Chapter 1: Absolution
Chapter 1: Absolution
Three weeks later...
Fluttershy looked back and forth, completely at a loss for what to do. Applejack said to wait on the bench until she came back, but it was only a small comfort to know one of her friends was nearby. She searched from left to right for any signs of a cutiemark or stetson, but came up empty hooved.
Being more of a country bumpkin than a city filly, being somewhere as big as Canterlot or Manehatten was enough to render her breathless by proximity. And those were cities with normally only ponies. It was hard to believe there were so many races outside of her own homeworld of Avol, far many more than she had ever imagined. It was enough to make her shrink back into the bench as far as she could go. The surface wasn’t like the comfy wood park benches she usually found dotting Ponyville. This one was cold and hard steel with only a small vinyl cushion to take the pressure off her aching legs.
It just so happened to be that she sat right next to one of the most populated areas on board the human starship Absolution. There were people of all shapes and sizes in the expansive lobby in front of her. She could see some places of business selling wares she could not begin to fathom. The vast majority seemed to sell black and silver trinkets and baubles. People milled about and talked, discussing prices and the quality of certain items over others. Some of the larger items seemed to be in the shape of human body parts.
Now that she saw it, several people had metal in place of skin. People could have replaced hands, arms, or legs. One odd individual had no skin or hair on his cranium, only a silver skull for a head. Most people gave him a wide berth.
The affinity for prosthetics wasn’t the only strange thing. While the spaceship was largely dominated by humans, Fluttershy saw other species dot the halls. A tall feline creature she had come to identify as a Korg prowled about. It stood on its hind legs, looking over the crowd before returning onto all fours. Another creature she had never seen or heard of before looked like some kind of tall, thin amphibious creature. It did not speak as it weaved through the crowd. The dull buzz of busy conversation hung in the air like a fog. Distracting, but still pleasant white noise. As long as they didn’t stare...
A particularly loud snort made her jump. She had almost forgotten a human was sleeping on the bench right next to her. He had been silent ever since she sat down twenty minutes previous. As far as humans went, he looked pretty old to Fluttershy, but not nearly as old as most humans she had seen with stark white hair. It was still difficult for her to tell some humans apart from others, a very inconvenient drawback when on board a ship of human design. He wore what Fluttershy had come to recognize as black and brown military fatigues. That would explain the scars on his exposed forearms and face, and the particularly vicious upturned scar across his left cheek that made him look like he was perpetually grinning. A soldier, if she had to hazard a guess.
He scratched his fledgling salt and pepper beard, sighing slightly. He had yet to open his eyes, but she had the lingering suspicion the soldier knew she was present even if he was sleeping. It appeared he was doing his best to ignore her. She let him be. Other things occupied her mind.
Her attention focused on a news monitor that had been blaring ever since she discovered it was there. It had been on a constant loop ever since she sat down, cycling through several news broadcasts. Having run out of things to look at and incapable of keeping track of the endless stream of humans and other exotic alien species, she took a moment and watched what the woman staring out of the screen had to offer. Rather unlike the occasional television she would see in richer pony cities, the monitor was an empty frame that broadcasted light into a solid picture. She had asked Applejack how it worked when she saw it for the first time, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of it either.
The media circuits are abuzz with the last declaration from the new Alliance world of Avol. After the Alliance fleet battled with the hostile Dratali menace and secured the safety of Avol, co-rulers of one of the largest Avolian nations, Equestria, has opened trade and political negotiations with military diplomats. Recent Avol military recruit Twilight Sparkle has been appointed as a temporary liaison between Avol and certain Alliance factions. As Avol has yet to develop technology past the stage corresponding to the Information Age on Earth, sharing technology and certain data pertaining to Alliance and human history has been restricted pending further review.
All inside sources state that talks are still in the earliest stages, but Equestria and its rulers, Princesses Celestia and Princess Luna, have initiated migration and travel quotas for the purpose of cultural sharing and exploration. In a recent interview with Vice Admiral Carter and Ambassador Dieter, the two co-rulers stated they encouraged travel between their races, but given that interstellar communication and culture mixing is still new to the new Alliance acquisition, immigration quotas are enforced in order to restrict movement until an unspecified date in the future.
In order to better travel to Alliance space and allow certain Alliance carriers and dropships into Avol and Equestrian territory, the Alliance received permission from the Equestrian royal court to build a single staryard on its soil. The Alliance is currently negotiating deals with the Deus industrial corporation for supplies in that regard. This ground station would work in conjunction with the Harmony Station recently completed in geosynchronous orbit with Avol.
Several corporations have clambered over each other to craft privatized contracts on Avol. Notable agrarian developer Organic Corporate Operations has made several bids for an earth pony workforce and their supposed unparalleled agricultural and farming techniques. Both Equestria and another Avol sovereign state, the Crystal Kingdom, have refused any and all deals concerning the mass export of labor forces until further notice.
Ambassador Dieter has gone on record stating that talks are going well and any restrictions placed on Alliance dealings and demands are fair and reasonable under basic scrutiny, given the past circumstances concerning Lieutenant Sparkle and the recent Dratali invasion of Equestria. Primary concerns sent by most world leaders of Avol revolve around future relations with Alliance forces and the possibility of another attack on their homeworld. The Dratali vanguard spearheading the assault on Avol just over a year ago was destroyed by a joint effort of Alliance and Avol forces. Alliance intelligence assured both Alliance worlds and the Avol nation-states that an attack in the near future is very remote and promises aid to any world whenever an attack is imminent, especially their new Avolian allies.
Preliminary reports concerning the Dratali attack seem to suggest that the aliens wished to exterminate all life on Avol under the wish to destroy all possible magic users. Given that Dratali had been previously thought to be the only race capable of using magic, the possibility of another race capable of the same feat could have been interpreted as a grave threat to Dratali strategies concerning their magic trump cards.
In other news, another NOMAD facility was attacked by a joint task force of Factory and Essex-Inata-Imago corporate security. Initial reports suggest casualties were at a minimum. There are currently three reported arrests after the raid, far fewer than previously expected. Stay tuned for future updates.
Two cyber criminals only known by the aliases DaemonJack and King Kludge have resurfaced after a long period of dormancy. Commercial Security and Safety Inc. security reports state that King Kludge may not have been taking a reprieve as previously thought, but assisting the NOMAD criminal organization for reasons unknown. Sources, however, all point to a long period of inactivity by his comrade DaemonJack, who has only recently resurfaced. Genetics and biotech corporation Biolab reported several attempted hacks into secure Magnasanti servers using methods that are typical of the notorious netrunner. No damage or lost data has been reported at this time.
Fluttershy did her best to tune the broadcast out. “Even humans have bad apples, I suppose.”
“You have no idea,” the man said in a deep, scratchy voice, making her jump.
“Oh, really? Well I hope I don’t meet them.” He said nothing. “You must be upset that I woke you. I’m sorry, it’s just that this whole place is strange to me. I’m waiting for a friend of mine to come back–I’m just rambling now. I’m sorry, mister.”
The man still did not move or acknowledge her. Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably in the silence. Compelled to say something to end the awkwardness, she said, “My name’s Fluttershy.”
He finally gave the first sign of life. Lifting his head, he opened his eyes. They were a really bright green, almost too bright and seemed to shimmer slightly as he gave her a once over. His gaze paused longer than she would have liked on her saddlebags and cutiemark, but his face was as stony and unreadable as ever.
“Sam. Sam Concord.” He lowered his head and closed his eyes again.
“That’s... a nice name.”
His lips curled ever so slightly, exacerbating his scarred smile even more. “You’re new here,” he said without a hint of a question.
“Yes.” She had given in to her habit of letting her hair shield her from others once again. Sam had closed his eyes however, and thus could not interpret it as a slight against him. “I’m waiting for my friend Applejack to come back with someone who can give us a ship. We’re supposed to be helping humans with their plants and farming.”
“Las’ I heard, none o’ you were allowed to go off planet.”
“That’s right, but the princesses are making a few special exceptions. She’s letting me and Applejack go as a sign of good faith and to make friends.”
“A whole lotta people are gonna hate you.”
Fluttershy shrunk away from him. “Why? Is it because I am a pony? Is my mane done wrong? Am I talking too mu—”
“You ponies use magic,” he said simply. He removed a small box from his breast pocket, opened the hinge, and plucked a small, solid metal tube. He stuck it in his mouth and the tip glowed red. “Last guys we’d seen use magic tried to kill us. A lot. That kinda hate don’t go away easy.”
Fluttershy knew what the man was talking about. The Dratali. The newscaster spoke of them. The Dratali had learned of Avol’s galactic location through a defector unicorn and wished to exterminate them. The battle took tolls on both sides, but even though it was a unanimous victory for Equestria, the price was high. Friends and strangers alike fell before her eyes. The gravediggers were payed well that day.
“I’m not like them. We’re not like them.”
“Don’t matter, Flutters. We humans are like that; don’t make a whole lot o’ sense, our lot. Sometimes we forget we can be assholes.” Sam exhaled and a gust of sweet-smelling smoke exited his lips. Something in it stung her nose and Fluttershy sneezed.
Sam’s lips curled again and put the tube back in its case. He put a finger behind his left ear. Tucked behind the cartilage was a dial so small Fluttershy could hardly see it. He gave it a flick, winced, and after a moment turned his head to the right.
“Your friend’s comin’.”
A large steel door opened on the far wall without anypony or anything to push it open. Fluttershy’s face lit up; sure enough, Applejack was at the forefront of a group of humans. She was currently speaking to a very petite human woman who looked so thin and wispy a stiff breeze would blow her away. She was dressed in fine white and blue clothes without a single crease or stain. A pair of earrings hung from both lobes.
Sam flicked the dial in the opposite direction. “That be Anastasia Arias. This ship is the mobile headquarters of Zenith Inc., the leading producer of cyberware and cybernetic upgrades, especially for soldiers,” and he tapped his ear. Fluttershy stared back at him with a blank look on her face. “You’ll find out why that’s important later. Ana’s the CEO of Zenith. If anyone can get you a ship, it’s her.”
The sound of Applejack’s hooves clattered loudly on the plastic and steel ship floors. Sam got to his feet as bones and tendons popped and cracked in his arms and back. He grunted as a particularly loud pop made them both wince. “Oh, I’m gettin’ old.”
Applejack and Ana were flanked by a quartet of burly humans and one Korg who anyone could tell were bodyguards, even Fluttershy. A secretary of some kind was hidden behind the mass of flesh, a thin metal pad of some kind in her hands on which she was rapidly tapping. The group was, shockingly, completed by none other than Shining Armor. Leaning around one of the guards to see the reason for the sudden stop, his ears perked up as he saw the source and waved. Fluttershy returned the wave, but her ears folded back as some of Ana’s guards scowled at her.
Ana stepped passed Applejack and smiled kindly at Fluttershy. She seemed nice enough and her heart-shaped face looked pretty to Fluttershy. Seeing her was still odd; she ran a company? She had so many bodyguards to follow her around? Mostly, Fluttershy tried to not stare at the jagged X-shaped scar on her throat.
“Hello, Miss Fluttershy, my name is Anastasia Arias, and I heard from your friend you need my help.”
Shining Armor trotted along slowly amongst the guards. Outside the guards, actually, as none of them would let him get close to Miss Arias. Applejack seemed fine with the ordeal, and was content to observe her surroundings in the meantime.
Ana led the pack with a firm and deliberate pace after she spoke with Applejack. After pleasantries, she brought out a scroll from within the confines of her own saddlebags before chatting behind the usual wall of bodyguards.
“By Celestia, they’re big,” Shining commented. The Korg smiled, his furry face revealing his large canines. Right. Big ears. Shining was used to being around humans, and they could barely hear anything with those ears of theirs.
“So, how have you been?” Shining asked Applejack in order to fill in the quiet.
Her freckled face smiled back. “Fine myself,” she drawled. “Ah’ve gotten mahself in quite the pinch, getting shoehorned into this trip. But Fluttershy would’ve been all by herself otherwise, and ah can’t rightly live with that. RD’s off with Spike, ah know better than to ask what Pinkie’s up to, Twilight’s with that boyfriend of hers,” Shining felt himself scowl, “and las’ ah heard, Rarity got shipped off for some kind of medical training. Mac’s the smart one, but ah’ve got enough brains to figure out that somepony gotta look after Fluttershy.”
A thin woman with cropped brown hair and large glasses that made her eyes look far too large for her head stepped right in front of Applejack, blocking her path. “Miss Arias would like to speak with you,” she said curtly. Without another word or even checking to make sure either pony heard, she squeezed between Ana’s vanguard. For a moment, Shining had the absurd mental image of a bar of soap slipping right through his hooves and chuckled.
“Duty calls,” Shining sighed softly, giving Applejack an exasperated smile. “Reminds me of boot all over again.”
“Might as well get it o’er with,” Applejack said cheerfully. Too cheerfully. Shining had never known the farmer for being bubbly or any other word used to describe Pinkie.
“What’s put you in such a good mood?”
“No idea,” she said happily. “Not fond of all of this new stuff so soon, but ah like meetin’ strangers. This’s been all sorts o’ fun.” And with that, Applejack followed the shrew of a woman and vanished behind a wall of strong arms.
Shining let the occasional buzz of conversation take a hold and let his mind wander. Meeting new people and places was all well and good, and he fully understood why Applejack could be having such a great time with the new stimuli, but the constant ups and downs over the last few days ever since he was assigned his own mission by Celestia herself had taken its toll. He’d had his own fun exploring the ship, but right now he felt the overpowering urge to sleep.
A door he thought was a blank wall hissed open as they approached. Doors that opened without actual effort or magic was already added to his mental list of things that incurred involuntary dislike simply because they were too different. The hallway opened up to a very large lobby. Shining had already explored the majority of the lower deck that doubled as the open market for most of the civilians on board the ship.
He paid the eager store-goers no mind; he had seen enough of them already. What interested him most was none other than Fluttershy talking to a soldier. The man stood and stretched, and upon Fluttershy catching Shining’s eye, he waved.
“Will you put that disgusting thing away, Sam?” squeaked a voice he had come to recognize as Anastasia’s. She had parted from the pack with Applejack on her heels. Sam had reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal tube and stuck it between his lips.
“Missed you too, Deus,” growled Sam. His voice was low and gravelly, yet still carried authoritarian magic.
“And will you cut it out with that nickname? I tolerate ‘fairy’, ‘Ana’, and ‘boss’, but not that one.” Shining’s ears flicked. He had noticed before there was something strange about her voice, a slight reverberation that he had not detected from Sam or any other human for that matter. His head turned back to the vendors selling replacement body parts and the people that held obvious signs of replacements and modifications. Humans practiced replacing their own body parts with mechanical components. Was that why Ana had a scar on her throat? Did she have something that replicated speech for a set of missing vocal chords?
Fluttershy must have been pondering something else entirely. Ana saw Fluttershy’s befuddlement, but misinterpreted the source of her confusion. “An old saying on Earth is ‘Deus ex Machina’, meaning ‘God in the Machine’. My work has saved lives, so some of the marines and soldiers have given me the nickname Deus. I’m not a god and I don’t like to be called a god; I just run this company. I run Zenith and design cyberware, meaning everyone who buys it, including Sam here, has a piece of me in them.”
“I love havin’ you in me..” Sam’s eyes were twinkling in mirth. It reminded Fluttershy how Celestia’s demeanor would change ever so slightly when committing some sort of subtle joke.
Ana fumed, and some of her bodyguards smiled. ‘Friends?’ Shining guessed, thinking that she and Sam were previously acquainted if Ana’s bodyguards did not act on the sexual nature of the joke. Fluttershy’s blush was blossoming over her face. Shining hazarded a guess, “You build body parts?”
Ana gave Sam one last dirty look before turning on the stallion. Shining was fairly big for a unicorn, and given that Ana was so small, he could look her in the eyes. “Sometimes I go down on the line, but my attention is usually needed elsewhere. I run the company and design parts and cyberware in my free time. Zenith Incorporated is contracted by the Alliance military forces and constructs cybernetic replacements for their Wounded Warriors program. While not solely dipping into bodyware and limbware—fancy words for replacement body parts in the chest or limbs,” she elaborated upon seeing his confusion, “it is one of our more fringe but still lucrative sources of revenue.”
That got Shining thinking. Right as he spoke, both Applejack and Fluttershy’s eyes met; they knew what he was about to ask.
“My sister... she lost most of a leg in a battle with the Dratali... She received a replacement from the Alliance.”
It was a sore subject of his in the early days of Twilight’s return from the stars. The filly he had protected and doted on did not return. She had changed. Willingly or unwillingly, she had changed. Shining didn’t care about the lost leg, but what happened on the inside. War had galvanized parts of her, parts he still wasn’t sure he liked.
The sounds of the crowds and shoppers seemed to recede into a slight mumble in respect of Shining’s dour. Ana and Sam turned to him. Sam’s face had morphed into granite-like unreadability, but Ana beamed in recognition. “The wayward child of Avol! I know her. Know of her, I should say.”
“You built her leg?” Shining asked.
“Well, no, but I was commissioned to design it personally. Once the Alliance knew she could use magic and considered her an ally, I was personally given top priority requests to construct equine cyberware. A tricky process, considering I needed to completely redesign the software to compensate for varying biochemical impulses specific to equines while working off only a few medscans and two physical exam reports. Plus, I needed to compensate for increased torque and blunt force trauma; people tend to lack the lean muscle mass of ponies.”
The trio of ponies stared at her blankly. Ana simpered and rubbed the back of her head. “...It was hard, I’ll say that. Miss Sparkle’s leg is top of the line in terms of strength and durability, but contains little in terms of versatility. It’s just built to work. Now,” she said, clapping her hands together. “I believe you said you needed a ship... Applejack, was it?”
“Yes, ma’am. I got some orders here from the princess and that admiral fella sayin’ we were goin’ to some city planet, whatever that is.”
Applejack fished a second sealed envelope from her own saddlebags. Ana plucked it from her teeth, opened it, and examined the contents. Her eyes widened more and more as she progressed down the page.
“Oh. Oh... Oh, dear... Well, if... Okay then.”
“You don’t sound too happy about this,” Shining commented, scrutinizing Ana carefully. “You do have a ship for them, right?”
“Yes and no. Ships I have, but I’m not the one taking you. It says that the two of you,” she nodded towards the mares, “are to stay here until ferried to your destination. You are going to one of our crown jewels, the city of Magnasanti, on board an Organic Corporate Operations transport ship. The Alliance is also supplying you with some private security once you arrive.”
Sam glacially turned his head towards Ana. His eyes had hardened, and Shining knew that look all too well. He had seen it on himself, and on Twilight.
Danger.
Fluttershy’s ears perked as something clicked in her head. “I remember them. The monitor said that they are farmers.”
Ana looked over the letter once again, showing a slight awkwardness with using paper rather than some sort of machine that displayed data. She started walking and spoke with her secretary for a moment before the latter immersed herself in her datapad. Her guards trailed behind her. Sam jerked his head to indicate the ponies should follow and caught up to her in only a few strides. Only then did Shining notice just how tall Sam was compared to Ana, or any other human or pony for that matter. Sam was a few inches over six feet; he was shorter than Celestia, but towered over both Ana and the ponies.
Deep in thought as their benefactors were, Shining took a few moments to examine his surroundings once again. The Absolution, unlike the smaller transports and landing crafts he had seen, was massive. Ships tended to induce a feeling of claustrophobia, but the wide corridors and tall ceilings gave the false impression they were walking through the grand hallways of some great structure. Even the lobby alone was massive enough to hold half of Ponyville. Steel, plastic, and whitewashed metal dominated everything. It was so... clean.
Sterile.
He unconsciously closed ranks around the mares and cantered together to catch up. Sam was casually strolling behind alongside Ana, blowing the occasional puff of sweet-smelling smoke.
“Out with it, Concord. This is my ship. No smoking in my presence,” Ana ordered. Sam exhaled another puff of smoke before putting the tube back in its case once again. “As for Organic Corporate Operations—sometimes called OrC. Op. or just OCO—they’re more entrepreneurs than farmers. Zenith builds technology, while OrC. Op. builds food, if that makes sense. They manipulate how food grows and reproduces, or alters their genetics in order to better feed the populace. You’ll learn more about them once you get there,” she added hastily; Applejack had opened her mouth to raise a fuss. “I know plenty about them, but I’m afraid my time is short and not ready for an extensive chat about corporate policy.”
The secretary leaned forward and whispered something in Ana’s ear. “Good! It just so happens that your vessel had docked with the Absolution the previous day to pick up an order. They’re waiting for you in the main hangar bay. You, Mister Armor, will be here for another day until your ship arrives. Concord, go to Medbay Five, and hurry up if you don’t want to miss your flight tomorrow.”
Ana walked briskly away, chatting quietly with her secretary. People automatically parted around her as she passed as if an occasional stroll in the residential and commercial decks was nothing new on the Absolution.
Sam sighed, turned, and walked away. The wall he approached acknowledged someone was there and the steel doors parted to allow him access. He turned, looking back at the trio. “Know where to go, you lot?”
Applejack looked around confused and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry to say ah don’t. This newfangled place has got so many nooks and crannies, it’s easy fer me to get lost.”
“This place is so... big.”
“What’d ya expect, Flutters? Dreadnaught-class mobile production ship. Five thousand meters from bow to stern,” Sam replied simply,
“What!” Shining exclaimed. He was captain of the royal guard and commanded a fair bit of firepower, but never in all of his years did he anticipate something so large could actually exist. “How does this thing even move? It’s larger than most cities!”
“You know where you’re going or what?” he redirected. “Don’t got time to chat. Gotta see the doc.” Sam jerked his head towards the still open door. Several guests and shoppers parted around him and the pair, either too nervous to talk to a pony or too scared to speak to a heavily scarred soldier.
Shining nodded. He had plenty of time to wander and explore, but not his friends. “Not really,” Fluttershy said timidly. “Can you point us in the right direction?”
Sam tsked, irritation leaking through his stony demeanor. He jerked his head towards the open corridor once more, saying, “This way. I’ll walk you most of the way there.”
“Thanks,” Shining replied gratefully, even though he already knew where the flight deck was. His own flight wasn’t scheduled until tomorrow, but keeping Fluttershy and Applejack company until their departure would kill time until he figured out something to do. Perhaps he could peruse the cyberware Ana had been developing, but what he really wanted to do was speak with Sam alone.
Sam led the trio to a small black panel and showed them what buttons to tap. “Most of the larger ships got maps, least those built to carry civvies.” The screen flashed with a large amount of white lines showing a rough diagram of a starship. Shining couldn’t help but watch as the lines and figures danced around Sam’s practiced strokes. It was nothing but a commodity to Sam, but the sight was strangely enthralling to the pony, almost beautiful in its exoticism.
He double-taped a segmented room nestled on the starboard side. The Absolution diagram focused momentarily on the ship’s titanic engine nacelles jutting out of the hull before zooming towards a highlighted portion halfway along the ship’s exterior. “That’s where you’re goin’.”
“What’s that mean? ‘Civvies?’” Applejack asked as she watched Sam access the console.
“Civilians. Noncombatants or unessential personnel. People like you ‘n business personnel like Ana.”
“Well, we’re ponies, not people.”
Sam turned to stare at Applejack. It was like she was trying to stare at a brick with eyes. “You don’t laugh all that often, don’tcha fella?” she said sardonically.
He sighed again and returned the tube between his lips. Fluttershy spoke up, “I thought that Ana didn’t want you smoking on her ship.”
“No smokin’ in her presence, if memory serves.”
Sam continued walking, a small wisp of smoke trailing him with every breath. Rather than pester him with questions, the mares began some small talk before Shining interrupted. “So why choose to come out here? Surely you could have turned the princess down if you wanted to stay in Ponyville. I know my loyalty is to the crown, but I can’t help but believe you all can choose whatever you want to do.”
“Thats about right,” Applejack said as she readjusted her Stetson. The overhead lights felt strange to her: fake and too abnormal. It was definitely not the same as the welcoming sun back home. “But I couldn’t rightly leave Flutters on her own after she up and volunteered. We all gotta look after each other.”
“What about Rainbow Dash?” The mare was Fluttershy’s oldest friend, after all. “What about your farm?”
“Rainbow’s gone and jumped ship already. I don’t know all the nitty-gritty details but she got off planet faster than Winona after she caught a coon’s scent. Somethin’ ‘bout a contest or such and such. ‘n don’t worry ‘bout the farm...” A warm, almost tender, smile sprouted across her face. “‘Bloom’s got everythin’ taken care of.”
A loud, terse whistle caught their attention. Sam had turned into one of the adjacent hallways as they conversed, leaving them behind. He jerked his head and continued walking, not bothering to see whether they followed or not. The trio quickly cantered to catch up to their guide. Something about him seemed... off. Sam’s behavior was stoic yet protective, despite him not having any reason to help the trio outside of altruism. Ponies were normally all too happy to help someone in their time of need. Seeing a human show little to no emotion for something they saw invoked a smile every day was a little offputting.
Shining, personally, would have taken Sam’s apathetic indifference over the looks he was getting from other Absolution residents. They parted to make room for Sam, leaving a slow stream of humans and other life forms to observe them from either side. Some wore strange earing baubles that moved even when they weren’t. Others were followed by carts that levitated without magic, and yet still hummed with energy.
The majority looked oddly intrigued, while some looked amused. Clad in their form-fitting grays, blues, and reds, Shining would have called them out as looking utterly absurd. He had been warned it was a social taboo and even a crime in some places to not wear clothes. He became suddenly aware just how exposed he was in just his saddlebags. Ana had told him she would make special exceptions to the clothing rule for the duration of his stay, but the eyes kept returning to him and his equine companions.
Applejack and Fluttershy seemed glued to whoever passed them by. Their voices dropped to low whispers that prevented him from hearing them, which surprised him. He had been often told that Fluttershy suffered from an often crippling agoraphobia. Flinching at the slightest glance was one of the expected symptoms in such an alien environment, but her eyes were sucking in everything like a sponge. One sow of a man waddled passed the three. His entire right arm was covered in spiderwebbed circuitry. Several lights and displays dotted the machinery. His palm was open to the air and projecting small lights and lasers to form a solid, three-dimensional image. It was some type of race that had caught his rapt attention, but before he could take a closer look, the man waddled passed, oblivious to their presence.
A tall ebony woman, even taller than Sam, with stark-white spiky hair bumped her fist into his in a friendly gesture as she passed. She was simply dressed in a pair of knee-high boots, sweatpants, and a tanktop that revealed some sort of tribal tattoos covering every inch of her arms. Shining’s gaze lingered a little too long on the intricate designs, and seeing she was being observed, the woman winked seductively as she passed.
Well, at least some were... friendly.
The corridor soon branched into a four-way junction. Stopping, Sam pointed down the left path. “Thataway. Just keep headin’ straight. You’ll run right into it.”
Shining wished he had a phrase to describe Sam. He rotated around, looming over them, but yet did not exert the aura of menace his tall but slim frame suggested. Size had often been a measure of power or strength in Equestria, but here he was, eyes alert for signs of danger and helping those he’d known for only a couple minutes.
Papa bear. That’s the phrase.
“Thanks a bunch. Here’s hopin’ the doc gives you a clean bill of health,” Applejack said in attempt to be friendly. Sam just nodded and grunted, but gave no other response. His eyes were on Fluttershy, whose mouth opened and closed as she tried to conjure some sort of thank you.
“Eep!” Fluttershy squeaked and flinched as Sam placed a comforting hand atop her head.
“Don’t worry about it.” And with that, Sam turned on his heels and walked down the opposite hallway, both hands in his pants pockets. A few people looked at him with disgust as they passed when they saw the stream of smoke exiting his lips.
“What an odd fella. And that there has got to be the strangest cigarette ah’ve ever seen.”
“I think he’s nice. He just looks a little scary,” Fluttershy added, looking at his back as he continued towards the ship’s medbay. “Should we go after him?”
“What for? He’s got an appointment with a doctor fer somethin’ or whatever. No good buggerin’ the fella during a checkup.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Fluttershy pawed at the ground nervously. She turned towards the long, bland corridor Sam pointed to. Standing around as they were and devoid of their guardian, they were starting to draw more than a few eyes.
Although he wasn’t as familiar with her as Applejack, Shining approached her and wrapped a hoof around her neck. “Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I’m leaving for the same place as you tomorrow.”
That perked her up. “Really?”
He gave her the same smile he’d given Twilight countless times when she was a filly, whenever her mind was exhausted or frightened. There was a level of strength behind Fluttershy; Shining knew that without a shadow of a doubt, but it took more than encouragement to show the steel behind the silk.
“Come on, sugar. We gotta train to catch. Or plane. Or somethin’.” Applejack turned to Shining. “You really comin’ tomorrow?”
“For a few days, yes. I can tell you in full when I meet you there.” Shining, instead of moving down the corridor, inched towards the opposite hallway that Sam took. “I’ll meet up with you in a moment, but I need to talk to Concord.”
“Alright.” Applejack looked uncertain, but dropped it. “Don’t be a stranger. Stop by as soon as you can.” He must have looked eager to get away for a moment, so she just dropped the issue.
Sam was already a speck of brown against the smooth whites and grays. Shining admired the fact that Ana could keep a clean ship with so many humans and different species aboard it, but the constant lack of any real color or variety was somehow irritating. Calming, yes, but still irritating.
At a brisk canter, the stallion caught up to his target in only a few minutes. Sam did not appear to be in any real hurry to get to his destination. Shining’s hooves clattered towards Sam. His target stopped and turned mechanically towards the pony. “What?”
‘Blunt and to the point. Admirable,’ Shining thought. He could tell that Sam had seen some action, and despite whatever he had seen, he cut right to the heart of the matter. It was quite refreshing to deal with a soldier that never wished to dance around the issue, but there was one thing he wanted to ask before seeking an answer for the big question on his mind.
“What happened to Miss Arias? I know wounds well enough to know that hers was not done by a scalpel. That’s not surgery; somepony tried to cut her throat. No surgeon makes an X-shaped cut like that.”
Sam shrugged. “Don’t know; never asked.”
Shining could only stare incredulously. “But you had to have noticed too!”
Sam sighed, blowing another cloud of smoke that made Shining’s nose twitch. There was more than tobacco in that strange cigarette of his, something Shining couldn’t identify. Something very calming that made his head feel like it was slowly being stuffed with cotton. “You’re a soldier, ain’tcha?” Shining nodded. He had been in the guards for years. It was all he wanted to be when growing up.
“Knew it. Could smell it on ya.”
“Likewise.”
He blew another puff of smoke before closing his eyes. After a moment, he opened them again and answered. “There’s an unspoken rule among people that states you should never ask why they buy cyberware or how they got their scars, especially among soldiers. Security reasons for us, but civvies buy cyber for all sorts of reasons; conformity, injury, or maybe because for the first time in their life, they can control somethin’ that decides their future.”
The pony’s face scrunched up in confusion. “All you have to do is choose a path.”
A deep, throaty chuckle issued from Sam’s throat, startling the pony. It sounded like sandpaper grating against his ears. “Not that simple. Our lives are dominated by rules and laws, lawman. Government, corporations, family, friends, jobs; we all have obligations to somethin’ before we’ve even sucked our momma’s tit. To some, the control is suffocating, and altering their own body is the first real step they can take to wrestle back that control. It’s not about a lack of identity, it’s a lack of power.
“And yes, it looks like someone tried to shut Ana up, but she’s fine now; it’s her business ‘n it’s not my business to know her business. When people want some cyber, their reasons are their own, especially if they’re scumbag criminals. Same goes for their battlescars. Hers,” he pointed at his throat, “and mine.” His finger traced the the slash across his cheek.
“It sounds barbaric.”
Sam leaned back against the wall. “It can be; some take the process a little too far, but it’s not our place to judge. Can you say in your heart, little pony, that if putting a little bit of machinery in their body makes people happy, it is wrong? Altering themselves for whatever the reason should be outlawed even if it helps them be at peace with themselves? How does you or me knowing about Ana’s scars help anything?”
Shining looked down to his legs, wondering how it would feel to see one flesh and bone, and the other cold, lifeless metal. “I–”
“Look me in the eye.”
And he did, looking Sam square in his stony face. Thoughts danced around in his head, each strange and confusing. It was the obvious price of working around rules and a world not his own. Taking a breath, he gave the answer on his mind.
“I don’t know.”
Another puff of smoke accompanied Sam’s newly formed half smile. “Not a good answer, but an honest one. It’ll do for now. That it? I gotta go. Don’t make me waste my time for nothin’.”
“No... one more thing. Just one... Why did you get worried when Miss Arias mentioned Magnasanti?”
Some irritated growl escaped Sam’s lips. “Nothin’ bad ‘bout the place on paper. Good city, lotsa business, but once you peel back the skin, then you see the problem.”
“Which is?”
“What happens when you leave an apple tree unattended for too long?”
Twilight’s friend Applejack had spoken of her farming ways on several occasions. It was quite easy to pick up a few things, and as his mouth opened to respond, comprehension dawned on him. “The fruit falls... and rots.”
Sam nodded curtly. “It’s what happens when people are left to their own devices for too long and given a big ol’ city to stew in for a couple o’ years. Lotsa people were left to fend for themselves while we played grabass in Dratali space. Soldiers were taken care of, as were those who got ahead in the corporate lines, but average people born to poverty, darkness, and crime didn’t have a lot goin’ for them. War let some forget what was happenin’ on the homefront.”
“They could always ask for help! Every Alliance officer I have met has been more than willing to help!” Shining protested. This was so unfair. How could Sam possibly be telling the truth? “Ana didn’t seem to think anything was wrong.”
“She’s too concerned about her company to worry much about everyone. She’s got people relyin’ on her already, and even when she does try to help, she can’t be everywhere and do everything. Even she has her limits.” Sam’s eyes narrowed. “People get mighty desperate when they don’t see help comin’ for them. The Alliance tried to step in at times, but they were stretched too thin already with the war. Magnasanti was one of the closest secure resupply depots to contested space, and it is dominated by the corporations that supplied war materials and received military outsourcing contracts. On the surface it is perfect, but that’s only the illusion of prosperity. Crime runs rampant on the darker streets, only there’s no one there to report or stop it.
“Oh, they’re not all bad,” Sam said upon seeing Shining’s look of rising horror. “A lot of ‘em are really good people. A fair few that do try their hand at thievery are jus’ down on their luck and turning to crime to pay the bills and protect their friends, but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous. The corporations own the day, the netrunners and thieves own the night. That’s why you better turn back and warn your two little friends about what they’re gettin’ into. It’s not what you do see in Magnasanti that can hurt you.”
Seeing that Shining didn’t have any more questions for him, Sam puffed a burst of smoke, stopped holding up the wall, and continued down his path. The captain watched him go, digesting what had been said.
“Captain.”
Shining’s ears perked as Sam spoke. “Yes?”
“No, captain. Captain Samuel Concord.”
Shining smiled. “Captain Shining Armor, sir.”
For chapter commentary and my ramblings, visit my page HERE
Chapter Commentary: LINK
Edited by: Genesis1212, TheSynn, Midnight Spark
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this is the sequel, or other mini story ?
5638350 This is one of the sequels.
You mean like this guy?
cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/830079109060478061/6C87FC2B557328A511A4E7FA9BAB9C783F6E0CB5/
5638656
A little closer to this guy.
5638350
Yup, sequel. I'm the one who got shiro's shit together.
5639474 I like my picture better. Oh, the name of the character in my pic is Skeletron Prime.