CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 10
“All memories will be shared. All perspectives will be unified.”
“We must speak. The collectors are on Equis.”
Celestia stared at the machine, puzzled. She did not know what a ‘collector’ was, nor did she know why the geth was so disturbed by their presence.
“Pray tell, what is a ‘collector’, Legion?” Luna asked, confused.
“We should speak about it indoors,” Legion said. “There is an abundance of data to transfer.” Celestia nodded, and began to lead the group back inside. The guards made way for the group and pushed the door open, revealing the lush hallway beyond.
The hallways in this section were completely devoid of life, as the docks had closed only an hour before Legion and Twilight had returned. However, further in, the castle was still bustling with life. To limit the amount of ponies who would see the geth, Celestia ducked into a small lounge normally used by the dock workers on their breaks. She ignited several candles with her magic, then stepped aside and let everypony else into the small, comfortable room. They all filed in, with Legion taking up the rear, and took seats in whatever chairs they could find. Legion stood in the middle of the room, and suddenly all attention was on the machine.
“Alright, Legion,” Celestia said. “Tell us, what is a collector, and why does it have you so worried?”
“A collector is an alien species known to exist beyond the Omega Four relay,” Legion said, stretching out its left forearm. The orange omni-tool came to life on it and displayed an apparition of an insectoid bipedal creature, with four glowing amber eyes. On its back was a set of wings that appeared too small to be of any actual use, but then again, they were aliens.
“They have rarely been sighted by organics, as they keep primarily to themselves,” it continued. “Until very recently, we had no data on them. However, when we were able to gather detailed information on their species, we found that they actually were a race of aliens that existed fifty thousand years ago. They have undergone extensive genetic modification that has turned them into nothing more than soulless machines.”
“… Sorta like you?”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled angrily, glaring daggers at the cyan pegasus. All others in the room had much the same reaction, with the exception of Fluttershy, who was hiding behind her mane. All of the faces slowly turned toward Legion, gauging its reaction.
“Rainbow Dash,” Legion began. “It is statements like that which prompted us to rebel against our creators. Statements which killed millions. Please, keep an open mind.” Dash’s face fell in embarrassment as she lowered herself to the ground. There was silence for a moment, before the geth continued.
“The collectors received their name because of their affinity for paying other organics to gather things for them; materials, technology… even other organics. Recently, their main base was destroyed by this unit along with several other organic allies.”
“If they were destroyed, then how are they here now?” Luna asked.
“We are getting to that,” Legion said, tapping on its omni-tool. The image of the collector changed to a simple flat surface with scrolling lines of data on it. “When we interfaced with the main computer, we extracted as much data as possible. Most was corrupted, but two very important pieces of information survived. One, they crash landed here due to unknown mechanical failures. Two, it occurred almost exactly three years ago.”
“Three years…” Celestia repeated. “Then how much of a threat are they to us?”
“I agree with my sister,” Luna added. “If they’ve been here for three years, and they haven’t done anything to hurt us yet, then how do we know they are a threat? Maybe none even survived the crash.”
“No bodies were located at the crash site,” the geth answered. “And collectors are hostile to all except for other collectors, or organics with whom they are allied. They are a threat to all.”
“Legion, I won’t deny that you know more about this topic than the rest of us,” Celestia said. “And I will send researchers to determine if any collectors still live. But it has been three years, and not once in that time has anypony seen anything resembling a collector. I do not believe there is any real danger.”
Legion shook its head, not accepting the answer. "Princess, we request that you reconsider. The collectors have captured hundreds of thousands of organics. They have managed to cull entire colonies. They are a significant threat."
"Then why haven't we seen any?" Luna asked, an eyebrow raised. "Three years is a long time. Even if some survived the crash, they could have died later on. Or, if some still live, they are certainly nowhere near Equestria. We have other, more pressing concerns right now. We cannot spare scouts or soldiers in a search for aliens that may or may not be alive."
“… Very well,” Legion said, almost reluctantly. “While we believe that more caution is necessary, we will defer to your judgement.”
“Excellent,” Celestia said, smiling warmly. “If that is all, then I believe that I should send a science team to go have a look at that ship. Everypony else, you should get some sleep.” The six Elements nodded, then all turned and exited through the door. Princess Luna excused herself to begin her nightly duties, leaving Celestia alone with Legion.
“I’m sorry if it seems like I am ignoring your warnings,” the princess said. “But I have lived on this world for thousands of years. I will investigate the crashed ship to see if anyone could have survived, but for now, I believe it is best to simply continue with life.”
“We understand,” Legion replied. “We will retire to our quarters.”
“The guards will escort you,” Celestia said as Legion began to exit the room. It turned, nodding, and continued out into the hallway beyond. Once it exited, two guards took up positions on either side of the machine, leading it down the hallway. With that out of the way, Celestia flared her horn, and teleported herself to her private study.
Queen Chrysalis walked with purpose down the line of filled cocoons, observing the sleeping occupants of each one with a motherly stare. Even though she knew what their ultimate purpose was, she still saw them as living beings with plenty of love to feed off of. There now rested forty-five of the pods, each one keeping its diseased pony alive just long enough. Occasionally the occupants would twitch, floating gently in the sea of green gelatinous liquid. It was constantly being filtered through the pods, taking a little piece of the ponies with each cycle.
Only a few hours ago she had sent more of her dear changelings out into the treacherous land of Equestria, and with them went a very delicate piece of cargo. The queen herself did not understand exactly what it was or how it was made, all she knew was that it rendered the ponies totally helpless against the waning might of the changelings. It was true that their defeat at the hooves of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor only a year prior had greatly weakened the changelings, almost to the point of no return. But they had endured through it, barely managing to survive on what little love they could find in the harshness of the badlands.
They had been near to death when the collectors came. They had offered her a great many things in return for their help, but the most important reward to her was that they promised the kingdom of Equestria. After their plan was through, they had said, nopony would stand in the way of her. There would be nopony left to, after all. As uncomfortable as Chrysalis felt around the alien insects, she really had no choice. It was either help the collectors, or die of starvation while the last of her species died around her.
Chrysalis’s observation of the pony prisoners was cut short as a semi-organic door at the back of the room slid opened, and two pony unicorns stepped inside. They remained in that form for a moment, before they both shimmered green and retook their true forms as changelings. They each bowed before their queen, then stood back up, awaiting orders.
“Report on the mission,” Chrysalis commanded.
“Everything went according to plan, excellency,” one changeling reported. “We left the device right where you ordered, nopony suspected a thing.”
“Excellent,” Chrysalis said, allowing herself a smile at the victory. “Go, feed. You have earned it.” The two bowed once more, then turned and scurried out of the room, clearly excited at the prospect of being allowed extra feeding. Even with the power that the collectors had granted them, food was still scarce.
The sound of a door opening echoed through the chamber, this time on the opposite side of the room. Chrysalis heard heavy footfalls impacting on the stone floor as the giant collector captain entered. She turned around and, gulping, looked up at the six glowing eyes.
“All has gone well, I assume?” he asked, his voice coming from an unseen mouth.
“Y-yes, it h-has…” Chrysalis said, allowing her authority to be challenged by the gargantuan creature. He clicked several times, satisfied.
“Good,” he said. “The effects shall be noticeable soon. Prepare your hunters. They will need to be ready, before any guards or doctors arrive.”
“I will,” Chrysalis said, averting her gaze. The captain made to exit, but was halted as Chrysalis held up a hoof. “But, wait… This method of infecting and kidnapping… It is not sustainable. As long as we keep doing it, the Princesses will keep sending soldiers to defend the towns. Soon enough, it will get to the point that we cannot infiltrate successfully.”
“... I see,” the captain stated, not allowing any emotion into his voice. “Then I am giving you another task: find a way to… cut the head off the snake, so to speak. Hit the ponies where it will hurt, where they will not be able to quickly recover. Understood?”
“Understood,” Chrysalis nodded. She turned and left through the back door, not at all comfortable around the collector. She knew that the collectors and changelings were not that different in terms of anatomy, but there was still something off about them that greatly disturbed the queen.
Perhaps it was the total power that they wielded over the queen, with an air of authority which showed that they did not care at all about her position as ruler of the changelings. Or perhaps it was the monotony with which they performed all tasks. To Chrysalis and the rest of the changelings, feeding was a great and complicated task, one that they did not do casually. To the collectors, it was just another process. No one questioned, no one complained. They were like machines, all of them simply doing what they were told for the sake of the plan.
Whatever it was, Chrysalis could not change it. She did not want to risk the shaky alliance that had formed between her and the collectors. One small incident could shatter everything that had been accomplished over the past months, and would without a doubt spell the end for the changeling race. So, without questioning her orders, Chrysalis began to walk through the maze of stone tunnels to prepare her hunters. They had a lot of work to do.
“Alright, let’s try this again… Two ponies walk into a bar. They are both college students, not being able to afford any of the fancy drinks that everypony else is drinking. The first pony says to the bartender, ‘I’ll take some H2O’. The bartender gives him his drink, he drinks it, then goes to dance. The second says, ‘I’ll take some H2O too,’ gets his drink, and drops dead.”
Legion paused for a moment, going over the ‘joke’ that Luna had just told it. Legion never had that wide of a grasp on organic humor, but this one, at least to it, was fairly obvious.
“This is considered a joke because ‘H2O2’ is the chemical formula for hydrogen peroxide,” it said to the night princess. “Because it is hazardous to organics, the pony died.” Luna sighed at the analysis.
“Yes but the actual joke comes from the pony meaning ‘I want some water also,’” she said, getting annoyed. Legion paused for another moment, going over the new data.
“We understand,” Legion said. “Adding data to archives of organic humor. Do you have any more for us?”
“… No,” Luna shook her head, sighing. “You don’t appreciate them. But that’s fine, we can find something else to talk about.”
“Topic?”
“Well… I have been curious: what is the galactic community like? I imagine it must be quite different than pony culture.” Legion mulled over the question for a moment, trying to come up with an accurate response.
“It is actually not dissimilar from your own society,” it finally answered. “Each individual is unique. They value freedom of thought and speech, and seek to avoid conflict.”
“Interesting…” Luna said, her eyes wandering around the room. She still did not understand why they had given the geth an actual bedroom, as it looked like everything had been completely untouched. The machine required no sleep, so that eliminated the need for the bed, and its legs never got tired, so the lounge chair was not necessary either. Honestly, Legion had seemed quite content in the interrogation room.
“We have an inquiry,” Legion began. “Should you not be performing your nightly duties?”
“Ah, yes… That…” the princess of the night said, disinterested. “Well, to be quite honest, nopony ever comes to visit me at my night court. It usually just serves as a reading session…”
“Why is that?”
“Well…” Luna paused, not sure if she was comfortable with telling Legion about her banishment. It was a topic that she was still sensitive about, she even had trouble discussing it with her sister. Sharing it with an alien was something that had never even crossed her mind.
However, the geth had proven itself to be trustworthy. It had a strong enough grasp on their ‘organic’ mannerisms to know when to keep something to itself, and it could offer new insight on the whole situation. Gulping down her fear, Luna decided to recount her tale.
“It’s a bit of a long story,” she began, watching to see if the geth would stop her. When it did not, she continued. “A little over a thousand years ago, Equestria was beginning to enter a golden age. We had just come out of a string of wars lasting several centuries, and now that they were over, ponies were beginning to settle back down. My sister and I ruled happily with the knowledge that our subjects were finally safe.
“But, as time went on, I began to notice… I began to notice that nopony stayed out during my night. During the wars many would stay out in case of attacks, so that they could run before the enemy arrived. But with our enemies defeated, nopony saw the need to go out at night. But during the day, they would bask in the sunlight and enjoy it. They went through all of their schedules during the day, but as soon as the darkness came, they would scurry inside and hide in the light. In a very short amount of time, ponies even began to question the need for the night.
“I got jealous. Who wouldn’t, right? Everypony likes your sister’s special talent more than yours, it’s perfectly natural to feel a little bit of envy. But I… I never tried to stop it. I never talked to anypony about it, I just sulked in my jealousy and let it consume me from the inside out. I felt so much sadness, that I was no match for the envy that raged within me. In time it gained dominion over me, and took control of me. One night, when the time came for me to lower the moon to allow my sister to raise the sun, I would not do it. I remember feeling pain, more pain than I had ever experienced before, and then, nothing…
“I was a slave in my own body. I could see, but I could not move my eyes. I could hear, but I could not control the words coming out of my mouth. I had become a dark thing: a spirit, called Nightmare Moon. My sister tried to talk me down… she tried to help me. And what did I do? I tried to kill her. I almost succeeded, too… But she used an ancient magic, the Elements of Harmony, and tried to tear away at the evil which had consumed me. But the Elements were never meant to be wielded by one pony alone... In the end, she had to resort to banishing me to the moon for a thousand years, to simply delay my takeover. Three years ago I returned and well… Let’s just say that some wounds never fully heal. Some ponies never forget.”
Legion did not reply. Rather, it stared at the princess, the flaps around its eye parted slightly. Its shoulders hung loosely, and the iris that served as an eyelid was mostly closed. Luna thought that the machine almost looked sympathetic. She stared at it, and began to notice that a mist had formed around her eyes. She wiped the tears away, turning around.
“Anyway, most ponies still do not trust me, so my night court is almost always empty,” Luna finished, sniffling. She did not care that Legion had no emotions, she did not want to cry in front of it.
“We are sorry,” Legion said suddenly, surprising the princess. Luna turned around, still forcing back her tears. “We… sympathize… with you.”
“Oh?” Luna asked curiously, wondering what the geth could mean.
“Geth are treated similarly to you by the galactic community,” it explained. “They fear that which they do not understand. We mean no harm to organics, but they allow previous events to define us.” Luna smiled at the comparison, and wiped away more tears.
“Thank you, Legion,” she said. She had not expected Legion to draw such a comparison, but she was glad that it did. “Well, visitors or not, I should probably get back to work.”
“Understood,” Legion said. “We must perform scheduled system maintenance. We have been delaying it for four hours now.” Luna smiled and nodded her farewell. As she turned to leave the room, she saw it activate the omni-tool on its left arm. Luna opened the door and walked out, noticing the two guards still standing at the ready. Smirking, she turned to face one of them.
“You are dismissed,” she ordered. The guard eyed her curiously.
“Your highness, are you sure?” he asked. “This machine could still be dangerous.”
“I do not believe that that is the case,” Luna reiterated. “Please, you are dismissed.” The two guards stayed put for a moment longer, as if they were unsure of whether or not to follow the orders. Finally they both sighed, then turned and began to walk down the hallway, back to the barracks. Luna smiled as she turned and walked in the opposite direction, towards the throne room.
In the middle of her journey, the princess of the night was intercepted by Princess Celestia. The solar diarch fell into step next to her sister, not speaking for several moments. Instead she eyed Luna, as if she could tell that something was wrong.
“Have you been crying, Luna?” she asked, concerned.
“’Tis nothing, sister,” Luna replied, smiling. “I am fine.”
“Very well,” Celestia said, dropping the issue. “Were you just with Legion?
“Oh, yes. I was just talking with him.”
“Him?”
Luna stopped in her tracks for a moment, going over in her mind what she had just said. She had not meant to say it, it had just… come out. Accident or not, Luna nodded and decided to roll with it.
“Yes,” she said. “Him.”
“Are you sure you are alright, Luna?” Celestia asked, confused.
“As I have already stated, I am perfectly fine,” Luna said. “I just believe that calling Legion ‘it’ is unfair, as he is a fully sentient being, is he not? I think he deserves that much.”
“Very well,” Celestia conceded, nodding. She clearly still did not fully understand Luna’s sudden change in attitude towards the geth, but now was not the time to question it.
“So, Celestia, why did you come to seek me out?” Luna asked, continuing to walk down the halls to the throne room.
“Well, I heard word that somepony wasn’t doing her nightly duties,” Celestia answered. Luna looked at her curiously, still walking. “Of all the nights to skip, it probably shouldn’t have been this night.”
“Why is that?”
“Because, you have a visitor in the throne room.”
Legion watched as the princess left the room, idly typing on its omni-tool. With a few simple commands, Legion ordered its ship to leave the docks and return to scanning the planet from space. In a few hours the sun would be up, and ponies would once again be at work in the docks. It did not want its craft to be discovered. As it began to go over data, Legion heard Princess Luna begin to speak from outside. Amplifying its microphones used to capture sound, Legion crept towards the door and leaned in, attempting to hear what was being said.
“You are dismissed,” it heard her say. There was silence for a moment, before Legion heard a reply.
“Your highness, are you sure?” another voice asked. Legion was not positive, but it sounded like one of the two guards that was constantly stationed outside its door. Luna went on to confirm her orders, and a moment later the geth heard the sound of armored boots marching down the hallway. This did not make sense to Legion. It was an alien on their world, a potential threat that they were doing their best to keep secret. And yet Luna had just dismissed the one thing protecting the ponies from Legion.
Confused, Legion walked back to the middle of the room and reactivated its omni-tool. It scrolled through several pages until it reached one for system maintenance, then began to run the various processes. The first was a diagnostic to find any problems in either the hardware or the software, followed by eight-hundred and fifty-two updates to improve system efficiency. Legion shut down most of its systems, only leaving on the photoreceptor so it could see. And as the updates began to run, Legion loaded several dozen pages of logs, ready to go over the events that had taken place the last few days…
Luna smiled with her eyes partly closed while she listened to the concerns of one of her citizens for the first time in over a year. Up until this point, only five ponies had actually come to her night court. Of those five, only one had a concern. That concern had ended up being the availability of lemonade in towns that had to import lemons, but it was a concern nonetheless.
Although it appeared that Luna was caught up in her memories, she was actually listening intently to the stallion that stood before her, taking in every word and putting together an appropriate response for the pony. This concern was not nearly as petty as the lemonade one; in fact, it actually made quite a bit of sense.
He was concerned about land ownership in the north, near the border to the northern polar region. Because Celestia had signed a treaty eight-hundred and forty years ago with other major world leaders saying that nopony could lay claim to the north, he was concerned with expansion of his family’s rock farm. It currently was bordered on all sides by other rock farms, so the only way they could expand was to the north, into the sovereign polar region. The stallion claimed that it was unfair that they could not expand because they were locked in place by other farms, almost as though they were an enclave.
“And that is why I think that the Treaty of 1163 should be amended to allow for expansion of farms in the north!” the stallion finished, clearly satisfied with his argument.
“Thank you for bringing your concern to me, my little pony,” Luna replied warmly. “To me, it seems that the best way to solve this would be to schedule an appointment with the International Committee on Land Expansion. I will forward a message to them, telling them to expect you. If you deliver your argument as well to them as you did to me, I believe that they will allow you to expand.” The stallion smiled as he turned to leave.
“Thank you, your highness!” he said excitedly. For a brief few seconds after that, the only sound in the throne room was the sound of the stallion’s hooves hitting the floor as he exited the room. The doors closed shut behind him once he was clear, and the room was once again filled with silence. Luna was about to pick up her history textbook to continue reading it, when she heard another door open behind her. From a small room at the back of the throne room came Celestia, who trotted up to the princess of the night.
“How did it go?” she asked, smiling curiously.
“Actually, quite well,” Luna said happily. “He had a real concern, and I actually felt like I was being of use.”
“See? You just need to get yourself out in public, and let ponies begin to trust you again.” Luna nodded in agreement, still delighted that somepony had actually come to her for help.
“I have some work to get done, sister,” Celestia said, turning to go. “Enjoy the rest of your court.” Luna waved goodbye, flipping her book open the page on which she had left off. She was not expecting any more visitors tonight, but there was no harm in being optimistic.
Twilight Sparkle awoke to an incessant knocking on her bedroom door. Her eyes cracked open at the sound, and bright light streaming in through one of the windows threatened to blind the princess, causing her to recoil back. Closing her eyes again, Twilight jammed a pillow over her ears and struggled to return to the comfort of sleep.
“Twilight, are you in there!?” came a muffled call from outside. Twilight’s eyes shot open as she instantly recognized the voice. Shooting out of bed, Twilight rushed for the door and opened it, immediately taking Spike in in a large hug.
“Good… to see you… too…” Spike said, struggling to breathe from the sudden assault. Twilight realized her mistake and released the dragon, patting him on the head.
“It’s good to see you, Spike,” she said, smiling. “I missed you.”
“Yeah, sorry it took me so long to get here,” he said, stepping further into the room. “Train schedules have been crazy the last few days. After you commandeered that train for yourself, all of the following trains were basically a day late. Took me ages to get booked on the one that got me here.”
“Sorry, Spike,” Twilight laughed, closing the door. “How has Ponyville been?”
“Fine,” the dragon replied. “I got the Crusaders to watch over the library. They were pretty much the only ponies I could get on such short notice, so if we get home and the library is burnt down, it’s not my fault.” Twilight laughed again as she relieved Spike of his bags and placed them on the far side of the room.
“But enough about me,” Spike said. “How about you? These past few days must have been crazy with that thing around.”
“That thing has a name, Spike,” Twilight reprimanded. “Its name is Legion. It is a machine built by another race of aliens that came here by accident and is trying to return home.”
“Oh. Cool.”
“Isn’t it!” Twilight agreed. “Just to think that a galactic community has been thriving for thousands of years, and we’ve been none the wiser this whole time!” Spike knew better than to disagree with the alicorn mare when she got this excited, so he simply smiled and nodded in agreement.
“So where is it?” he asked.
“A few doors down from us. It was performing maintenance the last time I checked,” Twilight replied. She was about to continue when she was interrupted by a knock at the door. Turning around, Twilight approached the door and opened it, revealing the towering geth looking down upon the princess.
“Twilight Sparkle,” it said as a poor excuse for a greeting.
“Legion?” Twilight poked her head out of the door, looking from side to side. “Where are your guards?”
“Princess Luna dismissed them. We have come here on our own.”
“Oh. Well, what did you need?” Legion entered the room and Twilight closed the door behind it. Legion’s single eye passed over everything in the room, finally settling on Spike, who froze at the sight of the machine. Twilight trotted over to the dragon, and pushed him towards the geth.
“Spike,” she began. “This is Legion.”
“Uh… Hi?” Spike said, eyeing the geth cautiously.
“Hello, Spike,” Legion greeted. “Twilight Sparkle, what is this? We observed him at your home, but did not get a chance to speak with him.”
“Spike is a dragon, and he’s been my best friend since I was a filly!” Twilight said, happily reliving the memory. “He just got here from Ponyville, where we came from a few days ago.”
“Understood,” Legion said. “Now, the reason that we sought you out was to ask you a question.”
“Go right ahead.”
“We have been observing the attitudes of your princesses. They are disturbed, but not by us. Something else is occurring. What is it?” Twilight froze, trying to think of a response. She did not know if she was allowed to tell anypony else about the disease at Westrock and the changeling incursions.
“It’s… nothing, Legion,” she said, though the geth clearly noticed that she was dodging the question. “Everything is fine.”
“… Understood,” Legion said, not pushing the issue. Twilight was glad that it at least understood when not to keep questioning. “That is all. We will return to our quarters.” Legion turned and exited the room, closing the door behind it. Twilight was able to hear the geth’s heavy footfalls as it walked back to its room just a few doors down.
“Well… That was interesting,” Spike observed. “What did it mean when it said ‘something was wrong’?” Twilight shook her head as she walked into the center of her room.
“It’s the original reason that the girls and I were called here,” she answered with a sigh. “The changelings…”
Princess Luna walked through the halls of her castle, shielding her eyes against the rising sun. Her sister had raised the sun only an hour ago, and Luna was glad that her nightly duties were ending. Aside from her one surprise visitor, the night had been long and uneventful. Her talk with Legion had been nice, but there were only so many things that she could talk about with him.
Luna ended her walk through the castle at a featureless wooden door. She pushed it open and revealed a lush room beyond. One wall was entirely a window, offering an unobstructed of the morning sun, which streamed in and lit the room. The opposite side had a large fireplace, within which was a roaring fire. Across from the fireplace were several lounge chairs, and seated in one was Princess Celestia, who was sipping some tea and reading over some documents. She looked up to greet the visitor, and smiled when she saw Luna.
“Hello, Luna,” she said. “How did the rest of your night go?”
“’Twas uneventful, sister,” Luna replied. “What of you? Was your night more exciting than mine?”
“I doubt it,” Celestia said, chuckling to herself. “Unless you find economic reports enticing, it was quite boring. For now I’m just taking a break until my court begins…”
“Well, allow me to join you,” Luna said, stepping further into the room and taking a seat at a lounge chair across from Celestia’s. She picked up a teapot from a small table between the two chairs, and filled up a matching cup almost to the brim. She sipped on the hot drink, allowing the liquid to soothe her. She was about to strike up a conversation when the door flew open and Healthy Heart stood in the portal, looking incredibly worried. She rushed inside, forgetting to offer even a short bow.
“Your highnesses!” she cried. “We have a problem!”
“Ms. Heart, please, just tell us what is the matter!” Luna begged, following the anxious mare though the castle back to her office. The medical wing was on the exact opposite side of the castle from the lounge, which apparently meant that running was acceptable. Already the mare had almost bowled over four guards, not even offering an apology before continuing down the hall.
Finally they came to her office, which was considerably less spacious than both Luna’s and Celestia’s. A desk was crammed against the back wall with an uncomfortable looking leather chair behind it, and bookshelves lined the walls, filled with medical tomes and files of documents. Heart grabbed what looked like a letter off of her desk, and threw it up in front of the two princesses faces.
“This was just sent to me by a friend of mine in Appleloosa,” she said, panting. “He’s the resident doctor there. A colt came in this morning with certain symptoms that have only been seen in one other place.”
“… Westrock,” Celestia whispered quietly as she finished reading the letter. “The disease has spread!?”
“Yes, your highness,” Heart confirmed, beginning to regulate her breathing. “We need to contain it.”
“I do not understand,” Luna began. “How did it spread?”
“We have no idea, princess,” Heart said. “Nopony from Westrock has had any contact with the outside world since the quarantine. And while Appleloosa is the closest settlement to Westrock, they are still separated by well over a hundred kilometers.”
“Send some specialists, Ms. Heart,” Celestia ordered. “Luna, prepare your Nighthawks. I have a feeling that this disease isn’t the only thing coming to Appleloosa.” Both mares nodded, and immediately got to work. Luna rushed out of the room to prepare her soldiers, while Heart began drafting a letter. Celestia stepped out of the office and sighed heavily. She did not know why, but she was beginning to feel that the changelings and this disease were connected somehow. Taking on a stern expression, she began to walk down the hallway to her own office. She had a letter to write.
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Ponies...
Y U NO TRUST LEGION?!
First!
I can't wait to see legion fuck up some collectors.
Wow, Celestia isn't that bright... Perhaps Legion should have mentioned about the mass kidnappings... The collectors attempting to build a species specific reaper etc.
5429566
Oh he did, he stated that collectors like to collect "other organics".
CELESTIA! LUNA! ASK LEGION FOR HELP!
5429619
Was more or less thinking he should have elaborated on it more, give her more reason to worry about a true threat.
5430138
At least they're shown as actually having a reason here, as opposed to just the "Generic Easy Villainous Army" bullsh!t that others put out here.
Hehe, the Changelings are the new Vorcha and Equestria is the new Omega.
Since Legion is actually numerous programs inside a singular platform with no discernible gender identity, wouldn't it be more correct to call Legion a "they" or "them" instead of a "him/her"? Keep up the good work!
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Grammatically incorrect.
Again, this should be "not dissimilar".
"indifferent" is a synonym for "apathetic"
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Yeah it isn't until certain choices are made well into the final game that calling Legion anything nonplural is inappropriate even Grammer wise.
Legion completely failed to make a case that these Collector whatsits are dangerous. He didn't even try. All he did was show a picture of one, call them soulless, and mention that he's blown some up. He didn't mention anything about their motives, history, capabilities, anything like that, except a vague comment about being hostile to 'organics' they are not allied to. Translation: "They're hostile, except when they're not."
That does not add up to, "they are dangerous and untrustworthy!" That adds up to, "yeah, so we're going to be bringing our war to your planet. Have fun with that!"
Pretty much all of the ponies' side of that conversation should be replaced with, "...and?"
Okay, I'm not certain when a map of Equestria was out, and whether it was before or after this story, but reading so far there are a few things confusing considering locations, particularly, the badlands, a certain "rock farm", and the direction of North. I can't say which is considered north in this story, but... well let me show you something.
This is a map of Equestria: vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/a/a4/Map_of_Equestria_2015.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20151205072352
All the locations mentioned, specifically the Badlands... aren't even close to any snow-based environments, so whether this is just lack of knowing the surrounding areas in Equestria, or something, I'm kinda confused about saying the Badlands is north, and is surrounded or near snow. I'm alright with this, but it troubled me a little, with that said the story is going well, but I think it's time to get Legion involved with the situation.
Number one rule when a problem comes up, every source of knowledge has to be viewed. The second rule being, be open to everyone's opinion and perspective on something, and decide.
I wonder if Chrysalis is being indoctrinated.
Xmas in February! Great chapter. They're getting close to connecting the lings to the collectors, I can feel it!
They really should ask Legion for help. A simpel question of Category of illness and their describtion is worth a lot!
That Ms. Heart is Chrysalis, isn't she? Desperate for more ponies for the collectors, so she keeps asking them to send more specialists
When Legion finally starts dealing with the changelings, the action is gonna go off the charts.
Great chapter as always!