a major role. To our advantage, her use of words was consistent. No was always cross, as were many other words or concepts with a negative connotation. Down, wrong, stop and refusal all mapped onto cross. Contain covered concepts such as inside, please come in, put it in here, and so on. My brain was programming itself a new language database using Snow's voice as the sole key.
Over the course of the journey, we managed to more-or-less understand what Snow had come to tell us.
She had access to some areas of the habitat that were off-limits to most ponies. That was where she spent most of her time. Apparently she had understood the connotations of the failure of the habitat to launch, and was working on some sort of way to deal with the resultant problems – some sort of transportation solution, to be precise. She was fairly single-minded about it, to the point where she had spent the better part of two thousand years working on it in isolation.
To be specific, the area where she worked was outside the main sphere of the habitat, in some sort of structure that was attached to the side of the hull, in much the same way as the bridge was attached at the top.
And something was outside that structure, trying to get inside.
Stats
Page generated in 0.036 seconds
Total duration
1,062 users online
1,682,165 hits today, 2,156,967 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Well, that isn’t ominous at all.
There goes my head cannon of Albino being an ancient pinkie pie.
O well. Always nice to see an update to this. It is my favorite story on the site.
So now we wonder what vein of horror movie we're delving into with unknown entities attempting to force entry.
6657411 Yes, I guess Pinkie does qualify as mad!
6657411 Agreed...
Oh Snap!!! Dis don't look good.
Dayum this just keeps getting better and bettr!
Snow would get on real well with Holly?
Outside? given what her weapon could do to hull material, could be anything from a cockroach or mouse, to Kaiju, Jaeger, or Galactus, no real sense of scale.
If its at one location, the hatch, could they get a side look at it from one of the turret blisters?
Still one of the best stories on site!!!
Stupid lack of thumbs up not withstanding.
6657411
Meh! It's an ancient maintenance bot banging on the air lock door.
Oh man this is getting good again.
And the plot thickens...
(no, not that plot, you perverts.)
Will the herd mentality of the HELaTS depreciate making this sentiment null?
"at"
Closing quotation.
"edged"
Baby cannon hips.
How a structural engineer knows this off the top of her head, I don't know.
Time to work on a fix for that. Seems like a massive oversight on the part of the princesses. Hell, I would only expect Twilight to really know many of the systems on the ship that are locked from all but alicorns. Poor Fluttershy would be so over her head.
So much for hoping it was a 1 to 1 transform.
Rescue team?
You know when Dr. Bright did an unknown thing with "a cup of orgasm'?
I think that he accidentally splashed his computer with it while reading this story. That is the only possible explanation for how a story could get this good.
Yay, another cliff to hang myself off of!
6660065
Well... how an electronics engineer knows it off the top of his head could also be questioned. But then, I do know it, don't I?
All the d'aww
Pfff. You know it's bad when they're the ones making jokes of it themselves
Hah! Achievement unlocked!
Ah yes. Their little bubble habitat.
Always best to check before using the "I don't know who you think you are" line...
You bastard
Welp. Looks like we got quite a puzzle at our hands here
I do believe someone was rather cross with her when she learned that word!
Meh. Or that
So now it's just the "contain", the "snow" and the "box".
Ah. Snow is 'white'. Albino. Herself
So... back to the title... my best guess is "there's something wrong with the thing in which Albino is contained". I suppose this refers to the problematic condition of Habitat Eleven? The fuel running out? From what I can see, "contain" clearly refers to the inside, so she won't be referring to the situation with it being stuck in the ring, I guess. They kind of already knew the fuel thing, though.
Though, if she has a solution as well...
That one was quite obvious. Also, Snow is a much nicer name than 'Albino'
Oh? Cacha is officially a princess now? Huh.
)
("You can be a princess too!"
Oh. "contain cross" is "negate being inside", not "something wrong within". She's just asking to be let out. Guess I was looking too far with the "box". In my defense, I didn't know it was a question. It wasn't a question in the title!
Might be hard. I refer you back to my wrong interpretation; her limited vocabulary means a lot of different meanings could be implied with the exact same words.
Oh sure. She couldn't just use "box" for that too
So, the ring after all, then...?
I'm suddenly reminded of "Dune". "Allie" wouldn't happen to be a sneaky reference to Paul Muad'Dib's sister, Alia, would she? The similarities are quite striking
Hah! True
Maybe they don't need Allie then... maybe Snow can open them too? She's not exactly your average pony, after all...
Cacha names assemble! Form super-megazord Princess Catwalk Runner! Yeeeah!
She can fly, y'know.
Aaand there we go
Hee! Awesome.
A quote for the ages!
I knew it! Take a hike, winged pipsqueak
Huh. There are more bubbles like that? Peculiar.
6661018
Ahhh, but you could have done research to explain Snow's condition. Thus giving you an advantage over Aneki.
6661549
The title could be translated to "Let me out!"
Nope. Not a fan of Dune. Saw the movie, and that was all.
Maybe, but then, Snow may have personal clearance only.
6661958 I came across it in everyday life, in a piece of fiction, many years ago. Aneki visited and was a patient in the hospitals. It's entirely probably she overheard it as part of a background conversation and was curious enough to ask about it.
6662461
Well if that movie's your introduction, that's hardly surprising! You poor guy. Go read the book, it's amazing
Anyway, due to her mother getting the clairvoyance poison while pregnant, she was born fully aware and with all the knowledge of her ancestors stuffed into her.
6664054 Actually, my introduction to Dune was the incessant raving of an associate. He drove me mad with it. It was he who showed me the movie as a "seriously cut down version" of the story.
So, I blitzed through this entire story in a day and a half while keeping my sleep schedule the same. The mix of high sci-fi with small bits of magic to explain the physics gaps actually makes sense to me, and I only have high school level physics education, besides the various information available in the form of several hundred sci-fi books, the advances in tech that have allowed us to go more indepth, and the Internet. Now, completely theoretically, they could burn the entirety of the stockpile of waste products from the engines, but that is only viable to a certain point. Namely, so long as it burns they could achieve flight. Of course, at that point they might as well get out and push. Now, the presence of something hitting the outside implies three possibilities, number one, it's a rock that just happened to hit the door, number two, something with intent is hitting it, number three, it's a vacuum and something with intent is hitting it. There are two possible deviations for the first one based on the presence of an atmosphere, while the second and third deviate on what the intent is. Option one for something with intent is checking if their is some thing alive within. Option two is trying to get in. Option three is trying to break what it is hitting.
6713768 And when I was more expressive, the grammar nazis gave me hell. I guess someone is going to be disappointed.
Okay, this is either going to be VERY BAD or VERY GOOD....and I'm not entirely certainly which way this will turn out o.o
And wouldn't you know it, I just finished a Oliver Sacks book!
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu(GASP)uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuueeeeeehhhhhhhhkkkkkkkkkk